Zhang Guiying was a famous cook throughout the villages of ancient times. Her husband was bedridden, her three grandchildren were waiting for their next meal, and the family was so poor they ate watery porridge every day.
One day, she fell down a slope while digging for wild greens in the mountains. When she opened her eyes, she was standing on a bustling modern street.
Clutching a half-basket of wild greens, she could think only of how to get home and cook for her family. Then a breakfast-stall owner called out to her: “Auntie, can you knead dough? You’ll get meals, and I’ll pay you a hundred a day!”
“Meals included? I’m in!”
By day, she ran a breakfast stall in the modern world. Her traditional broth and hand-kneaded pastries drew long lines of customers from the neighborhood. She even secretly learned all about yeast, which she called “fairy medicine for raising dough,” and food containers, which she called “magical storage treasures.”
At night, all she had to do was touch her old bamboo basket to return to ancient times, bringing her family fine grains and seasonings. She also brought modern street-stall methods back with her and opened a little eatery at the village entrance.
By the time a food blogger’s video of her wrapping buns in lotus leaves went viral and the whole internet was searching for this “intangible cultural heritage chef,” she was crouched beside her ancient stove, teaching her grandchildren how to season bun filling with “fairy umami powder”...
