A Little Eatery in Bianjing

New novel now available: The Everyday Life of Bianjing, the Great Song is listed at the bottom

Shen Wan opened her eyes to find herself in the bustling city of Bianjing.

The good news: She now had a capital city household registration.

The bad news: Her family was so poor they were crammed into a dilapidated courtyard.

Her father was meek by nature, and her mother was a disreputable matchmaker.

Shen Wan had an eldest brother who worked as a bricklayer, a second brother who made a living as a hanger-on, and a little sister who had only just lost her baby teeth. And then there was her, Shen Xiaowan, who had just been dumped by her fiancé. Shen Wan was terribly worried.

Bianjing was prosperous, but prices were steep. Shen Wan picked up her little basket and went out to start a small business.

From tofu with sauce, tea eggs, and lotus root stuffed with osmanthus-scented sticky rice, to running a little food stall selling egg-stuffed pancakes, grilled meat skewers, and milk tea with tapioca pearls, and eventually opening the Shen Family Snack Shop...

The family could afford meat and moved into a new house. Their lives steadily improved.

Only Shen Wan's mother remained worried. A man should marry when he comes of age, and a woman should marry when she comes of age, but her daughter just couldn't find a suitable match. There was a Lord Xie from the Dali Temple who often came by, handsome and elegant, but their families were so mismatched that she didn't dare even hope.

(An alternate-history Northern Song setting. Please don't nitpick the history.)

New novel: The Everyday Life of Bianjing, the Great Song

Yun Tao transmigrated to the prosperous Great Song, but found herself in the countryside.

With only a young girl by her side, Yun Tao simply sold her rural property and headed to Bianjing to seek out her uncle.

As luck would have it, her uncle's family had just been sent away to serve as officials. Yun Tao and her little sister settled in at Guanyin Convent on the outskirts of the capital.

Before they arrived: The convent is small and impoverished. We're afraid we can't support two young ladies.

After they arrived: Miss Yun Tao, please don't leave! Surely we can work something out!

With her excellent cooking skills, Yun Tao managed to establish herself at Guanyin Convent. Its vegetarian dishes gradually became something of a local specialty, drawing many wealthy families from the capital.

Even the dilapidated little convent began to prosper, with incense offerings pouring in.

From a small convent outside the capital to Sweetwater Lane in the inner city, Yun Tao used her skills to make a good life for herself.

Duck breast with rouge sauce, fish with pickled cabbage in golden broth, braised fish head with crab roe, old duck stewed with dried bamboo shoots, chicken braised with five-fingered fig root...

Later, Yun Tao took a liking to the third son of the Wei family from Jiming Village at the foot of the mountain. He was tall, strong, and a hard worker, so she simply married him into her family.

The bustling city of Bianjing in the Great Song: shrewd street matchmakers, a chubby little novice sneaking snacks, a butcher's wife at the market, and a musician holding a pipa in the pleasure quarter...

(Half farming, half business. An alternate-history Great Song setting. Some ingredients that didn't exist at the time may appear, so please don't nitpick.)

Theme: Stay positive, be independent and self-reliant