I Opened an IKEA in the Northern Song Dynasty

My upcoming novel, Is This What Automatic Parking Is Like?, is on my profile.

Eighteen years ago, the honest and simple Xiao Yutao was born into a farming family.

Her parents were kind, her siblings got along, and there was always enough to eat. Life was good.

Then a fortune-teller's prophecy left her family in decline and their reputation in tatters.

Her former husband died a violent death, and she was left with nothing. Just as she was racking her brains for a way forward,

Chen Jichuan showed up to propose, leading a cow by the reins.

The villagers dropped their smoky stove fires and all came to watch. “You want to marry this ill-fated woman who brings death to her husbands?”

Xiao Yutao: “You want to go into business with me?”

Who would have thought their life together would keep getting better?

One was a master craftsman, the other a gifted painter.

Xiao Yutao knew the past and the present and had an original touch. Her antique and modern woodworking shop soon became the talk of the town.

They repaired furniture and sold lumber, eventually taking their business all the way to Bianjing.

“Mrs. Chen, since your home is small, why not get this folding table? Perfect for entertaining at home, with room for everyone!”

“Uncle Li, last time you bought a red plum high table. How about pairing it with a set of moon-white chairs? Red and white together, like plum blossoms against snow, elegant and refined!”

A pretty shopkeeper weaves among the various furnishings, smiling brightly and handling everything with ease.

“Have you heard? The woman who runs Xiao's shop is a jinx.”

“Don't talk nonsense. She's the first woman to head a trade guild in decades. She's clearly a lucky star.”

Short scene 1:

Chen Jichuan has a secret.

The first time he met Xiao Yutao, he was clutching the bump on his head and crying, so he didn't get a good look at the heroine who rescued him.

The second time, at his grandfather's funeral, she offered him a sticky piece of candy.

The third time, why was she so furtive and timid?

He secretly swore to cherish and protect her.

One day, the family's shovel broke.

Xiao Yutao sat off to the side, looking glum.

Chen Jichuan saw her and hurried over to comfort her. “Taotao, look, we've used this shovel for more than ten years. If it suddenly broke in the field, we'd lose a whole day of farm work at best, and at worst, it might injure my leg. Isn't it better that it broke here at home?”

With red eyes, Xiao Yutao looked up. “Do you really mean that?”

Chen Jichuan nodded emphatically. His beautiful wife finally smiled. “You're so good to me, husband. I'll make you honey rice cakes!”

An old friend saw them and shook his head, teasing him:

“Don't you get tired of indulging her like this every day?”

Chen Jichuan stood up and brushed off his pants.

“Ordinary men are ignorant. No wonder they have no wife at home.”

The fruit trees in the yard still need pests picked off, fertilizer, pruning, and watering. How much more care does a wife need?

Short scene 2:

At night, Xiao Yutao finished her accounts, rubbed her shoulders, and gently lay down on the edge of the bed.

A scorching hand wrapped around her waist. Xiao Yutao shrank back and was just about to push him away.

But then she met Chen Jichuan's two dewy eyes. He complained, “Wifey, you haven't paid me any attention all day.”

Xiao Yutao's heart softened, and she leaned down to give him a quick kiss.

Who knew he would take that as an invitation to go further, pressing close and holding her tightly in his arms?

Xiao Yutao was about to protest and pinch his lower back, but he caught both her hands.

His compliant demeanor vanished, and Chen Jichuan's eyes turned seductive.

He pressed his lips close to her ear, his breath scorching:

“Wifey, please show me some love.”

Notes:

1. The male lead has never been with anyone before.

2. Set in a fictional world inspired by Song dynasty institutions. Please don't nitpick the history.

3. The heroine starts out in the village, gaining experience, and later moves to the city to open a home furnishings shop!

4. The plot is mostly everyday life, with a slow, steady pace. Come along for an easy stroll and some small, satisfying meals!

A preview of my upcoming 1v1 sweet romance, After Automatic Parking Crashes Into My Cold, Aloof Neighbor. Blurb below!

With a new car at home, Lan Ting follows the automatic parking instructions and smashes one of the taillights.

Three days later, the other taillight meets the same fate.

Lan Ting gets out of the car and stares in stunned disbelief at the man stepping out of the car opposite.

Six-foot-one, lean and toned, with every line of his upper body outlined by a pinstriped crew-neck T-shirt...

“Let's go through insurance!” The man's cold voice, tinged with annoyance, interrupts Lan Ting's daydream.

Lan Ting hurriedly holds out her phone. “Can I add you on WeChat?”

Jiang Yan raises an eyebrow. Before he can refuse, he hears a hesitant voice.

“Um, did you also break one of your taillights a couple of days ago?”

Jiang Yan: ?

A brief silence passes between them.

“Let's go through insurance together!”

Lan Ting lowers her head even further and raises her hand higher, displaying her WeChat QR code in front of Jiang Yan.

She thinks she hears a quiet laugh.

“Take a picture of this phone number. They'll come deal with it tomorrow.”

Lan Ting freezes. Oh, so he won't add me!

I didn't crash into you just to get your WeChat, you know? It's not like I'm actually bad at driving.

How can a man be so full of himself?

Jiang Yan deals with this woman and her clumsy ploy, then turns to leave.

Suddenly, he hears her slow but clear request from behind him. “Um... could you help me back into the parking space?”

Jiang Yan narrows his eyes. “You can't park any kind of car?”

But when he sees the slender woman, her face red and flustered,

he stops in his tracks as if under a spell.

Back at home, Jiang Yan rubs his flat stomach and stares at the clock, already showing eleven. He wonders:

Why did I spend two hours teaching an idiot how to back into a parking space?

Theme: Encouragement is to growth what sunshine is to all things.