Back to the Countryside to Wield a Ladle [The Nineties]

Reborn in the 1990s, Zhou Shujing returned to a time when the factory had gone bankrupt. This time, she didn't swallow her anger and slink away. She stood up for herself, led the others in arguing their case, and got back the wages they were owed.

Zhou Shujing considered her options. The family's finances were only going to get worse, so she might as well go home now to see her parents, take them for a checkup, and fix the old house that was always leaking.

After that, she'd head south and make money!

There's always a way to make a living.

Life had been so hard in her previous life, yet she'd managed to start with a street stall and end up with a restaurant, a house, and a car. This life would only be better!

But she never imagined that on her first day home, instead of being greeted by the tearful joy of parents she hadn't seen for years, she'd be handed an apron.

"Thank goodness you're back! The cook we hired just bailed. Jing, you worked in a cafeteria, right? Your cousin's wedding banquet today is counting on you."

Zhou Shujing waved her hands in panic. "Uncle, wait!"

"I trust you. If you do a good job today, I'll have your aunt give you a big red packet afterward!"

Zhou Shujing looked at the thick, substantial red packet her uncle had pressed into her hand.

It was just cooking a big wedding banquet. She could do it!

After that, things quickly got out of hand. Zhou Shujing never thought about going south again. Before her house was even built, she had become the famous chef of the surrounding villages.

Sweet and sour ribs, crispy pork in batter

Pan-fried clams, fragrant crispy chicken

Crystal pork knuckle, soy-braised beef

Caramelized apples, white sugar cakes

If you enjoyed the food, come back again. Wait, this isn't a restaurant!

It's just a rural banquet.

If people couldn't hire Chef Zhou for their banquet, they'd rather wait. Anyone who'd tasted her cooking knew it was worth it. She had options for every budget, from grand delicacies to simple congee and vegetables. There was something for everyone, and it was all delicious.

Chef Zhou: the essential cook for every banquet!

*

[Ding!]

Just as Zhou Shujing finished cooking a wedding banquet and was about to enjoy the feast, a sound suddenly rang in her head.

"System?"

Zhou Shujing stared in shock at the voice that had suddenly appeared in her mind. She'd heard people talk about this in her previous life, but she never thought she'd be reborn and get a System, too.

[Greetings, esteemed Host. The Emotion Exchange System is at your service.]

It was a System that let her exchange emotion points for all kinds of ingredients.

Some time later, as she enjoyed all the delicious ingredients she'd exchanged for, along with the lush vegetable seedlings growing in the fields, Zhou Shujing's face flushed red as she took the initiative to ask the System, "Um, System, do you have any more missions lately? I can do them!"

Zhou Shujing knew that farming would become mechanized in the future, and that family farms would later take off in her hometown. But she hadn't expected the first person to support the idea when she brought it up to be her childhood friend, whom she'd rescued from the river.

Good eye!

*

"Third great-uncle, don't you recognize me? It's Dashun. It's been years, hasn't it? I hope you're keeping well."

"Fourth great-granduncle, it's me. Congratulations on your great-grandson."

"Great-uncle, congratulations! What? You don't recognize me? I'm the daughter of your brother's grandson's uncle's son-in-law's daughter. You even held me when I was little."

Old Chen suspected that he was getting older and his memory was failing. Did he really have so many relatives?

Oh no! These people were here for Chef Zhou!

Quick, protect today's twenty banquet tables!

A farming and food novel set in the 1990s, with actual farming.

Slow-paced, with a System that doesn't do much.

Theme: Delicious food comforts the heart