Zhu Shuangxi accidentally dies from overwork when her small stir-fry shop goes viral. When she opens her eyes again, she discovers that she has transmigrated into another body.
The good news: she's alive again. The bad news: she has no golden finger. The even worse news: she's a beggar living in a ruined temple.
Taking the attitude that she might as well make the most of being here, Zhu Shuangxi decides to start earning money by setting up a breakfast stall.
Just as she's worrying about how to get started, a passing young nobleman tosses her a silver ingot.
Lian Weixi: "Begging isn't easy. Take this and buy yourself a few meat buns."
"I'm not a beggar!" Zhu Shuangxi feels the weight of the silver in her hand and immediately changes her tune. "I... I am a beggar."
With her Jiangxi home-style cooking, Zhu Shuangxi keeps refreshing the menu at her restaurant every day, drawing crowds of diners.
Before long, Shuangxi Restaurant has become the canteen of the border town: in the morning, people eat fried glutinous rice balls and skyward firecrackers; at noon, pig intestines stir-fried with pickled fruit; in the evening, sweet roast duck; and late at night, sizzling charcoal-grilled meat.
One day, a masked person comes to the restaurant. Zhu Shuangxi recognizes him at a glance as her angel investor and serves him a plate of fried glutinous rice balls.
He doesn't recognize her. Money can hurt feelings, so there's no point bringing it up.
The day bandits ambush them on the road, Lian Weixi is there too. Zhu Shuangxi tells him to run with her, but then hears a bandit ask the second-in-command where he's taking the girl. The man beside her turns around and shouts, "Mind your own business!"
Zhu Shuangxi's mouth twitches. She'd been planning to come clean, but... this man actually takes her back to her restaurant that very night.
Well, you have to admit, this bandit is a pretty nice guy.
When Lian Weixi appears again, he isn't wearing a mask. Zhu Shuangxi calmly accepts his request to order food, and the two communicate only through notes.
Gradually, the slips of paper get bigger and bigger. Lian Weixi carefully considers every word of his replies, taking more care than he ever did when reviewing memorials.
The bandit chief wants to entrust his stronghold to Lian Weixi and help him find a wife to settle him down.
But the emperor's decree of surrender has yet to arrive, so Lian Weixi has no choice but to agree.
Looking at the familiar face beneath the red bridal veil, Lian Weixi finds, for the first time in his life, that speaking feels like putting his tongue to a hot stove.
Lian Weixi: "This lie seems to have grown bigger than a fried glutinous rice ball. Is it too late to confess now?"
Zhu Shuangxi: "You think I wouldn't recognize you with a mask on? I'm not blind. Go ahead, start making your excuses."
Theme: The world may be falling apart, but there will always be people trying to mend it.
