A new wedding-planning shop has opened on Locust Blossom Lane.
On the very first day, Cao Manzhi’s first job was anything but auspicious.
The young woman booking the banquet said, “The wedding’s off, but the banquet will go ahead.”
Eight tables of guests had already been invited, and the jewelry borrowed without permission had become a gift from the groom’s family. Everyone urged the young woman to think of both families’ reputations first. Cao Manzhi only asked, “What do you really want to do about this banquet?”
She can arrange seating, balance the books, and coordinate staff. She can also put the questions no one wants to ask on the table at every celebration. Who makes the decisions? Who pays? Who takes responsibility? Does the person at the heart of it even want this? Every detail has to be made clear.
Ding Shao, who lives at the entrance to the lane, is the wedding shop’s most useful temporary clerk.
He writes beautifully and handles everything with care. In front of other people, he can take any problem in stride. But in front of Cao Manzhi, he’s afraid of mice, wants her to save him a meal, and waits for her to praise him when he’s done working.
Cao Manzhi has always assumed he’s just a clerk from a wealthy family who occasionally comes by to help at the shop.
That is, until two matchmaking meetings fall on the same day at the Riverside Teahouse.
Ding Erlang, having entered the wrong private room, tries to buy her space with silver. She throws him out, money and all. Later, he comes back with twenty taels to book a coming-of-age banquet, but can’t explain who the hosts are, where it will be held, or who will be responsible.
Cao Manzhi still has just one answer: “I won’t take this job.”
She doesn’t yet know that Ding Shao is no ordinary clerk, and that Ding Erlang is none other than the palace’s most talked-about Second Prince.
One asks her what she wants to do whenever trouble arises; the other is used to making everyone do things his way. One hides his feelings in her ledgers; the other knows he’ll be turned away, yet keeps coming back to ask again.
Cao Manzhi makes sure everyone else’s celebrations are arranged with perfect clarity, but gradually realizes that matchmaking, rumors, and unsettled marriage arrangements from the palace have all reached the doorstep of her shop.
This time, she has to tally more than just the money.
She also has to figure out who truly respects her, and who is willing to give the choice back to her.
Reading notes:
1. One main couple, Cao Manzhi and Ding Shao, with a happy ending. The Second Prince, Ding Heng, is a forceful second male lead.
2. A historical wedding-planning story that runs alongside secret identities. The female lead always has the final say in her career and love life.
3. The overall tone is light and warm. The palace storyline affects the business and relationships, but this is not a palace-intrigue or restoration-conspiracy novel.
Theme: Listen carefully to what the people involved truly want, and make your own life a lively one you understand.
