I Returned to My Hometown to Take the Imperial Exam!

I didn't get into a car accident, get electrocuted, or even work myself to death, but somehow I transmigrated in the most spectacular fashion.

One piece of good news, and one piece of bad news.

The good news is that Yang Yin transmigrated back to his hometown, known today by the nickname Big Dongzhou, and called Changzhou Prefecture in ancient times.

The bad news is that he transmigrated to an unknown dynasty. The reason is unclear. The future is even more uncertain.

Life is hard for a farming family. Even eating an egg can set the whole household squawking.

Fortunately, Yang Yin was a top student and a workaholic in his modern life. There's always a way around a problem, so he rolled up his sleeves and got to work.

First, he showed off his intelligence in front of the family patriarch, earning his grandmother's approval. At last, he could start learning to read.

Study, enter school, earn honors, gain wealth, and become a winner in life!

Wake up. Stop dreaming.

This is a land of scholars with no equal in the southeast. Anyone who's survived Jiangsu's college entrance exams should understand.

And the imperial exams are ten times more competitive than those.

But this ancient world is nothing like he imagined.

As soon as he entered the city, he saw someone posting a notice to find a cat.

Oh, an ancient cat lover.

The cat's name was Bai Xue Gu, which was rather pretty.

Huh? Is that a little door built just for the cat?

You ancients are pretty advanced.

He tried to follow the example of countless transmigrators before him and copy books to earn some extra money.

He hadn't expected Changzhou to be so devoted to literature, with most bookshops using printing presses instead of manual copying.

But hey, kid, have you ever heard of tabloids?

No! Yang Yin was copying tabloids and losing his mind.

Can you really just make up stories about a second-rank court official like that?

And the war isn't even over yet, but you've already published a fictionalized account of it? Talk about keeping up with current events!

And so, through peaceful days and chaotic ones,

step by step, Yang Yin made his way from a small village to the capital.

The Night and the Otherworldly Restaurant: A Day in the Life of Running a Restaurant is also being serialized.

Qin Yue transmigrated.

She ended up deep in a remote forest where not even birds would poop, and got bound to a restaurant-management System. Well, birds did poop there, but who could run a restaurant in such a desolate place? There wasn't a single person in sight.

What? The System was bound to the wish of the person who logged in?

There's no way I wished to be in such a remote place... Okay... I do hate crowded places.

But there's no way I wished to open a... Hmm... Fine, I did say when I was a kid that my dream was to grow up and sell grilled sausages from a street stall.

Come to think of it, running a little restaurant deep in the forest might, possibly, maybe...

But it's still completely ridiculous!

[Some uninvited guests are about to visit your restaurant]

Wait, isn't this supposed to be a food and restaurant-management System?

And what's that noise coming from the cupboard?

Huh?

A tiny little thing, with pointy ears and a pair of big, watery puppy-dog eyes.

"My name is Ceylia. I'm, I'm a half-elf."

So cute...

But...

A half-elf? So this is a Western fantasy setting?

"Miss, are you a witch?"

"Huh? No... Why do you ask?"

"Because I heard witches like to avoid people and live alone. And witches hate children, especially, especially talkative kids like me."

Hmm... Qin Yue stroked her chin. A terrifying forest, fearsome monsters, a rundown restaurant, herself living far from everyone, and her dislike of being disturbed.

"Well, you're not wrong."

"W-Waaah, don't eat me! I don't taste good!"

"Oh, little half-elf, don't cry. How about I treat you to something tasty?"

Forest hunters love cream cakes. Dwarves break into impromptu song and dance after drinking malt beer. Elves adore smashed cucumbers, and when they're in a good mood, they'll play an elven tune on a leaf...

[Side Quest Unlocked: The Cult of the Mad Totem]

[Side Quest Unlocked: The Withering World Tree of the Elves]

What? Qin Yue was completely baffled.

Why does a restaurant-management System have [Spells], [Weapons], and [Buildings] in its exchange shop?

And I was just trying to run a little restaurant. How did I suddenly become a wanted criminal?

And these [Prestige] and [Descent] features... Why do they seem a little off?

No idea.

But if I don't understand, I don't understand. I might as well think about what to have for dinner.

Remember, this is a story about food and running a restaurant.

[Today's Dinner Special: Stir-Fried Dusk Wolf]

[Today's Special Drink: Bloodred Chirp Fruit]

[Limited quantity, first come, first served!]

Theme: Keep striving even in adversity.