Lady Shen's Snack Stall

Shen Xiucai of eastern Yunzhou City was nearly forty when he finally had a daughter, whom he named Shen Heyi.

His little girl was bright and clever, with a lovely face. Shen Xiucai and his wife treasured her and carefully taught her poetry, calligraphy, painting, needlework, and cooking. Their days were peaceful and happy.

Unfortunately, just after Shen Heyi turned eighteen, her parents fell gravely ill. The family's embroidery shop was shut down after its manager and employees sabotaged it, leaving them in debt.

Shen Heyi put aside her fine clothes and changed into plain ones. As a top chef from the modern world who had been reborn into this family, she had spent eighteen years lying flat as a homebody in this comfortable household. Now the family was in trouble, and she had to shoulder the burden.

Mint drinks, pearl milk tea, cherry cheese, bayberry drinks, iced cheese desserts...

Roujiamo, braised duck, mixed rice noodles, boneless spicy chicken, spring pancakes...

Hot and sour fish, crispy roast goose, red-braised lamb, grilled skirt steak, oxtail stew with duck feet...

From fragrant drinks and snacks to elaborate dishes, whether she was running a street stall or catering a banquet, she took every step steadily and with determination.

She gradually paid off the debt and bought back the Shen family's embroidery shop. Looking at the empty shell of a storefront, Shen Heyi waved her little hand and changed the word "Embroidery" to "Food," naming it the Shen Family Restaurant.

On his first day in Yunzhou, after being demoted to serve as a judicial aide, Xie Zhongshao, a Junior Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, knocked over a street stall selling fragrant drinks while chasing a pickpocket.

He planned to go apologize and pay for the damage the next day, but that evening, a young woman in plain clothes was already waiting outside the prefectural office.

She itemized every bit of the compensation, haggling over the smallest coin, speaking with honeyed words, and refusing to give an inch. He found it utterly unreasonable.

Later, he happened to try some fragrant drink a colleague brought him, a pearl milk tea, he thought. The woman was feisty, but she certainly knew her craft!

Later still, the delicious food she made gradually eased the knots in his heart. Perhaps staying on as a judicial aide in Yunzhou wouldn't be so bad!

P.S. This story is set in an imaginary world and includes plenty of invented details, so don't overanalyze it.

Theme: Work hard at life, and tomorrow will be better.