The Young Widow’s Culinary Rise at the Imperial College

[Food + Business + Family Life + Making It Big] Just graduated, food blogger Gao Mingxia opens her eyes and finds she's transmigrated, becoming a young widow who has been drugged with an aphrodisiac. She grabs a random man to help her find an antidote, but afterward he clings to her like a ghost, insisting that he has to take responsibility. The man needs a place to stay, while Gao Mingxia needs a live-in son-in-law to keep the house her late husband left her. They hit it off and decide on the spot to make him her husband! But everything in the capital costs money, and Gao Mingxia is penniless. Looking at her handsome, sickly son-in-law, she's nearly pulling her hair out with worry. Luckily, the Imperial College is right next door. Watching the students coming and going every day, Gao Mingxia's eyes light up. She knows exactly what college students love to eat! The very next day, she sets up a snack stall outside her home: juicy crispy sausages, golden crispy pancakes with savory sauce, addictive spicy rabbit, soft and sweet lotus root with osmanthus, and spicy hot pot in rich bone broth... Every day, the Imperial College students are tormented by the aromas wafting through the air. Though they pretend to resist, they all rush to Gao Mingxia's stall. Coins: +1, +2, +3... Gao Mingxia makes a fortune, while the students all eat until they're round as balls. Eventually, people all over the capital notice something strange. Since when had the elegant, handsome students of the Imperial College gotten so fat? They even have double chins! Hearing that the culprit is a delicious little snack stall, everyone comes to investigate, including officials from the imperial court. But what do they see? Why does the flirtatious son-in-law, who keeps calling the shopkeeper "wife," look more and more like the missing chief minister? Reader's Guide: 1. This is a cozy, lighthearted food story, mostly about running a business. There are no schemes or court intrigue, and anything of that sort is only mentioned in passing, so feel free to dive in. 2. The author's style is slow-paced and detailed, with lots of family life. 3. Three chapters a day before signing, six after. Theme: Don't lose heart or give up when faced with adversity.