The First Councillor's Wife: A Small-Town Life Journal

South of the Huai River lies Fangxia Town.

Clear hills and sparkling waters surround rows of village homes, where wisps of cooking smoke curl into the morning sky.

Fu Ying wakes up in the body of an orphan in town, with no parents and relatives pressuring her to marry. With no other choice, she marries a private tutor.

Only after the wedding does she learn that his elderly mother is frail and ill, his younger sister is still unmarried, and he himself is sickly, coughing whenever the wind blows.

The whole family lives on his meager teaching wages.

Luckily, she has a skill of her own.

On a scorching summer day, a new food stall opens on a street corner. Silky tofu pudding, fragrant with savory seasonings, and soft, chewy qingtuan and tofu pudding offer a refreshing escape from the heat...

By autumn, the graceful young woman who used to stand before the snack stall is gone, replaced by a proper little restaurant on the street.

The townsfolk are well fed and comfortable, with nothing much to do but think about what to eat.

Juicy soup dumplings burst with savory flavor, while slippery red wontons go down a treat.

Shrimp and fish rice noodles taste wonderfully fresh, and the lamb blood soup is rich and fragrant.

Try the crispy lamb head skewers, then have a taste of sweet taro and lotus root.

Anyone who has tried Madam Fu's cooking can't help praising it.

The little shop thrives and grows, expanding more and more with each passing day.

//

As time passes, the household gradually becomes more prosperous. Her younger sister grows taller, her frail and sickly mother-in-law is soon striding about with vigor, and even that sickly man gets better than ever.

Then one day, he suddenly tells her with a serious expression that the new emperor has ascended the throne and summoned him back to the capital to serve as chancellor. He also plans to secure an official title for Fu Ying.

Fu Ying gives a derisive snort. What a joke. Has the man burned his brain with a fever?

But now that she thinks of it...

What rank would she get? How much is the monthly stipend? Would there be any rewards?

//

When Shen Qingyan was demoted and sent back to town, he happened to meet his mentor's daughter in dire straits.

With no other choice, he asked her to marry him, but he had already decided that if she ever met someone she truly liked, he would provide the money for her wedding himself.

Years later, he accompanies her to a temple to offer incense. Though he has never believed in gods or Buddhas, he secretly writes on a red ribbon: May the world's hardships and dangers fall upon me, in exchange for spending every year of my life with her, sharing the spring breeze.

Reading Guide:

1. One-on-one romance, both leads' first relationship, happy ending.

2. A slow-paced slice-of-life story, mostly about everyday family matters and life in a small town. The career plot is not a major focus, but the heroine and her family will enjoy better and better lives.

3. ENFJ x INFJ, a healing heroine x a seemingly gentle but secretly calculating hero, a lighthouse couple.

4. A large ensemble cast, set in an alternate Song dynasty with extensive original worldbuilding.

References: Records of the Splendors of the Eastern Capital, Old Stories of Wulin, The Mountain Dweller's Food Manual, Shanghai's Old Flavors

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Here comes a little teaser (trotting over), and here's a coming-soon story ♡

Please add The Ming Shui Town Diaries to your favorites:

That spring, when she was five, amid fine rain and a light mist,

her mother led A Ying by the hand as they sailed back to town.

Her family lived in Ming Shui Town.

Flat plains stretched in every direction, and the Ming River wound its way around the town.

A Ying loved the river most of all.

At dawn, the banks filled with an early market. Fragrant steam poured from the bamboo baskets, and hot oil sizzled in the big iron wok of the man selling fried dough twists.

Sit down at any stall, and once the owner brings out a bowl of hot soup, one sip warms you from head to toe.

Her mother was a wonderful cook. Whenever the tailor shop was quiet, she'd make a few little dishes so delicious they had A Ying licking her lips: chicken steamed with plums, wontons with bamboo shoots and bracken, fish ball noodles, braised pork ribs...

Her father went out to sea with other people. Every few months, he brought back a basket of seafood from a nearby town, and the family always had more than they could finish for a while.

They all had things they needed to do.

She was the only one who could always quite justifiably take it easy.

* An alternate world with extensive original worldbuilding

* A food-themed slice-of-life story

Theme: May we all find the way of life we truly want.