The Beauty by the Bridge: A Little Shop in the Sixties

Please add "The Little Canteen Cook at the Steelworks in the Sixties" and "A Beauty's Striving Days in the Gobi Desert [Fifties]" to your reading lists.

Blurb:

Gu Taojin was born into the body of a character in a story set in the early years of the People's Republic. One day, the head of the supply and marketing cooperative schemed to send her to run a little shop at a supply depot in a great canyon.

Everyone advised Gu Taojin not to go. Only her childhood friend, Qu Qianli, showed his support by packing a bundle and heading to the depot shop with her.

She never expected that Qu Qianli, who had been so cold toward her and barely spoke to her before, would be the one to protect her.

Qu Qianli said he was a peddler and carried goods around every day anyway. The two of them could look out for each other.

Later, Gu Taojin realized that Qu Qianli really did take good care of her. The canyon depot where they worked also became lively, with Gu Taojin and Qu Qianli keeping it well stocked with all kinds of goods.

Together, Gu Taojin and Qu Qianli scattered the seeds of flowering trees and willows around the area, raised ducklings, fattened hens and piglets, grew leafy greens, and caught fish in the river.

By day, Gu Taojin enjoyed watching the clouds glow at sunset while Qu Shanguang delivered goods to the commune. At night, Qu Shanguang came home beneath the stars and moon, bringing her a camellia.

A peaceful, simple life together was all she could ever ask for.

Blurb for "The Little Canteen Cook at the Steelworks in the Sixties":

Yu Shuiyan was the daughter of the steelworks director. It wasn't until she turned eighteen that she remembered she had been born into this world from the womb.

Now she had two choices. One was to pack her things and go to university, only to be sent down to the countryside as a sent-down youth a couple of years later.

The other was to return to the steelworks, get a job, and find someone to marry, because she really didn't want to go to some remote village.

Yu Shuiyan chose the second option.

Just as expected, she returned to the steelworks and had her father arrange a job for her in the kitchen. Then he was sent down to the countryside.

Her mother went with him to look after her husband, entrusting Yu Shuiyan and her two younger maternal cousins to Master Liang, the head chef at the steelworks.

Master Liang was a fellow apprentice of Yu Shuiyan's mother. They had both learned their cooking skills from the same master.

Yu Shuiyan promptly became Master Liang's apprentice, giving her a foothold at the steelworks.

But before long, Master Liang would have to take an iron wok and head off to support the Third Front.

Before he left, Master Liang was especially worried about Yu Shuiyan's marriage prospects.

He introduced her to two men.

One was the son of Master Liang's ex-wife. This man, Meng Shanguang, was good-looking and sturdily built.

But he had a whole family to support: a long line of younger siblings and nephews. And he wasn't even related to Master Liang by blood.

The other was Master Liang's sister's son. He was handsome and proper, and about to graduate from university as a prospective technician.

Everyone in the steelworks housing compound thought Yu Shuiyan would certainly choose the technician.

But no one expected her to marry Meng Shanguang instead!

People in the compound thought Yu Shuiyan was in for a hard time.

Her future husband's family had so many children, and she also had to support her mother's two younger cousins. With that many people, the family would surely struggle to make ends meet, and the house would be a constant madhouse.

But no one expected Master Liang to give Yu Shuiyan the head chef position in the steelworks canteen before he left.

Yu Shuiyan rose to become the canteen's top chef. Every day she took on a few apprentices, who followed her around and waited on her hand and foot. With her culinary skills, Yu Shuiyan became their one and only big sister.

Meanwhile, Meng Shanguang, now Yu Shuiyan's husband, did the laundry, cooked, and looked after the children at home, managing to keep the whole long line of kids in reasonably good order.

Meng Shanguang also started out as a blacksmith at the steelworks. He told himself he had to work hard and get ahead so he wouldn't embarrass his wife.

Besides, Yu Shuiyan was the head chef, so she could bring home some food and ingredients from the canteen. Not a single child in the family went without, and they could all eat their fill.

Later, the prospective university graduate and technician was also sent down to the countryside, and Yu Shuiyan breathed a sigh of relief.

She also knew that one day he would abandon his wife and child in the countryside, return to the factory, and try to seduce her, the director's daughter.

But Yu Shuiyan would never give him the chance. She would just let her husband, Meng Shanguang, deal with him while she enjoyed her peaceful life.

*

#The heroine just wants to cook in the canteen#

#By day, the hero has to do laundry, cook, look after the kids, do housework, and earn extra money. At night, he has to study skills and knowledge so his wife won't suddenly decide she can't stand him and kick him out#

Blurb for "A Beauty's Striving Days in the Gobi Desert [Fifties]":

As soon as Wu Jiuzhi transmigrated to the 1950s, she took her whole family to seek refuge with relatives.

She had originally intended to go to the city, but they took a wrong turn and were captured.

Fortunately, someone rescued them. She heard that he had gone to the Gobi Desert to reclaim wasteland.

Wu Jiuzhi thought love at first sight wasn't unreasonable. She followed him not to repay her debt, but to stay by his side for good. If he ever got into trouble, she'd save him once, and then they'd be even.

After becoming one of them, Wu Jiuzhi came up with plenty of ideas.

She worked alongside them, digging cave dwellings in the Gobi Desert, cooking for them, building houses, planting and harvesting wheat, building reservoirs, planting and picking cotton, and growing and harvesting fruit.

She also treated sick people and gave them blood transfusions, tended injured animals, and taught literacy classes. She earned plenty of merit.

Later, Wu Jiuzhi ran into her paternal uncle, who had been away from home for many years. He had no children, so he wanted to adopt Wu Jiuzhi as his daughter.

Her uncle told Wu Jiuzhi she ought to find someone to look after her, and introduced her to a capable man who worked under him: Mu Qinlai, someone who never backed down from the challenge of building up the country.

Wu Jiuzhi: People look different after a few days apart.

Mu Qinlai: Should I repay you for saving my life by marrying you?

Her uncle gave them his blessing: May you live together in harmony for a hundred years.

*

After Wu Jiuzhi was rescued by Mu Qinlai, she asked around everywhere to find out where he had gone. When she finally found him, he said he didn't know her anymore.

Many years later, Mu Qinlai reminisced about the past with his grandchildren.

He said, "I've saved more than thirty girls in my life. At first, they all said they wanted to marry me. I played dumb and said I had a bad memory. Later, I introduced them to my relatives, friends, buddies, and neighbors..."

"But your grandma was different. She never said she wanted to marry me. Instead, she said she'd come to be my superior, bully me, exploit me, and make my life a winding road, while somehow letting me keep overtaking people around every bend..."

"And what happened after that?" The children gazed at him eagerly, wanting to hear more of Grandpa's wisdom.

"After that, she became the top boss of our family. If she tells me to stand, I wouldn't dare sit. If she sits, I wouldn't dare lie down..."

Wu Jiuzhi had happened to hear all of this.

Wu Jiuzhi, smiling faintly: "Comrade Mu Qinlai, I'll let you have one chance to rephrase that."

Theme: Keep striving in life, and strengthen your sense of purpose and belonging