The County Magistrate's Little Cook

[Scheduled to start in the second half of 2026]

Xue Suining transmigrates into a new world and suffers a sudden upheaval. To stay alive, she has no choice but to find a way to make a living.

One day, a new magistrate takes office in the local county yamen. With a new official comes a fresh start: the yamen is completely transformed, and they urgently need a skilled cook to run the public kitchen. Meals and lodging included.

Xue Suining, who has always excelled at cooking, rubs her hands together, eager to give it a try. Her chance has come!

*

Cui Du was once the pride of the heavens, but after getting caught up in court politics, he was demoted and sent away from the capital to Lanze County. The road ahead looked utterly bleak.

On his first day in office, before he even had time to brood, he faced his first problem: the yamen's public kitchen, which had been the target of countless complaints and had earned a terrible reputation. Everyone at the yamen complained bitterly that the food was impossible to swallow and demanded a complete overhaul. They were practically ready to go on strike if nothing changed.

So a notice seeking a new cook was posted at the yamen gates.

*

News of the new cook soon spread. The battered and beleaguered yamen staff all furrowed their picky brows, waiting to see just how good the young woman could be at cooking.

They kept up their scrutiny as spring brought salted pork soup with fresh bamboo shoots, qingtuan rice cakes, and sweet-and-sour mandarin fish; summer brought honey-glazed chicken wings and chilled lychee jelly; autumn brought sizzling pork tenderloin, chicken with shiitake mushrooms and chestnuts, and crispy pork belly; and winter brought candied hawthorns and fresh-meat guokui flatbreads, followed by fatty lamb slices swished in a copper hot pot and dipped in sesame sauce.

Season after season, year after year, they suddenly realized they could no longer do without their little cook.

So when they heard Xue Suining would be leaving the yamen next month, they all petitioned the magistrate to ask her to stay.

The usually taciturn Cui Du cleared his throat. "Miss Xue has personal matters to attend to and needs to take some time off."

"What matters?" everyone asked, confused.

The magistrate's face suddenly turned faintly red. "Her wedding."

Perhaps from the day they first met, she was destined to be the light in his gloomy life.

[Reading Guide]

1. One-on-one romance, one true pairing.

2. The setting is fictional, and all kinds of food and seasonings exist.

3. The dynasties and place names are fictional. Any resemblance to real ones is purely coincidental.

4. There are some mystery-investigation scenes.

Theme: The simple pleasures of everyday life are most precious.