Chang'an Little Eatery

Coming soon: "The Little Farm Girl's Guide to Farming and Prosperity." Blurb at the end. "The County Office Canteen" is currently updating. Please add it to your favorites, my lovely readers!

[Cheerful beauty x gruff but sincere] A lighthearted, sweet Gourmet story!

[Story Blurb]

Qiao Zhao, a young chef from Dunhuang, takes first place in a cooking competition in Chang'an. She turns down an offer from a famous restaurant and opens a small eatery in Chang'an, specializing in holiday foods.

Wontons on the first day of the first lunar month, bean cakes on the seventh, fried sweet rings for the Lantern Festival, spring rolls with seasonal vegetables for the Shangsi Festival, apricot blossom and wheat porridge for the Hanshi Festival, sesame pastries for Qingming, lotus-leaf rice dumplings for the Dragon Boat Festival, and moon-viewing soup for the Mid-Autumn Festival...

Think that's all? No!

There's also chicken with scallion vinegar, jade dew dumplings, golden milk pastries in a single steamer, grilled meat with golden bells, fish cooked in milk, imperial rice fit for the Queen Mother, roasted leg of lamb, roasted lamb ribs, whole roasted lamb... She's a master of frying, stir-frying, boiling, and deep-frying.

Before long, Qiao Zhao has gathered a huge following of big spenders.

Li Xuandu snorts. "All Qiao Zhao cares about is money."

Later, a handsome young scholar with a gentle disposition comes to the eatery. He leaves generous tips with his meals and sends congratulatory gifts for its opening.

Li Xuandu is frantic. "Zhaozhao can only have me in her heart! Boo-hoo."

Ending: Happy ending

[Coming Soon: "The Little Farm Girl's Guide to Farming and Prosperity"]

A heartwarming farming life for Jiang Duiwan, a little farm girl who transmigrated, and Meng Mingqin, a teacher.

Firewood, rice, oil, salt. Three meals a day through all four seasons.

Cattle, sheep, geese, ducks. A home filled with everyday warmth.

Music, chess, calligraphy, painting. Poetry, wine, flowers, and tea.

Snow flurries swirl outside on a winter's day, while inside the house is warm and cozy.

On the table is a pot of rice made from the season's harvest, rich with the scent of wheat, and a bowl of slow-cooked whole lamb soup, milky-white and savory. They are joined by fish-fragrant shredded pork, sour, spicy, sweet, and salty; tender, melt-in-your-mouth braised pork; braised eggplant, crisp on the outside and tender within; and sweet-and-sour tomatoes with eggs. Jiang Duiwan has just finished setting out lunch when Meng Mingqin comes in after gathering firewood.

They change clothes, wash their hands, and sit together at the table.

Meng Mingqin serves Shen Duiwan a bowl of hot lamb soup. "Four dishes and a soup, for my wife's good health."

Jiang Duiwan gives Meng Mingqin a piece of braised pork. "May we grow rich and have our storehouses filled with fish and rice."

The young couple smile at each other over their bowls. "Pop!" A chestnut bursts open in the fire, filling the room with a sweet fragrance.

Theme: Strive to improve