At thirty, Fang Shutong was struck by an enormous stroke of luck: he unexpectedly awakened the spiritual spring inside his family's heirloom jade pendant.
Faced with a life as an overworked employee who could drop dead at any moment, he promptly handed in his resignation and packed up to return to his hometown.
Life in the countryside moved at a leisurely pace, with sunrises and sunsets and the warmth of everyday life. Fang Shutong farmed and raised children while making a fortune through food.
Before Grain Rain, Chinese toon shoots taste even better than lamb. He picked a handful, chilled them in the spiritual spring, and mixed them into a fragrant Chinese toon and tofu salad, its red and green colors bright and its flavor crisp and refreshing.
At the Dragon Boat Festival, he peeled back the green, fragrant leaves of a zongzi to reveal a filling of red dates and honey beans. The glutinous rice was soft and sweet, leaving a lingering fragrance on the palate.
Under the full moon of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the crabs were plump with roe. He steamed a pot of hairy crabs nourished by the spiritual spring and served them with ginger-vinegar sauce, its sweet tang bringing out their tender freshness.
In the depths of winter, snow covered the branches and water froze outside, while steam billowed indoors. They sat around the stove and enjoyed a pot of spicy, savory beef hot pot, eating until their foreheads glistened with sweat and every trace of cold was gone.
Before long, the dilapidated old house, once completely destitute, was torn down, and an inn was built in its place.
Flowers bloomed and faded in the front courtyard, while clouds drifted past the window. A fat cat leaped onto the rose trellis and rolled amid the heady fragrance. A black dog splashed through the shallow, burbling stream and pounced on squirrels leaping through the woods.
Little by little, the village came alive. More visitors arrived, and everything began to improve.
*
Fang Shutong never imagined that the man with whom he had accidentally spent a night years ago would come knocking, claiming to be the twins' biological father.
And he had the nerve to demand that Fang Shutong take responsibility...
Reader's guide:
1. The protagonist is a nurturing dad; the love interest is younger and takes the pursuing role.
2. Pregnancy and childbirth; twins, fathered by the love interest.
3. The protagonist has an ex, and this is not a story where both leads have no past relationships.
4. Domestic family life and food-focused farming, with occasional melodrama and the odd awful character popping up. Readers, please brace yourselves.
Theme: The most important things in life are food and drink
