The Tofu Beauty Is Already Taken

[Romance Development] [Mutual Pining]

A timid, pitiful pup of a boy who grows into a boyfriend with an overwhelming protective streak VS a quiet, kind older woman who doesn't realize she's in love

Gu Qingqing, an agricultural sciences student, goes to the countryside to do field research for her graduation thesis. She dies of heatstroke and transmigrates into the body of a poor peasant girl in an ancient village who sells tofu. Not only is she terminally ill, but the villagers regard her as a bringer of bad luck and everyone despises her.

At home, she has nothing but a shabby tofu workshop and a little brat the original owner took in, who constantly clamors for polished white rice.

Gu Qingqing: ??

Other people transmigrate into royalty. Why did she end up a poor, unlucky nobody with a family to support?

After despairing, Gu Qingqing still decides to make the best of things.

She takes up a hoe, clears some land, and plants soybeans.

Using modern methods, she turns plain old tofu into all sorts of delicacies.

Frozen tofu, tofu slushies, tofu pastries, tofu ice cream, stinky tofu...

She transforms the tofu in her hands into all kinds of creations, every one of them a novelty to the villagers.

Gu Qingqing becomes famous for making excellent tofu. She goes from being universally loathed to universally loved, earning the title of Tofu Beauty.

As her tofu business grows, people become increasingly curious about her love life. Many travel hundreds of miles just to catch a glimpse of the Tofu Beauty's smile.

The area outside the tofu workshop is packed every day, with people lining up in long queues. But strangely, not one of them catches the Tofu Beauty's eye.

The villagers quietly ask Gu Qingqing, "We heard you've already got someone. Who is it?"

Gu Qingqing smiles and shakes her head, ignoring the rumors.

All she can think about is selling tofu, earning money, and finally being able to give the little brat at home a bowl of white rice with every meal...

A little scene:

One evening, Gu Qingqing makes rice as usual and waits for the little brat to come home for dinner. But when he lifts the lid off the pot, he looks at her with a wounded expression and says, "I... want tofu."

Gu Qingqing: ...

Before she can react, the little brat, now a head taller than her, steps closer and cups her face.

Then she hears him whisper a heartfelt confession in her ear: "Can I eat... your tofu, Big Sis?"

Gu Qingqing: ?!

Reader's Guide: 1. Set in a fictional world. A slow-burn romance that develops over time.

2. The leads are five years apart in age.

Content Warnings: 1. The two leads are slow to warm up to each other. Slow, slow, slow, to say it three times.

2. This isn't a conventional food-and-farming story. It focuses on building something from nothing and the leads' everyday growth.

3. The early chapters focus on the plot, while the later ones focus on the romance.

Theme: Live well and keep striving.