Making Ends Meet by Teaching in the Northern Song Countryside

My next novel, Red Silk Fragrance, is a historical romance. Please show it lots of support!

A commoner woman on her fourth marriage x a prince on his second.

On the sixth day of the third month, the news spread through Yaoshui County, Qingzhou: The shameless daughter of the Wei family barber shop on Tiger Skin Alley is back!

She married a wealthy merchant at sixteen, ran away with a man at eighteen, then her husband died on the road to exile. She returned to her hometown barefoot and in chains. The neighbors whispered that she surely wouldn't live to see the end of spring.

But the next morning, when the barber shop opened, Wei Yinhong sat behind the counter in mourning clothes, smiling brightly.

"Would you like a shave, sir?"

She sat behind the counter for half a month, with gossip in her ears and hooligans shouting at the entrance.

With no customers coming in, Wei Yinhong could only stare at the tavern across the river.

A man sat by the window, looking solemn as he drank alone. A fishing rod rested beside his seat.

Wei Yinhong thought, These days, even fishermen have more free time than barbers.

Then one day, when the hooligans' insults grew too vile, the fisherman suddenly burst through the door and kicked one of them flying.

He turned and stepped inside, his voice as cold and heavy as his face. "Madam, I'd like a shave."

Wei Yinhong: So fishermen can do that, too...

Later, he became a regular, and she got used to seeing his face.

One day, while she was shaving him, a troop of armored soldiers suddenly rushed to the entrance and fell to their knees in front of him.

"We pay our respects to Your Highness!"

Yinhong's hand holding the razor trembled. What other secrets are you keeping from me?

Little scene:

Yinhong: I've been married four times.

Prince: I've been married twice. We're even.

Yinhong: There's someone else in my heart.

Prince: From now on, I'll take their place.

Yinhong: I'm bad luck for husbands.

Prince: ...

Reader's guide:

* A grassroots heroine out to make money x a prince who's always one step from losing his temper

* The heroine has a complicated romantic past and several marriages. Please skip this if that bothers you.

Theme: What doesn't kill me will only make me stronger.

Story blurb:

Fang Linling, a young nurse formerly named Wen Xiaobei, gets a time-travel device while out shopping. It lets her transmigrate to any era and back four times.

Well, if she has it, she might as well use it. So she does.

Time: Northern Song dynasty. Place: A battered boat. Identity: The niece of a down-on-his-luck poet, and an older unmarried woman.

She looks around. The only people with her are a paralyzed uncle, a sobbing aunt, a four-year-old child, and an empty purse.

Linling: This is a tough start...

To earn enough to get by, Linling takes her uncle's calling card to a school run by his pen pal, applies for a job, and lands a position teaching poetry and prose.

On her first day at work, Linling vows to herself: The moment I've earned a month's wages, I'm running away. No one can stop me!

After one month, Linling: The moment I put that obnoxious old male colleague in his place, I'm quitting. No one can stop me!!

After two months, Linling: The moment I've tamed that rich official's brat of a student, I'm quitting. And I won't need to get my cab fare reimbursed by the school!!!

After three months, Linling: Some students are sick and don't want to study. The moment I get back to the modern day, bring them antibiotics and snacks, and help them out, I'm running away. Anyone who stops me can answer to my whole family!!!!

After four months, Linling's uncle has recovered and hobbles into the school with a cane. Beneath a pine tree, he spots a handsome young man leading a group of fresh-faced boys in reciting the Three Hundred Tang Poems.

Her uncle makes his way over, trembling. "Linling, when are we going home..."

Linling: Well... You see... (scratches her head)

* A cheerful historical exam-school story about a close-knit family, following the day-to-day life of a Song dynasty prep class for the imperial examinations. School life, an ensemble cast, farming, and a little food and mystery-solving. It takes its time. The leads fall in love after spending a long time together. The male lead is the purest boy in web-novel history, a blushing, studious sweetheart. The female lead is a worldly veteran (or so it seems, haha).

* The age-old trope of a woman disguising herself as a man. This trope is a must because there were no female teachers at Song dynasty academies. When the heroine is teaching, the male lead is just a well-behaved student.

* Many side characters have their own storylines. The secondary couple is a poor young man and the daughter of a prime minister. There are no NPCs, so readers who like NPCs, please move along!

* Updates daily, 3,000-5,000 words, with extra chapters at irregular intervals.

Upcoming story:

You by the River Cam

At the freshman welcome dinner at Cambridge University, Zhang Yu meets Zhao Haibei for the first time.

A face as if meticulously sculpted by God, haughty and cold, looking down on everyone.

Zhang Yu has already heard all about Zhao from his classmates: a legendary top student in the literature department at King's College, and the only student allowed to walk on the grass.

He's also a notorious playboy, with twelve exes to date, of any gender.

Faced with such a celebrated figure, Zhang Yu cautiously reaches out and tries to make conversation. "Nice to meet you, senior. I've been meaning to read The Lord of the Rings..."

Zhao Haibei glances at him, his gaze cold as frost.

"Sorry, we don't study children's literature."

At that moment, Zhang Yu swears to heaven that he'll never speak to Zhao Haibei again for as long as he lives.

Four months later, he becomes Zhao Haibei's thirteenth ex.

The flute's soft notes are for parting.

Ten years pass in the blink of an eye.

The only one who still makes my heart stir is you by the River Cam.

Reader's guide:

1. Both leads are top students. The gong studies at Cambridge, the shou at Tsinghua.

2. First-person narration.

3. The gong really is a playboy at first.

4. The gong is morally bankrupt, and the shou isn't much better. Neither of them is a good person. Readers with high moral standards for protagonists, please enter with caution. This story may be bad for your heart.

4. If you love melodrama, intense push and pull, and the groveling-after-a-breakup trope, come on in.

5. The first part of the story takes place at Cambridge University. Real locations and academic systems are used for the sake of the plot. The characters and events are entirely fictional, so please don't read too much into them.

Theme: Youth is beautiful. Treasure your time