Shen's Sweet Soup Shop

[An early work, mainly focused on food and business. The romance is not very polished, so readers looking for romance-driven stories may want to skip it.]

Blurb:

Shen Chaoying wakes up in ancient times, having become a love-struck fool who ran away with a man after cutting ties with her family.

The scumbag cheated her out of all her money, leaving her destitute.

First, she takes the scumbag to court and gets back what little money is left.

Second, with a few coins as her startup capital, Shen Chaoying, who ran a milk tea shop in her previous life, decides to set up a stall selling sweet treats.

Double-skin milk pudding, almond tofu,

red bean soup, grass jelly,

sago dessert, shaved ice bowls,

mango pomelo sago, herbal jelly, lotus seed and lily bulb dessert, black sesame soup.

The people of Great Liang are utterly captivated. Once they catch sight of her treats, they can't tear themselves away.

Shen Chaoying's investment pays off, and she sets out on the road to great wealth.

Cui Xuan, heir to the Duke of Su, refuses the privilege of inheriting an official post, passes the imperial exam as a young man, and is proud and aloof by nature.

As magistrate of Chang'an County, he serves the public without favoritism and is known as the "Cold-Faced Yama."

Countless powerful men hate him so much their teeth ache, but they can't bring down a man with powerful backing, so they can only slink away in frustration.

From mysterious murder cases to difficult family disputes,

Cui Xuan personally handles everything, with an exceptionally wide range of responsibilities. Just the other day, he recovered the money stolen from a woman who had eloped.

Just as Cui Xuan assumes that woman must have seen the error of her ways and returned home to reconcile with her family, the busy young magistrate Cui rides past Shen's Sweet Shop, recently all the rage in Chang'an. The shop's fresh, sweet scent draws him right off his horse.

When he enters, he comes face to face with the delicate young woman who had cried her eyes out over a broken heart in court that day. Now she is counting money with a beaming smile.

According to local gossip, anyone with a grievance can go to Shen's and have a chance encounter with Magistrate Cui.

After a few too many chance encounters, the people of Chang'an look at the elegant Cui Xuan, then at the almond-eyed, peach-cheeked shopkeeper Shen, and feel they've discovered something extraordinary.

Shen Chaoying accidentally uncovers a secret: the Cold-Faced Yama has a serious sweet tooth. What a gap between his image and his tastes! ^_^

Cui Xuan: I don't, and I haven't. (cold expression)

Reader's Guide:

1. Inspired by the Tang dynasty, but with a very loose historical setting.

2. Aristocratic young master x commoner girl, impartial and stern x money-loving, single-couple romance.

Theme: Make a living against the odds and remain strong and unyielding