I Became a Cook in a Wuxia Novel

Cheerful, outgoing, dramatic little chef VS cool, aloof, but food-loving swordsman

I'm a chef, skilled in all eight great culinary traditions of Sichuan, Shandong, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Hunan, and Anhui. I'm especially good at authentic Northeastern-style Sichuan spicy hot pot.

But I'm broke. With the last little handful of dried noodles I had, I cooked a big pot of fragrant noodle soup with plenty of broth, then fell asleep feeling perfectly content.

When I woke up, I'd actually transmigrated!!!

My name is now Cheng Lius Shui, and apparently I'm a chef with a blood feud to avenge?

I had no choice but to run and run, but then I got hungry again, so I casually tore down a restaurant's hiring notice and became a proper head chef.

The owner is a man called Zhang Qinghan. He's a terrific boss: handsome, rich, and not the sharpest tool in the shed. He also disappears all the time. Perfect!

The rest of the staff are good people too. Their easygoing, comfortable life gradually made me forget how I'd gone hungry before transmigrating and had to flee for my life afterward.

That is, until I snuck out for a midnight snack and discovered that my not-so-bright boss could ride the wind and walk across rooftops, while the staff were busy making explosives with nimble hands.

What! I escaped one bandit den only to land in another!

Much later, Cheng Lius Shui still hadn't left the restaurant. She became a chef famed throughout the land, while her handsome, rich boss became both her weakness and her attachment.

[Reading Guide]

1. A lighthearted, sweet little treat, a hilarious martial-arts comedy with an ensemble cast, where wuxia and food go hand in hand.

2. Several characters from Spring Comes to Turn the World Upside Down make guest appearances, as we delve into the royal family's chaotic secrets in Da Qian.

3. If you're worn out from the hustle and bustle of real life, this funny, heartwarming little treat can be an iron for the soul~ Come on in, bookmark, and leave a comment~

Check out my upcoming novel in the author's column, The Dignified Empress Has Fallen in Love~ Please bookmark~

Cool, sweet-on-the-outside ruthless empress VS unhinged, ambitious minister / gentle, passionate emperor

Ruan Tao married the Crown Prince of Yan at sixteen. They treated each other with respect and lived in perfect harmony, a truly well-matched couple.

Two years later, the Crown Prince ascended the throne, and she naturally became the Empress of Yan, mother to all under heaven. Her days should have gone smoothly, but who could have guessed that the husband who once shared her pillow would turn out to be a fickle womanizer?

The vast imperial harem was crammed with countless beautiful consorts and concubines. Ruan Tao never let her expression change, and with the gentleness of a spring breeze, she brought them all neatly into line without a single mishap.

The young emperor cherished Ruan Tao like a precious treasure. After all, an empress as dignified and magnanimous as her was hard to find, even with a lantern.

In the loneliness of the inner palace, whenever Ruan Tao lay awake alone, she would think of the Duke of Dingguo in the northern frontier. A man who had fought on the battlefield was hard to forget. Who doesn't have an old romance too tangled to unravel?

When the Duke of Dingguo finally returned victorious, she stood atop a high terrace and looked down at the celebrated general. Suddenly she remembered how desperately he had begged her many years ago. He had been so pitiful, it was hard not to feel for him.

"Your Highness, I'm back." Pei Fupan leaned over and cornered Ruan Tao in her phoenix robe, his eyes bloodshot with madness.

Ruan Tao raised an eyebrow and smiled seductively. "It's been many years, sir, but you're still just as brazen." A faint fragrance drifted through the air, teasing the man who had long since fallen apart, while in the main hall not far away, the emperor was still drinking and making merry.

A clap of thunder rang out. Ruan Tao gathered her phoenix robe around herself, ignored Pei Fupan's flushed, disheveled face, and turned to leave. "I wonder if His Majesty's hangover soup is ready yet. I can't put my mind at ease, so I should go check."

Pei Fupan, disheveled and humiliated, stared fixedly at her retreating figure. Three years after his death, he had finally seen this heartless woman again. In his previous life, she had seduced and used him, yet when he died, she hadn't even shed a single tear. This time, he wouldn't let her go. Not until death.

In the main hall, the fickle emperor held a bowl of hangover soup, his gaze unfathomable. "My empress is so thoughtful." Thoughtful enough to topple his empire in his previous life, thoughtful enough to imprison him until he died. Now that he had been reborn, he would tear her skin off, rip out her tendons, and grind her bones to dust!

"Your Majesty, this soup clears the mind and calms the spirit. I made it myself. Would you like to try it?" Ruan Tao smiled, her breathtaking beauty blooming in an instant, winding around the man before her like silk.

"..." The emperor was stunned. He hadn't seen her smile in a very, very long time. That smile ensnared his boundless hatred, leaving only boundless joy.

The Duke of Dingguo returned in haste, only to enter the hall and find the emperor and empress sharing a tender moment, a tale of perfect harmony and affection. His eyes turned bloodshot, and he instantly crushed the Ding ware cup in his hand.

Theme: There are countless paths to the Dao, and all can be cultivated.