A Cannon Fodder's Daily Life Raising Kids and Gossiping at a State-Run Restaurant [The 1970s]

Xu Huo had just won the gold medal at a cooking competition when she transmigrated into a book.

No problem! She'd read this book and knew the plot inside out!

From now on, she'd be the one calling the shots in the Xu family. (^_-)

Strong-willed and tough, Xu Huo had grown up with her grandmother. She could fight, scold, and make a scene, and was quite familiar with crying, throwing tantrums, threatening suicide, and rolling around on the ground.

She punched the villagers who bullied the Xu family, now down to an orphan and a widow, and kicked the Zhou family members who abused the future big villain.

Then she rose to the top of the world ✘ (not really)

And became the head chef at a state-run restaurant ✔

As for the future big villain in the family, she's just a cute kid~ Meanwhile, her kitchen, which was basically a supermarket, and the little orchard at home had come along with her. Their supplies replenished automatically every night at midnight, so there was always plenty to eat, and she could secretly trade some for rare goods.

From then on, cooking and gossip became part of her daily routine, and every now and then she could snap up a bargain.

Good food and juicy gossip were the perfect combination. As long as the gossip wasn't about her, watching from the sidelines made it all the more entertaining.

*

Yuzhen was a little county town close to the provincial capital, and it had always been thoroughly ordinary.

In this ordinary town stood an ordinary state-run restaurant.

Its chefs were all about the same in skill.

But recently, one of the state-run restaurants had become a lot livelier.

The head chef at the state-run restaurant in South Street Alley had died, and the person who took over was a young girl.

The staff at the other state-run restaurants all talked about it:

"I heard she hasn't even passed the third-level chef exam."

"More than that, she hasn't even passed the kitchen assistant exam."

"Well, looks like management will send someone over soon. I wonder if the South Street Alley place can last three days."

But things didn't go as everyone expected. A day passed, then two... then a week.

The South Street Alley state-run restaurant's reputation kept improving.

More and more people went there to eat every day.

After a while, the South Street Alley state-run restaurant had become Yuzhen's claim to fame.

People from the provincial capital came from far and wide to try it.

The other state-run restaurants in Yuzhen studied, studied, and studied some more!

Why couldn't their cooking compare to a young girl's?

And how old was she, anyway? She'd actually been certified as a master chef!

Heavens, how unfair!

But before they could do anything about it, Xu Huo went on to prepare a state banquet for foreign guests. The South Street Alley restaurant and Xu Huo became the talk of the town.

Xu Huo: Just another day~

*

A new head chef arrived at the South Street Alley state-run restaurant, and from that day on, the delicious aromas never stopped wafting out.

Crispy on the outside and tender inside, with a golden color: pork chunks in brown sauce. Succulent braised pork ribs with a rich flavor. Sliced pork kidneys shaped like wheat ears, tender and delicious...

There was also pork braised in a pot, its meat and broth blending together, the meat tender and the skin soft; fish simmered in a savory, delicious broth with a hint of sourness; and Dutch peas with cured meat, their red and green colors bright, their texture crisp and tender, and their flavor rich...

And then there were treats everyone could enjoy, like snowflake bean paste, sweet-and-sour pork, crispy egg yolk pastries, and lotus seeds in honey syrup. They were all so irresistible.

People kept asking:

"I was only half an hour late. How come there's no food left?"

State-run restaurant server: Heh. If Chef Xu hadn't saved some food for me in advance, I wouldn't have gotten any either.

"I'm from a respectable family, and both my parents have steady jobs. Would you be willing to make progress together with me?"

The server gave him a dead-eyed look. "Are you interested in me? You clearly want to make progress together with my staff meal!"

*

Even the little girl who would grow up to be a gloomy villain wore her hair in little pigtails every day and ate all kinds of delicious food.

She made a bunch of friends at daycare. Except it seemed like they weren't really there for her!

"Xiao Zhi! What is your aunt going to make tomorrow? Can you save me some? My mom gets off work late." "Xiao Zhi, we're best friends in the whole world, right?"

"I want to eat the food Xiao Zhi's aunt makes too!"

Even the aloof kid in her class who never liked eating eventually tugged on Xu Zhi's sleeve one day. "When's your aunt making sweet-and-sour pork again?"

"Can I give my uncle to your aunt in exchange for two pieces of sweet-and-sour pork?"

And so the old bachelor finally fell in love, and there was no stopping it.

Theme: Good food heals the heart