A Record of Running a Food Business in Bianjing

Preorder: "I Lost My Memory Before the Divorce." If you're interested, visit my author page and add it to your collection!

Here is the blurb for this novel:

After traveling back to ancient times, Yu Heng barely had a few good days before her family fell into ruin. Her parents died young, leaving her with a troublesome betrothal to deal with.

She sailed north to Bianjing, where her future mother-in-law, who was also her maternal aunt, nitpicked her, and her betrothed cousin had designs on her. Yu Heng couldn't be bothered to entertain them, so she used a little trick to call off the engagement.

At first, pressed by financial necessity, Yu Heng set up a small stall in Bianjing.

Juicy steamed buns, sour soup noodles, chilled noodles with Chinese toon leaves, and fried skewers.

They said pork was cheap as mud, so she took up the banner of bringing pork back into fashion.

Golden pickled fish and jade-white slices might be delicious, but she made grilled fish, fish with pickled vegetables, and boiled fish instead.

Common folk loved the fare, and even the silk-robed nobility would dismount when they caught its aroma.

The refined people of Great Song threw themselves into eating and drinking. Who knew pork could taste this good?

As time went by, her little cart grew into a grand restaurant. It not only earned the sign of an officially licensed establishment, but also climbed to the top of the ancient equivalent of the restaurant industry's rankings: number one in The Bianliang Food Guide.

With a fine home and carriage, fields and servants, and plenty to eat and drink, she could even flirt with handsome young men on the side. In the end, Yu Heng became exactly the sort of person she used to scorn.

Yuan Liu noticed that lately, whenever his Second Master had “business,” he never took him along. When he returned, he wore the same smugly satisfied look as the black cat in the rear courtyard after stealing a bite of food.

Could he have found himself a sweetheart?

Yuan Liu quietly followed him, only to watch his picky Second Master take a winding route into... Yu's, the restaurant fiercely competing with their own, and polish off two huge bowls of rice!

And that wasn't all. Miss Yu smiled as she chatted with the Second Master. After only a few words, the usually clueless man had gone red at the tips of his ears, all his composure gone.

Hah, Second Master.

Hah, men.

1. Everyday food and cooking, with a lighthearted tone

2. An imaginary dynasty inspired by the Song, with plenty of creative liberties. Historical nitpickers, please understand.

3. Food > running a business > romance

Preorder break

"I Lost My Memory Before the Divorce"

At an apricot garden spring banquet, the spoiled and spirited Princess Changle, Xiao Ying, fell in love at first sight with the top graduate Shen Ji and made him her prince consort.

Shen Ji was proud and aloof, as cold as white jade even after being burned. He treated her with the same indifference after their wedding. She had assumed it was simply his nature, until she learned that he had once had a well-read, proper fiancée.

Heartbroken, Xiao Ying wrote a divorce agreement and got roaring drunk. When she woke, her memories had gone awry, and she mistook herself and Shen Ji for a loving married couple.

After hearing that he had been sleeping in the front courtyard, she stamped her foot and chased after him:

“What's the difference between this and living as a widow? I may put up with a lot, but I won't tolerate this!”

His wife sent him a divorce agreement and ordered him never to set foot in their bedroom again. The maid delivering the message looked nervous, but Shen Ji merely said, “It's all right.”

The princess had been spoiled all her life, and neither had he wanted their marriage arranged. They would inevitably become a resentful couple in time. This was better for them both.

Just as he picked up his brush to sign, the study doors flew open. The woman who had been demanding a divorce that very day now looked aggrieved as she accused him: “Shen Mingzhi, what do you mean by this? You called me darling last night, and now you're leaving me alone in an empty bed?”

Shen Ji frowned, assuming she was babbling because she was drunk, and tried to escort her back to her room.

But after looking around the room, she seemed intrigued and leaned closer to whisper, “That daybed of yours looks pretty spacious. I haven't tried it yet...”

It was as if the heated floor had grown too hot; a flush spread from his cheeks to the tips of his ears. Shen Ji retreated in disbelief, only to meet a pair of smiling, tender eyes.

Shen Ji had once believed that after devoting his life to clearing his family's name, he had long since extinguished his private desires and no one could disturb his resolve. Even when he shared a bed with Xiao Ying, such as on their wedding night, they had drunk the nuptial wine and then slept soundly until morning.

But in their third month of sharing a bed, Shen Ji finished bathing early one morning and changed into the nightclothes Xiao Ying liked to see him wear. Yet she did not come. Uneasy, he went to the adjoining room and saw her sitting beneath the lamplight, her expression shifting as she held the divorce agreement he had hidden away earlier.

At that moment, the heart he had always kept calm and restrained was thrown into turmoil.

[A sweet and spirited princess × a self-disciplined, proper top graduate; sc, HE]

Theme: Work hard at life and build something from nothing