I Transmigrated at Three and Sold French Fries in the Northern Song Dynasty

During the Jiayou era of the Northern Song dynasty, tenant farmer Zhang Laosan’s family found a three-year-old child. She wore overalls and clogs, and knew nothing when asked about her hometown or parents.

The child became the Zhang family’s fifth little one, and they gave her the name Xiao Ping’an. The villagers said the Zhangs could barely feed themselves, so why take in another burden? But Xiao Ping’an pointed at the red berries covering the hills and said, “So many candied hawthorns! We can sell them for money and buy meat.”

Sure enough, the Zhangs went into the city to sell candied hawthorns, earning enough to make Ping’an braised pork.

Ping’an was too young to realize she was bringing modern ideas to the past. The Zhangs used her ideas to sew gloves, boil sheep’s milk, fry potatoes, and more. Ever since little Ping’an came to live with them, good fortune had smiled on the Zhangs, and their lives grew better by the day.

Zhao Jing was born with a life of toil ahead of him. He’d finally made it through the college entrance exams, but before he could enjoy himself, he unexpectedly kicked the bucket right after leaving the exam hall. He kicked the bucket and transmigrated to the Great Song, where a massive burden landed on his shoulders from the moment he was born.

He toiled to find better crop seeds, make farming tools, and prepare the army for a northern campaign without a moment’s rest. This passionate young man swore to erase the shame of Jingkang and his hatred of the northern invaders once and for all.

Then one day, he suddenly discovered that someone in the city of Bianjing was selling French fries and hamburgers.

Zhao Jing: “If the odd changes, the even stays the same. Where are you from?”

The young shopkeeper looked at him blankly, then smiled, her eyes curving into crescents. “My lord, a portion of fries costs fifteen coins. We’re a small business and don’t sell on credit.”

Zhao Jing: “...You absolute dropout!”

A few tips for readers:

1. Farming + raising a child + running a business + infrastructure building + food; a touch of ensemble cast. (Yes, the female lead is the child being raised.)

2. The female lead was abandoned after her parents divorced. She really was three years old when she transmigrated, and has almost no modern knowledge or way of thinking. She is certainly no prodigy who can defy the heavens. Strictly speaking, all she knows how to do is eat.

3. The male lead appears late, very late. He is the fourth son of Emperor Renzong of Song and the Great Song’s chosen heir, a person who never existed in history. He’s no respectable emperor either, just an eccentric teenage boy who likes putting on a show of supernatural powers.

4. Don’t take this seriously, and don’t nitpick the history. I’m writing for fun, so just enjoy the ride. There are infrastructure-building plotlines, and the story will feature sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn, and more. If that’s not your thing, don’t read it, and there’s no need to come here just to complain.

The Crown Prince was missing for two years. When he returned to the capital, he was holding a one-year-old child who looked exactly like him. Soon afterward, the palace announced to the realm that while the Crown Prince had been in peril, he was rescued by a common woman. The two married and had a little imperial grandson, but sadly, the woman was fated to die young. She fell ill not long after giving birth to the boy, and was posthumously honored as the Crown Prince’s principal consort.

Three years later, in the fine autumn rain, a woman wearing a straw rain cape, a long saber strapped to her back, and riding a well-fed black donkey appeared at the gates of the imperial city. If that useless man didn’t want her, fine. But that little brat was the child she’d carried for ten months and brought into the world with so much hardship. She was going to steal him back.

Theme: A happy life is earned through hard work.