The Little Cook of Chang'an (Food)

Cui Shiyu transmigrated into the body of a poor young woman in Chang'an.

Her parents had died early, leaving her to support her two younger sisters alone. Life was hard.

After her childhood sweetheart and fiance broke off their engagement, she threw herself into a river in despair.

With her family so poor they could barely afford to eat, Cui Shiyu decided to make a living using the skills she'd inherited from a past life in which three generations of her family had been chefs.

She sold breakfast, set up a street stall, opened a restaurant, and established branches... Cui Shiyu's life got better and better.

In Chang'an, the name "Cui's Eatery" became famous. Everyone knew it.

All the people who had once waited to laugh at Cui Shiyu came to make peace:

Relatives who had ignored her now came to apologize in person;

Distant neighbors offered a helping hand;

Even the fiance who had insisted on breaking off their engagement came back with an extravagant betrothal gift.

Cui Shiyu's response was, "Sorry, I'm busy."

--The pork knuckle in rock sugar sauce still isn't done.

*

Xie Xiao of Guangwen Academy came from a prominent family. Talented and handsome, he had the looks of a heartbreaker, yet had no interest in romance.

While his classmates exchanged poems beneath the moon, he read. While his friends gave each other sachets, he recited poetry.

Young men all over the city were smitten with love, but his heart remained still.

That is, until the day he rescued a young woman from the water.

At first, he only wished her health and safety and for her restaurant to prosper.

Later, he hoped her stove would always stay warm, she'd never lack firewood or rice, and she would never burn her hands on hot oil again.

Later still, he began to envy the customers she greeted with a smile, and even secretly noted down every man who looked at her twice.

--It wasn't that he had no interest in romance. He simply hadn't met the one who would move his heart.

Reading Guide:

1. Everyday slice-of-life food story, with an overpowered golden finger. If that's not your thing, please don't read.

2. Set in a partly fictional Tang dynasty, with an absurd number of original details. Please don't nitpick the history.

3. Updates follow the rankings before serialization, then four to six chapters a day after serialization begins (schedule subject to change), at 6:00 p.m. daily.

Theme: Where there's a will, there's a way