On New Year's Eve, Meng Sitian finishes working overtime alone, feeling lonely. She passes the noisy crowds and makes her way through the packed subway station to the old apartment complex she rents in.
She hears a new neighbor has just moved in next door, though that probably has nothing to do with her. Meng Sitian grabs a packet of instant noodles for dinner, but then the rich aroma of meat drifts over from the balcony.
She peeks over and sees that her new neighbor is a tall young woman, bending over a honeycomb briquette stove to simmer a pot of pork rib soup.
"Want to come over and try some?" the neighbor asks.
Jiang Zao is a talented chef and food blogger. On the day she moves in, her neighbor next door quietly peeks over the balcony to watch her, as cute as the little tabby cat in the courtyard back home. Jiang Zao thinks so, and can't help inviting her over to watch the New Year's Eve countdown show and enjoy a feast.
Meng Sitian soon discovers that, from that day on, all sorts of delicious aromas often drift over from next door.
The fragrant sizzle of fried chicken wings with salted egg yolk; the buttery, milky aroma of baked red bean bread; the rich meaty fragrance of pork trotters stewed with ham and spring bamboo shoots...
Meng Sitian swallows, then knocks on her neighbor's door for the Nth time.
From then on, we share our meals and our seasons. We spend Christmas and New Year's Eve together. We walk hand in hand through Pudacuo National Park in Shangri-La, hauling oxygen tanks, and admire the blue sea and sunsets on Weizhou Island together.
The world has two fewer lonely souls and one more couple who will be happy together forever.
Reading Guide:
1. A healing, sweet romance with no major angst.
2. Both leads are virgins and complete romantics with no experience in love.
3. Most of the story focuses on the two female leads, with a few side couples, all GL.
4. Feel free to add this to your reading list. The story begins on New Year's Eve, so it will start right on New Year's Eve this year.
Theme: Love can overcome any obstacle.
