What Should the Young Lady Eat Today?

[A seemingly refined but secretly sinister young lady × a straightforward breakfast-shop owner]

Wen Yulan × Song Qingyun

As the sole person in charge of the Wen family, Wen Yulan is busy every day and often forgets to eat, eventually developing a stomach condition. She's picky about food, and even the food-streaming videos she watches while eating have to meet her exacting standards.

She has a favorite food blogger. The dishes in the videos look mouthwatering, and the delicate, fair, slender hands preparing them make her heart itch with desire.

One day, Wen Yulan returns from a work trip abroad, rushing to catch a flight home. Half-asleep, she stands on the street at five in the morning with her suitcase, waiting for her driver. The breakfast shops along the street have already opened, and for the first time, the aroma of all kinds of carbs makes her want to eat breakfast. Usually, she just gets by with an iced Americano.

The seasons are opposite in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, and S City is especially cold.

Wen Yulan is wearing only a thin coat. With trembling hands, she takes a card from her wallet and struggles to order from the dazzling selection of breakfast foods. "This... and this, and that. I'll take them all. This one too."

"I'll pay by card." Wen Yulan hands it over and meets a pair of bright eyes. The other woman's slender hand returns the card. "We don't take cards here."

Wen Yulan never imagined that she would be taken in by someone. The other woman thinks she's homeless and offers to let her stay at the breakfast shop in exchange for helping out. She'll provide food and lodging.

Wen Yulan had planned to refuse, since she still had work to do after returning home. But when she looks at the woman in front of her, she can't deny that she's smitten.

And so the formidable young lady Wen, who rules S City with an iron fist, starts getting up early with the breakfast-shop owner to lend a hand. One benefit of rising early is getting to eat the first batch of freshly steamed buns.

Gradually, she discovers that the shop owner isn't just good at making buns. She's also skilled at all kinds of home cooking. Here, Wen Yulan's picky palate isn't picky at all.

When they go grocery shopping, the shop owner haggles with the butcher over the price of meat. At first, Wen Yulan refuses to haggle and wants to pull out a card, but the shop owner says, "Do you even have money to pay?"

Miss Wen: I...

The shop owner seems busy every day, making breakfast and doing the accounts, carefully budgeting and making sure every penny is spent wisely.

Watching the other woman work, Wen Yulan hesitates before speaking.

...After all, she told a lie.

But this is a life she's never experienced before. She cherishes every day she spends with the other woman and loves her attitude toward life. The woman is like a warm little puppy, bringing sunshine into her quiet, unchanging world.

--

Song Qingyun runs the breakfast shop her older sister left her. It was originally just a roadside stall, but her food-blogging career has taken off over the past two years. After making some money, she rented a place and expanded the shop. It's busy, but this is the life she wants.

Then a travel-worn woman appears in front of her. The woman is wearing an expensive coat, and Song Qingyun recognizes the branded wallet holding her cards.

From head to toe, the woman's air is completely out of place on this street and in her breakfast shop.

But that face...

Is exactly her type.

So Song Qingyun takes her in.

When she sees the woman sitting at her computer all night, Song Qingyun makes her a bowl of noodles or porridge. The woman isn't used to eating breakfast, so Song Qingyun experiments with new breakfast dishes.

After all, her mother once told her that the way to a woman's heart is through her stomach.

The busy months the two spend together in their cramped rental apartment pass just like that. Song Qingyun knows the other woman will eventually leave. Their status is too different. She hears the woman making a phone call at night.

"I'll offer thirty million."

"Think carefully about whether you're even qualified."

The day has finally come.

--

Wen Yulan always thought she could keep the truth hidden. When the other woman says to her, "We're from different worlds," she finally understands what she has been longing for.

When the shop owner puts up a notice, closes the shop, and disappears from her world, the usually haughty young lady is finally afraid.

Song Qingyun: Hehe, Mom taught me that you need to use a few tricks to win a girl's heart.

Reader's Guide:

1. Sweet and sour romance, young lady × shop owner, 25 × 20, switch

Blurb archived on 2025.01.04

Theme: Be a good person and live life to the fullest