Madam Mo's Food Diary

Next up: "The Beloved Little Lucky Girl", opening in April. Please add it to your reading list~

When Mo Linglong opened her eyes, she had become an unlucky young woman whose engagement had just been broken off by the newly titled Number One Scholar.

Her parents had died young, and her ex had even run off with the family fortune to pay for his trip to the capital to sit the exams.

She had lost both her money and her man, and wasted the best years of her life. Everyone urged her to pull herself together and find someone new as soon as possible. A girl ought to marry young, after all.

But after Mo Linglong got her silver back from that scumbag, she returned to her old trade and opened a little eatery.

From then on, the kitchen fire blazed, and the aroma of fresh-cooked food drifted down the long street.

Whether they were fierce street toughs or unruly little brats whom even the dogs couldn't stand, they all lined up outside her eatery of their own accord.

Even sworn enemies who bumped into each other there had to share a table in peace for the sake of a good meal.

Mo Linglong's little eatery gradually became a famous restaurant known far and wide.

Marry? Not a chance!

**

As the eatery grew busier and busier, Mo Linglong hired a man she had picked up to keep the books.

He couldn't speak, but he could write and do arithmetic, and he was strong enough to do the work of several people.

She was quite pleased with him.

Until one late night, she saw her honest, unassuming bookkeeper leap over the wall into her courtyard. He swiftly stripped off his blood-soaked clothes and tossed them to the black-clad men waiting respectfully behind him.

By moonlight, she saw his lean, firm waist and the savage scars across his broad chest.

Mo Linglong was someone who hated trouble.

No matter how good-looking he was, her business mattered more.

After much hesitation, she decided to dismiss him.

But before she could say a word, He Chen came to see her first, carrying a thick stack of papers.

He had finished taking stock of this month's inventory. Thirteen kinds of seasonings were running low.

They should renegotiate prices with the butcher next month, which could bring costs down by roughly ten percent.

The new shop's renovation budget was done, and they could cover the shortfall once the New Year's Eve dinner preorders came in.

He had also beaten up every last one of the ruffians who caused trouble yesterday, and collected a written promise from each of them that they wouldn't do it again...

Looking at the clear, itemized work report, Mo Linglong decided that perhaps she could keep him on after all.

Everyone had secrets.

She had one too, didn't she?

★★★ See the author's page for the upcoming "The Beloved Little Lucky Girl". Please add it to your reading list:

Lin Xinuan transmigrated into a drafty mud hut, where she lived with her mother and two older brothers.

In the eyes of outsiders, the Lin family was made up of a mother who was no good at farming, a withdrawn and taciturn eldest son, a second son who was always getting into trouble, and a youngest daughter who was born an idiot. There wasn't a single pillar of support in the whole family, and their lives were utterly miserable!

But as soon as Lin Xinuan began to speak, the Lin family found themselves sailing smoothly, with good fortune following one blessing after another. Their lives just kept getting better.

The Lin matriarch made money from her business and used it to buy shops for her youngest daughter.

After the eldest son passed the imperial exams, a widely circulated essay of his began with a line that left everyone dumbfounded: I study for my little sister's happiness.

When the second son was recognized for his talents and offered a promotion in the capital, he scratched his head and said, "That's great, but I have to ask my little sister what she thinks."

And the miracle doctor she casually picked up along the way turned out to be someone even the emperor couldn't get his hands on, and the doctor passed down her legacy to her.

Lin Xinuan: Everyone in my family has a bright future!

**

Xiao Cheng bore a dark past. He had seen too much of humanity's ugliness and hypocrisy growing up, until he met Lin Xinuan...

A few things to know before reading:

1. To the male lead, everyone except his wife is fair game to kill.

2. The male lead can speak. The blurb's claim that he "couldn't speak" is a misunderstanding. (It's a spoiler, so I can't say more.)

3. This is a fictional world with a mishmash of settings. Please don't nitpick the historical details.

4. The leads each focus on their own careers at first, so it will take a while for their paths to cross.

Cover by Keyang

Theme: Promoting food culture