A Poor Girl's Everyday Journey to Wealth

[Completed]

Modern-day transmigrated big sister and little sister duo: a cook in ancient times × a rich, sharp-tongued, haughty man

Blurb:

--

Min Min, who had spent two years as an overworked office worker, transmigrated. When she woke up, she found she had no money and both her parents were dead, leaving her with only an eight-year-old little sister. Thankfully, her sister was well-behaved.

Most importantly, her sister looked just like the first cotton doll she'd ever owned!

Min Min was overjoyed. She hugged her sister, cuddling and kissing her, and resolved to raise her until she was as plump and fair as a cotton doll!

The trouble was, she was an utterly ordinary office worker. After graduating, she'd spent two years as an assistant to a restaurant-review influencer, and hadn't even managed to scrape together the three years of work experience employers wanted. The only skill she could really offer was cooking, but with such primitive cooking conditions, she couldn't make a meal without ingredients...

Still, she believed that as long as you worked hard, you could survive!

So Min Min took a hoe and went to farm, only for her crops to be ruined. She bought chicks to raise, only for them all to die. She tried to find work in the city, but since she was nearing the age to marry, the shopkeepers worried she wouldn't stay long and wouldn't hire her...

--

Lin Jinye had left Qianyuan Prefecture with his parents and traveled south to Guanhong Prefecture. The family had many businesses, and he had to inspect them every so often.

One day, while inspecting his family's restaurant, he casually ordered a basket of steamed shrimp dumplings. Instead, they brought him steamed buns, and not even fresh ones. They had been left overnight and were a little hard.

Lin Jinye laughed in disbelief and summoned the head chef to question him.

The chef explained, "I gave those buns to a young woman who came in to apply for a job today. Somehow, they ended up in the steamer..."

"Why would a young woman apply for a job in the kitchen? Is she trying to fool our young master?" asked the guard beside Lin Jinye.

The chef went to fetch Min Min, who had been waiting in the back courtyard with her stomach growling.

Lin Jinye glanced at Min Min. Her hair was a little messy, but her face was clean, and she was quite pretty. She was so thin she looked gaunt, though, and her coarse hemp clothes were covered in tiny, rough patches. There was a hole in the toe of her shoe, and he could just make out the toes inside, blackened with dust...

He wondered what careless fool in Qianyuan Prefecture had sent her here. Did they really think Lin Jinye would take pity on someone just because she was poor?

"Are these two buns your lunch today?" Lin Jinye asked.

Min Min looked at the snow-white buns, still steaming, and swallowed. Then she shook her head.

Lin Jinye sneered inwardly. As expected, anyone sent from Qianyuan Prefecture must have grown up surrounded by fine food and clothes. How could they admit in public that their lunch consisted of just two day-old buns...?

But Min Min continued, "No. I'll eat half of one, then save the other half for tonight. I'll take the last one home for my little sister."

Lin Jinye: "..."

--

Even after the Lin family fled from Qianyuan Prefecture to Guanhong Prefecture, matchmakers still swarmed their doorstep.

Lin Yan and Xun Xin had talked until their mouths were dry, but the matchmakers still insisted they had no proof. Surely Lin Jinye wasn't pining for some celestial beauty he couldn't forget. He just hadn't met anyone he liked yet.

So, in a fit of anger, Xun Xin "bought" her son a wife, using "proof in hand" to turn all the matchmakers away.

"I'm not marrying her." Lin Jinye clicked his abacus as he spoke offhandedly. "Ruining a woman's life like this would be awful. I might even go to hell after I die for being so immoral..."

Xun Xin slapped him on the shoulder and explained, "Her family urgently needs money. She agreed to this of her own free will, and besides... she doesn't have much time left..."

Lin Jinye frowned at Xun Xin. "What do you mean?"

Xun Xin sighed. "The young woman has a terminal illness. She doesn't have long to live. Even if she marries into the Lin family, she won't enjoy our good fortune for more than a few years before she's gone..."

Lin Jinye fell silent for a moment. A mutually agreeable arrangement with no worries about the future sounded ideal. Once the young woman died, he could tell everyone he had loved his late wife too deeply to marry again. Clean and simple.

Seeing Lin Jinye's expression soften, Xun Xin showed him the contract in her hand.

Lin Jinye took the paper and skimmed over the lengthy details, quickly spotting the name at the bottom.

"Min Min?"

--

One-on-one, both leads are virgins, happy ending

A few things to know before reading:

1. The terminal illness is a misunderstanding. There will be no angst, and it has a happy ending.

2. Min Min is a little absentminded and may not be very smart at times, but she's kindhearted. Please don't be mean to her.

3. The setting is entirely fictional, so please don't overanalyze it.

The companion story, The Cook Meets an Anorexic (Qin Jianjun × Pei Mian), is complete. If you're interested, you can find it on my author page!

Theme: Keep your heart bright and live toward the sun