Shen Mingtang wakes to find herself reborn into a wealthy dynasty.
Her father is an Erudite at the Imperial Academy, and her mother was once the daughter of a prosperous merchant. But their family fortunes have fallen, and with so many siblings to feed, life has suddenly become tight.
Shen Mingtang rolls up her sleeves, grabs her spatula, and sets out to make her own way.
Right—breakfast is the perfect place to start!
Soy milk and fried dough sticks, layered flatbreads, crispy crepe wraps, eight-treasure congee, grain noodles, Chinese hamburgers…
The Imperial Academy, where her father works each day, lies just down a narrow alley from their home. Every morning, he is spoiled with a rotating feast of his daughter’s cooking. Before long, the academy students catch wind of the delicious smells, and soon they’re flocking over, mouths watering:
“Delicious!”
“One must fill one’s belly well, if one is truly to understand the way of Confucius and Mencius!”
Zhao Yu is the most notorious ne’er-do-well at the Imperial Academy—skipping class and brawling are second nature to him.
Then one day, he notices something strange: his fellow students have suddenly turned studious, showing up before dawn to huddle over the *Analects*.
Curious, he grabs one for “interrogation,” and learns the truth:
Score top marks in the monthly exam, and you win a specially prepared meal from that Miss Shen.
Zhao Yu snorts and waves the thought away. “Hmph—you think a few bites of food can sway me…?”
He’d rather starve than fall for such a trick!
The others see he remains unmoved. They keep their noses to the grindstone, while praising him: “Brother Yu, you truly rise above base desires—what an extraordinary man!”
That is, until word spreads that Miss Shen is taking a suitor…
Shortly after, Zhao Yu aces every exam in a row, takes first place in the imperial examinations, and parades through the streets on horseback, adorned with flowers.
His classmates beat their chests in regret: “Turns out Brother Yu was our greatest rival all along!”
