I’m a Kitchen Maid in Su Shi’s Residence

In the fifth year of the Xining era of the Song Dynasty, within a small, cramped courtyard in Hangzhou City, Yuan Niang knelt before her father’s sickbed. Yuan Niang had transmigrated. To arrive and immediately face her father’s grave illness left her a bit dazed. Fortunately, her father had found a place for her to stay—in the home of his dearest friend, until she was to be married. The cold was bitter. The man arrived, bringing the wind and snow with him. His every move was as graceful as a plum blossom, as elegant as a crane; his spirit was pure and his aura brilliant. The moment he removed his bamboo hat, Yuan Niang heard her father’s listless voice say, “Brother Su Zi, you’ve come.” Yuan Niang’s head shot up. During the Xining era, in Hangzhou City, she knew of only one person with the courtesy name Su Zi—the peerless genius whose fame would echo through millennia, Su Shi. Her father, holding on by a thread, entrusted her to him. But gradually, life for the Su family also grew difficult, and she couldn’t just eat and drink for free. She couldn’t handle skillful tasks like needlework, but she felt she could at least help with lighting fires and cooking. The first day Yuan Niang entered the Su family kitchen, she failed to cook any dishes and instead burned the kitchen down. A month after Yuan Niang entered the Su family kitchen, Su Shi stirred the soupy concoction in his bowl, where the water was just water and the rice was just rice, feeling that something was amiss. A year after Yuan Niang entered the Su family kitchen, Su Shi held his forehead, staring at the unidentified gelatinous object on the plate, and gave up the struggle. To be an official when he went out, and a cook when he came home—this was probably his destiny. Later, someone quietly asked Su Shi how a great literary figure like himself had managed to hone such masterful culinary skills. Was it because his family’s cook was exceptionally talented? Su Shi was silent. Yes, the cook is talented, entirely self-taught. 【Reading Guide】 1.This is a gourmet food novel with a heartwarming, slice-of-life focus. The main text is not in the first person; only the title is. 2.The author is unconventional and enjoys weaving in wild, apocryphal historical tales. The entire story is largely an alternate history; please do not fact-check. 3.The female lead’s love interest is not Su Shi. She is raised by him as a daughter. — Description from novelcodex.orgFull novel: I’m a Kitchen Maid in Su Shi’s Residence — read the rest free on N​o⁠v​e⁠l​C⁠o​d⁠e​x⁠.​o⁠r​g⁠