Transmigrated into the Song Dynasty: The Little Female Chef Who Set Up a Stall

Su Qingyan, a top-tier private chef from the twenty-first century, transmigrates into the body of a sickly fourteen-year-old girl in the Northern Song Dynasty. The original owner was the daughter of a destitute scholar, Su Xiucai, who had fallen ill during a brutal winter snowstorm. Su Qingyan awakens to find her family on the brink of starvation, with her mother and three younger siblings weak from hunger and her father bedridden. Lacking any resources, she is saved by the sudden activation of a "Private Kitchen Inheritance Space," a supernatural tool that provides ingredients and culinary knowledge. The space grants her a starter pack of flour, brown sugar, and yeast, along with abilities like permanent ingredient preservation and rapid fermentation. Recognizing that her modern cooking skills are her only means of survival, she decides to use the space to feed her family and eventually build a business.

With the help of the space, Su Qingyan bakes brown sugar blossoming buns, the aroma of which revives her freezing family. Realizing that selling food is necessary to buy medicine and grain, she overcomes her mother’s concerns about social stigma and takes her ten-year-old brother, Su Mingxuan, to Shui Gui Street to sell the buns. They face immediate hostility from Liu San-niang, the domineering owner of a nearby bakery who controls the prime spots on the street. Despite being pushed to a remote corner and subjected to verbal abuse, Su Qingyan uses her business acumen to attract customers. She offers free tastings and pairs her sweet buns with Granny Lin’s ginger tea, creating a successful partnership. Her innovative packaging and marketing strategies, including wrapping buns in clean oiled paper to appeal to scholars, catch the attention of Shen Yan, a prominent student at the Imperial Academy. Shen Yan’s endorsement leads to a rapid sell-out, proving that Su Qingyan’s food can compete with established businesses.

As her reputation grows, Su Qingyan introduces new products, including savory meat buns and red bean paste buns, to diversify her offerings. Liu San-niang, threatened by Su Qingyan’s success, orchestrates a sabotage attempt by having an accomplice dump foul-smelling swill on Su Qingyan’s stall and accusing her of using dirty ingredients. The crowd turns hostile, but Su Qingyan remains calm. She publicly demonstrates the cleanliness of her ingredients and equipment, challenging Liu San-niang to find any fault. With the testimony of Granny Lin and the support of her customers, Su Qingyan clears her name, and Liu San-niang is arrested by the local patrol. This victory significantly boosts the fame of her "Su Ji" brand.

Seeking to elevate her business further, Su Qingyan creates a Red Date Egg Cake, a novel pastry that does not exist in the Song Dynasty. She limits production to ten portions per day and sets a high price of twenty wen, later raising it to thirty wen to create exclusivity. Her strategy attracts Xie Hui, the third son of a powerful noble family, who is known for his discerning palate. Impressed by the unique texture and flavor, Xie Hui purchases all ten portions and pays with a silver leaf worth one thousand wen. This transaction brings not only substantial profit but also high social status to the Su family. Su Qingyan continues to expand her menu and maintain her strict quality control, aiming to secure her family’s future and establish "Su Ji" as a renowned name in Bianjing.