Records of Fire and Food cover

Records of Fire and Food

Rating 3.2
Word count
171K words
Chapters
103
ISBN
9787549266265

Tags

Summary

A collection of short love stories about food and romance. Warm little tales are linked by one delicious dish after another. With vivid, tender prose, it chronicles the fateful encounters between men and women in this world. Beautiful moments and futures are found in a dish, in meeting the right person.

Sweet and Sour Fish—She first saw Xiong Minzhou at the military academy and said, "Are all instructors these pretty boys nowadays?" A month later, a strange parking ticket appeared at the entrance of her flower shop.

Walnut Cream—She went on a blind date and met a stingy weirdo. "What a freak!" she said—never expecting that the next three blind dates would all be with him.

Scallion Pancake—She actually ran to the neighboring district in the middle of the night to "seduce a man"?!

Editor's review

Smoke and Fire Food Records uses home-style dishes as threads to string together a set of short love stories: Sweet and Sour Fish, Walnut Cream, Scallion Pancake—dish names serve as chapter titles, with kitchen smoke and fire mirroring the romantic fate between men and women. Chi Fei's writing is light and warm, skilled at using dialogue and detail to create a lifelike sense of comedy: the stubborn words at first meeting at the military academy, the哭笑不得 of encountering a "stingy weirdo" on a blind date, the absurdity of crossing districts late at night for a rendezvous—all are written with vivid imagery and the warmth of everyday life. This book is suitable for fragmented reading time such as commuting or before bed; one story per piece, no need to read continuously, and you finish with a relaxed mood. For readers who enjoy urban light-comedy romance and prefer food imagery and everyday warmth, this is a low-threshold, healing short-story collection. A reminder: the work takes a light, warm approach, emphasizing atmosphere and emotion rather than complex structure or profound social issues; if you expect heavy literary quality or tightly plotted logic, you may find it light. Overall, it is a small book to be by the kitchen and dining table, best enjoyed slowly with a cup of hot tea.

Who it's for

A good fit for

  • Readers who enjoy urban light-comedy romance and want light reading in fragmented time
  • Young readers who prefer food imagery and warm everyday atmosphere, seeking a healing feel
  • Office workers who need short stories during commute or before bed and don't want to follow long serials
  • Readers who like lively dialogue and strongly visual, slice-of-life love stories

Not a good fit for

  • Serious readers expecting heavy literary quality, complex structure, or profound social issues
  • Genre fiction readers who prefer hardcore suspense, grand fantasy, and other strongly plotted types
  • Readers indifferent to sweet, warm romance or averse to light-comedy tropes

Reading tips

  1. Read one story at a time in the order of dish names, pausing after each to let the mood settle.
  2. Keep the book in your commuter bag or by the bed and read single pieces in ten-to-twenty-minute fragments.
  3. When you come across a dish that interests you, try cooking it once to extend the reading experience into the kitchen.
  4. To compare the author's style, read three stories with different dish names in succession and notice the shifts in dialogue rhythm.

About the publisher

Named after the Yangtze River, Changjiang Publishing House (Wuhan) Co., Ltd. publishes books on science and technology—water conservancy, hydropower, shipping and environmental protection—as well as works on the economy, society, history, culture and education. In literary publishing, it has released Cece Qinghan's Sinan series (including The Divine Mechanism, The Reverse Scale, The Mandate of Heaven and the four-volume set), Tang Que's Nine Provinces: Players in the Play, Bai Fanrushuang's The New Hunter (five volumes), Qingshan Huangzhong's Sealing the Blade (three volumes) and Shi Wucha's Saha. The titles in the library are commonly classified as time-travel and alternate-world fiction, otherworld-continent fiction and wuxia novels. These books show the press's sustained interest in fantasy, wuxia and alternate-world storytelling, bringing together authors such as Cece Qinghan, Tang Que, Bai Fanrushuang, Qingshan Huangzhong, Shi Wucha and Fan Ka. Based on the available library data, its literary publishing leans toward genre novels and serialized series, while further public information is needed to clarify its specific editorial direction and publishing features.

Contents

  1. 版权信息
  2. 烟火食录 蜜汁莲子(上)
  3. 1
  4. 2
  5. 3
  6. 4
  7. 5
  8. 烟火食录 蜜汁莲子(下)
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 烟火食录 醋熘鱼
  15. 1
  16. 2
  17. 3
  18. 4
  19. 5
  20. 6
  21. 烟火食录 核桃酪
  22. 1
  23. 2
  24. 3
  25. 4
  26. 5
  27. 烟火食录 水晶虾饼
  28. 一
  29. 二
  30. 三
  31. 四
  32. 五
  33. 六
  34. 烟火食录 芙蓉鸡片
  35. 一
  36. 二
  37. 三
  38. 四
  39. 五
  40. 六
  41. 七
  42. 烟火食录 韭菜篓
  43. 1
  44. 2
  45. 3
  46. 4
  47. 5
  48. 6
  49. 烟火食录 炝青蛤(上)
  50. 1
  51. 2
  52. 3
  53. 4
  54. 5
  55. 烟火食录 炝青蛤(下)
  56. 6
  57. 7
  58. 8
  59. 烟火食录 八宝饭(上)
  60. 1
  61. 2
  62. 3
  63. 4
  64. 5
  65. 烟火食录 八宝饭(下)
  66. 6
  67. 烟火食录 佛跳墙
  68. 1
  69. 2
  70. 3
  71. 4
  72. 5
  73. 6
  74. 7
  75. 烟火食录 煎馄饨
  76. 1
  77. 2
  78. 3
  79. 4
  80. 5
  81. 6
  82. 7
  83. 8
  84. 9
  85. 烟火食录 葱油饼
  86. 1
  87. 2
  88. 3
  89. 4
  90. 5
  91. 6
  92. 7
  93. 8
  94. 烟火食录 葱油饼(番外)
  95. 烟火食录 冰糖葫芦
  96. 1
  97. 2
  98. 3
  99. 4
  100. 5
  101. 6
  102. 7
  103. 8

FAQ

Is this book a novel or a short-story collection?
It is a collection of short love stories. Each story is relatively independent, linked by dishes; characters and plots stand alone, so you don't need to read them in order—perfect for opening at odd moments.
Are the stories connected? Do I need to read them in order?
Each piece uses dishes as clues and shares a unified atmosphere, but the plots are basically independent; reading out of order won't affect comprehension. Reading in dish-name order lets you appreciate the rhythm of the arrangement, while skipping around suits casual browsing.
What mood is it suitable for?
It suits moments when you want to relax and need a bit of warmth—on the commute, before bed, or on a weekend afternoon. The stories are light and the dialogue lively; one piece delivers a sense of ease. It's best not to approach it expecting suspense or depth.

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About the author

Chi Fei Author · Chinese

Chi Fei is a Chinese writer of youth literature and a contracted author on the Meitiandu Diangushi app. Her writing is warm and humorous, specializing in sweet, heartwarming stories, with a particular fondness for traditional handicraft themes. She has published Yanhuo Shilu (A Record of Fireworks and Food) and Ershisi Fan Huaxin Feng (Twenty-Four Flower-Wind Letters), and is also the author of Fenghe Rinuǎn (Warm Wind and Sun), Yu Qing Tongzhou (In the Same Boat with You), and Shitian Huanzhe (The Sweet Tooth). Six of her works are included in the collection, among them Jieyou Shu (The Book of Relief) and a ten-volume anthology of highly binge-worthy sweet romance novels. Her works fall mainly into modern romance, youth literature, and boutique fiction, and are known for light, healing sweet-romance stories that have drawn a following among readers of the genre. Public information on her birth and death dates, education, and awards is limited and not recorded in the collection.

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