Azu

Yaoyao BuhuoJinjiang Literature City2015

No rating yet
Word count
475.4K words

Tags

Girls' Fiction Time Travel Fantasy Farm LifeEveryday LifeMarriage FirstQuiet CompanionshipHumble LifeRural LifeSichuanRepublican EraLocal Customs

Summary

In 1940, Azu, a girl studying in Shanghai, is sent overnight back to the countryside of Bazhong, Sichuan, after her father runs into trouble, and the family elders marry her into the Yang family's landlord compound in a mountain hollow. From a pampered Shanghai miss she learns to adapt to the local dialect and farm life, keeping house alongside her three sisters-in-law and caring for her sickly father-in-law, gradually finding her footing amid banditry and family squabbles in troubled times. Her husband, Yang Maode, is the only son of a local landlord, bookish and capable of shouldering responsibility, and the two move from awkward formality to mutual understanding and devotion. Told in plain prose, the story follows the ordinary life of a farm woman, with no cheat and its heart in domestic trivia and Sichuan's local customs.

Editor's review

A slow-paced Republican-era pure farming-life novel, strongest in its solid rendering of Sichuan dialect, food, and the daily life of a large family; the heroine's adjustment from Shanghai to the countryside is natural and believable, and the marriage-before-love romance builds quietly. Suited to readers who enjoy domestic drama and period slice-of-life. Weaknesses: no cheat and little strong conflict, a flat early pace, and some plot elements resting on hearsay and loose research, so readers after gratification and speed may lose patience midway.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Not a good fit for

Reading tips

  1. Read slowly, treating it as a family chronicle rather than a plot-driven page-turner
  2. Watch for the Sichuan food, dialect, and wedding customs—they are the book's most flavorful parts
  3. The marriage-before-love line builds through daily life; don't rush the relationship

About the publisher

Jinjiang Literature City

Jinjiang Literature City focuses on publishing online literature. Its catalog covers categories such as premium fiction, time-travel and alternate-history fiction, ancient romance, women's fiction, modern romance, and quality web fiction, reflecting a sustained interest in women-oriented reading and genre storytelling. Representative titles include Splendid Years, Where Do the Swallows of the Old Home Fly, The Starlight in My Pen Is Not as Good as You, Song of Mortals, Lin Daiyu the Great Writer, Fake Slackers, and Judge of the Soul, spanning both historical settings and contemporary themes. Authors include Lingxi Gezhu, Nanfang Chihuo, Xiaomeng Zhihuansheng, Dajiang Mingyue, Lumenke, Muguahuang, Tuige, and Ziwei Liunian, whose works often built readership through online serialization. Public information on its founding background and scale is limited, so this profile presents its publishing characteristics based only on the catalog.

FAQ

Does this book have time travel or a cheat? No. The author states outright there is no cheat; it is a pure farming-life novel about an ordinary farm woman's life.
Is the romance marriage-before-love? Yes. The heroine is married into the Yang family by the elders, and she and Yang Maode begin from duty and end in companionship.
When and where is the story set? It begins in 1940, mainly at the Yang family compound in the countryside of Bazhong, Sichuan.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Yaoyao Buhuo Author

Yaoyao Buhuo, who also uses the English name Yaoyao Buhuo, writes under this name; her nationality, dates of birth and death, and other personal details have not been made public, and available public information is limited. According to the current catalog information, she has one work in the database, with the representative work Azu, commonly classified under women's fiction and time-travel alternate history. These labels suggest that her writing is mainly aimed at female readers and often uses time-travel and alternate-world settings to build story backgrounds, advancing character relationships and plot development in imagined times and spaces. Because only one work is currently available for reference, it is not enough to outline her long-term creative trajectory or full style, nor is it possible to confirm her writing experience, educational background, or awards. Readers who wish to learn more about this author may begin with Azu, paying attention to her narrative approach and character development within the time-travel alternate-history genre, and then observe whether her writing direction expands in later works.