{ "id": "epdadxh6ew", "slug": "cinderella-chef", "title": "Cinderella Chef (萌妻食神)", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series", "label": "Series and fictional screen worlds", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_international_serials", "label": "International serial drama and telenovelas", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_international_serials" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_int_serials_east_asia", "label": "East Asian drama series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_int_serials_east_asia" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_int_serials_east_asia.east_asian_web_streaming_serials", "label": "East Asian web and streaming serials", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_int_serials_east_asia.east_asian_web_streaming_serials" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_int_serials_east_asia.east_asian_web_streaming_serials.alpha-symbols-to-co", "label": "Titles symbols to Co", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_int_serials_east_asia.east_asian_web_streaming_serials.alpha-symbols-to-co" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series.series_int_serials_east_asia.east_asian_web_streaming_serials", "label": "China · 2001 to 2020: East Asian web and streaming serials", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series.series_int_serials_east_asia.east_asian_web_streaming_serials", "path": [ { "id": "geo.chn", "label": "China", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2001", "label": "China · 2001 to 2020", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2001" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2001.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2001.culture" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series", "label": "Series and fictional screen worlds", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series.series_international_serials", "label": "International serial drama and telenovelas", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series.series_international_serials" }, { "id": "geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series.series_int_serials_east_asia.east_asian_web_streaming_serials", "label": "East Asian web and streaming serials", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.chn.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series.series_int_serials_east_asia.east_asian_web_streaming_serials" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Cinderella Chef (萌妻食神, Meng Qi Shi Shen) is a 2018 Chinese costume food-romance web drama adapted from Zi Yi 281's novel, starring Chong Danni and Thassapak Hsu, 56 episodes on Tencent Video, plus a three-season animated adaptation on bilibili.", "snippet": "Cinderella Chef (萌妻食神, Meng Qi Shi Shen) is a 2018 Chinese costume food-romance web drama adapted from Zi Yi 281's novel, starring Chong Danni and Thassapak Hsu, 56 episodes on Tencent Video, plus a three-season animated adaptation on bilibili.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_int_serials_east_asia.east_asian_web_streaming_serials.alpha-symbols-to-co", "markdown": "# Cinderella Chef (萌妻食神)\n\n**Cinderella Chef** (萌妻食神, *Meng Qi Shi Shen*) is a 2018 Chinese costume food-and-romance web drama adapted from the novel of the same name by the online writer Zi Yi 281 (紫伊281), the pen name of Xia Ling. It premiered on [Tencent Video](https://www.edgepedia.org/tencent-video) on April 23, 2018, ran for 56 episodes, and tells of a modern chef who travels back in time, is kidnapped by bandits, and wins her way through a fake marriage with her cooking.[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E8%90%8C%E5%A6%BB%E9%A3%9F%E7%A5%9E/19781534) • [2](https://wiki.d-addicts.com/Cinderella_Chef) The same novel was also adapted into a 2D animated series that premiered on bilibili in December 2018 and ran for three seasons.[3](https://www.bilibili.com/bangumi/media/md139952?mng_ts=1546105801718)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Original title | 萌妻食神 (Meng Qi Shi Shen); English title Cinderella Chef[2](https://wiki.d-addicts.com/Cinderella_Chef) |\n| Source | Novel by Zi Yi 281 (紫伊281), serialized on Qidian Girls' network under Yuewen Group; 36 chapters[4](https://gnn.gamer.com.tw/detail.php?sn=158346) |\n| Live-action run | 56 episodes, Tencent Video, April 23 to June 26, 2018[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E8%90%8C%E5%A6%BB%E9%A3%9F%E7%A5%9E/19781534) • [5](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/36660/cinderella-chef) |\n| Main cast | Chong Danni (种丹妮) as Ye Jiayao; Thassapak Hsu (徐志贤) as Xia Chunyu[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E8%90%8C%E5%A6%BB%E9%A3%9F%E7%A5%9E/19781534) |\n| Directors | Zhao Jintao and Zhang Jinqing[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E8%90%8C%E5%A6%BB%E9%A3%9F%E7%A5%9E/19781534) |\n| Viewership | 800 million within a week of launch; 3.3 billion cumulative at the finale[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E8%90%8C%E5%A6%BB%E9%A3%9F%E7%A5%9E/19781534) |\n| Animated version | 2D animation by Wawayu, produced by Yuewen Group and bilibili; season 1 premiered December 29, 2018, 36 episodes[3](https://www.bilibili.com/bangumi/media/md139952?mng_ts=1546105801718) • [6](https://www.jiemian.com/article/2886071.html) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot\n\nThe heroine, Ye Jiayao (叶佳瑶), is a modern woman from a family of cooks who works as a food-magazine editor. Through an accident involving a meteorite she is transported to the fictional ancient Huaishong (怀宋) era, waking in the body of Ye Jinxuan (叶瑾萱), the eldest daughter of the prefect Ye Binghuai. She is promptly kidnapped to the Heifang (黑风寨) bandit stronghold and forced into marriage with its third chief, Xia Chunyu (夏淳于).[7](https://wetv.vip/zh-cn/play/86n7867jc9wcik2) • [8](https://www.linetv.tw/drama/22150)\n\nXia Chunyu is not a bandit by birth: he is the heir of the Jing'an Marquis (靖安侯世子), working undercover at the stronghold on behalf of Prince Yu to find evidence that the stronghold is secretly colluding with the crown prince. The stronghold's chief, Bai Chongye, sends the new bride to Xia Chunyu as a tool to test him. Using superb cooking and modern business thinking, Ye Jiayao escapes danger repeatedly and builds a name in the food world, while the two gradually come to know and accept each other.[7](https://wetv.vip/zh-cn/play/86n7867jc9wcik2)\n\nAfter the stronghold is broken up, the couple separate amid a misunderstanding. Ye Jiayao travels to the capital disguised as a man and builds a culinary empire there, becoming the dominant figure in the capital's food scene; when they reunite, both are drawn into the dangerous succession struggle between the crown prince and Prince Yu, which ends with the couple helping the crown prince take the throne.[9](https://www.linetv.tw/drama/9731/eps/56) • [10](https://www.viki.com/tv/36048c-cinderella?locale=zh)\n\n## Live-action drama\n\n**Production.** The drama was produced by Tencent Penguin Pictures and Xingge Media, filmed at Hengdian, and wrapped there in October 2017. A February 2018 report from the author's home region of Jinyun, Zhejiang, described it as a 50-episode series directed by Zhang Lei; records published at and after broadcast give 56 episodes and credit Zhao Jintao and Zhang Jinqing as directors, with screenwriters Lin Weirui, Yang Zhili, Yu Ge, Liu Yuanyu, and Qiu Junjie.[11](https://cs.zjol.com.cn/zjbd/ls16512/201802/t20180222_6631278.shtml) • [1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E8%90%8C%E5%A6%BB%E9%A3%9F%E7%A5%9E/19781534) The author Xia Ling, a post-1975 music teacher, is a Yuewen Group featured writer and a member of the China Writers Association who has published 16 novels since her 2007 debut.[11](https://cs.zjol.com.cn/zjbd/ls16512/201802/t20180222_6631278.shtml)\n\n**Release and viewership.** The series premiered on Tencent Video on April 23, 2018, with two new episodes from Monday to Wednesday. Its daily play count rose steadily: past 800 million one week after launch on May 4, past 1.3 billion on May 13, past 1.7 billion on May 21, past 2.6 billion on June 8, and 3.3 billion when it concluded on June 26, 2018.[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E8%90%8C%E5%A6%BB%E9%A3%9F%E7%A5%9E/19781534)\n\n**Reception.** On Douban the drama held a 6.1 rating from 13,909 users as of December 11, 2023. Xinhua's review credited it with confirming the value of web-novel IP for web dramas, and Phoenix Entertainment praised its sweet romance and its use of trope-and-anti-trope plotting, citing the opening scene in which the hero throws the heroine up a tree.[1](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E8%90%8C%E5%A6%BB%E9%A3%9F%E7%A5%9E/19781534) Internationally it streams with subtitles on Rakuten Viki, where it is rated PG-13 and cataloged under romance, romantic comedy, and fantasy.[12](https://www.viki.com/tv/36048c?locale=en)\n\n## Animated adaptation\n\nThe novel was also adapted into a 2D animated series produced by the Wawayu studio (娃娃鱼动画) and presented by Yuewen Group and bilibili, announced at a Shanghai event in July 2017 and scheduled for 2018.[6](https://www.jiemian.com/article/2886071.html) • [4](https://gnn.gamer.com.tw/detail.php?sn=158346) Season 1 premiered on bilibili on December 29, 2018, ran 36 episodes of about 20 minutes, and drew roughly 160 million plays with a 9.3 user score on the platform.[3](https://www.bilibili.com/bangumi/media/md139952?mng_ts=1546105801718) • [13](https://www.thetvdb.com/series/meng-qi-shi-shen) A second season, *Meng Qi Shi Shen: Zai Jie Liang Yuan* (萌妻食神：再结良缘, also known as Cinderella Chef II), aired 12 episodes from October 9, 2021, and holds a 7.1 Douban rating from 1,448 users; a third season of 12 episodes followed from July to September 2022.[14](https://movie.douban.com/subject/35623382/) • [13](https://www.thetvdb.com/series/meng-qi-shi-shen)\n\n## Two adaptations, two emphases\n\nThe two versions reshaped the same source for different audiences. The web drama, aimed mainly at young women, strengthened the jianghu (the underworld world of martial-arts clans and feuds) feuds and palace-intrigue plots and weakened the heroine's food label, so that the food on screen played a small role in the story. The animation, judged by bilibili's experienced animation audience, took the opposite path: it toned down the novel's time-travel, domineering-CEO, and [Mary Sue](https://www.edgepedia.org/mary-sue) elements and enlarged the cooking scenes, making the food itself the selling point; a Jiemian review placed its visual polish in the upper-middle range of Chinese web animation while noting uneven action fluidity.[6](https://www.jiemian.com/article/2886071.html)\n\nThe project also sits within a broader 2018 wave of female-oriented web-novel IP dramas, alongside titles such as *The Eternal Love* and *Ashes of Love*, a trend driven by women's strong share of digital-reading payment and the rise of \"she economy\" audiences.[15](https://wyb.chinawriter.com.cn/attachment/201901/25/e7c568ec-211f-4e5b-9ec0-3052a648c2c9.pdf) China Literature's 2022 investor materials list new seasons of *Cinderella Chef* among the titles that lifted the popularity of its animation IP portfolio.[16](https://ir-1253177085.cos.ap-hongkong.myqcloud.com/investment/20230324/641d1efb48d70.pdf)\n\n## References\n\n1. [萌妻食神（2018年种丹妮、徐志贤主演古装美食剧）, Baidu Baike](https://bkso.baidu.com/item/%E8%90%8C%E5%A6%BB%E9%A3%9F%E7%A5%9E/19781534)\n2. [Cinderella Chef, DramaWiki](https://wiki.d-addicts.com/Cinderella_Chef)\n3. [萌妻食神, Bilibili](https://www.bilibili.com/bangumi/media/md139952?mng_ts=1546105801718)\n4. [《萌妻食神》中國美食穿越劇小說改編動畫新作 2018 年內開播, Bahamut GNN](https://gnn.gamer.com.tw/detail.php?sn=158346)\n5. [Cinderella Chef, TVmaze](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/36660/cinderella-chef)\n6. [《萌妻食神》：如何从霸道总裁到\"变身系\"美食动画, Jiemian](https://www.jiemian.com/article/2886071.html)\n7. [萌妻食神, WeTV](https://wetv.vip/zh-cn/play/86n7867jc9wcik2)\n8. [萌妻食神 第一季, LINE TV](https://www.linetv.tw/drama/22150)\n9. [萌妻食神第56集, LINE TV](https://www.linetv.tw/drama/9731/eps/56)\n10. [萌妻食神, Rakuten Viki (Chinese page)](https://www.viki.com/tv/36048c-cinderella?locale=zh)\n11. [缙云又一网络女作家小说《萌妻食神》被改编成电视剧和动画片, 浙江在线城市频道](https://cs.zjol.com.cn/zjbd/ls16512/201802/t20180222_6631278.shtml)\n12. [Cinderella Chef, Rakuten Viki](https://www.viki.com/tv/36048c?locale=en)\n13. [萌妻食神, TheTVDB](https://www.thetvdb.com/series/meng-qi-shi-shen)\n14. [萌妻食神：再结良缘, Douban](https://movie.douban.com/subject/35623382/)\n15. [中国新闻出版广电报 (2019-01-25), 中国作家网](https://wyb.chinawriter.com.cn/attachment/201901/25/e7c568ec-211f-4e5b-9ec0-3052a648c2c9.pdf)\n16. [China Literature investment presentation (2023-03-24)](https://ir-1253177085.cos.ap-hongkong.myqcloud.com/investment/20230324/641d1efb48d70.pdf)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › International serial drama and telenovelas › East Asian drama series › East Asian web and streaming serials › Titles symbols to Co*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/cinderella-chef", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/cinderella-chef.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Cinderella Chef (萌妻食神)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/cinderella-chef. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Cinderella Chef (萌妻食神)](https://www.edgepedia.org/cinderella-chef)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/cinderella-chef](https://www.edgepedia.org/cinderella-chef). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Cinderella Chef (萌妻食神)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/cinderella-chef. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Cinderella Chef is a 2018 Chinese costume food-romance web drama adapted from Zi Yi 281's novel, starring Chong Danni and Thassapak Hsu, 56 episodes on Tencent Video, plus a three-season animated adaptation on bilibili." }