Hi friends!
While you’re visiting the site, I wanted to recommend a Cnovel that I recently finished this past week. If you’re a fan of slice-of-village-life, money-making FL, doting ML, and cute children, I think this story might appeal to you. Here’s some info and my review:
Author: 月半要分家
Li Mo, a senior beautician from the modern era, transmigrated to the ancient period and became a peasant woman sold to a countryside man.
Looking at the crumbling thatched house, a husband with a disabled leg, and the bony little bun, Li Mo sighed and realized she must make a fortune.
PS: The protagonist has superb makeup and beauty techniques, no other Golden Finger, there will be no princes and generals, just ordinary everyday farming.
Novel Updates Page
Sweet & Simple
It was not too long and sweet! The dog blood drama with the ML’s family is pretty minimal and disappears after the first half. I would say the story is segmented into:
- First half: getting rid of ML’s ridiculous family, FL starting to get comfortable and opening up to ML
- Second half: FL implementing more business ideas and gaining success for her family
- Side stories: Cute tidbits on their children
Overall, I would call it a cross between Married to a Disabled Man in the 70’s (where the ML is poor and has a leg injury, and the FL transmigrates into his life for the better) x Ancient Foodie Survival Guide (where the FL uses her previous life’s skill to create a successful business and helps other women along the way). Peasant Makeup Artist gave a general sweet, fluffy vibe with a FL that has a good head on her shoulder, a doting ML, and their friends/family.
Translation
I believe this was the translator’s first work, and it had some rough patches. Sometimes it felt like MTL, with pronouns (he/she) getting mixed up and even names being rearranged. There were definitely grammar issues as well and switching between past/present-tense. If you’re interested in starting this, I’d recommend getting ready to ‘autocorrect’ in your head while reading, haha. Otherwise, I appreciated the brief footnotes. Around chapter 70 (out of 92), a proofreader came in and tidied up a lot of the sentence structure and grammar. The only things that stayed were sentences that didn’t make a lot of sense, probably due to the original translation being a bit off. It certainly wasn’t unreadable, just a bit more involved.
Simple Storyline
From the first chapter when the FL realizes she transmigrated after dying in a plane crash, I knew I would like her attitude. She assesses the situation she’s in and decides that staying with her peasant husband is the way to survive. I also enjoyed her initial interactions with the ML’s son, Xiao Bao, who was around 4 years old. The FL mentions how she’s always liked children, and he opens up to her really easily. I loved their mother/child interactions!
I was also worried that because the ML had an ex-wife, we would get relationship drama, but nah. The FL learns that he had an arranged marriage with the ex-wife and then yeeted to the army. The ex-wife gave birth and died, so she gone gone, lol.
Once the FL understands her situation, she does whatever she can to live a good life with her family. I like how she was open about cultivating feelings with her husband and treated him and their son really well. From then on, Li Mo (the FL) uses her beautician skills to make money and protect her family.
Lighter on the Romance
While the ML was wary of the FL at first, he starts to open up and becomes an openly doting and loving husband. He’s the quiet, succinct type with not many words but will go bonkers if you do something to his wife. Kind of like a gruff teddy bear? He’s quite protective of his family. I thought it was refreshing that the ML was described as average-looking, poor, and disabled. Usually Cnovels put haloes on the love interests, but I think the shining factor of Song Dashan (the ML) was his devotedness to his wife, no matter his circumstances.
Their romance progressed in a pretty organic way as they became more comfortable with each other. And while the romantic factor of the story is not heavy, we do get so see some dog food moments between the couple. There’s nothing that gets in the way of their relationship and it only grows stronger through time. It was sweet to see their loyalty and dedication to each other. I also love how the FL doesn’t beat around the bush and is very direct/communicates well with the ML (especially regarding his horrible family). We stan open communication!
Children, Friends, Family
I like how the FL builds a great support system that stays with the family throughout time. Their neighbors are really nice and the FL’s business partners are capable women. When the FL’s business gets up and running, she chooses employees carefully but also with heart. Li Mo gives opportunities to women who are down on their luck and struggling to survive, and in turn they work well. While the ML is supporting Li Mo every step of the way, her skills and initiatives are really the bread and butter of the story.Let’s talk about children! I adored (most of) the children in this book. Xiao Bao is indeed a treasure, as his nickname translates to, and the other boys he grows close to are so darling and well-behaved as well. I’ve seen reviews of Cnovels that feature children but don’t really include them (so they’re low key tossed to the side), but Li Mo thinks about the childrens’ future and creates a nice growing environment for them.
Finally… the Business
While it was interesting to see the FL’s ideas and business ventures, sometimes the explanations about makeup and beauty became long-winded. Be ready for a couple of paragraphs, at least, about fixing one’s facial flaws and contouring. Readers get to see the progression of the FL making balms and doing bridal makeup to eventually opening up her own beauty salon. She also creates opportunities for her family and neighbors (basically building her empire, lol). In general though, it seems like the author put time in figuring out what roles the FL would succeed in and what ideas would work, when brought from the modern era into historical times. I would say the FL doing business was ~40% of the book, with the rest being family-orientated and maybe 10% for additional conflict/light drama.
Overall
If you’re a fan of historical Cnovels that are very focused on the main characters just living their life and making money, while falling in love and creating meaningful relationships along the way, Peasant Makeup Artist will fulfill those interests. While there are some conflicts that pop up here and there to spice up the story and keep the momentum going, it’s an overall light and sweet read that follows the FL’s family.
TL;DR Read this if you’re into:
- A devoted love interest that is very supportive and protective of the FL and their children
- A transmigrated FL who uses her beautician skills to make her family prosper
- Creating a support system with meaningful relationships, including sismances
- Low drama, high slice-of-life with an emphasis on the FL’s skills
- Lots of family love, especially with the children
- And a happily ever after!
You can find my review on this web novel’s NovelUpdates page as well! If you have similar Cnovel recommendations, I’d love to check them out.
spiced eggroll. 