Chapter One

Three minutes before the plane crashed, Su Liuyue, furious at the uselessness of the male protagonist in the period novel she was reading, abandoned the story in exasperation.

Suddenly, a panicked flight attendant’s voice echoed through the cabin. In less than half a minute, the nose of the plane pitched downward, spinning rapidly as it plummeted toward the earth.

Screams filled the air.

Su Liuyue jolted awake on the heated brick bed, her hair disheveled, startling Chen Xiulan.

"Su Liuyue, stop pretending to be possessed!" Chen Xiulan yanked off Su Liuyue’s quilt and sneered. "Huidi and Hongxing are about to get engaged. Stop dreaming."

Su Liuyue stared intently at the woman she called "Mother." The woman wore a gray coarse cloth shirt and navy trousers, the knees patched with two faded blue squares. Though she looked every inch the typical rural woman, calculation and disdain were clearly etched in her eyes.

"Huidi? Hongxing?" These names matched exactly those from the period novel she’d just abandoned.

Still dazed, Su Liuyue glanced at the calendar on the wall: "October 2, 1975."

Ignoring the woman's scolding, Su Liuyue slipped on her shoes and walked to the iron washstand, peering into the small inset mirror.

The reflection was her own—delicate, beautiful, a small face shaped like a palm. Yet her eyelids were puffy, as if she’d cried all night.

She swayed weakly, her slender waist as fragile as a windblown willow. Forcing her eyes open, she received the original host’s memories. Suddenly, everything around her felt familiar, as though she’d always lived here.

But the name—her own—she’d only ever seen in "The Useless Male Lead in the Seventies." Had she really transmigrated into the very book she’d abandoned halfway?

Of all the stories she’d read—domineering CEOs falling in love with her, the richest heiress on the planet, superstar actresses ruling the entertainment world—why land here?

Su Huidi looked at Su Liuyue, who seemed about to collapse, her porcelain-white neck tinged with pink, almond-shaped eyes, cherry lips, skin so fair and tender it seemed to glisten with moisture. Her thick, natural curls cascaded down her slender waist. Her chest was round and full, giving her an unconscious, youthful allure.

Three days without food or water, and she was still this beautiful.

Jealous, Su Huidi spitefully taunted, "Brother Hongxing wanted to marry me long ago. He was just playing with you. He likes me because I’m hardworking and good with children—"

Su Liuyue’s voice was hoarse with shock. "Is it so glorious to be someone’s stepmother? Is he looking for a second wife, or just a free nanny?"

"I—I—of course, a wife," Su Huidi stammered, blushing.

Chen Xiulan rushed over. "Even if she’s a nanny, at least he’s deputy manager at the county grain and oil store! So what if he’s older? If Huidi marries him, she’ll move to the city and get city ration coupons!"

Su Liuyue gripped the washstand weakly and murmured, "If you want him, go ahead. I’m not interested anymore."

Su Huidi was stunned. "After all this fuss, you’ve come to your senses?"

"Or would you rather I hadn’t?"

She remembered that the original host never did come to terms with it, and died on Su Huidi’s wedding day. If not for a kindly cripple who buried her, her corpse would have decomposed unnoticed.

Su Huidi, having stolen love first, felt guilty facing Su Liuyue. "Of course, I hope you can move on."

Since Su Liuyue hadn’t died at home, Su Huidi gave Chen Xiulan a look, prompting her to get to the point.

Chen Xiulan sat on the edge of the kang, dabbing at her eyes theatrically. "You’re grown up now. We can’t keep things from you. You’re not our biological daughter."

Su Huidi wore a look of eager anticipation, waiting for Su Liuyue to break down.

Normally, Su Liuyue was so fragile that a few words could make her cry for days.

But the current Su Liuyue was no longer the original. She pulled her lips into a cold, expressionless smile.

She knew they wanted to drive her out, fearing she’d ruin Su Huidi’s marriage. The one who’d done wrong was Su Huidi, yet the one to suffer was the original host.

The original had been too confident in her looks, thinking men were easy to manipulate. She hadn’t expected Su Huidi to be so shameless as to climb into Li Hongxing’s bed.

Su Liuyue had no time to mourn. She said coolly, "Give me my parents’ house and I’ll leave right away."

"You’re not upset?" Su Huidi was incredulous.

"I’m delighted, actually." This family was rotten to the core.

Chen Xiulan hurried to say, "They died long ago!"

"I know they were heroes. Swept away in a mountain flood, they still saved you. Otherwise, would you have raised me?"

Chen Xiulan was dumbfounded; she hadn’t expected Su Liuyue to already know the truth.

Could she know that other secret? No, impossible.

Seeing Chen Xiulan hesitate, Su Liuyue smiled deliberately. "After all these years, I repay you with a deputy manager for a son-in-law—isn’t that enough? Second Sister will never want for food, and the youngest will have money to find a wife."

She changed her tone. "If you can’t bear to let me go, I’ll stay. Second Sister’s engagement and wedding will need help. Since I know Hongxing so well, why not let me help the two of you?"

"No way!" Chen Xiulan would never let her near Li Hongxing again. Her precious son-in-law must not be snatched away. "The key is over there."

She pointed to a corner of the windowsill, ignoring the dampness of the night. "Leave now. We’ve done more than enough for you. You absolutely cannot stay another day."

Years ago, when her husband wanted to strangle the infant Su Liuyue, Chen Xiulan, fresh from childbirth, couldn’t bear it—and so raised her to this age.

Su Liuyue gave a mocking smile. "On second thought, maybe I’ll stay. I want to help pick a husband for my sister tomorrow."

Su Huidi was terrified. "No need! Just go. There’s no place for you here."

Originally, Chen Xiulan had hoped to marry Su Liuyue off for a good price. But Su Liuyue was lazy, greedy, and temperamental—her reputation was notorious in the village. No one wanted a pretty face with no substance.

Besides, Su Liuyue was too beautiful; most men were afraid of raising another man’s child. Thus, the belle of Xiaotang Village had become an old maid.

If Su Huidi hadn’t been so shameless, Su Liuyue would have married into the city by now. But how could Chen Xiulan let her adopted daughter live better than her own? So she came up with this rotten plan.

Su Liuyue picked up the lone brass key. Though old, it hadn’t rusted.

Su Huidi whispered, "Mother, calm down. First, think if there’s anything in that house we can take. Don’t leave her a thing."

Chen Xiulan had already searched it thoroughly. She sneered, "That broken house leaks wind and rain. There’s nothing left but four walls and a rickety table and chairs. Oh, and a cracked jar for pickles, about this big. Even your brother wouldn’t keep a cricket in it."

The two of them watched Su Liuyue pack her only two sets of clothes, afraid she might cause trouble, not daring to blink.

They had no idea that Su Liuyue had no intention of staying in a home destined for tragedy.

Their prized city official was someone Su Liuyue wanted nothing to do with.

Before leaving, Su Liuyue glanced back at Su Huidi. "Aren’t you going to apologize?"

"I did nothing wrong!" Su Huidi said, chin raised.

"Don’t regret it," Su Liuyue replied, and strode out without another word.

No one noticed, but in the abandoned wooden house, that despised cracked pickle jar was glowing softly from within its fissure.