"Ow!" Jing Yanguo clutched her head as searing pain exploded behind her eyes. Blood—warm and sticky—coated her fingers.

Wait... what?

She remembered bumping her head on the cabinet corner, but there hadn’t been any blood then. And why was her hand so rough? Calluses thick as tree bark covered her palms, and a rag-wrapped bandage encircled her left index finger.

Impossible. She hadn’t done manual labor since leaving the factory at seventeen. And that finger—she’d never injured it.

Disoriented, she looked around. This wasn’t the basement garage. The air smelled of damp earth and wild grass. She recognized the overgrown slope—the same cliff where she’d tumbled at seventeen. chill ran down her spine as her fingers flew to her chest. No lumps. No tumors.

No cancer. laugh bubbled up, half-hysterical, half-triumphant. She’d gone back. Back to 1983. Back to the fork in the road where her life had shattered.

Memories flooded back—the thug who’d "found" her after her fall, the forced marriage to Er Lai Zi, the factory job that had stolen her youth.

This time, she wouldn’t be a victim.

But first, she had to escape. Er Lai Zi would be along soon, just like before. If she didn’t move, history would repeat itself.

Gritting her teeth, she stuffed sowthistle into her wound to stanch the bleeding and stumbled down the mountain path.

About a hundred meters later, footsteps crunched behind her. She dove behind a clump of thatch.

Er Lai Zi appeared—a pockmarked man hunched under the weight of his own greed. He scoured the ground where she’d "fallen," muttering in confusion before trudging away.

So it was a setup. Liu Chunhua’s fingerprints were all over this. The forced marriage had never been about love—it was about trapping her in poverty, stealing her future.

Jing Yanguo’s fists clenched. Liu Chunhua wouldn’t stop at this. She’d ruin Jing Yanguo’s reputation, sabotage her education, just as she had before.

But how to fight back? Alone and injured, she was no match for her mother’s schemes.

Lost in thought, she didn’t notice the rattlesnake coiling toward her.

"Watch out!" strong hand yanked the snake’s neck, flinging it aside. Before Jing Yanguo could thank her savior, she lost her balance on the slope—

—and tumbled backward, straight into a pair of arms.

They fell together, a dizzying plunge down a sixty-degree incline. Jing Yanguo’s world spun as she landed hard, the impact knocking the wind from her lungs.

When she finally gasped for air, she found herself pinned beneath...

Fang Xianzhi?

The county high school principal’s son—a golden boy straight out of a fairy tale. At twenty-four, he was already a lecturer at the Air Defense University, a prodigy who’d skipped grades and aced every exam.

Their paths had barely crossed. He was too busy with his studies; she was too busy surviving Liu Chunhua’s schemes.

Now, their faces were inches apart. His features were sharp—thick brows, a straight nose, eyes like slitted lanterns that made her pulse stutter.

"You’re... on my chest," she choked out.

His face turned crimson as he scrambled to move, but his injured leg betrayed him. With a yelp, he toppled forward—

—and their lips met.

Time froze.

Five seconds. Ten? Their wide-eyed stares locked, breath mingling in the cool mountain air.

Jing Yanguo broke the silence first, sitting up with a wince. First kiss—and it’s a reincarnation bonus?

Fang Xianzhi, still dazed, touched his burning ear. "I’ll... take responsibility," he murmured, voice rough like unaged liquor.

Responsibility? In this conservative era, that meant marriage.

She almost laughed. At forty, he’d still be single, the villagers whispering about his "issues."

But as she opened her mouth to protest, he winced. "My ankle... I think it’s broken."

Translation Notes: Cultural Context:

Reincarnation trope: The sudden return to 1983 leverages the Chinese literary fascination with time loops and fate reversal.

Social dynamics: Liu Chunhua’s exploitation of Jing Yanguo reflects generational oppression in rural China, where daughters were often sacrificed for sons’ futures. Characterization:

Jing Yanguo’s resilience: Her immediate plotting contrasts with her past passivity, signaling growth.

Fang Xianzhi’s awkwardness: His virginity (implied by his flustered reaction) subverts the "perfect male lead" stereotype. Sensory Details:

Blood on hands, rough calluses: Grounding physical sensations anchor the surreal reincarnation moment.

Ratttlesnake attack: Heightens tension while mirroring Jing Yanguo’s "poisoned" past life. Romantic Tension:

The accidental kiss becomes a metaphor for her second chance—messy, unintended, but full of potential.

This passage balances action, emotion, and cultural nuance, setting the stage for Jing Yanguo’s revenge and redemption arc.