Chapter 1: Rebirth in 1983

Chapter 1: Rebirth in 1983

Cold.

So cold.

Ye Xiaoxiao shivered as she opened her eyes. Through the dim, yellowish light, she saw a shabby, dimly lit room with exposed wooden beams on the ceiling and walls covered in yellowed newspapers.

Outside, the north wind howled, making the thin window paper rustle loudly.

"Cough, cough, cough..." Ye Xiaoxiao tried to speak but was overcome by a fit of violent coughing.

The door was immediately pushed open, and a short-haired woman in her forties walked in, her voice filled with urgency: "Oh, my girl, you're finally awake! Old Liu from the village said if your fever didn't break soon, it could fry your brain. With the heavy snow blocking the mountains, the road to the health center is nearly impassable..."

Ye Xiaoxiao's mind was in a daze, and she didn't respond.

The woman, in the dim light, fetched a thermos and a teacup, poured some hot water, and brought it over.

"Mom knows our family has let you down. If it weren't for the mix-up at the military hospital when you were delivered, you wouldn't have had to wait so long to find us. The city has better living conditions. If you want to go back to the Hao family, when the weather clears, your dad and brother will take you back. Don't go running off on your own.

You're lucky your fourth brother saw you. Falling into an ice hole and still being saved—if it had been any later, you wouldn't have made it."

The teacup filled with hot water was pressed into Ye Xiaoxiao's hands, finally bringing some warmth back to her body.

"Where am I... Who... who are you..."

Miao Cuifang was a bit surprised. How could she have forgotten even the name of the place? And as for her own name, this was the first time her daughter, who had come from the city to find her family, had asked her this question.

"Xiao Xiao, this is Baichuan Village in Songlin Town, Changling City, Heiyun Province. I'm your mom, Miao Cuifang. At home, there's your dad, Ye Jianguo, your brother Ye Changqing, your sister-in-law..."

Ye Xiaoxiao felt her headache worsen as soon as she heard the beginning. She realized she wasn't as lucky as she thought—she wasn't a survivor of the plane crash but had simply been reborn instead.

And not just reborn, but reborn into an 80s-era novel at that. The protagonist of this book, Hao Yanyan, was also a reincarnated person. In the first chapter, Hao Yanyan, to escape her previous tragic life, had set out early to find her relatives in the capital.

The Hao family quickly accepted this reality and, following Hao Yanyan's wishes, switched the surnames of their adopted daughter and their own daughter back.

The fake heiress raised by the Hao family, Ye Xiaoxiao, unwilling to face reality, had traveled through mountains and rivers to the Ye family in Baichuan Village with her reclaimed identity papers. But after only seven days in this poor home, she couldn't take it anymore and decided to leave.

Because of the snowstorm, the Ye family tried to stop her out of kindness, but Ye Xiaoxiao misunderstood their intentions and sneaked out of the house, only to fall into an ice hole that hadn't fully frozen over after being carved into the river.

Luckily, Ye Changsheng had been quietly following her. When the accident happened, he saved her in time, rescuing her life.

Ye Xiaoxiao took a sip of the hot water and noticed it was sweetened with brown sugar, leaving a sweet taste on her lips and warming her heart.

"Thank you, Mom. I get it now."

Ye Xiaoxiao, her voice hoarse, spoke after calming her chaotic thoughts.

Miao Cuifang was even more surprised. This was the first time the child had called her "Mom" since coming to their home.

Although she had come with the identity papers of "Ye Xiaoxiao," she had always believed her surname was Hao and that she belonged to the Hao family, considering the Ye family as nothing more than poor relatives living in the countryside.

Miao Cuifang sighed, thinking the child must have been truly out of it from the fever, even her personality had changed.

Ye Xiaoxiao could only manage a few sips of water before her throat hurt too much, and her body felt too weak, so she had to lie back down.

Miao Cuifang took the teacup, tucked Ye Xiaoxiao in, and then left the room.

Ye Xiaoxiao felt miserable. She came from a family of medical practitioners, where her elders and siblings were all doctors. She herself was a medical student, though not yet graduated, but having grown up in such an environment, she was already capable of prescribing treatments independently.

She hadn’t expected to be so helpless against her own minor fever and cold.

She might even burn her brain out, wasting this second chance at life.

The thought of being dead in the real world made her cry uncontrollably.

Maybe it was better to be dead—after her parents remarried, hardly anyone cared about her.

Dizzy and confused, Ye Xiaoxiao was lost in thought until someone lifted her tattered quilt and started unbuttoning her cotton-padded jacket.

Crap...

Just as Ye Xiaoxiao was about to struggle, she heard Miao Cuifang’s voice.

“Don’t move, dear. I’m going to wipe you down with warm wine. If the fever doesn’t break, we’ll have to take you to the town clinic tomorrow.”

A warm alcohol rub can help reduce fever, but the alcohol needs to be diluted. Ye Xiaoxiao couldn’t check if the alcohol was properly diluted. She felt like a salted fish being flipped and wiped before being tucked tightly under the quilt.

A while later, a younger woman’s voice came from outside the room.

“Mom, I filled a bottle with hot water. I’ll tuck it under the quilt for her.”

Miao Cuifang took the bottle and placed it near Ye Xiaoxiao, leaving only after she fell into a deep sleep.

After closing the door, Miao Cuifang asked her daughter-in-law, “How’s the fourth one doing?”

Zhang Xue looked worried. “Still running a fever. If it doesn’t break by tonight, Old Liu says we’ll have to take her to the town clinic.”

Old Liu was the village’s barefoot doctor—not highly skilled, but trusted by the villagers for minor illnesses.

Besides, Baichuan Village was remote and poor. Unless it was serious, no one wanted to go to the town clinic.

“Let’s see tomorrow.”

What worried Miao Cuifang most wasn’t the children’s illness, but whether Xiao Xiao would want to leave again after recovering.

Even if their family agreed, would the Hao family be willing to raise a child who wasn’t blood-related?

Miao Cuifang decided to discuss this thoroughly with her husband.

...

Ye Xiaoxiao slept fitfully, and the roosters’ crowing in the morning dragged her from the heights of the new century back to the 1983 northeast kang.

Ye Xiaoxiao shifted, feeling clammy and uncomfortable, but her fever had broken.

She sighed in relief—no risk of brain damage now.

She picked up the clothes from the kang and dressed, finally taking a moment to look around the room. Though old and small, it was spotless. Last night, aside from someone occasionally checking her forehead, no one had slept beside her.

This family was well-mannered and decent.

She peeked out the window at the yard. Judging by the position, it must be a small room on the west side.

Smoke was rising from the yard, and people were bustling around.

Ye Xiaoxiao got up. A mirror sat on the wooden cabinet by the floor. She gazed at her reflection.

The original owner had a delicate oval face, bright eyes, and pearly teeth. Her features were perfectly proportioned, her eyes glistening like spring lotus, and her black hair flowed down her shoulders like a waterfall.

Surprisingly, this face looked almost exactly like her original one, just younger.

And as expected of the villainess in the book, the unattainable ideal of the privileged children in the big courtyard, her delicate beauty made it easy for people to overlook her spiteful and domineering personality.

In the original story, this villainess’s true nature was only revealed near the end, leading everyone to utterly revile her, and she was condemned to spend her remaining days behind bars.

But none of this mattered to Ye Xiaoxiao anymore.

She had come to a clear realization: to live well, she needed to keep her distance from the main characters.

If she wanted to survive, she couldn’t follow the original plot and return to the capital to make life difficult for Hao Yanyan, nor should she waste her time chasing after that untrustworthy fiancé.

"The female lead is reborn, and I’m a transmigrator—we both have bright futures ahead!"

Ye Xiaoxiao placed her hand firmly over her heart and declared with determination.

The door creaked open, and a round-faced little child peeked inside.