Chapter 1: Little Intellectual

Knock, knock, knock…

“Comrade Ye, are you home?”

The voice came from the front gate. Ye Xin had no intention of answering, hoping the person would just leave. However, the persistent knocking escalated into pounding, leaving her no choice but to get up, shake off her dizziness, and answer the door.

Outside stood a woman in her 40s or 50s, short but sturdy, with a no-nonsense demeanor. She cradled a baby too young to walk and had a toddler trailing by her side. From her memory, Ye Xin recognized the woman as Huang Yuemei, wife of Li Xingguo, the captain of Fengshui Brigade. The children were her eldest granddaughter and grandson.

Seeing Ye Xin finally emerge, Huang Yuemei frowned and said, “Comrade Ye, why didn’t you answer? I thought something had happened to you!”

Ye Xin, who was no taller than the other woman, weakly responded to the sharp tone, “I… I was feeling dizzy.”

Huang Yuemei paused, scrutinizing Ye Xin’s pale face and frail frame. There was something pitiful about her, so her tone softened. “I heard you fainted from heatstroke in the fields this morning. My husband told me to check on you this afternoon. If you’re still unwell, take another dose of herbal medicine.”

Ye Xin lowered her head, avoiding the probing gaze. “I’m feeling better now. Thank you, Aunt Huang.”

Huang Yuemei adjusted the baby in her arms and said, “As long as you’re fine. Take today off, but be sure to report for work tomorrow. If you don’t earn enough work points, you won’t have enough grain at the end of the year.”

Ye Xin obediently nodded. “I’ll go to work tomorrow, Aunt.”

Huang Yuemei was surprised by her compliance. The young educated worker had always been quick to snap back at criticism. Fengshui Brigade had drawn the short straw with this one—always blowing up at the slightest thing and refusing to listen.

Huang Yuemei didn’t believe the girl had changed overnight; she assumed Ye Xin was just too unwell to argue today. But since the girl was behaving, she couldn’t help but offer some advice. “Comrade Ye, that boy Shen Zhuo is a good lad. His father just passed away, and he can’t handle your tantrums! If you don’t want to live with him, just move back to the educated workers’ dormitory. You aren’t married, after all—parting now won’t hurt anyone.”

Lowering her voice, Huang Yuemei muttered, “It’s not like any decent girl would dare live in a man’s house before marriage…”

Ah, there it was—the sensitive subject. Ye Xin felt her scalp tingle with embarrassment, wishing she could disappear.

Seeing her silence, Huang Yuemei pressed on, “Now that you’ve settled in our village, you should focus on farming to earn your work points. Causing a fuss only hurts yourself and others, making you a laughingstock. Isn’t that true?”

Ye Xin could only reply, “Thank you for your advice, Aunt. I’ll think about it.”

With that, Huang Yuemei finally left with the children.

Ye Xin closed the gate, letting out a long sigh of relief. The June heat was relentless, but she retreated into the stifling room anyway, preferring the confinement to the blazing sun outside.

She felt uneasy, wanting to hide away.

Ye Xin had arrived in this world just over an hour ago, after the original Ye Xin had fainted from heatstroke. In her previous life, she’d been a 21st-century office worker, fresh out of college and lucky enough to land a government job, even if it was low-paying and exhausting. Compared to the many who were still unemployed or struggling after graduation, she had been content with her lot.

That morning, as usual, she’d been riding her electric bike to work when she hit a stone and crashed hard. The pain was dizzying, and as she glimpsed the blood streaming from her knee, she lost consciousness.

When she woke up, she found herself in this old, mud-brick house, her injuries gone but her identity changed.

Now, Ye Xin sat on a hard wooden bed, frowning deeply.

The original Ye Xin had been a 16-year-old “educated youth,” one of many sent from the cities to the countryside as part of a national movement. She’d arrived at Fengshui Brigade in March—only three months ago.

Life in the rural fields was tough, but what made it worse was the original Ye Xin’s difficult personality, which left the new Ye Xin at a loss.

There were nine other educated youths in the brigade—four men and five women. Although there were government stipends for accommodations, they lived and ate together in simple quarters. Initially, people had treated Ye Xin kindly, since she was the youngest. But she quickly soured things by refusing to do her share of the cooking, sleeping in when everyone else was already working, and taking advantage of others.

Within a month, she had alienated everyone, earning the scorn of both the educated youth and the local villagers.

Worse, she had agreed to an engagement with a local boy, Shen Zhuo, under circumstances that left Ye Xin with a headache and a sense of shame.

The original Ye Xin had isolated herself from the other educated youth and moved into Shen Zhuo’s house to “care for his ailing father,” but in truth, she saw it as an excuse to avoid work and enjoy a bit of comfort.

Ye Xin sighed. The mess she’d inherited was far from simple, and now she had to figure out how to navigate it…

A month had barely passed, and Old Man Shen was gone.

It wouldn’t be fair to say he died because of her care, though. His condition had been bad for a long time, and everyone knew it was only a matter of time. So, when he passed away, no one blamed her.

But the problem wasn’t his death—it was what she did right after. The funeral had barely ended when she started making noise about breaking off the engagement. That was just too much! People were outraged when they found out that her real reason was because she had realized how poor the Shen family was. They’d spent all their savings on Old Man Shen’s treatment, and she had her eye on someone wealthier in the village. That was the real reason she wanted out.

The reason she collapsed from heatstroke today? She’d shown up for work—rare for her—just to cozy up to the richer guy. She hadn’t even lasted a few minutes before the heat got to her, and she fainted in the fields. Someone had to carry her back, causing everyone to lose valuable work time.

“What a mess… What did I do to deserve this?” Ye Xin groaned, clutching her head in despair.

No wonder Auntie Huang had been so blunt with her earlier. With a personality like the original Ye Xin’s, it was no surprise people kept their distance. The fact that some, like Auntie Huang, still had the patience to offer advice was a miracle.

“What now?” Ye Xin muttered, pacing the tiny room. “Am I really going to be stuck farming here?” She wrinkled her nose. “That sounds exhausting…”

She was deeply anxious, talking to herself as she wandered around the small, bare room. And then there was the engagement. Sixteen and already engaged? She wouldn’t even start on that. Different times, different customs, she supposed. But she’d never even dated anyone before. Now, not only did she have a fiancé, but she also lived with him, disliked him, and was on the verge of breaking it off. The whole situation gave her a massive headache.

After pacing the room a few more times, Ye Xin leaned against the wall to rest, but the rough texture startled her. She glanced at it and saw it was a simple mud-brick wall.

“Ugh…” She quickly pulled her hand away, wiping off the yellow dust with a frown.

Even though the Shen family’s house was considered decent for the area, to someone used to modern city apartments, it was painfully basic. She sighed and looked around the room again. A hard wooden bed, a wardrobe, and not even a single chair. The bed and wardrobe had been purchased with government funds meant for the relocated youth like her, so they were at least new and sturdy. But there wasn’t much else to look at. The wardrobe was tall and could hold plenty of things, and underneath it, raised off the damp ground by wooden beams, sat two pairs of shoes—one cotton and one cloth—and two enamel basins filled with towels and soap.

The whole place screamed poverty.

The stark contrast to her previous life made Ye Xin sigh deeply again. She glanced at her hands, which were thin and pale, with skin so dry and yellow that she looked nothing like a healthy sixteen-year-old girl. She tugged at her long hair. It was dull and brittle, the ends split and frizzy.

This malnourished body was mostly the result of not getting enough to eat. It was a time when food was scarce, after all.

Realizing this, Ye Xin got serious. She headed into the main hall, where she found an old, worn-out wooden cabinet and located a weathered calendar. She needed to confirm the year.

When she saw the date, her vision swam, and she almost passed out.

June, 1970. The Cultural Revolution wasn’t even halfway over!

She returned to her room, clutching her chest, and took a few moments to calm herself down. There was no way back. She had to adapt, somehow.

At least there was still a chance for her to grow taller if she could eat enough. She was barely 1.6 meters now. Maybe a good diet would help her stretch out a bit.

With that thought, an idea popped into her head, and suddenly, she found herself standing in an unfamiliar space.

The space was vast—about seven or eight acres, with a house at the center. A large tree with thick branches and green leaves shaded the front of the house, and at its base, a clear spring bubbled up from the ground. Surrounding the house were eight neat, fertile fields, perfectly ready for planting.

This was a secret space she had discovered after arriving in this world. She had explored it briefly before Auntie Huang had come over, and it made her head spin.

Ye Xin figured this magical space must have come to her after she fell off her bike back in her old world. The road had been smooth until a random stone appeared, causing her to crash hard. She suspected she had actually died from the fall, and that’s why she ended up in this strange new body, reincarnated. Maybe the mysterious stone that killed her had also given her this “golden finger” ability as compensation.

Weird logic, but it made sense to her.

Regardless, this magical space was a blessing. At least it meant she wouldn’t starve, right? That thought gave her hope.

But after a careful look around the space, she realized with disappointment that it was completely empty. The fields weren’t planted, and the house had nothing inside it. This magical place was barren.

Frustrated, she left the space and groaned as her headache worsened.

Her stomach growled loudly in protest.

Since she couldn’t rely on her “golden finger” just yet, Ye Xin had no choice but to find something to eat. She left her room and headed toward the wooden shed on the left side of the courtyard—the Shen family’s kitchen.

If she didn’t eat soon, she wouldn’t even have the strength to think about the future, let alone work in the fields.

The kitchen was just as shabby as the rest of the house, with an old wooden table stacked with bowls and pots. A limp bunch of wilted greens lay on the table. Ye Xin rummaged through the baskets, bags, jars, and bins. Luckily, there was still a bit of grain left, mostly coarse grains.

Rolling up her sleeves, she started preparing a meal.

“Ugh, this smoke is unbearable!” she muttered, coughing as she tried to get the fire going in the clay stove.

By the time she managed to light it, her face was smudged with ash, but the fire was finally burning.

As she busied herself, the sky began to dim, painting the horizon with the golden hues of sunset. The villagers were finishing up their work in the fields and heading home.