Chapter 1: 1970s — Forced Marriage and Proxy Bride

Chu Yue frowned slightly. As her consciousness returned, a flood of unfamiliar memories poured into her mind.

At the same time—

The sobbing voice of a woman beside her never once stopped.

“Yueyue, Lu Zhanlin is a platoon leader in the army. He’s well-connected up and down the ranks. Marrying him is like falling into a bed of blessings — your future will be smooth sailing.”

“You’ve always had good grades and a sharp mind. If you want to take the college entrance exam again, Lu Zhanlin only needs to say a word and it’ll be done. But your sister Yaoyao… she’s different.”

“This is Yaoyao’s only chance, Yueyue. If you give her your college spot, your mother will remember your kindness for the rest of her life.”

Chu Yue stared coldly at the tear-streaked woman before her, unfazed — if anything, she found it almost laughable.

Because she was not the original owner of this body.

She was Chu Yue, a hardened survivor who had crawled through ten years of bloodshed and betrayal in the apocalypse. She had seen the worst of humanity, clawed her way to the top, and become a powerful figure in the end times.

After falling asleep one night, she had woken up to find herself in the 1970s — in the body of a girl also named Chu Yue, part of a complicated blended family.

The original Chu Yue’s father was Chu Nanshan. Her younger brother was Chu Jianjun. Her biological mother had passed away when she was very young, leaving the household with just the three of them.

Chu Nanshan worked as a boiler operator in a steel plant — a formal worker with food ration quotas and a stable salary.

From a young age, the original Chu Yue had taken on all the household chores: cooking, cleaning, doing laundry. Life was hard, but still manageable.

That changed two years ago, when Chu Nanshan remarried.

His new wife, Leng Amei, was a widow from the countryside. She brought along her own daughter — Leng Yaoyao, who was two months older than Chu Yue.

After the wedding, Leng Amei took full control of the family’s finances, including Chu Nanshan’s food rations and salary.

Leng Yaoyao changed her name to Chu Yaoyao, becoming Chu Yue’s official stepsister.

As a stereotypical evil stepmother, Leng Amei favored her own daughter unconditionally.

Chu Jianjun, being the son, had their father’s protection.

Only Chu Yue — despite having a living father — was treated like an orphan. A mere extra mouth to feed.

If she dared to eat or drink even slightly more, she would be met with Leng Amei’s sharp, scornful glare.

The daily emotional abuse and petty torment were endless.

Now it was winter of 1977 — the first reinstated national college entrance exam (Gaokao) in a decade had just taken place. For the first time, the exam had been held during the winter.

The original Chu Yue had pinned all her hopes on this — seeing college as her only way out of a household that had never accepted her.

Today was the day the exam results were posted.

Braving the cold wind early in the morning, Chu Yue had gone out to check the results list.

She scoured every red announcement sheet, over and over — but her name was nowhere to be found.

Instead, at the very top of the list, she saw:

“Chu Yaoyao” — County Top Scorer.

She had been accepted into a prestigious university in Shanghai.

The original Chu Yue stood frozen, staring at that name — her breath caught, her chest clenched, and she collapsed from a heart attack, falling unconscious at the school gates.

Because deep down, she knew the truth.

This college exam had been reinstated so suddenly, and Chu Yaoyao hadn’t even been reviewing or studying. Her grades were notoriously terrible.

There was no way she could have gotten in — let alone become the top scorer in the entire county.

The only possible explanation:

Chu Yaoyao had stolen her test results.

She had taken Chu Yue’s score and her spot at university.

In the dead of winter, the original Chu Yue had collapsed on the street, and was eventually carried home by a kind-hearted acquaintance.

The incident caused an uproar, and the truth came to light. That was when Leng Amei finally began her tearful, pitiful act of “explaining herself.”

If not for all the neighbors watching, if Chu Yue hadn’t collapsed in public, Leng Amei wouldn’t have even tried to cover her tracks.

In her mind, it was just a college spot — what was the big deal?

She thought: So what if we took it? What can that girl even do about it?

Leng Amei lowered her head and pretended to wipe away tears — all the while concealing the calculating gleam in her eyes.

And now, Chu Yue — the one from the apocalypse — was wide awake.

But in reality, the original owner had already been schemed against by this stepmother and stepsister—so much so that she was driven to death in rage and despair.

And Ling Amei’s schemes against the original owner didn’t stop at just the college entrance exam results and the university admission slot.

She even wanted Chu Yue to marry in place of Chu Yaoyao!

This matter dates back to ten years ago, when Ling Amei was still living in the countryside.

At that time, Ling Amei was a poor widow with a child, and she happened to be hit by the three years of natural disasters. Life was so hard it was almost unlivable—many in the village had starved to death.

Ling Amei didn’t want to die of hunger, so she set her sights on the Lu family.

The Lu family had a youngest son who was about to join the army. Soldiers received monthly rations and stipends from the military. They could get food coupons and oil coupons—it was the most stable kind of “iron rice bowl” job.

Ling Amei dragged young Chu Yaoyao with her and insisted on getting her engaged to the Lu family’s youngest son.

Her glib tongue really was something to behold.

She said, “If your son dies young on the battlefield, all alone, how pitiful would that be? But if he’s engaged to my Yaoyao, it’d be different—they’re husband and wife. My Yaoyao would be part of the Lu family whether alive or dead. They can be companions in life and in death.”

After a few rounds of this, the Lu family was actually persuaded and arranged the engagement between the two.

From then on, half of the money Lu Zhanlin sent home from the army had to be given to Ling Amei, supposedly for raising his future wife.

Even after she remarried Chu Nanshan, she continued to secretly keep the Lu family’s money as her private stash—her secret treasure trove—even Chu Nanshan didn’t know about it.

Ten years passed. Since the Lu family had been sending money, they naturally expected a bride in return.

A few days ago, Lu Zhanlin returned from the front lines and sent a telegram asking for Chu Yaoyao’s information, saying he wanted to apply for marriage through the military.

Ling Amei decided to go all in—she sent Chu Yue’s personal details instead.

Her excuse? After remarrying, Chu Yaoyao changed her name—now she was known as Chu Yue.

The military marriage certificate arrived today. Lu Zhanlin is stationed in the southwest and requested his new wife to join him.

And this so-called “new wife” was, of course, Chu Yue.

If the original owner were still alive and heard all this, she might’ve died of anger all over again.

Inside the small house, Ling Amei’s sobbing echoed inside and out.

As she cried, she kept sneaking glances at Chu Yue’s expression, frowning secretly at how unmoved she looked.

In the past, the original Chu Yue was a timid and cowardly girl—just one glare from Ling Amei would have her trembling, too scared to refuse anything, only able to nod in fear.

But today, Chu Yue didn’t say a single word.

Was her acting still not enough?

Ling Amei gritted her teeth, bent her knees, and pretended she was about to kneel.

“Yueyue, it’s all my fault, not Yaoyao’s. I’ll kneel right here and beg you—for the sake of this family, please just marry him…”

Before Chu Yue could mock Ling Amei’s fake sincerity, Chu Yaoyao had already had enough.

She rushed forward, pulled Ling Amei up just as she was about to kneel, and shouted at Chu Yue.

“Chu Yue! So what if I took your college entrance exam score? If you’re so smart, you can just take it again next year. Why act like you’re ready to die over it? Making it seem like everyone owes you something! My mom’s taken care of this family for ten years—taken care of you for ten years. Even if she didn’t earn merit, she still worked hard. She’s your mom too! Making your mom kneel—don’t you feel any guilt?!”

Guilt?

Chu Yue really wanted to ask Chu Yaoyao—where is your guilt? Has it already been eaten by dogs?

How could she shamelessly say something like that?

Chu Yue looked up at her with a mocking expression.

Without a trace of emotion, she said coldly:
“She’s your mom, not mine. My mom died when I was ten.”