Chapter 1: The Train to 1984

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Ning City.
The imposing gates of the Sixth Prison slowly opened once more — another prisoner had completed their sentence and was being released.

As the iron wheels of the gates screeched against the ground, the sound startled the chorus of cicadas clinging to the towering camphor trees, momentarily silencing the summer buzz.

With a faint smile on her lips, Lin Xiaqing stepped out of the prison that had caged her for three long years. Yet under the harsh August sun, even that smile was quickly flattened.

Before her imprisonment, Lin Xiaqing had been a legendary figure in Ning City’s business world — a fierce and formidable woman in a man’s arena. She had reached the pinnacle of what it meant to be a professional manager. Countless industrial tycoons had fought to lure her away with top-dollar offers. A five-star hotel in Ning City had even reserved a luxury suite for her on its top floor year-round, just so she could entertain clients while gazing over the city’s glittering night skyline. More than once, she’d concluded deals there over copious drinks and indulgent nights.

The more glorious she once was, the more desolate her fall.

After being framed, every one of her prime-location properties was confiscated. Now, the only place she could think of returning to was a home she hadn’t set foot in for over a decade — her childhood village. Her parents had passed over twenty years ago. Lin Xiaqing could barely recall their faces, but the old house remained burned into her memory, more vivid the older she became.

That place was poor — so poor it never treated girls as people. Women were livestock to be traded for dowries. That poverty had carved countless holes into young Lin Xiaqing’s heart. Only she knew the pain it took to crawl out of that mud pit, the blood and tears it cost her to escape.

She had once sworn never to return to that hellhole for as long as she lived. And now… she was going back.

At just over thirty, empty-handed and alone, she returned to the place she fled as a teen. In the end, that old house had become her only refuge. Even with a heart now cold as iron, the thought of returning still filled her with dread.

A slow, outdated green train ran from Ning City directly to the town near her village. Before boarding, she reminded herself: those who had wronged her were dead — even the uncle she feared most in childhood. The old house was hers now; no one could boss her around anymore. There was nothing left to be afraid of. At most, she’d just ignore the villagers gossiping about how she was an old spinster, unmarried, childless, and had even gone to jail — not even the most desperate local bachelor would want her.

Yawning, Lin Xiaqing stretched, sleep overtaking her. In her dream, she saw her long-deceased, kind parents, reaching out with arms full of love, behind them a beautifully renovated version of her childhood home. They embraced their only daughter, their faces glowing with peace.

But the dream began to shift. Her body grew heavier, like something was pulling her down. Strange noises filled her ears — garbled announcements, footsteps, chaotic chatter…

“This girl probably got heatstroke. Look how pale she is! Quick, bring her some water!”

Lin Xiaqing opened her eyes — she was on a completely different train.
Not the one she had boarded.

Where was she?

She looked around at the crowded car, the worn green train interior, the unfamiliar, honest faces staring at her…

Then came the terrifying part: her mind began rapidly downloading the life memories of a girl with the exact same name — Lin Xiaqing.

1984.
Nineteen years old.
A flower in bloom — and being conned by greedy relatives onto a train headed south. They claimed they had found her a great job at a factory where she could earn over 100 yuan a month. In reality, they were selling her off to marry an old widower in the neighboring county — and had already pocketed a handsome bride price.

“Mom, why’s she acting up now? The train’s about to leave…”
That voice belonged to her cousin, Lin Qinghui.

Last year, he’d tried courting a girl from a neighboring village but was rejected for being poor and useless. Now, he was banking on this bride price to fund his own engagement.

Beside him, a plain-looking, sharp-eyed middle-aged woman whispered,

“What’s the rush? Go get her some water. I have some ‘summer relief medicine’ on me. Mix it in — she’ll be fine after a drink.”

But what they didn’t know was — they had overdosed her. The girl whose body Lin Xiaqing now occupied had died from the drug. It was only Lin Xiaqing’s soul that now lived in her body.

The moment she heard her so-called aunt planning to drug her again, Lin Xiaqing snapped upright.

She glared at Lin Qinghui and declared,

“I want to get off this train!”

She’d seen this drama before — girls sold off by their own family for money.
Not again. Not to her.

Lin Qinghui was stunned. Wasn’t she completely brainwashed yesterday and ready to obediently go “work” in the south? She just needed to sleep through the ride — what had changed?

Panicking, he thought: no way I’m losing this payday! He had to deliver her, even if it meant tying her up.

But with so many people watching on the train, he had to hold back for now.

He tried coaxing her:

“Qingmei, don’t be so unreasonable. Your aunt’s sick in bed. She raised you all by herself. Now she needs money for treatment. You can earn 100 yuan a month in that factory. Send it home — maybe she can even see a doctor in the city. Are you really okay with letting your mom die?”

In the 1980s, most rural families barely earned 100–200 yuan a year. A 100-yuan monthly wage sounded like a dream — or a scam. What kind of “work” was this? Even prostitutes in the red-light district wouldn’t earn that much!

Lin Xiaqing rolled her eyes.

Why not tell me I’m going to dig gold in the south while you’re at it?

The woman, Wang Yumei, gave her son an approving look.
What a sweet talker, she thought. That village girl who dumped him didn’t know what she was missing.

Wang Yumei added:

“Xiaqing, be sensible. We went to great lengths to find you this opportunity. The family really needs money. We’ve borrowed everywhere we can. If we could afford it, we’d have taken your mom to the hospital ages ago.”

What a bunch of wolves in human skin, thought Lin Xiaqing.
Selling off their niece to an old man just to fund a dowry — and daring to lecture her about duty and family?

They might have fooled the original girl, but Lin Xiaqing had seen every kind of snake and demon in the business world. This level of manipulation was child’s play.

“Move. I said I want to get off this train!” she snapped.

Just as she stood, Lin Qinghui slammed her back into the seat.

Ouch — this body was so weak.
Thin and underfed, just one push from this skinny weasel of a man nearly broke her.

In her original body, she would’ve knocked him flat. Now, she needed to strengthen this body — fast.

The two of them loomed over her like twin demons. She began to panic.
What if Lin Qinghui really tied her up?

But then she remembered — this was the 1980s, the golden era of helpful bystanders. She had an idea.

“Kidnappers! They’re trying to traffic me!”

All eyes turned their way.
Wang Yumei turned red with fury and spat,

“You little bitch! What nonsense are you spouting?!”

But Lin Xiaqing wasn’t scared.
She put on a mix of vulnerability and determination and said:

“I don’t even know these people! They drugged me to knock me out and are trying to sell me. That man tried to hold me down just now! Are you all just going to sit there and watch them do it?!”

She pointed at Lin Qinghui:

“You pervert! Can’t find a wife so you’re trying to force yourself on me? You should be arrested for harassment!”

Lin Qinghui’s face turned every color imaginable.
How had his docile cousin suddenly become this fierce?

Just as he raised his fist, a burly man grabbed his arm.

“What? You think you can hit a girl in broad daylight, you bastard?!”

A woman from the crowd shouted,

“I saw it too! They were trying to drug her! Let’s get that medicine checked by the police!”

The crowd surged. The train police were called.

Seizing the moment, Lin Xiaqing slipped away and jumped off the train, leaving behind only a graceful, triumphant figure.

In this old, chaotic county train station — before ID checks and real names were required — steam and bodies flowed in every direction.

Under the sunlight, the green iron train gleamed.

Lin Xiaqing never expected that when she opened her eyes, the train would carry her straight into the golden, glittering 1980s.

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