Chapter 1

“You worthless money-loser! Even if you work yourself to death today, you still have to paste 500 matchboxes for me!”

“If you don’t finish the job, I’ll skin you alive!”

The sharp, grating curses jolted Lin Xiaoxiao fully awake.

She opened her eyes and realized she was sitting on a cold cement floor.

On the opposite wall hung a page-a-day tear-off calendar, the date frozen on May 1976…

Wait a second! Yesterday, she had been in her newly opened clinic, seeing patients all the way until 9 p.m. When business slowed down, she finally had time to read a novel.

In the story, a supporting female character with her exact same name was a soft pushover who lived under the constant abuse of her vicious adoptive mother, never fighting back no matter how badly she was beaten.

Lin Xiaoxiao had scolded out loud in frustration: “You spineless wimp! If someone hits you, hit them back!”

And the next thing she knew, her vision went black—and she woke up in this old, drab, gray house!

She was holding a glue brush, apparently pasting matchboxes?

Before she could react, a flood of unfamiliar memories surged into her mind.

Just like that, she had transmigrated into the very book she’d read last night—the seventies-era fake–real daughter novel—as the real daughter who had been swapped at birth by the Lin family.

The heroine, Jiang Shanshan, was living under Lin Xiaoxiao’s name in the military compound, enjoying a life of fine food, pretty clothes, and endless pampering from the Jiang family.

Meanwhile, she herself existed only to serve as living evidence of the Lin parents’ crimes when the heroine eventually punished them.

The original Lin Xiaoxiao had been worked like a slave for the Lin family, serving that entire ungrateful household.

Every day, besides doing endless chores, she had to paste over a thousand matchboxes.

If she failed to meet her quota, Lin Mother wouldn’t allow her to eat—or even drink a sip of water.

Years of such life left her frail and malnourished—up before the chickens, eating worse than the pigs, sleeping later than the dogs.

Although she was already eighteen, she looked like a malnourished thirteen- or fourteen-year-old girl, light as a feather—comparable to a cat.

And worst of all—her biological parents knew she existed.

But after she was sold by the Lin family to an old, married man as his mistress, the Jiang family gave up on taking her back.

They simply went along with the mistake, raising the swapped fake daughter as their own and abandoning the real one to her fate.

When the memories ended, Lin Xiaoxiao couldn’t help but curse.

Damn it! All she did was complain about a fictional pushover—how did she end up inside her body?

She exhaled, forcing herself to calm down, and even found a small silver lining—at least she was ten years younger now. Since she had inherited this body, she would live well in this era…

And of course—pay back every grudge and return every kindness, making sure the original owner got her justice.

With that thought, Lin Xiaoxiao tossed the glue brush aside.

She pushed open the door and headed toward the kitchen to find something to eat.

But before she got far, Lin Mother—Yan Zhaodi—who was cracking melon seeds in the courtyard, blocked her path.

Pointing at her forehead, Yan Zhaodi scolded: “You worthless thing! Who told you to come out? Get back in the main room and paste those matchboxes!”

Not done venting, Yan Zhaodi raised her hand to slap Lin Xiaoxiao.

Smack!

Before transmigrating, Lin Xiaoxiao had not only been a surgeon but also the women’s 55-kg freestyle kickboxing champion. Her reflexes were far beyond anything an ordinary person like Yan Zhaodi could match.

She tilted her head, dodging the slap, and in one swift motion, delivered a resounding slap of her own.

It landed so hard and loud that Yan Zhaodi froze, stunned, staring at her in disbelief.

“You worthless brat, you dare hit me?”

Smack!

Her only reply was another ringing slap.

“You shameless thing! I’ll fight you to the death!”

Yan Zhaodi, enraged, grabbed a stick from the corner and swung it at Lin Xiaoxiao’s head.

“You filthy old hag! Watch your mouth! You’ve got no manners at all!”

Lin Xiaoxiao didn’t even bother to dodge. She caught the stick, yanked hard, and pulled Yan Zhaodi down to the ground.

Then she pounced and unleashed a storm of punches and kicks.

She was careful—avoiding the face and aiming for the body’s weakest points—hitting where it hurt most but wouldn’t leave visible marks.

“You black-hearted old witch! That’s for abusing me! That’s for scheming! That’s for being a wolf in human skin! Your auntie here won’t beat you to death—yet!”

The more she thought about how she’d been stolen as a baby, forced to cook at five, paste matchboxes at seven, suffer endless abuse, and finally get sold as some old man’s sex slave… the more her fury surged.

Pinning Yan Zhaodi’s head with one hand, she kept pounding until she was tired out.

Then she released her and ordered coldly: “Get up and cook. I want three eggs—miss even one, and I’ll beat you again!”

“You just wait!”

Yan Zhaodi scrambled away.

Watching her flee in humiliation, Lin Xiaoxiao smiled faintly.

Go ahead, call for help! Better yet, bring back Lin Jianjun and Lin Yaozu—I’ll settle all old and new debts together!

But after pasting matchboxes all morning and then thrashing Yan Zhaodi, Lin Xiaoxiao was completely out of energy and starving.

She headed toward the kitchen, when suddenly her vision shifted—

She was standing in a brightly lit clinic.

“Isn’t this… my new clinic? How did I end up here?”

A thought flashed, and the next moment she was back in the Lin family’s shabby little house.

Her eyes lit up in understanding. She willed it again—and was back in the clinic.

“Hahahahaha…”

Lin Xiaoxiao laughed with delight, hands on her hips.

Heaven had been fair after all—afraid she couldn’t survive in this poor, hungry era, it had sent her clinic through with her!

With this medical-space cheat, she could absolutely thrive in the ’70s.

She quickly made herself a cup of imported protein powder, sipping it slowly.

Once refreshed, she went to the back courtyard’s medicinal field.

Her planted herbs were all there, lush and thriving. In the center, the old well had transformed into a crystal-clear spring, pure and flawless like glass.

Eagerly, she leaned over to see her new face—

A girl in a faded blue dress with white dots stared back. She was about 1.56 meters tall, with a thin, sallow frame, but her features were fine and delicate. Her big, dark eyes shone like black gemstones—clear and lively, much like her own in her previous life.

A pretty, spirited little thing indeed.

“I’ve hit the jackpot!”

A single, unmarried, “leftover” woman from the future—now in a teenage body, armed with a magical space, in an era full of opportunities? Lin Xiaoxiao couldn’t be happier.

In high spirits, she left the space and went to Lin Father and Lin Mother’s room to search for valuables.

Lifting the bedding, she spotted a thick stack of cash hidden under the floorboard…