Chapter 3: The Beginning of the Transmigration

“Mom, do you think she’s dead?”

“She’s fine. I just checked—she’s still breathing. Hurry up and search! That wretched girl really knows how to hide things. Where did she stash the bankbook?”

Ming Yanhong looked at the feverish girl on the bed, her face flushed red from the high temperature. She still felt uneasy and tugged at her mother’s sleeve. “Mom, we should check on her. What if she gets brain damage from the fever? If the Zhiqing Office doesn’t want her anymore, what will we do?”

“Mom! I don’t want to go to the countryside!”

Xing Cuilan, reminded by her eldest daughter, realized this could be a problem. Grumbling under her breath, she left to fetch medicine from the clinic. But as she walked, she remembered that medicine cost money—money she didn’t have. Her pockets were as empty as her conscience. Without hesitation, she simply left, deciding that the girl’s fate would be up to the heavens.

Inside the house, Ming Yanhong recalled that Ming Changhe had died in this very room. The thought sent chills down her spine, and goosebumps formed on her arms. Feeling an eerie presence, she shuddered and ran out as well.

What she didn’t know was that, the moment she left, the feverish girl on the bed convulsed and died.

One minute later, a foreign soul entered the girl’s body.

A weak groan escaped her lips as the girl on the bed slowly opened her eyes. Staring at the dusty gray mosquito net above her, Ming Dai’s eyes widened.

What the! I got scammed!

The moment she regained consciousness, an overwhelming flood of memories surged into her mind.

Ming Dai quickly grasped her current situation.

She had transmigrated into a novel titled A Sweet and Pampered Little Wife in the 1970s—a story set in the past. Her identity? The cousin of a minor cannon fodder character, the sister-in-law of the male lead.

And as for the so-called “Underworld Travel Agency” that had advertised their new project as a time-travel experience? It was nothing more than a scam—a book-transmigration scheme still in its trial phase.

In other words, Ming Dai had been tricked into being their test subject!

Realizing she had no way to contact the Underworld for now and that returning was impossible, she decided to accept her fate. For now, she had to focus on surviving in this world.

She closed her eyes, organizing the chaotic memories in her mind. But as soon as she processed the information, she couldn’t help but curse again.

This life, she was still called Ming Dai.

She had wished to be born into wealth, and in this life, she truly came from a prestigious family—the granddaughter of Commander Jiang from the capital.

Unfortunately, not long after she was born, her own mother abandoned her at a train station. She was picked up by Ming Changhe, a retired old bachelor, and raised as a pitiful orphan.

She had wished for a life free from hunger and hard labor. That wish had also come true—Ming Changhe, who had never married in his lifetime, took care of her as his own. Though they didn’t have much wealth, she never went hungry or suffered from exhaustion. The most she ever had to do was some household chores like cleaning and cooking.

As for the intelligent mind she had wished for—well, the moment she woke up, an immense amount of knowledge had been forcefully poured into her brain. Now, she felt like a walking library.

But when it came to a strong and healthy body, she had her doubts—after all, she was currently burning up with a dangerously high fever.

Recalling the space that the Underworld Travel Agency had promised her, Ming Dai touched the small, burning-hot red mole on her chest. This must be it.

She silently chanted, “Enter.”

In an instant, the dimly lit room became empty.

Inside the space, Ming Dai still found it hard to believe. Did she really just enter like that?

When she was alive in her previous world, she had desperately wished for a space like this.

With it, she wouldn’t have to carry heavy bags when traveling. Every trip had been exhausting, but this space could have made things so much easier.

Excited, she began inspecting her personal dimension.

It looked just like the outside world.

A modern villa stood in the center, with a vast stretch of fertile black soil in the front and a pond in the back. Inside, the villa had everything she could possibly need. Many of the furnishings and decorations resembled those in her previous life’s apartment, instantly giving her a sense of home.

Following her memories, she opened the storage room on the first floor.

The moment she stepped inside, she was completely stunned.

This wasn’t a storage room—it was a massive warehouse!

Looking at the signboard in front of her, she saw that it listed the categories, names, and locations of the goods.

Shelves were packed with military-style coats from the era, ceramic basins, hot water bottles, and Double Happiness-patterned bed sheets.

There were entire crates of malted milk powder, White Rabbit candy, and canned fruit.

Stacks of high-quality flour and refined white rice were piled up.

Even bicycles, sewing machines, and radios were neatly arranged on the shelves.

With this, at least she wouldn’t have to worry about starving in the 1970s!

This must have been personally prepared by the Underworld Travel Agency. They really stocked up well.

Turning around, she walked into another storage room.

The moment she opened the door, a dazzling pile of gold ingots nearly blinded her.

Excited, she pounced on them—these were all the savings from her past life!

After admiring them for a while, she opened another small chest. Inside was 10,000 yuan from this world and a box full of nationwide ration coupons of all kinds.

This must be the “newbie gift pack” that the Underworld Travel Agency had mentioned—pretty practical, she had to admit.

After wandering around the space, exhaustion finally caught up with her. Too tired to inspect anything further, she rushed straight into the bathroom.

After running a high fever for two days and all the excitement just now, she probably smelled terrible.

Once she finished her bath, she looked at herself in the mirror and clicked her tongue in amazement.

This body was quite similar to her previous one, except it was a bit shorter and thinner than she had been at fourteen in her last life.

She blinked at the mirror, and the pale, delicate-looking girl staring back at her blinked as well, her expression pitiful and fragile.

Damn, she looked so weak and helpless—it made her want to sit on herself and crush this fake little white lotus.

So she could look this sweet and innocent, huh?

Going through the memories of this body’s past, she realized that the original owner had been a premature baby. Even though Ming Changhe had raised her with great care, in such an era of scarcity, she had remained a sickly child.

If not for the fact that Ming Changhe worked in the hospital’s herbal medicine department, he probably wouldn’t have been able to keep her alive. The cost of medicine alone would have been too much for an average family to bear.

She checked her own pulse—nothing seemed wrong. The Underworld Travel Agency had clearly kept their promise.

Still, this weak and fragile look was quite a novelty to her. It was a stark contrast to her previous life, where she had been radiant and confident.

Now that she had unlocked the doors to a new world, she couldn’t help but have some fun in front of the mirror.

One moment, she mimicked a tragic beauty holding up an oversized hammer like Xi Shi. The next, she posed as Lin Daiyu, dramatically yanking out a willow tree. Amused, she continued playing around with exaggerated expressions and poses.

Unfortunately, her frail body wasn’t as enthusiastic.

“Guuuuurgle—”

A loud growl from her stomach interrupted her antics.

Snapping back to reality, she quickly threw on a bathrobe, stuffed her dirty clothes into the washing machine, and headed to the kitchen.

Pulling out some ingredients, she made herself a pot of instant noodles packed with extra toppings.

Slurping up a mouthful of noodles, she sighed in satisfaction.

So good!

After eating to her heart’s content and getting a good night’s sleep, Ming Dai woke up feeling refreshed the next day.

Stretching lazily, she noticed that all the soreness in her body had completely disappeared.

She bounced in place a few times, feeling an energy she had never experienced before.

Excited, she dashed outside and ran a few laps around the villa. When she finished, she checked the time—not bad, she had broken her personal record from her previous life.

A healthy body meant an extra layer of security for a happy life.

Now, the only thing left to deal with was the troublesome relatives that came with this body.

As she ate breakfast, an idea began to form.

Going to the countryside? That was definitely happening.

It was 1972, and the first round of university admissions wouldn’t happen for another five years. If she went now, she could avoid raising suspicion over her sudden change in personality.

This wasn’t like her previous life, where she barely knew her neighbors after living in the same building for years. Here, if she ate something today, the entire courtyard would know about it by tomorrow.

More importantly, little Ming Dai had grown up under the watchful eyes of everyone around her.

And in this era, spies and counterrevolutionaries were being hunted everywhere. If she suddenly changed too much, what if someone started suspecting her?

She couldn’t afford to take that risk. Not even a little.

Going to the countryside would be the perfect cover. Even if she returned five years later for university, she could easily explain her personality shift as something she had learned through hardship in the rural areas.

Besides, there was still that troublesome family of hers.

She couldn’t just get rid of them, but letting them stick around and disgust her every now and then? Absolutely not.

As for switching jobs or moving houses—she had considered that too, but it wouldn’t be easy.

Records could be traced, and her shameless uncle’s family would still be able to track her down sooner or later.

So why bother?

She had the resources from her personal space, plus her medical skills—she wasn’t worried about surviving in the countryside at all.

And as for that greedy uncle and his family?

There was no way she was going to let them off easily.

Before she left, she was going to send them a big farewell gift.