Chapter 1

“I’m telling you, Li Guifen! If anything happens to my daughter, your Lu family is finished!”

Half-asleep, Jiang Manyue heard the powerful voice of a middle-aged woman yelling nearby.

“You—how can you be so unreasonable! It was clearly Manyue who hit my grandson Jun’an first! His head’s bleeding!”

Another voice joined in, this one much weaker in comparison.

“Nonsense! Who knows how your brat hit his head! I saw it clearly — my Manyue collapsed because you pushed her!”

The first woman retorted even louder, making Jiang Manyue’s head throb with pain.

“Enough already!”

Jiang Manyue forced her eyes open and weakly spat out the words.

Before she could fully see what was happening, the loud woman at her bedside let out a dramatic wail and pounced on her.

“Manyue! My baby! You’re finally awake! You scared Mom half to death!”

Jiang Manyue was pulled into a tight embrace by the middle-aged woman. She sat there, stunned and confused, staring blankly at everything around her.

Just a moment ago, she had been shopping in a supermarket. Now she found herself lying in an old-fashioned hospital room, being hugged by a stranger calling her “daughter”!

As she remained dazed and unresponsive, the woman panicked and shook her hard by the arms.

“Manyue! What’s wrong with you? Say something!”

Jiang Manyue still said nothing. Not only was the woman frantic, but even the other woman—Li Guifen—began to look worried.

Li Guifen was truly afraid. She had seen her little grandson Lu Jun’an get shoved by her daughter-in-law Jiang Manyue, fall down, and crack his head. In the heat of the moment, she shoved Manyue back. Who knew she’d fall and hit her head so hard she passed out?

Now she was awake—but unresponsive and expressionless. Had she really hit her head too hard?

“Manyue! What happened to you? Don’t scare Mom like this!”

The woman’s eyes were red with worry, gripping Jiang Manyue’s hand tighter.

Jiang Manyue was starting to piece things together. She wanted to stay quiet and just shake her head to signal she was fine—but unconsciously, the words slipped out:

“Mom, I’m okay.”

Only then did the woman finally breathe a sigh of relief and slap her lightly.

“You troublesome girl! You scared me to death!”

Jiang Manyue’s mind was a mess. She pulled away from the woman’s arms and lay back down, covering herself with the blanket.

“Right, right. You’ve suffered. Rest now. I’ll go get justice for you!”

With that, the woman grabbed Li Guifen and stormed out of the room.

Finally, the room was quiet again. Jiang Manyue pulled back the blanket, eyes wide open in helpless disbelief, staring at the ceiling.

After all that drama, she couldn’t deny it anymore—she had clearly time-traveled. And judging by everything around her, she’d landed in some rural village in the 1960s or 70s!

What a coincidence — her name was still Jiang Manyue.

But she had no idea what the original Jiang Manyue’s life was like. She didn’t even recognize her own “mom.” If she talked too much, she’d definitely give herself away.

Maybe… she should pretend to have amnesia?

Just as she was considering it, her mind was suddenly flooded with a wave of memories, rapidly forming a complete story.

After digesting it all, she finally understood why this body had ended up unconscious in the first place.

Apparently, she (the original Jiang Manyue) had seen her young nephew holding a piece of sponge cake given by their grandmother and gotten upset. The child got scared and tried to run away, which made her angrier — she pushed him to the ground, and he hit his head.

Hearing him cry, the boy’s grandmother Li Guifen rushed over and, in a panic, shoved Jiang Manyue aside. She lost her balance, hit her head against the wall, and blacked out.

And that was when the soul swap happened—she, the modern Jiang Manyue, had entered this body.

Reviewing all the memories again, Jiang Manyue couldn’t help but rub her forehead. The original owner had really been something else—just as unreasonable as her mother!

Her mother, Miao Xianghua—the loud woman from earlier—was a well-known tyrant in the village. Not only was she fierce and confrontational, but she also had five strapping sons who were extremely loyal. No one dared mess with her, lest they face the wrath of her entire family.

In fact, it was because of the Jiang family’s pushiness that Jiang Manyue had ended up marrying into the Lu family.

Years ago, Jiang’s father, Jiang Changfu, had saved the life of Lu Rin’s grandfather. Using that life-saving favor, they pressured the Lu family into accepting the marriage—forcing Lu Rin, a promising young soldier with a bright future, to marry Jiang Manyue.

Everyone in the village knew what kind of people the Jiangs were.

Lu Rin didn’t like Jiang Manyue at all. Even though she was considered one of the prettiest girls in the village, he never gave her the time of day.

And other men in the village didn’t dare approach her either—who could afford to marry into that kind of in-law mess?

Reluctantly, Lu Rin went through with the wedding. He didn’t even share a proper wedding night—just laid out a blanket on the floor and slept fully clothed. The very next day, he returned to his unit.

In the year since, he had only come back once. He ignored all of Jiang Manyue’s attempts to be nice to him and rushed back to the military the moment his leave ended.

They had barely interacted, let alone shared a proper conversation.

Jiang Manyue sighed in relief. Thankfully, Lu Rin and the original owner had no emotional bond, and he was rarely home. Otherwise, she wouldn’t even know how to deal with this “husband.”

Once her memories were sorted out and she confirmed her body was fine, she threw off the blanket, got out of bed, and went to find her mother and mother-in-law.

Miao Xianghua was still bickering with Li Guifen but stopped once she saw Jiang Manyue.

Jiang Manyue smiled at both women.
“I’m fine now. Let’s go home.”

Miao Xianghua wanted to say more, but Jiang Manyue tugged gently on her sleeve, stopping her.

Li Guifen quietly went to the clinic’s office, paid the medical bill, and followed the two back to the production team.

At the fork where the paths split between the Jiang and Lu homes, Miao Xianghua grabbed Jiang Manyue’s hand.

“Come home with Mom, Manyue. I’ll make you something good to eat. Otherwise, if you go back to that husband’s house, you won’t even get a proper meal!”

Miao Xianghua pulled her along. Jiang Manyue was a little embarrassed but didn’t resist.

Meanwhile, Li Guifen returned home alone, just as Lu Qinyou (Lu Rin’s father) was coming back from work.

Seeing him, she couldn’t hold it in anymore and recounted everything that had happened that afternoon.

After a pause, she asked hesitantly:
“Old Lu, maybe… maybe it’s time for Ah Rin to divorce Manyue. We really can’t handle a daughter-in-law like this.”