Chapter 1: Transmigrating to the 1970s, a Space Appears

Wang Shuning hurried from the street to her front door, then pushed open the wooden door and stepped inside, shouting loudly, “Mom, Mom!”

“You little rascal, what are you yelling about? Your mother’s ears aren’t deaf yet!” Song Guiying, who was using a wooden mallet to beat clothes, raised her head and glared at Wang Shuning, scolding her.

Since the girl had fallen into a well a few days ago and nearly drowned before being rescued, she had been prone to shouting. Her voice was so loud that it could be heard by the ten or so households nearby.

Wang Shuning ignored her mother’s glare and scolding. She quickly ran to the wooden basin and stood by it, demanding, “Mom, I don’t want to go to City B for the countryside assignment. Find me a different place.”

Wang Shuning had transmigrated a month ago. She initially thought she had simply arrived in the 1970s, but today, while on the street, she was bumped on the head by a group of children playing roughly. That’s when she realized she had transmigrated into a novel.

It was the novel, A Culinary Master Transmigrates to the 1970s, that she had stayed up all night reading before her death.

In the original book, Wang Shuning was a cannon fodder character. To pursue her high school classmate, the male lead Lu Beichu, she insisted on going to a small village under City B with him for the countryside assignment.

However, he met Guo Jingyi, the beautiful, kind-hearted, and skilled culinary transmigrated female lead, on the train. The two fell in love at first sight, leaving Wang Shuning no chance.

After the male and female leads confirmed their relationship, Wang Shuning couldn’t handle the blow and jumped into a river and committed suicide. When she read the book, she thought the protagonist’s halo was too strong.

Wang Shuning was, after all, an educated youth and a Beijinger. Although her family’s conditions weren’t the best, they were comfortably well-off in this era. Why was she so stubborn, clinging to a man to the point of life and death? She was simply a fool.

Song Guiying looked closely and found that her youngest daughter’s forehead was red and swollen. She reached out and touched it. “What happened to you, child? You even managed to injure yourself while buying soy sauce. Quickly, apply some red flower oil.”

Wang Shuning shook her head anxiously and said, “Mom, quickly go to the street office and tell the clerk that I don’t want to go to City B.”

Song Guiying’s face fell. She stood up abruptly, hands on her hips, and pointed at Wang Shuning’s nose, scolding, “It was you who insisted on going to City B, making me go through all the trouble. We even spent two catties of rock sugar to get this done. Now you say you don’t want to go? Do you think the street office is your home, where you can do whatever you want?”

Wang Shuning was also angry. Since she was going to transmigrate into a book, why not a month earlier? Now that the location was set, it wouldn’t be easy to change it. But no matter how difficult it was, she had to try.

Having read the novel, Wang Shuning knew how powerful the protagonist’s halo was. Wang Shuning was a cannon fodder character. If she went to the countryside with them, she didn’t know what would happen.

The only way was to get as far away as possible, to absolutely avoid being in the same place as the male and female leads. Even breathing the same air made her feel uneasy.

“Mom~~ I promise this is the last time. Please help me again. As long as it’s not City B, I’ll go anywhere.” Wang Shuning tugged at her mother’s sleeve, shaking it incessantly.

“Stop that! I only made this new dress half a year ago. If you keep pulling it, you’ll tear it!” Song Guiying pulled back her arm, worriedly examining the seemingly stretched sleeve.

She ate so much every day, but all her energy was spent on acting spoiled and causing trouble. She didn’t earn a single cent.

“Mom~~ Please agree, please agree~~”

Wang Shuning wouldn’t give up. She had only a week left before she had to take the train to City B. If she didn’t change it now, it would be too late.

Song Guiying sat back on the small stool and continued washing clothes, unwilling to pay any more attention to her youngest daughter. “Your father and I are just ordinary paper mill workers. Our ancestors for three generations haven’t produced any big shots. The list is out, and there’s no way to change it.”

Wang Shuning didn’t give up. She squatted on the ground, looking pitifully at Song Guiying and begging, “Mom, aren’t you and Aunt Li from the street office half-sisters? Go talk to her again. Take the old hen from home. Isn’t her daughter-in-law about to give birth?”

Song Guiying splashed soap water on Wang Shuning’s face. “That favor was used up when we got you assigned to City B. And you dare to eye our old hen? That’s for your sister-in-law when she’s pregnant.”

“My sister-in-law isn’t pregnant yet. Let me borrow it. I’ll definitely return it after I go to the countryside.”

Song Guiying rolled her eyes. “With your physique, will you even be able to eat a full meal in the countryside? I’ll be burning incense if I don’t have to support you.”

Song Guiying frowned. “Where’s the soy sauce I told you to buy?”

Wang Shuning blinked innocently, covering her slightly sore forehead. “I dropped it when I fell after hitting the wall.”

Song Guiying’s eyes widened. “You wasted twenty cents worth of soy sauce! The bottle didn’t break, did it? Couldn’t you pick it up? At least you could save some.”

Wang Shuning rolled her eyes. She hadn’t reacted to suddenly transmigrating into a book, and she had been so anxious that she forgot about it when she came back. “A bicycle ran over the bottle and crushed it. There wasn’t a single drop left. I might as well have licked the ground.”

“You little rascal, such a good opportunity, and you didn’t make them compensate you!” Song Guiying was exasperated. She couldn’t hit her or scold her. If she had half her eldest daughter’s intelligence, she wouldn’t have to worry.

Song Guiying had three children: one son and two daughters. Wang Jianjun, the eldest, married two years ago. Wang Shuyi, the second child, married a year ago. Only Wang Shuning, the youngest, had just graduated from high school this year.

Although Song Guiying loved her two daughters, she still favored her son, wanting to keep Wang Jianjun at home and send her two daughters to the countryside after they graduated from high school.

Unexpectedly, Wang Shuyi secretly got married during high school, hiding it from her family. By the time the street office found out, she was already pregnant.

Not only did she not go to the countryside, but Song Guiying almost lost her job.

Although she managed to keep her job through connections, she was transferred to a different position with lower pay and harder work.

When it came to her youngest daughter, the street office specifically came to inform them that Wang Shuning must go to the countryside after graduating from high school, otherwise, their entire family’s jobs would be in jeopardy.

Seeing that her mother wouldn’t relent, Wang Shuning was incredibly attentive all afternoon, constantly clinging to her.

While cooking dinner, she almost poked a hole in the bottom of the pot with a thick piece of firewood. Finally, Song Guiying chased her out of the kitchen with a spatula.

Lying on the wooden bed, Wang Shuning looked at the ceiling that seemed to have cobwebs and sighed deeply. Her mind turned, and she entered the space.

This space appeared after she hit the wall today.

At a glance, there was a vast expanse of vegetable fields, rice paddies, fruit trees, and a river, with a small wooden house beside it.

The fields were full of crops, the rice stalks bent over under the weight of the grain.

The fruit trees were laden with bright red apples, and she could even see pineapples and coconuts, tropical fruits.

A small river ran through the middle, the water crystal clear. At a glance, there were many fish, shrimp, and crabs.

This must be her golden finger for transmigrating into the book.

But the female lead, Guo Jingyi, didn’t have one?

The book only said that she was a chef at a seven-star hotel in the modern era, exceptionally skilled in cooking. She thrived in the countryside with her culinary skills. Even after returning to the city, she opened a large restaurant, made a lot of money, and had a happy family life. Lu Beichu was a hopeless romantic, completely focused on Guo Jingyi.

No matter how good Wang Shuning was to him, it was useless.