Chapter 1

On a summer night, a room without air conditioning felt unbearably stuffy.

The girl lying in bed tossed and turned uneasily, even struggling in her sleep.

A voice whispered in her ear:
“Weren’t you so confident? Then why don’t you go experience life inside a book? Don’t you love this story so much? Let’s see how you survive there.”

The voice faded away, and at that moment, the girl on the bed also vanished.

Slap! Slap! Slap!

A stinging pain spread across her face. Lin Jiayi unwillingly opened her eyes.

The moment she looked up, she saw a delicate-looking girl with a vicious expression striking her. A sweet face paired with a cruel heart—was this supposed to be “gap moe”?

Without wasting words, Lin Jiayi lashed out with a kick. The little schemer in front of her crashed into the table behind and fainted. So fragile—guess her body’s weak.

Just as Lin Jiayi was about to get up, memories that didn’t belong to her flooded her mind. Coupled with that strange voice she’d heard earlier, her anger exploded.

She had transmigrated into a book written by her love rival, titled “Educated Youth in the ’70s: A Brilliant Life Begins.”

That damned rival! She couldn’t beat her in real life, so she resorted to this kind of underhanded trick? Well, at least sending her in here was no small feat.

Now, Lin Jiayi’s identity in the story was just cannon fodder meant to hand treasures over to the heroine. Her stepsister from a different father and mother, Yao Qingqing, was the actual heroine.

The funny part was that the girl even gave the heroine her own name—clearly determined to finally “defeat” Lin Jiayi in this world.

And what about Lin Jiayi’s role? Abused by her stepmother, schemed against by her stepsister, abandoned by her father, and exiled to the barren Northwest as a sacrificial pawn.

In the novel, this Lin Jiayi suffered terribly in the countryside at the hands of bullies. The ending wasn’t shown, but she didn’t need to guess—it couldn’t have been good. With a rival this petty, there was no way she would ever give her a happy ending.

Actually, the original Lin Jiayi’s childhood had been fairly happy. Her father was a soldier, away on duty for long stretches, only returning home once in a while. Her mother was a doctor who died during a rescue mission.

Her grandmother had always disliked her mother. After her mother’s death, she used the excuse of caring for little Jiayi to pressure her father into marrying a distant relative—her current stepmother, Yang Xueqin—bringing along her own daughter as baggage.

Because of his military post, her father couldn’t take Jiayi with him. Forced by his mother’s threats, he married a woman he didn’t love.

After marrying, he refused his mother’s demand to have a son and returned to his unit. He only came home for New Year’s and sent money the rest of the year.

At first, Yang Xueqin behaved decently, hoping for her husband’s affection. But as time passed and her hopes went unanswered, all her resentment was vented on the young Lin Jiayi.

The Lin Jiayi in the book, left without her parents’ protection, endured only her stepmother’s cruelty and grandmother’s disdain. She grew up weak, submissive, and too afraid to complain to her father—her whole life was tragic.

But now things were different. The one living in her body was Lin Jiayi herself. And she wasn’t about to put up with any of it.

Grandmother Zhang Yun, stepmother Yang Xueqin, and stepsister Yao Qingqing—she would never let any of them off.

Just as Lin Jiayi was about to give Yao Qingqing another kick, the door burst open.

“Lin Jiayi, what are you doing?! At such a young age, you’ve already learned to misbehave? You even dare to hit your sister? I’ve failed your father—it’s my fault for not raising you properly!”

The sharp-faced, gaudily dressed woman rushed in, crying loudly while calling toward the doorway.

She threw herself beside the fainted girl, checking anxiously. Seeing her “precious daughter” hurt, she burst into genuine tears.

Then she turned on Lin Jiayi, eyes blazing.
“I’ve raised you all these years, and this is how you repay me? You nearly beat your sister to death! So vicious at such a young age—seems it’s time you were sent down to the countryside!”

Such a clumsy trick. Did she really think I’m still that gullible fool who never fought back?

Lin Jiayi ripped her tattered clothes further, exposing bruises all over her body. Then she pinched herself hard for effect and ran out into the courtyard.

In a compound like this, neighbors were always nosy about others’ affairs. With dinner just finished and Yang Xueqin deliberately shouting earlier, it was no surprise that a crowd had already gathered, eager to watch.

Now, with Lin Jiayi standing there in tears, she became the center of attention.

“Child, what happened? Look at you, you’re covered in bruises!”
“Poor thing—your clothes are all torn. How pitiful!”
“Could it be that your stepmother beat you? Yang Xueqin always acted so prim and proper, but who would’ve thought she was this kind of person!”
“This poor girl—blue and purple all over. My heart aches just looking at her!”

Lin Jiayi laughed inwardly. Clearly, her stingy grandmother and her vixen stepmother hadn’t made many friends here—their neighbors’ words were dripping with disdain. Perfect.

Time to give them a taste of their own medicine.

She put on her most pitiful face, tears streaming as she sobbed:
“Aunties, grandmas, my life has been so hard. I really can’t bear it anymore!”

Her tragic figure and heartbroken voice were too convincing to doubt.

She pressed on:
“This woman beats me every day and lets her daughter bully me constantly. She claims she’s raised me all these years, but isn’t it my father’s salary that supports the household? I’ve never gotten a thing from it. I eat the worst food, wear the shabbiest clothes, never had new bedding—only hand-me-downs from Yao Qingqing. And I still have to do all the chores.

Just now, Yao Qingqing hit me again, and I finally fought back. Then this woman chased me down, beat me, and even threatened to send me to the countryside! Boo-hoo…”

“What? She dares treat you like this? Someone, quick! Go find the women’s director and the police! We can’t allow her to bully Fengyun’s daughter like this. Fengyun was a martyr—we can’t let a martyr’s child be mistreated!”

The one speaking was Yang Xueqin’s sworn enemy. Years ago, she’d caught Yang Xueqin seducing her husband red-handed—no wonder she bore such hatred. Now that a perfect chance to strike had come, she was more than eager to drag her down. That saved Lin Jiayi the trouble of acting further.

By now, little green-tea Yao Qingqing had woken up. Standing behind her mother, she put on her trademark pitiful expression, crying as if her heart would break. Playing the victim had always been her specialty.

But today, with Lin Jiayi’s raw pain and perfect performance stealing the show, Yao Qingqing’s act fell flat.

The neighbors, already furious, had no patience for her soft excuses. All their attention was on Lin Jiayi, fussing over her while waiting for the street director and the police to arrive—ready to make sure justice was done for the child of a martyr.