Chapter 1: Traveling Through the Fake Daughter

Late at night.

A “young girl” was curled up completely under her blanket, squirming from time to time. From her mouth came soft, breathy sounds like: “Aww… aww… aww…” The scene was quite stimulating, enough to send imaginations running wild.

But don’t get the wrong idea—this was just a 29-year-old “young girl” hiding under the covers, secretly reading smutty online stories , making all sorts of unwholesome noises.

Her name? Jiang Peiyu, a 29-year-old die-hard homebody who loved reading NSFW fanfiction. Her greatest dream in life was to find a tall, hunky guy—at least 185 cm tall, with eight-pack abs—to date. And then… to thoroughly enjoy that hunk.

But reality was harsh.

Forget eight-pack abs or 185 cm—Jiang Peiyu, at 29, had only ever touched two men’s hands. One was her father’s, and the other belonged to a little boy back in kindergarten. And that one didn’t even count—it was during line-up time, and the teacher made them hold hands. She still vaguely remembered that poor kid looked miserable—he’d wanted to hold the class beauty’s hand, and his lips were already trembling with the urge to cry.

“Ugh…”
“Ughhh… I want a handsome guy…”
“Ughhh… I want a tall, 185 cm guy with abs…”
“Ughhh…”

“Jiang Peiyu! Are you going to sleep or not?! Wailing like a ghost in the middle of the night—you looking for a beating or what?!”

Her mom, who had gotten up to use the bathroom, happened to walk past her door and was instantly pissed off by the howling noises from inside.

“Dearest Mother, your humble daughter knows her mistake! I’ll sleep, I’ll sleep right now!”

Fearing her mother would barge in and beat her up, Jiang Peiyu immediately pulled a kung-fu-style backflip under the covers and lay stiff and straight, eyes closed, pretending to sleep.

After a while, hearing the door across the hall shut, she sneakily unlocked her phone and resumed reading her smutty stories under the covers, brain running wild with fantasy.

Eventually, she set her phone down, tossing and turning in bed, unable to fall asleep—lonely and restless.

“Heavens above, please grant me a handsome man…”
“A tall one, 185 cm, with eight-pack abs…”
“If not that, then at least someone like Aaron Kwok or Eddie Peng…”

“Jiang Peiyu! Are you trying to die? It’s the middle of the night, and you’re shouting like a banshee!”

“You want the neighbors to file a complaint?! If property management shows up tomorrow, I’ll rip your head off!”

“Alright, alright! Don’t be mad—I’ll talk to her, I’ll talk to her…”

“Wife, go to bed, didn’t you say beauty sleep is important? Stay up late, you’ll get wrinkles.”

“You pamper her too much—look what she’s turned into…”
“How did I end up with such an unlucky daughter… She’s going to be the death of me. Jiang Peiyu! One more sound from you…”

“And I’ll cut off your allowance and kick you out of the house!”

“Yes yes yes, Mom! I was wrong—I’ll sleep right now, I promise!”

After hearing her mother’s furious voice and her father’s soft attempts to calm her down, Jiang Peiyu finally quieted down.

After all, she was 29, jobless, and living off her parents’ allowance. Not exactly in a position to argue…

Of course, she was the only child. All of the family assets would be hers one day anyway. No need to work to make a living—her father didn’t want her suffering out in the world.

Actually, both her parents were terrified that their naive daughter would get scammed and even thank the scammer. They figured—might as well let her stay home, it was safer.

“Oh heavens, please send me a 185 cm hottie to rescue my fragile little soul…”

“Zhihau, you don’t think she’ll be in any danger, right?”

“No. The doctor said she just bumped her head. No open wounds, just a mild concussion. She’ll be fine.”

“Good. Heaven forbid she dies in our house—so unlucky. Then people will say we abused her…”

“Stop it, if she wakes up and hears that, it’ll sound awful.”

“Who’s talking? Ugh, can’t a girl get some sleep around here…”

Jiang Peiyu’s head was throbbing. She wanted to open her eyes and see who was talking beside her bed, but her eyelids felt glued shut, like someone used industrial-strength superglue on them.

“She’s fine. We gave her good food, a good education—got her through college.”

“She’s not even our real daughter. Our own flesh and blood had to suffer in the countryside for 22 years. The more I think about it, the more my heart aches…”

“Alright, let’s send her back to her biological parents when she wakes up…”

Xia Zhihau sat on the side, smoking a cigarette. Honestly, after raising someone for 22 years, it wasn’t like there were no feelings—but compared to his real daughter, he knew which one mattered more.

The two adults sat there for a while. Seeing that Jiang Peiyu didn’t seem like she was going to wake up, they eventually left the room.

Lying in bed, Jiang Peiyu’s mind began to flood with another girl’s memories.

It was now the 1980s, in a place in Huaguo called Yushi. The body she was in belonged to a 22-year-old recent college graduate.

Just like in those novels—she was the classic switched-at-birth fake heiress.

In the chaotic hospital environment of the 1960s, things weren’t as strictly monitored as they are now. Her (fake) mother had a difficult labor and ended up in the same room as the real mother. The nurses accidentally switched the babies at birth.

So Jiang Peiyu, originally just a poor village girl, had become the wealthy heiress of a city family. Her father, Xia Zhihau, was a textile factory director. Her mother, Chen Hui, was a traditional housewife. She even had a rich fiancé.

Meanwhile, the real heiress, Xia Lizhu, was raised in the countryside. But she hadn’t exactly suffered—being the only girl in the family, she was still doted on like a treasure.

Somehow, Xia Lizhu had found out the truth and showed up on Xia Zhihau’s doorstep, claiming she was his real daughter. When they saw her face—80% similar to Jiang Peiyu’s—they went for a DNA test.

The result?

Jiang Peiyu went from being a pampered city princess to a country bumpkin overnight.

What followed was neglect from the adoptive parents, framing by the real heiress, and her own refusal to accept reality.

This accident? It happened during a fight between the two girls over a bedroom. In the heat of the argument at the top of the stairs, the real heiress pushed Jiang Peiyu.

The result was a concussion and—death.

And that’s when the soul of the 21st-century smut-reading homebody Jiang Peiyu, who died from binge-reading late at night, entered the body.

“Heavens, I asked for a 185 cm hunk, and what do I get? Death! No hottie in sight!”

“Fine, I died—but did I really have to transmigrate into the 1980s? Into a fake heiress’s body? How am I supposed to survive this?!”

After fully digesting the memories, Jiang Peiyu slowly opened her eyes and sat up, cradling her aching head as she took in her surroundings.

A spacious bedroom. She sat on a large, 1.8-meter-wide bed. To her left, up against the wall, was an enormous wardrobe, and next to that, the bedroom door. On her right, a large window. Below the window was a desk with a few books on it. There were bedside tables on both sides of the bed, and at the foot of the bed, a long, rectangular low cabinet.

Just as she was examining the room, her adoptive mother, Chen Hui, came in carrying a bowl of sweet egg soup.