70s Beauty at the Frontier: Kissed to Tears by a Tough Man

Lin Shuyao, a PhD in crop science from the twenty-first century, transmigrates into the body of a tragic cannon-fodder character in a 1970s period novel titled The Cold Professor’s Sweet Pampered Wife. In the original story, the host of this body, also named Lin Shuyao, was a talented agricultural graduate who became obsessively infatuated with Chen Zhiheng, a refined seed expert. She surrendered her research ideas, experimental data, and credit to him, publicly humiliating her husband, Lu Chengjing, a battalion commander, to pursue Chen. Ultimately, she was framed by Chen and the novel’s female lead, Su Man, and died in prison while her family’s reputation was ruined. Upon waking in this new life, Lin Shuyao recognizes the deadly nature of her original plot and the supernatural force that compelled her past self to act against her own interests. Determined to survive and thrive, she decides to flee the influence of Chen Zhiheng by transferring to the remote Southwest Grain Seed Experimental Station, a move that requires the cooperation of her nominal husband, Lu Chengjing.

Lin Shuyao leaves her prestigious position at the Kyoto Academy of Agricultural Sciences and endures a grueling three-day train journey to the high-altitude southwest. Upon arrival, she collapses from acute altitude sickness and is rescued by Lu Chengjing, whom she has never met in person. She discovers that Lu Chengjing is a man of stark contrast to the hypocritical Chen Zhiheng: upright, physically imposing, disciplined, and deeply principled. Despite her initial fear that he will facilitate a divorce, Lin Shuyao realizes that remaining married is her only path to securing the job transfer she desperately needs. She fabricates a story of repentance, claiming she has come to the southwest to support her husband and contribute to the nation’s grain cultivation efforts. Lu Chengjing, who had already submitted divorce papers due to her previous hostility, is suspicious of her sudden change in attitude but agrees to cancel the application and help with her transfer documents, though he remains guarded.

Living in Lu Chengjing’s military compound, Lin Shuyao encounters Bai Qiaolan, the widowed sister-in-law of Lu Chengjing’s deceased brother. Bai Qiaolan harbors deep resentment toward Lin Shuyao, viewing her as a gold-digger and a threat to her brother’s memory and Chengjing’s well-being. She spreads rumors and attempts to undermine Lin Shuyao’s reputation within the compound. Lin Shuyao, however, refuses to be bullied and confronts Bai Qiaolan directly, asserting her boundaries. Lu Chengjing intervenes, firmly defending his wife and reprimanding Bai Qiaolan for her slander, marking a significant shift in their dynamic as he begins to trust Lin Shuyao’s sincerity. Meanwhile, Lin Shuyao prepares meticulously for her interview at the experimental station, leveraging her future knowledge of agricultural science to draft innovative breeding plans tailored to the southwest’s unique red soil and climate.

When Lu Chengjing submits Lin Shuyao’s application, the experimental station staff is initially impressed by her credentials and detailed proposals. However, Chen Zhiheng intercepts the verification call and deliberately disparages Lin Shuyao, claiming she was merely an assistant who performed menial tasks and that her ideas were stolen from him. The station staff, disillusioned by Chen’s authoritative testimony, threatens to reject her application entirely. Station Master Li, however, decides to grant her an interview to verify her claims, assigning her a lowly logistics position as a probationary measure. Lin Shuyao faces the critical task of proving her expertise during the interview to secure her place at the station and escape her fate as a stepping stone. As she begins to integrate into her new life, Lu Chengjing’s protective instincts grow, and the two navigate the complexities of their arranged marriage against the backdrop of political intrigue and professional rivalry in the 1970s.