A Daughter-Doting Father in a Military-Industrial Compound [Era]

Chen Mianmian, a thirty-something lawyer with no children of her own, falls asleep after reading a novel set in 1960s China. The story centers on Zhao Lingcheng, a military officer researching heavy weapons in the Gobi Desert, and his daughter Niuniu. Zhao Lingcheng was forced into marriage with a woman who clung to him after he saved her from drowning. She bore him a daughter, Niuniu, but abandoned the child with her own family for years while pursuing a divorce to marry a higher-status man. Niuniu endured abuse from her uncle Chen Jinhui and aunt Xu Xiaomei, eventually disappearing into the desert after a stormy night. Zhao Lingcheng died searching for her during a mission, while the abusive relatives faced no consequences. Furious at the injustice, Chen Mianmian writes an angry comment and falls asleep, only to awaken inside the novel as the villainous ex-wife, moments before she punches her own pregnant belly in a failed attempt to abort the child.

Now inhabiting the body of the woman who would become Niuniu's mother, Chen Mianmian realizes she is six months pregnant and in a state-run guesthouse in Quancheng, a city in the Gobi Desert. Her brother Chen Jinhui arrives, revealing his true nature: he had used her name to repeatedly ask Zhao Lingcheng for money, causing the officer to cut contact. Chen Jinhui plans to force her to drink abortion medicine that will cause difficult labor and severe bleeding, nearly killing her, so she can marry Section Chief Wei and secure jobs for his wife's brothers. Chen Mianmian, a trained lawyer and martial artist, strikes Chen Jinhui with a nail-studded stick, wounding his head. When he returns with Xu Xiaomei and a coil of rope to force the abortion, Chen Mianmian shouts for help, accusing them of forced abortion and trafficking. She tricks Chen Jinhui into climbing through the window, then throws boiling water on him. The commotion draws a crowd, and Chen Mianmian claims to be carrying a soldier's child, gaining sympathy and protection.

Wu Jingjing, a guesthouse employee and Chen Mianmian's old classmate, helps her by sending a telegram to Zhao Lingcheng's aunt, Zhao Hui, and alerting the police. Chen Mianmian reveals bruises on her belly—self-inflicted by the original host's attempts to abort—and accuses Chen Jinhui of assault and attempted murder. The senior police officer arrests both Chen Jinhui and Xu Xiaomei. During interrogation, Chen Mianmian exposes that Chen Jinhui obtained his railway job by having her take the shooting test in his place, a crime that could send him to prison. Xu Xiaomei retaliates by accusing Chen Mianmian of adultery, claiming the child is illegitimate. Chen Mianmian counters by demanding the police contact Zhao Lingcheng to verify paternity, forcing official communication with the top-secret military unit.

Zhao Hui arrives in Quancheng after receiving the telegram. She is a high-ranking director at a confidential aerospace base and the only surviving aunt of Zhao Lingcheng, whose family has lost five sons to war. Initially skeptical, she witnesses Chen Mianmian's ordeal and the crowd's support. When Xu Xiaomei's brother Xu Cigang, a militia member, attempts to flee after Chen Mianmian accuses him of the drowning incident that led to her marriage with Zhao Lingcheng, Zhao Hui chases him down. Xu Cigang falls into a pit latrine, and Zhao Hui retrieves his watch—the stolen Longines watch that proves he was at the canal when the drowning occurred. The case is classified as attempted murder and espionage, and Xu Cigang is arrested.

With the immediate threats neutralized, Chen Mianmian faces a new challenge: the original host's difficult fetal position threatens both her life and the baby's. A hospital doctor confirms the high risk of difficult labor but offers an A-scan at the military base if Chen Mianmian's political background is cleared. Chen Mianmian secures a job at the Quancheng Steel Factory through Director Qiu, using her English skills as leverage. Zhao Hui, moved by the tragedy of the Zhao family waiting generations for a descendant, takes responsibility for Chen Mianmian and the child. Chen Mianmian vows not to remarry or take the child away, committing to safely deliver Niuniu and reunite her with her father. The story shifts from survival and revenge to navigating the complex relationship with Zhao Lingcheng, whose coldness masks his own suffering from his family's exploitation, and preparing for the birth of the daughter who will change everything.