A Delicate Beauty Transmigrates Into The Body Of A Jilted Fiancée [1980s]

Su Zhi, a modern woman, wakes up after a car accident to find herself transmigrated into the body of a minor character in a period novel she had previously read. The character shares her name and is the unwanted, promiscuous ex-wife of Yue Chunhan, the story's violent and feared second male lead. On her wedding night, Su Zhi faces a dire situation: a scheming man attempts to lure her into eloping to avoid the marriage, but Su Zhi, aware of the tragic fate awaiting the original character, chooses to reject him and stay with her husband. She reasons that aligning herself with the powerful Yue Chunhan offers a better chance at survival and comfort than the degradation awaiting the original Su Zhi.

Yue Chunhan, a tall, muscular, and cold-tempered man with a limp from an old injury, returns home to find Su Zhi has locked out her suitor. He is suspicious of her sudden change in behavior, as the original Su Zhi was known for her vanity and fear of him. The wedding night is complicated by the presence of Yue Chunhan’s four-year-old adopted daughter, Yue Tiantian, who sleeps between the couple on the kang. Su Zhi finds comfort in the child’s presence and spends the evening soothing the girl, who is terrified of her new stepmother. Su Zhi tells Tiantian a story, helping the child fall asleep, while Yue Chunhan watches from the darkness, intrigued by her unexpected gentleness.

The following days test Su Zhi’s resolve as she adapts to the harsh realities of rural 1980s life. She struggles with the coarse food and difficult manual labor, particularly when Yue Chunhan insists she work in the cornfields with him. Despite her delicate city upbringing, Su Zhi persists, determined not to be a burden. Her efforts do not go unnoticed; Yue Chunhan sees her blistered hands and sun-scorched face, and though he remains outwardly cold, he secretly speeds up his own work to finish early and sends her home. He also provides her with a clean place to sit during lunch, laying out his shirt for her, a small gesture that confuses and unsettles Su Zhi.

Conflict arises when a handsome young man named Lin Yu, an old acquaintance of the original Su Zhi, harasses Su Zhi in the fields. Yue Chunhan intervenes physically, gripping Lin Yu’s arm, but when Lin Yu continues to provoke them, Yue Chunhan walks away, assuming Su Zhi is merely playing hard to get or maintaining her promiscuous reputation. Devastated and feeling betrayed, Su Zhi confronts Yue Chunhan upon returning home. She demands to know why he abandoned her, arguing that as husband and wife, he should have protected her. Yue Chunhan, hardened by prejudice and past rumors, dismisses her concerns, telling her to take care of Tiantian and stay out of his way, and even offers her a divorce if she wishes to leave.

The confrontation leaves Su Zhi heartbroken and resentful, leading to a cold war between the couple. However, the tension breaks when Su Zhi attempts to boil water for a bath and accidentally fills the house with smoke. Yue Chunhan calmly fixes the stove, and later, noticing her injured hands from the day’s labor, he offers to apply medicine. Su Zhi initially refuses, but Tiantian persuades her to accept. As Yue Chunhan tends to her wounds with surprising gentleness, the barrier between them begins to crack. Su Zhi realizes that Yue Chunhan is not the monster she feared, and he begins to see that Su Zhi is not the shallow woman she was rumored to be, setting the stage for a gradual shift in their relationship as they navigate their new life together.