Ruan Jinxiang is a woman living in the Immortal Realm during a period of severe turmoil. Her husband, Pei Daquan, died three years ago while performing corvée labor, leaving her to raise twin children, Tiedan and Yaya, alone. During his absence, the Northern Rong soldiers invaded, looting their home and subjecting the village to brutal oppression. When Daquan unexpectedly returns, he has risen to become a county office official and brings back a pregnant concubine named Lian'er. Blaming Jinxiang for jealousy after Lian'er fakes a fall, Daquan banishes her and her daughter Yaya to a dilapidated thatched hut at the village edge. Jinxiang is left to endure hunger and cold with her young daughter, while her son Tiedan is forced to stay with the family, separated from his mother.
One winter morning, Jinxiang ventures into the mountains to forage for food. While searching for wild nuts, she slips and cuts her wrist. Her blood is absorbed by a copper bracelet she found in the hut, causing it to transform into jade and vanish. A blinding light transports her to a modern city. Confused and terrified, she wanders through a prosperous marketplace, shocked by the tall buildings, strange clothing, and abundance of food. She encounters Hu Xingxing, who mistakes her for a mentally unstable actress and offers her food. Jinxiang escapes the authorities by shouting her desire to return, which magically transports her back to the mountain. She discovers she can travel between worlds at will by focusing her thoughts.
Jinxiang returns to the modern world to retrieve a bundle of discarded household items left by Hu Xingxing. She finds thick cotton quilts, iron pots, porcelain bowls, and other valuable goods that are commonplace in the modern era but luxurious in her time. She buries these items in her hut to hide them from her in-laws. With the quilts, she and Yaya survive the freezing winter. Jinxiang also learns that she can bring items back with her, as the steamed buns from Hu Xingxing were successfully transported. She begins scavenging recyclables in the modern world to earn money. She meets Aunt Zhou, an elderly woman who helps her sell scrap and teaches her about modern currency. Jinxiang buys rice and cornmeal to sustain herself and her children, though she initially misunderstands the weight measurements.
Back in the Immortal Realm, the Pei household is in chaos. Daquan punishes Tiedan for stealing food to give to his mother, locking the boy in a woodshed. Lian'er manipulates the situation to gain Daquan's sympathy, while the rest of the family resents Jinxiang's exile. Jinxiang continues to shuttle between worlds, using her earnings to buy food and supplies. She befriends Boss Tian, a scrap collector who gives her old clothes and fair treatment. Jinxiang's primary goal is to survive and protect her children, using the resources from the modern world to improve their dire circumstances. She hides her secret from everyone in her village, fearing they would view her as a monster. The story follows her struggle to navigate two vastly different worlds while maintaining her dignity and caring for her children against the backdrop of a patriarchal and oppressive family structure.
