After Seeing the Bullet, the Fat Wife’s Original Self Awakens

Song Xilan is a young woman living in a Chinese state-owned factory dormitory in 1975. She is the cherished daughter of Song Baili, a factory director, and Tan Aizhi, a finance worker. Raised in a loving and prosperous environment, Song Xilan is known for her gentle nature, plump figure, and love of food. Her parents have arranged several blind dates for her, but she remains uninterested until she meets Yang Jingyu, a handsome actor in the city’s Song and Dance Troupe. Yang Jingyu is an orphan from a rural background who has risen through the ranks of the cultural troupe through ambition and hard work. Song Xilan falls in love with him at first sight and begins courting him with homemade meals, particularly sauerkraut beef dumplings, which he claims to favor.

On New Year’s Eve, 1975, Song Xilan prepares a special box of dumplings for Yang Jingyu after his performance. However, when she delivers the food backstage, she suddenly hears strange voices in her mind—comments from unseen observers who refer to her as a "fat woman" and a "Phoenix Man’s wife," predicting that she will eventually be replaced by a time-traveling heroine who will steal her husband and life. Shocked and confused, Song Xilan rejects the dumplings and flees. In her distress, she encounters a disheveled man disguised as a beggar, Jiang Chengxiao, and gives him the lunchbox out of kindness. This man is later revealed to be a decorated war hero and a major villain in the narrative she has glimpsed.

Yang Jingyu’s attitude toward Song Xilan changes dramatically after he discovers that her uncle is a high-ranking official in the Provincial Cultural Bureau. Her parents warn her that his sudden affection is motivated by social climbing rather than genuine love. Song Xilan, now aware of the potential future where she becomes a victim of Yang Jingyu’s ambition and his traditionalist mother’s oppression, decides to end the relationship. She confronts Yang Jingyu, exposing his opportunistic motives, and firmly rejects him, choosing to prioritize her own happiness and independence.

Meanwhile, Jiang Chengxiao, who has been discharged from the military due to injury, decides to stay in the city rather than return to his family’s control. He encounters Song Xilan again when she is buying roast goose, where he defends her from a bully who cut in line. Their interactions reveal a growing mutual interest, though Song Xilan is initially wary of him due to his reputation as a villain. Jiang Chengxiao, intrigued by her kindness and genuine nature, begins to pursue her, offering support and companionship.

Song Xilan’s parents arrange another blind date for her with Qin Hailin, a man who expects her to conform to traditional gender roles, including financial submissiveness and weight loss. Song Xilan confidently rejects his pretentious attitudes and pays for her own coffee, asserting her independence. This encounter further solidifies her resolve to avoid the fate predicted by the voices in her head. As she navigates her new freedom from Yang Jingyu and her budding connection with Jiang Chengxiao, Song Xilan begins to reshape her own destiny, determined to live life on her own terms rather than as a character in someone else’s story.