Carried Into My Den, and You Still Think of Running?

Su Yao was a woman who spent thirty years devoted to her husband Gu Yun'an and his daughter Gu Yang, only to die alone in a hospital bed from stomach cancer. Her stepdaughter and husband callously discussed cutting off her treatment to save money, revealing that Su Yao had always been treated as an outsider despite her selfless sacrifices. As she lay dying, she regretted ignoring her mother's warning to prioritize her own bloodline and vowed that in her next life she would never trust men or become a stepmother again.

When Su Yao opened her eyes, she discovered she had been reborn in 1976, back to her twenty-one-year-old body during the era when educated youth were sent down to the countryside. She was stationed at Jiqing Brigade in Qinghe County, three years into her assignment. The young body was healthy and strong, free from the cancer that had consumed her previous life. Su Yao immediately recognized this as a second chance and resolved to change her fate. She planned to prepare for the national college entrance examination, which she knew would be reinstated at the end of 1977, giving her a pathway out of rural labor and into a completely different future.

In her previous life, Su Yao had been timid, submissive, and overly concerned with others' opinions. She dressed modestly to hide her figure, kept her head down, and avoided conflict. This time, she decided to face the world with confidence. She stopped covering her natural beauty, stood taller, and began treating people with emotional distance. She also encountered two reformed teachers, Ji Yunzheng and Li Yanqing, who were imprisoned in the brigade's cowshed. Recognizing their academic value, Su Yao offered to help them with daily tasks in exchange for tutoring in mathematics, physics, and chemistry—knowledge she desperately needed to pass the college entrance exam.

Meanwhile, romantic tensions emerged among the educated youth. Xu Kechao, a well-connected young man from Hai City, had secretly admired Su Yao for years but never acted on his feelings. After noticing her transformation, he became anxious about losing her to someone else. Ruan Yuan, Su Yao's roommate, harbored unrequited feelings for Xu Kechao and grew resentful when she believed Su Yao was receiving his attention. In a past-life incident, Ruan Yuan had once blamed Su Yao for delivering a rejected love letter to Xu Kechao, which destroyed their fifteen-year friendship. This time, Su Yao refused to be drawn into such drama and maintained strict boundaries.

A key event involved a stolen chicken that caused conflict between Jiqing Brigade and a neighboring production team. Two male educated youth, Guo Jian and Lin Jun, had secretly roasted the chicken, and when the victim, Aunt Zhang, accused the entire brigade, Xu Kechao quietly covered for them by offering to pay compensation. This incident revealed the complex social dynamics of the countryside, where survival often depended on informal networks and mutual protection.

During a county inspection visit, Su Yao was called upon to cook for the officials after Aunt Zhang suffered a boiling water burn. She prepared an elaborate meal that impressed the inspection team, demonstrating capabilities far beyond what her peers expected. Through these experiences, Su Yao began building a new life—one focused on education, financial independence, and emotional self-protection. She started writing essays for literary magazines as a side income and maintained careful distance from romantic entanglements, determined to succeed on her own terms rather than through marriage or dependence on others.