Charming Military Wife: Farming and Raising Babies in the 1960s

Liu Yinyin, a modern woman, dies after being struck by a brick during a violent confrontation at her apartment and transmigrates into the body of a nineteen-year-old widow in rural China, April 1958. The original owner, also named Liu Yinyin, had married a soldier named Gu Cheng only months prior, only to receive news that he was killed in action. Rejected by her husband’s family, who blamed her for bringing bad luck, she was sent back to her parents’ home. The new Liu Yinyin must navigate a life of extreme poverty, where food is rationed by work points and every meal consists of simple wild vegetables and coarse grains. Despite the harsh conditions, she accepts her fate and resolves to survive.

While gathering wild vegetables on a mountainside with her young niece, Liu Yinyin discovers a mysterious trading system. This interface allows her to sell wild plants and other natural resources to the system in exchange for modern currency, which she can then use to purchase goods from a modern marketplace at contemporary prices. Realizing the immense value of this advantage, she begins secretly selling wild herbs, mushrooms, and bamboo shoots, rapidly accumulating a significant balance. She uses these resources to improve her own diet, purchasing items like meat buns and eggs that are virtually unobtainable for villagers in this era. However, she must keep her system hidden, as any display of unexplained wealth or food could attract dangerous attention.

Her situation becomes more complicated when she discovers she is pregnant with her late husband’s child. The pregnancy triggers severe morning sickness, particularly when exposed to the smell of cooking pork fat. After confirming the pregnancy at a county hospital, she faces the reality of raising a child alone in a society that stigmatizes unwed mothers and widows. Her mother suggests giving the baby to the Gu family, but Liu Yinyin refuses, recalling the abuse and suspicion she endured while living with her mother-in-law, who had accused her of infidelity. Determined to keep her child, she decides she needs her own living space to ensure privacy and security.

Liu Yinyin petitions the village chief, Liu Changquan, for the use of an abandoned house at the edge of the village. Leveraging her status as the widow of a martyr, she successfully secures the property and a small plot of private land. With the help of her father and brothers, she repairs the dilapidated structure and moves in, establishing independence from her large, crowded family home. She immediately begins planting sweet potatoes and vegetables, anticipating the severe famine that she knows from her past life will strike the region in the coming years. Her foresight drives her to stockpile food and prepare for the hardships ahead.

Once settled, Liu Yinyin expands her economic activities. She trades with local children, exchanging modern White Rabbit candies for wild-caught fish and shrimp, which she then sells to the system for profit. She also identifies an opportunity to produce Immortal Tofu, a delicacy made from Fubi leaves that is unknown in the village. Planning to sell it at the upcoming market, she gathers the necessary leaves and enlists her brothers’ help to process them. Through these endeavors, she builds a modest income and a food reserve, aiming to secure a stable future for herself and her unborn child while maintaining a low profile in the village.