Daily Life in the Northern Song Dynasty

Ji Ning is a modern woman who transmigrates into the body of a ten-year-old girl in Xidiandang Village during the Northern Song Dynasty. The original owner, the third child of the impoverished Ji family, dies from a fever after being caught in the rain. Ji Ning inherits a household of nine people, including her parents, grandparents, an eldest brother and sister, and two younger siblings. The family owns fifty mu of land, but after taxes, seeds, and living expenses, they are left with barely enough to survive. Her father, Ji Song, is a peddler with meager income, while her eldest sister works as an indentured maid in town. The family is in debt due to the medical costs of the original girl's illness, and the looming Summer Tax threatens to push them into further poverty.

The central conflict arises from the family's desperate financial situation. Ji Ning's grandfather suggests sending her to work as a maid to ease the burden, a decision supported by the family elders but opposed by her father and brother, Ji An. Ji An, the family's scholar who has been supported through government school, returns home dejected. He claims his academic performance is poor and that he cannot continue draining the family's resources, suggesting he drop out of school. Ji Ning, however, notices inconsistencies in his story, such as his wet clothes on a clear day, and suspects there is more to his distress than he is revealing. Despite her suspicions, she supports him and focuses on finding a way to generate income for the family.

Ji Ning decides to start a small business by creating toys from materials found in the mountains. She crafts Bamboo Tube Cannons from bamboo and wild fruits, selling them to village children for two wen each or trading them for goods like tofu and eggs. The toys are an instant hit, providing the family with much-needed cash and food. Recognizing that the simple cannon can be easily copied, she develops a more complex toy, the Bamboo Joint Puppet, which requires skilled craftsmanship and cannot be replicated by ordinary children. She introduces a rental model, allowing children who cannot afford the higher purchase price to rent the puppets for a day, further expanding her customer base and revenue.

A key turning point occurs when the Bamboo Tube Cannons are used to harass village chickens, leading to a confrontation with a neighbor. Ji Ning handles the situation by admitting fault, offering compensation in the form of free toy rentals, and establishing strict rules against using the toys to harm animals or crops. This incident highlights the social risks of her enterprise but also demonstrates her ability to navigate local dynamics. She continues to innovate, planning to create more sophisticated toys, including a crude version of a ball-jointed doll, to maintain a competitive edge. Throughout these events, Ji An remains troubled, and Ji Ning's curiosity about his secret grows, setting the stage for further developments in his personal struggles and the family's economic journey.