Gu Nanzhi, a young woman who has lived as a wealthy heiress for twenty years, is abruptly informed that she is a fake. A nursing error at birth swapped her with the true daughter, Gu Baorong. Stripped of her status and wealth, Gu Nanzhi is forced to leave the Gu family mansion. Her biological parents died in a car accident a decade prior, leaving her with only a dilapidated courtyard house far from the city center. Despite the squalor and her lack of experience with manual labor, she accepts her fate and begins to clean the property. While resting, she discovers that an antique jewelry box left by her birth mother possesses a supernatural ability: it can absorb objects placed near it. When a rice ball she intended to eat lands on the box, it vanishes into the artifact.
Simultaneously, in the desolate region of Bei Jiang, the Shen family faces starvation. Once a prestigious noble family in the capital, they were exiled to this barren land after the eldest son, Shen Huaian, offended the new emperor. Three months into their exile, the family is emaciated and desperate. Old Madam Shen, the matriarch, is on her deathbed and suggests cannibalism as the only way to survive. Shen Zhinian, the eldest daughter, refuses to sacrifice her dignity or her family’s morals. After a failed attempt to sell herself to the local village chief for food, she collapses in despair. clutching her mother’s empty jewelry box, she contemplates suicide. However, the box miraculously produces a rice ball. Believing it to be a gift from her deceased mother, she returns home and shares the food with her starving relatives, temporarily averting their immediate death.
Shen Zhinian soon discovers that the box is a portal connecting her to Gu Nanzhi in a different era. She writes a plea for help using blood on a handkerchief, which appears in Gu Nanzhi’s box. Gu Nanzhi, initially terrified, realizes the person on the other side is human and not a ghost. She identifies the sender as Shen Zhinian from a kingdom called Da Zhao, a place unknown in her historical knowledge. Understanding the severity of the famine, Gu Nanzhi begins sending food, medicine, and supplies through the box. She sacrifices her own limited income to buy rice, flour, meat, and medical supplies for the Shen family.
The influx of modern goods transforms the Shen family’s situation. Shen Zhinian uses the food to strengthen her position, taking charge of the household and managing resources strictly to maintain secrecy. Her father, Shen Huaian, initially resists her authority due to traditional gender roles but is forced to accept her leadership when Old Madam Shen supports her. The family survives the immediate threat of starvation, but external dangers remain. The village chief, Liu Feng, harbors a lustful interest in Shen Zhinian and punishes the family for perceived slacks, beating Shen Huaian nearly to death. Shen Zhinian also learns that her friend, Su Yutong, was raped by Liu Feng in exchange for food for her family. Determined to protect her loved ones, Shen Zhinian resolves to find a way to gain power and retaliate against their oppressors. The story follows the parallel lives of Gu Nanzhi, who navigates her new humble existence while supporting the past, and Shen Zhinian, who evolves from a sheltered noblewoman into a resilient leader fighting for her family’s survival in a hostile environment.
