My Husband Traveled to Ancient Times: I Supply Him With Modern Goods

Sheng Yan is a twenty-nine-year-old woman whose life has been shattered by a series of devastating events. Two months prior to the story's beginning, her husband Jiang Hongyan died in a car accident that plunged his vehicle into a mountain ravine, leaving no remains. Grieving and isolated, Sheng Yan faces the additional trauma of losing her job due to layoffs, which were partly a result of her emotional distress and inability to focus at work. As a single mother to a five-year-old daughter named Jiang Yueyao, she is burdened with mortgage and car loan payments. She maintains a facade of normalcy for her daughter, claiming her father is on a long business trip, while secretly struggling with insomnia and depression. Her financial situation is precarious, and her attempts to return to the workforce are met with systemic discrimination; interviewers focus exclusively on her marital status and child rather than her professional qualifications, leading to repeated rejections.

The narrative shifts dramatically one night when Sheng Yan receives a message on her phone from Jiang Hongyan. Initially suspecting a scam, she is convinced otherwise when he recounts intimate details of their shared past that only he would know. Jiang Hongyan claims to have survived the accident but finds himself in a remote village in a dynasty called Great Sheng, a historical period unknown to modern records. He explains that he can send and receive messages through their chat application despite being in the past, though voice and video calls fail due to poor network connectivity. The couple discovers a miraculous phenomenon: objects can be transported between their two timelines through photographs. When Jiang Hongyan sends a picture of items in his surroundings, those objects materialize in Sheng Yan's home, and vice versa. This discovery establishes a tangible link between the two worlds, allowing them to exchange goods despite being separated by time.

Recognizing the potential to alleviate their financial struggles, the couple begins a systematic exchange of items. Sheng Yan sends modern glassware, jewelry, and household goods to Jiang Hongyan, who pawns them in the ancient marketplace for silver and copper coins. In return, Jiang Hongyan sends antique porcelain and other artifacts from the Great Sheng Dynasty to Sheng Yan. She entrusts a porcelain bowl to her friend Shen Xiaofei, an archaeology lecturer, who is unable to identify its origin but confirms it is at least three thousand years old. This transaction provides Sheng Yan with a new income stream and a sense of purpose. Simultaneously, Sheng Yan pivots her career strategy, launching a food content creation channel to build an audience and generate revenue through advertising, offering the flexibility she needs to care for her daughter.

In the Great Sheng Dynasty, Jiang Hongyan recovers from his injuries under the care of a kind peasant couple, Chen Fugui and his wife, who saved him after he was found unconscious in the mountains. Jiang Hongyan learns of their tragic loss of their young son, Chen Nian, who fell into a ravine, a parallel that deeply affects him. After recovering, Jiang Hongyan rents a small courtyard in a nearby town, leaving the Chen family a substantial sum of silver as repayment for their kindness. He establishes a stable living situation, allowing for more consistent exchanges with Sheng Yan. Meanwhile, Sheng Yan and her daughter encounter a young beggar boy named Chen Nian in their modern city. The boy's reaction to a police car and his mention of Xiaohe Village suggest a connection to Jiang Hongyan's past, hinting at a deeper, possibly cyclical, link between the two timelines. The story concludes with both protagonists navigating their separate realities, using their unique connection to support each other emotionally and financially while adapting to their respective challenges.