Shen Yueliang transmigrates into a male-oriented wish-fulfillment novel set in 1975 China, inheriting the body of a poor village seamstress whose engagement to Luo Shengli is being broken off. The Luo family, suddenly wealthy due to a connection with an old revolutionary leader, looks down on the Shen family and demands the engagement be cancelled. Shen Yueliang, aware that Luo Shengli is the novel's male lead and she is merely his first discarded stepping stone, refuses to suffer losses. She confronts the Luo family with a cleaver, accompanied by her mother Lin Qinfen, and demands repayment of thirty yuan borrowed over six months plus thirty yuan for clothes she made for them. After a physical altercation, she recovers the money, takes two chickens, and leaves.
Upon returning home, Shen Yueliang realizes the original owner's tragic fate: after the engagement break, her brother Shen Xiangdong receives a telegram, returns home, and dies in a landslide. His widow He Erhong then steals the family's savings and abandons the household. To prevent this, Shen Yueliang learns her brother will receive the telegram tomorrow. With no telephone and limited transportation in 1975, she decides to travel to his military unit, located over six hundred kilometers away. She packs food, takes her brother's address, and walks to the nearby military base. After a jeep passes her without stopping, she reaches the base and seeks help from Su Qiuyun, a sent-down youth and military wife, who introduces her to Battalion Commander Ji Yanchuan.
Shen Yueliang lies, claiming her brother was injured, to persuade Ji Yanchuan to drive her. He agrees, and they travel through the night. During a rest stop, Ji Yanchuan notices she is eating coarse wild vegetable buns while he has white flour flatbreads and eggs; he silently swaps the food packages. Upon arriving at her brother's unit, Shen Yueliang discovers her brother Shen Xiangdong is perfectly healthy. Ji Yanchuan, realizing the deception, becomes cold and angry, feeling used. Shen Yueliang apologizes sincerely, offering to volunteer labor or even serve as a training punching bag. Ji Yanchuan accepts the apology but remains distant.
Shen Xiangdong arranges for Ji Yanchuan to drive Shen Yueliang back home. During the return trip, Ji Yanchuan drives aggressively, causing Shen Yueliang physical discomfort, and speeds away upon arrival, leaving her stranded. Back in Qinghe Village, Shen Yueliang finds her mother being bullied by their relative He Fengying, who demands chicken soup. Shen Yueliang intervenes, pouring the soup over He Fengying. She confronts her sister-in-law He Erhong, who is lazy and entitled, asserting her authority in the household. Shen Yueliang secures her family's future by preventing her brother from receiving the telegram that would have caused him to return home and die. She plans to continue her sewing work, use her knowledge of the novel's plot to avoid future disasters, and maintain distance from the male lead Luo Shengli while navigating her complicated relationship with the stern Battalion Commander Ji Yanchuan.
