Su Wantang is an eighteen-year-old girl living in a rural village in the 1970s. She is the younger twin sister of Su Wanrou, a beauty renowned throughout the community. While Wanrou is poised to marry Zhao Jianguo, the village chief’s son, Wantang is considered timid and unremarkable. Her life changes when she begins experiencing vivid, recurring dreams of a mysterious man with a distinctive scar on his waist, who claims her as his own. One morning, a mechanical voice informs her that she is a villainous supporting character in a novel and has only seventy-two hours to live unless she completes a mission: become pregnant. The system binds to her, offering a spiritual spring space and lifespan extensions as rewards, but threatening death if she fails.
The narrative shifts when a special forces captain, Lu Zhanye, is found washed ashore near the village, critically injured. Wantang recognizes the scar on his waist as the man from her dreams. Her sister, Su Wanrou, who has also been reborn with knowledge of the original storyline, rushes to the clinic to care for Lu Zhanye, intending to steal the role of his savior. Wanrou secretly administers a hallucinogenic drug to Lu Zhanye, hoping to create a situation where she can be his first intimacy. However, Wantang intercepts the plan, guided by the system, and finds Lu Zhanye in a trance-like state at a wheat straw stack.
Under the influence of the drug and driven by a subconscious connection, Lu Zhanye recognizes Wantang as the woman from his own dreams. Despite her fear and the system’s pressure, Wantang stays with him through the night. During this time, she discovers she can access a spiritual spring space that heals Lu Zhanye’s severe wound with its water. The mission is completed, and Wantang confirms her pregnancy, extending her lifespan by thirty days. However, she flees before dawn, leaving Lu Zhanye to be found by her sister.
Su Wanrou claims credit for healing Lu Zhanye, presenting a fabricated folk remedy to the villagers and doctors. When Lu Zhanye wakes, he is suspicious of Wanrou’s inconsistent story and discovers a long strand of hair that belongs to Wantang. Wantang later visits the clinic under the pretense of seeking treatment for a minor injury, where she and Lu Zhanye share a tense, knowing glance. Wanrou, aware that her sister is a threat, monitors Wantang closely. As weeks pass, Wantang’s pregnancy becomes evident through morning sickness, leading to a confrontation with Wanrou by the river, where the sister’s true hostility begins to surface.
The story establishes a complex dynamic between the two sisters, the mysterious bond with Lu Zhanye, and the supernatural elements introduced by the system. Wantang must navigate her growing pregnancy while evading her sister’s schemes and dealing with the consequences of her altered fate. Lu Zhanye, recovering his strength, begins to investigate the truth behind the night he spent with Wantang, setting the stage for further conflict as he seeks to understand the connection that transcends their dreams.
