Return to the '70s: A Young Educated Youth's Slow Descent

Sheng Kangning awakens in her seventeen-year-old body, having returned to the past after a tragic life. In her previous timeline, she was raised by her grandmother after her mother, Ling Qing, died when Sheng Kangning was five. Her father, Sheng Hongqi, had secretly married his longtime mistress, Yang Chunling, who brought three children into the family: Sheng Fengjiao, Sheng Fengxiang, and Sheng Weidong. Upon her grandmother's death, Sheng Kangning returned to the Sheng household, only to face systemic abuse. Yang Chunling maintained a public image of kindness while starving and exploiting Sheng Kangning privately. The family prioritized the biological children, particularly the grandson Weidong, while forcing Sheng Kangning and her stepsister Fengxiang to the countryside as educated youth.

The core conflict centers on Sheng Kangning's struggle against her predatory stepfamily. Yang Chunling and Grandma Wang Cuilian conspired to send Sheng Kangning away to secure a coveted canning factory job for Weidong. They manipulated Sheng Kangning’s trust, using false affection to extract money and labor. In the previous life, Sheng Kangning was deceived by these tactics, sent her savings home, and suffered in the Great Northern Wilderness. Meanwhile, her stepsister Fengxiang harbored deep jealousy, spreading vicious rumors that ruined Sheng Kangning’s reputation in the countryside. When Sheng Kangning finally returned to the city seven years later, she was drugged by her stepmother and forced into a marriage with Zhang Jianmin to cover up Fengxiang’s pregnancy. Zhang Jianmin strangled her to death after she refused him.

Reborn, Sheng Kangning resolves to change her fate. She immediately ends her hunger strike, pretending compliance to lower her family's guard. She learns that Yang Chunling is arranging a blind date between Fengxiang and Li Dagang, a man with a stable job but a stutter, to keep Fengxiang in the city. Sheng Kangning reveals this secret to Fengxiang, inciting rivalry between the stepsisters. While Fengxiang and Fengjiao fight over Li Dagang, Sheng Kangning focuses on reclaiming her autonomy. She visits her late mother’s ancestral home, where she encounters Chu Nanzhou, a military captain and the guardian of an abused toddler named Xiaobao. Sheng Kangning uses her medical knowledge, learned from her grandmother, to examine the child and expose the negligence of the nanny, Wu Guihua.

Key turning points include Sheng Kangning discovering a hidden passbook with a thousand yuan left by her grandmother, which she decides to keep secret for emergencies. She also uncovers the truth about her mother’s death: her father and stepmother poisoned Ling Qing to marry and seize her family’s wealth. Armed with this knowledge, Sheng Kangning no longer seeks reconciliation with her father. Instead, she strategically navigates her final days in the city, distancing herself from her abusers. Her encounter with Chu Nanzhou marks a shift from victimhood to agency, as she begins to build connections outside her toxic family. The story follows her preparation for the countryside, not as a victim, but as a woman determined to survive and thrive on her own terms, leveraging her medical skills and hidden resources to avoid the pitfalls of her past life.

As Sheng Kangning prepares to leave, she contrasts her previous ignorance with her current clarity. She recognizes that her beauty, once a curse that attracted predators, can now be a tool if managed wisely. She refuses to wear the bright, attention-drawing clothes her stepmother intended, choosing modest attire to avoid harassment. Her plan is to endure the countryside years independently, using her savings and skills to secure a position at a medical facility, thereby avoiding the fate of being controlled by men or family demands. The narrative sets the stage for her transformation from a abused stepdaughter into a self-reliant professional, while simultaneously exposing the moral corruption of the Sheng family and the abusive nanny. Her alliance with Chu Nanzhou, born from a shared concern for the vulnerable child Xiaobao, hints at a romantic subplot that will support her journey. The story moves toward her departure, with Sheng Kangning leaving behind a family that underestimates her resilience, ready to forge a new destiny free from their manipulation.