Zhao Ke is a woman who has transmigrated into the body of an eighteen-year-old factory worker in 1974 Shuangshan Commune, Shuangshan Bearing Branch Factory. She retains memories of her past life, where she worked herself to death, and has resolved to live a low-key, relaxed life in her current existence. However, her plans are disrupted when she experiences a vivid dream about a novel set in her home village, Zhao Village. The story features educated youths as the main characters, with her elder sister, Zhao Mian, destined to marry a man named Li Dasheng, only to suffer a tragic fate involving abuse, financial exploitation by her natal family, and eventual death in childbirth. Her younger brother, Zhao Feng, is portrayed as a spoiled antagonist who causes ruin for everyone around him. Upon waking, Zhao Ke discovers that real-life events mirror the novel, confirming she has transmigrated into the book's world.
The central conflict arises when Zhao Ke learns that her elder sister is set to meet Li Dasheng for a potential marriage arrangement. Determined to alter the tragic fate of her beloved sister, Zhao Ke investigates Li Dasheng and discovers he is arrogant, lazy, and abusive. She successfully sabotages the match by revealing his true character to her mother, Yu Xiulan, who promptly rejects the proposal. With the immediate threat neutralized, Zhao Ke devises a more significant plan to secure her family's future. She proposes transferring her valuable factory job to Zhao Mian, allowing her sister to gain financial independence and social status, thereby breaking the cycle of dependency that led to the original tragedy. Despite initial resistance from her parents, who fear sacrificing Zhao Ke's future, Zhao Ke persuades them by highlighting Zhao Mian's hidden academic potential and her own willingness to wait for future opportunities, such as the reinstatement of the college entrance examination.
As Zhao Ke navigates her new reality, she encounters other characters from the novel, including the female lead, Zhuang Lan, and the male lead, Fu Hang, who are newly arrived educated youths. She also deals with Zhao Yunyun, a childhood friend and novel antagonist who harbors romantic ambitions for Fu Hang. Zhao Ke manages these relationships with calculated detachment, aiming to protect her family while avoiding entanglement with the novel's original plotlines. She discovers that her sister had secretly passed the high school entrance exam but gave up her education to support the family, a sacrifice Zhao Ke is determined to rectify. The story follows Zhao Ke's efforts to dismantle the toxic family dynamics, empower her sister, and steer her siblings away from the destructive paths outlined in the original narrative, all while maintaining her desired peaceful existence in the rural setting of 1970s China.
