Gu Yihan, a twenty-three-year-old orphan working in modern society, possesses a mysterious Jade Pendant that grants her access to a small storage dimension. After experiencing recurring dreams of a famine-stricken era, she prepares for a potential time travel by liquidating her savings to purchase vast quantities of grain, meat, oil, and supplies, storing them in her dimension. Her premonitions prove correct when she falls asleep and awakens as an unborn fetus in the body of Liu Zhaodi, a pregnant woman in rural China during the early 1950s.
Gu Yihan is born on the same day as the son of Zhang Cuihua, the wife of her second uncle, Gu Aidang. In a desperate bid to secure her status in a patriarchal family that demands a male heir, Liu Zhaodi swaps Gu Yihan with Zhang Cuihua’s newborn son during the chaotic delivery. The biological son is raised by Gu Yihan’s grandparents, Grandma Gu and Grandpa Gu, while Gu Yihan is raised by Zhang Cuihua and Gu Aidang, who treat her with open hostility and neglect. Despite this, Gu Yihan survives infancy by secretly consuming food from her dimension while her adoptive mother refuses to breastfeed her. Grandma Gu, who initially takes in the baby girl because she smiled at her, becomes Gu Yihan’s primary protector and ally.
As Gu Yihan grows, she navigates the harsh realities of the commune era, marked by severe food shortages and political upheaval. She strategically cultivates a close relationship with Grandma Gu, recognizing that her affection is her only shield against the abusive environment created by Zhang Cuihua and her biological mother, Liu Zhaodi. While her adoptive parents blame her for their misfortunes and attempt to harm her, including a near-fatal choking incident by Zhang Cuihua, Gu Yihan remains focused on her education and survival. She excels in school, outperforming her cousins, and uses her intelligence to secure better living conditions for herself and her grandmother.
The family’s fortunes shift when Gu Yihan, using her dimension to hide a wild boar she caught, leads her cousin Gu Hao to discover it. This event triggers a series of successful hunts and fish catches that significantly bolster the family’s food supply, earning Gu Yihan the status of a lucky charm in Grandma Gu’s eyes. Meanwhile, the moral decay of her adoptive father becomes apparent as Gu Aidang maintains an affair with a widow, promising marriage only if she produces a son. The story highlights the stark contrast between Gu Yihan’s resilience and the greed and cruelty of her biological family, who view her solely as a burden. As the drought worsens and the threat of starvation looms over the village, Gu Yihan and Grandma Gu prepare for the coming crisis, relying on their hidden reserves and strategic planning to endure the hardships ahead.
