Lin Aiyun and Xiao Cheng, a devoted couple in their twilight years, choose to end their suffering through a double suicide after enduring decades of hardship. Instead of dying, Lin Aiyun awakens in her sixteen-year-old body on March 25, 1949, realizing she has traveled back in time. In her previous life, she had been a naive village girl who fell for Meng Baoguo after he saved her from drowning, leading to a miserable marriage and a life of regret. Now reborn, she is determined to change her fate and reunite with Xiao Cheng, who she knows will become the love of her life. However, Xiao Cheng is currently separated from her in the capital, and the chaotic wartime conditions make immediate travel impossible.
Lin Aiyun suppresses her impulsive desire to find Xiao Cheng and instead focuses on protecting herself from the rumors that her previous rebellious behavior has already started to spread. She reconciles with her mother, Zhang Wenhua, rejecting the idea of marrying Meng Baoguo and choosing to stay by her family's side for a few more years. To avoid the gossip in her village and gain independence, she travels to Lanxi County to stay with her aunt, Zhang Wenyue, who lives in the city with her husband Ding Weidong and their two children. The Ding family is warm and welcoming, providing Lin Aiyun with a safe haven as she navigates this new chapter of her life.
Meanwhile, in the capital, Xiao Cheng is a powerful and feared young man from a prominent family. He has been plagued by vivid, recurring dreams of a mysterious woman for months, a woman who does not exist in his reality. His obsession drives him to search for her without success, and his sleeplessness leads him to seek treatment from an old Chinese doctor, Liu Chengzhang, who has fled to Lanxi County to escape the turmoil in Shanghai. Xiao Cheng follows the doctor to the county town, unaware that his dream woman is only a short distance away.
Lin Aiyun struggles to find employment in Lanxi County but eventually secures a position as a helper in the Liu household, where she assists with household chores and medicinal herb preparation. Her employer is Liu Hui, the doctor's daughter, who is kind but wary of the dangerous Xiao Cheng. Lin Aiyun's first day coincides with a chance encounter in the rain, where she witnesses Xiao Cheng violently disciplining his subordinate. When Xiao Cheng notices her, he is struck by her resemblance to the woman in his dreams and aggressively confronts her, suspecting she is an assassin or spy sent by his rivals. He demands to know if she dreams, and when she calls his name, he realizes she knows him, deepening his suspicion and intrigue.
Liu Hui intervenes, revealing her connection to Xiao Cheng as his patient's daughter, and ushers Lin Aiyun inside. Xiao Cheng leaves after learning Lin Aiyun's name, but he orders his subordinate to investigate her immediately. Lin Aiyun, though shaken, remains resolute in her goal to win Xiao Cheng's heart. She learns from Liu Hui that Xiao Cheng is in town for medical treatment, which puzzles her since he was healthy in their previous life. She decides to bide her time, working at the Liu household to stay close to him while avoiding the matchmaking attempts of her aunt, who hopes to secure a wealthy husband for her from the local elite. The story sets the stage for a complex romance where Lin Aiyun must navigate Xiao Cheng's dangerous temperament and the political tensions of the era to reclaim the love she lost in her first life.
