The narrative follows two distinct storylines set in different social contexts. The first thread centers on Zhao Jingqing, a young man who runs a tofu stall with his wife, Yuan Mu. His life is disrupted when his stepmother, Li Changju, arrives at his workplace in distress, claiming that his father, Zhao Si, is seriously ill and requires ten taels of silver for medicine. Zhao Jingqing, though skeptical of the urgency and the amount requested, provides what money he has and rushes to his family home in Wutong Alley with Yuan Mu. Upon arrival, they find Zhao Si feigning weakness to avoid working and to extract more funds. Zhao Si refuses to see a doctor, insisting on saving money for his younger son's education, while Li Changju pressures Zhao Jingqing for the full ten taels. Recognizing the manipulation, Zhao Jingqing offers only two taels for a house call, which Li Changju reluctantly accepts. Suspicious of the scheme, Zhao Jingqing hires a neighbor, Uncle Xu, to monitor his parents, while Yuan Mu investigates Zhao Si's employment status to uncover the truth behind the fabricated illness.
The second storyline introduces Su Ci, a modern woman who transmigrates into the body of a tragic novel character set in 1970s China. She finds herself in the middle of a forced marriage swap orchestrated by her stepsister, Su Baozhu, who is also a reborn individual seeking to avoid a difficult fate. In the original story, Su Ci was destined to marry into a wealthy factory director's family, while Su Baozhu was to marry a regiment commander on a remote island, a union that led to her madness and death in a previous life. Su Baozhu attempts to force Su Ci to take her place by staging a dramatic plea for sacrifice. However, Su Ci, aware of her future and possessing a secret interdimensional shopping mall filled with modern goods, agrees to the swap only after extracting a substantial payment of cash and ration coupons from her family. She also reclaims a black jade pendant that belonged to her mother, which upgrades her mall's capabilities to include weapons and medical pods.
Su Ci travels to Seagull Island, enduring a filthy train ride where she uses her knowledge of social dynamics and a fake tuberculosis diagnosis to isolate herself from hostile passengers and secure her comfort. During the journey, she encounters and defeats a group of thugs using a high-voltage stun baton from her space, seizing their stolen money and coupons to fund her settlement. Upon arriving at the island, she faces a hostile reception from Lu Ye's three younger siblings, who have earned a reputation as unruly orphans. The eldest, Lu Xiangbei, attempts to humiliate her by throwing slop on her, but Su Ci remains unfazed. She asserts her authority by cleaning their dilapidated home, cooking a meal of braised pork that captivates the starving children, and establishing a system of rewards and chores. By leveraging food and modern comforts like chocolate, she begins to tame the siblings, transforming the hostile environment into a household under her control as she awaits the return of her husband, Commander Lu Ye.
