Transmigrated to the 1980s: The Fake Daughter is Pampered by a Handsome Military Officer

Jiang Peiyu, a twenty-nine-year-old unemployed homebody with a penchant for reading explicit online fiction, dies from a concussion after staying up late reading. She transmigrates into the body of a girl with the same name in 1980s China, who had just died from a head injury sustained during a physical altercation. The original host was the fake heiress of the wealthy Xia family, having been switched at birth with the real daughter, Xia Lizhu, in a chaotic hospital setting during the 1960s. For twenty-two years, Jiang Peiyu lived as a pampered city girl, but upon the return of her biological family, she was cast out as an imposter. The original Jiang Peiyu, unable to cope with the betrayal and framing by Xia Lizhu, died after being pushed down the stairs. Upon waking in the hospital, Jiang Peiyu overhears her adoptive parents discussing their relief that their biological daughter has returned and their plan to discard her. Realizing she is in a classic switched-at-birth scenario, she quickly assesses her situation and decides to secure her financial future before leaving the Xia household.

Jiang Peiyu confronts her adoptive mother, Chen Hui, demanding two thousand yuan as compensation for the twenty-two years she was raised by the family, threatening to involve the police if the amount is not met. Chen Hui, furious but ultimately yielding to avoid scandal, provides the money. Jiang Peiyu then systematically loots the Xia household, taking clothes, jewelry, ration coupons, and secretly stealing Chen Hui’s hidden stash of over two thousand yuan, which Chen Hui cannot report due to her own secret financial dealings with her natal family. Before departing, she encounters Wang Shengjie, the original host’s fiancé and a manipulative scumbag who had been using her money. Jiang Peiyu forces him to repay the six hundred seventy-five yuan he stole over the years, accompanied by her biological second brother, Jiang Yanwen, who punches Wang Shengjie into submission. She also strips the Xia kitchen of rice, flour, eggs, and lard, leaving nothing for Xia Lizhu.

Returning to her rural biological family in Qianjin Village, Jiang Peiyu is welcomed by her parents, Jiang Fugui and Li Shuzhen, and her siblings. The family is modest but loving, a stark contrast to the cold Xia household. However, complications arise regarding an existing engagement. Xia Lizhu had previously stolen the bride price and family savings before fleeing to the city, leaving the Jiang family indebted to the Lu family. The Lu family, desperate to maintain the engagement for their son, Regiment Commander Lu Huaijin, proposes that Jiang Peiyu take Xia Lizhu’s place. Jiang Peiyu refuses, but her father is pressured by tradition and neighborly relations. Jiang Peiyu devises a plan to recover the stolen money from the Xia family. She travels to the city with Jiang Yanwen and stages a dramatic public scene at the Xia residence, accusing Xia Lizhu of theft in front of neighbors and factory colleagues. The public pressure forces Xia Zhihao to return the one thousand one hundred yuan. With the debt settled, Jiang Fugui attempts to cancel the engagement with the Lu family.

At the Lu household, Wang Juying, Lu Huaijin’s mother, shows Jiang Peiyu a photograph of her son. Struck by his handsome appearance and military status, Jiang Peiyu impulsively decides to postpone the cancellation, hoping to marry into the Lu family. Wang Juying, pleased with the prospect of a beautiful and educated daughter-in-law, agrees to wait for her son’s return. Meanwhile, Xia Lizhu, now engaged to Wang Shengjie, spots Jiang Peiyu selling melons in the city and harbors deep resentment, vowing revenge for stealing her former life. Jiang Peiyu, utilizing her modern business acumen, successfully sells melons in the city, generating significant income for her family. She plans to expand their agricultural business, aiming to improve her family’s economic status while navigating the complex social dynamics of the 1980s countryside and her impending marriage to a man she has only seen in a photograph.