Lan Ling, a geology graduate student, dies after being struck by a falling rock during a mountain survey. She awakens in 1970, transmigrated into the body of a fifteen-year-old girl with the same name in a poor farming family in Pingyang County. The original owner died from choking on a chicken bone, an accident that occurred because the family rarely ate meat. Lan Ling inherits a large, multi-generational household of fifteen people living in four old houses. Despite the era’s severe resource shortages and the family’s poverty, she is doted on by her parents and siblings. She discovers she possesses the original owner’s superhuman strength and a voracious appetite.
Shortly after waking, Lan Ling finds her modern iPhone has traveled with her. The device connects to her best friend, Yu Feifei, in the present day through a special chat application. The phone grants Lan Ling access to an infinite storage space that freezes time, allowing her to preserve items indefinitely. Additionally, the app allows her to send and receive physical goods through virtual red envelopes, limited to three transfers per day. Yu Feifei, an aspiring actress struggling financially, becomes Lan Ling’s lifeline, sending her food, clothing, and other necessities from the modern era. In return, Lan Ling sends back valuable collectibles, including a rare 1970s banknote that Yu Feifei sells for nearly two hundred thousand yuan.
Recognizing the extreme scarcity of the 1970s, Lan Ling begins trading modern goods for cash and ration tickets. She travels to the county town, selling high-quality rice and peanut oil to local residents who are desperate for better food. She quickly accumulates a significant amount of money and valuable tickets, which she hides in her storage space. With her family’s immediate survival secured, she plans her long-term future. Determined to gain independence and avoid the chaotic political environment, she decides to become a truck driver, a profession that offers high pay, social status, and the opportunity to travel.
Lan Ling studies car repair manuals sent by Yu Feifei and practices her driving skills. She disguises herself as a man using makeup and props to navigate the black market, where she sells more goods and acquires gold jewelry. Her ultimate goal is to secure a position at the county logistics station. When a truck breaks down at the station, Lan Ling intervenes, diagnosing and fixing the fuel line issue in front of the deputy station manager, Wei Chuanrong. She then demonstrates her exceptional driving skills by maneuvering the large truck with ease, impressing the staff and management.
Impressed by her technical knowledge and physical strength, Wei Chuanrong hires Lan Ling as a driver despite her gender and youth. She is assigned to short-distance routes initially, with the promise of getting her own truck once she proves herself. Lan Ling moves into a dormitory at the logistics station and begins her new career. She continues to support her family secretly, providing them with food and money while building her own life. Her actions also extend to helping persecuted intellectuals in the village, whom she aids anonymously out of a sense of conscience. The story follows her navigation of this difficult era, balancing her modern knowledge with the constraints of the past while building a secure future for herself and her loved ones.
