Transmigration: Three Years of Drought, and I Wake Up in an Age of Famine

Ye Qing, a woman who endured a lifetime of abandonment and exploitation in her previous existence, is struck by lightning and transmigrates into the body of a fourteen-year-old girl with the same name in a drought-stricken village. The original Ye Qing suffered years of abuse from her stepmother, Wang Guihua, and neglect from her cowardly father. During a severe three-year drought, the village evacuates to escape starvation, but Wang Guihua deliberately leaves Ye Qing behind in a dark firewood shed to die, having stolen the secret stash of food and water her father had hidden for her. Left to perish in the scorching heat, Ye Qing wakes to find herself in this new body and immediately faces the brutal reality of her situation.

Refusing to accept death, Ye Qing draws upon her past life’s survival instincts and modern knowledge to fight for her life. She discovers a nearly empty water jar, retrieves a rusty cleaver, and ventures into the dried riverbed. Using her understanding of hydrology and filtration, she constructs a makeshift water collector from sand, cloth, and dried grass, successfully purifying muddy water. She forages for wild chestnuts and tubers, grinding them into a paste to stave off starvation. Her resourcefulness allows her to recover her strength while she plans her next move, knowing she cannot remain in the empty village indefinitely.

Ye Qing explores the abandoned homes, finding supplies in the house of Old Man Chen, a reclusive neighbor who has since died alone. She gathers tools, medicine, clothing, and a bow and arrows, preparing for the journey ahead. She disguises herself as a boy by cutting her hair and altering her clothes to avoid attention. After recovering from her injuries using herbal remedies, she leaves Liuye Village, heading east toward Anning Prefecture. Her journey is perilous; she encounters a wounded refugee named Wang Dazhu who attempts to rob her. In a life-or-death struggle, Ye Qing kills him with a machete, marking her first kill and forcing her to confront the harsh moral landscape of this famine era.

While fleeing, Ye Qing is pursued by bandits led by a man called Scarhead, who are hunting for a valuable token she inadvertently acquired from Wang Dazhu’s belongings. During the chase, Ye Qing discovers she possesses a dimensional storage space, a supernatural ability that allows her to store and retrieve objects at will. This discovery changes the course of her survival, as she can now carry ample water and food without being burdened by physical weight. She uses this advantage to outmaneuver her pursuers, killing Scarhead and his subordinate, and hides their bodies in her space to eliminate evidence.

With her new ability, Ye Qing continues her journey through the desolate mountains. She learns to hunt, killing a badger for meat and fat, and establishes a temporary camp near a hidden water source. She processes the meat into jerky and stores it in her space, ensuring she has a sustainable food supply. As she grows stronger and more skilled in survival techniques, she prepares to join a merchant caravan or traveling group to reach the safer regions near the Liyang River. Her story is one of resilience, as she transforms from a victim of abuse into a capable survivor navigating a world where life is cheap and every day is a fight against nature and humanity.