Lin Yue was an ordinary girl born into an ordinary family, the second of three children. Her path through life was marked by both setbacks and triumphs. In middle school, she worked hard and earned excellent grades, becoming the pride of the neighborhood, and went on to the best high school. But the confusion of adolescence and outside temptations drew her into a whirl of internet cafés and romance novels. Her studies fell by the wayside, and she ended up at an ordinary second-tier university. In college, she spent her days eating, drinking, and having fun with her party-loving roommates. Four years flew by, and she had little to show for it in either her studies or her love life.
The pressure of her senior year jolted Lin Yue into action. She shut herself away to study and passed the civil service exam. After starting work, she got braces and underwent surgery to correct her nearsightedness, transforming herself in the process. She also met her first love, Chen Yu, but his lack of ambition led to arguments and emotional exhaustion, and their relationship soon ended. Meanwhile, her older sister married into a wealthy family, and her successful brother-in-law took care of them all. Lin Yue was envious but also relieved, and sometimes thought about choosing to lie flat.
But a mysterious phone call shattered the peace. She learned that someone had sabotaged her chances in the college entrance exams. As she pursued the truth and weathered difficulties at work and upheaval at home, Lin Yue fought back. She rose through the ranks to become a key figure at work, found love with the architect Shen Hao, and helped her sister through a crisis. Her career continued to soar. She made a splash with international projects, and after becoming famous, she gave back to society, only to be smeared. She set the record straight head-on. Looking back in old age, she had grown from a confused young woman into an industry leader and philanthropist, with a happy family and children and grandchildren aplenty. Her life was a story of breaking free from her cocoon and becoming a butterfly.
