Spring Returns in Late Autumn

Lin Wanqiu opens her eyes to find herself a young widow in the countryside in 1977. The original owner was tormented to death by her in-laws.

Looking at the ramshackle house, the brawny man, and her spiteful mother-in-law, she sneers. “I was a corporate CEO in my last life. You think I can’t handle you?”

That night, she kicks over the basin of foot-washing water and turns around to report her in-laws for hoarding grain.

Then she slips into the county town’s black market with her secret savings and makes her first fortune selling hair ornaments.

When news comes that the college entrance exams are being reinstated, her mother-in-law tears up her study materials. “You can’t even give birth to a son, and now you think you can go to college?”

She packs her things and moves straight into the county middle school. On the day the exam results are announced, the provincial top scorer’s name shines across the whole commune.

Her husband, an officer returning from the army, holds her suitcase in place. “Military marriages can’t be dissolved.”

She flashes a passbook with ten thousand yuan in it. “I’ll pay double the penalty.”

But he pulls out an admission letter from Tsinghua University. “What a coincidence. I got in too.”

Later, Lin Wanqiu’s fashion brand makes the New York Times.

In a television interview, the stern officer straightens her medal. “My wife taught me that true glory isn’t found on the battlefield, but in every arena where we create value.”