Zhao Chongjian, a lecturer at the Hanlin Academy in the Northern Song, woke from a startling dream to find himself in the body of He Xiaowen, a high school girl struggling just above the poverty line in the twenty-first century. Her knowledge of the classics, history, and antiques remained intact, but she was trapped in a frail female body and a life of utter poverty. Her grandmother was critically ill, and the medical bills loomed like a mountain.
To save her only family, Zhao Chongjian (He Xiaowen) has no choice but to survive in a modern world where she doesn’t belong. Starting with copying work, she struggles to make ends meet with her remarkable calligraphy and painting skills, gradually revealing a talent for appraising treasures in secondhand markets and tea-house circles. A lucky find of a Song-dynasty Cizhou kiln masterpiece becomes the spark that ignites a crisis.
On one side are the integrity and principles of a scholar-official from her past life; on the other, the lonely courage of a poor girl determined to protect her family in this one. Zhao Chongjian treads carefully amid crisis after crisis. Selling the Cizhou ware at auction to get the money to save her grandmother is a perilous gamble; Boss Pan’s malicious revenge presses in from all sides; the fight for a recommended university spot is full of hidden attacks; and Lu Haifeng’s perceptive gaze hangs over her like a sword.
She can only wield the wisdom she has carried across a thousand years as a blade, standing at the heart of storms involving school rivalries, dangerous underworld dealings, and an identity crisis. She must protect her family and hold fast to her conscience, carving out a path to survival in this unfamiliar modern world for a Northern Song soul adrift across time. A comeback story about devotion, choices, and dignity has begun.
