Rising from the Ashes: The Legend of Xu Mo

Xu MOMO, a burned-out office worker, opens her eyes and finds herself Xu Mo in the 1980s. The good news: she's back in an era where gold is everywhere, and the bold get rich while the timid go hungry. The bad news: her family is notorious for being poor. Her younger siblings are crying to be fed, her parents are going gray with worry, and their pockets are emptier than empty.

Looking at the family's only valuable heirloom, a beat-up Phoenix-brand bicycle, Xu Mo grits her teeth and decides to start a business! No capital? Then she'll start with a business that costs nothing!

In the blazing summer heat, while everyone else is waiting for the factory to hand out popsicle coupons, Xu Mo is already making her first pile of money selling homemade mung bean slushies and brown sugar ice water outside schools and factories.

Her family is stunned. “Mo, where did you get the nerve to get into this ‘speculation and profiteering’ business?”

The neighbors are green with envy. “That Xu girl has dollar signs in her eyes. She'll come to a bad end sooner or later!”

Faced with their doubts, Xu Mo just smiles and counts her small bills.

Selling popsicles, setting up a street stall, opening a restaurant, wholesaling clothes... With her business instincts well ahead of her time, Xu Mo steadily grows her little ventures until she's the first person in the area to have ten thousand yuan.

The matchmaker who once advised her to settle down and get married now practically wears a path to her door.

The neighbors who once laughed at her wild ideas now line up to learn from her.

Even the quiet demobilized soldier next door, who always silently helps her fix her bike, has started looking at her differently.

One day, he corners her by the wall, the tips of his ears bright red. “I... I'll give you every bit of my pay. Could you... stop smiling so sweetly at other people?”

Xu Mo: “?”

Oh no! She was so busy making money that she forgot to find a boyfriend!

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