Zhou Jianning is reborn, back in the winter of 1975 that changed her fate.
The good news: she has her own “golden finger.” The more problems she solves, the stronger she gets.
The bad news: her awful cousin is taking advantage of the chaos to steal the engagement letter her grandfather left her, planning to impersonate her and claim the marriage with an army officer.
In her previous life, she made a huge fuss trying to get the letter back. She was beaten half to death, the letter was still stolen, and she ultimately died at the hands of her abusive husband.
This time, Zhou Jianning calmly watches the show while chewing on a hard, dry bran bun:
“Cousin, you seem to have missed the ‘half a photograph’ and the ‘password’ in the letter. Grandpa Zhao hates frauds more than anything. If you go claim that marriage, you’ll be walking straight into a trap.”
All she says aloud is, “Fine. Since you’re so eager to be a ‘fraud’... I mean, an army officer’s wife, I wish you a safe journey.”
And then everything takes a sudden turn:
Her cousin can’t produce the token or give the password, so the Zhao family has her hauled off to the security office as a con artist. She slinks back to the village, becoming a laughingstock across the commune. Grandma calls Zhou Jianning lazy, but Zhou shuts her up by showing her the commendation from the brigade headquarters.
As Zhou Jianning organizes her handwritten notebook of mistakes by the kerosene lamp beside the pigsty, she grumbles to herself:
“These awful relatives are so much trouble. I have to teach them how to behave myself.”
“What? You think girls don’t need an education? Sorry, but the country needs girls like me, who can build missiles and calculate trajectories.”
Years later, Zhou Jianning, now a leading figure in defense technology, gives an interview.
Reporter: “Chief Engineer Zhou, what’s the secret to your success?”
Zhou Jianning smiles. “Maybe... I died so horribly in my previous life that I don’t dare slack off in this one.”
