The 1970s: From the Start, I’m an Undocumented Nobody, but I Make a Fortune on the Green Train

In the winter of 1978, after eight years sent to the countryside, Lin Xiaoman returned to the city covered in chilblains and with a fierce streak, only to find herself a “blacklisted nobody” with no registered status, unable to buy even cornmeal and liable to be sent back at any moment. To buy lifesaving medicine for her father, she set her sights on “speculation and profiteering,” a crime that could get her shot!

No capital and no connections? No problem! Her head held “big data” on prices across the country, pieced together by the sent-down youth network. And she had a hold over the cold-faced chief dispatcher who controlled the lifeline of railway freight, known as “Zhou Yama.” From reselling pine nuts from the forest region to heading south to trade in electronic watches, she made a fortune using empty freight cars on the old green trains.

As she raked in money day after day, the black-market kingpins grew jealous, and the city authorities raised their red armbands. At her most desperate, Zhou Yansheng yanked her into the dispatch room and pinned her to the wall, gritting his teeth. “Lin Xiaoman, if you want to stay alive, you’d better marry me!”