[Set in the 1980s + everyday life + striving and personal growth + the groveling begins + military marriage + eight-year age gap]
No transmigration golden finger. The heroine grows stronger over time.
Romance: A resilient young woman × a “much older,” aloof military officer
When a stepmother comes along, so does a stepfather. Yao Shuning is treated like a cash cow from childhood by her cruel stepmother and stepsister. Her stepmother even nearly marries her off to a fool for the bride price, so her stepsister can buy a Walkman. Yao Shuning refuses to take it lying down: she turns the tables and lets her stepsister suffer the consequences, finally escaping her parasitic family.
She heads south to stay with her cousin and, by chance, takes a job as a live-in helper for a retired senior official.
The official’s grandson, Huo Zheng, mistakenly assumes she’s an ambitious gold-digger trying to marry into money. Yao Shuning doesn’t care. She’s only interested in making money and getting ahead.
Later, Huo Zheng realizes he had the wrong person: his real lifesaver has been right in front of him all along. Overjoyed, he realizes he’s already fallen for the brave, determined young woman before him.
But Yao Shuning turns him down. “Hmph, you can’t even recognize people. And, Uncle Huo, I need to make money. I don’t have time to date you.”
Later, Yao Shuning builds a business with a nationwide reach, gets into a top university, and becomes a diplomatic translator after graduation. Huo Zheng pleads humbly, “Ningning, can you consider me now?”
