Back in 1976, in the forests of Northeast China, Chen Xiangdong finds himself in hellish circumstances from the start.
His mother is gravely ill and coughing blood, his four younger sisters are crying with hunger, and the production-team leader is blocking the door, cursing him as a good-for-nothing who refuses to work!
At the end of his rope, Chen Xiangdong binds to the "Ancient Earth Ecology Livestream System," designed for people two thousand years in the future.
He shoulders an old-fashioned shotgun and heads into the forests of Changbai Mountain, casually shooting a roe deer and roasting it over a fire.
The future humans in the livestream, who drink synthetic nutrient liquids for every meal, go completely wild!
"Oh my god! That's the meat of a pure wild roe deer, extinct for a thousand years? Don't eat it, streamer! I'll trade ten gold bars for a sip of the broth!"
"The thing you're using to prop up the table is a wild century-old ginseng root? Please put it away right now!"
"Sending one bottle of gene-repair medicine as a tip! Please catch another Chinese giant salamander and show it to us!"
Chen Xiangdong stares at the comments, completely baffled. Aren't these things all over the hills behind my house?
He uses the livestream viewers' tips to cure his mother, then trades for a thermal imaging device and a compound bow from the future, going on a wild spree in the forest!
While other people have a one-in-nine chance of surviving a trip into the mountains, for him it's like strolling through his own backyard.
He hunts black bears, raids sable dens, and battles Siberian tigers!
While everyone in the village is still gnawing on frozen corn cakes and several family members share one pair of padded trousers,
Chen Xiangdong's family already eats fine-grain rice and stewed game at every meal. A Phoenix 28 bicycle is parked in the courtyard, and the sewing machine runs until it smokes!
The county-town girl who broke off their engagement because he was poor now cries and begs to get back together.
Chen Xiangdong puts an arm around his newlywed, pretty, educated youth bride and blows out a ring of smoke. "Comrade, please mind your manners. I already have a partner."
