The Family Compound in the 1980s

Blurb

Yun Nian had finally managed to secure a stable job, but then a car accident sent her straight back to the 1980s.

It's 1980. The spring winds of reform are sweeping the land, and the plot has just reached this point:

First, her dad gets promoted! He's now the head of security at a major state-owned factory!

Second, her mom is quitting as the head of the women's federation to go into business, and plans to have Yun Nian take over her position.

She has a secure job lined up from the get-go, and might even become a rich second-generation heiress. Yun Nian is just about to marvel at her luck after transmigrating when a matchmaker suddenly shows up and says the groom's family insists she marry first. As for work, they'll find her something even better after the wedding.

Get married?!

Oh, right. She'd almost forgotten: the original owner had agreed to marry the villain in the book, and the wedding was set for the end of this month.

Just then, Yun Nian's mother comes home with earth-shattering news: Fu Muxing is back!!!

The youngest director since the research institute was founded, Fu Muxing is the man Yun Nian was betrothed to as a child. They've never met, and she'd heard nothing from him for years. Handsome and bright, he's got a brilliant future ahead of him.

Rumor has it that Director Fu applied to return this time so he could fulfill their engagement.

Yun Nian: “!!!”

The book never said she was this popular!

Little scene~~

At the residential compound, young officer Yun Nian diligently goes door to door to spread the word: Have fewer children and plant more trees, raise your quality of life, follow family planning for a brighter future!

Fu Muxing has just opened the door when she's already stuffed a handful of family-planning supplies into his hands: “…”

Is this really an appropriate thing for his childhood betrothed to give him first thing in the morning?

[Reading guide]

1. Everyday-life story, slow burn, mostly lighthearted, with little scheming.

2. Ensemble cast. The leads aren't perfect, and side characters get their moments too.

3. The male lead is mostly a background character.

4. Fictional setting. Don't scrutinize the history.

Xia Jiaojiao transmigrates to the 1970s, and the story opens with someone plotting to marry her off to the village bully. With nowhere else to turn, she can only honor her late grandfather's last wish and travel a thousand li to seek out her fiancé's family at their residential compound.

She doesn't know her fiancé's name or what he looks like. All she knows is that his surname is Shen and that he's said to be a fine young man.

So when the handsome man before her asks if she's from Lixian County, Xia Jiaojiao, with nowhere else to go, obediently nods and throws caution to the wind. “Yes. I've come to marry you!”

*

Shen Xu is the youngest regiment commander at the garrison. His mother died when he was young, and he's reserved by nature. With no interest in romance, he's somehow ended up a bachelor well into adulthood.

One day, his family asks him to meet a distant relative at the crowded train station. A young woman with bright, smiling eyes blushes and tells him she's come to marry him.

In his twenty-six years, Shen Xu has never known he'd been promised to anyone as a child.

He only finds out the girl has mistaken him for someone else when his stepmother brings him the altered marriage contract and begs him to marry her in his younger brother's place.

And Shen Xu, always the very picture of a gentleman, becomes a scoundrel for the first time in his life.

*

Shen Yu has always hated arranged marriages. When his elders insist he marry his childhood betrothed from the countryside, who is supposedly dark, fat, vulgar, and covered in pockmarks, he panics. He doesn't even have time to look at her photo before applying for an assignment out of town and fleeing overnight.

He plans to stay away for a year or two. But not long after he leaves, news arrives that his older brother is getting married.

The proud, aloof man who's never cared for romance has finally fallen in love, and Shen Yu decides to go home and see for himself.

He opens the door to find a beautiful, fair-skinned young woman in his older brother's shirt. Shen Xu walks out of the room, wraps an arm around her slender waist, and introduces her: “This is your sister-in-law, Xia Jiaojiao.”

Shen Yu: “…”

Xia Jiaojiao??!!

Isn't she his childhood betrothed?

Theme: Anything is possible