Xia Man transmigrates into the body of a high school student in the 1960s. The original owner was young and full of passion, and had already answered the call to go work in the countryside at the urging of her stepmother, giving up her own mother's job to her frail stepsister. Less than half a year after going to the countryside, she collapsed in the fields.
After waking up, Xia Man looks at her competitive System and wants to cry. She's just a lazy fish who chose to lie flat after life beat her down again and again.
But the System says that as long as she outcompetes other people, she can unlock all kinds of bonus buffs.
Might as well give it a try?
Once she does, she can't stop.
She becomes the best cook at the educated youth settlement and unlocks a deliciousness buff. Even the plainest sweet potato porridge turns out wonderfully sweet, rivaling the cooking of a top chef at a state-run restaurant.
She beats the old ladies at weeding and unlocks the Divine Farmer's Plant Identification buff. This weed is edible, that one is poisonous, and this one treats pig diarrhea.
She goes up the mountain to pick mushrooms and builds up a good-luck buff. What's that? Shiitake mushrooms, king oyster mushrooms, porcini, wood ear mushrooms, chestnuts... and even a silly rabbit that ran into a tree!
While harvesting rice in autumn, she triggers a photosynthesis buff, gaining unlimited energy as long as there's sunshine. She also triggers a more-work-more-reward buff, doubling the grain harvest.
Congratulations, Host! You've outcompeted the entire brigade and earned the Model Worker achievement, triggering the wish-fulfillment buff!
Three years of drought will kill people? I'll declare that the rice will head tomorrow and it'll rain!
At first, Xia Man only wants to make her life in the countryside a little easier, halfheartedly completing her tasks. Then she wants to help the simple, honest villagers get through those three years. Finally, she sets herself a small goal: making sure everyone has enough to eat.
*
The year the college entrance exams are reinstated, Xia Man is nearly forty and makes a rare trip back to the city.
The twins her stepmother gave birth to are dressed in fine clothes, and the neighbors congratulate them on getting into university.
The stepsibling who took her job is now the deputy director of a textile mill.
Her father feels a little guilty, but mostly looks down on her.
Everyone says regretfully that a stepmother means a stepfather, too. What a shame. From now on, she and they will be worlds apart.
The next day, a military-issue jeep stops at the compound, and an armed guard escorts Xia Man into the vehicle.
Only when they see the achievements gradually announced in the newspapers do they realize that Xia Man had long since reached heights they could never attain.
Theme: Labor is glorious.
