Chapter 10: The Original Plot—Summary and Irrelevance to Me

"Fourteen years old?!"
"Graduated from high school? You must be joking!"
The one doubting her age was Qi Zhijun, and the one questioning her education was Liu Yan.
Noticing her voice had gotten rather sharp, Liu Yan quickly smiled and explained, "Little sister, I’m not doubting you—but at fourteen, it's impossible to have finished high school."
Qi Zhijun, on the other hand, looked at her thin frame and short stature, and believed she was indeed just fourteen.
He just couldn’t understand how her parents could bear to send someone so young to the countryside.
The only one who stayed silent was Fang Rou. She studied the girl across from her, searching her memory carefully, but found nothing familiar.
Convinced that anyone she couldn’t remember must not be important, she soon averted her gaze and fell into thought, staring out the window.
Ming Dai rolled her eyes in secret, then said seriously, “I really am fourteen. I started school early and skipped two grades.”
Seeing Qi Zhijun’s interest in Ming Dai steadily growing, Liu Yan hastily changed the subject to distract him.
Ming Dai, meanwhile, continued to stare at the table in a daze—her mind racing through the plot of a novel.
Fang Rou, too, was lost in thought as images from her past flashed before her eyes.
The Fang family was also a military and political clan, but unlike other families of merit, none among the younger generation could truly carry on the family’s legacy. Now, all the family’s glory depended on the reputation of Old Master Fang, who had already retired.
In her previous life, she hadn’t seen the situation clearly. She idled her days away in the capital, and eventually married Qi Zhijun, who lived in the same compound.
Unfortunately, the Qi family faced the same predicament as the Fang family—none of the children or grandchildren lived up to expectations.
She herself was sent down to the countryside two years after others, by which time the Fang family had fallen from grace, Old Master Fang had passed, and the family was about to move out of the compound.
Everyone in the compound had laughed at them, including the Qi family, who had just arranged her engagement.
Her would-be mother-in-law even wanted to call off the engagement, hoping Qi Zhijun would marry someone else.
But she hadn’t realized the depth of Qi Zhijun’s obsession. He was willing to leave his family just to marry her.
Soon after, the Qi family also collapsed and, like the Fang family, left the compound in disgrace.
After that, they went to the countryside.
One day, she accidentally fell into the water and was rescued by Luo Cheng, a veteran in the village.
Soaked and carried back to the village in his arms, Luo Cheng wanted to take responsibility and marry her.
But at the time, she looked down on country folk and refused no matter what.
Just then, Qi Zhijun expressed his willingness to fulfill their engagement, and the two married hastily in the countryside.
Only after marriage did she realize the shortcomings of a pampered young master like Qi Zhijun—he loved to play, was spoiled by his family, did little work for scant labor points, and often went to town to idle away his days.
He had support from home, but her own family could no longer help her—her father’s reckless ways had ruined them. She was left to work for labor points in the countryside by herself.
Spoiled since childhood, she wasn’t cut out for such toil.
At first, Qi Zhijun helped her, but the hard labor soon scared him off. He did only the bare minimum, never lent her a hand, and still expected her to cook, wash, and keep house.
Fang Rou could hardly understand how she endured those days.

Fortunately, later on, she discovered someone was secretly helping her with the work. After careful observation, she realized it was Luo Cheng.
He was truly considerate—coming and going quietly, never giving rise to gossip.
Sadly, he later married a supposedly virtuous girl from the neighboring village, though not nearly as pretty as Fang Rou.
Then came the restoration of the college entrance exam; she and Qi Zhijun began preparing.
But as the exam approached, she became pregnant. The morning sickness threw her exam performance off completely.
She didn’t pass, but Qi Zhijun did.
Thus, Qi Zhijun returned to the city, while she stayed in the countryside, raising their child and preparing for her second chance at the exam.
Qi Zhijun started sending her money, but it was barely enough for basic living, let alone nutrition.
In the end, she gave birth to a frail daughter.
After entrusting her daughter to a kind aunt in the village, she threw herself into her studies and finally passed the second exam.
But her neglect had terrible consequences—her daughter was left with brain damage from a high fever.
When she brought her child back, the Qi family naturally wouldn’t accept them, and the couple’s relationship fell apart.
Soon after, Qi Zhijun cheated on her, and they divorced.
She raised her daughter alone while attending school, often exhausted to the point of wishing she could live her life over.
If she had another chance, she’d never choose Qi Zhijun—she’d marry Luo Cheng!
Some time ago, she’d seen Luo Cheng on the street—transformed, dressed in a fine suit, carrying a mobile phone, rumored to have made a fortune in business.
The woman at his side was his wife, dressed in the latest fashions, holding the hand of a sturdy little boy.
That was the life she wanted, the man she should have married.
Heaven had mercy—she really had returned to her eighteen-year-old self. This time, she volunteered to go to the countryside, taking with her a stash of family valuables before the Fang family collapsed.
They would have been lost to her gambler father anyway; better to bring them herself and give them to Luo Cheng to start a business.
The more she thought about it, the more eager she was to meet Luo Cheng.
Meanwhile, Ming Dai was reviewing the story of this “rebirth”—her current life.
The novel, "The Pampered Sweetheart of the Seventies," told of Fang Rou’s second chance, her awakening, and her resolve to go to the countryside and marry Luo Cheng.
He made money on the black market while she prepared for her exams; in the end, he achieved career success and she was admitted to Beijing University, and together they had twins.
It was a sweet, honeyed tale—but had nothing to do with Ming Dai.
Even the two others she’d met today were intriguing: with Fang Rou’s encouragement, Liu Yan really did marry Qi Zhijun.
But Qi’s mother looked down on Liu Yan for her lack of both family background and looks.
The battles between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law were endless, Qi Zhijun was caught in the middle and soon cheated.
Unlike Fang Rou, Liu Yan didn’t have the courage to divorce. She stayed in the Qi family with her daughter, fighting and bickering all their lives.
Qi Zhijun’s career went nowhere due to his family and personal issues; the Qi family eventually collapsed completely.
After reading, Ming Dai concluded:
The heroine is here to marry, which has nothing to do with me;

The second male lead is here to chase the heroine and meet his future wife by chance, which has nothing to do with me;
The supporting girl is here to land a rich husband, and since I don’t talk to rich men, it has nothing to do with me.
In summary: Nothing to do with me—perfect!
Having reached this conclusion, Ming Dai let out a sigh of relief. Seeing it was almost time, she lazily took out her lunch from her backpack.
Fang Rou and Qi Zhijun followed suit, while only Liu Yan didn’t move.
Ming Dai would never wrong herself; she unwrapped a flatbread she’d prepared in advance, filled with spicy stir-fried small fish and crispy strips—delicious even cold.
Fang Rou and Qi Zhijun shared their meal of bread and ham, a very Western-style lunch that made Liu Yan envious.
But none of them offered to share.
With no other choice, Liu Yan pulled out a coarse black bun from her bag and gnawed on it.
She didn’t have much food, and with a long journey ahead, she could only eat one per meal.
Watching the other three, her feelings were mixed.
She understood why Fang Rou and Qi Zhijun could eat well, but why could Ming Dai as well?
Thinking this, she casually said, “When we go home to visit, maybe we can get together in the city. We’re all from the east side, right?”
Ming Dai raised an eyebrow—looking for trouble?
Qi Zhijun nodded, “Xiao Rou and I are, both living in the military compound.”
Liu Yan’s eyes lit up immediately.
Then, as if remembering something, she covered her mouth in embarrassment: “Oh, I forgot—Ming Dai’s family isn’t from the east side, but the west side.”
All three gazes turned to Ming Dai, who was devouring her flatbread.
Qi Zhijun’s eyes held a hint of sympathy. At that time, to live in the east city, your family had to be in the military or government, or at least have official worker status. The west side was mostly for temporary workers or those who got reassigned, so it was more chaotic with distant relatives crowding in.
Fang Rou didn’t care, just happened to glance her way;
Liu Yan’s eyes shone with undisguised glee.
Ming Dai wiped her greasy mouth and answered, “Yeah. So what, do you have a problem with that?”
All three shook their heads. Ming Dai sneered.
Then she went back to wrestling with her thick flatbread.
Liu Yan’s cheeks burned from the retort. Her own family only had her father as an official worker; the rest were temporary, though they happened to live in the east.
Qi Zhijun thought Ming Dai was too blunt, not at all like other gentle girls.
Fang Rou: If I don’t remember her, she must not be important.