Lin Qianyi lay on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.
A lone light bulb hung from the bare ceiling, with twisted electrical wires snaking around it like braided rope.
She had already inspected the room several times from top to bottom.
A bulky wardrobe that looked decades old, a table with four thin legs, an outdated sofa, and an old-fashioned calendar hanging on the wall.
There wasn’t a single household appliance in sight. Everything about the place told her one thing:
This was not her era.
The first thing she had done was find a small mirror. Though the reflection was blurry, she could clearly see that the girl in it looked exactly like her.
The only differences were that this girl’s skin wasn’t as smooth as hers, and the two long braids looked terribly old-fashioned. She had always worn her hair in glamorous long waves.
What was going on?
Wasn’t she supposed to be skiing abroad?
That’s right—skiing. She had been having the time of her life when disaster struck: an avalanche.
She had gone overseas to ski on a mountain for the thrill of it. There were world-class ski resorts back home, but no—she just had to go abroad.
See what happened? Avalanche.
And when she woke up, she found herself in this shabby little apartment.
Had she actually become one of those people who transmigrate through time?
Judging by her surroundings, things didn’t look promising.
Having grown up pampered and privileged, Lin Qianyi felt her scalp tingle with anxiety. Could someone who was used to a life of luxury really survive under these conditions?
Just thinking about it gave her a headache.
And then, suddenly, her head really did begin to throb.
She pressed a hand to her forehead in pain.
Fragments of memories that didn’t belong to her slowly flooded into her mind. Like scenes from a movie, they played one after another until she had absorbed them all.
The original owner of this body was also named Lin Qianyi.
She was twenty years old.
Her parents had been senior engineers at the county machinery factory. Three years earlier, they had both died in an accident while trying to protect state property.
At the time, the original Lin Qianyi had still been in high school.
To take care of her after her parents’ deaths, the machinery factory arranged for her to work there as soon as she graduated.
She was beautiful, and while her parents had been alive, no one had dared openly pursue her because of their status.
After their deaths, many people began to eye her, but she managed to fend them off by saying she was observing a three-year mourning period for her parents.
Since she worked at the factory, that excuse had been enough.
But now the three years were over.
As an orphan with no relatives nearby, a high school education, a secure factory job, and a large compensation payment from her parents’ deaths, she was considered quite a catch.
The factory had deliberately kept the amount of the compensation confidential for her protection.
Even so, everyone knew she was a highly desirable marriage prospect.
Naturally, there was no shortage of matchmakers.
The original Lin Qianyi was quiet and reserved. Many people took advantage of the fact that she had no parents to protect her and behaved aggressively toward her.
Fortunately, because everyone worked at the same factory, she had been able to cope despite the constant harassment.
But then things took a turn for the worse.
Not long ago, Ma Zhenqiang—the son of a local committee director—caught sight of her at the machinery factory and was instantly captivated.
After his proposal was rejected, he began showing signs that he intended to force her into marriage.
Ma Zhenqiang’s reputation was notorious.
He and his father were both feared and hated throughout the county, known for committing all kinds of evil.
No one knew how many young women he had ruined, including countless educated youths sent down from the cities.
The original Lin Qianyi had been terrified.
Alone at home, she became more frightened the more she thought about it. Eventually, she developed a severe fever.
And when she woke up, she was no longer herself.
Lin Qianyi felt so frustrated she wanted to bang her head against a wall.
None of this had been the original owner’s fault, but she really didn’t want to inherit such a mess.
She wanted her old life back.
She had only been twenty-five years old.
She had wealth, beauty, and a successful career. She had no burdens, complete freedom, and lived exactly as she pleased.
From the original owner’s memories, she learned that she had traveled back to the 1970s—a time of material shortages, when even traveling required a letter of introduction.
What struck her as particularly strange was that the original owner not only shared her appearance and name, but also had no memories from before the age of six.
Just like her.
When Lin Qianyi was six years old, she had been found by an elderly couple.
At the time, she had been crying by the roadside with a high fever.
The area was in the suburbs, and there weren’t many people around.
The elderly couple had been driving by when they heard her crying and stopped to check on her.
While they were comforting the little girl, a large truck ahead of them suddenly lost control and overturned.
If they had continued driving normally, they would have been crushed beneath it.
Even if they hadn’t been driving alongside the truck, they still wouldn’t have escaped—it had veered wildly out of control.
The elderly couple had been shaken, but also deeply relieved.
The little girl was delirious with fever.
When they asked her name, she mumbled a few unclear words that sounded like “Lin Qianyi.”
After her fever subsided, she couldn’t remember anything at all.
The couple contacted the police and searched for her family for a long time, but no one ever came forward.
In the end, they adopted her.
They were far from ordinary people—they belonged to one of the wealthiest families in the area.
They loved her dearly and gave her an exceptionally comfortable life.
Lin Qianyi was grateful and content. She never involved herself in the family’s businesses or assets, choosing instead to live happily and pursue work related to her own interests.
As a result, she got along well with every member of the family.
Unfortunately, her adoptive grandparents had passed away several years earlier.
As for why her name had become “Qianyi” instead of “Qianyi” with a different final character, it was because when she was little, she thought the original character was too complicated to write.
She always replaced it with the simpler character for “one,” and eventually the change became official.
The original Lin Qianyi wasn’t her parents’ biological daughter either.
Lin Jiancheng and his wife had found her in Xingcheng.
The couple had been devoted to their work and remained childless into their thirties. After failing to locate the girl’s family, they adopted her.
Only later were they transferred to the machinery factory in Yuanshan County, Lincheng.
As a result, no one there knew she wasn’t their biological daughter.
They had named her Lin Qianyi to mean “one in a thousand.”
The coincidence was too incredible.
Lin Qianyi couldn’t help wondering whether there was some connection between her own past and her arrival in this world.
But no matter how hard she thought about it, she couldn’t make sense of anything.
Forget it.
Knock, knock, knock.
Someone was knocking at the door.
“Qianyi, are you home?” called a middle-aged woman from outside.
“Coming!”
Lin Qianyi climbed out of bed, straightened her clothes, and went to open the door.
Standing outside was a capable-looking middle-aged woman with short hair.
Searching through the original owner’s memories, she recognized her immediately.
It was Zhang Xiuying, the chairwoman of the machinery factory’s labor union.
“Sister Zhang, it’s you. Please come in.”
Lin Qianyi quickly invited her inside.
“Qianyi, are you feeling unwell today? Why didn’t you come to work? Are you all right?” Zhang Xiuying asked with concern.
Only then did Lin Qianyi realize that work hours had already started.
Her mind had been in such chaos that she had completely forgotten.
“Oh, Sister Zhang, I’m sorry. I had a headache this morning and couldn’t get out of bed. I haven’t had a chance to request leave yet, but I’ll go and take care of it later.”
She spoke apologetically.
“It’s fine. I just came by to check on you. As long as you’re okay, that’s all that matters. Don’t worry about it for now.”
Zhang Xiuying offered her a reassuring smile.