Chapter 1: Rebirth

The Xu Family Village production team leader’s precious darling has fallen into the water.

The entire Xu household was as gloomy as if covered by dark clouds, while the villagers gathered together, gossiping and whispering with faces full of curiosity.

Passed from one person to another, by the time the news reached the educated youth dormitory, it had become

"The captain’s precious darling burned her brain out from a high fever and died!"

"What? Xu Ying is dead!" A female educated youth in the dormitory exclaimed. Her already frail body swayed like a kite, as if she might collapse at any moment.

She steadied herself and ran toward the captain’s house without a moment’s delay.

Xu Ying couldn't die. If she died, wouldn't her status as a "lifesaver" be for nothing?

Xu Ying was awakened by the noisy clamor. Having spent several years in the apocalypse, she had long since developed the habit of keeping a weapon under her pillow while sleeping.

Hearing footsteps at the door, her body reacted reflexively, reaching out toward under her pillow.

But she grabbed nothing. She opened her eyes and sat up, her entire body on high alert.

Looking at her surroundings, Xu Ying was instantly stunned. This room was clearly her boudoir from her previous life!

A dilapidated mud house with plaster on the walls ready to crumble at any moment, and the wall by the bed was pasted with layers of newspaper.

Opposite the bed stood a cabinet—the dowry her sister-in-law had brought when she married her eldest brother.

Back then, she had been jealous of her sister-in-law’s new cabinet and had forced her to give it to her. Thinking of this, a wave of guilt washed over her.

At this moment, a familiar voice came from outside the house

"Auntie, is Yingying awake yet?" A girl with a delicate figure stood in the courtyard, craning her neck and peering into the room with a worried expression.

Mother Xu, deeply attached to her daughter, had red, swollen eyes, clearly having just finished crying.

She sat in the courtyard, wailing and slapping her thighs: "Oh, my precious daughter! If anything happens to her, I won't want to live either. It’s all your fault, you stubborn old man! Why did you have to send her to buy soy sauce for no reason? If you hadn't sent her, my daughter wouldn't have fallen into the river!"

Mother Xu, tears and snot streaming down her face, pointed angrily at the captain, Xu Jianguo, and scolded him.

Xu Jianguo’s aged face was full of guilt: "It’s all my fault. If I had known Yingying would fall into the river, I wouldn't have let her go, no matter what."

"Uncle Xu? Is Yingying still not awake? She wouldn't have really died, would she?" Chen Yanran was pacing back and forth in a panic.

Mother Xu jumped off her chair with a thud and lunged at Chen Yanran, clawing at her: "You bitch, what are you spouting? You’re the one who’s dead! My daughter is just unconscious, and you’re cursing her to die? You little harlot, I’ll beat you to death!"

Seeing his wife acting like a madwoman, Xu Jianguo felt a headache coming on and hurried to pull her back: "Stop this nonsense! Educated Youth Chen saved our daughter; how can you return kindness with enmity?"

"She said our daughter is dead!" Mother Xu stomped her feet in anger. It was only because of her status as a lifesaver that she had only scratched her a few times.

If not for that, she would have pinned this girl to the ground and beaten her.

Chen Yanran covered her face, which had been scratched several times by Mother Xu, and sobbed: "I heard it from people outside. I didn't believe it either, so I came to see Xu Ying."

"Educated Youth Chen, thank you for worrying about my daughter. If it weren't for you saving her, I’m afraid my daughter would really be gone. But Yingying is just unconscious now, so please don't say such things again." Xu Jianguo, usually a spirited man, looked quite haggard.

"Captain Uncle, this is what I should have done. Don't be so formal. Even if it were someone else who fell into the river, I would definitely have reached out to help," the educated youth said, forcing a smile through the pain and speaking politely.

Xu Ying didn't know when she had walked to the door. She watched this scene with extreme irony.

"Does Educated Youth Chen mean... that you saved me?"

Hearing the voice, Chen Yanran immediately looked behind her, a flash of jealousy crossing her eyes.

The woman’s dark hair was scattered like clouds, her willow-leaf eyebrows curved, and her eyes—deep as autumn water and beautiful as the stars—revealed a cold and arrogant expression.

Because of her weakness, her complexion was pale, but it could not hide her overbearing aura.

Chen Yanran looked at her and bit her lip. So what if she was beautiful? She was still a brainless airhead.

"Yingying, have you forgotten that it was I who struggled to pull you out of the river?"

Watching her hypocritical act, Xu Ying felt sick to her stomach.

Look at that sincere expression; anyone who didn't know better would think she was the ungrateful one.

Then again, Chen Yanran’s acting skills were top-notch. Otherwise, in her previous life, she wouldn't have been deceived by her and Dong Wenzhong to such a miserable end.

"Chen Yanran, how can you be so shameless? The one who saved me was clearly the eldest daughter of the Lu family. When did it become you? Do you really think I was so unconscious that I didn't know what happened?"

Xu Ying’s thin lips parted slightly, looking at Chen Yanran with mockery.

As soon as these words were spoken, Chen Yanran’s face turned pale instantly. It was indeed not her who saved Xu Ying, but Xu Ying had only opened her eyes once in the middle of the ordeal, and she had indeed been right by Xu Ying’s side.

"Yingying, what do you mean by that? You clearly saw me pull you up before you fainted. Even if you don't like me, you shouldn't make a scene out of something like this!" Chen Yanran said, looking heartbroken, tears streaming down her cheeks drop by drop.

Xu Jianguo was also getting angry. Now was not the time for temper tantrums. The matter of a lifesaver was not something to be trifled with. If it weren't for Educated Youth Chen struggling to pull her up, this girl would likely have lost her life long ago.

"Yingying, you can't act like a spoiled child at a time like this."

"Dad, do you believe she saved me? Educated Youth Chen is frail. Let alone saving me, if she fell into the river herself, she probably wouldn't be able to get out."

Chen Yanran was an educated youth from a big city who had never done any heavy labor since she was a child. On her first day, it was Dong Wenzhong who helped her carry her luggage.

Later, when working in the fields, she either couldn't lift this or couldn't carry that, complaining all day about being uncomfortable here or there, as frail as Lin Daiyu.

Hearing this, Xu Jianguo paused, remembering that when the girl first arrived, she couldn't even lift a single bag of luggage.

Could she really pull up his daughter, who weighed over ninety jin?

Seeing the captain’s suspicion, Chen Yanran cried even more pitifully, like rain on pear blossoms: "Yingying, I may not be good at manual labor, but this is a matter of life and death! I was terrified when you fell into the river, and I was so afraid you would be hurt that I used all my explosive strength to pull you out."

"If you don't believe it, you can go ask Educated Youth Dong."

Hearing the name "Educated Youth Dong," sparks of hatred erupted in Xu Ying’s eyes.

Dong Wenzhong—she had an irreconcilable hatred for him.

In her previous life, she had been a poor judge of character, mistaking a scumbag for a good man, and had quarreled bitterly with her father to marry him.

Later, Dong Wenzhong coaxed her into begging her father to give him the quota to return to the city, using every trick in the book.

Who would have thought that after returning to the city, Dong Wenzhong would disappear without a trace?

Because her father had given the quota to Dong Wenzhong, he was held in a grudge. One day, when he went out, he was bagged and beaten violently, then thrown into the back mountain, where his cries for help went unanswered.

It was the dead of winter. When they found him, her father’s body was a bloody mess, his eyes wide open, his body stiff and lifeless.

That day was a day of heavy rain. Her eldest brother, overcome with grief, wasn't paying attention while carrying their father down the mountain; his foot slipped, and he tumbled down the back mountain, breaking his leg on the spot!

I ask for everyone’s recommendation votes and monthly tickets. Comments are welcome, and please point out any typos. If you have any good suggestions, feel free to share them; Nannan will adopt them where appropriate.

This is a sweet, career-focused story. The female lead will build her career and make a fortune later on.

(End of chapter)