Chapter 1: Traverse to the 70s
"Bang!"
Lynn Xia woke up from a nightmare in a cold sweat, her body still seemed to retain its previously numbed state as though she died. She had been having nightmares for the past two days, dreaming about the moment before her traversal.
Before her journey across time, Lynn was preparing to go on a blind date, her mother was whimpering on the other end of the phone, which gave her a splitting headache.
She reluctantly agreed, not expecting that a simple blind date could end up in a car accident.
By the time she woke up again, she found herself in a small room filled with a strong ambiance of a bygone era.
Upon absorbing the memory of the original owner of the body, she realized she seemed to have traversed into a novel she had once read.
She had come across the novel because the protagonist shared the same name and surname as her, and she curiously read it, not expecting it to be a traditional tale of torturous romance.
In the book, Lynn was a mindless cannon fodder and a female sidekick, causing havoc throughout the narrative essentially to propel the love story of the male and female leads.
In the end, she even fell victim to the male lead's revenge, leading to a tragic demise.
Initially, Lynn was attracted by the name, but she continued reading merely to get a sense of the extent of the protagonists' love for each other despite severe emotional and physical torture.
After she finished the book, Lynn was gobsmacked. Had the protagonists become mutes? Even the female supporting character's clumsy machinations could perplex them into despair and desperation.
On the second day of her traversal, having once again woken up from the same nightmare, Lynn vowed to stay far away from the male and female leads.
While lost in thought, the sound of hushed voices wafted into her room. It was 6 o'clock in the morning, and the world was still asleep, the conversation was clear and audible, however.
It was her elder sister-in-law and mother from her previous life. They had to wake up early every day to prepare breakfast. The kitchen was not far from Lynn's room, separated only by a single wall.
"Mom, I think Little Sis is really heartbroken this time. She's been locking herself in the house for three days now," Wang Yanmei lamented, her face etched with concern and her words tinged with worry.
She didn't understand why her petite and beautiful younger sister-in-law who comes from a well-to-do family that had many suitors, was so fixated on the lad from the He family.
That lad from the He family always gave off a bad vibe, especially now that her sister-in-law had returned home with a slap mark on her face. He undoubtedly had something to do with it.
"Yanmei, we have to find a way to make Xiaoxia see sense. I really don't want her to be involved with that He boy anymore," Mother Lin fretted. Her youngest daughter had just graduated and was yet to find a job, and she only had eyes for He Lixuan.
Father He and Father Lin both worked at a steel factory, with Father He holding a position higher than Father Lin, which resulted in a better home condition for the He family than the Lin family.
The He family and the Lin family were long-time neighbors, with the boy from the He family and the girl from the Lin family attending school together since childhood.
The Lin family didn't live in the same district as them until high school, that's when Lin Xia met He Lixuan.
If the He family was interested, Mother Lin would be perfectly alright, but it was her daughter who was pursuing them, thus tainting her name and resulting in no good outcome.
Her daughter's actions made it impossible for the Lin family to hold their heads high in front of the He family. These days, equality is revered, and theoretically, there's no family superior to another, it's just that her daughter's behavior of pursuing them cheapened their family's image.
Because of their daughter's misdeeds, Father Lin and Mother Lin had to apologize to the He family, losing much of their dignity in the process.
"Mom, aside from this He boy's situation, the outside world is becoming more and more tense. If Little Sis doesn't find work soon, she might have to be sent down to the country," Wang Yanmei said, upset that her in-laws were worrying and working hard over her inconsiderate sister-in-law.
She had been married into this close-knit family for five or six years, she held a great relationship with her in-laws and had never had issues with her mother-in-law.
But, her sister-in-law is the kind that doesn't save heartaches and may cause serious trouble sooner or later, burdening the whole family.
"She... she mentioned before that she was planning to apply for a job at the hospital, I don't know if she got in," Mother Lin frowned. Over the years, many urban youths had been sent down to the country and had not returned. Those who managed to return were riddled with illnesses and didn't know what they had been put through.
She couldn't bear the thought of her youngest daughter having to endure such conditions, given that the daughter was their late-age child who had been doted on by the entire family after their family status improved.
"I'll ask around. My little sister is so pretty; she can have her pick of men. There's no need for her to keep throwing herself at this cold-hearted fellow," said Wong Yan Mei, who works as a just regular nurse at the hospital. Although she couldn't do much for her sister-in-law, she could at least inquire about it.
"What if we have someone introduce Xia to some suitable men? Maybe she'll find someone else she likes and won't keep chasing after that guy, plus she won't need to move to the countryside anymore," Wong Yan Mei initiates the idea.
At this suggestion, Mother Lin began to entertain the idea, believing it could kill two birds with one stone. However, she wasn't sure if her younger daughter would agree, "Would this work?"
"Young girls always like handsome men. Why don't we try to find a good-looking one?" Wong Yan Mei responded enthusiastically, seeing that her mother-in-law was taken with her idea.
Ever since her younger daughter came home with a beaten face, she hadn't gone out for three days and hardly spoke. Mother Lin was worried that her daughter was still contemplating ways to seek out the He family's son.
As Mother Lin was thinking about how to convince her younger daughter to mend her ways, she had no idea that her daughter's mind had completely changed.
Lin Xia understood Wong Yan Mei's plan to marry off the host, but she did not feel repulsed. If she were the host's sister-in-law, she probably would have done the same.
From the host's memory, she could tell that her sister-in-law treated her well. The information on job vacancies at the hospital was provided by her sister-in-law. Those jobs were not permanent but temporary.
At that time, city jobs were saturated to the point that there was only one job for one person. Even temporary jobs were hard to come by, let alone permanent positions.
Jobs could be inherited. Generally, only when parents retired, could their children take over the positions. Jobs could even be bought and sold.
It was a pity that while the host's family was preocupied with her well-being, her own mind was filled with thoughts of men. She didn't put any effort into her career, and once the male host found out about the job opening from her, he bought the job for the female host. This resulted in the host missing out on the opportunity.
Upon learning this, Lin Xia couldn't help but tremble with rage. She didn't know what to say to the host, who was clearly a love-obsessed fool.
The host had given up bread for so-called love. Lin Xia couldn't help but disdain such behavior, no wonder the host had been tricked into moving to the countryside later on.
Turning over, Lin Xia quietly waited for the time to come. To avoid messing with the host's image, she lived according to the host's lifestyle for the past few days.
Technically, she should have been persistently searching for He Lixuan, but since she arrived, she hadn't left the house at all.
Today is already the third day. It seems that I will have to go out for a stroll, because otherwise, it would be out of character for the original master. She is not the type that could stay at home for such a long time.
Lin Xia got up and washed up, standing in the yard brushing her teeth and observing her surroundings. The Lin family's house comes with a small yard and a well. The entire neighborhood consists of large and small yards like this, neatly arranged.
In her previous life, Lin Xia was not a resident of the Capital city, so she didn't know if this area was later demolished. She made up her mind that in the future, she would earn money to seize opportunities to buy several courtyard residences in the Capital. After they were torn down, she could just relax and collect the money.
"Dinner is ready!" The call from Lin's mother outside broke Lin Xia's daydream.
"Knock knock." The sound of knocking on the door was heard.
"Are you awake yet?" Lin's mother asked loudly.
"Ah, I'm coming." Lin Xia adjusted her expression and opened the door, immediately getting into character. With this speed in changing her face, she felt that it would be a waste if she didn't join the entertainment industry.
She made up her mind. When there were suitable candidates in the blind dates, she would marry herself off to secure a meal ticket and get by in this era. As for love and whatnot, they are worthless in the face of survival.
Blind dates, huh! She has plenty of experience with this. She has both the experiences of rejecting and being rejected!