"Hey girl, take this stone. It'll show you where you're meant to go."
Alice Harper had just gotten back from a short trip and was out grabbing something to eat when an old woman suddenly blocked her way outside a shop.
Without saying much, the woman shoved a red stone right into Alice’s hand.
The moment she gave it to her, the old lady turned and bolted—surprisingly fast for her age.
Alice stood there holding the weird stone, staring at the granny’s swift retreat, completely blank.
Before she could figure anything out, a car came out of nowhere, swerving straight toward her. All she felt was pain shooting through her body before everything went black.
…
"Alice, your breakfast’s warming on the stove! Don’t forget to eat before I head off to work!" A woman’s gentle voice floated in from outside, followed by hurried footsteps fading into the distance.
Alice lay there with her eyes open, staring up at the ceiling—a wooden beam ran across it, the boards above worn and faded. Through the gaps, she could just make out old dark tiles.
She sat up slowly, taking in the room that screamed “old-school.”
Bare concrete walls and floor, a wooden window frame with glass panes from who knows when.
By the foot of her bed, an old double-door wardrobe stood against the wall. Near the window, there was a desk piled with books and stationery, a lamp, some hair ties and clips, and a small mirror.
To the left of the desk, a narrow bookcase held a few scattered paperback books.
What the heck? Where was she?
Last thing she remembered, she'd been out looking for food when a rogue car hit her on the sidewalk. Shouldn’t she be lying in a hospital bed right now?
Then bam—sharp headache. A flood of foreign memories rushed in.
After a good while trying to piece it all together, she finally got it—she was inside a book.
A few days ago, she’d read this novel set in the '70s. It was one of those “reincarnated village girl wins over the hot city boy” stories. They built a life together and eventually became rich.
Funny thing, she couldn’t even remember where she found that book—and it didn’t have a single comment on it. Almost like no one else had read it. In that story, there’d been a hopeless romantic girl named Alice Harper. Same name as hers. Good background, pretty face, but zero street smarts.
And now she was that girl.
Back in 1970, during the whole Down to the Countryside Movement, the original Alice—an only child—had no reason to be sent away. Her parents had already arranged a job for her at the local department store.
But she had a thing for a guy, and under peer pressure from her best friend Isabella Reed, of all people, she stupidly signed up to head to the countryside.
The guy she liked was the younger son of a factory deputy director. Since everyone was eyeing him, he was forced to go live out in the sticks.
Once Isabella knew about Alice’s crush, she encouraged her—“If you love him, go with him! Show him you’re serious.”
“Even a rock can be moved by sincerity.”
Alice fell for it, thinking if she just went along and proved how much she cared, he’d fall for her too. Once they were a couple, they could ask their families to pull strings and get them back into the city.
Problem was, her parents would never agree. So Isabella came up with a plan—Alice signed up behind their backs and claimed she needed to transfer her city job. Then, she sold it to Isabella for dirt cheap, just for pocket change.The original Alice went behind her family’s back to sign up, then took Isabella Reed to the department store while her uncle was away and handed over the job. Isabella gave Alice fifty yuan. Alice figured Isabella had been helping her come up with ways to win the male lead's heart, so she didn’t make a fuss and just took the money.
When Alice’s parents found out, they almost passed out from rage. They couldn’t understand what had gotten into their daughter, sneaking off to sign up for the countryside like that. What made it worse was that she had sold the job—something the family worked hard to get—for just fifty yuan to Isabella.
Alice’s mom suspected she’d been tricked and stormed over to the Reeds’ place to make a scene, demanding 750 yuan back. The trip to the countryside couldn’t be undone, but the money? That had to come back.
Her parents had pulled a lot of strings to get her that job; there was no way they’d let someone else walk away with it. Though they were seething, their daughter was already set to leave. Being their only child, they couldn’t stand the thought of her suffering, so they held their anger in and got her everything she might need in the countryside.
But things went downhill fast. The farm work nearly broke Alice, who’d been pampered all her life. The male lead? He didn’t care that she went through all this for him. In fact, she barely set foot in the village before that local troublemaker, Shao Afei, started hanging around her. Alice had to try everything just to avoid him.
She brought the male lead food and nice things, but he never seemed to care. Half a year in, he started dating the village beauty. When Alice found out, her heart shattered. She couldn’t figure out why she wasn’t good enough compared to some rural girl.
Then Shao Afei started spreading rumors all over, saying Alice turned to him after the male lead rejected her. No matter how she denied it, no one believed her—not the other sent-down youths, not the villagers. Worse, the gossip got nastier and Shao Afei even started getting physical, saying gross things whenever he saw her.
Alice, used to being treated like a princess, couldn’t take it. She called home crying, begging to come back. Her father, terrified something would happen to her, hung up and immediately went to buy a train ticket.
Soon enough, gossip spread that the only reason Alice went to the countryside was because of a male classmate. The kicker? He didn’t even like her—she had just chased after him like a lovesick fool. Everyone knew the Reeds were behind the rumors; they’d been holding a grudge ever since Alice’s mom went to demand the money back.
No matter how many times her parents tried to explain things, no one believed them. After that call home, Alice was heading back to the youth dorm when she bumped into Shao Afei again. Seeing no one else around, he blocked her path.
Trying to flee, she turned to run, but he grabbed her arm. As she struggled, she lost her footing. Just then, Shao Afei let go, and Alice fell—hitting her head hard on a rock. Blood poured out instantly.
Panicked, Shao Afei took off when he realized no one was around. By the time people found Alice, she was already gone.
Her dad arrived in a rush, only to find her lifeless body. Everyone said it was just an accident—that she slipped, no one saw, and she bled out.
Alice’s father didn’t buy that story. He reported it to the police and even pulled strings by invoking his brother-in-law, a high-ranking officer. But after an investigation, the police stuck to their conclusion: a tragic accident, nothing more.
With no other choice, Alice’s father brought home her ashes and what few belongings she left behind. Her mother fell ill the moment she heard the news and never really recovered. Alice’s father, worn out from work and taking care of his sick wife, aged overnight.
After that, the book never mentioned Alice’s parents again.No one in the village seemed to care much about the original Alice's death—life just went on.
The male lead brought his girl home for New Year and, not long after the holiday, they went off and got their marriage certificate. Now they were living the dream, sweet as honey.
Alice remembered in the book, the one who dragged the original into trouble was that shady guy, Shao Afei.
Later on, when the couple’s business took off, Shao Afei popped up in the city looking for the female lead. She offered him a security guard job, but this guy had the nerve to turn his nose up at it. So, she tossed him into some office, no real work given, but the paycheck kept coming. He showed up late and left early every day, and she still didn’t fire him.
At some point, the male lead even asked her why she kept such a useless guy around. Her answer? “He's from our village. I just feel bad for him.” And shockingly, the male lead actually praised her for being too soft-hearted.
Now Alice was seriously thinking—what if the whole time, Shao Afei pestering the original had something to do with the female lead pulling strings?
Otherwise, how would an illiterate guy like him end up in a cushy office job, doing nothing and still getting paid?
But what she really couldn't figure out was why the female lead would go that far—indirectly causing the original Alice’s death.
From the memories she’d gotten, Alice knew the original was planning to sneak off today with the household register to sign up for the countryside placement!
She was so glad she crossed over in time. The original hadn’t gone to register yet.
Go to the countryside? Not a chance!
Was this some kind of joke? Even in the city, people were barely scraping by—what made anyone think life in a village would be better?
Working under the hot sun all day, digging holes and planting stuff... just thinking about it made Alice feel her legs go weak.
Sure, the original’s family was doing okay for the times, but Alice still wanted to cry—seriously, who’d want to suffer through the hard knocks of the ’70s voluntarily?
Back in the 21st century, Alice had it made—she was basically a landlady, didn’t have to worry about money at all.
Her folks died in a car crash when she was a kid, and her grandparents had raised her.
By the time she turned eighteen, both grandparents had passed, leaving everything to her.
A five-story school district building in a southern provincial capital, a luxury apartment downtown over 300 square meters, and more than eighty million in savings.
After graduating college, Alice dropped the idea of working altogether.
Why bother when the rent alone let her live like a queen?
She stayed in, relaxed all day, traveled when she felt like it, and grabbed dinner with friends whenever. It was the perfect life.
But she only got to enjoy it for three years before waking up inside a book!
And it wasn’t just any old time—she landed right smack in the dreaded 1970s her grandparents always used to talk about—the era of hunger and threadbare clothes!
Alice actually burst into tears. Her properties! Her cash!
Wiping her tears, she cursed both that crazy old lady and her stupid red rock.
If that woman hadn’t shown up, she’d have been long gone—not stuck there dazed like a deer in headlights.
Talking nonsense about “a place you’re meant to be.” All Alice had wanted was to chill in the 21st century, not end up starving in some backwater decade.
She should've just chucked that rock the moment she got it!
Suddenly, the scene around her morphed into a gold shop.
About two hundred square meters, bright lighting, glass cases full of glittering gold jewelry.
This was the place—right beside her housing estate’s commercial street. And this was exactly where she’d stood when that car came out of nowhere and hit her.
Having read plenty of time travel novels, Alice realized—this had to be her so-called golden cheat code.