Chapter 1: The Deceived Girl in the 1970s Fake vs. Real Daughter Story (1)

“Hey, Comrade Ye Xiaoxiao, wake up! We’re almost at the station, wake up!”

Xiaoxiao felt someone pushing her, and she slowly came to.

The person next to her saw her waking up and said, “Comrade Ye Xiaoxiao, you’re awake.”

“We’re about to arrive. Quickly gather your things; we’re getting off the train soon.”

Xiaoxiao looked at the people around her and couldn’t help but frown. What’s going on here?

It was winter—shouldn’t everyone be wearing down jackets? Why were these people dressed for summer, with some even in sundresses?

Was this a case of choosing fashion over warmth?

She started looking for her down jacket, only to realize something was wrong with the train.

This wasn’t the train she had boarded. She remembered clearly; the train she got on didn’t have windows that could open, and this train looked way too old and run-down.

Xiaoxiao began searching for her luggage, but after looking around, she couldn’t find her suitcase.

Where were her backpack and her lockbox?

A sense of panic began rising in her.

Looking around again, she noticed some people’s clothes were patched up. Her heart sank even more; had she been kidnapped?

Just then, the female comrade next to her gave her another nudge. “Comrade Ye Xiaoxiao, what’s wrong? Why are you spacing out? Still not fully awake?”

Ye Xiaoxiao said, “Sorry, I’ve got a bit of a headache.”

The woman kindly helped her sit down. “Then sit for a bit longer. We’re not quite there yet. I just didn’t want things to get chaotic later and for you to not have time to get your stuff together, so I woke you early.”

Ye Xiaoxiao nodded and softly said, “Thank you.”

She had already realized something was wrong. It wasn’t just the people around her; it was herself too. Or rather, it was she who was the problem.

Xiaoxiao closed her eyes and started thinking. What exactly was going on?

Could it be that… she had transmigrated?

But she had read so many transmigration novels, and none of them started from taking a train, right?

No way, just because she’d said she wanted to experience a train ride, fearing she wouldn’t get another chance, the great god of transmigration decided to let her really experience it by dropping her into another world?

Where were her memories?

She didn’t know if it was due to some trigger, but suddenly a flood of memories surged into her mind, along with a storyline.

After skimming through the memories and mentally reviewing the plot, one word echoed in Xiaoxiao’s head: absurd.

She didn’t even know how to describe the original body’s owner; what kind of super saint was this?

Willing to be used like a mule her whole life, without any complaint.

What kind of saintly heart could forgive such disgusting behavior?

It was like a fool opening the door for their fool of a mother, foolish beyond repair!

Only an author with ten pounds of brain clots could write a plot like this.

To Xiaoxiao, the original host was just one big sucker.

She was the real daughter in a “fake vs. real daughter” plot. Her adoptive mother had deliberately swapped her at birth. Since childhood, she was treated like a live-in maid and punching bag.

The only bright side was that she was a good student. Her adoptive parents let her finish high school solely so they could marry her off for a higher bride price later.

So even though she wasn’t valued at home and was nothing compared to her older sister and younger brothers, she still felt grateful to her parents.

Even after she found out they were only letting her study for the sake of a high bride price, she still felt thankful they gave her that opportunity.

She didn’t want to be sold off, so after graduation, she planned to find a job to show her gratitude and hopefully make her parents give up the idea.

She got lucky. Jobs were hard to find, but she had good cooking skills, thanks to picky little brothers at home.

To feed them and avoid beatings from her mother, the original host had swallowed her pride and learned to cook from the school cafeteria chefs. In the process she’d ended up mastering the art.

Through a classmate’s introduction, she finally landed a temporary job at the cafeteria of a steel factory.

She was thrilled that she didn’t have to be sent to the countryside, and she could finally repay her parents.

Ye Xiaoxiao excitedly went home to share the good news.

She didn’t notice the complicated expressions on Father and Mother Ye’s faces.

That night, in their bedroom, the couple had a conversation.

“Old Ye, should we bring our real daughter back?”

“I heard that family is planning to send their daughter down to the countryside. Now that Ye Xiaoxiao found a job, if our real daughter comes back, she can take her place.”

Father Ye was silent for a moment and asked, “Will they agree? Won’t it cause trouble?”

Mother Ye said, “Probably not? Haven’t we been watching them all this time? That family spoils their daughter rotten. They definitely won’t want her to suffer.”

Father Ye thought for a second, then nodded in agreement.

Back then, their own daughter had been born frail and sickly. Father Ye was the only one working, and his salary was too low, so they simply couldn’t afford medical treatment.

Coincidentally, another baby girl was born the same day to a better-off family in the same hospital room. One night, while everyone was asleep, they swapped the babies.

Maybe newborns all look alike, because that family never noticed the switch.

Now that something had happened to that family, and they were planning to send all the kids to the countryside, the girl named Li Huimei, their biological daughter, was about to be sent away too.

……

Living in the same city, Father and Mother Ye had always kept tabs on their biological daughter. When they heard the news, they panicked.

When they found out Ye Xiaoxiao had gotten a job, they were fully tempted.

They used to think that even a broken boat might still have some treasures, and that family would surely take good care of their daughter. At the very least, they’d have money.

But when they heard their daughter might be sent away, they wanted her back—but they were reluctant to give up on the money.

Plus, someone in their family had to go to the countryside anyway. Without a job, they’d still get sent.

They had no connections to get her placed somewhere better. The Li family’s father was an engineer at the steel factory, so even if he was sent down, he still had influence.

And now that Ye Xiaoxiao had found a job, wasn’t it perfect for her not to be sent away?

After reaching an agreement, the couple sent Ye Xiaoxiao over, claiming the two girls had been accidentally switched at birth.

They asked her to give up her job to Li Huimei, saying it was a way to repay their kindness. After all, they’d raised her and let her go to high school, so she should be grateful.

Now that the girls were switched back, the job counted as settling the debt. After that, there’d be no more ties between them.

They said all this in one go, worried the Li family might object. But unexpectedly, the switch went smoothly, and not a single question was asked. Their worries had been unnecessary.

Before Ye Xiaoxiao could even process it, her biological parents had eagerly agreed without even verifying her identity.

They also told her she should be grateful.

In truth, the Li couple couldn’t bear to see their daughter suffer. Now that a “real daughter” suddenly showed up to take her place, they were happy.

Whether this girl was really theirs or not didn’t matter. Their precious daughter no longer had to be dragged to the countryside.

To smooth things over, they gave the original host 1,000 yuan and some ration tickets, then published a newspaper announcement cutting ties.

They were really just afraid she’d cause a scene if she ever found out the truth.

So, just like that, the original host was sent off to the countryside with 1,000 yuan—to replace the adopted daughter.

And that wasn’t even the worst of it.

Later, when college entrance exams were reinstated, Ye Xiaoxiao got accepted into university. Her biological parents had also been politically rehabilitated, but the original host never saw a better life.

Thanks to some maneuvering from her biological mother, Li Huimei stole her admission letter and went to college in her place.

Both sets of parents told her she was smart and could take the exam again.

They kept telling her to be grateful.

But she never got another chance because Li Huimei didn’t want her to succeed. She hated being compared to Ye Xiaoxiao.

All those years after returning, people kept saying she was no match for Ye Xiaoxiao.

Now that she had finally stolen the chance to attend college, she didn’t want Ye Xiaoxiao to also shine and become a comparison again.

So Ye Xiaoxiao was married off—to a divorced man.

Fortunately, the Li parents had some decency. The man had decent character and no kids.

The original host settled into a quiet married life.

She didn’t have a job and couldn’t stand being idle. Plus, with her great cooking skills, she started a food stall, which later turned into a restaurant.

As their business grew, her husband quit his job to help. Together, they earned more and more.

The only regret was that they never had children.

Ye Xiaoxiao had been weak since childhood. During those hard years in the countryside, she suffered a lot. Even though she had money later, she kept saving it, spending it all on her parents at the farm.

Her own health fell apart, severely drained.

She thought about adopting a child, but her husband said it didn’t matter—he didn’t care. Ye Xiaoxiao was very touched.

Until one day, Li Huimei showed up at their door, heavily pregnant, saying she was carrying her husband’s child—asking her to step aside.

Cultural Notes:

• Comrade: Commonly used in Mao-era China as a standard polite form of address.
• Sent down to the countryside: “Sent down” movement, part of the Cultural Revolution. Urban youths were sent to rural areas for re-education through labor.