Chapter 1: A Second Chance

The pain was unbearable. Li Wei's chest felt like it had been crushed under the weight of a thousand bricks, her breath shallow and labored. She opened her eyes, expecting to see the sterile white walls of the hospital room where she had spent her last days. Instead, she was met with something entirely different.

The ceiling above her was a simple wooden structure, rough beams visible through gaps in the plaster. The smell of dust and mildew filled the air, a stark contrast to the sterile antiseptic she had grown accustomed to. She blinked, confusion setting in. This wasn't the sleek modern world she knew. This room was old, worn, like something out of the distant past.

Her body felt heavy, foreign, like it didn't belong to her. She struggled to sit up, every muscle protesting with pain, her head throbbing. The bed beneath her creaked, the rough fabric of her clothes scratching against her skin. Clothes that didn't feel familiar—coarse, homespun fabric that hung loosely on her frame. What the hell?

Li Wei's heart raced as she looked around the room. A single window let in a sliver of daylight, casting long shadows across the uneven wooden floor. The furniture was sparse—just a wooden chair, a small table, and a cracked mirror hanging on the wall, its edges blackened with age. She forced herself to focus on details, hoping they'd make sense of the chaos in her mind, but everything looked foreign, out of place.

Her gaze fell to her hands. Her breath caught in her throat. These weren't her hands.

She remembered her hands—soft, manicured, adorned with rings that marked her wealth and power. These hands were rough, calloused, with dirt embedded under the nails, as though they had spent years toiling under the sun. Her pulse quickened. Something's very wrong.

Frantically, she swung her legs over the side of the bed, the wood cool beneath her bare feet. She stumbled toward the cracked mirror hanging on the wall, her legs trembling with the effort. When she saw her reflection, she nearly collapsed.

The face staring back at her wasn't hers.

The woman in the mirror had wide, fearful eyes framed by long lashes, her face pale and gaunt. Her hair was pulled back into a simple braid, a stark contrast to the sleek, styled look she had always sported. She looked younger—maybe twenty, no more—and thinner, almost frail, like she hadn't eaten properly in weeks.

Li Wei's heart pounded in her chest, panic clawing at her throat. This isn't me. She raised a shaking hand to her face, the reflection mimicking her movement. It was real. She could feel the rough skin beneath her fingertips, the contours of the face that wasn't hers.

Her last memory was as vivid as it was terrifying: the car accident. The screech of tires, the blinding headlights, the rain hammering down on the windshield. The crunch of metal as her luxury sedan had flipped over on the highway, her body crushed under the impact. She had been in her mid-forties, at the top of her game, a powerful businesswoman who had built an empire from nothing.

I should be dead.

Her breath came in short, sharp gasps. She should be dead. But she wasn't. Somehow, impossibly, she was here, in this strange room, in this strange body. A terrifying thought began to take root in her mind. Could this be…?

Before she could piece it together, the door creaked open. A young woman entered, carrying a worn ceramic basin of water. She was dressed simply, her clothes plain and slightly worn, her hair tied back in a messy knot. Her face lit up with relief the moment she saw Li Wei sitting up.

"Sister Wei, you're awake!" she exclaimed, rushing over to the bedside with an energy that made Li Wei wince. "We were so worried! You've been unconscious for two days since you fell into the river. I thought we might lose you!"

Fell into the river? Li Wei's mind raced, struggling to process this flood of new information. Who is she talking to?

"I—what?" Li Wei managed, her voice hoarse and unfamiliar, the words rasping out as though her throat hadn't been used in days.

The young woman set the basin down on the table and reached out to touch Li Wei's hand gently. "You must still be confused," she said kindly. "The fever must have affected your memory. You fell into the river while helping Mother fetch water. We managed to pull you out, but the doctor said it was a miracle you survived."

Li Wei's head spun. Mother? Sister? River?

She opened her mouth to protest, to say this woman had made some mistake, but when she looked into the young woman's eyes, something strange happened. Memories that weren't hers flooded her mind—flashes of a life she didn't recognize. The image of an old woman calling her "Xiao Wei," the sensation of cold river water engulfing her, the dull ache of hunger gnawing at her belly. It all felt distant, like watching someone else's life play out in front of her.

Her hands gripped the edge of the bed as reality set in with an overwhelming weight. This isn't a dream.

The young woman's voice brought her back to the present. "Sister, do you feel well enough to eat? I can fetch you some congee from the kitchen if you'd like."

Li Wei swallowed hard, trying to keep her voice steady. "Yes… thank you, Mei."

The young woman, Mei, nodded, relief flooding her face as she hurried from the room.

As soon as the door closed behind her, Li Wei let out a shaky breath, her mind whirling. She wasn't just in some strange place. She was in someone else's body—this village girl, Sister Wei, who had nearly drowned in a river. She was in rural China, in what looked like the 1980s.

Her eyes widened as realization dawned. The 1980s. This was the era of China's great transformation, the beginning of its economic reforms. The country was on the brink of becoming an economic powerhouse. She remembered it well. She had studied these moments in history, analyzed the markets, understood the trends.

A surge of hope, unexpected and exhilarating, began to rise within her. I've been given a second chance.

Li Wei stood, her legs trembling but steadier now as her mind began to clear. She looked out the small window at the dusty village beyond. This place was poor, isolated, and far from the modern world she had once known, but it was full of potential. She knew how to seize opportunities. She had done it before, and she could do it again.

When Mei returned with the bowl of congee, Li Wei took it gratefully, her mind already churning with possibilities. This wasn't the life she had expected, but it was hers now. She would rise again, using the knowledge of the future to build an empire, just as she had once done.

"Sister," Mei said hesitantly, "are you sure you're alright? You seem… different."

Li Wei smiled faintly, a determined glint in her eyes. "I'm fine, Mei," she said softly, her voice steady now. "I just need time to think."

And she would. She wasn't just the poor village girl everyone saw. She was Li Wei, a woman who had conquered the business world once—and she would do it again.