Lily Parker had just received her university admission letter when she began to dream.
In the dream, a man who claimed to be the ancient matchmaker appeared before her. He clicked his tongue and declared that she had been destined to grow old alone. But, seeing as she had worshipped him devoutly for three whole years, he would show mercy and grant her a fated romance.
What?
Half-asleep and muddled, Lily's mind spun sluggishly as she counted on her fingers.
She counted once.
Twice.
And then she jolted awake.
She was eighteen now. Three years ago, she had only been fifteen. Had she lost her mind?
Since when had she gone to pray to a matchmaker?
"That's not right—I was clearly praying for mon—!"
She didn't even get to finish the word before the man viciously kicked her. The next moment, she opened her eyes—and found herself standing at the entrance of a school campus, a backpack slung over her shoulders.
XX City No. 1 Senior High School.
Lily gripped the straps of her bag and stared blankly at the shabby school gate before her. The plain iron bars were slightly rusted. Beyond them stretched a tree-lined path of about a hundred meters, and at the end stood a single teaching building.
Just one.
It was so modest and bare that it hardly looked like a proper high school.
Confused and unsettled, Lily stepped inside. She had barely taken a few steps when a shrill voice erupted behind her.
"It's her! Why does she get to go in but I don't?"
A girl with two tight braids stormed at the gate. She wore a bright red floral blouse over a base layer, paired with coarse, earth-yellow straight-leg trousers. Her skin was dark, her figure slightly plump, and her narrow, slanted eyes burned with anger as she argued heatedly with the security guard.
"That girl is a student here, that's why she can enter! Are you a student of No. 1 High? If not, stop barging in! Leave now—or I'll call the police!"
"Her? She's nothing but trash—how could she possibly attend No. 1 High?"
Lily tightened her grip on her backpack straps and subtly edged away, watching the fierce-looking girl with caution.
Trash?
She wasn't talking about me… was she?
Frowning slightly, Lily searched through the fragments of memory that didn't belong to her—but somehow did. The original owner of this body shared her name: Lily Parker.
She lived in the staff dormitories of the Cotton Textile Factory, third floor, middle unit—a modest sixty-square-meter apartment with two bedrooms and a living room. The reason they'd been assigned such a comparatively spacious flat was simple: her father was a senior technician at the factory, and her mother worked there as an accountant.
She also had an older brother, five or six years her senior, currently in his fourth year at a university in the capital. Rumor had it he had a steady girlfriend and was already discussing marriage.
From what Lily could tell, the family was uncomplicated. No dramatic feuds. No scandalous secrets.
And as for that furious girl at the gate... She didn't recognize her at all.
"I run the Lin Family Snack Shop next door! My older sister graduated from this school! My uncle is close with the principal! If you keep blocking me, I'll have the principal fire you!"
Why did that setup sound so familiar?
Lily's ears twitched slightly. Her almond-shaped eyes sparkled with sudden excitement. This scene… she was sure she had seen something like it before.
"Is her name Sarah Lin? I'm her younger sister! Call her out here! That piece of garbage—what gives her the right to attend No. 1 High?"
The girl continued to shout, but the guard stood firm, refusing to let her in no matter what connections she claimed.
Sarah Lin… Sarah Lin…
"Lily, what are you standing there for? Class is about to start!"
Her thoughts were cut off. She looked up to see a familiar face from her inherited memories—Dolly Brandon, her deskmate.
They lived in the same residential compound, though Dolly's family occupied a detached courtyard house. Her father was the factory director; her mother worked as a department head in the Education Bureau.
"Coming!"
Lily forced a smile, shoved the incident to the back of her mind, and jogged to catch up.
"I'm going to the provincial capital tomorrow," Dolly said, linking arms with her. "They say a new batch of mock exam papers just came in. Want to go with me? We'll take the bus. My mom won't let me go alone."
Mock exams…
A bitter expression flickered across Lily's face.
She had just survived five years of exhausting drills and three years of simulation papers in her previous life. She'd finally clawed her way into university. Summer vacation wasn't even over—and she'd woken up back at square one.
It was mid-April, 1985.
A little more than two months until the college entrance exam.
"I'll go," she said, practically swallowing tears. "Of course I'll go."
Students in this era were terrifyingly competitive. If she couldn't keep up... She didn't dare imagine it.
A university degree in 1985 carried weight far beyond anything in her own time. Even if she had to hang from the rafters and stab her thigh to stay awake, she would fight for that title.
At that moment, she still hadn't fully grasped the true essence of transmigration.
Not until she stepped into the classroom—and saw the girl glowing as if bathed in golden light.
She was stunning in a way that felt almost unreal, as though she belonged to a different dimension entirely.
Her skin was luminous, her features exquisite, her figure gracefully curved. She seemed to carry her own halo. Her long, fox-like eyes tilted upward at the corners, and when her gaze swept across the room, Lily nearly choked.
It was as if a fox spirit had cultivated herself into human form.
Lily swallowed hard.
So delicate. So alluring.
The prototype of a Greek Goddess herself.
"Are you looking at Sarah Lin?" Dolly followed her gaze. "I heard she improved by another thirty points on the latest mock exam. If she keeps this up, she's guaranteed admission to a first-tier university."
Lily nodded fervently.
Scores? She couldn't see any scores.
All she could see was breathtaking beauty.
"Don't you think she's unbelievably pretty? And she's actually our classmate!"
"Huh?"
Dolly blinked, momentarily stunned. Her deskmate seemed… different today.
In the past, Lily had been overly quiet. Now she seemed vibrant, animated.
Especially right now, her lively expression brought her whole face to life. It was the first time Dolly had noticed how pretty her deskmate actually was.
Lily belonged to that fresh, forest-girl type—fair-skinned with a soft, natural charm. Her features weren't individually extraordinary, but together they formed an irresistibly pleasing harmony. A tiny teardrop mole marked the outer corner of her left eye, and another small beauty mark rested on the triangular area beside her right nostril, adding subtle dimension to her face.
Her eyes were deeply expressive. When wronged, she looked pitiful yet stubborn; when she smiled, her eyes curved like crescents, infectious and warm.
"You're not bad-looking yourself," Dolly said, unable to resist pinching her soft cheek. "Your skin's even fairer than hers—and you look younger, too."
"Quick, class is starting. Take out your English textbook."
"Oh…"
Reluctantly, Lily tore her gaze away and rummaged through her backpack.
She noticed that most of the students carried simple army-green canvas bags. Proper backpacks like hers and Dolly's were rare.
Once she slipped into study mode, she forgot all about Sarah... Until after school that afternoon.
The same stubborn girl from the morning was still hanging around outside, telling anyone who would listen about Sarah Lin's alleged misdeeds.
And at last, it hit Lily.
Sarah Lin.
She finally remembered who that name belonged to.