Reborn In the Eighties as a Housewife With a Space

Chapter 1

The last thing Qin Xue heard were two terrifying "thump, thump" sounds. A speeding BMW had struck her, sending her body flying through the air before she crashed onto the hard pavement.

As she lay there, her life flashed before her eyes. She thought of her mother, who had passed away years ago, and felt a deep longing to see her again.

Just moments ago, she had been leaving her job at the hospital, excited to meet her best friend for dinner and karaoke. Now, she was lying in a pool of blood.

Passersby screamed, calling for the police and an ambulance. As the world grew cold and dark, Qin Xue didn't notice the jade pendant around her neck. Soaked in her blood, it gave off a faint, mysterious glow.

When Qin Xue finally opened her eyes, she was met with sharp pain and dizziness. She groaned, squinting at the white ceiling above her. The air smelled strongly of old-fashioned disinfectant.

I must be in a hospital, she thought.

She looked around the room, expecting to be alone. After her mother died when she was five, her father had remarried. She had been pushed aside by her stepmother and half-siblings, finding love only with her grandparents. She had planned to visit them soon—but as she looked closer at her surroundings, something felt very wrong.

The ceiling was peeling, with chunks of plaster ready to fall off. Suddenly, a woman in her early thirties walked in. She was wearing a faded floral shirt, old black pants, and worn-out leather shoes. In her hand, she carried a red thermos decorated with peonies and a large "Double Happiness" character—the kind of thing people used as wedding gifts back in the 1980s.

What year is this? Qin Xue wondered, baffled by the woman’s outdated clothes.

"Who Are You?"

The woman, Fang Hong, rushed to her side. "Qin Xue! You're awake! Does anything hurt? Tell me, and I'll call the doctor."

Qin Xue blinked in confusion.

"Excuse me... who are you? Are you talking to me?"

Fang Hong froze. "Of course I'm talking to you! I'm your sister-in-law, Fang Hong. Don't you recognize me? Oh no, did you hit your head too hard? Wait here, I'll get the doctor!"

Before Qin Xue could say another word, Fang Hong ran out of the room. A moment later, she returned with a man named Dr. Chen. He was dressed in a very old-fashioned medical uniform.

"Dr. Chen, please look at her," Fang Hong pleaded. "She doesn't even know who I am!"

As Dr. Chen reached out to check the large bump on the back of her head, Qin Xue winced. "Ouch! It hurts!"

The physical pain was real, but the confusion was even stronger. She was Qin Xue, but this wasn't her hospital, this wasn't her era, and this woman definitely wasn't her sister-in-law.

__________

After checking the large bump on the back of Qin Xue’s head, Dr. Chen Hao looked at her kindly. "How are you feeling now? Where does it hurt?"

"I'm dizzy, my head is throbbing, and I feel a bit nauseous," Qin Xue replied. As a doctor herself in her past life, she recognized these as classic symptoms of a concussion.

"That’s to be expected," Dr. Chen said. "You hit your head hard and lost a lot of blood. Your concussion is quite serious." He turned to the worried woman standing nearby. "Fang Hong says you don't recognize her. That’s likely because a blood clot is pressing on your nerves, causing temporary amnesia. Once the swelling goes down, your memory should return."

He carefully unwrapped her bandages. "The wound is healing well. I’ll have the nurse change your dressing in a bit."

"Thank you, doctor," Qin Xue said softly.

Fang Hong watched the exchange, her mind racing. "Dr. Chen, can she eat now?" she asked, remembering that Qin Xue was not only recovering from an injury but was also two months pregnant.

While Qin Xue had been unconscious, Fang Hong and another neighbor, Yu Xiu, had been taking turns looking after her. It wasn't an easy task, and honestly, Qin Xue wasn't well-liked in the research institute compound.

The "old" Qin Xue was known for being loud, unreasonable, and having a terrible temper.

Every day, neighbors could hear her screaming at home. Rumor had it that she had used underhanded tricks to force the handsome and successful Chu Molin into marrying her, stealing him away from the institute's resident beauty, Su Yun.

Fang Hong had tried to be friendly when Qin Xue first moved in, but Qin Xue had been rude, telling her to mind her own business. Now, with Chu Molin away on a research mission, it had fallen on the neighbors to make sure she—and her unborn baby—survived.

"Keep it to light, liquid food for now," Dr. Chen advised. "Her stomach won't be ready for a heavy meal yet."

Once the doctor left and the nurse finished changing the bandages, Fang Hong helped Qin Xue to the restroom. "I'll go to the cafeteria and get you some porridge after this," she offered.

"Thank you, Sister-in-law," Qin Xue said. Moving made her head spin, but she managed to get back to bed with Fang Hong’s help.

Left alone in the quiet room, Qin Xue lifted her hands and stared at them. Her heart skipped a beat.

In her previous life, she was a surgeon with fair, elegant hands. These hands were the right shape, but they were thin, dark, and rough. She touched her face and felt the different texture of her skin.

She knew Dr. Chen was wrong about the amnesia. She hadn't forgotten her life; she had simply woken up in a completely different one.

I died in that accident, she realized, a chill running down her spine. I’ve been reborn into the body of another woman named Qin Xue. She was now a pregnant housewife in the 1980s, married to a man she didn't know, and living in a community where everyone seemingly hated her.

_________

Waking up in a body named Qin Xue without a single memory of this new life was terrifying. Qin Xue felt completely in the dark.

What do I do? Who are these people? she wondered. If I'm stuck here, I need to figure out how to survive.

As she was lost in thought, Fang Hong returned with a rectangular metal lunchbox.

"Qin Xue, I brought you some food," Fang Hong said, opening the box to reveal porridge and steamed buns. She moved to feed Qin Xue, but Qin Xue gently stopped her.

"Sister-in-law, please just help me sit up. I can feed myself," Qin Xue said. Even though her head was spinning, her pride as a former independent doctor made being spoon-fed feel very strange.

Fang Hong looked surprised—the "old" Qin Xue would usually have demanded even more service—but she helped prop her up with a pillow.

"Have you eaten yet, Sister-in-law?" Qin Xue asked before taking a bite.

Fang Hong blinked, even more shocked by the sudden politeness. "I'll eat after you're finished," she replied.

The food was simple. The porridge was bland, and the steamed bun, filled with pork and vermicelli, didn't taste nearly as good as the food Qin Xue used to cook for herself. But she knew her stomach couldn't handle anything heavy yet, so she forced herself to finish the bowl and half a bun.

"I’m full now. Please, go eat your own meal," Qin Xue insisted.

Once Fang Hong left to wash the dishes and eat, Qin Xue closed her eyes. The dizziness was overwhelming, but her mind was clear. Everything—the clothes, the hospital, the old-fashioned thermos—pointed to the fact that she was no longer in the modern world. She had truly traveled back decades in time.

I have to make the best of this, she told herself. But I worry about my grandparents. How will they cope with my death back home?

Exhausted by the mental strain, she drifted into a deep sleep.

When she woke up again, the afternoon sun was streaming through the window. Beside her bed sat a new woman quietly knitting a sweater. This woman looked to be in her thirties, but unlike Fang Hong, her clothes were fashionable and high-quality. She carried herself with a calm, refined air.

Noticing Qin Xue was awake, the woman put down her knitting.

"You're up. Are you thirsty? Do you need to use the restroom?"

"The restroom, please," Qin Xue said, feeling the effects of the morning porridge.

After helping her back to bed and pouring her some warm water, the woman sat back down. Her attitude wasn't mean, but it was a bit cold and distant.

"I'm Yu Xiu," she explained.

"Fang Hong and I are taking turns looking after you. If you need anything, just let me know."

Qin Xue realized the system: Yu Xiu, whose children were younger and in kindergarten, took the day shift. Fang Hong, whose son was older and in junior high, took the night shift.

It was a lot of work for neighbors to do for someone who apparently hadn't been very nice to them.

"Sister-in-law Yu Xiu, why don't you go eat first?" Qin Xue said softly. "Just bring me some porridge whenever you're done. There’s no rush—take your time."

Yu Xiu looked at her, noting the quiet, gentle tone that was so unlike the "old" Qin Xue. Without a word, she nodded and headed toward the cafeteria, leaving Qin Xue alone with her thoughts once again.