Iris sat at home, but the loudspeaker out on the street kept blaring the same message over and over. The noise drilled straight into her skull, making her temples throb.

She glanced at the mirror. Staring back was a pale, delicate face—pretty, young. Even though she'd already forced herself to accept what happened, it still felt unreal.

She’d survived five whole years in the apocalypse, always moving alone and keeping her head down.

She had to. The secret she carried would’ve made her a walking target. If the lunatics out there ever found out, she wouldn’t even know how she died.

Not that Iris was easy to mess with. In a place where people ate each other alive, surviving meant climbing up step by bloody step.

Who would’ve thought she’d just close her eyes, and when she opened them again, she’d landed in a totally different era—heck, not even the same world.

The years and big national events lined up with her old memories, but the leaders’ names were different.

The girl whose body she now occupied was named Elaine Sterling—only one character different from her own name.

It was 1972. The girl was freshly eighteen and had only graduated high school not long ago. Then the news came out of nowhere: her parents died protecting collective property.

The local authorities praised them to the sky and promised to take good care of their daughter. With the pension and the money her parents left behind, she should’ve been living pretty comfortably.

But some folks just couldn’t stand seeing others do well. Their hearts were rotten. And the girl was too honest for her own good—got tricked left and right. She almost lost the state-assigned job quota and even got fooled into signing up to go be a sent-down youth.

If Benson Morrison, her dad’s old comrade, hadn’t come to check on her, nobody would’ve known how bad things had gotten. Seeing how clueless she was, he gritted his teeth and laid everything out bit by bit. She wasn’t stupid—actually quite sharp—but her mind was too clean. She never imagined the friend she’d trusted so much would stab her in the back.

After Benson left, Elaine was completely shattered, wandering around like she wasn’t even in her own body.

And that was when Iris slipped in and took over.

She absorbed all the girl’s memories quickly and couldn’t help sighing. To raise a kid this sheltered in times like these… her parents were really something.

The girl might not have cared, but Iris did. She never let herself get taken advantage of.

The decision to go to the countryside was already locked in—no way to change it. Iris quickly tidied up the place. Most of the money and food went straight into her space.

Yes, that space.

It was the very reason she survived the apocalypse—the storage space and the supplies she’d hoarded inside it.

She sifted through the stack of ration tickets, picked out the ones about to expire, grabbed her cloth bag, locked the door, and hopped on the old 28-inch bicycle. Wobbling a little, she headed toward the supply and marketing cooperative.

There weren’t many people in the supply and marketing store at this hour. Iris Sterling walked straight to the counter for candy and pastries, pulling out every sugar coupon and pastry coupon she had and placing them on the glass.

The clerk stared at the pile of tickets the quiet girl had suddenly dumped down. For a moment, she looked stunned.

"Comrade, I want fruit drops, milk candy, peach crisps, and egg cakes." Iris’s voice sounded cool and steady.

The clerk swallowed, double‑checking, "All of them?"

Iris nodded. She was heading to the countryside soon—no point hanging on to these coupons. Who knew if that remote place even sold things like this? Since she had her space ability, stocking up and putting everything away now was simply easier.

Seeing her nod, the clerk didn’t ask more. She quickly weighed and packed everything. "That’ll be twenty‑six yuan."

Iris glanced at the pile on the counter, doing the math in her head. Prices in this era really were cheap. She slipped a hand into her pocket—really into her space—and pulled out the money, handing it over.

After taking the change, Iris lifted the several bags and walked out of the store.

She ducked into a quiet alley, made sure no one was around, then hurriedly stored everything into her space before hopping onto her old Twenty‑Eight bike and pedaling off.

After turning through a few streets, Iris arrived at the Women’s Federation office. She knocked on the door of the reception room, politely telling the old gatekeeper that she was looking for the director because she had something to report.

The old man took in the sight of the pale, delicate young girl. His tone softened without him realizing it. He told Iris to wait a moment, then went in to notify someone.

Soon, a sharp‑looking middle‑aged woman came out. Iris quickly stepped forward.

"Hello, comrade."

"Hello. What can I do for you?" Selena Wallace, the Women’s Federation director, looked at the girl curiously.

"Hello, my name is Elaine Sterling. I live at No. 6, xx Alley. My father is Hillan Sterling."

The moment Selena Wallace heard the name Hillan Sterling, her whole posture stiffened. She snapped to attention and gave a crisp, formal salute.

"Comrade, I’m Selena Wallace. Come, come—let’s talk inside." After the salute, she warmly led Iris toward the office.

When the gatekeeper heard this was Hillan Sterling’s daughter, his eyes showed nothing but pity. Ay…

Inside the Women’s Federation office—

"Comrade Sterling, what brings you here today? Did you run into some trouble?" Selena Wallace looked at the quiet, refined girl in front of her with genuine concern.

"Comrade Selena, just call me Yi. I came today because I need your help with something." As she spoke, she pulled a set of papers from her bag and handed them over.

Selena Wallace took them, her brows instantly tightening in confusion.

Before she could even ask, Iris Sterling opened her mouth. "Comrade Selena, this is the job quota the state gave me after my dad passed."

Selena froze for a second, then looked down at the position again. A state‑owned post. Solid as bedrock.

"Comrade Selena, I want to give this quota up." The moment Iris said it, Selena was completely stunned.

"What did you say?" Selena shot to her feet.

"Yi, just call me Auntie Selena, don’t be so distant. You want to give up the job? Why? This is the country’s guarantee for you!"

"Auntie Selena… I’ll be honest with you. I already signed up to go to the countryside. Keeping this job won’t do me any good." Iris lowered her head on purpose, looking like she could barely hold herself together.

"Why on earth would you go to the countryside? Who pushed you into that?" Selena looked at the thin, timid girl in front of her and lit up with anger on the spot.

Iris hadn’t expected such a fierce reaction. A small warmth flickered inside her chest.

"Auntie Selena, let’s not dig into the details. I chose to go. I just… want to leave here for a few years, and it’s still serving the country."

Selena looked at the girl forcing herself to be strong, cheeks puffed with held‑back grievances, and made up her mind right there—she had to get to the bottom of this.

Seeing that Iris wasn’t budging, Selena’s heart suddenly jumped with excitement.

"Yi, Auntie Selena won’t beat around the bush. If you really want to give this job up… could you let Auntie have it? Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you don’t lose out."

A quiet breath of relief slipped from Iris. This was exactly what she’d hoped for.