Chapter One: At the Beginning, a Crooked-Necked Tree and Hungry Snake Hatchlings Beneath

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Chapter 1
"Damn it, if crossing over doesn't grant me wealth and glory, at least don't mess with me like this!"
"I am terrified of snakes! So many... help—"
At night, somewhere in the rainforest, Jiang Cha clung frantically to a tree, crying out for help.
In the twenty-first century, she was a conscientious veterinarian, devoted to healing animals and voluntarily working overtime.
But after a day without food, a bout of hypoglycemia struck, and she collapsed headfirst into a nearby trash bin. When she awoke, she found herself dangling from a tree.
Her mind was flooded with the memories of the body's original owner, and Jiang Cha was on the verge of despair. This was too miserable.
Not only had she crossed over to the 1970s, but she was also in a place utterly unfamiliar to her.
The original owner was a pampered heiress of North City, only to discover she had been switched at birth. When the true heiress arrived, her cruel foster parents abandoned her to her biological family.
A frail mother, an abusive father, a broken sister, a grandmother who favored sons over daughters—pitiful indeed.
Just as the original owner began to adjust to life here, her hapless biological father suddenly decided she should marry the village chief’s mentally challenged son.
Was he insane?!
The original owner rebelled, escaped, got lost in this forest, and was surrounded by a swarm of snakes.
The good news: the snakes dared not climb this tree.
The bad news: they coiled below, watching her hungrily, intent on exhausting her to death.
Staring at the mass of snakes below, Jiang Cha was in tears.
What kind of fate was this?
"Heavens, I beg you, save me!"
Her story began with a nest of snakes—truly impossible!
Though she was a veterinarian, she had never treated exotic pets.
[Do you think this two-legged creature is an idiot? What is she babbling about?]
[Little one, mind your words! She is our savior. Have you forgotten who freed us when we were caught for our gall?]
[If not for her kindness, we wouldn’t help her. Among snakes, gratitude is sacred!]
[If she doesn’t return home soon, her mother will be beaten to death. We’ve circled below for ages—doesn’t she get it?]
[Enough, children. We must find a way to send her home quickly. This yellow bark tree is our mortal enemy—we can’t climb it.]
"My goodness, am I hallucinating or have I gone mad?!"
Cold sweat poured down Jiang Cha’s face. She seemed to hear the chattering voices of the snake swarm below.
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[Ding——]
[Congratulations, host, for binding to the Universal Beast Communication System.]
[World mission: With the aid of the system, uplift the nation.]
[Daily tasks will be updated at random times. Complete them to earn a reward of five yuan.]
[Newcomer gift pack: Snake Speech Function.]
[Please strive forward, care for animals, and protect nature!]
A system! Joy surged through Jiang Cha’s heart. Not only did she have a system, but she could earn five yuan daily.
Though five yuan in the twenty-first century could only buy two lollipops, here in the rural 1970s, even the wealthiest butcher in the village earned barely thirty yuan a month.
By rough calculation, Jiang Cha was now a minor heiress herself!
"Mama, has this two-legged creature lost her mind? Why does she keep smiling like that?"
A childish voice from the snake swarm snapped Jiang Cha back to reality.
Hearing these snakes speak, Jiang Cha suddenly found them rather cute.
She stayed perched on the tree, listening for a while longer, and once certain the snakes meant no harm, she nimbly descended.
[Ahh, the two-legged creature is coming down!]
[Oh my, look how tall she is! Is she going to attack us?]
The snake swarm writhed and chattered incessantly, making Jiang Cha’s ears ache.
"Stop making such a racket!"
Jiang Cha crouched, gazing helplessly at the colorful snakes.
[Ahh, Mama, she can hear us!]
"Not only can I hear you, I can understand you," Jiang Cha replied, ignoring the snapping of several small snakes, focusing instead on the snake mother.
"What were you saying just now? My mother is about to be beaten to death—what’s going on?"
The snake mother, seasoned and calm, met Jiang Cha’s gaze.
[You escaped, your father discovered it, and assumed your mother deliberately let you go, so he’s venting his anger on her.]
Jiang Cha’s delicate face tightened. Now that she inhabited this body, the original owner's mother was her mother, and the original owner's enemies were hers as well.
"That damned old brute, wait until Jiang Cha returns and deals with you!"
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She glanced around the pitch-black surroundings—nothing but trees, punctuated every so often by the shrill calls of cicadas echoing through the empty rainforest. It was eerie.
"I'm lost. Can you take me home?"
Jiang Cha was the savior of these snakes; the snake mother had been yearning for a chance to repay her debt, and here it was.
[Savior, follow me!]
The snake mother agreed briskly and slithered across the ground, her young trailing close behind.
Clutching the trash bin, Jiang Cha ran after the snake mother.
She was immensely grateful—were it not for the snake swarm, she might have wandered the rainforest until her death, unable to find her way out.
The towering ancient trees offered no landmarks, every spot looked alike, a veritable death trap.
Just as Jiang Cha was about to collapse from exhaustion, she finally glimpsed the hopeful glow of firelight.
Recognizing the village, Jiang Cha recalled the location of her own home.
The young snakes chattered, "Sister, we’ll go back with you. Your father is fierce—he often beats you!"
Jiang Cha didn’t refuse; her mind was fixed on dealing with that old brute.
Perhaps because her mother had died early in her previous life, she never knew what it felt like to have a mother.
But from the memories she had just inherited, Jiang Cha realized that since coming to this godforsaken village, only her birth mother had treated her kindly.
The Jiang family’s bamboo house stood in a quiet corner, a typical stilted structure.
The roof was battered, tiles constantly falling off, and the ground floor, crammed with clutter, made the already small house feel even more cramped.
From the second floor came the anguished cries of a woman and the sound of a wooden stick cleaving the air.
"Ah—stop, please stop hitting me!"
Hearing the voice, Jiang Cha’s eyes turned cold and fierce. She found a wrist-thick wooden stick by the door, grasped it firmly, and marched straight inside.
"You wretched girl—how dare you come back?!"
Jiang Dazhu glared at Jiang Cha as she burst into the house, an old scar running from his eye to his ear, making him look even more sinister.
He strode over, raising his stick high.
Jiang Cha sneered. She was no longer the foolish girl who merely endured beatings. She swiftly sidestepped, dodging Jiang Dazhu’s blow.
"You dare dodge? Are you rebelling against me?!"
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