Shen Fuyao was from the neighboring Phoenix Brigade. Not only was she beautiful, but she had also studied up to middle school—an educated young woman.
The Wang family went to propose marriage. Wang Chaoying was handsome and a soldier, so they assumed the Shen family would be eager to agree.
But they hadn’t expected that Shen Fuyao, having been doted on by her grandmother all her life, had no desire to marry in and become a stepmother. She outright refused.
It was only later, when her beloved grandmother suddenly fell ill and needed money for treatment, that the Wang family offered a bride price of 500 yuan. Reluctantly, Shen Fuyao agreed to marry.
Because she wasn’t of legal age, the army approved the political review but didn’t issue a marriage certificate. And due to her grandmother’s illness, there was no grand banquet—just two tables for relatives and friends. That was considered marriage.
So 500 yuan bought the family a real treasure!
After marrying, Shen Fuyao did nothing but take care of the children.
At first, Zhou Lanxiang tried to set rules—feeding the daughter-in-law only leftover food—but Shen Fuyao flipped the table and even threatened that if she didn’t get white rice or two meals of meat a month, she’d report it to the army.
Soldiers feared disciplinary issues above all, and Zhou Lanxiang, concerned for her son’s future, dared not defy her.
But Shen Fuyao didn’t stop there. She went further, taking Wang Chaoying’s monthly allowance as her own under the pretense of child-rearing expenses.
The result?
By the time the children were two and could speak, after being coddled a bit by Zhou Lanxiang, they wanted to cling to their grandmother. If they said a word against their “bad mother,” Shen Fuyao would hand them over to Zhou Lanxiang to care for—and never interfered again.
Now, Wang Zhuo’er and Wang Caifeng spent their days and nights with Zhou Lanxiang in the infirmary.
Shen Fuyao spent her days eating and doing light work in the fields, earning three or four work points daily. Life couldn’t have been more comfortable.
In Wang Chaomei’s eyes, all that mattered could be summed up in one sentence: her sister-in-law was useless at everything except eating meat.
“Time to eat meat. If you don’t, there won’t be any left!” Wang Chaomei pushed and prodded again.
Everyone knows you can’t wake someone who’s pretending to sleep.
Believing the knockout drug had taken effect, Wang Chaomei twisted her hips and left the room to start explaining the next steps to Zhou Lanxiang.
“Mom, I only found out at the army that Zhuo’er and Caifeng are my brother’s biological children. They were born to Comrade Xia Yulan, the best dancer in the Arts Troupe,” Wang Chaomei said, raising her voice since she thought Shen Fuyao was asleep.
“Ah?” Zhou Lanxiang exclaimed in surprise. “Then my son made a mistake… he won’t be dismissed from the army, will he?”
As a mother, her top concern was her son’s future. Otherwise, over the past four years, Shen Fuyao wouldn’t have held all the cards so firmly.
“Mom, Xia Yulan’s stepfather is the commander. And my brother recently performed a great deed—he destroyed the enemy headquarters. Sister-in-law said the army plans to promote him several ranks at once. Soon, he’ll be a battalion commander. His future is limitless. Nothing will happen to him. No one in the army even knows about my brother and my new sister-in-law. I rushed back just to deal with Shen Fuyao,” Wang Chaomei explained.
Shen Fuyao’s eyes widened in shock. In her previous life, at this same time, Wang Chaoying had violated regulations and been dismissed from the army.
How had he achieved such great merit this time—and was about to become a battalion commander? Could this be a chain reaction from her own rebirth?
[Author’s note: The female lead, Fuyou, takes her name from Li Bai’s poem: “The roc will soar with the wind, rising ninety thousand miles.” Fuyou means wind. The male lead, Dongfang Yunqi, takes his name from Wang Wei’s poem: “Walked to the end of the river, sat and watched the clouds rise.”]
Shen Fuyao couldn’t quite figure it out.
From outside, Zhou Lanxiang’s voice rang out again. “Are Zhuo’er and Caifeng really your brother’s children?”
Before Wang Chaomei could answer, Zhou Lanxiang suddenly understood. “They must be. The elder looks exactly like your brother when he was little—and he was very clever even then.”
“When the children were first brought home, I thought they looked like your brother. I asked if they were his biological children. He swore they weren’t, saying all babies look alike, so it wasn’t strange. That little rascal even lied to me!”
Wang Chaomei explained, “Mom, my brother didn’t want anyone to know, to protect Sister-in-law. Xia Yulan’s stepfather is the commander—he couldn’t have a daughter who was pregnant out of wedlock!”
“Hmph,” Zhou Lanxiang scowled. “Truly, men forget their mothers once they get a wife. By the way, why does the younger one look nothing like your brother?”