“It hurts…” In her sleep, Xu Changxia couldn’t help but let out a soft whimper.
“Then should I stop?” A sharp, cold male voice came from above her.
A shiver ran through Xu Changxia, and she instantly became mostly awake.
Only then did she realize what that feeling just now was!
But she was already fifty! Long past her prime! How could she…
She snapped her eyes open and looked at the man on top of her. The man’s resolute facial contours were firm and full of youthful energy; he looked to be in his twenties at most.
“Who are you?!” Xu Changxia was stunned for a few seconds, then snatched the nearby quilt and wrapped it around herself.
In the dim light, her peripheral vision accidentally caught a glimpse of the man’s lean, sturdy upper body and the faint outline of his V-line abs revealed after she had pulled the quilt away.
Xu Changxia’s face burned even hotter, and she retracted her gaze as if she had been electrocuted.
“Since you’re so resistant, even to the point of biting your tongue to kill yourself, then let’s just forget it.” The man fell silent for a few seconds, then pulled away.
His cold voice carried an indescribable hint of strangeness.
After speaking, his movements were decisive. He got up, sat on the edge of the bed, and picked up a military jacket to drape over his shoulders.
Only then did Xu Changxia belatedly notice the pain on the tip of her tongue. Her mouth was now filled with the taste of blood.
She didn’t know what had just happened. While clutching the quilt tightly around herself, she subconsciously glanced at the man’s back again.
That one glance stunned her once more.
If she wasn’t mistaken, the jacket the man was wearing was a military uniform style from at least thirty years ago!
“You…” Before she could get a clear look, the man had already finished dressing, gotten up, pushed the door open, and strode away.
Xu Changxia stared at the military boots on his feet and suddenly realized something.
She looked down at the quilt she was holding. Embroidered on the old-fashioned, bright red satin quilt were Linked Lotus Flowers and Dragon and Phoenix Bring Auspiciousness.
She froze for a few seconds, then hurriedly jumped out of bed. Following her memory of where the light switch was, she pulled the cord.
The light came on. She gave her surroundings a quick glance and saw that, sure enough, she was in the Jiang family’s old house!
The room was decorated like a bridal chamber, and on the opposite wall hung a perpetual calendar. The red characters on it were dazzlingly bright under the forty-watt bulb. Today was December 1st, 1981! It was the day of her engagement at eighteen!
Xu Changxia took a few steps back and sat down on the sofa.
So, the situation was obvious. After she died, she had been reborn, returning to the night of her engagement banquet more than thirty years ago!
The man from just now must have been her fiancé, Jiang Yao, who had died in battle after their engagement!
At the end of ’81, the situation was tense. The Jiang family worried that Jiang Yao could be sent to the battlefield at any moment, so they had arranged for them to share a room on the night of the engagement banquet.
She had only seen Jiang Yao four times and wasn’t familiar with his face. Coupled with the fact that the lights were off just now, she hadn’t recognized him at first.
She pinched her arm hard. It hurt, and the spot she pinched turned bright red.
She then picked up the old-fashioned thermos on the table, poured some water into an enamel mug, and took a sip, ignoring the steam still rising from it.
The moment it entered her mouth, it was so hot that she spat it out instinctively.
“Ah!” she cried out subconsciously, hastily getting up to wipe the water off herself.
However, when she looked up, she saw herself in the mirror opposite her.
In the mirror was the delicate, oval face of her youth. At this moment, her eyes were watery from the scalding water, and her small cherry-like mouth was bright red and slightly swollen.
Only at this moment was Xu Changxia certain that she had truly been reborn.
The heavens had eyes!
In her previous life, five months later, in May of ’82, Jiang Yao died in battle, his body never recovered.
So much had happened within those five months, ultimately leading her to make the worst choice of her life: she remarried his younger brother, Jiang Chi, beginning her nightmarish thirty-plus years.
She had died by suicide.
The scene of her death was still vivid in her mind; even now, a sharp pain twisted in her chest.
Fortunately, the heavens had given her a chance to repent!
And tonight was the beginning of her rewriting her destiny!
Xu Changxia sat on the sofa, her gaze slowly sweeping over the strange yet familiar surroundings.
She knew the exact date Jiang Yao would die in battle! This time, she could warn him in advance to be careful.
Jiang Yao’s current rank was lieutenant colonel, a battalion commander. To become a battalion commander at twenty-six was a rarity, even in this era. If Jiang Yao could avoid the accident five months from now, he would surely have a great future!
Taking a step back, even if Jiang Yao couldn’t escape his fate of dying in battle in this life, his high rank meant his family would receive a death benefit of eight thousand yuan, plus a two-story house.
In her past life, if only she hadn’t hesitated and dared to get a marriage certificate with Jiang Yao, she could have lived very well with these securities, even as a widow.
Thinking back now, she had been unbelievably foolish.
And taking another step back, even if she didn’t manage to get the certificate, she was someone living a second life. She could definitely use her own two hands to escape poverty and build a fortune!
Gold was everywhere for the taking now; she would have countless opportunities to climb up!
Within just a few minutes, Xu Changxia’s mind raced. She had already clearly weighed the pros and cons of everything and considered all future possibilities.
After a while, she stood up, walked quickly back to the bed, and lifted the quilt to check.
There were no ambiguous traces on the bed, and her body didn’t feel any discomfort. So, her first time with Jiang Yao had been forcefully interrupted by her.
But in her previous life, her first night with Jiang Yao had been a success.
In this era, a woman biting her tongue to kill herself to drive away her fiancé on their wedding night was simply unheard of. Jiang Yao must be very disappointed in her.
Therefore, the most important thing now was to go and coax back the angered Jiang Yao.
Her mind made up, she planned to go straight to Jiang Yao.
Just as she draped her clothes on, someone from outside pushed the door open and walked right in.
“Who is it?” Xu Changxia jumped, subconsciously turning her back and hastily fastening the last two buttons on her clothes.
“Me.” The person at the door hesitated for a moment before replying in a low voice.
Xu Changxia turned to look and saw that it was, unexpectedly, Jiang Yao’s younger brother, Jiang Chi.
She froze for a second, then immediately turned back to finish buttoning her collar.
“What are you doing here?” she asked Jiang Chi, her brows knitted tightly.
“What? You don’t want me to come?” Jiang Chi walked unsteadily to stand behind her.
He seemed to have been drinking; Xu Changxia could smell the faint scent of alcohol.
She immediately took two steps back, putting distance between herself and Jiang Chi, and replied coldly, “Before the engagement banquet, I already made everything clear to you.”
“That’s right, my dear sister-in-law. Didn’t you say that you didn’t actually want to marry my brother?” Jiang Chi retorted, his gloomy eyes filled with a hint of malice.
Xu Changxia stared at him in silence.
In the hallway outside the door, Jiang Yao, who had turned back, froze in his tracks.
He clutched the hemostatic medicine for Xu Changxia, and through the translucent frosted glass of the window, he quietly watched the two people inside the room.