Inside the military district compound, in the commander’s office—
Jiang Zhinian had backed the tall, broad-shouldered man in military uniform against his desk.
“Commander Huo, will you marry me…?”
Her lush red lips hovered beside his ear as she breathed softly against him. Her curvaceous body was almost pressed against his strong, muscular frame.
Huo Lin stood ramrod straight. His dark eyes looked at her with icy indifference, as though the soft and stunning beauty standing so close to him was not a woman at all, but some detestable enemy.
“If I remember correctly, we no longer have anything to do with each other.”
Jiang Zhinian curled her lips into a breathtaking smile. Her slender, fair fingertips brushed against his stiff collar, stroking it intimately.
“Commander Huo, we grew up together. We were childhood sweethearts, weren’t we?”
She rose onto her tiptoes, bringing her seductive, exquisitely beautiful face even closer. Their breaths were practically about to mingle.
Just as she was about to touch the corner of his lips, Huo Lin suddenly seized her chin.
His grip was so strong that a red mark immediately appeared on her delicate, fair skin.
Jiang Zhinian frowned in pain, but she didn’t pull away. Instead, she tilted up her head, her misty eyes blinking innocently.
“Jiang Zhinian, what exactly are you trying to do?”
Huo Lin’s gaze darkened as he scrutinized her face.
This woman had always been greedy and calculating. In the past, she had made life difficult for him at every turn, yet recently, she had suddenly started clinging to him.
Jiang Zhinian pouted her red lips, her captivating eyes shimmering as she answered without hesitation.
“I want to be your wife.”
Her fingertips were soft and silky, while a faint, alluring fragrance lingered in the air around her—enough to make countless men lose their composure.
Unfortunately for her, the man standing before her was Huo Lin.
The hand gripping her chin tightened slightly, and a shadow fell across his deeply sculpted, handsome face.
His thin lips parted as he was about to say something when—
Knock, knock, knock.
A sudden rap sounded at the door.
“Brother Lin, may I come in?”
A delicate female voice rang out, carrying an unmistakable note of affected sweetness.
“Oh? Your little sweetheart is here.” Jiang Zhinian winked playfully. “Aren’t you going to welcome her?”
Huo Lin pressed his lips together and said nothing, merely staring at her coldly.
Only then did Jiang Zhinian seem to realize what he meant. Smiling, she took several steps back and gave him some space.
Huo Lin finally turned sideways and walked past her.
At six-foot-three, his mere presence was overwhelmingly imposing. Even his perfectly tailored military uniform couldn’t conceal the powerful lines of his muscles.
The door opened, but only halfway.
Liu Yuerou stood outside in a plain cotton-and-linen dress. Her long, straight black hair fell smoothly over her shoulders, and her expression was gentle and obedient, making her look like an innocent young woman untouched by the ways of the world.
She curiously leaned forward, trying to peek inside, but Huo Lin’s tall body completely blocked her view.
“What is it?”
Huo Lin’s expression remained cold. He showed no intention of letting her inside.
Liu Yuerou bit her lip, and a faint blush appeared on her cheeks. Raising the lunch box in her hands to her chest, she said softly,
“Brother Lin, I heard from my father that you’ve been busy with a mission lately. I was worried that you might forget to eat…”
She was fairly pretty, and she had carefully dressed herself before coming. On her way through the military district compound, she had attracted quite a few admiring glances.
Brother Lin must think she’s pretty too, right?
Little did she know that even when faced with Jiang Zhinian, a beauty stunning enough to rival a celestial maiden, Huo Lin had remained as unmoved as a saint.
Now, his face was even more expressionless.
“Thank you, but I’ve already eaten. Take it back.”
Liu Yuerou’s expression stiffened. She nervously tugged at the hem of her dress and forced a smile.
“I made this myself. You can eat it later when you’re hungry.”
Without giving Huo Lin another chance to refuse, she set the lunch box on the floor and hurried away as fast as she could.
Had she turned around any slower, the sudden distortion of her expression would have been impossible to hide.
Why?
She had been coming to the commander’s office almost every day for months, yet Brother Lin still treated her with the same icy indifference.
“Stop staring. She’s already gone.”
Jiang Zhinian teased with a smile.
She stepped forward and picked up the brand-new-looking lunch box.
Huo Lin watched her coldly but made no move to stop her.
“Jiang Zhinian, I’m warning you one last time. Stay away from me.”
“Mm-hmm…” Jiang Zhinian answered absentmindedly.
Then, without warning, she leaned closer, rose onto her toes, and planted a feather-light kiss at the corner of his lips.
Before he could react, she spun around and walked away.
It wasn’t until her slender figure disappeared around the corner that Huo Lin finally moved, stiffly closing the office door behind him.
Jiang Zhinian had kissed him?
Didn’t Jiang Zhinian hate him more than anyone else?
For years, she had insulted and abused him in every possible way, treating him as nothing more than a tool for venting her spoiled young lady’s temper.
Heh.
She must have come up with some new way to toy with him.
The darkness swirling in Huo Lin’s narrow eyes deepened.
Meanwhile, out in the courtyard, Jiang Zhinian walked along with light, cheerful steps, humming an unfamiliar tune.
Inside her mind, a lively, childish voice rang out.
[Host Niannian, you’re amazing! A one-second kiss has earned you 0.5 days of life force, plus an additional two days as a beginner’s reward!]
Jiang Zhinian twitched the corner of her mouth.
“Tuantuan, I risked my life kissing that human iceberg, and all I got was half a day? Isn’t your system being a little stingy?”
Tuantuan’s voice immediately turned pitiful.
[Host, one second in exchange for half a day is already a very generous conversion rate!]
[Besides, Host Niannian is so charming and beautiful that conquering the male lead is only a matter of time!]
Jiang Zhinian nodded in satisfaction.
Obviously, she had transmigrated into a novel.
She had been a world-renowned interpreter in the 21st century. While traveling to a war zone to promote a peace initiative, she had unfortunately been struck by a shell.
She had thought she would die just like that.
Instead, the system known as Tuantuan had collected her soul.
It then sent her into a small fictional world centered around the novel Military Marriage in the Eighties: Sweet as Honey, with the mission of correcting the male lead Huo Lin’s romantic storyline.
The male lead, Huo Lin, was originally supposed to fall in love with the female lead, Liu Yuerou, at first sight. Then, after one melodramatic misunderstanding after another—and plenty of passionate, indescribable moments—their love would deepen until they eventually grew old together hand in hand.
But for some reason, there seemed to be something wrong with Huo Lin in this fictional world.
Liu Yuerou remained as affectionate and devoted to him as ever, yet he simply refused to be moved.
And so, Jiang Zhinian was given a role to play.
Unfortunately, her role was that of the clichéd villainous supporting character who happened to share her exact name.
For the first nineteen years of her life, the original Jiang Zhinian had lived as freely and extravagantly as she pleased.
Her family held immense power, and since she was their only daughter, she had naturally been showered with endless love and indulgence.
In an era when supplies were scarce, she still had countless new toys—both domestic and imported, each more unusual than the last.
And among those toys, the most unusual one of all was a living, breathing person—
Huo Lin.
That’s right. Huo Lin had originally been an orphan adopted by the Jiang family, simply because he had been exceptionally handsome as a boy.
The original Jiang Zhinian had caught a glimpse of him by chance, and that single sight had left the young girl utterly captivated.
And so, the Jiang parents—who spoiled their daughter beyond reason—adopted Huo Lin.
They called him their adopted son, but in truth, he was little more than someone brought into the household to entertain Jiang Zhinian.
Although Jiang Zhinian had been young, she had already been spoiled and willful. She would either beat Huo Lin or scold him, and over time, he developed a dark and brooding personality.
However, a dramatic turning point occurred when the original Jiang Zhinian turned nineteen…