The wind was yellow, carrying sand and gravel like countless tiny files, tirelessly grinding away at this barren stretch of Gobi Desert.
A dark green jeep jolted along the pothole-ridden dirt road like a beetle struggling in raging waves.
“Ugh—”
Su Huaiyin clutched her chest. Her delicate little face, barely the size of a palm, was deathly pale. She tightly gripped the car door handle, her hand as smooth and fine as white jade—completely out of place against the rusty, rough metal door.
“Comrade Su, hold on a little longer. The base is just ahead,” the driver, guard Xiao Zhang, said while glancing at her through the rearview mirror. His eyes were full of sympathy, mixed with a hint of astonishment.
He had never seen such a beautiful girl in his life.
Her skin was so fair it seemed to glow, like a freshly peeled lychee. She wore a fashionable light-purple fitted dress from the capital and shiny little lambskin shoes.
In this land of yellow sand and dusty faces, she looked like a peony that had suddenly fallen into a mud pit—stunning enough to take one’s breath away, yet delicate to the point of disbelief.
Su Huaiyin had no strength to speak. Right now, she only wanted to go back and pull out all of her grandfather’s beard.
She had transmigrated into the 1960s as the only girl of the Su family across three generations. She had grown up like a treasured jewel.
Her grandfather was a senior revolutionary leader, her father a diplomat, and her brothers all doted on her as if she might break at any moment. As a top student at Beijing University and a key piano soloist trained by the cultural troupe, her life was supposed to shine brilliantly.
But half a month ago, the grandfather who had always spoiled her rotten forced her into marriage over an absurd decades-old promise.
Back then, during the revolution, Su’s grandfather had been struck by shrapnel and half his shoulder was blown away. It was the Cheng family grandfather who carried him out of a pile of corpses. In the trenches, they made a marriage pact—if they had children of opposite sexes, they would marry them; if not, the agreement would pass to their grandchildren.
Su’s grandfather slapped his thigh and said: “Huaiyin, you can’t forget your roots! That Cheng family grandson-in-law is yours and yours alone!”
And so, without even seeing a photo of the other party, Su Huaiyin was forcibly registered for marriage, packed up, and sent onto a green train bound for the Northwest.
“What do you mean ‘mine alone’… I think he’s just throwing his own granddaughter into a fire pit.”
Her eyes reddened. She felt deeply wronged. Looking at the desolate wasteland outside—where not even a bird seemed willing to poop—she became more and more determined.
Divorce! She must divorce!
She was carrying a neatly written divorce application in her bag. Even if her grandfather broke her legs, she would not live in this place for the rest of her life.
“We’re here!” Xiao Zhang shouted, slamming on the brakes.
The inertia sent Su Huaiyin crashing into the front seat, tears instantly springing from her eyes in pain.
The car door opened, and a wave of scorching, fishy wind rushed in.
Su Huaiyin had just stepped out when she was almost blown off balance. Her elegant sunhat flew off instantly, rolling away like a kite with a broken string.
“My hat!” she exclaimed.
This was the Northwest Military District base.
It was nothing like the orderly, imposing image she had imagined. Instead, there were rows of low brick houses, and in the distance, a training ground echoed with roaring shouts. The air was filled with sweat, diesel, and a strange earthy smell.
The sentries at the gate had been standing straight, eyes forward, but the moment Su Huaiyin got out of the car, their eyes nearly popped out.
Where did this fairy come from?
Su Huaiyin ignored her messy hair, steadied herself, dragged her heavy suitcase, and walked to the guard post in her small leather shoes clicking.
She took a deep breath and forced herself to look imposing.
“Comrade, I’m here to find Cheng Beitang.”
One of the sentries stammered, “Y-you… what do you need with our battalion commander? Do you have an appointment?”
Su Huaiyin slammed her bag onto the table and pulled out a neatly folded document, her eyes red as she gritted her teeth:
“I’m his newly registered wife, Su Huaiyin. I’m here for a divorce!”
Silence.
A deathly silence.
The two sentries’ jaws nearly dropped to the ground. Even Xiao Zhang nearly swallowed the car keys in shock.
Divorce?
From the battalion commander known as the “Northwest Living Yama,” the “Cold-faced Demon?”
Before they could react—
A low rumble rose on the horizon.
A convoy of military off-road vehicles, covered in mud, charged toward the base gate like furious beasts.
“The battalion commander is back!” the sentry immediately snapped to attention and saluted.
The vehicles screeched to a stop less than five meters from Su Huaiyin.
Dust filled the air, choking her into a violent cough. Her pristine skirt was instantly coated in yellow-gray dust.
“Who’s blocking the gate? Looking for death?”
A deep, hoarse voice filled with icy pressure came from the lead vehicle.
The door was kicked open.
A black combat boot stepped heavily onto the ground.
Su Huaiyin raised her head through teary, blurry eyes.
A man got out.
Very tall—at least 1.9 meters. Standing there, he looked like an oppressive iron tower.
He wore a soaked training vest clinging tightly to his body, outlining explosive muscle lines. His exposed arms were covered in sweat, dark blood stains, and green-black traces of vegetation.
His features were extremely sharp—high brow bones, a straight blade-like nose. His narrow eyes were as dark as an abyss, sending a chill through anyone who looked into them.
Most terrifying of all, he held a military dagger in one hand—and in the other, he dragged a dead wolf dripping blood.
The blood trailed across the sand in a shocking red line, stopping right at Su Huaiyin’s feet.
She had never seen anything like this in her life.
Her legs went weak, and she instinctively backed away until her back hit the cold wall of the guard post.
“Who is this?” the man asked, casually dropping the dead wolf to the ground with a heavy thud.
He looked up, his bloodshot eyes locking onto her.
His gaze swept over her carefully styled hair, her rising and falling chest, and finally her trembling legs.
Disgust.
Unhidden disgust.
“Report, commander!” Xiao Zhang hurried forward and saluted. “This is… your newly assigned family member, Comrade Su Huaiyin—your wife. The leadership sent me to pick her up from the train station.”
Cheng Beitang narrowed his eyes.
He remembered now.
The “troublemaker” from Beijing.
A marriage arranged by his grandfather before his death. A pampered young lady who couldn’t lift her hand or carry anything, supposedly someone who would struggle even after walking a few steps.
He curled his lips into a mocking smile.
Wiping dirt off his face with a rough motion, he strode toward her.
His shadow fell over her completely.
To Su Huaiyin, he felt like a beast staring at prey.
“Su Huaiyin?”
When he said her name, his tone was lazy and cold.
She gripped her divorce papers tightly.
No fear. She was a modern woman, a top university student. She would not bow to intimidation.
She forced herself to look up.
“Yes. Cheng Beitang, we need to talk.”
He looked down at her.
Too fair. Too soft.
In this wind and sand, she looked like porcelain that would shatter with a touch.
A woman like this wouldn’t survive three days on the plateau.
“Talk about what?” he asked, taking out a flattened cigarette, biting it between his lips without lighting it. His gaze fell on the wrinkled paper in her hand. “What’s that? A love letter?”
The surrounding soldiers chuckled.
Su Huaiyin’s face flushed red with humiliation.
“This is a divorce application!”
She took a deep breath and shoved it in front of him.
“This marriage was arranged! There is no emotional foundation! I don’t accept it! And don’t think I’ll live with you! Sign it—I’m going back to Beijing!”
The laughter stopped abruptly.
The entire gate fell into silence again.