1978.
Sunshine Production Team, Yang Province.
"Zhi Zhi, I got Su Wan’s letter from my dad. What do you want to replace it with this time?"
At the doorway, a single sentence from Zhang Yun, the cousin of Su Wan’s husband Lu Zhengchuan, exposed a shocking secret.
Su Wan was feeling a bit of morning sickness. She was standing in the squat-toilet outhouse that her new husband, Lu Zhengchuan, had built especially for her. Her hand was on her stomach and she had a pitiful expression on her face when she happened to overhear them. She narrowed her eyes and poked her head out.
By the courtyard gate, the slender girl standing next to Zhang Yun was Zheng Zhizhi. Su Wan knew her; she was Lu Zhengchuan’s childhood sweetheart.
Su Wan had heard that when Lu Zhengchuan originally wanted to marry her, the Zheng Family had demanded a sky-high bride price of five hundred yuan and a sewing machine.
But then Lu Zhengchuan returned from the army six months later and, for some reason, turned around and proposed to the Su family instead. Su Wan figured he was handsome and had a good job, so she married him.
Zheng Zhizhi shyly handed a letter to Zhang Yun. "Xiao Yun, I’ve read Su Wan’s letter. It’s just her picking a fight with Brother Lu. She’s so inconsiderate. Just replace it with two blank sheets of paper. We can’t let Brother Lu get upset."
"I wrote a letter to Brother Lu myself this time. My parents have already said that as long as he’s willing to divorce Su Wan, I’ll marry him without a bride price."
Hearing the conversation outside, Su Wan was so angry she clenched her fists. But she quickly relaxed them.
She had a dream last night that perfectly mirrored this moment: she discovered that her husband’s cousin, Zhang Yun, and his childhood sweetheart, Zheng Zhizhi, had been swapping out the letters she sent to Lu Zhengchuan, who was serving in the army.
Having grown up as the darling of the Su family, Su Wan couldn’t tolerate being bullied like this. In the dream, she had immediately rushed out and started a fight with the two of them.
But unexpectedly, Zheng Zhizhi pushed her, causing her to fall and have a miscarriage. From then on, she was unable to have children.
In the dream, her family took her back home. Her brothers and parents went to raise hell at the Zheng Family’s and the Zhang family’s homes.
When they exposed the letter-swapping, Zheng Zhizhi vehemently denied it, blaming everything on Zhang Yun. She refused to take responsibility for pushing Su Wan, implying with every word that Su Wan just had bad luck.
In a fit of rage, her third brother got into a fight with the Zheng Family. Zheng Zhizhi’s brother, Zheng Hai, and her father got their heads bashed, and her third brother was punished by the production team.
What made her even more furious was that their university acceptance letters had just arrived, only for Zheng Zhizhi to tear them to shreds. Because of that, she and her brother lost their chance to go to college.
Not only that, but Zheng Hai later brought a group of hooligan friends to break her father’s leg and push her mother into the river.
Overwhelmed with rage, she set a fire that killed everyone in the Zheng Family before taking her own life.
Even now, Su Wan could almost feel the pain of the flames searing her skin.
She took two deep breaths to calm herself down.
’I absolutely will not let the dream come true.’ Su Wan thought of Lu Zhengchuan, who was at his military base.
For some reason, Lu Zhengchuan never appeared in the dream, from beginning to end. She couldn’t be sure if he was really having an affair with Zheng Zhizhi. She needed to make a trip to the military base first.
’I can’t be as impulsive as I was in the dream. I have to plan before I act. First, I need to confirm where Lu Zhengchuan stands.’
’If Lu Zhengchuan sides with Zheng Zhizhi, I’ll have an abortion first. Then I can use this incident to go straight to his commanding officers, have them officiate the divorce, and I’ll even get compensation. After that, I can go to college in Beijing City with my third brother without a care in the world. There’s no need to ruin my entire family over two pieces of trash.’
Besides, she and Lu Zhengchuan didn’t have any feelings for each other before they got married.
Su Wan made her decision right then and there. As soon as the two of them left, she turned and headed back to her parents’ home.
"Mom, I’m going to the base to join the army as a dependent and find Lu Zhengchuan. Have Dad go to the county town and buy me a ticket for the next train." Lu Zhengchuan’s unit was in the Sixth Division of the Southwest Military Region, over a thousand kilometers from Yang Province.
"What? Wanwan, aren’t you pregnant? Why the sudden urge to go to the military region? I heard the conditions there are harsh, not even as good as life in the village." Mother Su touched her daughter’s forehead worriedly, afraid she had made a rash decision. After all, Lu Zhengchuan sent a hundred yuan back to Su Wan every month, and her life was even better than it had been before she was married.
It had to be said, Mother Su knew her daughter well. But this time, Su Wan was determined to go.
"I... I miss him," Su Wan said, deliberately not mentioning that she was going to divorce Lu Zhengchuan.
She was afraid her family wouldn’t let her go if they knew. Not because they would try to talk her out of the divorce, but because they’d be afraid she would be taken advantage of.
"Alright, then."
Su Wan was soon on a train to the Southwest Military Region, beginning a journey that would last three long days.
After a few days of not seeing Su Wan around, some villagers asked Mother Su, "Where’s your daughter? We haven’t seen her working in the fields lately. Life must be good with a military officer husband’s stipend."
Mother Su pretended not to notice their envy and jealousy, a smile playing on her lips. "Wanwan went to the base. How can a couple live apart for so long? Besides, my son-in-law has been asking Wanwan to join him for a while now."
"To the base? Isn’t she afraid of the hardship?" a villager asked, skeptical. The Su family’s youngest daughter, Su Wan, was known in the village as a delicate creature who avoided farm work and even used vanishing cream.
She was clearly a village girl, but she had been raised as if she were from the city. Her only advantages were that she was pretty and good at her studies.
Yet this delicate person, whom everyone thought would never be able to marry well, had somehow married Lu Zhengchuan, the only successful military officer in the entire surrounding area.
Never mind the Zheng Family’s regret; every family with a daughter in the area was kicking themselves. Wasn’t it rumored that Lu Zhengchuan was looking for a city girl?!
After a grueling three-day journey, Su Wan supported her lower back as she squeezed her way off the train. She hadn’t told Lu Zhengchuan she was coming, so naturally, there was no one there to meet her.
As she stepped off the train and was considering how to ask for directions to catch a ride, she immediately spotted a soldier waiting outside. The insignia on his armband read: Sixth Division, Southwest Military Region.
Su Wan walked over, intending to ask for a ride.
"Hello, young soldier. I’m also family of a soldier from the Sixth Division. I’m here to visit. Could you point me in the right direction?"
Hearing this, the soldier, Xiao Xu, instinctively gave her a military salute. "Comrade, whose family are you?"
Su Wan reached into her bundle to retrieve her letter of introduction to confirm her identity.
Just then, a young woman holding a little boy’s hand walked up. "Xiao Xu, you’re the one picking us up this time? Thank you for your trouble."
"Ma’am, it’s no trouble at all. It’s my duty. Battalion Commander Wang is on a mission and couldn’t come, so he arranged for me to pick you and your son up."
"It’s rare for Old Wang to be so thoughtful for once. I won’t stand on ceremony, then." Zhao Qing covered her mouth with her hand and chuckled lightly.
"Ma’am, this comrade is also family of someone in the military region, here for a visit. If you don’t mind, could she catch a ride with us to the compound?" Xiao Xu had a good impression of Su Wan; she was pretty and polite.
"Oh?" Zhao Qing instinctively looked toward Su Wan. Seeing her youthful and beautiful appearance, her eyes lit up. She pressed, "Young lady, what’s your name? Whose family are you?"
"I’m Lu Zhengchuan’s..."
Before Su Wan could finish, Zhao Qing grabbed her wrist in pleasant surprise and patted it enthusiastically. "Oh! So you’re Battalion Commander Lu’s younger sister!"
Su Wan froze. She never expected to be mistaken for Zhang Yun.