Giving up just after marrying him?
Shen Su was extremely unwilling.
After careful consideration, she ultimately decided to stay by Wu Chengzu’s side.
In her previous life, she had personally heard Wu Chengzu say that what truly moved him was Shen Niao’s unwavering devotion.
If Shen Niao could do it, so could she.
He would become the richest man in the country one day. There was no way he would remain bedridden forever.
As long as she stayed by his side and took care of him, how could he not be touched?
When that time came, she would become the woman cherished in the hands of the richest man. All the good days were still ahead of her.
As for Shen Niao, there had been no sign of her these past few days. She had probably already gone to the island.
Thinking of Wu Qingchuan on that distant island, Shen Su’s expression turned complicated.
In her previous life, when she went to the island, she had genuinely wanted to live a good life.
Compared to Shen Niao marrying Wu Chengzu, her circumstances had been much better. After all, not long after Shen Niao got married, she was sent down to the countryside, while Shen Su’s marriage to Wu Qingchuan had encountered no such problems.
But she soon realized life wasn’t nearly as pleasant as she’d imagined.
The military wives around her lacked manners and constantly criticized her behind her back for being arrogant and overly particular.
After the political purges began, she was labeled a lackey of the capitalist class and forced to attend ideological education sessions.
Life on the island was harsh.
She had to wake up before dawn to compete for vegetables, wash clothes, cook meals, and handle endless household chores.
The supply ships only brought potatoes and cabbage, with little variety.
Wu Qingchuan was undeniably handsome—one of a kind in the entire military district. If not for his age, his military achievements alone would have earned him another promotion.
Being married to such a man certainly brought prestige.
But he was far too rigid.
When she wanted the supply ship to bring fragrant creams and fabric, he refused.
When she wanted to privately request canned meat and other treats, he refused again.
He said that once exceptions were made for one family, the other military wives would all demand the same, throwing the entire military system into chaos.
Even doing it secretly was unacceptable.
“It would be wasting the nation’s resources.”
Shen Su simply couldn’t understand.
She only wanted to improve her quality of life.
How was that wasting national resources?
She came to believe that a man like Wu Qingchuan cared only about the country and the people.
All he wanted was a hardworking wife who would quietly support him from behind.
On top of that, he frequently went out on sea patrols, disappearing for ten days or even half a month at a time.
Gradually, she grew close to a doctor at the town hospital.
Ordinarily, she never would have looked twice at him.
Besides, he was already married.
But he brought her fashionable hairpins…
Stylish clothes…
Perfume…
Face powder…
Even a wristwatch.
Before long, Shen Su was having an affair with him.
At first, she had been terrified of being discovered.
But every time she saw Wu Qingchuan’s calm, disciplined demeanor, she felt an odd sense of satisfaction.
So what if you’re the great Captain Wu?
You’re still being cuckolded by your own wife.
What Shen Su never expected was that the affair would eventually come to light.
She wanted to apologize to Wu Qingchuan.
She didn’t want to be publicly denounced with a placard hung around her neck.
She wanted him to help her.
But…
Wu Qingchuan died.
Her affair was completely covered up.
The organization refused to let any scandal tarnish Wu Qingchuan’s reputation.
She herself was sent away to Inner Mongolia.
There, no one knew she had cheated.
No one knew her husband had once been a regiment commander.
She was forbidden from returning to the city.
She could never again work in any hospital—not even a rural clinic.
All she could do was labor endlessly, following cattle, sheep, and horses across the grasslands while enduring the endless loneliness.
More than ten years later, she finally returned to Beijing.
By then, years of hard labor had left her riddled with illness.
Her back was bent.
Her hair was white.
Her face looked like that of an old woman.
Yet Shen Niao…
Remained as beautiful and youthful as ever, as though they belonged to entirely different eras.
Wu Chengzu adored her beyond measure.
She was still kind-hearted.
Shen Su was driven nearly insane with jealousy.
She wanted to kill Shen Niao.
But before she could succeed…
She died first.
When she opened her eyes again, she had returned to two years before her marriage.
At that time, Shen Niao’s parents had only recently passed away.
Shen Su immediately persuaded her own parents to occupy Shen Niao’s home, forcing her into the maid’s room.
Meanwhile, she constantly looked for opportunities to get close to Wu Chengzu and ingratiate herself with his mother, Jiang Siyun.
She believed every bit of suffering she’d endured was because she had married Wu Qingchuan.
So…
She wanted Shen Niao to experience all of it instead.
As for herself…
She would take Shen Niao’s place.
As long as she endured the coming political persecution, she would eventually become the wife of the nation’s richest man.
Wu Chengzu would treasure her in the palm of his hand.
Thinking this, she squeezed out a few tears before stepping into the hospital room and throwing herself beside Wu Chengzu’s bed.
“Chengzu… don’t worry. No matter what happens, I’ll stay by your side.”
Still unaware that he might spend the rest of his life paralyzed, Wu Chengzu was deeply moved.
He gazed at Shen Su affectionately.
“Su’er… thank you.”
The events taking place in the Beijing hospital were the last thing on Shen Niao’s mind.
“Ah-choo!”
She suddenly sneezed.
Beside her, Zhang Cuihua, carrying a small bucket, looked over with concern.
“What’s wrong? Don’t tell me you’ve caught a cold from the sea breeze.”
It was still early morning, and the wind coming off the sea was quite strong.
Shen Niao waved the oyster tongs in her hand.
“I’m fine. I’m healthy as can be.”
“Where are those reefs you mentioned? The tide’s already out—we should hurry.”
After Shen Niao praised oysters during lunch yesterday, Zhang Cuihua had arrived before dawn this morning carrying a bucket and a pair of oyster tongs.
She said she was taking Shen Niao beachcombing to pry oysters off the reefs.
Although Shen Niao had owned a seaside villa in her previous life, she was the type who stayed up late every night.
She had never actually gone beachcombing before.
The moment she heard about it, she became excited.
Beachcombing!
The marine resources back in this era should be far richer than in the future, right?
The sun lazily rose above the horizon.
Golden yellow, like a perfectly cooked salted egg yolk.
Warm sunlight mixed with the sea breeze and gently bathed everything around them.
Today, Shen Niao was once again dressed fashionably.
She wore a pair of loose, high-waisted black trousers paired with a red polka-dot blouse.
Since the morning wind was chilly, she’d added a black jacket.
A brown leather belt cinched her waist, and black rubber shoes covered her feet.
Altogether, she looked as though she’d stepped out of a vintage Hong Kong film.
She had bought these clothes while passing through Lucheng.
Because her train to Zhancheng wasn’t leaving until evening, she had spent the afternoon shopping in the city’s busiest commercial district, purchasing a large number of ready-made outfits suitable for the southern climate.
She had to admit that the clothing styles in Lucheng were far prettier than those in Beijing.
Though, in her eyes, most of them were still rather old-fashioned.
Even so, after carefully picking through them, she’d still bought quite a pile.
Zhang Cuihua absolutely loved Shen Niao’s enthusiasm for dressing up.
Even in the darkness before dawn, she’d been complimenting her the entire way.
“How pretty!”
“Such a graceful figure.”
“A young, beautiful girl should dress herself up.”
“Like a blooming flower.”
Shen Niao accepted the compliments generously.
She even suggested that if they had time later, they could buy some fabric and have a tailor make a few pretty outfits.
Chatting all the way, the two women soon reached the beach.
By then, quite a few women had already arrived with their children, taking advantage of the low tide to gather seafood.
“Hurry!”
Excitedly, Shen Niao climbed onto the reef.
The sea breeze whipped her long hair about.
She simply tied it up casually before lowering her head to search.
Unfortunately…
She had no experience.
After searching for quite a while, all she could see were rocks.
Zhang Cuihua’s eyes were much sharper.
“There!”
She pointed toward an oyster embedded in the reef.
Its shell had blended perfectly into the rock, covered with seaweed.
Without a trained eye, it would have been almost impossible to spot.
Using that as a reference, Shen Niao searched more carefully and soon found several oysters herself.
Then she remembered the beachcombing videos she’d watched in her previous life.
Crabs often hid beneath rocks.
Excited again, she began lifting stones one after another.
Sure enough…
A crafty shore crab was hiding underneath.
She overturned a few more rocks.
Her delighted cries never stopped.
“Oh my gosh!”
“Mantis shrimp!”
“Sea urchins!”
“Crabs!”
“There are so many!”