Shen Niao’s soft, alluring voice drifted over with the sea breeze, hooking into Wu Qingchuan’s ears.
Beside him, Li Jianguo’s old face turned red.
Wu Qingchuan’s wife… this wife of his… she’s… she’s…
He couldn’t quite find the words. He just felt something was… off.
Wu Qingchuan felt the same.
Even after hearing her call him “Brother Qingchuan,” his expression remained unchanged. He simply walked closer, studied the face before him, and for the first time, a trace of confusion flickered through his usually unreadable eyes.
“Who are you?”
Li Jianguo nearly jumped out of his skin.
He looked at Shen Niao in panic before shouting at Wu Qingchuan,
“Wu Qingchuan, have you gone stupid? That’s your wife!”
They might not have met on their wedding day, but this was a childhood engagement arranged years ago. Surely they had met before.
What kind of newlywed’s first sentence to his wife was Who are you?
Good grief. This guy deserves to stay single.
Meanwhile, Shen Niao quietly examined Wu Qingchuan’s face.
Wait… the novel never mentioned he was this handsome!
His skin was deeply tanned from years under the sun, but that only made his sharp features stand out more. Especially with that perpetually cold expression…
A total cool guy.
And he was incredibly tall.
At least six-foot-three.
Even at her height, she still had to tilt her head to look up at him.
Fortunately, Shen Niao recovered quickly.
She tucked a strand of windblown hair behind her ear with her slender, fair fingers before lifting her chin slightly.
“My name is Shen Niao.”
“As for what happened… please read this letter first.”
She handed him Shen Su’s written apology.
Li Jianguo was completely bewildered.
What’s a letter got to do with anything?
What kind of riddle are these two playing?
Curious, he leaned over to peek at the paper Wu Qingchuan had unfolded.
He hadn’t even read a single word before Wu Qingchuan calmly shifted the letter away and shot him a cold glance.
“Fine, fine! I’ll leave!”
Understanding that look perfectly, Li Jianguo scratched his head.
He was dying of curiosity, but after serving with Wu Qingchuan for years, he knew exactly what that expression meant.
Get lost.
So he obediently left, already hurrying toward the family quarters to share this enormous piece of gossip with his wife.
Wu Qingchuan unfolded the letter and quickly read it from beginning to end.
Across from him, Shen Niao carefully watched his face.
To her surprise…
Not a single expression changed.
Then again, he was a soldier with an iron will.
That made sense.
A real man remains calm even if Mount Tai collapses before him.
What’s a swapped bride compared to that?
After he folded the letter again, Shen Niao explained,
“This has absolutely nothing to do with me.”
“Your fiancée and my fiancé got involved with each other. Your stepmother helped set everything up and deliberately switched the brides.”
“It’s all because you didn’t come back for your wedding. Otherwise they never would’ve dared pull something like this and force the two of us together.”
Without hesitation, Shen Niao pinned part of the blame on Wu Qingchuan.
She wasn’t exactly wrong.
Had he followed the normal wedding procedures in person, Shen Su and Jiang Siyun would’ve thought twice before attempting such a scheme.
It was only because the groom wasn’t there that they found an opportunity.
“You actually got the better deal.”
“You ended up with such a beautiful wife.”
“I’m the one who got the short end of the stick.”
“I could’ve lived comfortably in Beijing.”
“Instead, I got switched to marry you and had to come all the way to this hardship post.”
“I spent three days on the train, then a ferry, then several more hours on a long-distance bus.”
“It took me six whole days to find this place.”
“I was exhausted.”
Every word she said was true.
Now that she’d lost the weight, she was stunningly beautiful.
For a woman like her to travel such a long, difficult journey…
Her sincerity couldn’t be questioned.
Wu Qingchuan paused, still holding the letter.
She was right.
If he’d returned for the wedding, none of this would’ve happened.
No wonder his stepmother had so readily accepted his absence.
No wonder they’d specifically chosen a date when he couldn’t possibly return.
As for Ya City being a harsh place…
He couldn’t deny it.
Although he personally didn’t think there was anything wrong with it, hearing Shen Niao describe the hardships made him feel a trace of guilt.
She had done nothing wrong.
Yet she was the one who had suffered.
Still…
He couldn’t understand something.
Looking at the beautiful young woman who kept complaining about how tiring the journey had been, how scorching the sun was, and how slowly he’d come to meet her…
He couldn’t help wondering.
The woman who’d originally been engaged to his younger brother…
She was far prettier than Shen Su.
So why would his younger brother agree to switch brides?
His grandmother had also once mentioned that Shen Niao’s maternal family was extremely wealthy.
Given Jiang Siyun’s personality, she should never have agreed to such an exchange.
Something didn’t add up.
Shen Niao had no idea he was thinking so deeply.
Even if she did, she wouldn’t have cared.
Communication was painfully slow these days.
Given Wu Qingchuan’s relationship with the Wu family, he wouldn’t go asking them.
And even if he did…
No one would believe that she’d transformed from a two-hundred-pound woman into one weighing only one hundred and ten pounds in just six days.
The Shen Niao standing before him now was practically a different person.
After venting all her grievances, Shen Niao looked back up at him.
She found him silently studying her.
Her heart skipped.
Wait…
He isn’t thinking about refusing to marry me, is he?
She immediately reached out and poked the neatly buttoned military uniform over his chest.
“Hey, Wu Qingchuan.”
“What are you thinking? Say something.”
Don’t tell me he doesn’t want this marriage…
Wu Qingchuan wasn’t thinking anything in particular.
Well…
Aside from the fact that her finger poking his chest tickled slightly.
And that his head was beginning to ache.
“I didn’t know any of this.”
He pressed his lips together.
“I’m sorry.”
“Since you dislike living here…”
Since Shen Niao clearly disliked Ya City…
He felt perhaps this marriage should simply be canceled.
Before he could finish, Shen Niao’s beautiful, watery eyes widened.
She looked adorably fierce.
“What do you mean?”
“You don’t want to take responsibility?”
“It was your family who trapped me into this.”
“That’s why I had no choice but to come here and marry you.”
“Don’t tell me you’re still thinking about Shen Su?”
“She looks down on you.”
“She thinks life here is too hard.”
“She isn’t willing to suffer.”
“I don’t want to either!”
“But I had no choice.”
“My parents are dead.”
“Shen Su’s family bullied me every chance they got.”
“They even bullied me over my marriage.”
She pulled out the letter Wu Qingchuan had originally sent to Shen Su—the one she’d intercepted back in Beijing—and thrust it at him.
“This is the letter you wrote to Shen Su.”
“I know you have feelings for her.”
“But I don’t care.”
“She stole my man.”
“So now you have to marry me.”
She looked completely unreasonable, as if refusing wasn’t even an option.
Wu Qingchuan accepted the letter.
He genuinely couldn’t understand how those petal-soft red lips could chatter nonstop like that.
She was spoiled.
Willful.
Completely lacking in manners.
Like an angry little kitten with all its claws extended.
His head hurt even more.
He stopped her before she could continue rambling about him having feelings for Shen Su.
As for explaining the contents of the letter…
Forget it.
There was no point.
Right now, the real issue standing before him was this young woman.
“Let’s go to the guesthouse.”
Too many people were coming and going at the military gate.
Quite a few had already begun watching them.
Even the young soldiers on sentry duty were blatantly pricking up their ears to eavesdrop.
This wasn’t the place for such a conversation.
Shen Niao had no objections.
She didn’t want to keep standing under the blazing sun anyway.
Naturally, she handed him her suitcase.
“Carry this for me.”
“It’s heavy.”
Her tone was sweet and delicate.
Even though she was ordering him around, it sounded more like she was acting cute.
Wu Qingchuan paused for a second before taking it.
…
It was astonishingly light.
The two of them walked toward the guesthouse together.
Shen Niao deliberately stepped into his shadow as they walked, following it while fanning herself with one hand.
“Is Ya City always this hot in March?”
“Does it get even hotter later?”
“Does the military have electricity?”
“There are electric fans, right?”
“If not, I can always buy a bamboo sleeping mat…”
During the entire five-minute walk, her mouth never stopped moving.
Wu Qingchuan silently matched her pace.
Had Shen Niao paid closer attention, she would’ve realized she’d remained completely within his shadow the entire way.
The guesthouse stood beside the military compound.
It was a modest two-story building with perhaps twenty rooms.
Following Wu Qingchuan inside, Shen Niao noticed the manager repeatedly glancing between the two of them.
She flashed him a dazzling smile without the slightest embarrassment.
Watching the manager visibly lose himself for a moment made her secretly quite pleased.
Wu Qingchuan rented a room on the second floor.
After escorting her to the doorway, he remained outside, showing every sign of strict propriety.
Shen Niao reached out and grabbed his arm.
“Why are you standing there like a door guardian?”
“If you have something to say, come inside.”
Without waiting for an answer, she dragged him into the room.
Then she rushed over to the window and threw it open.
The scenery outside made her eyes light up.
“Wow!”
“This place is gorgeous!”
The guesthouse sat on higher ground.
Outside stretched endless blue skies and sparkling seas—a breathtaking view.
Standing inside the room, Wu Qingchuan felt momentarily at a loss.
After a brief silence, he took a slow breath.
“Comrade Shen Niao…”
“We need to talk.”