“Lazy, vain, and shameless as a wife!”
“Our Qi family must have suffered terrible bad luck for eight generations to let a jinx like you marry into this house!”
The sharp and vicious curses stabbed straight into Li Zhihuan’s temples.
Amid a splitting headache, she struggled to open her eyes.
What entered her sight was a mottled yellow mud wall. A faded propaganda poster reading “Learn from Dazhai in Agriculture” was still pasted on it.
The air carried the moldy smell of bedding mixed with faint woodsmoke.
A middle-aged woman in a coarse blue cotton outfit stood before her with her hands on her hips, spittle flying as she pointed at Li Zhihuan’s nose.
The woman’s face was harsh and contemptuous, her eyes filled with undisguised disgust.
Several heads crowded around the doorway as well—military family neighbors in plain clothing, all pointing and whispering among themselves.
Where is this?
Didn’t I die suddenly from overworking seventy-two straight hours at the company?
The next second, a flood of memories that did not belong to her rushed violently into her mind.
She had transmigrated into a novel.
A period novel she had just finished reading before dying from overwork.
The story was set in a military compound in the late 1970s.
And she had become the cannon fodder ex-wife in the novel who shared her exact name and met a miserable end.
The original owner of this body had been a classic troublemaker, spoiled rotten by her birth family. After marrying into the military compound, she despised her husband Qi Weiguo for being a dull block of wood with no sense of romance.
Every day, she either threw tantrums at home or stirred up trouble outside, ruining both her own reputation and her husband’s dignity.
In the end, she successfully pushed herself into divorce and died miserably amid gossip and ridicule, clearing the way for the reborn white lotus heroine.
And the woman spraying spit in front of her right now was her mother-in-law, Lin Fen—a top-tier wicked mother-in-law who embodied those words perfectly in the original novel.
Li Zhihuan’s heart slowly sank.
She tried to digest this absurd reality as her gaze shifted gradually.
Beside Lin Fen stood a man.
He wore an old military uniform faded from repeated washing, and the one bar with three stars on his shoulder insignia showed his rank as battalion commander.
The man stood tall and straight like a pine tree, with broad shoulders and long legs.
But his sharply defined face was as cold as ice.
His thin lips were pressed tightly together, silent, yet the oppressive aura around him seemed to lower the temperature of the entire room.
He was the male lead of the novel, and her nominal husband—Qi Weiguo.
At that moment, he silently took out a folded piece of paper from his military-green shoulder bag.
With long fingers, he unfolded it and placed it on the edge of the bed before Li Zhihuan.
It was a divorce application.
At the lower right corner, the three bold characters “Qi Weiguo” swept across the page with forceful strokes, carrying unquestionable determination.
The atmosphere dropped to freezing point.
Mother-in-law Lin Fen stopped cursing, a smug sneer hanging on her lips.
The whispers from the neighbors also disappeared. Everyone stretched their necks, waiting eagerly for the drama to unfold.
Li Zhihuan knew this was a crucial turning point in the original plot.
According to the story, after seeing the divorce papers, the original owner would completely break down.
She would scream hysterically, curse Qi Weiguo for having no conscience, and then smash her head against the wall to threaten him.
The result was that she ended up battered and half-dead.
And Qi Weiguo, because of this incident, completely lost the last shred of affection he still had for her, strengthening his resolve to divorce her.
This was a dead-end situation.
Everyone had already assumed she would collapse, make a scene, and perform a melodramatic act of crying, shouting, and threatening suicide.
But Li Zhihuan did not.
Under everyone’s astonished gazes, she slowly sat up from the bed.
Years of surviving as an overworked employee dealing with difficult clients and absurd bosses had already forged her emotions into walls as solid as a fortress.
The more dangerous the situation, the calmer her mind became.
Inside, she was panicking like crazy and surviving purely on stubborn willpower. But on the surface, she absolutely could not reveal it.
She did not look at Qi Weiguo’s cold face, nor did she pay attention to Lin Fen’s gleeful expression.
Instead, she reached for the divorce application that would decide her fate.
She did not cry, make a fuss, or tear it apart.
Like reviewing a problem-filled project contract at work, she picked up the paper—
and carefully—
very carefully—
started reading it.
Word by word.
Sentence by sentence.
Everyone present was stunned by her actions.
Lin Fen opened her mouth, but the next round of insults she had prepared became lodged in her throat.
Even a crack finally appeared in Qi Weiguo’s usually emotionless eyes—confusion and disbelief.
Li Zhihuan finished reading.
She raised her head, her gaze calm as deep water.
Her eyes first swept across the dumbfounded Lin Fen, then passed over the neighbors gathered at the doorway, and finally landed precisely on Qi Weiguo’s cold, rigid face.
“Battalion Commander Qi, this marriage can’t be dissolved right now.”
Qi Weiguo’s brows furrowed almost imperceptibly.
Before he could speak, Li Zhihuan rapidly laid out her arguments, clear and well-organized.
“First, according to the Disciplinary Regulations of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, an active-duty soldier’s divorce requires approval from the military’s political department.”
“Especially when the spouse has committed no major fault, military marriages are specially protected by law. I believe you understand better than anyone the consequences of damaging a military marriage.”
“Second, even if the organization approves it, we are legally registered husband and wife. Divorce means division of property.”
“Your monthly salary, along with all military allowances and subsidies, are considered joint marital property. According to the Marriage Law, I’m entitled to half of it.”
“Third, back then I responded to the call of the nation, gave up a work opportunity in the city, married you, and came to this unfamiliar military district as your accompanying spouse. My youth and my future were all devoted to this family.”
“Now if we divorce, I’ll have nowhere to go. As the party at fault, you are required to pay me a reasonable settlement fee and compensation for emotional damages.”
Every point she made sounded logical and well-supported—though some of it was half true and half bluff.
But by mixing modern legal knowledge with the rules of this era, she successfully left everyone present utterly confused.
Lin Fen was so overwhelmed by unfamiliar terms like “joint marital property” and “emotional damages” that she momentarily forgot how to continue making a scene.
Qi Weiguo looked at her, the confusion in his eyes gradually turning into scrutiny.
He realized that the woman before him was completely different from the wife in his memories, the one who only knew how to scream, cry, and throw tantrums.
Her eyes no longer held emptiness or arrogance, but a calm intelligence he had never seen before.
Or rather… calculation.
Finally, Li Zhihuan took the divorce application and slowly tore it in half in front of everyone.
Rip—
The paper split cleanly into two pieces.
She was not hysterical; her movements were almost elegant.
“However…”
She looked at Qi Weiguo, suddenly changing her tone.
“Recently, I’ve deeply reflected on my past behavior. I brought shame to the organization, to this family, and to you. I’ve decided to turn over a new leaf and become a better person.”
“For the sake of the Party and the people, and also to avoid causing trouble for the military…”
She paused briefly before casually tossing the torn paper onto the bedside table.
“I won’t divorce after all.”
The entire room fell silent enough to hear a pin drop.
Qi Weiguo remained silent for a long time.
The air around them seemed frozen, so heavy it became difficult to breathe.
He stared fixedly at Li Zhihuan, his sharp gaze seeming determined to rip her soul out of that body and examine it thoroughly.
Inside, Li Zhihuan’s heart pounded wildly.
She had no idea whether this reverse negotiation tactic would anger the man.
Just as sweat began forming in her palms and she thought he was about to explode, he finally spoke.
His voice was low and powerful, carrying the commanding force unique to a soldier.
“We can stay married.”
Li Zhihuan had barely relaxed halfway.
The next moment, Qi Weiguo stepped forward.
The overwhelming pressure unique to a soldier instantly enveloped her.
He trapped her between the wall and his solid body, lowering his head slightly, his scorching breath nearly brushing against her forehead.
“But starting today, this household will follow three rules that I set.”