Although Shen Yitang had a favorable impression of Gu Huaizheng that evening, she felt that the two of them should get to know each other better and develop deep feelings before entering into marriage.
But fortune is fickle.
The Zhong family, a capitalist household in a similar situation to the Shen family, was slated for downward relocation because someone in the family had inadvertently said something politically incorrect. The entire family was to be sent away.
Including Zhong Liyue, the close friend who had grown up playing with Shen Yitang since childhood.
What's more, the family members weren't even being sent to the same place—they were being relocated in batches to different locations.
Shen Yitang heard that the place Zhong Liyue was going to was a desolate, godforsaken island where even birds wouldn't bother to stop.
There wasn't even electricity there, and the island's fishermen were still living a primitive, barbaric existence!
On the day Zhong Liyue left, she cried so hard she nearly choked and passed out.
Shen Yitang was terrified.
Shen's father had caught wind of rumors from somewhere, and he felt their family could very well suffer the same fate.
So he hurriedly went to consult with the Gu family, wanting to rush the young couple's wedding.
That way, even if something happened to the Shen family, it wouldn't implicate Shen Yitang, who would already be married off.
The Gu family immediately sent a telegram urging Gu Huaizheng to return for the wedding.
But Gu Huaizheng had gone out on a secret mission and was completely unreachable.
Shen Yitang's fear of downward relocation overwhelmed her desire for a romantic wedding.
So she followed the advice of both sets of parents, and the Gu family handled the paperwork to register her marriage with Gu Huaizheng.
Then they invited close relatives and friends from both sides for a meal and announced their union.
And just like that, she was married to Gu Huaizheng.
At first, Shen Yitang wasn't really too bothered by it.
For one, she didn't have much of a real sense that she was married.
For another, Gu's parents had promised her that when Gu Huaizheng had time to come back, they would definitely host a lively wedding ceremony to make up for it.
Just as Shen Yitang thought she could continue living in comfort and luxury as the pampered young miss of her household, a thunderbolt struck from the blue.
Her father, Shen Zhixing, wanted her to go to the island where Gu Huaizheng was stationed, to accompany him as a military spouse.
Shen Yitang cried, threw a tantrum, and demanded of her father: "What's the difference between making me go as a military wife and being sent down for relocation?"
But Shen Zhixing's attitude was utterly resolute: "Of course there's a difference. If you were sent down to some barren, godforsaken place, and with the way you look, what good outcome could there possibly be? At least going as a military wife, Huaizheng will be there to protect you."
The Gu family, for their part, actually wanted Shen Yitang to stay at the Gu residence as their daughter-in-law and didn't want her to go suffer on the island as a military wife.
At most, they could have Gu Huaizheng take more leave and come home more frequently to visit.
He could just be demobilized and return in a few years.
Most military couples separated by distance got through it that way.
But Shen Zhixing was as stubborn as iron, insisting on sending her to accompany her husband.
"Since Tangtang has already married Huaizheng, she should properly keep him company in their life together. Young couples shouldn't be living apart—what kind of appearance is that?"
And so, Shen Yitang's elder brother, Shen Yanshu, together with Gu Huaijun from the Gu family, endured a grueling journey to finally deliver Shen Yitang and her dozen or so trunks of luggage, large and small, to Changmen Island, where Gu Huaizheng was stationed.
History would prove that Shen Zhixing's decision was exceedingly wise.
In that turbulent, chaotic era, the military garrison on Changmen Island was like a paradise removed from the world, shielding Shen Yitang's peace and tranquility.
But at the time, Shen Yitang didn't understand that.
The train ride had been tolerable—the Gu family had arranged a private first-class compartment for her.
But once they boarded the ship, there was no escape. The waves were rough, the ferry pitched and rolled, and Shen Yitang was sick from the moment they set sail until the moment they disembarked. She felt as though half her life had been drained away.
When the ordeal finally ended, she staggered ashore on unsteady feet. The moment she saw the man as dark as charcoal waiting to receive her, her vision went black, and she swayed backward.
Shen Yanshu hurriedly caught her. "Tangtang, what's wrong?"
Shen Yitang leaned against her brother's chest, her voice weak. "Brother… I think I'm having a nightmare."
Back then, Gu Huaizheng and Changmen Island really had been like a nightmare!
Withdrawing her gaze from the distant horizon where sea met sky, Shen Yitang also withdrew her thoughts.
She swung her legs off the bed. "Hiss!"—she couldn't help but let out a soft cry. That man—was he made of iron?
He had ground her bones until they felt like they'd been shattered into pieces, then glued back together.
She could never let that happen again.
Last night had been…
It was because she'd thought he might only appear in her dreams once in a decade, that perhaps there would never be another chance. That was why she'd tolerated his repeated indulgence.
She opened the door, crossed the familiar yet unfamiliar living room, and stepped onto the clean gravel path, slowly making her way toward the outhouse in the corner of the courtyard.
Speaking of the outhouse, Shen Yitang felt a mixture of amusement and exasperation, remembering when she'd first arrived.
Gu Huaizheng had brought her to this courtyard—one the military unit had just assigned to him because she had come for military accompaniment.
Before she could even set down her luggage, she'd been frantically searching through the house.
Back then, Gu Huaizheng had grinned like a simpleton son of a wealthy landlord. "This house is pretty good, isn't it? The previous political commissar lived here. He got transferred and just moved out—I managed to snatch it up just in time. We're really lucky."
"Look, from this window you can see the sea. Nice view, right? And it's on high ground, so it's not too damp."
Shen Yitang stopped in her tracks, looking at him as if she wanted to speak but held back.
Gu Huaizheng was still grinning foolishly. "What do you think? Like it? Tell me if you need anything, and I'll figure something out."
Shen Yitang pressed her lips together and steeled herself to ask, "Where's the bathroom?"
"Bathroom? Oh, you need to use the toilet, right? We don't have one inside the house. It's outside—I'll take you there."
"Outside?" Shen Yitang frowned. A public restroom?
It wasn't that she'd never used one before. Back in school, she'd used the ones on campus.
When traveling long distances—like this trip to the island—there had been public restrooms on the train and the ferry.
Occasionally she'd encountered ones that were especially filthy, and they truly were hard to stomach.
That was why, whenever she went out, she tried to drink as little water as possible and avoid using the restroom altogether.
But this was different. This was where she would be living long-term. Was she supposed to use a public restroom every single day?
Every morning when she woke up, every night before she slept, would she have to endure that stench and filth?
If a person never drank water and never used the restroom, could they even survive?
At that moment, a sliver of hope still lingered in Shen Yitang's heart. This was the military family compound—a place with standards. Surely the public restroom here would be cleaner than the ones outside?
That hope was utterly shattered the moment Gu Huaizheng pointed to the low, mud-yellow building.
Just then, someone emerged from behind the outhouse, a carrying pole balanced across their shoulders, passing right by them.
In the bucket was filth from the latrine, with a layer of plump, white maggots squirming ceaselessly on its surface…
"Ugh!" Shen Yitang gagged, and disregarding the odd looks from others, she rushed back without a second thought.
Grabbing her brother, who was untying the straw rope binding the boxes, she said, "Brother, stop unpacking. I'm not staying here. I want to leave, right now. Take me away immediately."
Shen Yanshu turned his head in bewilderment, only to meet Gu Huaizheng, who had hurried back with a worried expression. Thus, four bewildered eyes met, and they asked in unison, "What on earth happened?"
Shen Yitang covered her face and burst into tears. "What wrong have I done that you would send me to this place? I endured so much hardship and suffering just to get here, and all I wanted was to use the restroom—I only wanted to use the restroom!"
Shen Yanshu looked at Gu Huaizheng, who replied helplessly, "She probably finds the public restroom too filthy."