“Zhaozhao, all the male models I booked for you tonight have the looks and the body! Abs hard enough to scrub clothes with, broad shoulders, narrow hips, that perfect tapered waist — and best of all, they’ve got full medical checkup reports! Go wild, have fun, hahaha!”
Shen Zhaozhao, who’d been single for over twenty years, was just complaining that the models looked ugly — she’d only paid a 20,000 deposit, and was already suspecting she’d been scammed.
The next second, a strikingly handsome man who fit every single one of her preferences appeared right before her eyes.
Clad, he looked lean and fit; stripped, he was solid and muscular. Most importantly, his eyes were cool, deep, and intense — more handsome than any male celebrity she adored!
Overjoyed, Shen Zhaozhao stepped right up, pulled his shirt open to check his abs.
Eight solid blocks of muscle, just as she’d hoped!
“Nice and firm.”
“Hehe, you’re really something, aren’t you? Must work out a lot, huh?”
The standards these male models keep these days are seriously impressive.
Shen Zhaozhao worked in the neonatal ward every day, locked in constant battles with fussy newborns without so much as a glimpse of a decent man. Her friend, seeing how run-down she was, dragged her out to unwind.
But she’d had a little too much to drink. Drunk and giddy, her head spinning, she didn’t notice that the “KTV” had long since morphed into a rustic brick house straight out of the countryside.
“Shen Zhaozhao — what exactly do you think you’re doing?”
His voice was low, deep, and laced with heat. His whole body burned like he was feverish.
He held himself back, beads of sweat already forming on his brow.
Gu Shichuan shoved her away roughly. “You’re in the wrong room.”
“Look closely — do you even know who I am?!”
Up close, his sharp, handsome features only looked better. Those deep, soulful eyes could make anyone look like they were gazing with devotion — she loved them. Especially those thin lips, opening and closing… they looked so kissable.
Who had time to listen to what he was saying?
Shen Zhaozhao pressed a quick kiss to his cheek, then made to pull back.
She might be a sucker for a pretty face, but she still played by the rules.
But before she could move, Gu Shichuan clamped her wrist hard. His breathing grew heavier, ragged.
Scalding breath fanned over her neck, sending shivers down her spine.
“I get it — extra services cost extra, right? I won’t force you… ah!”
She gasped as she was suddenly pinned back against the bed. That was when she realized something was very wrong.
“Wait — why is this KTV sofa made of wood?! What’s this straw pricking me?! Manager Wang! Is this how you run your —”
Her words were cut short when he bit her lip hard, punishingly.
Every breath, every word she had left was swallowed, consumed entirely.
Gu Shichuan’s mind echoed with the words he’d heard her say just a few days prior:
“Of course I only have eyes for Fu Shixuan! He’s from a military family, he’ll be moving back to the compound soon — do you really think I’d waste my life scraping by with someone like Gu Shichuan?”
“Once things go all the way, Fu Shixuan will have to take responsibility. I’m a city girl, and a pretty one at that — he’s not losing anything.”
Gu Shichuan dug his fingers into her arm hard, leaving a bruise. He’d noticed it before — this delicate little city girl burned the second the sun touched her skin.
All she ever did was bat her eyes and get others to do her work for her. And now she’d dared to drug him!
Shen Zhaozhao felt the air shift — she was prey, cornered by a beast in the dark. She shrank back, terrified.
But the moment she scrambled up to run, he caught her ankle, pulling her back slowly, inch by inch.
He claimed her lips again, his voice low and cold:
“Think you can run? Too late.”
Shen Zhaozhao didn’t remember when she blacked out. When she woke again and took in her surroundings, her whole world crumbled.
Where was the private room she’d booked?
Rough brick walls, windows taped over with old newspapers, a calendar cutout of a landscape pasted beside it — clearly marked with the year: 1980.
Shen Zhaozhao sat up slowly. The air smelled of damp old books mixed with the clean, sharp scent of soap from his clothes.
Her head was already throbbing — now she’d completely lost her appetite.
“Did I… just time-travel?”
As she sat there reeling, a flood of memories that weren’t hers flooded in.
She’d transmigrated into a novel set in the 1980s called The 1980s Wife Returns to the Compound — And Falls Pregnant Again, as the beautiful but airheaded, malicious side character.
In the story, Shen Zhaozhao had been sent down to the countryside with her stepsister two years prior. While her stepsister worked hard and bore every hardship, Shen Zhaozhao relied on her looks to laze about, making enemies left and right.
When a chance to return to the city finally came, her biased father gave the spot to her stepsister instead. Crushed, Shen Zhaozhao set her sights on Fu Shixuan — a newly arrived youth from a military family.
Fu Shixuan was gentle, refined, and handsome. Compared to him, every other youth in the village was plain and unremarkable.
Learning Fu Shixuan was staying with the village party chief, Shen Zhaozhao got someone to slip her an aphrodisiac — and on a foolish impulse, went to find him.
But her fellow city youth Wang Yurong, who’d helped her plan everything, had set her up. The drug was hers, but the room number had been switched.
The drug had affected two men that night: Fu Shixuan — and the party chief’s good-for-nothing, idle son, Gu Shichuan.
Which brought them to where they were now.
Shen Zhaozhao sat on the edge of the bed, watching the cold, distant man as he got dressed.
There was no trace of the man who’d lost control the night before — only calm, icy detachment.
On the outside, she kept her cool. On the inside, she was already screaming.
According to the story, after ending up in the wrong room, she’d blackmailed Gu Shichuan into taking responsibility for her. She’d sweet-talked him into believing she’d be a good wife, all while chasing after Fu Shixuan and trying to break up his relationship with Wang Yurong.
A month later, when a rare opportunity to return to the city came up, she’d picked a fight with Gu Shichuan, demanded a divorce, and left without a second thought.
But on the train ride back, she’d miscarried — dying along with her unborn child. Only in her final moments did she learn she’d been carrying his baby.
The book’s cruel epilogue read:
“The malicious Shen Zhaozhao would never know that the child she carried was destined for great fortune — but born to such a mother, it never got to see the light of day. Meanwhile, Wang Yurong’s child would grow up adored by all in the military compound.”
Shen Zhaozhao rolled her eyes, resting a hand on her stomach. Not this time. I’m not dying young.
She met Gu Shichuan’s look of disgust, and sighed. She’d have to make things official — otherwise, she’d be charged with indecency and jailed for life.
But she was still getting that divorce.
She wasn’t spending her whole life stuck in the countryside. She was going back to the city. And she was keeping herself — and her baby — alive.
She gave him a faint, calm smile. “Gu Shichuan, let’s make a deal. I was wrong last night — but you didn’t exactly lose out either.”
“Until I get back to the city, you’ll be my husband in name only. We’ll sign an agreement — we can split any time, on your terms. I’ll do whatever you say.”
Gu Shichuan let out a low, cold laugh, his eyes void of warmth. “Shen Zhaozhao — are you trying to negotiate with me? You know full well who slipped that drug. If we’re charged with indecency… who do you think they’ll blame?”
“…”
Shen Zhaozhao fell silent. She’d known he wouldn’t be so easy to fool.
But if she was already cast as the villain, she had nothing left to lose.
She pulled the collar of her shirt down, revealing the dark bruises and marks he’d left the night before.
Stepping forward, she threw her arms around his waist and leaned back, pulling him down with her.
In an instant, he was propped over her, hands planted on either side of her face, staring down at her calm, unbothered smile.
Her voice turned soft, sweet, and deliberately loud:
“Ah — Gu Shichuan! What are you doing?! Wasn’t last night enough?!”
Gu Shichuan’s eyes widened in shock — just as rapid, heavy knocks rang out from the door!
BANG BANG BANG — OPEN UP! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING IN THERE?!