The moment agricultural science master's graduate Su He opens her eyes, she has become a pitiful girl in the 1970s, exploited by her whole family.
The original owner never had enough to eat or warm clothes to wear, and her awful relatives are forcing her to marry a forty-year-old widower in the village. Su He turns around and reports them, then marries Lu Zheng, the regiment commander at the military district who is rumored to bring misfortune to his wives.
Everyone in the family compound is waiting to laugh at her: a delicate little country girl is bound to come running back in tears within three days.
But Lu Zheng comes home on time every day to cook. In winter, he warms her feet with his own hands; in summer, he fans her. The whole military district knows that the little wife of Commander Lu is cherished so dearly that he fears she might break if he holds her too tightly or melt if he keeps her in his mouth.
Even more enviable, the vegetables Su He grows on a whim are fresher than anyone else's, and it seems like their home never runs out of canned meat or fine white flour. Only Lu Zheng knows that inside his wife's battered wooden chest lies an entire world with no end to its riches.
Later, someone asks Lu Zheng, “Commander, what made you fall for your sister-in-law in the first place?”
Lu Zheng says expressionlessly, “She saved my life.”
That night, when he gets home, he pulls her into his arms and murmurs with a laugh:
“Actually, I fell for you at first sight.”
