The day her own father dragged her off to trade her for a bride price, Lin Shang was reborn.
She grabbed a stool and smashed her way out, then stopped a passing soldier in uniform. "Do you want a wife?"
She only wanted the status of a military wife to make things easier, so the two married in a flash and headed to the far northwest. Her husband was cold and taciturn, and was rarely home. Everyone assumed Lin Shang had married some poor soldier. She didn't bother explaining. Starting with a few bundles of fabric scraps, she recruited workers, opened classes, and founded a cooperative. With piecework pay and proper ledgers, she transformed a tailor shop into a whole network of cooperatives.
She thought her husband was just a tool who sent home his monthly allowance. Then, while delivering goods to a restricted area, she unexpectedly caught sight of the two stars on his shoulder boards.
The youngest regiment commander in the entire military, a special envoy working on top-secret research, and a first-class medal of merit hidden at the bottom of a box. The whole village thought she had married a poor soldier, but he had kept his true identity better hidden than anyone.
When the man's secret was out, Lin Shang neither cried nor made a scene. She just asked, "Commander, can I get a bigger allowance?"
When disaster struck the base and cut off the power and water, she used the supplies she'd stockpiled in her space to keep half the residential compound afloat. As a major case in the northwest remained unsolved, the couple followed the clues and exposed the mole behind it.
Later, the whole village watched Lin Shang return home in glory with two sacks of New Year goods, followed by the cold-faced officer who poured her tea and did whatever she said. He had earned honors and commendations throughout his life, but in the end, he only ever obeyed her.
