Long Willow Branches

[Resilient Country Girl X Border Guard General]

Amnesia / Marriage First, Love Later / Age Gap / Farming / Rough-and-Tumble Hero

Everyone in the village said Xie Wenying was unlucky.

Before she was born, the Xie family fell into decline. She lost her mother at three, and all she had left was her father, who couldn't do a day's hard labor. Before Xie Wenying was even as tall as a basket, her stepmother was already sending her into the mountains to gather herbs and help support the family. She thought her life would be so dull she could see the end of it from the start, until one rainy day, when she went into the mountains to gather herbs and found a bloodied man by a stream.

The man had injured his head and lost all his memories. But when her stepmother picked on Xie Wenying, he silently got up and stepped forward, smashing her stepmother's door and the drawers of her two stepsisters' desks with one blow.

That night, the wick burned low as the flames flickered. The man's dark eyes met Xie Wenying's.

"The knife I have can fetch some money. I'll pawn it, get us a house, and marry you." He paused. "You can't keep letting people walk all over you. Whether your life is good or bad is for you to decide."

Xie Wenying nodded. At last, there was something new to look forward to in her bitter life.

But the day after their wedding, the man said he was going into the mountains to hunt a fox for her, then vanished without a trace.

Rumors spread through the village, and her stepmother's curses grew louder. Xie Wenying acted as if she heard nothing. In the dead of night, she packed a bundle, took the money the man had left behind, and left the village alone.

Everyone in the Great Qi Empire said Wei Xinglou was blessed with incredible luck.

Born into a military family, he enlisted at thirteen and won illustrious battle honors by sixteen. Ten years later, he was promoted to third-rank assistant general, commanding tens of thousands of soldiers and guarding a strategic frontier pass.

Who could have imagined that such a decorated general would suddenly disappear one day?

Fearing the troops would lose morale, and even more afraid that foreign enemies would seize the opportunity to attack, the Wei army kept the secret. After months of searching, they finally found the unconscious Wei Xinglou beneath a cliff.

His clothes were brand-new and spotless, and a bow, arrows, and the body of a white fox lay scattered beside him.

When Wei Xinglou woke up, he couldn't remember where he'd been for the past few months.

With flames of war suddenly raging along the frontier, Wei Xinglou had no time to dwell on it. He put his armor back on and returned to the battlefield.

In one battle, he repelled tens of thousands of enemy troops and captured two cities in succession. The emperor was overjoyed and ordered Wei Xinglou to attend court.

The imperial eunuch delivering the decree smiled and covered his mouth as he whispered to Wei Xinglou that the emperor intended to arrange a marriage between him and a princess. Soon, General Wei would be calling His Majesty "Father-in-law."

A princess?

Yet Wei Xinglou suddenly felt a sense of loss, as if he'd forgotten something important.

On the way to the capital, Wei Xinglou rode past a merchant caravan. A moment later, hurried, chaotic footsteps sounded behind him.

He reined in his horse and turned around. A young cook from the caravan came running up, out of breath, and cried, "Husband?!"

Later, the unlucky Xie Wenying became a general's wife, opened a chain of restaurants, and built a thriving, prosperous life.

The lucky Wei Xinglou never became the emperor's son-in-law. He defied the imperial marriage decree and married a country girl, staying by her side on the bitterly cold frontier.

Leaning against Wei Xinglou's shoulder, Xie Wenying asked whether the two of them had good luck or bad luck.

Wei Xinglou casually twirled a strand of her hair and smiled. "Whether your luck is good or bad is for you to decide."

- One couple / Both leads' first relationship / Happy ending

- The amnesia and farming section isn't the main focus of the story. It makes up about a third of the book.

Theme: A good life comes from working hard for it