Married to a Handsome Officer [Joining the Army in the 1960s]

After marriage, Xu Mingzhu endured years of contempt and cold treatment from her husband, Jiang Jian’an, whom she had supported through college. In despair, she went to the water’s edge, but died saving a child who had fallen in.

By accident, she was reborn in 1960. Her short, stocky body, once mocked by others, had grown taller, and her skin had become smooth and delicate.

Just then, Jiang Jian’an’s mother came to propose with a pitiful dried fish. Xu Mingzhu promptly grabbed the door bar and chased them both out!

Jiang’s mother stood at her gate, furious, and yelled, “You filthy butcher! With a face like yours, you’d have to get incredibly lucky to marry my son. You’re so ungrateful! You’ll end up an old maid. Let’s see who’d still want to marry you!”

“I would.” A pleasant, deep voice rang out from among the onlookers.

Xu Mingzhu and everyone else turned to see who had spoken: a handsome man in a crisp military uniform, tall and lean, with looks that left Jiang Jian’an miles behind.

Perhaps worried she would refuse, the man introduced himself. “My name is Gu Baichuan. I was just promoted to battalion commander. If you’re willing to marry me, I’ll provide all the traditional wedding gifts, not a single one missing. I earn sixty yuan a month and can give it all to you. By the way, I’m usually stationed with the army. If you don’t want to live with my family, you can stay in your own home.”

Sixty yuan a month! That was enough to buy over a hundred pounds of pork. Xu Mingzhu’s eyes lit up. If she didn’t marry him, was she waiting for a better offer from Heaven?

>>>

On the first day after the wedding, Xu Mingzhu thought that since she’d married into a prominent family like the Gu family, she should get up early and make a good impression. But by the time she opened her eyes, the sun was already high in the sky.

Gu Baichuan rolled up his sleeves and came to the bed with a basin of water, smiling warmly. “You’re awake, you lazy little pig? I’ve got water ready for you. Get up and wash.”

Xu Mingzhu blushed bright red.

On the third day after the wedding, Gu Baichuan returned to his post.

A month after the wedding, letters began arriving from the army like snowflakes. Xu Mingzhu couldn’t read, so she took them to ask her neighbor, Auntie Zhang, to read them aloud.

Auntie Zhang held a letter up to the light, squinted, and read, “To my dear Ms. Xu Mingzhu: I hope this letter finds you well. We’ve been apart since only three days after our wedding. I wonder if you think of me in your spare time. I miss you very much, especially your lovely face, your smooth skin, your snowy...”

Those few short lines made the butcher, who had killed countless pigs without batting an eye, so embarrassed she wished she could crawl into a crack in the ground. With the women watching bursting into laughter, she snatched the letter and ran out the door.

She had to join the army immediately! She couldn’t spend another day in this place!

Theme: Love can make us better