The First Sword After Making It Ashore [The 1970s]

The first thing you do after making it to shore is cut down the person you love.

Though this saying came into use online in a later era, Tu Jiaojiao thought it was a perfect description of her and her husband, Yan Shu.

Yan Shu was one of the educated youths sent down to her village in 1974. A famine was raging at the time, and many villagers starved to death. Tu Jiaojiao saved Yan Shu behind her family's back, using the emergency rations she'd secretly stashed away.

As for why she saved him, Tu Jiaojiao would slap the table and declare that it was because she was generous, brave, and righteous, always ready to help those in need... but that wasn't the truth at all.

She'd simply been unable to take her eyes off Yan Shu. His high nose, deep eyes, legs longer than her life, stubborn little gaze, and melancholy air had left her utterly smitten. All she wanted was to make him hers as soon as possible...

She wasn't even put off by the fact that, if she wanted to marry him, she'd have to live in a collapsing cowshed.

So when Yan Shu asked how he could repay her for saving his life, Tu Jiaojiao answered without hesitation: "Marry me. And when you get the chance to return to the city, remember to take me with you."

Yan Shu's forehead bulged with anger, but the food was in her hands, and he had no choice but to give in.

They married in a hurry. Their bridal chamber was the cowshed the production team had assigned to Yan Shu, and Tu Jiaojiao didn't mind at all.

After three years of marriage, Tu Jiaojiao still hadn't had a child, and she was getting worried. But then Yan Shu's life took a turn: the college entrance exams were reinstated.

Yan Shu studied as hard as he could. With no choice but to leave the housework to Tu Jiaojiao, he solemnly promised that if he got into college, he would take her to the city.

He succeeded, becoming the first person from their remote village to get into college and return to the city. He kept his promise and took Tu Jiaojiao with him.

But the day after they got back to the city, Yan Shu formally asked her for a divorce.

Tu Jiaojiao had a dream. She dreamed that famine suddenly struck the village, that she saved an educated youth named Yan Shu and married him. He ate her food, drank her water, and took her to the city, only to suddenly demand a divorce.

Tu Jiaojiao: You ungrateful bastard. You think you're the only one who can study?

Then, in 1977, two golden phoenixes flew out of Wuli Village.

Theme: Trees can fall, people can leave, but it's best to rely on yourself