Chapter 1

Working overtime until 4 a.m., the moment Yu Li turned off her computer, she collapsed face-first onto the desk.

When she opened her eyes again, a wave of searing pain hit her.

Her whole body felt as if her bones had been ground to dust.

Before her was a handsome face, magnified. The man’s brows were like distant mountains, his sideburns as sharp as if carved by a blade. His deep, dark eyes glistened under the sheen of sweat on his forehead as he leaned down and pried open her lips decisively…

The rhythm and force left Yu Li no time to think!

What kind of dream is this with a top-tier male model?

Resigned to the absurdity, Yu Li hooked her long, slender legs around him.

It wasn’t until the storm subsided that the man regained clarity, his reddened eyes turning toward her.

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t control myself.”

Yu Li’s head throbbed, her cheeks flushed, and she dazedly watched him pull up his pants.

Then she glanced around at the dilapidated, newspaper-patched house and finally realized—she’d transmigrated into a book!

She had become the ex-fiancée of the male lead in a sweet, retro romance novel called The Soldier’s Relentless Pursuit of Love.

In the novel, her character, unable to bear loneliness, seduces her fiancé’s comrade and gets caught by her future mother-in-law, ultimately leading to her suicide out of shame.

Her mother, heartbroken by the scandal, suffers a fatal heart attack. Her father, convinced his daughter didn’t take her own life, drowns while searching for evidence to prove her innocence.

Naturally, the male lead, Wu Guohua, has no lingering feelings for such a woman. He quickly moves on, marrying the female lead, Xia Yuying, in a whirlwind military wedding.

The two live a blissful, model-marriage life, and whenever Yu Li’s character is mentioned, it’s always with disdain.

The novel itself is Xia Yuying’s dictated memoir, written when she was old. It even trended online for a while, with readers lining up to curse the shameless ex-fiancée.

Before transmigrating, Yu Li had read the book and scorned the villainous supporting character, even lamenting how unlucky she was to share the same name.

Now, with the memories of the original character flooding her mind, Yu Li finally understood the truth and was so furious she wanted to slap her thigh in frustration.

Damn it!

Xia Yuying was the real shameless one!

In this world, the truth was that Xia Yuying was Yu Li’s best friend. Secretly in love with Wu Guohua, she sought him out at his base, seduced him, and then forced him into marriage.

But Wu Guohua was already engaged to Yu Li.

Wu Guohua’s mother wasn’t in great health, and with an elder sister widowed and returning home with her child, it was Yu Li who helped the family with all the chores.

To put it bluntly, even emptying Wu Guohua’s mother’s chamber pot fell to Yu Li.

If Wu Guohua broke off the engagement to marry Yu Li’s best friend, it would undoubtedly harm his career.

At the same time, Wu Guohua was under a lot of pressure because his comrade, Lu Guanshan, was an exceptional soldier competing for the same promotion.

Wu Guohua’s mother hatched a plan. While Lu Guanshan was on a nearby mission, she had him deliver something to their home. After getting him drunk and spiking his drink, she locked him and Yu Li in a room together.

The plan? Create a scandal to ruin Lu Guanshan’s reputation, giving her son an edge, and force Yu Li, now disgraced, to break off the engagement willingly.

Recalling all this, Yu Li nearly exploded with rage.

The Wu family was utterly shameless!

Her fists clenched, her face tense, radiating killing intent.

Lu Guanshan, who had just finished dressing, turned around and froze, startled by her expression. But he quickly apologized: “Comrade, I’m truly sorry. I drank too much and didn’t know how things got to this… Go ahead, slap me! Then get dressed, and we’ll discuss what happens next. No matter what, I’ll take full responsibility!”

He even leaned his face closer.

Yu Li blinked, stunned by his unbelievably handsome features, and couldn’t help but gulp.

Lu Guanshan’s features were naturally striking, with deep-set eyes, a high, straight nose, and thin, pressed lips. His gaze was like a still lake, and up close, his skin was smooth and refined, tempting anyone to reach out for a touch.

A face like this wasn’t meant to take a beating—it was meant for kissing!

Thinking about how, in the book, Lu Guanshan’s career was destroyed after being accused of assaulting his comrade’s fiancée, and how he later died saving someone, filled Yu Li with both anger and regret.

She held her breath and hurriedly said, “Turn around! I need to get dressed! Once I’m done, we can talk!”

Lu Guanshan immediately turned his back, assuming a perfect military posture. From behind, his broad shoulders and narrow waist stood out, his towering height of about 1.88 meters giving him the appearance of a tall, sturdy poplar tree. Yu Li silently calculated—today wasn’t a total loss.

But just as she finished buttoning her last button, the door was suddenly slammed open!

Wu Guohua’s mother barged in, hollering, “Yu Li! Yu Li! Did this beast hurt you? I’ll beat him out of here!”

Without waiting for an answer, she swung her broom at Lu Guanshan with all her might.

“You bastard! This is my son’s fiancée! How dare you touch her after drinking that swill? How is my son supposed to live with her now?!”

Lu Guanshan hadn’t expected Wu Guohua’s mother to be so aggressive. But since he had, in fact, wronged his comrade’s fiancée, he endured the blows without protest.

Wu Guohua’s sister, Wu Tong, walked in with her arms crossed, her gaze cold as she glared at Yu Li.

“Shameful! Can’t you control yourself? Spreading your legs for any man? If I were you, I’d bash my head against the wall and die! Now that you’ve slept with some random man, there’s no way Guohua will marry you! Figure it out yourself!”

Yu Li’s eyes turned icy as the original body’s memories surged forward.

For years, while Wu Guohua was away in the military, Yu Li had worked tirelessly for the Wu family.

Cooking, emptying chamber pots, doing laundry, cleaning, washing dishes, feeding pigs and chickens—she’d done it all. During the busy farming season, she even helped in the fields.

Wu Guohua’s father had died early, and Wu Guohua’s mother often claimed she was too frail to work. Wu Tong, who had returned home as a widow with her child, didn’t lift a finger, always saying, “If you want to marry my brother, Yu Li, you’d better work harder. Otherwise, I’ll be the first to object!”

But no matter how hard Yu Li worked, Wu Tong constantly criticized her, saying her cooking was bad or her laundry wasn’t clean. She couldn’t go a day without delivering a few cutting remarks to Yu Li.

Remembering all this, Yu Li was filled with fury—not just for herself, but for the original body.

Wu Tong kept spewing venom: “What kind of woman can live after something like this? Only those with no shame! You’ve disgraced your parents completely! If you have any self-respect, go find a river and jump in, or drink some pesticide and end it! People like you are just a public embarrassment!”

As she spoke, Wu Tong tossed a bottle of pesticide onto the floor in front of Yu Li.

It was this exact humiliation that had driven the original Yu Li to drink the pesticide and end her life.

But Yu Li wasn’t the original Yu Li. She stood up, grabbed Wu Tong by the hair, and smacked her across the face with a worn-out shoe.

“You’re so damn amazing, aren’t you? If your mouth is so idle, go lick a cesspit! Why are you so concerned about how I live? Am I your mom or your dad? You care so much about appearances? Let’s see how thick your face is!”

Smack! Smack! Smack!

Yu Li didn’t hold back. Wu Tong’s head spun from the blows, and she screamed and cursed.

“Yu Li, you filthy wench! You dare hit me? You’ll never step foot in the Wu family’s house again—”

But her filthy mouth only spurred Yu Li on. She grabbed Wu Tong’s head and slammed it against the doorframe.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Finally, Wu Tong slumped to the ground, dizzy and gasping, unable to hurl more insults.

Meanwhile, outside, Lu Guanshan was still being chased and beaten by Wu Guohua’s mother.

He didn’t fight back or dodge, knowing full well that he was at fault. He had wronged a woman, and in his mind, he deserved this punishment.

Wu Guohua’s mother made sure to scream loudly as she beat him, drawing a crowd from the village. She was secretly pleased, intending to blow the matter out of proportion so that Yu Li would break off the engagement herself, and Lu Guanshan’s career would be ruined.

But suddenly, someone kicked her hard from behind.

Wu Guohua’s mother fell to the ground with a yelp. Yu Li strode over and pointed her finger at her.

“Old hag, shut your mouth!!”