Chapter 1

In the summer of her 32nd year, Si Cheng finally decided to marry Zong Xuze, the man she had once loved and then lost, only to reunite with him after many years apart.

Back in their teenage years, Si Cheng had fallen for Zong Xuze during the bloom of youth. On a summer afternoon, she remembered him standing in her grandmother’s dining room—tall and striking in his crisp military uniform—bringing a dazzling brightness to the small, worn-out space.

But at the time, she was young and didn’t understand the true nature of love.

Faced with Zong Xuze’s noble presence, she couldn’t help but feel inferior. The shame and pain of her broken home made her bury that affection deep within her. She hid her feelings all throughout her adolescence.

Later, her beloved grandfather passed away. Crying, she messaged Zong Xuze. He took leave from duty and returned to attend the funeral. After that, they shared a brief period together as a couple.

But the relationship didn’t last. They were separated by distance, and when another girl entered the picture, Si Cheng realized the gulf between them was something she could never cross. It was a chasm too deep. She ended things unilaterally and erased all means of contact.

Zong Xuze returned twice to look for her.

The first time, she avoided him.
The second time, she was already dating a high school classmate and turned him away again.

Years passed.

When they met again, it was long after their breakup. Si Cheng had become a screenwriter, working on set and constantly on call to adjust flawed scripts or awkward dialogue. He, now a special forces soldier, had been brought in by the production team to ensure the film’s military details were accurate.

They were both in their thirties now. When Zong Xuze learned she was single again, he asked to pursue her once more.

Love after thirty wasn’t the same as it had been in youth. They no longer believed that the differences between their families were insurmountable. Time had shaped them. They had both grown more mature in how they handled life’s challenges.

Still, Si Cheng couldn’t bring herself to fall in love again, let alone marry.

But now, it wasn’t because she felt unworthy due to her background. It was because she feared that her childhood traumas had twisted her nature. She had become withdrawn, difficult to be around, unsure how to communicate or build relationships. She worried she wouldn’t be able to maintain a marriage with Zong Xuze, that she couldn’t navigate her strained relationship with her parents, or that she would fail at raising a child.

Falling in love is easy. Staying together is hard.

It was Zong Xuze’s unwavering calm, his gentleness, and his steady love that slowly drew her out of her fears.

Just when she finally opened her heart and decided to walk into marriage with him, fate played a cruel joke.

On her way to try on her wedding dress, she was in a car accident.

The car was totaled.
She died.

When she opened her eyes again, an unfamiliar face filled her vision.

“Classmate!” a bus conductor gently nudged her shoulder, smiling. “We’re at the last stop—Jiuzhong Bus Station.”

Si Cheng’s mind was blank, her thoughts foggy. In a daze, she picked up her things and prepared to get off the bus.

“Hey! Your bag!”

The conductor handed her a bright red paper bag. “Silly kid—studying so hard you’re dazed, huh? You’re all scatterbrained. Are you sick? Be careful going home!”

Si Cheng mechanically accepted the bag, her voice hoarse. “Thank you.”

Getting off the bus, she looked at the run-down old station as her memories slowly started to return.

Before her was a muddy road, squat buildings, even some old tiled houses. Passersby wore plain clothes, some with patched elbows. An elderly man walked by in worn-out liberation shoes.

She turned and saw a small shop behind her. In the glass window’s reflection, she saw herself: greasy hair, a too-big plaid shirt, brown polyester pants, plastic blue mesh shoes, and a bright red Sailor Moon backpack on her back. In her hand, a paper bag labeled with the name of a local snake wine brand.

The backpack was heavy—full of books.

The paper bag held spare clothes, straw sandals, an umbrella, and a glass jar.

Her memories came flooding back.

Today was Teacher’s Day, 2003.
On this very day, something happened in her family—a turning point that changed everything.

That single incident sent her entire family into a spiral of conflict, heartbreak, and ultimately, divorce.

Her mother, consumed by anger at her father’s failures and crushed by life’s pressures, took it all out on Si Cheng—who had no way to fight back.

The two years of high school, which should have been pivotal for her future, were instead full of emotional torment and physical abuse. Her mother turned her into a tool for revenge against her father—destroying half her future in the process.

She remembered the fights during her parents’ divorce. Every screaming match ended with her being hit. At just fourteen or fifteen, she was slapped, forced to kneel, and made to get up at six to do chores—while still carrying the workload of a full-time student.

That time was the darkest, most hopeless chapter of her life.

She never understood why her home had to fall apart. Why her parents’ love had to shatter. She tried everything to save their marriage—exhausting herself—only to lose everything. She was left broken, without self-respect, with a warped, isolated personality.

She cried as she ran to the bus station.
She had to save her family.

Not because she had forgiven her parents.
But because she was still just a child.

She wanted to save her home.
To save the girl she once was—desperate, helpless, and on the edge of giving up on life.

The bus was just like she remembered it. She got on.

When it reached her stop, she bolted off like a girl possessed, running through the streets.

The sun blazed above. Her tears fell freely.
She was drenched in sweat and out of breath when she reached her old neighborhood.

But she didn’t go home right away.
Dirty, smelly, she ran instead to a place she knew like the back of her hand.

Downstairs, the landlady stopped her. “Whose kid are you? What’re you doing here?”

“I’m Si Cheng. I’m looking for my dad—Si Wentao.”

“Hey! The adults upstairs are… busy. You can’t go up!”

But Si Cheng didn’t listen. She pushed past the old lady and ran up the stairs, banging on the third-floor door.

Someone inside asked warily, “Who is it?”

“I’m Si Cheng. I’m Si Wentao’s daughter! Grandpa just fainted at home—he needs to go to the hospital!”

“What?!”

The door opened a moment later. Her father, young and only in his early thirties, stepped out in shock.

“Si Cheng, your grandpa fainted? Is he okay?”

Seeing this younger version of her father, Si Cheng felt a surge of bitterness—but quickly pushed it down.

“He didn’t look good. Dad, Mom—please, come back and take him to the hospital!”

Si Wentao didn’t hesitate. He followed her out, dragging Si Cheng’s mother with him and leaving the gambling den behind.

Downstairs, the landlady curled her lips but said nothing.

Even though they had escaped that dangerous place, Si Cheng didn’t feel safe. She trailed behind her parents, already thinking about what to do next.

In her last life, this exact day was when their family was supposed to buy a house.

Her father had 30,000 yuan on him—three years of savings. He hadn’t gambled, but he did love watching. That day, while watching others gamble, the place was raided.

Even though he hadn’t played, he was taken in with the rest. The house money was confiscated as gambling funds.

That single event shattered her mother’s spirit—and she never recovered from it…