Chapter 1: Locked in a Mental Hospital for Another Woman

“Come out!”

Creaaak—
The old wooden door let out a harsh sound as it opened. Sunlight poured in unrestrained, stabbing Xie Yunshu’s eyes. She instinctively shut them for a moment.

Standing at the doorway, a female nurse gave her a scornful glance. “Dr. Lu is waiting for you outside. Quit dragging your feet.”

Xie Yunshu blinked her dry, lifeless eyes and gave a bitter smile.
Yes, everyone looked down on her — said a single mother like her, an ordinary factory worker, wasn’t good enough for the well-respected Dr. Lu.

And now, she carried the label of a “lunatic,” even losing her job at the packaging factory.
The one who had her locked in this mental hospital was none other than her good husband — Dr. Lu Zhixing.

Winter in Haicheng was bitter cold. She instinctively wrapped her thin arms around herself as she silently walked out.
It was so cold… cold enough to make her heart tremble.

The nurse rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath, “It’s only been five days in the ward, such a drama queen. She was bold enough to slap Miss Zhou Yuezhi before — where’s that fire now?”

Xie Yunshu stopped and turned back with a blank face.
“I still dare hit someone. Want to try me?”

The nurse immediately shut up and awkwardly looked away.

Xie Yunshu sneered coldly and walked out, step by step.
Everyone in this hospital — doctors, nurses — knew she wasn’t mentally ill. But they still locked her up for five whole days.
Why?
Because her husband claimed she was having a mental breakdown and needed to calm down.

What a joke.

All because she slapped his childhood sweetheart once.

Those five days nearly drove her insane. The ward conditions were terrible — just a thin blanket, two buns and one bottle of water a day. Even the rice porridge they gave was cold.
She developed a high fever on the second night, but no one came to check on her.

Even the people delivering food would just toss it through the window.
The physical and mental torture was unbearable. In the haze of fever, she had a strange, vivid dream.

A dream that spanned ten years.
When she finally woke up — it felt like a lifetime had passed.
It was the winter of 1986.

The dream had overlapped with reality.
She knew, deep down, it wasn’t just a dream.

Five days ago, she had discovered that her beloved husband was keeping another woman. Enraged and losing all rationality, she stormed into the hospital and slapped that woman in public.

“You homewrecker! Starved for a man? Why don’t you try stealing someone else’s husband?!”

The woman was beautiful, with a delicate frame and tear-streaked face like a weeping flower.
“Sister-in-law, you misunderstood. Brother Zhixing and I… it’s not what you think!”

Misunderstood?
She’d have to be a fool to believe that.

The woman clung to Lu Zhixing’s arms, a provocative glint in her eye as she deliberately twisted the knife:
“Sister-in-law, don’t overthink it. Lu-ge only let me stay in the apartment out of pity. If it makes you uncomfortable, I’ll move out right away, okay?”

Lu Zhixing shielded the woman behind him and glared at Xie Yunshu coldly.
“Yunshu, you attacked Xinyue without knowing the full story. Apologize. Now.”

Xie Yunshu almost laughed. She pointed at him and snapped:
“I’ve never asked what you do with your paycheck. And now I find out fifty of your sixty yuan goes to this woman? And you call that a misunderstanding?!”

Her wonderful husband had given their newlywed apartment to another woman.
Fifty yuan a month — nearly his entire salary — went to her.
Yet he still called it a misunderstanding?

When Xie Yunshu made a scene, and the crowd started gathering, Lu Zhixing took a deep breath and said:
“She’s mentally unstable. Send her to the hospital to calm down!”

To this day, Xie Yunshu could still recall the sheer disbelief she felt.
Her own husband had her thrown into a psychiatric ward — all for another woman.

---

“Why do you look so pale? Are you cold?”

The man walking beside her furrowed his handsome brows. Without a word, he took off his coat and draped it over her shoulders.
“Don’t catch a chill. I’ll make you some ginger soup when we get home. You’ll feel better soon.”

Xie Yunshu shifted slightly.
The coat was warm, still carrying his body heat — and a faint scent of fancy soap, one she didn’t use at home.

Seeing her silent, Lu Zhixing paused.
“Yunshu, I didn’t have a choice sending you to the hospital. Xinyue is a single mother — life’s already hard enough. And you stormed in screaming that she seduced me… It could ruin her reputation.”

“Oh? And calling me insane doesn’t ruin mine?” Xie Yunshu couldn’t help but sneer.
“You let her live in our marriage home. Gave her fifty yuan a month. Did you ever stop to think how that might affect me?”

Lu Zhixing took a deep breath.
“I already asked the doctor to issue a certificate. It won’t affect your record. As for me and Xinyue — it’s a misunderstanding. Let’s talk about it at home.”

What a joke.

A certificate wouldn’t undo the fact that she lost her job over this.
People would always believe the rumors — once labeled mentally ill, no paper could clear her name.
In her past life, this man really had driven her to madness.

As for Zhou Xinyue — Xie Yunshu now knew the full story.
Maybe there was no physical affair, but that woman was far from innocent.

Zhou Xinyue and Lu Zhixing grew up together. Her father had helped the Lu family in the past.
When Zhou’s father died, she and her mother left Haicheng. Years later, Lu Zhixing found her in a remote mountain village — sold by traffickers, married to a man over fifty.

Years of torment had left the once-beautiful girl from the military compound battered and scarred.
Lu Zhixing was shocked and pulled every string to bring her — and her son — back.

From then on, he became Zhou Xinyue’s savior.

Xie Yunshu and Lu Zhixing lived in a government-assigned apartment.
When they arrived home, before Lu could say anything, Xie Yunshu grabbed a basin of hot water and went straight to bathe. By the time she came out, the aroma of meat and vegetables filled the air.

Lu Zhixing — the aloof, highly respected attending physician — now wore an apron and was busy cooking in the kitchen.
Hearing her footsteps, he turned and smiled.
“Sit down and have some soup. One more dish and dinner’s ready.” Two dishes and two steaming bowls of rice sat on the table.
To an outsider, this looked like the perfect husband.

But if Xie Yunshu hadn’t lived through those ten years in her dream — if she hadn’t felt it all herself — she might still be trapped in that toxic love until it destroyed her.

“Eat,” he said. With slender fingers, he placed a plate of scrambled eggs and tomatoes on the table, then sat opposite her, voice gentle.
“Take your time. I’ll buy some pork ribs tomorrow.”

As if he wasn’t the man who threw his wife into a mental hospital for another woman.

Xie Yunshu silently ate her rice.
She helped herself to the eggs and meat — not holding back in the slightest, not even looking up.

Lu Zhixing had always been cold. When they used to eat together, she’d chatter on while he listened, occasionally giving a curt “hmm.”
But now, with her silent too, only the sounds of chewing and clinking chopsticks echoed in the room.

When dinner was over, Xie Yunshu pushed her bowl and chopsticks aside.
She didn’t offer to do the dishes — just turned and walked into the bedroom.