Chapter 2 The male protagonist appears

He grabbed Wang Jinming’s hand and flung it away forcefully. Caught off guard, Wang Jinming stumbled backward a few steps.
“Who the hell are you? Mind your own business!” Wang Jinming, both angry and embarrassed, shouted at the man.

The man wore a light green shirt, a watch on his wrist, and had long legs. His profile was strikingly handsome. Lian Nanshu felt he looked familiar, but couldn’t quite place him. His wheat-colored skin made it clear he was a recently returned educated youth from the countryside.

“Comrade, do you know what kind of charge you’d face for harassing a female comrade? And a married woman, no less. Maybe go look that up?” the man shot back at Wang Jinming.

“We’re truly in love!” Wang Jinming argued.

“Rubbish. That’s all in your head,” Lian Nanshu snapped.
“I’ve already told you—I’m married. Stop pestering me. Are you deaf or something?”

“Nanshu~” Wang Jinming tried to explain again. As he stepped forward, the man blocked him with his arm.
“She made herself perfectly clear. If you keep harassing her, we can take this somewhere else,” he said coldly, his gaze sharp and menacing.

Wang Jinming had no choice. He gave Lian Nanshu a final look and left.

After he was gone, Lian Nanshu turned to the man and thanked him, “Comrade, thank you!”

The man turned to speak to her, but just then—
“Big brother, come help me with my luggage!” A girl in a princess dress with curly hair and a pure, delicate face called out. She was pulling a large suitcase behind her.

The man turned away and walked over to his sister.

Lian Nanshu didn’t overthink it and headed straight into the teaching building.

When the man turned back with the suitcase, she had already disappeared.

Lan Luobai, walking ahead, noticed her brother wasn’t following and glanced back at his gaze. There was no one there. But she had seen him step in to help a girl just now.

Her gossip-loving face lit up with curiosity. She ran back to her brother’s side and whispered,
“Brother, if you’re really interested, I can help you find her and look into her background?”

Lan Xubai rolled his eyes in warning and said nothing, striding ahead.

“Come on! We’re supposed to attend Grandpa Lin’s birthday today. Mom and Dad are busy, so we can’t be late!”

Lan Luobai made a silly face at her brother and stuck out her tongue. Realizing his long-legged self was already far ahead, she called out,
“Brother, wait for me!”

She scurried after him with quick little steps.

“Brother, just a reminder! If you’re not officially divorced yet, you shouldn’t be getting involved with someone else. Even Sister Liao is off-limits!”

“You didn’t tell anyone the divorce didn’t go through. But what if your wife has already moved on? What will you do then?”

“Brother! Say something!”
Lan Xubai continued carrying the suitcase, silent.

Lan Luobai kept chasing after him, watching his expression carefully while trying to get a reaction.

Meanwhile, in her office, Lian Nanshu sat down and set her books on the desk.

“Teacher Nanshu, you’re back?” A woman in her thirties entered the room. Her face was round and soft, and she wore a light green long dress with softly curled hair.

“Yes. Did you come by yourself today, Teacher Liu?”

Liu Yang smiled shyly, “My family dropped me off.”

“I can tell!” Nanshu chuckled.

Liu Yang bashfully played with her hair.
“Aiya!” Just then, another female teacher, Yang Yuan, teased her,
“Don’t tease her! Teacher Liu’s husband only comes home once every few years. Of course they need to squeeze in as much couple time as possible while they can! Otherwise, they won’t see each other again for years!”

“Yang Yuan, what nonsense are you talking about?” Liu Yang blushed furiously at the teasing.

Lian Nanshu held back a laugh. She found it sweet that even a woman in her thirties still blushed when someone mentioned her husband.
There were still plenty of genuine people in the world.

Nanshu smiled but didn’t say anything, lowering her head to continue her lesson prep.

Yang Yuan stopped teasing and smiled.

Liu Yang, noticing how different Nanshu looked after the break, said,
“Nanshu, did you lose weight again?”

“Yeah…” Nanshu sighed and put her pen down. “I’ve been trying to eat more, but I still lost a few pounds.”

“Haha~~” Yang Yuan sighed,
“I try to lose weight and can’t, and you try to gain weight and still get thinner. Life’s just unfair!”

Liu Yang chimed in,
“Yang Yuan, you’re married—you don’t need to worry about your figure! Nanshu’s different. She’s too outstanding, and too beautiful. People get jealous. She wants to gain some weight so she won’t stand out as much and people will stop coveting her.”

Nanshu was caught off guard by the comment and awkwardly tried to explain,
“That’s not it. It’s not like people are chasing after me or anything. I just think clothes look better on me if I gain a bit of weight…”

She avoided eye contact, clearly flustered.
In truth, she did want to gain weight because of all the attention she attracted—it caused her problems.

“Don’t be embarrassed, I’m not jealous of you!” Liu Yang had worked with Nanshu for years and knew her too well.

Nanshu smiled in reply.

Yang Yuan sighed again,
“Nanshu, your long-lost husband still hasn’t shown up. Are you sure he’s okay? So many people like you—don’t you think it’s time to consider moving on? Maybe go look for him where he used to work?”

“Yeah! It’s been so many years of separation—it’s just not right,” Liu Yang agreed.
“You’ve waited all this time. What if he started another family out there? You’d have wasted all these years for nothing. You don’t have parents or siblings. You should have someone to care for and protect you.”

Lian Nanshu knew they meant well.
“I understand. Don’t worry about me,” she said, doing her best to mask her embarrassment.

After all, that man was the male lead in the original novel. He probably thought she was dead by now and was already with the woman he loved. The book mentioned it clearly: the divorce never happened because Lian Nanshu’s entire family drowned in a flood.

Later, the male lead, Lan Xubai, rose through the ranks with his own efforts—first becoming a regiment commander, and then taking on secret missions with outstanding achievements. Eventually, he became the youngest division commander.

The female lead’s father had opposed their relationship because Lan Xubai had previously been married. But Lan Xubai proved his love through his actions, and the father finally agreed to let them marry.

Due to the female lead’s congenital heart disease, she never had children, but the couple lived a happy and fulfilling life.

Lian Nanshu silently did the math and realized: it’s about time in the story when the male lead was supposed to marry the woman he truly loved. She let out a helpless sigh in her heart:
“That won’t work… I’m still alive. If he wants to get married, he’ll have to come back and finalize the divorce first!”

Disappearing forever didn’t seem like an option.

After she transmigrated, Lian Nanshu’s entire family had perished. It was an immense pain—not only for the original character, but also for her now.

After a busy morning, a few teachers went to the cafeteria together to eat.
Lian Nanshu had forgotten her glasses, so her stunning beauty was on full display. Along the way, many people turned to look at her.

After finally getting her food, she realized the cafeteria was packed, and there weren’t many open seats.

Lan Xubai and his sister Lan Luobai, having just finished touring the school, arrived at the cafeteria as well.
Lian Nanshu had been a little slower getting her food and ended up separated from the others. She found a spot and sat down by herself.

After getting their meals, Lan Luobai spotted Lian Nanshu and immediately remembered how her brother had helped this woman out earlier. She quickly approached her.

“Hello, classmate! Is it okay if we sit here?” she asked brightly.

Lian Nanshu looked up at her—a delicate, fair-skinned girl who seemed just a bit over twenty, smiling warmly at her.
She smiled in return and nodded, shifting her bowl slightly to make room.

“Brother, over here!” Lan Luobai waved her brother over.

Following the sound of her voice, Lan Xubai looked over.

“It’s her?” When he saw Lian Nanshu—without her glasses this time—her beauty struck him even more.

As Lan Xubai sat down across from her, Lian Nanshu suddenly felt awkward.

Lan Xubai sneaked a glance at her expression.

Lan Luobai, noticing her brother’s reaction, quickly sensed that he might be interested in this woman.

“Classmate, what’s your major?” she asked.

The sudden question caught Lian Nanshu off guard. She looked up, a little confused.

Lan Luobai patted her own chest and introduced herself,
“I’m Lan Luobai, a foreign language major. This is my older brother, Lan Xubai—he came to drop me off at school.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m…” Lian Nanshu started to introduce herself, but then stopped mid-sentence.
“Wait… what did you say his name was?” she asked, suddenly lifting her head to stare at Lan Xubai.

Lan Luobai noticed her strange reaction and was just about to explain, seeing how Lian Nanshu was staring at her brother.

Just then, a student walking past with their lunch tray bowed slightly and greeted her,
“Good afternoon, teacher!”

“Good afternoon,” Lian Nanshu nodded in return.

Lan Luobai was stunned.
“T-Teacher??”

Lian Nanshu gave a slightly awkward smile, her hand holding the chopsticks trembling.

She glanced at Lan Xubai sitting across from her, then looked down to pick at her food—but she dropped her chopsticks several times while trying to grab something.