Chapter 2

He Bingning’s words left Auntie Li completely dumbfounded. She thought to herself: What’s wrong with this little fox spirit? Normally, she’s not so sharp-tongued, and just last night her attitude wasn’t like this at all.

She kept saying she didn’t like Gu Huai, didn’t want to live with him, that she was always thinking about leaving the military compound, that she had to divorce him—so how come today she suddenly changed her tune?

Not only did she change her tune, but she even turned the tables, accusing her of trying to sow discord between husband and wife?

Of course, she was trying to stir things up, but if others noticed, that would ruin everything.

Especially Gu Huai—she couldn’t let him start doubting the Li family. Their precious daughter, Li Juanjuan, still dreamed of marrying Gu Huai.

But Auntie Li was no naive fool. She was in her fifties and had plenty of life experience. Quickly, she changed her tone and said:

“Now, now, little daughter-in-law, don’t talk nonsense. We all live here in the compound. I’m a military wife myself, with a strong sense of duty. How could I possibly try to come between you two? Besides, I’m like an elder to you. In my heart, I only wish the best for you and your husband—you mustn’t wrong me like this.”

If this had been the He Bingning of her past life, she would have believed her without question, maybe even apologized.

The He family was wealthy, and He Bingning had grown up doted on, living like a pampered young lady. She never believed there were truly bad people in the world.

But now she was different. After all she had gone through, she was no longer that naïve, innocent girl.

People like Auntie Li were completely transparent to her now. Too bad to be good, but never wicked enough to be outright evil.

The world was full of people like this—not exactly good, not exactly bad, but selfish to the core. When they put themselves first, they didn’t care in the least if others suffered.

Auntie Li was exactly that kind of person.

He Bingning’s tears kept falling, not because of Auntie Li, but because the crying from before hadn’t quite worn itself out.

Seeing her in tears, Auntie Li panicked and quickly made an excuse to leave:

“Uh, well, I’ve left water boiling at home—I’d better hurry back before the pot burns dry. That would be a real problem!”

With that, she scuttled away in tiny quick steps.

Once no one else was around, He Bingning completely lost control again, crying even harder, her thin shoulders shaking with every sob.

“Sigh…” Gu Huai let out a guilty breath and said, “Don’t cry anymore. It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have trusted outsiders so easily. How could you possibly want to leave me? How could you want a divorce? If you weren’t serious about being with me, why would you have given me two children?”

He Bingning bit her lip and shook her head.

The truth was, she had wanted to leave. Only because she had been reborn had all of this changed.

She had been the one to act willful and unreasonable, yet it was Gu Huai apologizing.

The one without fault was the first to say sorry.

“Come on, don’t cry anymore!” Gu Huai reached out his large hand and gently wiped her tears away. “There’s rock sugar in the drawer. I’ll get some for you. But once you eat it, you have to stop crying!”

He stuffed the rock sugar into her mouth, and He Bingning suddenly burst into laughter through her tears.

This rock sugar was part of the rations distributed to officers in the army—strictly limited. Gu Huai never ate it himself, saving it all for her.

In the past, He Bingning had looked down on this kind of sugar, complaining it was bland, too hard, impossible to chew. After all, she had grown up eating imported chocolates.

But now, she only found it sweet—sweet to the depths of her heart.

It was a simple, unadulterated sweetness, with no additives. Just like Gu Huai himself.

It was only when she quieted down and truly savored it that she realized how good he was.

Wiping her tears with the back of her hand, she grinned. “So sweet!”

Seeing she wasn’t crying anymore, Gu Huai finally felt relieved. “Of course it’s sweet. It’s sugar—when isn’t sugar sweet?”

He Bingning pursed her lips slightly. In her heart, she thought this man was truly simple and sincere. Even when coaxing her, he couldn’t come up with fancy words.

In the past, as a pampered young lady who had seen all kinds of luxuries and lived in wealth, how could she possibly fall for a man like him?

Even if Gu Huai had good looks—tall and lean, with bronzed skin and striking features—she had never spared him a glance.

But after everything she had been through, when she finally looked back, she realized just how foolish she had been.

Gu Huai was the husband her grandfather had chosen for her. And she had been her grandfather’s most beloved granddaughter. How could he ever have chosen wrongly for her?

Later, when she stubbornly insisted on marrying a divorced man with children and becoming a stepmother, it had angered her grandfather so much he fell ill. He soon passed away, and even after death, left the majority of his estate to her.

And what did she do? She gave all that money to her so-called husband and mother-in-law, thinking that if she bought their affection, they’d treat her well.

But she got nothing in return. After they drained her dry, she was left sick and broken. Everything turned to dust.

If her grandfather had known how she destroyed herself, how heartbroken he would have been.

Thankfully, she had been reborn. Fate had given her another chance.

This time, she would not be foolish again.

Her own husband. Her own children. Weren’t they the sweetest treasure of all?

She had to hold on tightly to what she already had and never let go.

Gu Huai had never courted anyone before. After meeting He Bingning through a blind date, they married quickly. Though they already had children, they hadn’t truly gone through the process of falling in love.

But Gu Huai liked her—he liked her very much. He Bingning was simply too beautiful, dazzlingly so. Even if her temper was bad and she made trouble constantly, he still liked her.

And being a man from the countryside, his simple belief was that once you chose someone, it was for life. To betray that was to invite heaven’s wrath.

“Are you still angry?” Gu Huai asked.

When He Bingning didn’t answer, he continued, “Life in the military compound is like this. Where there are many people, there will be unpleasantness. Especially for someone newly married into the community—you’ll face some exclusion. Next time something happens, don’t cry here by yourself. Tell me. I’ll stand up for you. This time with Auntie Li, I’ll go talk to Officer Li and tell him to control his wife, to stop her from coming over and picking on you.”

Hearing this, He Bingning suddenly realized—Gu Huai was actually very clear-headed. He understood exactly what life in the compound was like. Unlike other men, he didn’t blame his wife without knowing the truth, thinking only that she was embarrassing him. He actually cared about what she went through.

Gu Huai was different. He was a straightforward man, but his kind of “straight” was honest and upright.

How blind she had been before—not to see what a good man was right in front of her.

“There’s no need to confront Auntie Li. It’s just between us women—why should you get involved?” He Bingning said.

After all, Gu Huai was the youngest officer in the unit, his position not yet secure. If he rashly stood up for her, he would surely offend others.

If things got out of hand, neither of them would be able to stay in the compound.

Since it was between women, she would handle it herself.

Reborn, why should she fear someone like Auntie Li?

Afraid Gu Huai might get suspicious, He Bingning put on a bright smile and said, “I was crying because of the nursing. The two kids keep crying, and I just don’t know how to feed them properly.”