Chapter 1

“Did you hear? The fourth brother took the train home a few days ago—he should be arriving today!”
At the village well, while washing vegetables, eldest sister-in-law Li Fang spoke up.

Second sister-in-law Ye Li, sorting greens at the side, said, “I heard about it long ago. He hasn’t come back in four years—who knows what he looks like now.”

Third sister-in-law Bao Xiuxiu lowered her voice. “His wife insisted on splitting the kitchen from the family. Her health’s been getting worse and worse… she probably won’t last long!”

At this, the other two women were startled.

“Ah? Then we’d better make plans early!”

Each of the sisters-in-law had their own schemes, all thinking about introducing their own relatives to the fourth brother.

After all, Zhan Tingxu had now been promoted to regimental commander—still young, still strong—even if it’s a second marriage, plenty of girls would fight to marry him.

Li Fang said, “My niece is perfect—young, pretty, never married!”

Ye Li refused to give in. “I think my niece is better—at least she’s a high school graduate!”

Bao Xiuxiu again spoke in a low voice, “If you ask me, the fourth brother’s been gone for so many years… I bet he already has someone new outside.”

The other sisters-in-law nodded—it made sense.

“Right, what man can go four years without breaking his vows? Especially a hot-blooded soldier?”

Saying so, they all waited eagerly to see Meng Yingying, the fourth sister-in-law, make a fool of herself.

“Cough… cough…”

At that moment, a weak cough came from behind them.

They immediately knew who it was and quickly lowered their heads to pretend to work.

Meng Yingying fetched water from the well to wash vegetables, ignoring them entirely.

Bao Xiuxiu muttered under her breath, “Doesn’t even greet people—so rude!”

But Meng Yingying had just realized she had been reborn—reborn on the very night she died in her previous life.

When she died, she vaguely heard an androgynous voice shouting:
“Wake up! If you don’t wake up, someone else will take over your body!”

Meng Yingying jolted awake and found herself lying in a hazy space on a hospital bed, surrounded by three small robots.

Completely confused, she asked, “Where… am I?”

One robot said, “No time to explain! We’re from the Bureau of Time and Space Management. After you died, a transmigrated heroine seized your body. Because she was too reckless, she ruined the plot of this world, causing it to collapse. We urgently need you to repair it!”

Before she could react, a large screen appeared, showing her the entire story of the novel she had lived in.

She was the tragic original heroine—eighteen years old when she married a military officer, Zhan Tingxu, through an arranged match. He was then only a battalion commander. Because housing was tight in the military compound, he had no quarters of his own, and they lived apart.

Their only night together was their wedding night in 1979, when the cold, disciplined Zhan Tingxu broke his abstinence once.

The very next day, the Sino-Vietnamese War broke out, and he was summoned back to the front. He never returned home for four years.

From that single night, Meng Yingying conceived triplets—two boys and a girl—and raised them all alone.

Overwork shattered her frail body, and before Zhan Tingxu came back, she died.

By then, Zhan Tingxu had fought hard to earn a regimental commander’s rank—finally qualified to bring his family to live with him—but she didn’t live to see it.

After her death, the transmigrated heroine took over her body, couldn’t bear Zhan Tingxu’s coldness, and divorced him immediately.

All three children stayed with Zhan Tingxu, but he focused only on his career. He left them to a negligent nanny who mistreated them and even tried to seduce him.

As a result, all three children went astray and died tragically.

Meanwhile, the transmigrated heroine used her knowledge to get rich, lived lavishly, took young lovers, contracted a disease, and ruined Meng Yingying’s body.

The plot collapsed completely. The author abruptly ended the book by dropping a giant meteor on everyone.

After wrecking the world, the transmigrated heroine simply returned to her original reality—leaving the mess behind.

“How about it?” the robots asked nervously.

Meng Yingying finished reading, furious—her chest tight, breath short, about to faint.

A robot quickly handed her an oxygen mask. After several deep breaths, she calmed down.

“Meng Yingying, to prevent this world from collapsing, we need you to repair the plot. Will you accept?”

Meng Yingying asked, “What do I need to do?”

“It’s simple. You’ll return to the night you died.”

That was the night before Zhan Tingxu came home.

Thinking of her children’s tragic fate, Meng Yingying didn’t hesitate. “Fine. I agree.”

Thus, Meng Yingying was reborn.

Her health wasn’t great—but at least not as bad as when she was dying.

After finishing her chores at the well, she was about to leave when Li Fang called out:
“Yingying, the fourth brother’s coming back—aren’t you going to meet him?”

Meng Yingying replied without hesitation: “No.”

Ye Li immediately scolded, “The fourth brother hasn’t been home in four years and you won’t greet him? What kind of wife are you?”

Meng Yingying’s tone was cold. “So much fuss. Why don’t you go greet him yourself?”

Ye Li choked, speechless. “You—how can you talk like that?”

But Meng Yingying ignored her, carried her vegetables home, and cooked.

She called out to her three children:
“A-Ming, A-Liang, Tingting—come eat!”

Three four-year-old toddlers bounced out cheerfully.

Meng Yingying had fried four eggs—one for each.

Her eldest son, Zhan Yuming, asked curiously, “Mom, is it true? Auntie says Dad’s coming back?”

Second son, Zhan Yuliang, lit up. “We have a dad?”

Daughter Zhan Yuting also looked excited. “We’ve never seen what Dad looks like!”

Meng Yingying answered flatly, “Just assume you don’t have a dad.”

After all, in her previous life Zhan Tingxu never acted like one.

Hearing this, the children fell silent and quietly ate.

After the meal, Meng Yingying took the three little ones for a walk.

Just then, a man in uniform with a travel pack approached. Seeing her, his cold, deep eyes lit up.

“Yingying…”

Hearing his low, magnetic voice, Meng Yingying froze for a moment—but didn’t even look at him. She just held her children’s hands and walked past as if he were a stranger.

Little Yuming glanced back curiously. “Mom, that uncle seemed to call you. Do you know him?”

The evening breeze carried Meng Yingying’s calm, frosty voice:

“Never seen him before. Just a stranger.”