Chapter 5

The two children, rarely seeing their mother in such a good mood, clung to Xia Wenhua, acting cute and begging her to play with them.

Xia Wenhua herself genuinely liked children. Back in her fast-paced modern life, she never had the time or energy to raise any. Now, after transmigrating, she became a mother painlessly—and these children were even hers. She was quickly won over and happily played with them.

As for explaining things? She decided to wait until the big shot finished handling the household split.

Pei Songbai, worthy of being the favored man of the transmigration god, resolved in one afternoon what might have taken days of quarrels in another family. He and the rest of the Pei family finalized the split without dragging it out.

When he returned to the room, the two little ones were already asleep. Pei Songbai handed a document to Xia Wenhua.
“If you’re going to follow me as a military spouse, we obviously have to split from the family. The other branches didn’t want to, so Mom said we’ll go first and leave the rest for later. This is our household division document—take a look.”

Since it concerned her future life, Xia Wenhua didn’t hesitate at all and took the paper to read carefully.

In the original host’s memories, Pei Songbai didn’t appear often, but the impression he left was of being blindly filial. That’s why earlier, Xia Wenhua had said Pei Mother could go with them if she wanted. But now, looking at the split agreement, she realized that wasn’t the case at all.

“You used to give twenty yuan a month to the family, and now even after the split, it’s still twenty? What about Mom… you’re not taking care of that?”

Hearing Xia Wenhua naturally refer to Pei Mother as “Mom” and genuinely discuss the family’s affairs, a warmth returned to Pei Songbai’s eyes.

To a rough man like him, Xia Wenhua was like a fairy from the heavens. Their union had been an accident, and he knew that in both age and background, Xia Wenhua had been forced to settle for him. Since she didn’t want to be with him, he had never pressured her.

When he caught her “cheating” earlier, he had been devastated, certain their family was done for. Who would’ve thought her entire demeanor would change?

Thinking of this, he looked at the sleeping children, then closed the door and sat seriously across from her.
“What’s going on with you? Is there something you need help with?”

Aside from that, he couldn’t think of any reason that would explain such a drastic shift in her attitude.

Even if he was angry, he could accept her cheating. But for nothing to have happened, and for Xia Wenhua to suddenly want to live well with him—it was just too strange.

Earlier, when he’d first pointed out something was off, Xia Wenhua had already prepared how she’d respond. The moment she heard his question, her tears began to fall.

“M-My family… something happened to them…”

Her beautiful face was soon streaked with tears, and Pei Songbai’s heart clenched.

The old Xia Wenhua had always acted like someone untouched by worldly affairs. Toward everyone in the Pei family, she had been nothing but distant—he had never seen her cry.

Now that this “fairy” was shedding tears, how could a mortal like him resist?

He instinctively leaned forward and picked up a handkerchief to wipe her tears, but then, remembering how she had rejected him before, paused and simply handed it to her.

“Here, dry your tears. Don’t rush, tell me slowly. Aren’t your parents in He Province? What happened to them? Is there anything I can help with?”

From the moment Xia Wenhua started crying, the entire conversation shifted in her favor.

At this point, Pei Songbai was not yet the awakened powerhouse who would one day defy fate and overturn the world. While he had some achievements, his rural roots meant he naturally held respect for educated women like Xia Wenhua.

He didn’t know their marriage was just a ploy by the “world consciousness.” To him, marrying an educated woman felt like a blessing from his ancestors. He was truly content with Xia Wenhua as his wife.

Even though he longed for a warm home and family life, as long as Xia Wenhua didn’t want it, he was willing to spend his entire life in the same cold, distant marriage they’d had for the past four years.

Now, with her attitude suddenly softening, he desperately wished he could peek into her mind to understand what had changed and how to get closer to her.

Pei Songbai was fully cooperative, and Xia Wenhua had long wanted to deal with the “landmines” left behind by the original host. So she didn’t hesitate and decided to tell the truth.

“The ones listed as my parents in He Province… they’re not really my parents. They were just servants—long-term hired workers—for my family.”

The moment the words “long-term hired workers” left her mouth, the temperature in the room seemed to drop.

Ever since 1965, the political atmosphere had started changing. In this kind of environment, anyone who could afford to hire workers was in serious danger.

Pei Songbai’s brows furrowed deeply.
“So… the people in He Province aren’t your real parents? Your files are falsified?”

He was a soldier, and both parties had gone through background checks before marriage. But at the time, Xia Wenhua had made it clear she didn’t want him involved with her family, so he hadn’t thought much of it.

Who would’ve expected that after all that vetting, it turned out the people listed weren’t even her real family?

Pei Songbai had climbed to a high rank in the army. He wasn’t someone to be trifled with—if he couldn’t control a bunch of unruly new recruits, how could he earn respect? Now he stared at Xia Wenhua sharply, and for once, she felt guilty.

Honestly, the author had put minimal effort into explaining the background of the male lead’s ex-wife—it was glaringly unreasonable for such a major detail to be brushed over.

From the original host’s memories, Xia Wenhua had confirmed that Pei Songbai never knew the truth about her background, and it had made her nervous.

She understood how important one’s “class status” was during this era. If she really wanted to settle down and live a decent life, there was no avoiding the issue—better to be honest now.

Her tears were genuine. After all, the transmigration god never said she’d be taking on the identity of a capitalist’s daughter. Even if the man beside her was the male lead, could someone with her background really survive peacefully in the 1960s–70s?

Facing Pei Songbai’s questioning gaze, Xia Wenhua lowered her head and said quietly,
“Yes… the files weren’t real. My family caught wind of the political climate shifting and wanted to find a place for me to lie low. I’m so far from home now, and no one here really asks questions. We also don’t keep contact with He Province. Normally, this would never be found out.”

She let out a soft sob as she spoke. Pei Songbai, looking at her pitiful appearance, gradually relaxed his tightly furrowed brow.

He knew she was telling the truth. If he hadn’t been deceived during a mission and mistakenly spent the night with her, leading to their marriage and the background checks that followed, no one would’ve ever suspected her real identity.

They both understood the situation—but now the real question was: what should they do next?