Chapter 1

“Comrade, this is your marriage certificate. Please keep it safe.”

“Comrade, are you alright?”

Jiang Ling came back to her senses and stared blankly at the red-covered marriage certificate in front of her.

The staff member, dressed in a Lenin suit and wearing braided pigtails, was looking at her with concern.

Everything before her eyes was completely different from modern society, women dressed in dull gray clothing, an old and dimly lit interior.

It was clear she had transmigrated, transmigrated to the 1970s or 1980s of the previous century.

And the marriage certificate being handed to her, who was getting married?

Could it be that she was the one getting married?

The newlywed couple standing before the registration desk were both pleasant to look at, and the staff at the marriage registration office were more than happy to steal a few extra glances at the two of them. After processing the marriage certificate, they didn’t rush the couple to leave.

Standing next to her was a young man with handsome, refined features. Though dressed in the same blue work uniform as everyone else, he looked entirely out of place, like a crane among chickens.

With a faint smile at the corners of his lips, he asked Jiang Ling whether she was feeling unwell.

This man was likely the husband who had just received the marriage certificate with her.

Listening to his gentle concern, Jiang Ling felt a little guilty. They had just gotten their certificate, yet she had already taken over the body of his new bride.

“My wife isn’t feeling well. May we rest for a while in your office?”

The older sister at the marriage registration office saw that not only was this young man good-looking, but he also treated his wife with kindness. Her impression of him improved significantly.

“There’s a bench in the corner. Take your wife over there to rest for a bit.”

Sitting in the corner, Jiang Ling opened the marriage certificate in her hands.

Against a yellow background with black text, the certificate read: Jiang Ling and Song Guanshu voluntarily enter into marriage. Upon review, the marriage complies with the Marriage Law and this certificate is hereby issued. February 28th, 1983.

Opening her eyes and finding herself in the hardship-filled year of ’83 was not even the most shocking part for Jiang Ling.

Her name was Jiang Ling, and the man she married today was called Song Guanshu.

What a coincidence, it matched the name from a period novel she had read just a few days ago. The villain in that novel was also called Song Guanshu, a sinister and cunning man, all venom hidden beneath a kind facade, who took great pleasure in making trouble for the male lead.

Strangely enough, upon realizing that her so-called husband was that Song Guanshu, most of Jiang Ling’s guilt over taking someone else’s body vanished.

Song Guanshu had no real feelings for the original owner of this body. The only reason he dated “Jiang Ling” was to make things difficult for the male lead, Xie Lang.

Jiang Ling was Xie Lang’s white moonlight, the one he cherished but never pursued. Though he had feelings for her, he was too reserved to act on them.

Song Guanshu saw through his thoughts and deliberately made Jiang Ling his own girlfriend.

What one cannot have is always the most desirable. Even later, after Xie Lang was already with his official match, Tong Wanyue, he still couldn’t forget “Jiang Ling.”

To ensure the male and female leads could fully be together, “Jiang Ling” turned dark.

When Xie Lang loved her, she chose to be with Song Guanshu, whose future seemed brighter.

Xie Lang went on to crack several major cases, becoming a key figure in the city bureau.

Song Guanshu was shot dead. In order to seek protection, “Jiang Ling,” fully aware that Xie Lang already had a girlfriend, climbed into his bed.

Xie Lang eventually saw her true colors and uprooted his white moonlight from the depths of his heart.

Without Xie Lang’s protection, “Jiang Ling” tried to latch onto a wealthy man and went to a nightclub to accompany guests for drinks, only to be beaten half-paralyzed by bodyguards hired by the man’s wife.

Jiang Ling let out a small sigh. This marriage certificate clearly carried some kind of curse. There were only the two of them, and one got executed by firing squad^[1]Firing squad is a method of execution by shooting, where a group of soldiers or law enforcement officers simultaneously fire guns at a person who has been sentenced to death. while the other was left half-paralyzed.

The marriage registration office relied solely on a small coal stove for heat. The room was far from warm, and the staff stamping documents often had to blow into their hands and rub them together to keep warm.

Song Guanshu truly lived up to the title of “good husband.” He had stepped out briefly and somehow came back with a roasted sweet potato. Still steaming hot and wrapped in oil paper, he tucked it into Jiang Ling’s arms to warm her hands.

The staff at the registration office smiled as they watched the couple interact. The young pair were a feast for the eyes, and their affection for each other was heartwarming.

Other young couples waiting to register couldn’t help but notice the scene in the corner. That male comrade wasn’t just handsome and refined, he was also incredibly sweet to his wife. Suddenly, their own boyfriends in the throes of young love seemed a lot less appealing by comparison.

Jiang Ling knew clearly, this wasn’t about love at all. He was simply acting, driven by a strong urge to perform.

The sweet aroma of roasted sweet potato reached her nose, making her stomach growl with hunger.

Around noon, the original Jiang Ling had taken a half-day leave with permission from the chief of the Accounting Section. She hadn’t had time to eat and had rushed straight to the marriage registration office.

Song Guanshu was the only college graduate assigned to their factory last year. With his good looks, he had become the object of many girls’ secret admiration.

But liking him and marrying him were two entirely different things.

Song Guanshu came from a capitalist family background. Although policy had relaxed somewhat regarding family class labels, ordinary people still held prejudice against those with a “bad” background.

As a result, even though he had a high salary and attractive appearance, no one dared to act as a matchmaker for him.

Being pursued by Song Guanshu had flattered the original Jiang Ling’s vanity, but she had hesitated and never gave him a clear answer.

It wasn’t until right before the New Year that trouble broke out at home. Her younger brother’s girlfriend’s parents came storming in, claiming that Jiang Liwen had gotten their daughter pregnant. If he didn’t marry her, they would accuse him of hooliganism.

Jiang Ling’s parents had originally been dissatisfied with this future daughter-in-law, who didn’t even have a formal job. But now that a grandson was on the way, they had no choice but to agree.

The Jiang parents saw their consent to the marriage as a kind of favor. However, the girlfriend’s parents were still not satisfied. After walking through the Jiang family’s home, they asked, “Where will the newlyweds live?”

The Jiang family lived in a two-room apartment assigned by the daily chemical factory. One large room and one small. In the large room, a curtain divided the space, where the parents and their daughter shared one half. The two sons, Jiang Liwen and Jiang Liwu, slept in the smaller room.

Zhao Hongyun’s parents didn’t ask for anything excessive, it was only reasonable that the newlyweds not share a room with the younger brother-in-law.

In the past, Jiang Ling had squeezed into a bed with her two older sisters. After both of them eventually married and moved out, she had finally gotten a bed of her own.

Now, her parents privately came to her and asked her to give up that bed to her younger brother Jiang Liwu, and move into the living room to sleep.

Letting a twenty-year-old girl sleep in the living room, what if guests came over? It would be terribly inconvenient.

Choosing to marry Song Guanshu was an act of desperation. The day before yesterday, Zhao Hongyun had moved into the Jiang household. After spending two nights in a drafty, privacy-less living room, Jiang Ling decided it was time to get married and move out.

The factory had a shared dormitory, but Jiang Ling didn’t get along well with her coworkers and couldn’t get used to living there.

Among the male comrades pursuing her, Song Guanshu had the best qualifications. He was a rare college graduate, and when the next round of housing assignments came around, he was likely to be among those selected.

Song Guanshu wore a flawless smile on his face, gazing at her gently.

Jiang Ling carefully peeled the skin off the sweet potato and, right in front of Song Guanshu, finished the whole thing in just two bites.

The mask on Song Guanshu’s face nearly cracked. He averted his eyes, unable to stand the sight. He had spent little time living with his parents as a child, and many of his habits were deeply ingrained.

Even later, when he was sent to the countryside as an educated youth, no matter how exhausted or hungry he was, he had never eaten in a way that disregarded his image.

Jiang Ling briefly considered the feasibility of getting divorced right after receiving the marriage certificate. Whether the procedure allowed it was secondary. What mattered was that it could easily earn her Song Guanshu’s resentment.

With warmth now in her belly, this world finally started to feel real.

She casually slipped the marriage certificate into her pocket. “I’m fine now. Let’s go.”

The New Year festivities weren’t yet over. Red Spring Festival couplets still clung brightly to the doors of every household.

Only after stepping out of the marriage registration office did Jiang Ling realize the small coal stove inside had been doing a good job.

In the North, February’s outdoors were bleak and lifeless, with not a trace of greenery. Piles of snow still sat along the roadside, not yet melted.

A gust of wind blew through, cutting straight through her cotton-padded jacket.

Jiang Ling tucked her neck down into the thin layer of her coat, but it was still bitterly cold.

Pushing his bicycle, Song Guanshu said half-heartedly, “I’ll take you home.”

Of course Jiang Ling didn’t refuse. Her memories were still a jumbled mess. On her own, she wouldn’t have been able to find the way back at all.

But in her heart, she secretly scoffed. What a show-off.

This man’s gentlemanly demeanor was all for show. From the daily chemical factory to the marriage registration office, they’d both come the same way. He had a bicycle, but the original Jiang Ling had walked on foot the whole time. No wonder she’d been so hungry.

Sitting sideways on the back seat, it was her first time riding a 28-inch style bicycle^[2]二八大杠= 28-inch style bicycle. 二八 (èrbā) stands for the diameter of the tyres being 28 inches and 大杠 refers to the prominent horizontal steel crossbar between the handlebars and the … Continue reading. And she was a little scared.

The road was uneven, and afraid she might get jolted off, Jiang Ling reached out and wrapped her arms around his waist.

He had never been this physically close to a female comrade before. Even though they were both wearing thick cotton jackets, Song Guanshu still found it hard to get used to.

Instinctively, he wanted to jump off the bike and shake her hands off.

But it was Jiang Ling’s first time riding a bicycle like this, and she was scared. She clung to him tightly out of fear.

One wanted to escape, the other was afraid of falling.

The result was that both of them, along with the bicycle, tumbled to the ground.

It was a workday, and there weren’t many pedestrians on the road.

Still, Jiang Ling pulled up her scarf to cover most of her face, leaving only her pair of bright, black eyes exposed.

In winter, people wore thick clothing, but the ground was also harder than in any other season.

Jiang Ling’s arms and legs weren’t really hurt from the fall, but her forehead had slammed into the bony part of Song Guanshu’s back.

She rubbed her now-reddened forehead. His bones were seriously hard.

Falling out of nowhere, anyone would be angry. Even a clay figurine^[3]“Even a clay figurine has a temper” (泥人也有三分火气) is a Chinese idiom. It means: Even the most gentle, quiet, or seemingly harmless person has a limit and can get angry. has a temper. She scolded him, “Everything was fine, why did you suddenly fall over into the road?”

The bicycle had toppled along with her and ended up pressing down on Song Guanshu, pinning him tightly beneath it. He had become a human cushion and took the full weight of it all.

People in Beicheng were warm-hearted. Even strangers who saw someone fall on the street would often stop to help. Someone was already slowing down, ready to lend a hand.

Ignoring Jiang Ling, Song Guanshu got up by himself and lifted the bicycle, without offering her a hand. He left her to get up on her own.

There was no trace of the loving husband from the marriage registration office now.

Song Guanshu certainly didn’t think it was his fault. If Jiang Ling hadn’t suddenly grabbed onto him, how could he have fallen?

Yet out of habit, he took the blame upon himself. “Sorry, it was my fault.”

“Forget it.” His attitude in admitting fault was decent, and most of Jiang Ling’s anger subsided.

She moved her hands and feet a bit and found that aside from the pain in her forehead, everything else felt fine. “Are you hurt? Your arms and legs okay?”

Song Guanshu kept a smile on his lips, though it never reached his eyes. He pulled his scraped palm back into his sleeve. “I’m fine.”

Jiang Ling suggested, “Let’s not ride the bike anymore. We’d better just walk back.”

She didn’t want to risk another fall.

Song Guanshu had originally intended for them to go their separate ways and head home on their own. But since she brought it up, it wouldn’t look good to refuse.

“Alright.”

The two of them walked back in silence all the way to the residential compound of the daily chemical factory.

Inside the factory’s employee service center, a few older women were gathered, chatting idly.

“Jiang Ling, back so early today?” Auntie Cui had sharp eyes. Spotting someone she recognized, she ran to the doorway and called out in a loud voice.

No one had heard that the Jiang family’s third daughter was seeing anyone.

“Who’s this young man? He’s really handsome.”