Volume One, Chapter One: Forced Marriage

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June 29, 1982, just as dinner was being served.

Many villagers, tired from a day’s labor in the fields, squatted beneath the locust tree, eating from their bowls and discussing Su Wan, the troublemaker of the Su family.

Su Wan, in order to steal her younger sister Su Xiaohui’s suitor and marry into Beiping for a better life, had deliberately tied a red cloth to Su Xiaohui, inciting the plowing ox to go mad and trample her sister’s leg.

Today, she had again attempted suicide by jumping into the river, threatening her family that she must be allowed to go to Beiping. As luck would have it, she was rescued by Huo Xiaohan, the suitor who had come to escort Su Xiaohui to Beiping for medical treatment.

When Su Wan was pulled from the water, she was already lifeless, but Huo Xiaohan revived her with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and CPR.

The villagers, unversed in such things, only knew that Huo Xiaohan, in front of everyone, had kissed Su Wan and touched her chest.

Thus, he must marry Su Wan. Otherwise, Su Wan’s reputation would be ruined, and she would never find a husband.

“Uncle, Aunt, all of this is medical knowledge taught in the army—mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and cardiac compression. If sent to the hospital, doctors would do the same,” Huo Xiaohan said calmly, expressing his stance. “I did it to save her. I will not marry Su Wan.”

Su’s father, squatting to smoke dry tobacco, looked troubled. “Little Huo, I know you were saving Wan, but there were so many people at the riverside. Everyone saw you kiss her, even some of Wan’s high school classmates. When you return to Beiping, what will happen to Wan? How will she ever marry?”

Huo Xiaohan’s jaw was tight. “My intended is Xiaohui. Su Wan is in high school herself; her future husband will surely be an educated man and won’t care about such things.”

Su’s mother, who had never attended school and was a typical feudal rural woman, slapped her thigh and began to cry. “Xiaohui has been accepted to vocational school, will get a job after graduation, and won’t have trouble finding a match. But Wan’s incident will soon spread to the school: a pure maiden versus a girl who’s been kissed and touched—if it were you, whom would you choose?”

“You’re driving our Wan to her death!”

“It’s not Wan’s fault. Comrade Huo’s father, remembering our eldest brother’s kindness, introduced an officer’s son as a match. Wan herself scorned him for being older and having a seven-year-old child. Then Xiaohui wrote to Comrade Huo for a match, saw how handsome he was, learned he was a regiment commander earning nearly two hundred yuan a month, and wanted to snatch him back.”

Su’s father’s younger brother, Old Third Su, couldn’t help but speak up for fairness.

“Third Brother, it’s not your daughter who’s been kissed and touched. The village gossip could drive us mad. If Wan can never marry, how will my three sons ever find wives?”

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Su’s mother clutched Huo Xiaohan’s arm. “Comrade Huo, we’re not forcing you to marry Wan, but the countryside isn’t the capital. A woman’s reputation is everything. If you don’t marry her and then take Xiaohui, we’ll be mocked and scorned.”

The growing argument outside woke Su Wan. She had transmigrated into the internet sensation thread “Elder Sister Steals Younger Sister’s Officer Fiancé, Ends in Tragedy.”

She was now inhabiting the body of the infamous, vicious elder sister who had been cursed all night long—bearing the same name as herself.

She almost spat blood.

The original Su Wan was famed for her beauty in the region, a phoenix rising from the weeds.

This made her the most pampered in the family—lazy, selfish, domineering. In an era of scarcity, all the best food was reserved for her, leaving her plump and pale.

Her younger sister, Su Xiaohui, a year her junior, was obedient, industrious, and often treated like a servant.

After the sisters encountered the male lead, Huo Xiaohan, their fortunes changed dramatically. Their fates diverged: the elder sister’s life became increasingly miserable, while the younger sister’s grew ever more blissful.

Seeing Huo Xiaohan’s refusal to marry her,

The original Su Wan and her mother threatened to take the matter to Huo Xiaohan’s regiment, accusing him of indecency. Under pressure from Huo Xiaohan’s father, he was forced to marry her.

This made Huo Xiaohan loathe her utterly. After the wedding, he applied for a transfer to a remote region and, for years, never even touched her or spoke a word to her.

He cared deeply for Su Xiaohui, arranging a new match for her. She married, had children, and lived happily ever after.

The stark contrast drove the original Su Wan to madness. Like a rabid dog, she clung to Huo Xiaohan, causing Su Xiaohui to miscarry and spreading rumors everywhere. Eventually, the Huo family’s goodwill towards the Su family was exhausted.

She was cast out, sent to a psychiatric sanatorium, subjected to torment and repeated abuse, and finally sold off to a remote mountain village.

When her family found her, she was chained in a pigsty, her clothes in tatters, legs broken, eyes blinded, reeking and barely human.

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Fortunately, she arrived early enough. There was still time; otherwise, married to Huo Xiaohan, his cold cruelty would indeed drive someone insane.

Thinking this, Su Wan rose from bed and opened the door. “Mother, Comrade Huo is right. He saved me; there’s no question of taking advantage. I don’t need him to marry me.”

Her words stunned everyone in the room.

Previously, Su Wan had been desperate to be with Huo Xiaohan, insisting he belonged to her, even claiming all his letters to Su Xiaohui for herself—nearly causing tragedy. Now, suddenly, she had changed her tune.

Su’s mother was first to rush over and feel Su Wan’s forehead, fearing she’d been fevered into nonsense. “Are you dying? If you don’t marry him, how will you live? You’ve made such a fuss—wasn’t this the outcome you wanted?”

Su Wan looked at Huo Xiaohan. He stood tall and upright in his crisp green uniform, his figure accentuating the dilapidated mud-brick wall, making even the shabby house seem refined.

His nose was high, his eyes deep, his features sculpted and handsome—like a freshly unsheathed sword, sharp yet composed.

He was even more striking than in photographs, reminiscent of a noble gentleman from a bygone era. No wonder the original Su Wan had become infatuated at first sight, obsessed for years, never considering anyone else.

“Comrade Huo, thank you for saving me. I understand these medical procedures. But I have one year left before the college entrance exam. After this incident, I can’t return to my old school—my classmates will surely gossip about me.”

“Could you ask Uncle Huo if I could finish high school in Beiping?” Su Wan boldly voiced her request.

In her previous life, she had graduated from university and started a business on Taobao, enjoying a brief taste of success. But as the economy slowed and after enduring three years of the pandemic, the era of ‘refund only’ arrived, ultimately infuriating her to death.