Zhang Yaning was awakened by the sound of shouting from the neighboring courtyard. Irritated, she kicked at Shen Nansheng, who was sleeping soundly beside her.

Without even opening his eyes, Shen Nansheng stretched out an arm and pulled his soft, sweet-smelling wife tighter into his embrace.

“Be good. It’s still not light out yet. Sleep a little longer.”

As he spoke, he rested his chin on top of her head and rubbed against her affectionately.

Zhang Yaning: “…”

At 168 centimeters tall, she was basically the perfect human body pillow next to a man who stood 186 centimeters. He held her so tightly she could barely move.

She struggled for a moment, failed to break free, and decisively gave up.

“You can still sleep through this? The people next door are fighting again.”

Recently, she had truly reached her limit with the neighbors’ constant chaos. Small fights every day, major fights every other day, regardless of the time or place. Ever since she moved here to accompany her husband at the military base over a month ago, she had never once heard peace from that household.

“Tell me, if a couple fights like this their whole life, what’s even the point of staying together?” Zhang Yaning sighed. Any remaining drowsiness had long been chased away by the noise next door.

Listening to the heart-wrenching cries of the children from the neighboring yard, she couldn’t help thinking how those two never seemed to care about the kids whenever they fought.

The surrounding neighbors remained completely silent. Apparently no one intended to intervene.

“Should we go check on them?” she asked. “They’re right next door after all. It sounds pretty serious this time.”

Though honestly, she didn’t want to go at all.

“No need. They’re moving away today,” Shen Nansheng said indifferently.

“What? Why are they moving?” Zhang Yaning’s gossip instincts instantly flared to life. It was so sudden, and she had only just found out!

Seeing his wife’s eyes suddenly sparkle with curiosity, Shen Nansheng found it both amusing and irritating. Ever since they moved into the military family compound, the neighbors next door had stolen a huge portion of his wife’s attention.

If this hadn’t been the only detached house with a courtyard—and if Yaning hadn’t disliked apartment buildings—he never would have chosen this place.

“There was a problem at work,” he explained. “He’s being reassigned to a remote mountain area.”

Anything beyond that, he couldn’t say.

“Oh.” Her interest instantly faded. She preferred romantic gossip over career gossip.

“Wife…” Shen Nansheng’s voice suddenly turned husky. “Since you can’t sleep anyway, how about we do something more meaningful?”

Zhang Yaning blinked in confusion. “What meaningful thing?”

“Hey—where are your hands going?! Don’t—mmph… ah…”

Soon, the dim room was filled with nothing but ragged breathing, and Zhang Yaning no longer had the energy to care about the commotion next door.

By the time she woke up again, sunlight was already pouring through the window, making her think of the phrase “the sun is high in the sky.”

Ah… her dream of sleeping in had finally come true, but unfortunately her waist had paid the price.

Rubbing her sore lower back, Zhang Yaning wrinkled her nose in annoyance. Shen Nansheng was becoming more shameless by the day. She was starting to regret following him to the military base.

This wasn’t escaping hard labor to enjoy life at all.

This man was practically treating her like farmland to plow.

Three times a day—who could survive that?

She silently lamented being tricked just as the sound of the courtyard gate opening reached her ears. Instantly, she yanked up the thin blanket and wrapped herself tightly inside it.

Footsteps approached from outside.

Soon the bedroom door opened, revealing Shen Nansheng returning from morning training. Smiling, he looked at the lump in the blanket that completely concealed his wife.

“Wife, wake up. Time to eat.”

His tone was impossibly gentle.

Zhang Yaning ignored him. She was still angry. Even after she told him to stop, he had refused to listen. Her mother had once told her that if you didn’t teach disobedient men a lesson, they’d climb all over you.

“Wife?” Shen Nansheng tugged at the blanket, but she held on stubbornly.

“Come on, get up. You can sleep again after breakfast.”

Feeling like she was about to lose the blanket entirely, Zhang Yaning finally muttered from underneath, “I’m not getting up. I’m mad at you. Leave me alone.”

“Alright, alright. My fault,” Shen Nansheng coaxed softly. “But you still need to eat breakfast.”

Despite his gentle tone, his hands moved efficiently, peeling her right out of the blanket.

Then he casually grabbed the clothes waiting on the cabinet and helped dress his wife.

“You’re so annoying! I haven’t slept enough yet!” Zhang Yaning glared at him with messy, fluffy hair sticking up in every direction.

The sight made Shen Nansheng’s heart melt. Unable to resist, he leaned down and kissed her several more times.

“Hey! I haven’t even washed up yet!” Zhang Yaning covered her mouth in embarrassment and irritation. This man truly had no sense of boundaries.

“Hurry up. I bought your favorite meat buns this morning. They won’t taste good cold.”

The moment she heard there was good food involved, she immediately stopped complaining and quickly pulled on her pants.

It was only early June, and the northern weather was still chilly. Just as Zhang Yaning was heading to wash up, Shen Nansheng stopped her to make her put on a sweater.

After finally finishing breakfast, it was already time for Shen Nansheng to head to work.

Watching her husband leave, Zhang Yaning yawned lazily, grabbed one of the currently popular romance novels, and went out into the courtyard.

Beneath the vine-covered trellis, she sprawled comfortably in a reclining chair, happily reading. In her arms was a large soft pillow, while the nearby rattan table held candy, biscuits, and a cup of water.

The courtyard walls were high enough that no one could see inside without deliberately climbing up.

So she wasn’t worried at all about others gossiping about her.

Peeling open a White Rabbit milk candy and popping it into her mouth, she sighed contentedly.

Life really couldn’t get more relaxing than this.

Now she didn’t have to do any work at all and still received over a hundred yuan every month. No wonder so many women had once desperately wanted to marry Shen Nansheng.

Still, she considered herself especially lucky.

She had secured him on the very first blind date.

His family was easy to get along with too, and after marriage she immediately moved here with him. Overall, she was quite satisfied with Shen Nansheng—aside from how exhausting he could sometimes be.

Thinking of this, Zhang Yaning proudly crossed one leg over the other.

Just as her mother always said, she truly was born with a fortunate fate.

At the same time, her confidence in her own judgment when choosing men returned once more.

Suddenly—

BANG!

Another loud crash erupted from next door.

“That’s enough! If you keep this up, we’re getting divorced!” a man roared furiously, startling Zhang Yaning so badly she nearly jumped.

That voice was ridiculously loud.

Unable to resist, she crept toward the wall and listened carefully.

Soon, a woman’s sobbing voice drifted over.

“Liu Gensheng, you bastard! I gave birth to five children for you, and now you want a divorce? Have you no conscience?!”

“You’re still thinking about that shameless little fox spirit, aren’t you? Let me tell you—don’t even dream of getting rid of me in this lifetime!”

“Shut up!” the man snarled viciously. “You ruined my future! Do you think I’m still afraid of your threats?!”

“If you want to stay together, then stay! If not, then get out!”

Another round of smashing followed.

“Waaah… why is my life so miserable? How did I end up with such a heartless man…”

“You’re completely unreasonable!”

“You’re a shrew! A total shrew!”

SLAM!

The sound of the front gate being violently shut echoed through the courtyard.

Zhang Yaning clicked her tongue in disapproval. The phrase “scumbag man” surfaced instinctively in her mind. She didn’t know why strange modern expressions occasionally popped into her head, but she felt this one fit perfectly.

After living here for over a month, she had more or less figured out the situation with the neighboring families.

Take the household next door, for example.

Back when Liu Gensheng had still been a regiment commander, he’d been dating a nurse from the military hospital. They had already prepared the house and were about to register their marriage.

Then, on the wedding day, his child bride from the countryside—who had never officially registered the marriage—suddenly arrived carrying children with her.

Apparently the scandal had become enormous. Even upper leadership was alarmed.

In the end, the wedding was canceled, and Liu Gensheng was disciplined.

Not only was he demoted, but he also lost any chance of promotion for five consecutive years. Even though he was older than Shen Nansheng, Shen Nansheng had already become a deputy regiment commander at twenty-seven thanks to repeated achievements and exceptional performance.

Meanwhile Liu Gensheng, at thirty-six, was still only a battalion commander.

Now he was even being transferred to a remote region, making future promotions nearly impossible.

No wonder he was so irritable.

Zhang Yaning curled her lip.

A scumbag like that deserved no sympathy. Just another modern-day Chen Shimei—a man who abandoned his wife and children after achieving success.

Still, she didn’t pity Liu Zhaodi either.

Pitiful people often had hateful sides too.

When Zhang Yaning first arrived, she had even stood up for Liu Zhaodi. Yet the woman had cried about her miserable life to her face while secretly calling Zhang Yaning a seductive fox spirit behind her back.

Only later did she learn that in Liu Zhaodi’s eyes, any woman prettier than herself was a fox spirit. No matter how kind others treated her, she still talked badly about them afterward.

The woman was simply impossible to deal with.

As a result, all the surrounding neighbors now avoided that family entirely.

For readers: this story is set in an alternate version of the 1980s.

Also, some readers mentioned similarities between the original title in the synopsis and other novels, so the title has been changed to avoid trouble. Additionally, there’s hidden truth in the original story—the three children are not the male lead’s, so there’s no issue of the male lead being “impure.”