Zhang Yanning bit into the fresh flatbread Shen Nansheng had just made. It was fragrant and delicious—she finally had good food to enjoy again.

“The new neighbors next door… do you know them?” she asked curiously between bites.

“Yeah. He’s Lu Heng, commander of the Third Infantry Regiment in our field army.”

“He was also my senior back at military academy.”

Seeing she had finished her egg-drop soup, Shen Nansheng ladled her another half bowl.

Zhang Yanning took a bite of vegetables, then another bite of flatbread, gesturing with her eyes for him to continue.

“That’s all.”

“That’s all?” she said disappointedly after swallowing her food.

“Then are you close? Do you know his wife?”

“How would I know his wife?” Shen Nansheng nearly choked on his soup.

“I’m just curious.”

“You at least know her name, right? I’m telling you, the day they moved in I saw an incredibly beautiful woman. She’s probably Commander Lu’s wife.”

“You talked to her?” Shen Nansheng asked casually.

“No. She looked pretty busy at the time. I was thinking about going over today to say hello, but you left in such a hurry this morning I didn’t get the chance to ask you.”

“It’s fine. They just moved in, so they’re probably still settling things at home. We can visit another day.”

“I’m not in the same regiment as him, so we don’t interact much. But I have heard people mention his wife’s name before. Something Chu… Qing? Ah right—Chu Qing.”

“Deputy Commander Liu from the Third Regiment complained about her once. Said she and Commander Lu were engaged since childhood, and that she grew up in Shanghai. Apparently she has a terrible temper and caused Commander Lu plenty of trouble.”

Looking at his naïve little wife, Shen Nansheng suddenly felt worried.

“If she bullies you, tell me. I’ll back you up.”

Zhang Yanning waved it off. “I don’t think so. She looked gentle and soft-spoken—like someone easy to get along with.”

“But these names… why do they sound so familiar?”

Lu Heng. Chu Qing. Childhood engagement.

Put together, it felt strangely familiar, as if she had seen them somewhere before.

After dinner, Zhang Yanning took DouDou for a walk around the courtyard while Shen Nansheng squatted nearby hammering away at a pile of scavenged wooden boards.

When she got tired, she sat down nearby and watched the little wooden house gradually take shape in his hands.

“Shen Nansheng, how do you know how to do everything? You’re amazing.”

She truly felt like she had struck gold.

He cooked well, willingly did housework, and now he even knew carpentry. Most importantly, he could earn money for her to spend.

“How am I so lucky to find such an outstanding husband?” Zhang Yanning praised generously.

Ever since childhood, her mother had taught her: men needed to be coaxed and praised. The better you spoiled them with compliments, the more obedient they became; the more you praised them, the harder they worked.

Now she completely agreed.

Watching Shen Nansheng work even more enthusiastically after her praise filled her with satisfaction.

“Shen Nansheng, thirsty? Have some water.”

Zhang Yanning poured a mug of warm boiled water into a white porcelain cup and secretly added a spoonful of sugar.

It was already mid-June, and the weather was getting hotter by the day.

Shen Nansheng drained the entire cup in one gulp. The cool sweetness instantly refreshed him.

There was definitely sugar in it.

Touched, he looked at Zhang Yanning.

His wife treated him so well.

That night before bed, DouDou finally no longer had to worry about sleeping outside in the courtyard.

The doghouse Shen Nansheng built was spacious. He had covered the roof with dried wheat stalks to shield it from sun and rain.

Inside, he spread another layer of straw, then added some of his old clothes on top.

Soft and cozy.

The moment DouDou ran inside and lay down, it refused to come back out, clearly loving its new home.

Satisfied, Zhang Yanning patted the dog’s head and went back inside.

DouDou stared at the closed bedroom door and whined twice.

But whether it liked it or not didn’t matter.

With that man around, there was no way it was getting inside.

“Commander Lu devoted his whole life to the country. Who would’ve thought he’d pass away so young from illness?” Su Xiao said regretfully while reading the obituary in her hands.

“I just hope Chu Qing learns from this and starts living properly.”

“Mom, she brought it on herself. She was always trying to harm you. I bet Uncle Lu was literally angered to death by her,” Shen Manman said unhappily.

Su Xiao patted her daughter’s hand reproachfully.

“Don’t say nonsense. She’s still your elder.”

“It’s okay. Brother Lu Chen doesn’t care. He already said his mother is his mother and he is himself. Even after marriage, they won’t live together.”

“That’s because that child Lu Chen dotes on you. Don’t bully him in the future.”

“I know~” the girl replied while clingingly shaking Su Xiao’s arm.

Su Xiao turned toward her two sons chatting nearby.

“And you two—Shen Yifeng, Shen Yiyun—your younger sister already has someone. When are you two bringing home girlfriends for your father and me to see?”

“Mom, I just graduated. No rush. Ah—I suddenly remembered I’m supposed to meet a friend for dinner!” Shen Yifeng immediately tried to flee.

But Shen Yiyun grabbed his older brother.

“Big brother, can family members come too?”

Su Xiao glared at her troublesome sons. “Old Shen, aren’t you going to do something about them?”

The middle-aged man sitting nearby in military uniform finally lowered his newspaper.

Though time had left faint lines at the corners of his eyes, he remained strikingly handsome.

He shot the two boys a warning glance.

“Listen to your mother. Sit back down.”

Shen Yifeng and Shen Yiyun exchanged looks and obediently returned to their seats.

Shen Manman covered her mouth while laughing.

“Hmph. Only Dad can keep you two under control.”

Su Xiao smiled as she watched her three children bicker and looked toward her husband, Shen Nansheng, who had accompanied her through most of her life.

Her life was still long ahead of her.

And she believed she would remain happy forever.

The End

Zhang Yanning suddenly jolted upright in bed, drenched in sweat, utterly unable to believe what she had just seen in her dream.

She had transmigrated into a book.

“Wife, did you have a nightmare?” Shen Nansheng woke groggily and immediately sat up to comfort her.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. Dreams are fake. I’m here.”

After calming herself down, Zhang Yanning lay back down again, feeling Shen Nansheng gently patting her back.

Her emotions were indescribably complicated.

It felt like waking from a lifetime-long dream.

How had she somehow stolen the heroine’s destined man?

The moment she closed her eyes, scenes from the dream resurfaced.

Only then did she finally understand why strange thoughts would occasionally appear in her mind.

Apparently she hadn’t drunk enough Meng Po soup after reincarnation—she still vaguely remembered her previous life.

In the dream, she was still her modern self, half-lying in bed while reading a web novel on her phone.

The title was embarrassingly cheesy:

Village Girl Joins the Army: A Sweet Military Marriage.

And inside that novel were none other than Lu Heng and Chu Qing.

The basic plot told the story of the heroine Su Xiao accidentally transmigrating into the body of a lazy, overweight cannon-fodder female supporting character—a woman who had drugged the male lead into marriage and was despised by him because of it.

The male lead, furious over being schemed against, returned to the army immediately after the wedding, abandoning his wife at home without care or concern.

In the original story, the cannon-fodder wife couldn’t endure the cold treatment. Shortly after giving birth, she stole all the family’s money and ran away with another man, only to later be deceived and abandoned, rejected by her own children, and left miserable in old age.

The transmigrated heroine, however, wanted to change that tragic fate. So while pregnant, she followed the male lead to the military base.

At first, the male lead treated her like nothing more than a stranger living under the same roof.

But the heroine refused to give up. With her warm, sunny personality, she gradually changed the opinions of everyone around her.

Then she accidentally unlocked a mysterious space hidden inside a bracelet. After drinking the spring water from the space, she slowly transformed.

The once sloppy, overweight village woman became beautiful, confident, kind, and radiant.

As they spent more time together, the male lead found his attention constantly drawn toward her, until eventually the two fell in love.

Meanwhile, Han Nian—the female supporting character who secretly loved the male lead—became unwilling to accept losing him. She constantly targeted the heroine, but ultimately ruined her own reputation, got expelled from the military performance troupe, and married an abusive husband.

And in the novel, Chu Qing was another major antagonist who loved making trouble for the heroine.

Chu Qing came from an excellent family background, was highly educated, beautiful, and had an equally outstanding husband. She was widely admired.

Meanwhile, when Su Xiao first transmigrated over, she carried the reputation of drugging a man into marriage. She was overweight, sloppy, and constantly looked down upon in the military family compound.

The two women became perfect opposites.

But as Su Xiao gradually transformed, everyone began favoring her more and more, while Chu Qing—because of her spoiled temper, arrogance, and bad personality—was slowly isolated by everyone around her.

Coincidentally, Chu Qing also disliked Su Xiao, and since they were neighbors, the two fought each other for most of their lives.

In the end, after Lu Heng died from illness and her son remained indifferent toward her, Chu Qing left the country alone.

The dream ended with the heroine’s family of five sitting together happily, enjoying a perfect reunion.

But what about her?

She wasn’t the male lead’s beloved original heroine.

Nor was she the current heroine who gave him triplets.

She was just a nameless background extra who never even appeared in the story.

And yet somehow—

Right now, the male lead was lying in the same bed as her?!