Chapter 1 If Everything Could Start
Lin Qingping is dead.
She died in the year she turned 68.
She had fallen ill, but she didn't have to die—her dear nephew pulled the oxygen tube from her mouth.
She was the eldest in the family, and all her life she had supported her natal family, helped her younger brother.
Her own mother coaxed her into buying houses and cars for her brother, her nephews, and nieces; coaxed her into writing a will leaving all her assets to her brother and nephews to inherit; coaxed her into believing that when she grew old, her brother and nephews would take care of her in her twilight years.
But when she fell ill, not only did she not receive a single warm meal or bowl of soup from her brother or nephews, her dear nephew even went so far as to pull the oxygen tube from her mouth.
At that time, the doctors had said her illness wasn't untreatable—it just required money.
But her dear nephew couldn't wait. In the middle of the night, he came to her private hospital room and pulled out her oxygen tube.
She woke up in agony, trying to call for a doctor, but her nephew covered her mouth.
Her nephew revealed a vicious expression. "Auntie, you're almost 70 years old. Everyone has to die sooner or later. Why waste money? You should know, every day you stay in the hospital, it's my money that's being wasted—every single bit of it is mine!"
A tear slipped from the corner of her eye…
Did she regret anything in her life?
Yes…
The thing she regretted most was not treating him well—her husband, Gu Juncheng, the man who had sacrificed himself so early, the man she never met again in all the many, many years that followed—a man who had been so good, so incomparable…
The vicious face of her nephew gradually blurred before her eyes. In the final moment before she took her last breath, what appeared before her was that dark, strong countenance.
"Gu Juncheng…" The name flashed through her mind, and then all feeling left her.
In that instant, regret filled her entire heart.
Gu Juncheng, if everything could start over, I would never treat you like that again…
But Lin Qingping never imagined that everything really could start over.
She lay on the bed in Gu Juncheng's old house, staring at the window papered with double happiness characters under the lamplight, her heart restless.
She had gone back 48 years—to when she was 20.
That year, her mother had taken 100 yuan in betrothal money from the Gu family and forced her to marry into their household.
Reluctantly, she had come into this marriage, and from the beginning, she couldn't stand her husband—Gu Juncheng, the second son of the Gu family.
She looked down on his dark skin, disliked that he was seven or eight years older than her, despised his rough military manners and lack of refinement, resented that he already had a child, hated how far away he lived and how everything—including that child—was dumped onto her.
She caused chaos in the Gu household, making life miserable for everyone, and she even moved all the Gu family's belongings to her natal home.
Years later, Gu Juncheng was martyred.
Even after all her nonsense, in his will, Gu Juncheng still left instructions: the pension money was all to be given to her, and he apologized for having delayed her youth these past few years…
Later, she was able to open a restaurant, expanding from their small county town to the city, and then to the metropolis. That pension money—earned with his life—was her seed capital…
Lin Qingping lay in bed, her thoughts in turmoil. It was already dark outside, yet Gu Juncheng still hadn't come into the room.
Half a year ago, when she had unwillingly married him, in order to avoid the wedding night, she had deliberately frozen herself in the bitter winter cold until she developed a high fever. The next day, Gu Juncheng had to return to his unit on an emergency mission. As a result, nothing had happened between them.
Gu Juncheng was a very intelligent man. Her thoughts were an open book to him. Knowing she was unwilling, during his home leave in her previous life, he had found an excuse to sleep in a separate room.
Would he do the same this time?
She calculated carefully in her mind. There were only four years left until the time of his sacrifice.
If this life was destined to end the same way, then no matter what, she would spend these few years well—with him.
After thinking it over, she steeled her heart and rushed out.
Gu Juncheng was taking a bath.
She knew it.
He was in the bathing shed next to the pigsty. She could hear the sound of running water.
She took a deep breath to steel herself, then dashed over and pushed open the crooked, utterly useless door.
Then her eyes went wide.
She had been married to him for a lifetime, yet she had never known he had such a good figure.
Although his skin was dark, he was a soldier, okay?!
That healthy masculinity, those perfectly sculpted muscles—it could have rivaled a statue. No wonder she had been blind in her previous life to find fault with him.
Her gaze clung to him, following the droplets of water rolling down his skin, inch by inch downward…
At this moment, she was the water droplet.
But Gu Juncheng quickly wrapped himself in a towel.
"Get out!" he barked coldly, ordering her.
"I—I came to get your clothes!" she stammered, her face burning red. She grabbed his clothes and fled in a panic. As she exited, her arm slammed into the doorframe, the pain excruciating.
Back in the room, her heart continued to pound wildly. All she could see were the droplets of water rolling down his bronze skin.
She let out a soft moan and burrowed under the covers. Her arm throbbed again.
She cursed inwardly—men are truly a distraction.
She had completely forgotten about the injury on her arm from that morning.
Earlier, while in the mountains, she had encountered a local troublemaker who had tried to grope her. While fleeing, she had fallen and scraped a large patch of skin off her arm.
The wound had already stopped bleeding, but after bumping it twice like that, it started oozing again.
She winced in pain, "sshh—", when she heard the door open.
He was back.
She quickly lay still.
Sure enough, the door opened and he walked in—completely naked, though wrapped in an old rag.
Lin Qingping looked at the rag and inexplicably felt a little disappointed.
But his face was dark as he spotted his clothes on the table.
"You took my clean clothes!" he said coldly.
Lin Qingping: …
At the time, her mind and heart were in complete chaos. How could she have cared whether they were clean or dirty? It had just been an excuse anyway.
But she couldn't let him be right.
"Who—who told you to yell at me? When you yell, I just… just…" She struggled to come up with an excuse, her eyes filling with tears, looking pitiful and wronged.
Gu Juncheng: …
Gu Juncheng was momentarily speechless. He picked up his clothes and walked back out.
When he returned, he was wearing pants and a green military undershirt, his arms and shoulders exposed, residual water droplets trailing down along the lines of his muscles…
Lin Qingping stared, entranced, until he walked over and stopped by her bedside. Only then did she snap out of it.
He looked at her, narrowing his eyes slightly as if considering something.
Her breath caught.
This had never happened in her previous life.
Suddenly, the air around them felt thick with moisture, suffocating.
"You… ah—" She had just opened her mouth to speak when she felt her hand being pulled.
She gasped.
"Does it hurt?" he suddenly asked.
That low, gravelly voice pressed against her throat interrupted all her chaotic thoughts.