At high noon, the sun was blazing overhead and the heat seemed to steam up from the ground. The office in the military compound was dead quiet, so still it felt solemn.
Commissar Xu lifted his eyes and looked at the stylishly dressed young woman standing in front of him. In a deep voice, he asked, "You’re saying you’re Captain Greystone’s fiancée?"
The woman wore a yellow-and-white plaid dress, her softly curled hair falling over her shoulders, shiny black leather shoes on her feet. She looked every bit the pampered city girl—delicate, proud, and a little flashy.
"Uncle Zhang, I already told you," Genevieve Thornton said firmly. "My name is Genevieve Thornton. I grew up with Nathaniel Greystone in the military compound. We already settled our engagement in Haicheng, and the betrothal banquet was held too."
As she spoke, she took a photograph from her dainty handbag and gently laid it on the desk.
Beside her, Vivienne Ashford leaned over for a glance and casually said, "That’s just a group photo. So many people crammed together, and not one picture of just the two of you. That can’t count as proof."
Commissar Xu immediately turned his head and looked at Vivienne Ashford, who stood there fair-skinned, round-faced, and plump in a way that made her seem sturdy and oddly likable. "And you?" he asked. "You also claim to be Captain Greystone’s fiancée?"
His head was already pounding with confusion. Nathaniel Greystone had led his men to the front lines and had been away from home for over five months. News from him had been scarce. Yet today, out of nowhere, two young women had shown up, both claiming to be his future wife.
And this was no ordinary man. Nathaniel Greystone was practically the war god of the military region, one of the toughest top soldiers across all five military regions. He had dominated the national military combat rankings for years. His skills were exceptional, and he had the kind of sharp, handsome face people remembered at a glance. Of course women in the military admired him.
There had even been a major scene in the compound last year. A certain senior officer’s daughter had stood in the auditorium with flowers in her arms and confessed to him in front of everyone. The whole place had watched. But Nathaniel Greystone hadn’t even flinched. He rejected her on the spot and bluntly said his body was no good, he couldn’t father children, and he had no intention of marrying or wasting time on romance in this life.
Just as Commissar Xu was tying himself in knots over the whole mess, Vivienne Ashford spoke up in a serious tone. "Commissar, you misunderstood. I’m not Nathaniel Greystone’s fiancée."
Hearing that, Commissar Xu instantly relaxed. His brows loosened and a smile spread across his face. "Good, good! That’s a relief. Girl, why’d you pause like that? Nearly scared me to death."
He was all smiles now. That was more like it. In his view, it would already be a miracle if that brat had even one romantic prospect. Two at once? Impossible. At his age, his heart could not take that kind of shock. He promptly picked up his enamel tea mug and took a sip of hot tea to steady himself.
Before he could recover, Vivienne Ashford added, each word crisp and clear, "I’m not his fiancée. I’m his wife."
Pfft—
The hot tea sprayed right out of Commissar Xu’s mouth. His face froze in disbelief, his mouth hanging open so wide his two front teeth—yellowed from years of cheap tobacco—showed plainly. He just stood there, stunned. "W-wife?"
At the side, Genevieve Thornton completely dropped her elegant act and shrieked, "Impossible! How could Nathaniel marry a country bumpkin like you? And this fat too—you look like a pig!"
Fat like a pig?
A chill flashed through Vivienne Ashford’s eyes. She looked straight at Genevieve Thornton with a sharp, cutting stare. The woman really did match her name—thin and slender, light and pretty to look at, but with a mean, narrow little heart.
Other people transmigrated into the lives of rich young ladies or wealthy family daughters-in-law.
But her? Fine. She had landed in the body of a village woman in the 1970s. And not just any village woman—a several-hundred-pound one.
Being fat would’ve been bad enough.
But on top of that, she had already been married once.
And that still wasn’t the worst of it.
She was pregnant too. With twins.
The absolute misery of it was this: the original owner of this body had come all the way from the countryside, changing trains, then changing to donkey carts, traveling thousands of miles with her belly sticking out, just to find her husband. She had finally reached the gate of the military compound, only to slip while getting down, crack her head on a stone, and die on the spot.
And just like that, she had ended up in this body, muddleheaded and confused.
Inside the ragged bundle the original owner carried, there had only been a few changes of clothes, one letter of introduction with a small slip of paper tucked inside, and three yuan eight jiao.
The introduction letter clearly listed her name and home address, stating that she had come to visit family at the army.
On the scrap of paper was one line in a man’s bold, flowing handwriting:
Nathaniel Greystone — XX Regiment Commander, XX Unit, Shan Province
She had barely stepped through the military compound gates and hadn’t even seen the father of the babies in her belly before she ran into this polished woman claiming to be his sweetheart.
"We went through the wedding rites, we shared a bed—if I’m not his wife, then wouldn’t Captain Greystone be guilty of hooliganism?"
When she had first arrived in this world, her head had still been spinning and she hadn’t fully regained her senses. She had only stood there staring blankly at the slogan posted on the wall.
Prepare for war, prepare for famine, serve the people — 1976
Vivienne Ashford felt like she had used up eight lifetimes’ worth of bad luck. She had traveled thousands of miles with a big belly to find a man she hadn’t even laid eyes on yet, only to be treated like a fraud and mocked to her face for being fat.
She could not swallow that.