Chapter 1

After my dad passed, I decided to divorce my husband, the Major, and stay in this little mountain town for good.

Day one, I tricked Mark into signing the divorce papers.

Day five, I handed in my resignation at the old job.

Day seven, I cooked a big farewell dinner for all my friends.

Mark frowned, asking why I’d made dishes Sarah didn’t even like.

I stood up and toasted his childhood sweetheart.

From that day forward, Mark was no longer my concern.

Two weeks later, I saw Mark in the village, back from a mission.

This time, though, the country evening wind brought tears to his eyes.

The third day after Dad died, Mark still hadn’t shown.

“Mayor, I’ve made up my mind. I want to carry on Dad’s legacy and stay here to teach the kids.”

I told the mayor with all the determination I had while packing.

The man looked surprised, trying to talk me out of it:

“Honey, you finally got stationed with your husband. Why come back to this poor place to suffer?”

I shook my head, glancing at the old watch on my wrist, Dad’s keepsake.

“I’m not afraid of hardship. Give me a week, and I’ll file for divorce.”

Seven p.m. rolls around, and I finally get home to our place near the base.

The food’s still on the table, just like I left it.

Barely put down my suitcase before hearing footsteps outside.

Mark walks in, tall and trim in his green uniform, sounding cold:

“Is there any food left? The mess hall is closed. Can you heat it up and pack it for me? I’m taking it to Sarah.”

“She’s been sick the last couple of days and can’t cook.”

I turned around, my face showing the exhaustion:

“I just got back. I didn’t make anything.”

Mark frowned a bit, didn’t ask where I’d been or seem to care about my fatigue.

He heads straight to the kitchen after getting my answer.

His mind’s all about his first love’s well-being at the moment.

I stood there watching him fumble with frying an egg.

Five years married, and this is the first time he’s ever cooked.

After putting the noodles in a metal lunchbox, Mark tried to get past me, but I blocked his way.

“I need to go back home in a few days. Can you sign this application so I can get a travel permit?”

I pulled out the incomplete divorce papers, pointing to the blank space for him to sign.

Mark paused, signing without even looking.

“Sarah’s been sick, so I don’t have time. I’ll go with you after she gets better.”

I lowered my eyes, hiding the burning tears.

“Okay.”

Brushing past, I caught a whiff of his snow cream scent.

The one I can’t afford, but his first love uses it all the time.

Once the gate closed behind him, I walked stiffly to the table and carefully folded the papers.

A week ago, the mayor called, saying Dad had a stroke while teaching and was in the hospital.

I panicked, ran home, and grabbed Mark as he was heading out.

“Can you come home with me? Dad, he…”

Before I could finish, Sarah’s voice called from outside:

“Mark, hurry up! You promised to take me shopping.”

Hearing her voice, Mark immediately lost patience, snatched his hand away, and left, leaving me with a single sentence.

“I’m busy. Go back first, and I’ll find time to come and see you.”

That “some time” stretched to seven days.

I didn’t see Mark until after Dad’s funeral.

I only had my dad’s last words of advice while holding my hand before closing his eyes:

“Mark’s a good kid, protecting the country. He’s supposed to be busy.”

“I don’t blame him. Don’t argue with him when you go back.”

But Dad, Mark was busy not because of work, but because he was with Sarah.

Wiping away the tears, I cleaned up the dishes and put them away.

Countdown to leaving.

Six days left.

On the first day, I went alone to the political commissar’s office.

“Here’s the divorce application with Mark. I hope the organization can approve it soon.”

The commissar paused while drinking tea, quickly picking it up to examine it closely.

After seeing our signatures on it, he sighed deeply.

“Weren’t you and Mark doing well? How did you get to the point of divorce?”

Yeah, how did we get here?

Mark and I met through a matchmaker.

He was a promising captain in the army, and I was a gentle, kind elementary school teacher.

Everyone said we were a good match.

But since Sarah came back, all I heard was:

“Major Mark is so good to Ms. Sarah.”

Shaking my head to get rid of the distracting thoughts, I answered the commissar’s question:

“Commissar, feelings can’t be forced. We just want to part ways peacefully.”

The commissar didn’t say anything, putting the application in the drawer.

“Come back in a couple of days to pick it up.”

Leaving the office, I went to the supply and marketing cooperative.

As soon as I got to the counter, I saw the snow cream on the shelf.

I’ve never been able to buy it for myself in the five years we’ve been married.

Following my gaze, the older woman at the supply and marketing cooperative smiled and joked:

“I saw Captain Mark buy five or six jars of snow cream a couple of days ago. Did you use it up so quickly?”

“Ms. Yu, Captain Mark is so good to you.”

My hand froze while holding the items.

Mark had never given me snow cream, and I haven’t been home for the last few days.

Thinking of the scent I smelled last night, I knew.

The snow cream was for Sarah.

The snow cream that I could not get by taking care of the house, doing laundry, and cooking for five years.

Sarah can have five or six jars as soon as she returns.

Not knowing if I felt more wronged or more angry, I met the older woman’s envious gaze:

“Give me a jar of snow cream. I’ll buy it myself.”

Fifth day at home.

I first went to the political commissar to get the approved divorce application, then went to the school to submit my resignation letter.

There weren’t many teachers in the office since school hadn’t started yet.

I went to my desk to pack, only to find it piled with things that weren’t mine.

Occupying the entire desk.

My notebook was crushed underneath. It was completely ruined when I took it out, leaving creases that couldn’t be smoothed out.

The teacher at the next desk told me:

“These things belong to the new Ms. Sarah.”

“Captain Mark moved them over himself when you weren’t here, saying it was empty anyway.”

The Ms. Sarah he was talking about was Sarah.

She divorced her husband a month ago and came back to Tianjin to work.

She’s currently a substitute teacher at the school, a temporary worker.

Scoffing, I moved the things on the desk to the ground and started packing.

Just as I was about to finish packing, a surprised shout suddenly came from behind.

Sarah stood in the doorway, with Mark, who said he would accompany me, behind her.

“Mark, look.”

“Why are my things on the ground?”

Mark walked in and immediately blamed me:

“Yu Nanqing, it’s just a few things. When did you become so petty?”

Sarah tugged on his sleeve, saying pitifully:

“I’m sorry, Ms. Yu. I just thought you weren’t here these days, so I just used it temporarily.”

“I didn’t mean to make you angry and throw my things on the ground…”

As she spoke, she was about to bow to me.

Mark immediately helped her up, his eyes cold:

“Yu Nanqing, don’t go too far.”

“Sarah didn’t mean to. Get over it.”

How many times has he been angry with me for Sarah’s sake?

I can’t remember.

Not wanting to be involved in this farce, I left with the box in my arms.

I was tripped by a foot as I passed Sarah.

Mark’s eyes narrowed as he tried to help me, but it was too late.

I fell to the ground, the contents of the box scattered everywhere, and my wrist was scratched.

Mark stepped forward and reached out his hand to me.

Then, as if he saw something, he picked up two letters from the ground.

“Resignation letter? And another one is…”

I quickly stood up and snatched the letter from his hand in a panic:

“I can clean it up myself. Don’t mess it up for me.”

Not expecting me to react so strongly, Mark stared at me in shock.

“You want to resign?”

I opened my mouth, not knowing how to explain. Mark suddenly laughed.

“If you resign, won’t there be a job opening?”

“If Sarah gets a regular job, I’ll feel more at ease.”

The words of explanation got stuck in my mouth, and I gave him a deep look. I was too lazy to pick up anything and left the office directly.

After handing in my resignation letter, I accidentally ran into the man holding a box and waiting at the school gate.

Seeing me come out, Mark handed me the box with a pursed lip.

“Your stuff.”

My expression softened, and just as I was about to thank him, Mark continued:

“Can you write Sarah a letter of recommendation? That way, she’ll have a better chance of getting a permanent position.”

A gust of wind blew, as if sand had blown into my eyes.

I rubbed my sore eyes and said lightly:

“Okay.”

Consider it a repayment for the years of marriage.

Getting the answer he wanted, Mark smiled, then thought of something and asked me:

“What about you? What’s your new job?”

I turned my head and casually explained:

“A teacher at another school.”

Mark nodded, as if relieved.

He put down the box and hugged me.

“Nanqing, I’m lucky to have married you.”

“After I’m done with this, I’ll definitely take you home and have a good drink with Dad.”

I leaned against him, my chest tightening.

It’s too late. Everything is too late.

Mark was about to say something when Sarah came over.

“Mark, I’m not feeling well. Let’s go home first.”

I glanced at her rosy complexion and took the initiative to leave Mark’s arms.

As expected, he let go of me, looking panicked.

“I’ll take Sarah home first. We’ll talk later.”

Mark put his arm around Sarah, as if treating a treasure with care.

Without stopping him, I calmly squatted down, picked up the box, and threw it into the trash can as I passed by.

I don’t want anything that Mark has touched.

On the last day of leaving, I made a good meal to say goodbye to my friends.

They were basically Mark’s teammates.

I heard them cheering when I brought out the last dish.

“Captain Mark, would you and Ms. Sarah like to have a cross-cupped wedding drink?”

“Yeah, let’s do it.”

Sarah was sitting next to Mark, her face flushed.

“Don’t mess around. Mark has a wife.”

Someone laughed:

“We know better than anyone else, don’t we? If she hadn’t gotten married, Captain Mark wouldn’t have given up and gone on a blind date.”

“Besides, Ms. Yu isn’t here.”

I was holding a hot dish that had just come out of the pot, but it felt colder than ice.

I used to feel disgusted when these people called me “sister-in-law.”

Mark put down his wine glass forcefully, his face darkening as he prepared to speak.

I just happened to clear my throat and walked out, placing the dish on the table.

“Let’s eat.”

I smiled, preparing to sit down.

Suddenly, Mark seemed to see something, and his brow furrowed:

“Why are there so many dishes that Sarah doesn’t like?”

Sarah waved her hand and said softly:

“It’s okay, it’s okay. I can just eat vegetables.”

“Sister-in-law… didn’t mean to.”

She said that, but her eyes were red.

Mark stood up, his brows furrowed with obvious displeasure:

“I’ll take you to the state-run restaurant.”

“Wait a minute.”

I suddenly spoke up and poured myself a glass of wine.

Mark stared at me in surprise.

I had never drunk in front of him in the five years we were married.

“Sarah, I’d like to offer you a toast.”

The wine burned my throat, causing me to cough non-stop.

Mark frowned and reached out to pat my back.

I subconsciously dodged, hiding my red eyes.

His hand froze in mid-air, his expression suddenly darkening.

“Yu Nanqing, you are really unreasonable.”

He left with Sarah after saying that.

The remaining teammates exchanged glances and got up to leave.

I sat in the courtyard and ate the meal alone.

There were four hours left before the train’s departure.

I picked all the vegetables I planted in the courtyard and gave them to the neighbors on both sides.

There were three hours left before the train’s departure.

After cleaning the dishes, I put the divorce application and the used snow cream on the table.

There were two hours left before the train’s departure.

I picked up my luggage and got on the army’s truck.

The young soldier driving the car asked me:

“Ms. Yu, are you going home again? How long will you be staying this time?”

I gave him some fruit candies and said with a smile:

“I don’t know, maybe a lifetime.”

The soldier thought I was joking, and happily took the fruit candies and said:

“Then tell Captain Mark to tell me when you come back. I’ll come pick you up again.”

I nodded, silently saying in my heart:

“There won’t be a next time.”

At eight o’clock in the evening, Mark and Sarah returned home with the teammates from that afternoon.

The group was talking and laughing, carrying packed food.

“Ms. Yu, we’re back!”

The first person to enter shouted, and fumbled for the light when he saw that the house was dark.

“Did Ms. Yu go out?”

The teammate scratched his head and put the food he was carrying on the table.

He paused when he saw the letter on the table and subconsciously shouted:

“Captain Mark, Ms. Yu left you a letter. It’s… it’s a divorce… application…”