Chapter 1 — My Fiance Sneaks Down to the Countryside to Have an Affair

My fiance went to the countryside and secretly had an affair with a girl in the village. But when he returned to the city, he without hesitation broke up with her and married me. Unexpectedly, he later learned that his ex-lover had passed away due to obstetric complications and difficulty giving birth. Luc Truong Thanh's whole life lived in torment and regret, his mood was always heavy and melancholy. As for me, trapped in a loveless marriage, the days passed in loneliness and cold, and finally I got sick and passed away early. Before I breathed my last breath, I told him: "If there is an afterlife, I don't want to repeat this tragedy again." Fate took a turn. I opened my eyes and found myself back in the spring of 1977. This time, he no longer chose to return to the city, but decided to stay in the deep mountains and forests, firmly holding Truong Thu Phuong's hand. As for me, I gave up my stable government job and determined to devote all my efforts to the university entrance exam. More than ten years later, when following the leader to the countryside for inspection, I happened to meet Luc Truong Thanh again. He built a spacious brick house, contracted farming land, and with Truong Thu Phuong gave birth to a whole bunch of children. Looking at me walking hard all day, dusty and dirty, Luc Truong Thanh sighed:

"It's been more than ten years, have you still not let go? You're not young anymore, if you meet someone suitable, get married."

He thought I was emaciated because I still had lingering feelings. However, the next morning, a luxury Mercedes parked right in front of the village gate and came to pick me up. Luc Truong Thanh was stunned, then fell to the ground, completely devastated.

"Didn't you say... no matter how much you torture each other, you still want to be entangled with me for the rest of your life?"

1

If I hadn't followed the leader to the countryside to inspect, I probably would never have set foot in this damn place in my entire life. And I never expected to encounter the nightmare of my previous life—Truong Thu Phuong. The sun hung high, her skin was tanned, her cheeks were red from sunburn, the corners of her eyes were full of wrinkles but still shining with happiness.

“My family's Mr. Luc contracted a few more acres of land. Waiting for farming time, he planned to build a few more houses to take care of the eldest son's marriage.”

The surrounding women gathered and chirped in praise:

"Thu Phuong, you are truly blessed to have such a talented husband!"

"That's right! At that time, among the young intellectuals who came here, how many people were willing to stay for love? They all just finished having fun and then washed their hands of each other and returned to the city!"

"The richest is the village chief's family, the rest must be considered your family!"

Those flattering words gave Truong Thu Phuong the opportunity to show off, but on the outside she still tried to appear modest:

“Aiya, I'm just a blind cat with fried fish, luckily I encountered the right good policy, I'm not as good as everyone says.”

But even though his mouth spoke modestly, his slightly raised chin could not hide his pride. I retracted my gaze. It seems that in this life, Luc Truong Thanh lives very well, and probably does not regret his choice that year. Truong Thu Phuong and I had never met in our previous lives, but when we met for the first time in this life, I recognized her immediately. One is because Uncle Luc and Luc Judge next door have their black and white wedding photos hanging. Two is because In my previous life, my husband always hid a photo of her when she was eighteen years old, often took it out to look at it, and then quietly shed tears. I turned around and was about to return to the village to find the inspection team, but from afar I saw Luc Truong Thanh leading a few teenage children carrying hoes in this direction. Looking at the children's faces and features, it's true, they are his and Truong Thu Phuong's children. In his previous life, Luc Truong Thanh was engaged to me since childhood, but when he went to the countryside, he secretly had an affair with Truong Thu Phuong and got her pregnant. In order to return to the city, he cruelly abandoned Truong Thu Phuong, who was pregnant at the time, to marry me. Not long after the wedding, Truong Thu Phuong, who was left behind in the countryside, died of amniotic fluid embolism during a difficult birth. Luc Truong Thanh regretted it all his life, from then on he never touched me again. I lived alone for decades, even when I closed my eyes there was no one by my side. In this life, Luc Truong Thanh finally achieved what he wanted, and gave birth to many children with Truong Thu Phuong. Suddenly, a child in the village ran towards me, couldn't avoid it, and crashed into my arms. Its cry immediately attracted everyone's attention. Luc Truong Thanh saw me, his eyes flashed with surprise.

"Tham Vu Ha? Why are you here?"

I bent down to help the baby up and gently explained.

“I have work to do so I came here.”

Some people in the village saw me as a stranger and immediately turned to ask Luc Truong Thanh:

“Lao Luc, who is she?”

Luc Truong Thanh's eyes were a bit unnatural, and he replied: "Old neighbors in the countryside, known since childhood." A woman next to her chuckled softly, smacked her lips and said softly but loud enough for everyone to hear:

"Look at this small and weak figure, the wind blows it away, it's so skinny and dry, it's definitely not the type to give birth easily. No wonder Mr. Luc chose Thu Phuong as soon as he saw it."

Hearing that, Truong Thu Phuong, who was already on guard, immediately relaxed, even deliberately puffed out her chest, her face full of pride.

"It's just a coincidence that we live near each other. My family, Luc Truong Thanh, is something that not everyone can dream of."

She glanced at me from top to bottom, full of criticism:

“Look at you, your face is yellow and you're as thin as a washboard. Don't you have enough money to eat?”

"I heard that in the city, if you want to buy rice or flour, you have to have a hand-sized food stamp? Unlike us in the countryside, we grow our own rice, eat comfortably, and don't have to worry about anything lacking."

I glanced over Truong Thu Phuong's plump, plump figure, just smiled politely without bothering to pay attention to her uneducated provocation. Without saying another word, I turned and left. But suddenly, a wave of dizziness hit me and I almost collapsed. Having to travel continuously these past few days, and having just arrived at a place that was affected by the climate and soil, made me feel exhausted and mentally exhausted. Luc Truong Thanh immediately rushed forward and quickly caught me. But when he saw me standing still, he quickly let go and took a step back, as if afraid of something inappropriate. He sighed, his eyes were complicated, his voice carried a bit of helplessness:

“Vu Ha, it's been so many years... Why do you still have to torment yourself like that?”

Truong Thu Phuong rushed forward, just like a chicken The roof protects the nest, blocking it right in front of Luc Truong Thanh, aggressively declaring its sovereignty:

"Tham Vu Ha, are you still ashamed? When you were a girl, you tried every way to seduce Luc Truong Thanh. Now he is my husband, yet you still have the shame to come all the way here!"

A woman standing next to him snorted coldly, sprayed a spittle on the ground, then took off her slipper and slapped it hard on her foot:

"Hmph, you thick-faced person! Are you planning to come to our village to destroy other people's families? Do you think no one here will stand up to protect Thu Phuong?"

A young girl immediately stood up, put her hands on her hips, her high-pitched voice echoed throughout the village:

"You slut from the city! Are you still playing such tricks at your age?"

An old woman leaning on a cane, stumbling forward, tremblingly pointed her finger at me and scolded:

"What kind of upbringing did your parents have? How could you lose all your integrity like that?"

The crowd became more and more excited, everyone enthusiastically pushed me towards the village gate, scolding me incessantly:

“Go back to your city! Don't smear this place, we don't welcome people like you!”

I was about to explain, but before I could open my mouth, Luc Truong Thanh stepped forward and raised his hand to stop the angry people.

"Auntie, she came to find me, let me say a few words to her... Don't worry, do you still not know who I am?"

Luc Truong Thanh turned to look at me, his eyes full of pity:

"Vu Ha, it's been so many years, have you still not let go of me? Don't be stubborn about the past anymore. Now I have Thu Phuong and the children, I'm very satisfied. You're not young anymore, even if you can't find anyone you like, you should find someone to settle down with."

Luc Truong Thanh's oath right in front of many people made Truong Thu Phuong proud. She looked at me with contempt, the corners of her lips curled up sarcastically:

"I know you still care about the fact that you met Luc Truong Thanh first. But love is not about whoever comes first wins? You keep stubborn like that, you're about to reach menopause, right?"

"Or... suddenly came here because he saw Luc Truong Thanh is different now, becoming the richest person in this village?"

Luc Truong Thanh's face darkened, looking at my somewhat dirty and haggard appearance, his eyes clearly showed disgust:

"Didn't you pass the university entrance exam that year? Why is it now that you don't even have enough rice to eat? You have arms and legs, so nothing you do is that pathetic..."

He paused for a moment, seemingly thinking about something, then carefully reached into his pocket—a bag sewn shut inside the fabric—and took out several neatly folded bills.

"Let's do this, in the afternoon I will find a cart to take you to town. Take this money, buy a ticket and go home. From now on, don't come back here again."