Chapter 2

Why had Du Wenyuan still ended up marrying Zhang Haochen in her previous life? His handsome face and incredible physique were two of the most important reasons! After living for several decades, Du Wenyuan never again met a man who matched her taste so perfectly. She could rattle off his measurements with complete accuracy—186 centimeters tall, a 106-centimeter chest, a 76-centimeter waist, 97-centimeter hips, and legs a full 107 centimeters long. A broad chest, trim waist, firm hips, and long legs. Whenever she gave those measurements to a tailor to make his clothes, they assumed she must have measured him wrong. After all, a physique that perfect was incredibly rare. And what the naked eye saw was even more striking than the numbers. Beneath his uniform was a body built with raw, powerful muscle. His wheat-colored skin was marked with numerous scars left by old injuries, while the veins along his arms stood out in a particularly attractive way whenever he exerted himself. They became especially prominent whenever he held her tightly. The sight of that strong, sculpted body moving was enough to leave her intoxicated all night. Du Wenyuan lightly patted her cheeks. No. She couldn't keep thinking about this. She was making herself all hot and bothered. Still, looking at it this way, she had to admit that when she was young in her previous life, the man she'd been "eating" had been exceptionally good. Qian Cuihua had already explained the situation to Auntie Lin, and the look Auntie Lin gave Zhang Haochen was no longer as friendly as it had been at first. The situation itself wasn't complicated. In just one sentence, it could be explained clearly: Although Zhang Haochen had excellent qualifications and had indeed never been married, he had adopted the two children of a fallen comrade. The two children were orphans of a fallen soldier. From the comfortable perspective of someone who didn't have to deal with the consequences, what Zhang Haochen had done was undeniably noble and should have earned him plenty of bonus points. But this was the 1970s. People placed great importance on bloodlines and having children of their own. Becoming someone's stepmother was hardly fashionable. Especially since the Du family was well-off, and Du Wenyuan was cherished at home. How could her parents possibly stand by and watch their daughter jump into what they considered a fire pit by marrying a man like this? At this point, Du Wenyuan was only eighteen years old. She had just graduated from high school and was working as a waitress at a state-owned restaurant—one of the most desirable jobs around at the time. And she was famously beautiful, too. Matchmakers eager to introduce a husband to her had practically worn a path to the Du family's doorstep. There were even plenty of eligible young men at school who wanted to pursue her. So Du Wenyuan's parents firmly believed that their daughter had no trouble finding a husband. There was no reason for her to marry a man seven years older than her who already came with two children. Du Wenyuan herself was still young back then, and she simply couldn't accept the idea of becoming a stepmother immediately after getting married. What was more, she hadn't yet realized just how much Zhang Haochen must have liked her. For a man as quiet and reserved as him to swallow his pride, seek out different matchmakers, and repeatedly arrange blind dates with her—how much did he have to care about her to go that far? Even after closing the door at night, Zhang Haochen was never a man of many words. But whenever he looked at her, his gaze was always focused and deeply affectionate. It was true that Du Wenyuan wasn't short of suitors. But to those other men, she was merely one of their choices. Apart from Zhang Haochen, no one had ever been so unwaveringly determined to have her. And as for her job at the state-owned restaurant—it really was an excellent job at the time. But in another ten or twenty years, that wouldn't be the case anymore. After she lost her job in her previous life, hadn't she ended up making a living by setting up a street stall anyway? It wasn't anything to brag about. Thinking of this, Du Wenyuan decided she needed to ease the atmosphere a little. At the very least, she couldn't let things remain this awkward. Auntie Lin, the matchmaker, had already changed her mind and clearly didn't want to arrange anything anymore. So Du Wenyuan took the initiative. She walked over to Zhang Haochen, stopped beside him, and tilted her head up to ask, “Comrade, what would you like to eat for lunch today?” When Du Wenyuan approached, Zhang Haochen's expression remained as impassive as ever. But Du Wenyuan heard the sound of a heart pounding wildly. She looked suspiciously toward Auntie Lin and Qian Cuihua, but neither of them showed the slightest reaction, as if they hadn't noticed anything at all. Zhang Haochen's fingers curled tightly into fists. He desperately tried to suppress the corners of his lips, which had risen by a mere two pixels, and answered as calmly as he could, “What do you want to eat? Are you still willing to have lunch with me?” Hearing that, Du Wenyuan couldn't help laughing. She deliberately teased him, “Of course. If I eat with you, I can order as much meat as I want. Why wouldn't I?” Zhang Haochen finally let out a quiet sigh of relief. “Then we'll order whatever you want.” Du Wenyuan turned around and called out to Auntie Lin, “Auntie Lin, you came all this way under the scorching sun. You must be tired. It’s almost lunchtime, and our head chef didn’t make much braised pork today. Would you like to stay and have some with us?” Auntie Lin shot Zhang Haochen an annoyed look, but at the thought of that delicious braised pork, she relented. “Fine. I’ll have lunch with you too. Wenyuan, sorry to trouble you.” Du Wenyuan nodded at Zhang Haochen. “Then I’ll order. One serving of braised pork, a bowl of fish-head tofu soup, a plate of chilled cucumber salad, and a basin of steamed white rice. How does that sound?” At this point in her previous life, she had still been shy and timid. Whenever something came up, she hated taking the initiative and would rather keep everything bottled up inside. But after being reborn, Du Wenyuan was much more straightforward. If she had something to say, she simply said it instead of making people guess what she was thinking. She knew Zhang Haochen wasn't stingy. It was already his third time coming to meet her, so he had certainly brought enough money and food coupons with him. For all she knew, he had brought practically everything he owned. These three dishes alone certainly weren't enough to bankrupt him. After all, she'd already married Zhang Haochen once in her previous life. She knew his income and savings like the back of her hand, and she understood his personality quite well. Sure enough, Zhang Haochen nodded. “Sounds good. Let's order these first. If it isn't enough, we can get more.” Du Wenyuan led him over to pay. Their state-owned restaurant was small and located on the outskirts of the city, in a rather remote area. She wasn't just the waitress—she took orders, served food, and even handled the cashier's duties. Just like Qian Cuihua, who was officially a kitchen helper but would come outside to lend a hand whenever she had free time. Back then, job responsibilities weren't divided nearly as strictly. Although their work involved a little bit of everything, the overall workload wasn't particularly heavy. The restaurant was close to the military station, but the station had its own canteen as well as a place where soldiers could order dishes and have them cooked to order. So apart from the occasional banquet or gathering, the people stationed there rarely came to eat at their restaurant. For people living in the city, the restaurant was simply too far out of the way. As a result, theirs was one of the rare state-owned restaurants of that era that didn't have all that many customers. Zhang Haochen efficiently settled the bill. And while he was paying, he shamelessly took the opportunity to stare openly at Du Wenyuan as she worked with her head lowered. She was wearing a very ordinary outfit, but somehow, everything looked exceptionally good on her. Zhang Haochen regretted how awkward today's meeting had turned out, yet at the same time, he was secretly delighted that he was going to have lunch with Du Wenyuan. He hadn't gone into much detail about his circumstances when speaking to Auntie Lin because he'd already honestly told Du Wenyuan everything during their very first blind date. He currently had two children living with him, and he intended to raise them until they were grown. Whenever Zhang Haochen faced Du Wenyuan, he couldn't help feeling a little inferior. He felt that, given his circumstances, he was somewhat out of her league. But Gui Xiaokang—the children's father—had been one of Zhang Haochen's close comrades before he died. Before leaving on a dangerous mission, Gui Xiaokang had even spoken to everyone on his team. If anything happened to him, he asked them to go back to his hometown and check on how his two children were doing. Zhang Haochen couldn't control what the others did. But he made sure to visit the two children at least once every year. He had visited them three times in total. Each time he went, Gui Xiaokang's two sons were thinner than before, and they hadn't grown much taller either. The two boys were usually quiet and didn't like talking much. Whenever Zhang Haochen came to see them, they became even more silent, hardly saying a word. After all, Zhang Haochen came from the very place that had taken their father's life. But by the time of his third visit, the two boys had become little more than skin and bones. The older brother finally couldn't hold it in anymore and said to Zhang Haochen, “Uncle Zhang, Xiaomao had a fever a few days ago. Our uncle and aunt absolutely refused to spend money to take him to the doctor. Xiaomao almost died.” Then he asked, “Uncle Zhang, can you take the two of us away from here? We won't trouble you for long. In just a few years, we'll be old enough to work and earn money to support ourselves!”