A Seven Year Military Marriage Without Love Ends in Divorce

Tang Rubao spent her first life in a state of silent suffering, married to Zhou Jingran, a battalion commander who never loved her. Her devotion was born from a teenage crush and cemented by her dying father’s request that Zhou Jingran care for her. For decades, she endured his emotional neglect and his open favoritism toward Tu Xiuxiu, a widowed performer with whom Zhou Jingran shared a complicated history. Tang Rubao internalized her resentment, cooking for Tu Xiuxiu and her daughter, washing their clothes, and suppressing her own needs until the chronic stress manifested as late-stage breast cancer. As she lay dying, filled with bitterness, she was reborn in 1981, back at the Xifu military camp in the early days of her marriage.

Upon waking, Tang Rubao found herself in the same pivotal moment that had started her misery: Tu Xiuxiu had deliberately spilled boiling soup on her own hand to frame Tang Rubao, and Zhou Jingran was demanding an apology. In her previous life, she had apologized meekly, only to be further exploited. This time, she refused. When Zhou Jingran insisted she admit fault, Tang Rubao calmly poured the remaining soup over Tu Xiuxiu’s injured hand, ensuring the woman felt the same pain she had inflicted. She then coldly informed Zhou Jingran to take his beloved to the hospital, marking the first time she had ever defied him. The act shocked Zhou Jingran, who was accustomed to her timid compliance, but he dismissed her behavior as a tantrum.

The core conflict shifted from domestic submission to a decisive break. Tang Rubao formally requested a divorce, stating she no longer wanted his love or his company. Zhou Jingran, confused and angered by her transformation, refused to accept her change of heart, assuming she was merely seeking attention. He attempted to force intimacy, but Tang Rubao fought back, hitting him with a basin and locking herself in her room. Undeterred by his resistance, she forged a divorce application using her improved handwriting and submitted it to the political commissar. She also publicly exposed the financial imbalance in her marriage, revealing that Zhou Jingran gave Tu Xiuxiu twenty yuan monthly while providing her with only five, and that he used her late father’s pension to support his mistress.

As the divorce proceedings moved forward, Tang Rubao discovered a new path for her life. She met Chen Xiaomin, a neighbor who was an aspiring writer, and realized that writing could be both a passion and a source of income. She began studying and writing short stories, channeling her energy into self-improvement rather than heartbreak. Meanwhile, she uncovered that Tu Xiuxiu had stolen two hundred yuan from Tang Rubao’s luggage, likely mistaking it for Zhou Jingran’s money. When confronted, Zhou Jingran protected Tu Xiuxiu, claiming her reputation was more important than the truth, which further solidified Tang Rubao’s resolve to leave. She demanded the return of her money and threatened to expose the theft publicly if Zhou Jingran did not intervene.

The story direction moves toward Tang Rubao’s independence and Zhou Jingran’s growing realization of his loss. While Tang Rubao enjoys her newfound freedom, cooking for herself and pursuing her writing, Zhou Jingran finds himself unsettled by the silence in the house. He continues to care for Tu Xiuxiu, promising to buy her a television, but the dynamic is complicated by Tu Xiuxiu’s own insecurities about Zhou Jingran’s family background and her desire to maintain the status quo without committing to marriage. Tang Rubao, however, remains focused on her future, determined to complete the divorce and return to her coastal hometown to build a life on her own terms, leaving behind the toxic relationship that nearly killed her.