Contract Marriage in the '80s: The Doctor's Second Marriage to the Infertile Commander

Shen Nanxing, a forensic doctor in the present day, discovers a mysterious manuscript titled Battlefield Love in the archives of Southeast City Medical College. The book details the tragic life of a woman with her name who was falsely accused of trafficking counterfeit drugs, forced into a miserable marriage, and ultimately executed by a military officer named Lu Zhanye. When tea spills onto the pages, the text dissolves, and Shen Nanxing is transported back to 1984, inhabiting the body of the novel’s protagonist moments before her divorce is finalized. She finds herself in Qinghe Village, where her ex-husband, Li Dazhuang, abuses her and her younger brother, Shen Xiaoman, who is suffering from severe tuberculosis. Remembering the original plot, Shen Nanxing knows that her brother will soon die from an injection of fake medicine authorized by corrupt officials, and she herself will be framed and executed by Lu Zhanye.

Desperate to save her brother and alter her fate, Shen Nanxing uses her medical knowledge to treat Li Dazhuang with acupuncture, forcing him to allow her to leave. She escapes with Shen Xiaoman and hitchhikes on a coal truck, where she encounters an old man suffering from cyanide poisoning. Using silver needles, she stabilizes him and flags down a military jeep driven by Lu Zhanye. Upon arriving at the Provincial Military Hospital, Shen Nanxing identifies the old man as Deputy Director Zhang Jimin and exposes a conspiracy involving expired medicine being passed off as new. Her actions catch the attention of Lu Zhanye, who is also investigating the same corruption ring linked to the fake drugs that killed seventeen soldiers years prior.

Lu Zhanye reveals that he possesses a shrapnel wound in his lumbar spine that causes him chronic pain and infertility, a secret he has hidden from the military hierarchy. He confronts Shen Nanxing in the medicine warehouse, where she had attempted to steal expired drugs for her brother. Instead of arresting her, Lu Zhanye offers a deal: he will provide her with genuine imported medicine for Shen Xiaoman if she agrees to marry him. The marriage serves his needs to secure his position at the war reserve medicine depot, which requires him to be married, while providing Shen Nanxing with the resources to save her brother. Reluctantly, she accepts the contract, and they sign the marriage application.

As Shen Nanxing begins treating Lu Zhanye’s back injury with acupuncture, the two engage in a tense cat-and-mouse game. She discovers that Lu Zhanye is not the cold-blooded executioner she remembered from the book but a man also victimized by the same corrupt system. He reveals that the silver needle case she carries is the heirloom of her father, Shen Huaishan, a military doctor who died saving Lu Zhanye seven years ago. The investigation into the fake medicine leads them closer to Director Wang and his associates, who are responsible for the deaths of both Shen Xiaoman and the original Shen Nanxing. Shen Nanxing must navigate hospital politics, evade assassination attempts, and uncover the truth behind her father’s death while protecting her brother, all while maintaining the facade of a marriage with the man who was destined to kill her.

The story shifts from a simple survival narrative to a complex mystery involving military corruption and past sacrifices. Shen Nanxing realizes that the original novel’s ending was manipulated by those seeking to cover up their crimes. By staying close to Lu Zhanye, she gains access to classified files and evidence that can exonerate her family and bring the culprits to justice. However, the countdown to her brother’s death remains, and every step she takes toward the truth brings her closer to the execution ground where her fate was originally sealed. The dynamic between Shen Nanxing and Lu Zhanye evolves from mutual suspicion to a fragile alliance, as they both seek to rewrite the tragic ending written for them.