Sweet Military Marriage of the 1980s The Ex-Husband Regrets It at the Crematorium

Qiao Jiangxin lived a life of servitude in a marriage that stripped her of dignity and autonomy. For over a decade, she worked tirelessly as a laborer, selling vegetables and carrying bricks to support her husband Chen Wende, his family, and his siblings. Despite her efforts, she was despised by her in-laws, who favored Chen Wende’s first love, Chi Suzhen. When her mother fell ill, Chen Wende refused to provide financial aid, choosing instead to travel with Chi Suzhen. The betrayal culminated in Qiao Jiangxin’s death; after her mother passed away from lack of medical care, she poisoned the Chen family and perished in the ensuing fire. Upon waking, she found herself back in 1983, sixteen years old, in her parents’ rural home, before her forced marriage.

Qiao Jiangxin realized she had been reborn. Her family, the Qiao household, was a large, multi-generational unit led by her grandfather, Qiao Jiuwang, and her step-grandmother, Lei Honghua. The family structure was deeply exploitative. Lei Honghua controlled all family resources and deliberately kept the household united to ensure her two younger sons, Qiao Jianhua and Qiao Jianguo, were supported by their elder brothers, Qiao Youfu and Qiao Youcai. Her father, Qiao Youcai, and her uncle, Qiao Youfu, were treated as mere workhorses, denied education, marriage, and adequate nutrition, while their younger siblings received all privileges. In her previous life, this dynamic had led to her father’s early death from overwork and her uncle’s misery.

The central conflict immediately centered on the family’s refusal to split. Qiao Jiangxin, armed with memories of her tragic past, recognized that staying in the unified household would doom her father and uncle to the same fate. She also suspected that Lei Honghua had intentionally harmed her newborn brother in the previous life to ensure her parents remained childless and dependent. Determined to break the cycle, Qiao Jiangxin initiated a confrontation. She publicly accused her uncles of being exploited and challenged Lei Honghua’s authority, leading to a violent altercation where Lei Honghua attempted to strike her pregnant mother with a rolling pin.

Qiao Jiangxin intervened physically, saving her mother and holding a knife to Lei Honghua’s throat. This act of defiance forced Qiao Jiuwang to agree to the family split, though he attempted to delay the process until the end of the year. Refusing to wait, Qiao Jiangxin escalated the conflict by destroying the family’s remaining livestock and spreading gossip throughout the village. She exposed the family’s internal abuses to neighbors and her third uncle’s in-laws, turning public opinion against Lei Honghua and Qiao Jiuwang. This strategy aimed to strip the matriarch of her social cover and force an immediate division of assets.

As the story progresses, Qiao Jiangxin focuses on securing her immediate family’s independence. She encourages her uncle to seek medical treatment for his ringworm, a condition that had plagued him and prevented him from marrying in her past life. She also plans to send herself back to school, recognizing that education is the key to escaping the poverty that had trapped her previously. The narrative details her strategic maneuvers to divide the family’s property, ensuring her father and uncle receive their fair share of land and resources. The tension remains high as Lei Honghua and Qiao Jiuwang attempt to regain control through manipulation and emotional blackmail, but Qiao Jiangxin remains resolute in her goal to dismantle the patriarchal and matriarchal oppression that had destroyed her previous existence.