Became the Cannon Fodder Ex-Wife of the Richest Man

The sun slanted westward, the shifting light and shadow dividing the courtyard in two. Smoke curled from the chimney, the yard half bright, half dark.

Mother Zhou was in the shadows, chopping vegetable leaves. The lush green leaves turned into emerald fine shreds under her knife skills. After cutting a pile, she grabbed a handful and scattered it on the ground.

A hen led a group of fluffy yellow chicks, "cheep, cheep, cheep," as they scrambled to peck at the scattered vegetable shreds.

"Mom, I'm taking Jiang Xia to the clinic." The man's deep voice broke the silence of the courtyard.

Mother Zhou almost chopped her finger!

She put down the kitchen knife and frowned, "What's wrong again? Didn't she wake up?"

She had just heard them talking.

"She has a fever, a bit delirious. I'll take her to the clinic to get checked out." What Zhou Chenglei didn't say was that he suspected Jiang Xia's brain was fried from the fever.

She was talking nonsense and even got handsy with him.

Asking him what his name was, and saying something about "actually becoming the cannon fodder ex-wife of a billionaire."

What a load of rubbish, he didn't understand a word.

And couldn't be bothered to listen.

Mother Zhou frowned, "Wouldn't a packet of antipyretic powder do the trick?"

Zhou Chenglei shook his head.

A flash of annoyance crossed Mother Zhou's face, "Then go!"

"What? Going to the clinic again? A fever won't kill anyone, why go to the clinic? Fourth Brother, are you loaded or do you think our family has an untapped gold mine?"

Tian Caihua came out of the kitchen, holding a pair of still-smoking fire tongs, her mouth firing like a machine gun, "She just got discharged from the hospital yesterday after trying to kill herself by jumping into the sea, and now she's going to the hospital again today? What did she do this time? Did she jump into the sea or hang herself? Did she bang her head against the wall or slit her wrists?"

"Fourth Brother, do you know that I don't even dare to go out now! Every time I go out, people ask me, 'Did Jiang Xia from your family run away with a man and was caught red-handed by Zhou Chenglei, forcing her to jump into the sea to kill herself?' 'Is it true that the beautiful and cultured city wife your fourth son just married eloped with someone?'"

"How many days has she been married? She's already gone through crying, *nao*ing, hanging herself, eloping, jumping into the sea, and banging her head against the wall. What does she want? She's completely disgraced the Zhou family! You might not care about losing face, but I do. My four sons still have to go to school! Even the teachers at school can't help but be curious."

Mother Zhou was annoyed to death and said unhappily, "Alright, stop talking."

She was also very dissatisfied with this newly married daughter-in-law, but her son had already suffered enough by marrying such a thing home.

It was her fault for not inquiring clearly, thinking that her son's superior thought highly of him and was willing to marry his daughter to him.

If she had known that Jiang Xia was like this, she would have found an excuse to reject the marriage in the first place.

She only thought that her son was capable, having joined the army before graduating from junior high school, passed the university entrance exam in the army, fought on the battlefield, made countless contributions, and even became a battalion commander. Now, although he had retired due to injury, he was qualified to marry the daughter of a factory director.

She didn't expect to marry someone who was arrogant, with her eyes on her forehead, looking down on them for being rural, for selling fish! Tian Caihua was even more unhappy, "She can cause trouble, why can't I say anything? How can there be such a person? If she didn't want to marry, she shouldn't have married! But after marrying, she's always trying to die. Fourth Brother can't even enter her room. What is this? Does she think she's a princess?"

"Fourth Brother, give me a straight answer. When will your wife stop making trouble? Can we still live like this?"

Zhou Chenglei was silent for a moment, "Sister-in-law, I'll take her to see a doctor first, and we'll talk about it when we get back."

Tian Caihua was satisfied, but couldn't help but say, "Why go to the clinic for a fever? Doesn't going to the clinic cost money? A packet of antipyretic powder will make even a dead person jump around! Only she is a rich young lady, running to the hospital every other day, spending tens or twenties at a time."

Mother Zhou forcefully chopped the kitchen knife into the wooden stump chopping board.

Tian Caihua immediately shut her mouth.

Mother Zhou looked at Zhou Chenglei, "Take her to the clinic to get checked out, cure her illness, and then send her back to her family."

Mother Zhou just wanted to send her away as soon as possible.

Their Zhou family couldn't afford this ancestor!

Zhou Chenglei didn't say anything and turned to go back to the house.

Tian Caihua couldn't help but say again, "Mom, remember to ask for the bride price back along with the medical expenses when you get divorced, we can't lose out!"

Mother Zhou glared at her coldly and pulled out the kitchen knife.

Tian Caihua quickly returned to the kitchen, muttering in a low voice, "I didn't say anything wrong. After she married, Fourth Brother didn't even touch her hand. Wouldn't it be a loss not to get the bride price back after the divorce?"

Two thousand yuan was almost enough to buy a wooden boat.

Mother Zhou ignored her and continued chopping the vegetables.

~

Inside the festively decorated new house, Jiang Xia heard the entire conversation outside.

She examined the few items in the room that reeked of the era: a Hua Nan brand sewing machine, carved wooden window frames with glass, a light bulb, a bright red old-fashioned thermos, and an enamel mug. The dialogue was too vivid, the scene too real.

It took her more than ten minutes to accept the fact that she hadn't been dreaming, but had transmigrated into a book.

Moreover, it was into a novel called Rebirth in the 80s: My Billionaire Husband Spoils Me Every Night, becoming the male lead's cannon fodder ex-wife.

The male lead's ex-wife was also named Jiang Xia, portrayed by the author as an idiotic and brainless character, a cannon fodder female supporting character who ruined a perfectly good hand.

The original Jiang Xia had a good family background. Her father was a demobilized soldier working in a government department, and her mother was the director of a garment factory. The family was well-off.

Her marriage to the male lead was arranged by her parents. At that time, the male lead was still in the military, a young battalion commander with a promising future, which she was very satisfied with.

Who knew that the male lead would be seriously injured during a mission, losing hearing in one ear, and be forced to retire.

Retiring was one thing, but he was already a regimental commander when he retired. Even in retirement, he could have had a very good job. It was said that he would at least be a division-level cadre in the city, or a secretary-level cadre in the town. How impressive would that be?

Everyone around the original Jiang Xia envied her, making her complacent.

Who knew that after getting their marriage certificate and marrying into the Zhou family, she would learn that the male lead had given his job opportunity to his second brother. He was a restless person who didn't like working within the system, didn't like sitting in an office, and wanted to go into business.

And what he meant by going into business was making a living by fishing.

Wasn't this just becoming a fishmonger? The original Jiang Xia couldn't accept it. She couldn't accept being a fisherman's wife, couldn't accept living in the countryside. So, on the night of their wedding, she started making a scene, refusing to share a bed with the male lead, and demanding a divorce.

Later, she was deceived by the sweet talk of a male supporting character with a tendency for domestic violence and eloped with him, only to be caught by the male lead before they even left the village.

The man was so frightened when he saw the male lead that he ran away on his own, pushing her into the sea in a panic, which led to Jiang Xia's transmigration.

Jiang Xia looked at the man with a powerful aura who pushed the door open and entered.

The man's figure was as upright and unshakeable as a mountain, stern, cold, and handsome, with an imposing presence.

No wonder he's the male lead! Amazing!