My Husband Secretly Married Another Woman Chapter 1

“Take care of my parents and our child. I’m leaving.” Seeing that line again sent a shiver down my spine. It was the first letter I’d received from Zhenghao, six months after he disappeared.

In my previous life, I’d naively believed that he’d taken his own life.

It wasn’t until I was sixty-six, lying in a hospital bed from years of overwork, that Li Zhenghao showed up with his new wife and children, claiming he’d come to pay his last respects.

His new wife, Chen Lifen, had smooth skin and rosy cheeks, a stark contrast to my pale, wrinkled face. Only then did I realize that the “I’m leaving” in his letter didn’t mean he was dead. He had simply left to start a new life elsewhere.

The thought made me tremble with rage. If Li Zhenghao wanted to pretend he was dead, and his parents were in on the secret, then I would make sure he was “dead” for real, at least in the eyes of the village.

I took the letter to the town’s photo studio and had Zhenghao’s ID photo enlarged into a funeral portrait. Then I went to Uncle Qian’s house at the edge of the village and asked him to organize a band to play funeral music at my home.

Soon, word spread throughout the village that my husband, Li Zhenghao, had passed away.

I walked around the village, weeping and wailing, organizing the band, printing the photo, and notifying relatives and neighbors.

When the villagers flooded into my courtyard, they saw me clutching Zhenghao’s funeral portrait, tears streaming down my face, with my one-year-old daughter bawling beside me.

My in-laws were called back from the fields. As soon as they entered, my father-in-law, Li Mingfu, was stunned. He shouted, “Yinghua, what are you doing?”

I sobbed as I showed them the letter. “Dad, Mom, Zhenghao’s gone. I have to give him a proper send-off, even if we don’t know where his body is. The rituals must be done”

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Mingfu’s face turn red, then white, then red again. Finally, he snapped, “Nonsense. How can you declare Zhenghao dead based on a single letter? Are you cursing my son?”

He insisted his son wasn’t dead just facing hard times and forced to leave home.

He glanced at the large portrait in the main hall and scolded me, “Put that photo away. Tell Uncle Qian to take his band and go.”

He signaled to my mother-in-law, Wang Xiulan, who hurried out to shoo the crowd away. “Our Zhenghao’s just been out of touch for a few days. It’s all a misunderstanding. Everyone, please go home.”

I rushed out and shouted, “Dad, Mom, do you know where Zhenghao went?”

They avoided my gaze. Xiulan kept glancing at Mingfu, who said, “How would we know? The letter didn’t say. We’re just guessing.”

They turned away, refusing to meet my eyes. I raised my voice, “If you’re so sure he’s alive, I’ll go to his workplace in the city and find him myself. He can’t just vanish into thin air.”

I picked up my daughter, ready to push through the crowd.

My in-laws panicked and grabbed me, “No, you can’t go! You mustn’t.”

In my previous life, when I tried to look for him, my in-laws stopped me, saying Zhenghao was just going through a rough patch and that if I caused a scene at his workplace, he’d lose his job and never be able to return.

I was foolish then and let their words scare me.

Only now do I realize they were in on the secret, hiding the truth from me.

Xiulan clung to my waist, while Mingfu blocked my way with outstretched arms. “Don’t go, Yinghua. What if he’s just having a hard time and comes back soon? If you ruin his reputation, he’ll lose his job.”

The same excuse, over and over.

I looked disheveled and desperate, tears streaming down my face. “Dad, Mom, shouldn’t we at least find out if he’s alive or dead? If he’s gone, what good is saving his job?”

“Life is more important than work!”

Neighbors began to chime in, “Of course life is more important. How could his parents be so heartless?”

“Don’t you care about your son’s life? You only care about his job?”

“We need to find out what happened!”

With the crowd on my side, my in-laws changed their tune. “Yinghua, don’t worry. I’ll ask your uncle to check in the city.”

That’s what they’d done before. My uncle came back saying no one at the factory knew anything, and that Zhenghao was probably just upset and would return soon.

But I couldn’t rest. When I tried to go myself, Xiulan suddenly got her foot trampled by a cow while plowing, claiming she needed months to recover, so I had to stay and care for her. I never made it to the city.

This time, Mingfu tried the same trick. I pressed, “Dad, this is too important. I’ll go with Uncle to the city.”

He hesitated, but the crowd’s support left him no choice. He sighed, “Fine. Tonight, your uncle will come over, and we’ll discuss it together.”

But that night, my uncle never came. After dinner, Mingfu left and returned later, claiming he’d spoken to my uncle, who would go to the city the next day.

As I cleaned Zhenghao’s portrait, Mingfu frowned, “Can’t you put that away until we know what’s happened?”

I refused, “They say preparing for the worst can bring good luck. Maybe if the portrait stays up, Zhenghao will turn up safe and sound.”

He stormed off in frustration.