Seeing Zhou Manfeng cornered like a panicked dog, Lin Wanning felt extremely delighted. She raised her eyebrows slightly, squinted her eyes, and looked at Zhou Manfeng meaningfully.
"Mom, we're in a new era. You can't be so superstitious," she said.
"If you keep insisting on that auspicious time, aren't you afraid someone will report you to the Revolutionary Committee?"
Zhou Manfeng was left speechless for a long while.
Lin Wanning didn't care about all that. She directly ordered the coffin - makers, "Hurry up and nail the coffin shut."
After saying that, she quickly put on a considerate look. She even bent down, brushed the dirt off Zhou Manfeng's knees with her hand, and then looped her arm through Zhou's. "I know you're anxious about the time, Mom. I'm not trying to make things difficult for you."
"It's just that we can't keep talking about good or bad luck these days. Look, I'll definitely speed things up when I can."
Zhou Manfeng was so angry that she felt like vomiting blood. She could even taste the metallic tang of blood in her throat.
No matter how nicely Lin Wanning spoke, she couldn't just let her son be nailed into the coffin alive.
Moreover, the air holes were at the bottom of the coffin. Once it was completely sealed, her son's danger would increase significantly.
She managed to hold back her anger with great effort, and her hands couldn't help but tremble. "Let me do it. I'm his mother. I'll drive the nails."
But as soon as she picked up the hammer, Lin Wanning snatched it away from her. "Mom, you're getting old. You'll only delay things. I'll do it."
"I'm Zhendong's wife. This is the last thing I can do for him. And aren't you in a hurry? I can work faster anyway."
"Don't worry, Mom. I'll make sure there aren't any gaps at all, so Zhendong can rest in peace."
Lin Wanning looked so filial and considerate, and her voice was so gentle that it was almost impossible to refuse.
Zhou Manfeng was so anxious that she slapped her thighs repeatedly and didn't know what to say for a long time.
Bai Xiaolian was also stomping her feet in frustration. But Lin Wanning didn't care about them at all. As soon as she finished speaking, she started hammering the coffin nails one after another without hesitation...
As she hammered, tears rolled down her cheeks, and she pretended to look at the coffin affectionately.
"Uncles helping out, please pile more and thicker soil on the grave later. That way, Zhendong will feel more at ease inside."
After nailing the coffin shut, Lin Wanning stood up, wiped her tears, and thanked those who had come to help.
People have hearts of flesh. Seeing Lin Wanning so heart - broken and still concerned about her dead husband, everyone couldn't help but pile layer upon layer of soil on the grave and even pressed it down hard with shovels.
Zhou Manfeng, who was kneeling in front of the grave, was so anxious that she crawled around on the ground.
"Lin Wanning, that's enough! My son is already dead. What do you mean by pressing the soil down so hard on him?"
What Lin Wanning wanted was to enrage this heartless old woman. She was so used to bossing people around and really thought she could get away with it without retribution, didn't she?
Now that the coffin was sealed, she didn't need to pretend anymore. Instead, she curled the corner of her mouth slightly and stared at Zhou Manfeng provocatively.
"Don't we always need to pack the soil tightly when burying someone? Otherwise, what if the grave collapses during heavy rain?"
Those who came to help thought Lin Wanning's words made perfect sense. Instead, they thought she was a rare and good daughter - in - law, and they couldn't help but nod in agreement.
Zhou Manfeng was trembling with anger, grinding her teeth. Her wrinkled face had turned a dark shade of red from anger.
No matter how much she tried to stop them, no one listened to her.
Watching the grave getting higher and more solid, she was both anxious and angry.
Overcome with anger and anxiety, a mouthful of blood spurted out of her mouth, and she fell straight to the ground.
Bai Xiaolian, who had been trying to hold back her emotions, couldn't hold it in anymore when she saw her mother - in - law fainting. She was so scared that she cried and shouted.
Saving lives was the top priority, so she had to carry her mother - in - law to the clinic first.
After Lin Wanning and the coffin - makers tidied up the cemetery, they left one by one...
Back home, Lin Wanning looked at her sickly niece, Gu Yiyi, lying on the bed.
She felt no pity for her at all, because the day after Gu Zhendong was buried in her previous life, the Gu family forced her to adopt Gu Yiyi.
She ate coarse food and spent all her dowry to buy ginseng and bird's nest for the sickly Gu Yiyi.
She took her to see the best doctors all over the country.
Never in her wildest dreams did she expect that after she had devoted everything to raising Gu Yiyi, the girl would team up with Gu Zhendong and Bai Xiaolian just to get her 40 - square - meter apartment.
Thinking of this, Lin Wanning took a deep breath. Based on Gu Yiyi's physical condition, without her money and precious supplements in this life, she knew this niece wouldn't live long.
So there was no need for her to take action.
"Auntie... cough... auntie... I'm hungry..." Gu Yiyi, as thin as a bean sprout, saw Lin Wanning come home and tried to be as obsequious as possible, pleading with her.
Lin Wanning showed no sympathy. She coldly pushed Gu Yiyi away.
"If you're hungry, there's a slop bucket behind the state - run restaurant. Go there and make do. You won't starve to death in a few days."
After saying that, Lin Wanning walked out of the room without looking back.
She planned to transfer the house. Even if she had to give it away for free, she wouldn't let Zhou Manfeng get even a little bit of benefit.
But she still had a lot of dowry to move out. All her relatives had been sent to the countryside, and most of her former friends and classmates avoided her because of her status.
At that time, only two people treated her the same as before. One was Gu Zhendong, and the other was Zhou Huai'an.
She thought Zhou Huai'an would marry her and help her through the difficult times.
But even after her family was raided, she never waited for Zhou Huai'an to show up.
In the end, it was no surprise that Gu Zhendong took advantage of the situation. She thought Gu Zhendong loved her, or else he wouldn't have pursued her for so long.
She never expected that he had been scheming against her from the very beginning.
As for Zhou Huai'an, the one she never waited for, she thought he didn't love her. But in her previous life, he waited for her all his life.
For her sake, he never married!
Even when her niece tried to drive her out of the apartment she had bought, it was Zhou Huai'an who stood up for her and managed to get the apartment back.
He probably never expected that those people would be so despicable as to kill her.
Lin Wanning didn't even dare to think about whether the middle - aged Zhou Huai'an could bear it after she fell from the 20th - floor building.
Thinking of this, Lin Wanning quickly ran to the phone booth and dialed the phone number she knew by heart without hesitation.
After two rings, a cold but very familiar voice came from the other end. Hearing this voice, Lin Wanning couldn't hold back her tears any longer and burst into sobs.
"Is that Wanning? Wanning, say something. Is someone bullying you?"
"Where are you now? I'll drive over to pick you up right away."
Even if Lin Wanning didn't say a single word, just her sobs were enough for Zhou Huai'an to recognize her voice immediately.
If he hadn't been seriously injured during a mission back then, he wouldn't have refused to marry Wanning.
It was all because at that time, he thought he wasn't going to survive.