Not only the Gu family, but all the villagers present fixed their gazes—shocked, bewildered, and disbelieving—on Lin Wanxing, who stood before the mourning hall, crying her heart out.
After smashing the photo frame, it was as if she had exhausted all her strength.
Her whole body went limp as she collapsed to her knees on the ground, head lowered. Her jet-black hair was slightly disheveled, clinging to her sweat-damp forehead and cheeks. Her thin shoulders trembled incessantly with her sobs. Her beautiful profile was pale as paper, tears continuously rolling down—so pitiful it stirred sympathy.
Mother Gu trembled as she pointed at Lin Wanxing. “What exactly are you trying to do? Are you determined to make it so my son can’t even rest in peace after death?”
“What has my Gu family done to wrong you, that you have to come here and make trouble like this?” Her chest heaved rapidly as she asked in anguish.
Lin Wanxing ignored her.
She took another deep breath, her voice thick with tears, and mustered all her strength to shout, her words ringing clearly throughout the entire mourning hall.
“I don’t believe it! I don’t believe Brother Jianbin is just gone like this!”
“How could you be so heartless!”
“How could you leave me behind all alone!”
Lin Wanxing cried until she was nearly beside herself, almost losing her breath.
Her wailing was mournful and heartrending.
In an instant, it struck the hearts of many.
Amid her genuine, grief-stricken cries, the crowd gradually came back to their senses from the shock and began to look at Lin Wanxing with sympathy.
She was simply too heartbroken—she had momentarily lost her composure because of overwhelming grief.
“I’m not defiling Brother Jianbin’s memory—I’m doing this to put his mind at ease!”
Lin Wanxing sobbed, haltingly recounting the past vows she and Gu Jianbin had made.
“Before he left… under that old locust tree at the village entrance, he clearly said he would definitely come back… that once he achieved merit and received commendations, he would marry me in grand fashion… how could this happen, wuwuwu…”
Listening to this, the crowd couldn’t help but sigh.
What a wonderful couple—fate was truly cruel.
As she spoke, Lin Wanxing wiped her tears, and her tone suddenly shifted, her crying growing even more sorrowful.
“He… he also said… that once he went, bullets and shells have no eyes… if… if he didn’t make it back, he told me not to foolishly wait for him.”
“Brother Jianbin said I was still young, and that I must find someone with good conditions, someone dependable, to marry and live the rest of my life well.”
The moment these words were spoken, the entire hall was stunned.
Lin Wanxing gave everyone no time to think. She cried with intense emotion, utterly sincere.
“He said only then… could he rest easy in the netherworld! Wuwuwuwu…”
The crowd was even more dumbfounded.
They could only watch helplessly as Lin Wanxing cried at the top of her lungs, beating her chest and stamping her feet.
“But… but where am I supposed to find someone! Brother Jianbin… you tell me, what should I do?”
“You even told me to relay your words to all the elders and villagers present, saying that you, Gu so-and-so, shamelessly make a request—asking the unmarried, promising young men in the commune to help take care of your wife… how could I possibly bring myself to say something like that!”
As Lin Wanxing poured out this tearful lament, the crowd seemed to explode, whispers erupting everywhere.
The Gu family’s faces instantly turned green.
Had Lin Wanxing lost her mind?!
She actually dared to openly talk about remarrying in the mourning hall.
How did they not know that Gu Jianbin had said such things before leaving?!
Mother Gu instinctively tried to refute it.
“Nonsense, how could Jianbin possibly—”
“How could it be impossible!” Lin Wanxing immediately cut her off, tears flowing even more fiercely as she spoke in sorrowful anguish. “Brother Jianbin was a righteous hero. His heart held the country, and it also held me. He was afraid that after he left, I would be all alone, bullied by others, with no one to rely on for the rest of my life. Before going to the battlefield, he didn’t think about himself—he thought about a way out for me, his fiancée who hadn’t yet entered the family…”
Looking at Lin Wanxing in such utter despair, no one doubted the truth of her words.
Instead, they felt that Gu Jianbin—a martyr who deeply loved his fiancée and understood the greater good—making such arrangements as if entrusting his loved one before heading to a battlefield of life and death, was truly selfless and deeply moving.
As Lin Wanxing sobbed through her account, many soft-hearted women in the mourning hall had already begun wiping away tears.
“That Jianbin really was a loyal and devoted child.”
“Yes, even before leaving, he had thought through everything, considering his fiancée at every turn.”
“Sigh… these two children have really suffered…”
And among the crowd, those unmarried young men felt even greater turmoil in their hearts.
They were first shaken by Gu Jianbin’s broad-mindedness and his final entrustment, their blood surging with emotion.
Gu Jianbin had sacrificed himself for the country—an incomparable honor.
They were all aspiring young men; naturally, they were inspired by Gu Jianbin, to the point where helping to care for the fallen hero’s wife now felt like a glorious mission!
What’s more, in an era that valued reputation so highly, accepting a martyr’s widow and caring for a hero’s surviving loved one was an act of virtue and praise that could spread throughout the entire commune.
A reputation for “caring for martyrs’ families” and being “loyal and righteous” would also bring intangible benefits for future Party membership, promotions, and job recruitment.
Moreover, Lin Wanxing’s looks were among the very best in the entire commune.
Back when she became engaged to Gu Jianbin, countless young men had secretly nursed broken hearts and smoldered with frustration for quite some time because of it.
Now, she was only considering remarriage in order to honor her late fiancé’s final wishes—it wasn’t because she was fickle or promiscuous.
The young men present all grew eager, their gazes turning fervent, itching to make a move.
Even the young man who worked as an accountant at the supply-and-marketing cooperative—the one Gu Xiuxiu secretly liked—unconsciously stepped forward, as if wanting to speak, yet still unable to find the right moment.
Gu Xiuxiu, standing to the side, was frantic with anxiety. Her face alternated between green and red, her expression changing constantly.
She wanted to refute it loudly, wanted to rush over and tear Lin Wanxing’s mouth apart.
But the label of “a martyr’s final words” was far too heavy, and what Lin Wanxing said about Gu Jianbin’s last wishes fit perfectly with the flawless image of a hero.
If Gu Xiuxiu denied it on the spot, wouldn’t that be slapping her own brother in the face? Questioning the noble character of a martyr?
Gu Jianbin’s dying wishes were so lofty and selfless, further highlighting his great and radiant image.
Gu Xiuxiu could only bite her lip hard, anxious and furious, almost biting through her own flesh.
Lin Wanxing, meanwhile, covered her face and cried with one hand, while savoring the Gu family’s looks of helpless frustration, and secretly observing the reactions of everyone present.
The young man from the supply-and-marketing cooperative she had her eye on was clearly tempted.
This was settled.
While lowering her head to wipe away tears, Lin Wanxing felt completely confident. She casually pressed her lips together in secret.
She wanted to see—now that things had gone this far—how the Gu family could still force her to guard that so-called chastity plaque for Gu Jianbin!
Just then, a slight commotion arose from the back of the crowd.
The onlookers seemed to be parted by an invisible hand, spontaneously making way for a path.
A tall, straight figure walked in step by steady step.
He wore an old military uniform that had been washed until it faded white, yet still looked crisp and upright. He was travel-worn, broad-shouldered and broad-backed, his posture straight as a pine.
Lin Wanxing was momentarily dazed as she looked at his stern, silent, bronze-toned face—sharp features, deep-set eyes, lips pressed tightly together. He looked like the taciturn type, a man of few words and poor eloquence.
Yet the resolute, steady aura radiating from him instantly subdued everyone present.
“Dad, Mom, the unit’s mission just ended. I came back late.”
When Gu’s father and mother saw him, they froze for a moment. Then extremely complicated expressions flashed across their faces, even hiding a trace of guilt that was hard to detect.
The moment he spoke, Lin Wanxing was stunned as well.
This person was… Gu Jianfeng?
The Gu family’s adopted son, Gu Jianbin’s nominal younger brother?
The big shot who had reached a high position at a young age, whose future achievements would far surpass Gu Jianbin’s?
Why had he only come back now?
…
Gu Jianfeng had been on an important mission and had lost contact for several days.
By the time he received news of his elder brother’s death and rushed back day and night to attend the funeral, some time had inevitably been delayed. He had just arrived.
He had missed everything that happened earlier, only catching fragments of Lin Wanxing’s sobbing as she spoke of Gu Jianbin’s last words.
Gu Jianfeng walked straight to the center of the mourning hall.
His deep gaze paused for a few seconds on Lin Wanxing, who was tearful and seemed on the verge of fainting. A fleeting trace of pity flashed across his dark eyes.
Then Gu Jianfeng bent down and picked up Gu Jianbin’s wrinkled black-and-white photo.
He carefully brushed away the dust and shards of glass with his hand and set it properly in place.
After that, he turned to face all the guests in the mourning hall. His voice wasn’t loud, but every word was crystal clear.
“I’ve heard my brother’s final wish.”
He paused, then looked back at Lin Wanxing. His eyes were filled with apology, as well as the weight of firm resolve.
“Sister-in-law, if you don’t mind, I, Gu Jianfeng, am willing to take care of you for the rest of your life.”
“What my brother owes you, I’ll repay.”
His voice was low and powerful, carrying through the entire mourning hall.
Everyone was stunned by this sudden turn of events.
Gu Jianfeng wanted to marry his brother’s widow?
Lin Wanxing was completely dumbfounded.
She had calculated everything—accurately predicting the Gu family’s reaction, the thoughts of the young men present, even choosing a decent stepping stone in advance.
But the one thing she hadn’t accounted for was a Cheng Yaojin barging in halfway through.
And it was Gu Jianfeng—someone who, in the original owner’s memories, had a subtle relationship with the Gu family, was taciturn yet unexpectedly upright and reliable!
In those dark eyes that looked at her, there was no pity, no scheming—only an almost stubborn sense of… responsibility.