Chapter 16: The Overbearing Old Lady Arrives

The crowd erupted in shock.

Murder?

That was a huge deal.

In an instant, nobody was talking about or paying attention to that business with the eight hundred yuan anymore—their focus was entirely on this possible homicide.

Good heavens, who could be so ruthless as to want Fu Mingxue dead?

Immediately, everyone thought of the Bai mother and daughter from earlier—if anyone had a grudge, wasn’t it the Bai family?

And they had a clear motive!

At that moment, Tang Qiang spoke up, “Neighbors, if anyone saw who pushed Fu Mingxue, you can come to the police station and report it to us. There’s a reward!”

The mention of a reward made everyone’s eyes light up.

Just then, Fu Mingxue came out.

“Officer Tang, these are my clothes. You can check if there are any fingerprints on them.”

Tang Qiang took the clothes and nodded. “Alright, we’ll look into it. If you remember any other clues, come to the station and let us know. Also, be careful at night.”

A safety reminder was definitely necessary.

If someone really had pushed her into the river, even if they hadn’t meant to kill her before, there was no guarantee they wouldn’t try now.

Mother Fu was alarmed. “What? They’re still bold enough to try to kill us? Is there no law anymore?”

“There’s no need to worry too much—it’s just a suspicion for now. Alright, I’ll be heading back.”

With that, Tang Qiang and his colleagues left.

Mother Fu and Fu Mingxue ignored the neighbors outside and went back into their yard, closing the door behind them.

“Mom, don’t worry too much—”

Mother Fu rolled her eyes. “Who says I’m worried? If those people really dare to come here, I’ll break their legs myself!”

Fu Mingxue: …?

If you’re not worried, then why were you shouting outside just now?

Mother Fu didn’t bother to explain.

She changed the subject directly. “You’d better hurry up and deposit that eight hundred yuan. You’ll need it for college.”

Talking about money, Fu Mingxue immediately took out the wad of cash and counted out two hundred. “Mom, here, you take these two hundred—”

Mother Fu glared at her. “What for? I get paid every month. I don’t need your money. You keep it for yourself.”

She worked at the cotton mill. It was tiring, but at least she earned thirty yuan a month.

Even if her mother-in-law took five yuan, she still had twenty-five left.

If she was careful, it was enough to get by.

“Oh, and you really should deposit that money soon. Otherwise, that old lady will come knocking for it. That wretch Qu Hongdan just had to announce how much money you got.”

Thinking of this, Mother Fu gritted her teeth in anger.

“You mustn’t give that money to your grandmother.”

“Mom, do you think I’m that stupid?”

Mother Fu shot her a look that said it all.

“After all this fuss, I need to go make dinner. Good thing I have the day off today—otherwise, I don’t know how you’d have handled all this.”

With that, she headed to the kitchen.

Fu Mingxue watched her mother’s busy figure in the small kitchen, her eyes growing a little red.

Rebirth was truly a blessing!

This time, she could treat her mother well.

If only her mom could go to Beijing with her.

But she knew that was impossible.

The Fu family had always been eyeing this house.

If both she and her mother left, the old lady would have every excuse to move in.

Her mother would never hand the house over to the old lady and her lot—if they moved in, it would be almost impossible to get them out again.

——

Old Lady Fu arrived even faster than expected.

“Open up! Hurry and open the door—”

The front gate rattled under her pounding, and Old Lady Fu’s shrill, piercing voice was enough to make anyone’s eardrums ring."