Chapter 26: Chapter 26: Those of You Who Live Nearby, Better Watch Yourselves**

When Mrs. Fu heard the news, her first thought was to strike first and gain the upper hand.

After all, if she didn’t go looking for the Bai family, the Bai family would soon come looking for her.

If, by then, that Bai mother and daughter came and knelt at her doorstep—wouldn’t all the good luck of her family be ruined by their bad luck?

Not to mention, if they started making a scene and crying, wouldn’t the neighbors be moved by their tears and think the Fu family was being too harsh?

The best way to resolve a conflict, in her mind, was to confront it head-on and act first.

So, as more and more neighbors gathered around, Mrs. Fu began her accusations:

“This heartless family, why do they insist on targeting a widow and her orphaned daughter like us?”

“In order for Bai Siqi to steal my daughter’s university admission letter, their family has truly shown their viciousness! Bai Chunsheng paid someone to push my daughter into the river, then had that beast Song Yan pretend to save her.”

“If my daughter had really been ‘rescued’ by him in front of all those people on the riverbank, wouldn’t she have been forced to marry that beast? He can’t bear to have Bai Siqi stay at his house to take care of those three little kids and his bedridden mother, so he wants to drag my daughter into that pit of fire instead!”

The crowd was stunned, their eyes growing wider at the explosive revelations.

Heavens, could this really be true?

Song Yan’s face turned ashen. He hadn’t expected Mrs. Fu to drag him into this, too.

He couldn’t just stand by any longer.

He immediately stepped forward. “Auntie, you can’t just make things up like that. Slander is a crime, and besides, you’re slandering a soldier—”

“Pah! How am I slandering you? And you, do you even deserve to be called a soldier? I’ll report you to your unit right now! People like you should be kicked out. Don’t you dare try to pin this on me, thinking you can scare me with your accusations!”

“Didn’t you jump into the river yesterday? And didn’t you send a matchmaker to my house right after? You’ve got the nerve to accuse me here—tell me, did I say a single thing that wasn’t true? I think you’re one of the masterminds behind all this!”

Song Yan’s voice grew harsher. “Auntie, stop making trouble out of nothing. Fu Mingxue fell into the river, and I just happened to be passing by, so I instinctively tried to save her. Even if it wasn’t her, I’d have done the same for anyone. As for sending a matchmaker, that was because—”

A clear, bright voice cut him off:

“Because you just wanted to find some fool to marry into your family and take on all the burdens for Bai Siqi. When I took back my admission letter, you and Bai Siqi chased after me together, clearly trying to snatch it from me. I already told the police everything about that yesterday.”

“As for the admission letter, I was willing to forgive you all, since you begged so pitifully and said there were young children at home. But I never expected Bai Chunsheng would really try to harm me. If he hadn’t been caught and confessed to the police himself, I wouldn’t have believed you all could be so vicious.”

Song Yan glared at Fu Mingxue, his eyes dark and stormy, fists clenched tight.

Seeing his menacing look, Mrs. Fu immediately stepped in front of her daughter, glaring back fiercely.

“What, you want to hit my daughter now? Let me tell you, Bai Chunsheng is a rotten scoundrel, and don’t even think about getting any letter of forgiveness from us. He deserves whatever punishment he gets!”

And she wasn’t done yet—she turned to the neighbors and called out,

“All of you who live nearby, you’d better keep your eyes open! This family is rotten to the core—who knows when they’ll start scheming against you next!”

The neighbors: …?

Song Yan: …?

The Bai family of three: ?…"

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