Chapter 203: Home Visit – Daily Melon Eating at the Sickly Aunt’s Courtyard

Chapter 203: Visiting - The Daily Gossip Life of the Sickly Aunt in the Compound

When Lin Qing received her salary, she also picked up Cen Xi's as well. It had been like this since Lin Qing started working.

Cen Xi had never laid eyes on his paycheck again; he relied on the pocket money Lin Qing gave him in advance.

Yes, Lin Qing held the financial reins of the household. She also managed the family’s income and expenses in a ledger, finding it quite interesting. It truly gave her a sense of the joy of bookkeeping.

Managing payroll was no walk in the park, especially when handling workers who tried to weasel out of things.

"Why is my salary this month less than last month's?"

"Ah, didn’t you know? You skipped two and a half days last month, and you don't get paid for those days. You know our factory's rules: there’s a two-yuan bonus for perfect attendance. But since you were absent for two and a half days, you lost both the bonus and the wages for those days. That's why your salary is less than last month's."

"I..."

"I don’t care why my salary is less than others’, you have to give me the same amount."

Lin Qing sneaked a glance and thought, ‘This colleague handling payroll must have a very good temper. What if they couldn’t control their temper and got into a fight with the unruly worker?’

Wang Jiaojiao had a soft, youthful face. The Director knew which workshops had troublemakers, so he didn’t assign her to those, fearing she might be too soft to handle them.

"Why is my salary so much less?"

Lin Qing looked over and thought, ‘Hey, isn’t that my dear niece?’

Facing her was the cheerful Mother Jiang, though her expression was very serious at the moment. "Comrade, you’re new here, just started last month, but since you were late a few days, we didn’t deduct half a month's salary." She had clearly recognized who this was.

Who hadn’t heard of Lin Shu by now?

"Then why is it so low?" Lin Shu complained loudly.

"Hold on, let me explain. You see, you were docked half a day for personal leave, which is unpaid. Also, you didn't come to work for a whole week, and you were already one week short compared to those who worked a full month. So, considering all these factors, we deducted half a month's salary. After all, you only worked for half a month!"

Salaries were indeed tiered, but since each worker had different circumstances, these had to be factored in before deciding on an individual's salary.

Lin Shu’s pay was fair and square.

"Anything else unclear?" Mother Jiang's face was stern, showing no sign of abnormality.

What could Lin Shu say? Everything had been explained clearly. These were indeed recorded by her department head, and they were just considering the attendance records. What else could she say?

Lin Shu arrived excited but left deflated.

After Lin Shu left, Lin Qing breathed a sigh of relief!

She was worried Lin Shu might throw a fit in their department. Fortunately, Lin Shu was still willing to listen.

Lin Qing wondered if Lin Shu hadn’t seen her, so she didn’t think of it?

Hmm? That was indeed possible.

But whatever, as long as she didn’t make a scene, it was a good thing.

——

After getting paid, many people liked to splurge as a form of revenge spending.

This story is about Lin Shu, who was getting her first paycheck. Although it wasn’t as much as she had imagined, it was still a considerable sum.

Right after work, she dashed to the co-op store, grabbing egg cakes and fruit candies that didn’t need ration coupons.

She’d brought her handbag to work just for this, figuring if she didn’t slip up on her way home, the old hag wouldn’t get her hands on them.

She was still bitter about the time her egg cakes and milk candies got snatched.

With a quick wave, she grabbed a bunch of stuff that didn’t need coupons.

After shopping, she counted her cash and—wait, what? Only two yuan left?

That’s nothing! It went so fast—it’s barely enough!

At first, Lin Shu was nervous, but then it hit her: what if she didn’t spend the money and the old hag found it and pocketed it?

Lin Shu now pictured Mother Jiang as downright sneaky, like rifling through their savings when they weren’t around.

The more she thought about it, the more she figured if she didn’t spend it, someone else would—so why not spend it herself?

And just like that, Lin Shu talked herself into it.

You could say Lin Shu just had bad luck.

The moment she stepped into the courtyard, she spotted Mother Jiang and Zhang Mei in a face-off.

"Mom, what are you doing here?"

"Why am I here? Don’t you get it?" Zhang Mei had come for her pension money, figuring if she didn’t show up herself, her daughter would never send it back.

"If you’re done here, you should head back—it’s getting dark, and the buses will stop running soon!" Mother Jiang, seeing the greed in Zhang Mei's eyes, knew the woman had come to ask for money.

"How can I leave so soon after coming to see my daughter? Aren’t you even going to offer me dinner?"

Mother Jiang wasn’t thrilled to see her in-law, so she stayed quiet, making her feelings clear.

Since you already know, don’t waste my time.

Zhang Mei didn’t give a hoot about Mother Jiang—she’d come for Lin Shu, and that was all that mattered.

"Daughter, come on, let’s go to your room. I need to talk to you."

"Mom, what’s this about?" Lin Shu started playing dumb.

"You know exactly what I’m talking about," Zhang Mei said, glaring.

"Hurry up, come with me." Zhang Mei, seeing Lin Shu hesitate, grabbed her arm and dragged her to the room.

Lin Shu couldn’t fight back and got yanked into the room.

Mother Jiang watched Lin Shu’s retreating figure, shaking her head in disappointment.

What a waste!

Hmph! If she found out Lin Shu gave money to Zhang Mei, she’d make her pay.

Lin Qing and Cen Xi had returned early; they had just bought some meat from the co-op store, planning to celebrate in the evening.

As soon as they returned, they saw Zhang Mei and Mother Jiang sitting at the Jiang family’s door. Lin Qing felt somewhat speechless.

She immediately remembered the previous incident where Lin Shu told her that Zhang Mei had asked for her pension money. Zhang Mei really couldn’t wait, coming the same day the salary was issued.