Chapter 269: Watching the Fun! – Daily Gossip in the Courtyard of the Sickly Young Aunt

Chapter 269: Come Watch the Show! — The Daily Gossip Routine of the Sickly Little Aunt in the Courtyard

The atmosphere on Lin Qing's side was harmonious, but things were different in the west wing.

Old Lady Jiang lounged smugly by the door, oozing sarcasm.

"Jiang Da Sao [Eldest Jiang Sister-in-Law], is breakfast ready yet? If it's not done soon, your man won’t have time to eat. Are you trying to starve him to death, huh?"

Father Jiang and his two sons, Jiang Hai and Jiang Yang, sat at the dining table.

Normally, breakfast would be waiting for them as soon as they finished washing up, but today, the table remained empty. The three could only exchange helpless glances.

Jiang Hai: Second Brother, hurry your wife up!

Father Jiang: Damn right!

Though Jiang Yang harbored resentment toward Lin Shu, he also recalled her grumbling earlier as she left.

"Jiang Da Sao is pregnant, not bedridden. Making breakfast is such a small thing, yet she pushes it onto me. I have to work every day and still handle chores at home..."

Right! Jiang Da Sao is just pregnant—it’s not like she’s never been pregnant before. She was never this lazy in the past!

My wife works all day—how can all these household chores fall on her?

Isn’t Jiang Da Sao just mooching off the family?

At this thought, his eyes darkened briefly before he lowered his gaze, concealing the dark glint.

So Jiang Yang said nothing, offering no response to his father and brother. However, Father Jiang and Jiang Hai assumed his silence was because Lin Shu had shamed him.

Lin Shu glanced toward the main house, where Lin Qing was squatting by the door washing up, her grandparents coddling her without needing her to lift a finger.

She burned with envy.

"What’s there to gawk at? Go fetch your parents to make breakfast if you can’t handle it! Otherwise, get it done already!"

Lin Shu seethed and shot her a death glare.

Old Lady Jiang caught it immediately. "Oh, you dare glare at me? What, am I not your mother-in-law anymore? Can’t even order you to make breakfast?"

Lin Shu was beyond irritated. This damn crone never shut up! She *was* cooking, for heaven’s sake! If they wanted it faster, why couldn’t they do it themselves?

She didn’t care. Let them be late for all she cared—if they crossed her, no one would have it easy.

Jiang Da Sao had woken up early but stayed hidden in her room, lazing in bed.

Hearing the commotion outside, she chuckled softly. Pregnancy had its perks.

After rinsing her mouth, Lin Qing glanced toward the west wing.

Tsk, Old Lady Jiang was a real force to reckon with!

Recalling yesterday’s scene made Lin Qing’s scalp crawl. When two women fought, they aimed for the sorest spots—pinching, clawing...

They had yanked out tufts of each other’s hair, littering the ground.

Even now, both were sporting fresh bruises, though most were hidden under clothing. Lin Shu looked worse off—yesterday’s slap still puffed up her cheek.

These two had bottomless energy. After such a vicious fight yesterday, one was already back to screeching curses, while the other was somehow slapping together breakfast.

"Nuan'nuan, are you ready? Hurry up and have breakfast!" Lin's mother called from behind.

"Coming, coming." Lin Qing shook her head and hurried back to eat breakfast.

When Lin Qing left after breakfast, the Jiang family’s meal had just been set out.

She glanced briefly before looking away, thinking, *Is this family gonna be late or what?*

News traveled fast in the residential compounds.

Sure enough, as soon as Lin Qing entered the office, someone asked, "Lin Qing, I heard your parents moved in with you?"

Lin Qing was surprised, her eyes widening. "*You* know about that?*"

She thought her parents moving in was just a small matter—why were so many people paying attention?

Still, she didn’t hide it and nodded. "Yeah, they moved in yesterday, but they’re just staying a few days. Next week is National Day, and Cen Xi will be off work then. That’s when they’ll move back."

The person asked curiously, "Are your parents worried about you living here alone?"

"*Ha! Nah*—it’s just that... I used to visit them every week, and whenever I went back, I’d tell them all the gossip happening here. So..."

Before Lin Qing could finish, the other person suddenly understood. If there was one place full of drama, it was No. 4 Compound, Guihua Lane!

Whether it was falling into a cesspit, the old bachelor and the widow, or the old man remarrying—all kinds of gossip happened in No. 4 Compound!

"Haha! So your parents moved here specifically to join the fun!"

"Mm-hmm." Lin Qing nodded with a smile. Exactly!

Lin's mother was *here* for the gossip. After cleaning the house once Lin Qing left for work, she went to the backyard to find Mother Li.

She figured Mother Li, as the housing manager, must know plenty of gossip and could introduce her to the neighbors.

For the rest of the day, Lin's mother followed Mother Li around the nearby residential compounds.

She met many people and got an earful—which brothers fought over jobs, which family schemed to avoid being sent to the countryside...

Lin's mother soaked it all in—there really was no shortage of drama here.

She even caught some drama live.

Not in their own compound, but in Wang Gousheng’s—his family’s drama, to be exact.

After that incident, Wang Gousheng had completely lost his grip. He stopped going to work, skipping shifts every single day, idling around aimlessly.

The factory, wary of trouble, didn’t outright fire him, but they cut his entire salary—no work, no pay.

Because of this, the Wang family was in chaos. The job originally wasn’t even Wang Gousheng’s—it was his sister’s, earned through her own efforts. But to avoid being sent to the countryside (a common practice during those times), he schemed to take her place and stole the job.

From the start, his brothers were furious. If the job had been his to begin with, fine—but it wasn’t!

It was his sister’s. Once she was sent away, the job should have belonged to the family, meaning the brothers had a right to it too!

But their parents favored Wang Gousheng and gave it to him. Now that he wasn’t even working properly, rumors were spreading that the factory might reclaim the position. How could they accept that?

So the Wang brothers kicked up a fuss. If Wang Gousheng didn’t want to work, he should give up the job—don’t let it go to waste.

But who was Wang Gousheng? An utterly selfish man. Why would he give up his advantage for others?

He refused outright, blowing off his brothers’ demands as nonsense and continuing to do whatever he wanted.