Chapter 270: Happiness – Daily Gossip in the Courtyard of the Sickly Young Aunt

Chapter 270: Joy—The Sickly Young Aunt’s Drama-Filled Days in the Compound

When Mother Lin was first pulled over by Mother Li, she had no idea what was happening in this household. Then, Mother Li barraged her with a full breakdown of the situation.

It dawned on her—this was the home of that Wang Gousheng who had lost his treasures!

Lin Qing and Cen Xi hadn’t shared the more hidden details with her parents, such as the whereabouts of those treasures. The fewer people who knew about it, the better.

Speaking of the biggest talking point in their neighborhood, it had to be the public toilet. Mother Li patted her chest in relief as she mentioned it. "Luckily, they’ve redone the toilet now. To prevent anyone from falling into the cesspit again, it’s been completely revamped."

This was largely thanks to the efforts of a few hard-to-shake aunties in their street.

The street office director had, for the first time, felt that assigning the right people to the task made all the difference. She quietly leaked some details about the scale and requirements of the toilet’s construction to these aunties.

When those aunties acted as supervisors, they naturally raised these points in front of the construction team. The RevCom stragglers, already on the back foot for dragging their feet on the matter, had no choice but to comply—after all, they had caused enough trouble in the area and needed to give the street some compensation. Besides, those aunties were not easy to deal with, so they had to meet their demands as much as possible.

Once the toilet was finally built, the street office director and the aunties were delighted. But the construction team and the RevCom stragglers, who had endured days of nonstop nagging day and night, were less than thrilled. Those aunties could go on and on without stopping.

Try mouthing off? The aunties would immediately clutch their chests and threaten to collapse—who would dare say another word then?

Mother Lin had already visited the new toilet. Indeed, the old wooden planks had been replaced with sturdy cement slabs, and the space had been widened, making it nearly impossible to accidentally fall in.

Some people actually found this a real shame!

After all, there were the spiteful types who had hoped to see their enemies take a plunge into the cesspit. Now, that opportunity was gone.

The Wang family was in total chaos today. Aside from Wang Gousheng, the other three sons of the Wang family were already married, and all three had children.

The Wang family’s living space was cramped too—just three rooms, each split into two tiny spaces. The eldest and second Wang brothers and their families shared one large room, the third Wang brother and Wang Gousheng shared another, and the elderly Wang couple had the last one, with the inner part serving as a bedroom and the outer part as a kitchen.

Since their three rooms weren’t the main quarters, they were much smaller, making the whole family packed like sardines. Arguments often broke out over minor adjustments to the partitions.

Moreover, with zero privacy, valuables couldn’t be left at home and had to be carried on their persons—which was why Wang Gousheng had hidden his treasures outside in the first place.

This was also why no one doubted his story. In fact, not only was Wang Gousheng single-mindedly obsessed with watching for suspicious individuals, but some neighbors were also secretly watching.

Given his single-minded obsession, the whole thing couldn’t have been faked. So, the neighbors were also very curious about who had managed to scoop up the loot.

But, of course, whoever got their hands on them would keep it tightly under wraps. Considering the RevCom stragglers’ and Wang Gousheng’s rabid determination, getting caught would mean endless trouble.

Now, nearly a month had passed with no news, and people gradually stopped paying much attention—unlike Wang Gousheng, who remained fixated.

The four women of the Wang family were now going at each other’s throats over Wang Gousheng’s job. The onlookers simply watched the spectacle, with no one stepping in to break it up—mainly because the whole family had a trash-tier reputation in the neighborhood. Who would risk getting dragged into their mess and possibly shaken down?

"Is this family really so shameless?" Mother Lin found it hard to believe.

Mother Li tch’d with a knowing smirk. "There have been cases of being shaken down before."

"Ah?" So it had already happened!

No wonder, no wonder…

The surrounding crowd was all there for the free entertainment—some even stirring the pot—but not a single person tried to mediate. They had already learned their lesson the hard way.

Even in their own residential compound, Mother Lin had never seen such a vicious fight. She glanced around and figured it might be because their place was a commie-block apartment, with no open space for such dramatic displays.

"Doesn’t the street office intervene?"

"Unless they can actually enforce it, why bother?"

"Alright then!" The neighborhood office wasn't omnipotent either—this family was a classic example of thick-skinned bullies who feared nothing.

Mother Li knew a bit more. Since the neighborhood office couldn't handle it, they’d probably call the factory’s Women’s Federation (a state-affiliated women’s organization) for help.

The question was, who would they send?

Mrs. Lin and Mother Li secured the best vantage point, hiding in a corner to watch this intense brawl unfold.

Mrs. Lin felt like she was truly getting an eye-opener. In less than two days since arriving, she’d already witnessed two fights—what a thrill!

Once she returned to the residential compound, she’d definitely have to gossip with her good sisters about it. They surely rarely got to see such a heated spectacle!

Oof—

That looked really painful!

"They’re here, they’re here! The factory’s Women’s Federation has sent someone!"

Mrs. Lin glanced over and immediately brightened up—it was someone she knew!

Mother Li, however, frowned deeply. Was the factory’s Women’s Federation really that short-staffed?

Why send these two newbies?

With just Lin Shu and Jiang Li, how could they possibly keep the four women of the Wang family in check? This was no laughing matter!

To be fair, it wasn’t originally supposed to be them. After all, they were still relatively new to the job. But everyone in the office had been dodging the task, unwilling to step up. Lin Shu, eager to prove her competence, jumped at the chance.

As for Jiang Li, Lin Shu had personally requested her. Jiang Li wrinkled her nose in reluctance but the Women’s Federation director, pleased that Lin Shu had taken the initiative, agreed to all her conditions.

Su Shengnan should have been included too, but she refused outright—she wasn’t about to go out and bake in the sun.

Lin Shu couldn’t argue. So she brought Jiang Li instead—to show her how it’s done, hoping Jiang Li would back off when things got tough and stop eyeing the team leader position.

Jiang Li had no clout and didn’t dare refuse the director’s arrangement like Su Shengnan, so she had no choice but to tag along.

Everyone else avoided the task like the plague, so no one else followed them.

But Lin Shu was brimming with confidence. She was certain she could handle this perfectly.

And so, she swaggered in, head held high, with Jiang Li trailing slightly behind, head lowered—like a leader with her lackey in tow, milking the moment for all it was worth!