Chapter 284: Fear – Daily Melon Eating in the Courtyard of the Sickly Young Lady

Chapter 284: Fear—The Sickly Girl’s Compound Gossip Chronicles

Lin Qing suddenly turned her head and noticed several people from their compound heading this way.

Indeed, the news had spread far too quickly.

Actually, it wasn’t just that. When Jiang Li returned, she happened to see a group of people moseying along up ahead, gossiping in hushed tones without paying her any attention—unlike before, when they would have chatted with her for a bit.

Looking to polish her image, she proactively approached one of the aunties. "Auntie, what’s going on?"

"The guy who got his balls crushed is back from the hospital!" the auntie said in a hushed, gossipy tone.

Jiang Li hadn’t expected that to be the reason for the commotion.

For a moment, she was curious too, but after glancing at the popsicle in her hand, she decided not to follow them and instead returned to the compound.

"Why are you so slow?"

"I saw a bunch of people walking really slowly on the way, so I slowed down too. When I asked, I found out it was because Wang Gousheng—the one who got neutered—came back."

"What? Wang Gousheng is back?" Mother Gu shouted at the top of her lungs.

Her voice boomed. Neighbors came pouring out of their homes.

"Wang Gousheng is back?" Mother Jiang rushed out, wearing only one slipper.

"That ball-less wonder is back?" Zhou Qin even bolted straight out of bed barefoot.

If there was anyone in the compound who hated Wang Gousheng the most, it was him. Even though the Wang family had compensated him a hundred yuan—a significant sum back then—the money never reached his hands, so his resentment remained.

Now that Wang Gousheng was back, he was itching to laugh in his face.

Lin Qing’s parents, who had been resting in their room, also heard the noise and hurried out.

Mother Gu handed her popsicles to Dabao and Xiaoniu before darting outside.

Not wanting to be left behind, the others followed.

However, before leaving, Lin Qing’s parents made sure to lock their doors and windows—after all, there was a sneaky thief in the compound, so they couldn’t be too careful.

"Dad, Mom, you came too?" Lin Qing greeted her parents.

"We heard that guy is back?" Lin’s mother said, glancing toward the commotion.

"Yeah. Auntie Wang’s in there tearing him a new one!" In fact, they didn’t need Lin Qing to tell them—they could hear it clearly.

"So they found out?" The Wang family’s drama had been the biggest gossip in the neighborhood for days.

"Mm. The other kids and their spouses up and left, and the place was cleaned out. No telling whether their kids stripped it bare or thieves did."

Hearing this, Lin’s mother understood why Auntie Wang was cussing up a blue streak. Still, she remarked, "Bet you anything—whether it was thieves or their own kids who took everything, they’ll pin it all on their kids and in-laws."

"Huh?" Lin Qing was lost.

Cen Xi glanced inside and figured the show was pretty much over—except for Auntie Wang’s same old curse-filled rant on loop, which showed no sign of stopping.

"Dad, Mom, it’s still baking out here. Should we head back and talk inside?"

Seeing Lin Qing’s forehead glistening with sweat, Lin’s mother nodded. "Alright, let’s go back for now."

The four of them turned aside and edged their way out of the crowd.

Back at home, Cen Xi took out the popsicles from the bag. Luckily, they had asked the shop assistant for some ice on their way back, or else they would have melted halfway.

"Here, Dad, Mom, have these to cool off." After handing the popsicles to Lin's father and mother, he also took out the soda they had bought. "Qing Qing, take a few sips of soda to cool off."

"Okay!"

The other three took them one by one.

After Lin Qing had a couple of sips of the soda, Cen Xi took it from her and drank some too.

Once cooled down, Lin Qing returned to what they'd been talking about before. "Mom, why did you say that earlier?"

"Are you silly? If Auntie Wang didn’t say it like that, do you think she’d ever get her losses back?"

"Uh..." Whoa, whoa, they hadn’t thought of that angle.

Lin Qing suddenly understood. "So that’s how it is! You can do that?"

"What else? You know the Wang family already had to pay out money before. Then, after such a long hospital stay, they must’ve spent a lot more. Coming back to find the place nearly cleaned out, of course they’d want to find someone to blame to recover their losses!" Lin's mother had it all figured out.

"Auntie Wang must be furious with her daughters-in-law. She was cursing nonstop earlier."

Lin's mother murmured, she added, "Even without all that, those mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law wouldn’t get along anyway."

With Auntie Wang’s obvious favoritism, which daughter-in-law could stand it?

Lin Qing counted herself lucky that she didn’t live with her mother-in-law, though she knew from phone calls that she seemed nice enough.

But absence makes the heart grow fonder—who knows how they'd really get along if they lived together? What if they just didn’t get along?

Luckily, she didn’t have to go through any of that now.

Lin Shu walked back in a foul mood. She had deliberately walked slowly, hoping to chat with people in the alley, but she hardly saw a soul—just a few passersby in a hurry.

How weird!

"What's eating you?" Jiang Yang asked, noticing her obvious unhappiness.

"Didn’t you tell me to chat with more people on my way back? But I didn’t see a soul out today when I returned."

"How’s that possible? Shouldn’t there be a crowd of people chatting at the alley entrance this time?"

"No, not a soul out today." The thought made Lin Shu even more frustrated.

Jiang Yang frowned in thought, then suddenly realized. "They probably all went to see Wang Gousheng just now."

"He’s back?"

Lin Shu frowned—she hadn’t seen anyone at the courtyard entrance earlier.

Had they all gone inside?

"Yeah, I heard Mother Gu say so earlier."

"Why didn’t you go?"

Jiang Yang rolled his eyes. "Do you think I’m stupid? With Wang Gousheng’s vicious temper, going to gawk at him now would just be begging for trouble!"

"What are you afraid of? With so many people going to see him, do you really think he'd dare retaliate against everyone?"

Jiang Yang was exasperated. "Do you think I'm just like everyone else? It's all because of you. You were right there when his balls got crushed. Now that his sisters-in-law have all moved away, what if he turns his hatred toward you? If I go rubbing it in his face now, wouldn’t that just be begging for an ass-kicking?"

"..." Lin Shu instantly fell silent.

That day... that day had scared the hell out of her.

After Wang Gousheng was rushed to the hospital, she hadn’t followed. Instead, she had returned straight to her department.

Now, Jiang Yang’s words made her scared all over again.