Chapter 417: Boastful – Daily Gossip in the Sickly Aunt’s Courtyard

**Chapter 417: Gloating – The Frail Young Sister-in-law’s Daily Gossip in the Courtyard**

Zhang Mengyun had been quiet for a whole week, but today she suddenly started gloating.

When Mother Lin and Father Lin returned with supplies from the grain ration book and grocery ration book, they found Zhang Mengyun prattling on by the faucet while completely forgetting to wash the clothes in the basin in front of her.

Jiang Li was beside her, also doing laundry, though she remained silent.

Jiang Li had queued up at the station late last night and hardly slept. She had just taken over shifts from Mother Gu.

Truthfully, if Mother Gu hadn’t needed Jiang Li to return and handle chores like laundry or worried about letting her take charge of the groceries, she wouldn’t have switched shifts at all.

Now, the exhaustion from staying up all night hit her hard, and with someone droning nonstop in her ear, she hid her growing annoyance.

So when Father and Mother Lin walked in, what they saw was Jiang Li clearly worn out, and Zhang Mengyun blatantly boasting without a care in the world.

Yes, pure gloating.

“Oh! Brother Jianhua treats me so well—he even lets me manage the household finances!”

“He said he doesn’t need any pocket money and wants to hand over his entire salary to me every month.”

Zhang Mengyun beamed with giddy pride as she prattled on, “How could I bear to see my dear Brother Jianhua suffer? He’s the best, so I decided to give him five yuan—a modest sum—as monthly pocket money.”

“He’s a man; how can he get by socially without some cash? Oh! Is five yuan still too little?”

Then she turned to Jiang Li, “Does your husband hand you his salary? How much do you give him for spending money?”

A smug grin spread across Zhang Mengyun’s face. Her expression was insufferably smug. She had heard from Wang Qiaomei about how things were in the Gu family—she knew full well that Jiang Li didn’t run the household, with Mother Gu still in charge.

She was being deliberate.

Bragging’s only fun when done in front of those who can’t compare.

Father and Mother Lin heard all this as soon as they stepped in. Though they tried to keep a low profile, they were spotted anyway.

Jiang Li couldn’t be bothered with games. She knew exactly what Zhang Mengyun was trying to do. Seeing the bags of grain on Father and Mother Lin’s backs, she dryly remarked, “Comrade Zhang, the grain station is distributing rations today. Aren’t you going to pick yours up?”

“……” Zhang Mengyun’s face fell.

“What? What grain?” She was clueless—completely.

Father and Mother Lin looked flabbergasted. How could someone not know about the monthly grain distribution?

“You mean to say you don’t know we collect grain rations every month in the city?”

“I…” Panic flickered in Zhang Mengyun’s eyes. She really didn’t know!

The other three stood there, dumbfounded.

This was something none of them had expected.

Jiang Li couldn’t be bothered to engage further. All she wanted was to finish the laundry and chores quickly so she could finally get some proper rest.

“Wait, don’t leave me hanging! You can’t just drop that and walk away!”

Old Lin and his wife saw the fire hadn’t reached them yet, so they made a quick getaway.

Their footsteps were way too fast for old folks.

“This… I don’t know what to say. Who doesn’t know people in the city have to pick up their grain rations every month?” Mrs. Lin thought it was kind of unbelievable.

How do they even get by without it?

“Your daughter already told you—she just came back to the city not long ago. Probably never had to handle it herself before.”

“…” Well, maybe that really was the case.

Jiang Li brushed her off, but Zhang Mengyun kept pestering.

“Come on, spill it!”

Jiang Li was suddenly pushed away and shot her an annoyed glare. “How do you think it works? You just take your grain ration book and go!” Jiang Li left out the part about non-staple foods on purpose.

She had a temper too—this was just a little revenge.

If anyone asked later, she could always say she forgot!

When Zhang Mengyun heard "grain ration book," her stomach dropped. She’d gotten married, but she never switched her residency!

Her ration book was still with the Zhangs—she didn’t have it with her!

As for Jin Jianhua’s, the paperwork was done, but it was still with the Jins, who had no intention of handing it over.

So now it wasn’t even about whether to pick up rations—it was that she didn’t have a ration book at all!!!

Zhang Mengyun was totally lost.

Jiang Li wasn’t about to stick around. She sped up her scrubbing, finished the few pieces of clothing quickly, grabbed the basin, and left.

“Hey—” Zhang Mengyun finally snapped back to reality and tried to call after her, but couldn’t even remember her name.

By then, Jiang Li had already gone back to her room.

Now, she was all alone in the courtyard.

She felt like her whole world was falling apart. She really wanted to cry.

Why did everything in the city have to be so hard?

Her thoughts were a jumbled-up knot, impossible to untangle, so she gave up completely.

She didn’t even feel like washing clothes anymore—just gave them a few half-hearted scrubs before hanging them up.

At the Zhang house, Eldest Brother and Second Brother only realized Zhang Mengyun’s ration book was still with them when they went to collect the family’s rations today.

Thinking back to how they’d been forced to buy expensive grain because of her before, they weren’t about to let this chance slip by.

The moment they saw the ration book, they didn’t hesitate—they picked up her share too.

After all, their father said she needed to suffer enough to learn to appreciate things. They were doing her a favor.

When the brothers got home, they told their mother what they’d done.

“Eh, too late now.”

"Mom, don’t bother taking the grain ration book to her. Just wait till she remembers and comes asking—then you can hand it over."

"Yeah," Zhang’s mother murmured, still hurt from Zhang Mengyun's earlier actions.

She didn’t give a damn about whether her family survived. With food so scarce in the city, even if there was none at home, she could’ve just taken a little—but no, she took it all, leaving the rest of the family to starve for all she cared.

A daughter this heartless… she was better off gone.

The Jins were another story—this was all calculated.

From the start, Jin Jianhua had no intention of bringing the grain ration book with him. He knew Zhang Mengyun had a little cash left, so he aimed to bleed her dry fast, forcing her to go back and beg the Zhangs for help. The sooner she patched things up with them, the better it would be for him.

All his scheming made Jin Jianhua lose track of the fact that today was the day to collect rations.

In the afternoon, after work, Jin Jianhua returned home and saw Zhang Mengyun, visibly distressed.

"Yunyun, what’s wrong?"

"Brother Jianhua~" Zhang Mengyun was fighting back tears.

She had meant to go looking for someone at noon, but when she reached the factory gate, she couldn’t get in—no outsiders were allowed past the gates. Fuming, Zhang Mengyun got turned away at the gate, stomped her foot, and stormed off.

The guard watched her go, opening his mouth like he wanted to call out—

Eh, never mind. She’s gone anyway.