Chapter 616: Military District Follow-up – Daily Gossip in the Courtyard of the Sickly Young Aunt

Chapter 616: The Frail Auntie’s Daily Gossip Life in the Military Compound

When their little one was one year old, around the time of Lin Qing’s summer vacation, Cen Xi and Lin Qing set off once again to visit Cen’s parents.

The arrival of the family of three was met with an eager welcome—or rather, their toddler was the one who received the warmest welcome.

Lin Qing finally got to meet Cen’s elder brother and sister-in-law. Both were easy to get along with, and they got along reasonably well.

However, since they usually lived miles apart, even if they didn’t particularly like each other, they maintained a polite façade during their meetings.

Stepping back into the military district, Lin Qing recalled her first visit—the previous one.

She remembered roaming around with Cen’s mother, catching up on gossip, as if it felt like yesterday.

After she returned home, Cen’s mother had even written to her about other gossip, and Lin Qing had reciprocated by sharing news from their side. The two exchanged stories freely.

She thought of the wife of Political Commissar Sun back then. The military district had indeed conducted a thorough investigation into her.

They discovered that her family had issues—specifically, her younger brother was the problem.

Like most women of that era, Political Commissar Sun’s wife had been taught to prioritize her natal family, especially her younger brother, believing that only with a brother could she have someone to rely on in the future.

She took this as gospel and practiced it earnestly.

Her younger brother was a compulsive gambler, spending his days drinking and betting with no income, relying entirely on his sister for support.

Once, he was framed in a rigged game and lost a large sum of money. Political Commissar Sun’s wife tried everything to cover the debt, even using up years of her husband’s salary, but it still fell short.

Then, a mysterious figure appeared out of nowhere.

According to her account, that’s exactly how it happened.

This mysterious person promised that if she completed the missions he gave her, he would ensure her brother received a monthly allowance. Not only that, he would also cover the insurmountable debt.

At first, she thought the tasks might be difficult, but to her surprise, they were incredibly simple—all she had to do was drive a wedge between any married couple in the compound.

Yes, any couple, no matter their rank.

Not that rank mattered much—those eligible for military housing were at least company commanders or higher, so their positions weren’t insignificant to begin with.

Initially, she was skeptical, but holding onto hope, she tried it once.

And true to his word, the mysterious man paid off her brother’s debt.

Encouraged, she targeted a second couple, and soon managed to split them up as well.

The mysterious man delivered on his word—when she contacted her brother, she found that someone was indeed sending him a monthly allowance.

With this financial support, her brother asked her for money less often, and she gradually had more money to spare.

Once she got a taste for it, she became even more unwilling to stop.

To make her actions easier, she even played the role of a helpful busybody, using the pretense of mediating to drive couples apart.

Political Commissar Sun did notice his wife’s shift in behavior, but he assumed she had finally stopped excessively bailing out her family, which explained why their household finances had improved. Their home life slowly improved, so he didn’t pry further.

The military investigation later revealed that the gambling scam involving her brother had been all his own doing.

From a young age, the brother had been in contact with the mysterious man. He was easily swayed and had long been turned into a spy.

Besides, that mysterious man didn't ask him to do anything besides teaching him some skills—just letting him live his normal life.

That changed when his sister unexpectedly married a soldier.

Then the mysterious man finally gave him a job.

But he soon realized the task wasn’t actually for him—it was for his sister. As long as she completed it, he would get money. What a sweet deal!

So, following the mysterious man’s instructions, he set up a scam with some local troublemakers, successfully luring Sun’s wife into the trap.

Then the mysterious man showed up right on cue, leading to everything that followed.

The incident with Sun’s wife served as a wake-up call for the military base. Compared to soldiers, military spouses were much easier to manipulate or spy on.

They needed to pay more attention to the spouses’ connections.

Because of what happened with Sun’s wife, the entire military base started checking up on spouses exhibiting unusual behavior.

Turns out, they found several similar cases.

Apart from one or two who simply had weak morals, the rest did it for their families.

The military base issued a widespread notice about these incidents, serving as a warning to all military spouses to be extra cautious.

Combined with what Cen’s father had mentioned, Cen’s mother knew the details so clearly, and Lin Qing learned the full story—the cause, the process, and the outcome—from her.

After reading the letter, Lin Qing felt a twinge of sadness.

She didn’t know what Sun’s wife had been thinking, whether she regretted her actions for her brother’s sake, but one thing was clear—it was totally not worth it.

Sun’s wife had devoted herself entirely to her younger brother, never realizing that he had been scheming against her from the very beginning. So messed up.

……

Once Cen’s mother got hooked on gossip, she went all in. This time, when Lin Qing and Cen Xi returned with their baby, Cen’s mother spent all day toting the baby around to listen to the latest rumors.

And the baby? He fit right in!

He was completely used to it!

In his short one year of life, most of his days had been spent among groups of aunties and chatty women.

When Cen’s mother came back, she mentioned this to Lin Qing, who burst out laughing. “Mom! Of course he doesn’t fuss. He used to follow my mom around those aunties every day, listening to gossip and drama—he was even more into it than I was!”

“Ah, really? No wonder he was so well-behaved!” She had carried him around for ages, and the little guy didn’t make a peep. She was amazed at how well-behaved he was!

“This kid loves excitement. I’m already worried about what we’ll do once he starts running around,” Lin Qing said with a sigh.

Her parents were getting older, and once the little one started running around, they probably wouldn’t be able to keep up.

And this child was clearly not the quiet type. Her mother had mentioned before that whenever there was something interesting happening, he wouldn’t budge till the show was over.

“How about letting him stay with us for a few years? His grandfather can whip him into shape?” Cen’s mother suggested without hesitation.

After all, that’s how her own two sons had been raised.

Lin Qing: “Well…”

Isn’t that a little soon?

……

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