Courtyard House: A Start with Black Gold Swallowing 100,000 Silver Dollars

Ma Yafang stared at Li Wenguo, his eyes filled with an increasingly intense sense of awe and astonishment.

"Also, don't forget about that pretty girl with the peach-blossom face I asked you to keep an eye on the other day."

Li Wenguo spoke with great confidence, as if he wanted to take all the intelligent and virtuous girls in the city into his grasp.

"Oh, I remember, I remember!"

Ma Yafang secretly wiped away a cold sweat.

"I laughed triumphantly, and laughed triumphantly again..."

After leaving the narrow little shop of the horse tooth pharmacy, Li Wenguo walked briskly, humming a tune as he strolled home.

Unaware that a shadow had already appeared behind him.

The person keeping watch was none other than Mo Datou, who used to rent a place across the street from that courtyard—a member of the Little Green Gang.

It was quite a coincidence.

Mo Datou was just passing by the horse tooth shop when he looked up and saw Li Wenguo pushing open the door and coming out.

At first glance, he seemed familiar, but after a moment of thought, he suddenly remembered: wasn't this the guy who slapped the landlord's son so hard he was knocking his teeth out?

This story needs to be told from the beginning.

That day, Li Wenguo was already in a panic, fearing that the neighbors would drag Xianglan into the house and mistreat her while he was away. To make matters worse, the landlord's son interfered and stirred up trouble. Enraged, he slapped Xianglan twice across the face, grabbed her, and stormed off.

Later, he had Ma Ya Fang handle the aftermath, and simply terminated the lease, using the remaining rent as compensation for the other party's medical expenses.

The landlord was also embarrassed, knowing that his son was good-for-nothing and in the wrong, so he readily agreed; but fearing that he would lose face, he told no one not to tell anyone.

But his son couldn't swallow this insult and kept gritting his teeth, shouting that he wanted to get it back.

Mo Datou only heard half of what was said and believed it to be true—he thought that Li Wenguo had been frightened and was hiding, afraid to show his face.

The thought had already faded, but now, seeing Li Wenguo swaggering around so confidently, the little scheme in his heart immediately rekindled, and he began to figure out how to squeeze some money out of this rich young man.

Only after seeing him step into the courtyard did Mo Datou squint his eyes, turn around, and disappear without a trace.

……

"Come, Xianglan, sit closer—I have something important to tell you."

After the meal, Li Wenguo accepted the hot tea offered by Xianglan and said gently.

"Master, Xianglan also has something she wants to say to you from the bottom of her heart."

Without any hesitation, she nestled into his arms, her eyes sparkling and her smile gentle.

"Oh? Then tell me."

"No, I am the head of the family, so it is only right that I speak first."

"Okay, okay, I'll listen to you."

Li Wenguo took a sip of tea to moisten his throat before slowly saying, "Xianglan, I've arranged a marriage for you, and you'll be welcoming her into the family by the end of the year."

The words had barely left his mouth—

The sweet smile on Xianglan's face froze instantly, as if it had been frozen in time.

She had long known that she was bought and that the position of the legal wife was not hers; but knowing it was one thing, actually hearing it made her heart feel as if it had been squeezed hard, causing a dull ache.

"Oh dear, Xianglan, what's wrong?"

"Don't worry, even though we're getting married, you've always been in my heart. From now on, you'll be my second wife, and your status will be secure."

Xianglan came from a brothel, which was not respectable in the eyes of outsiders. Being given the title of concubine was already an extraordinary honor.

"By the way, after the new bride arrives, I will also add two maids to serve her—one for each of you, to serve her well. I always treat everyone equally and will never favor one over the other."

Seeing that Xianglan's eyes were red, Li Wenguo quickly poured out all the comforting words he had prepared.

"Master... Xianglan knows she came from a brothel, is lowly and has a tragic fate, and has never dared to dream of becoming the main wife. But these tears, they won't obey me, they just keep rolling down my face... Master, please don't misunderstand, Xianglan isn't throwing a tantrum, she's not being petty..."

Before he could finish speaking, tears were already falling one after another onto his clothes, trembling like pearls from a broken string.

Li Wenguo's heart tightened, and he pulled her into his arms, his voice softening slightly: "I understand, I understand everything. Xianglan loves me the most, how could she make a fuss over these things? I love you the most too, I won't forget the old even if I have a new one—how I treated you before, I will only care more about you in the future."

"Besides, the wife who came into the family is gentle and understanding. She would never put on airs or bully anyone, nor would she nitpick or speak coldly for no reason."

After a long period of comforting, Xianglan gradually recovered.

"By the way, Xianglan, I've finished telling you my business—didn't you have something to tell me?"

Upon hearing this, Xianglan's eyes immediately lit up, her lips couldn't help but curve upwards, and her eyebrows were filled with an undisguised joy.

She gently placed her left hand on her lower abdomen, her fingertips softly tracing the still-flat curve, her voice soft yet resolute: "Master, I'm pregnant."

"You're going to have a young master."

"What?!"

Li Wenguo was stunned, frozen in place. It took him a long time to recover, and then his voice suddenly rose, filled with surprise and joy: "Really?!"

"Are you pregnant with my child?"

"I'm going to be a dad?!"

"Uh-huh!!!"

Xianglan nodded vigorously, a hint of pleasure rising in her heart: Even though you are the lawfully wedded wife, this first child will ultimately fall on my shoulders!

With Xianglan pregnant, Li Wenguo put away his former dissolute ways, no longer spending nights out partying or getting drunk and making a ruckus. The matter of buying maids was immediately put on the agenda.

The next day, just as dawn broke, Li Wenguo walked briskly and spiritedly out to work. As soon as he turned into the alley, he was stopped by two unfamiliar men.

Who are you?

"In broad daylight, are you trying to act tough?"

Li Wenguo frowned, his gaze sweeping over the two men in front of him, their eyes darting around and their postures slouching.

He vaguely remembered one of them—it was the neighbor who lived next door when he rented the apartment before.

Sure enough, Mo Datou had brought an accomplice to squat here early in the morning, waiting for his prey to come to him.

"Heh, Brother Li, you must have a bad memory. Don't you remember your old brother?"

"I'm Mo Datou, who lived across the hall from you when you were renting a place!"

Mo Datou grinned, his face full of smiles, but his words were like sandpaper wrapped around his lips.

"What's up?"

Li Wenguo's expression was cold and hard, and his tone was crisp and decisive.

"call--!"

Mo Datou blew on his fingertips and said slowly, "I'm a little short on cash lately, so I was thinking of borrowing some money from you to tide me over."

"Borrow my ass! I don't have any money."

"roll."

"If you don't leave now, I'll break your legs."

Li Wenguo's voice turned deep, and he launched into a tirade of insults.

If you're too lenient with these thugs, they'll dare to trample on you and run wild.

"Yoho—"

His companion glanced at him sideways and sneered, "Brother Li has quite a temper."

"Brother Li, we're from the Little Green Gang. How can we hold our heads high in Beijing after this?!"

Mo Datou was not intimidated at all, and instead believed that Li Wenguo was all bark and no bite—after all, the last time he beat the landlord's son so badly that he ran away in the middle of the night, the story had already been widely circulated.

"Little Green Gang? Little White Gang? What do I care? I'm warning you, I'm the manager of this trading company. If you piss me off, one phone call to the police station and your entire gang will be locked up in jail."

Now he truly had the confidence: Charlie, the foreigner, had already spoken to the police chief before leaving; privately, he had even treated the chief to two meals, showing impeccable manners, and their relationship was already firmly established. Why would the chief, who had accepted such a generous gift, refuse such a small favor?

"Hahaha!"

Mo Datou threw his head back and laughed loudly: "Who are you trying to scare?"

"To tell you the truth, we're easily scared!"

"Even if you can call the police, you still can't stop us from coming to your door every day—we'll drive you crazy with annoyance!"

His laughter grew even more unrestrained.

"That's right!"

His companion chimed in with a sinister glint in his eye, "I heard you're hiding a pretty young woman in your house? The moment you step out, a few of us brothers will sneak into your yard…tsk tsk, I wonder if that delicate little wife can withstand our 'care'?"

“Gagaga—”

He grinned, revealing his yellow teeth, and a few lewd wrinkles appeared at the corners of his eyes.

It turns out that Li Wenguo and Xianglan went out together this morning, but Xianglan went to buy oil, salt and cloth, and the two happened to bump into each other.

Li Wenguo felt a tightness in his chest, his anger exploded, and his face instantly turned ashen.

These kinds of scoundrels are the most difficult to deal with; you can't confront them head-on, nor can you truly swallow your anger.

Fuck!

I really want to grab them and throw them into my spatial dimension, then chop them into eight pieces!

But this courtyard is located in a busy area, with people coming and going constantly. Not far away, there are several elderly people chatting and watching while fanning themselves and eating melon seeds. If they take action now, there will be no way to hide the traces.

"Come with me."

Li Wenguo stared at the ground for three seconds in silence, then suddenly turned around and walked back with steady steps, coldly uttering only, "Take the money."

"Where to?"

Mo Datou was taken aback.

"Go home and get the money."

He gritted his teeth, feeling a surge of resentment: two thugs dared to piss on his head!

If it weren't for the fact that he was backed by the Green Gang, he would have crippled those two on the spot.

For now, we can only take them back to the house, force them to reveal the secrets of the Little Green Gang, and then put them all into the space and seal them away.

Mo Datou and his companion exchanged a quick glance, their lips curling up in unison, their eyes burning with intense excitement.

Li Wenguo bowing his head and admitting defeat? That would make him nothing more than a fish on a chopping board, at their mercy!

As a clerk in a foreign firm, I had a good salary and a secure, long-term job.

Add a beautiful and charming wife, and sooner or later you can have her at your fingertips and have fun with her—just thinking about it makes their backs tingle and their hearts race.

Who would have thought—

Death was tiptoeing, slowly approaching the back of their necks.

Stepping through the courtyard gate, I headed straight for the main hall.

Li Wenguo reached into his hand and pulled out a Browning pistol, its muzzle adorned with a faint blue glow—a silencer formed by spatial energy.

Before the smugness on their faces had faded, their pupils suddenly contracted, and their bodies froze as if frozen.

"Are you tired of living? You dare to extort me?"

Li Wenguo lowered his gaze and spoke in a voice as cold as ice shards scraping against sheet metal.

"You...you don't dare to shoot!" Mo Datou's Adam's apple bobbed as he forced his voice to stay clear.

"Yeah, yeah! This broken gun... it's probably a fake to fool people, right?" his companion chimed in, his voice trembling.

"good!"

Before Li Wenguo could finish speaking, the gun was already pressed against the man's temple.

"puff--"

With a muffled thud, brain matter mixed with blood spurted out, and the corpse slammed straight to the ground.

"ah--!!!"

Mo Datou screamed in terror.

"Say one more word, and I'll shoot your mouth through the next bullet," Li Wenguo shouted, his gaze like a knife.

There were shadowy figures moving outside, and he had to cut off any noise.

"Grandpa Li! Grandpa Li!" Mo Datou's knees buckled, and he collapsed to his knees, tears streaming down his face. "I was blinded by greed! I was utterly blind! Please, have mercy and spare my life! I swear, from now on, I'll avoid you like the plague!"

"How many people are in the Little Green Gang?" Li Wenguo's gun remained motionless.

"Twenty-three... including the two of us, twenty-three!" Mo Datou kowtowed repeatedly.