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

A secret underground room in a secluded mansion.

"ah--!!!"

"Spare me! I admit my mistake!"

"I was so wrong!!!"

"ah--!!!"

"I shouldn't have taken your weapons, Mr. Li!"

"Stop hitting me! I'll give the money back right away!"

The pig-like screams mixed with panting echoed as it crashed against the stone walls.

That's right, the short, fat man with a bruised and swollen face, a split mouth, and blood-soaked clothes was none other than Police Chief Yang Zhengde.

At this moment, he had lost all his former prestige and looked like a toad that had been skinned and thrown into a salt vat.

"Bang!!!"

"Bang!!!"

Li Wenguo kicked him in the chest repeatedly, his curses like thunder: "Weren't you so tough? Didn't you threaten to kill me? Didn't you even kick me like this?"

Blood gushed from Yang Zhengde's mouth. He collapsed to the ground, his throat gurgling, his voice barely a whisper: "Don't... don't kick me anymore... if you kick me again... I'll really die..."

My bones felt like they were falling apart, my chest felt tight and I couldn't breathe, my vision blurred, and even my consciousness was sinking.

"Why didn't you do this sooner?"

Li Wenguo spat out a mouthful of phlegm and finally stopped walking.

He squatted down, staring at the swollen, distorted face, and said, slowly and deliberately, "Now you know who's the boss, right?"

"I...I understand..."

"Want to live?"

"I want to...I want to live..."

"All my possessions, not a single penny left; the capital, I'm leaving tonight."

Upon hearing this, Yang Zhengde's cloudy eyes suddenly lit up, and a glimmer of light rekindled in his pupils—he could still live!

That beating just now was truly brutal. He thought he was going to die here tonight.

In this world, murder and arson are not uncommon, just like yesterday when he sent his gang to silence Li Wenguo.

Li Wenguo is the manager of a foreign firm, backed by a foreigner named Charlie. If he were to accuse Yang Zhengde of embezzling military supplies, the bureau chief would be fired on the spot.

Who can live without foreign trading companies these days? Military supplies, ammunition, and fuel are all in the hands of the foreigners. With just one word from Charlie, he couldn't even keep his police uniform.

So from the day he tricked Li Wenguo, he had no intention of leaving any survivors.

Unfortunately, before he could even send anyone out, he was dragged into the cellar himself.

As for killing him personally? Yang Zhengde never even considered it—angering a foreigner was no different from stabbing one's own ancestral grave with a knife.

Finally, it was the doppelganger standing in the corner who delivered three or four more hard blows before he finally shakily revealed everything hidden in the three dark rooms and five iron boxes.

Even a rabbit has three burrows; this old fox is naturally even more cunning.

Not to mention that a cunning old fox like Yang Zhengde would never put all his eggs in one basket.

Even Li Wenguo himself had long ago divided his assets into three parts: one part was deposited in a US bank, one part was put into an Eagle bank, and the other part was quietly locked deep inside the space.

Then, he forced Yang Zhengde to reveal all his close relatives, friends, and informants, even asking him about who smoked what kind of cigarettes and who would shake their leg when they saw their superior.

Finally, with a swift stroke, he dragged Yang Zhengde into the space and killed him; then he activated a secret technique to peel off the skin and reshape the clone, completely transforming it into Yang Zhengde's appearance.

That's right.

What Li Wenguo wanted was a black umbrella that could block the wind and rain—and he had to open it himself.

This bloody lesson made him realize that in the murky waters of the Republic of China, no one was trustworthy. Relying on others was risky; only the knife he held tightly in his own hand was the hottest and most reliable thing.

"From this day forward, you are Yang Zhengde."

Li Wenguo stared at the face that was exactly the same as the original owner's, his voice as deep as if pressing down on a blue stone.

"well……"

The clone rubbed his temples, his voice filled with anxiety, "It's hard to say how many days this body can last."

"We've already figured out about 70-80% of Yang Zhengde's temperament, habits, and tone of voice."

"Besides, the first thing to do when we get back to the city is to get rid of those few people in his family—to nip it in the bud and prevent any future trouble."

Li Wenguo paused, his gaze sharp as a nail. "But there's one rule you must etch into your bones: if anyone stares at you twice, speaks with sarcasm, or looks at you with a vacant expression, you must immediately slit your throat. Better to kill the innocent than give yourself away!"

"Tsk, so long-winded!" The clone rolled its eyes. "We share the same soul. If you're in pain, I'm numb; if you panic, I tremble. Do you really need to gossip like that?"

"Alright, pull yourself together—from now on, don't sway your shoulders when you walk, don't interrupt when you speak, smile with a hint of coldness, and hide your anger with seven parts forbearance."

As soon as the words were spoken, the two turned around and their backs no longer connected.

The moment the clone, disguised as Yang Zhengde, stepped into the Yang residence, his shoulders slumped, sweat beaded on his forehead, and his voice tightened: "Quick! Call them all here! Not a single one!"

The whole family was hurriedly gathered in the main room. As soon as the head of the household lifted the curtain and entered, a low growl was heard: "What's wrong, sir?"

Yang Zhengde, his knuckles white, gripped the octagonal table with both hands: "I've run into that devil in the military... I'm afraid my whole family will be wiped out!"

The faces of everyone in the room turned ashen instantly, and even the youngest grandson was so frightened that he wet his pants.

He gritted his teeth and tossed out a boat ticket: "I've already prepared a fast boat to Hong Kong—we're leaving tonight! I'll bring you all back after I've settled things with that Buddha up there!"

The crowd collapsed to the ground, their lips trembling, unable to utter a coherent sentence, let alone dare to ask any questions.

The next morning, the group quietly boarded the ship carrying camphor wood chests, telling others that they were going to Southeast Asia to relax.

Li Wenguo had already laid out the plan for this game long before Yang Zhengde breathed his last.

As soon as the ship left the shore, another clone, already disguised, stepped forward and led the Yang family members to their cabins one by one. Taking advantage of their unpreparedness, the clone then took them all into its spatial storage.

As the giant ship sailed into the vast blue sea, the clone leaped into the waves, his figure disappearing like an ink droplet into the water in an instant.

The next moment, the space opened up, and all the corpses poured out, floating on the waves; while the clone quietly turned into a wisp of green smoke and dissipated into the salty sea breeze.

Before long, the sharks broke through the waves, and the surging spray quickly turned crimson...

It is worth mentioning that the clone did not experience any pain from beginning to end.

When it reappeared in the space, Li Wenguo nodded slightly—the matter was settled.

Next, let's see if this "Yang Zhengde" drama can be performed flawlessly.

But before the drums could even sound, another fly buzzed in—the purchasing director sent by the Beijing Municipal Government, with his protruding belly, came to the door, demanding a batch of in-demand goods for the military, and even boasting, "Take the goods first, pay later."

A series of thunderous sounds exploded in Li Wenguo's stomach:

Damn it! How dare you, a nobody, interfere in military procurement?

Even if you're trying to fool a ghost, at least come up with a plausible excuse!

When my brain is filled with yellow soup and my eyelids are on my forehead?

Bah! A hungry wolf that only gnaws on bones and doesn't spit out any crumbs!

But he showed no emotion on his face, only slowly picking up his teacup and grabbing the other man's Achilles' heel with his other hand: "Sorry, this batch of goods is subject to the Geneva Additional Protocol. Even civilian use is restricted, let alone military use?"

The director immediately jumped up in a rage, veins bulging, and threatened, "If the military doesn't get what they want, they'll bring up old grievances—you'll be in deep trouble!"

Li Wenguo sneered inwardly: Pockets? My pockets are already empty, what's the point of keeping them?

Clearly, seeing that Yang Zhengde had made a fortune off him, he wanted to pounce and tear off a piece of the pie too. Give it to him if you want, don't take it if you don't. Threatening? You might as well use a straw to scare a ghost.

The director slammed the door and left, and the mayor's secretary's shoes clattered on the steps shortly afterward...

"Oh shit!"

"Yang Zhengde had just tasted a bit of success when these rats, smelling the aroma, all came running out!"

"We need to get 'Yang Zhengde' to throw an apology banquet right away—otherwise, these bloodsuckers will crawl all the way down his pants!"

The thought of those officials lining up to come to his door and beg for money made Li Wenguo's temples throb.

Sometimes he really envied the other transmigrators: they were either the eldest son of a warlord or the young master of a tycoon, and were fawned over wherever they went. But he was stuck with this world—like a piece of freshly cooked fat meat, surrounded by hungry wolves with their fangs bared all around.

But in the blink of an eye—

Yang Zhengde has lavishly booked three floors of Fuyuan Restaurant to host an apology banquet and personally bow to Li Wenguo to apologize.

Furthermore, the outstanding payment for the previous batch of weapons was settled on the spot, without missing a single penny.

When the news spread, officials and merchants throughout the city fell silent, and even the storytellers in teahouses forgot to strike their gavels.

The crowd whispered amongst themselves, wondering whether Yang Zhengde had been caught red-handed or had some weakness in his hands, which had caused this cunning and greedy viper to bow down to such an extent.

In an instant, Li Wenguo's influence in the circle soared, and everyone avoided him like the plague. No one dared to have any crooked thoughts anymore, and they could only watch from afar and wait for the wind to blow.

……

"Boss, these four are Liu Shouhou, Kong Wu, Ding Xiaoqi, and Wen San."

Liu Erkui was tall and burly, with a fierce face and features that were a perfect replica of the deceased Liu Dakui. Yet, he was now extremely respectful, bowing slightly to Li Wenguo as he introduced him.

Turning his head, he shouted sternly at the four men again:

"Hurry up and pay your respects!"

"Boss!!!"

"Boss!!!"

"Boss!!!"

"Boss!!!"

The four of them bowed their heads and clasped their hands in unison, their waists bent almost touching the ground, their expressions so humble that there was not a single fault to be found.

Liu Erkui was actually an alter ego of Li Wenguo, who took the place of his deceased elder brother Liu Dakui; while Liu Sankui has also quietly emerged, ready to take over from his second brother at any time—in case Liu Erkui also runs into trouble one day.

This clone is currently extremely busy, taking on different identities and moving back and forth between light and shadow.

The four men in front of him were key members carefully selected from Liu Daikui's old subordinates, specially transferred to serve as Li Wenguo's personal bodyguards.

In fact, Li Wenguo had never intended to do this at first.

But ever since Yang Zhengde held a grand apology banquet, the gangs that hadn't yet taken action immediately sent people to his door to sound him out, asking if he would still eliminate Li Wenguo as before.

Yang Zhengde was so shocked that his tongue went numb and he almost gave himself away. He hurriedly put aside his plan and vaguely hinted that Li Wenguo had a powerful backer and should not be provoked.

Upon hearing this, the envoy breathed a sigh of relief, wiping his forehead, and said, "That was close! We had just figured out Li Wenguo's background, and even planned the route to sneak into his house tonight and wipe out his entire family—if it weren't for Director Yang's timely banquet, we would have been in deep trouble!"

These words sent a chill down Yang Zhengde's spine, and he broke out in a cold sweat.

He himself might not be able to save his own life, but what about his family?

Only then did Li Wenguo make up his mind to formally establish his personal guard.

Following the trail, they discovered that the group belonged to the Green Dragon Gang—one of the three major criminal gangs in Beijing, with hundreds of members and a deeply entrenched network.