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

"Beep—!!!"

A piercing whistle suddenly erupted outside the window.

Li Wenguo's heart sank.

It was Kong Wu on guard duty—a short, sharp warning, specifically for early warning.

Charlie's back!

"Oh no!!!"

"My men just spotted Charlie turning back."

He shoved Maria aside, grabbed his clothes, and quickly put them on, his movements swift and decisive.

"ah???"

"How come he's back so quickly?"

"Normally it takes at least two or three hours to wander around like that!"

Maria turned pale instantly, instinctively grabbing the blanket and wrapping herself tightly in it, her fingers trembling.

"Oh!"

"Why so early?"

"You were swaggering around town one minute, and he's already got his eye on you the next—he's showing up at your door now, probably not just to catch you in the act!"

Li Wenguo stared at her pale face, his cold smile like a knife scraping across ice.

It was only a matter of time before something happened; he wasn't surprised at all.

After dressing, he strolled to the window and only slightly opened the curtains—

Sure enough, Charlie was striding toward the door, his face contorted with rage, almost bursting with fury.

"What...what...what should we do?"

"Li! If he finds out... he'll skin me alive!"

"Tell me quickly, what should I do, Li!"

In her panic, she became incoherent and her voice cracked.

snort!

If only I had known then what I know now, I wouldn't have done it in the first place.

Who started this persistent pestering, and who used the unborn child as leverage to press the issue relentlessly?

Live it!

Seeing her completely lost and confused, Li Wenguo breathed a sigh of relief.

"Cold salad!"

He snapped out two words in a huff.

"Don't forget—I'm carrying your child!"

"If I die, you won't escape responsibility!"

Maria's eyes turned red with anger, and her voice suddenly rose to a shrill, piercing tone.

"Shut up!!!"

Li Wenguo let out a low growl, like a whip lashing through the air.

"I'll take care of the rest."

"You stay put and don't move an inch."

Before she could react, he had already opened the door and slipped out, then locked it with a "click".

"F**k!!!"

"you--"

"puff!"

Before Charlie could utter a word, he collapsed to the ground, his pupils suddenly losing focus, his face frozen in shock and disbelief.

That's right—

Li Wenguo pulled out a silenced pistol from his personal storage space, and the bullet precisely pierced his heart.

One blow kills.

"Tsk..."

"That was really exhausting."

He put away his gun, stored the body in his spatial storage, turned around and sat on the sofa, took out a cigarette, lit it, and took a deep drag, the smoke slowly rising.

"Master Li!!!"

Hearing the commotion, Kong Wu rushed to the door.

Li Wenguo didn't even lift his eyelids; he simply waved his hand, and Kong Wu immediately retreated silently.

After three cigarettes had burned out and half of them were covered in ash, Maria, wrapped in a dress, timidly pushed open the door and stepped out, her steps unsteady and her eyes wandering.

"Darling...darling?"

Where is he?

Not seeing Charlie, she asked the silent figure on the sofa as she went downstairs, her voice trembling.

"Here you are."

"On the ground."

Li Wenguo didn't turn his head, but simply raised his hand and pointed to the floor—a pool of dark red blood had not yet been wiped clean, and it gleamed coldly under the light.

Maria stared intently, then froze, her lips trembling, unable to utter a coherent sentence for a long time.

"Oh my God!"

"My God! You...you actually dared to kill Charlie?! Are you insane?!"

Li Wenguo slowly turned his face, a cold glint flashing in his eyes, his voice low and deep, like a dull knife cutting flesh:

"Are you out of your mind?"

"If I don't kill him, he'll turn around and chop us both up!"

"Since we can't avoid it, we might as well strike first."

"All you have is a handsome face; can't you even understand this simple logic?"

Maria's shoulders slumped instantly, her face turned pale, and her voice became barely audible, "But...you killed Charlie, and the consulate will not stand idly by! If it's confirmed, we'll all be shot!"

"This is none of your business; I have my own plans."

"I will ensure your safety."

Li Wenguo spoke in a cold and harsh tone, and waved his hand impatiently.

He had already paved the way—

First, he had his clone impersonate Charlie, then he targeted a Japanese merchant, fabricating a story that the merchant had been accidentally killed and then silenced by Charlie. The consulate, enraged, naturally targeted the Japanese, and had no time to investigate the real culprit.

He and Maria could easily get away with it all; but the little notebook owner would suffer in silence, utterly frustrated. Killing two birds with one stone.

"But……"

Maria's lips trembled slightly, her fingers twisted the hem of her clothes, and her eyes were filled with panic.

"Don't be afraid, sit here and listen to me..."

If it weren't for the fact that she was pregnant and he was afraid she would give herself away, Li Wenguo wouldn't have bothered to waste his breath.

After giving his instructions, he scooped her up in his arms and rushed up to the second floor. His movements were rough, showing no regard for her protruding belly, as if he wanted to unleash all the pent-up anger in his chest into her warm body.

Perhaps deep down, there was a sinister thought: if this belly were ruined, there would be no more ties or weaknesses left.

An hour later, Kong Wu hurriedly pulled Li Wenguo away.

"Mr. Li, I ran into Huang Kun outside the villa fence."

"Damn! So it was him who stabbed me!"

Li Wenguo immediately flew into a rage.

Ever since Huang Kun incurred gambling debts and Li Wenguo was promoted to deputy manager, he has become as quiet as a mouse in the trading company—he even turned down all dinner invitations, and his presence was as faint as a faded old poster.

If Kong Wu hadn't mentioned it, Li Wenguo would have almost forgotten that such a person existed.

"Oh shit!!!"

He gritted his teeth, "Tell Wen San and Xiao Qi to deal with him, drown him in the river and feed him to the fish, and be quick about it."

His face was filled with murderous intent, and his eyes flashed with cold light.

Being stabbed in the back by your own people hurts more than being stabbed in the back.

"Yes, Master Li!"

Kong Wu answered decisively, without even lifting his eyelids.

Back in the day, when they were running errands for the brothers "Liu Da Kui" and "Liu Er Kui" who appeared out of nowhere, the four of them had blood on their hands. Now, killing a person is as easy as crushing a bug.

Back at the house, Li Wenguo went straight into Xianglan's room.

Xiao Cui was called to fetch water to wash herself, her ears turned bright red, and as she carried the basin out, he took the opportunity to pinch her waist.

Xianglan was nearing her due date; her belly was round and swollen, and she could give birth at any moment. How could Li Wenguo dare to make her bend over to fetch water or squat down to serve her? There were plenty of servants in the house.

Xiao Cui retreated shyly, and Xiang Lan nestled into his arms, her voice as soft as a freshly steamed glutinous rice ball: "Master, would you... like some?"

"What nonsense are you spouting? Your belly is almost ready to give birth. What if you strain your back or have a miscarriage? Can you bear to see me worrying like this?"

"I can't bear it! I can't bear it! Xianglan loves you the most; your name is etched in her bones, and she'll never leave you even in death!"

"So you're still going to fawn over me?"

Li Wenguo placed one hand on her round belly, his tone revealing helplessness.

"They have two mouths too..."

"Stop! Be a good girl and take care of your pregnancy. Once you give birth to the baby smoothly, I'll pamper you properly."

Seeing her bright eyes and snuggling into his arms, Li Wenguo's heart pounded, and he quickly stopped talking.

Xianglan's initiative stemmed from her fear that as time went on, the master's heart would stray and his affections would fade.

As the saying goes, "New tea enters the mouth, while aged wine becomes tarnished." She dared not disagree.

"That man promised her that after she finished her postpartum confinement, he would come to my room every day."

"And give me a whole bunch of babies."

"Fine! If you don't give me six or seven kids running around the yard, I won't stand for it!"

"Yes! Xianglan is going to give birth to a litter of tiger cubs for Grandpa!"

She finally smiled, her eyes and brows radiating sweetness.

Ugh... none of them are any of them easy to deal with!

Li Wenguo shook his head inwardly, a thin layer of sweat beading on his forehead.

The more women there are, the more troubles there will be—this saying is absolutely true.

The next morning,

Li Wenguo released a clone that looked like Charlie at the entrance of a deserted alley. The two of them went their separate ways, one in front of the other, towards the foreign firm.

As soon as "Charlie" stepped into the foreign firm's gate, he immediately summoned the personnel and dismissed Huang Kun from his post in front of everyone.

"Why? Why...?"

Huang Kun clutched his bundle, his back hunched, and staggered out of the old foreign firm where he had lived for ten years.

He knew in his heart that the betrayal must have been exposed.

"Could it be... that Li Wenguo didn't actually manage to hook up with that foreign woman, Charlie?"

"That's impossible!"

"The two of them were exchanging glances and acting suspiciously; what else could it be but something fishy going on?"

As he walked, lost in thought, he was completely unaware that two dark figures were following him a few steps behind.

Just as he turned into a dead end, with no one around, a large, calloused hand suddenly covered his mouth.

Just as a chill ran through me, I felt a sharp, tightness in my chest—like being pierced by a red-hot awl.

My vision went black for a moment, and my consciousness drifted away like a kite with a broken string.

"Hurry up! Be quick!"

"Push the cart over here!"

Wen San deftly wrapped the corpse in an oilcloth bag and nodded at Ding Xiaoqi.

Ding Xiaoqi responded and pushed the cart over. Wen San lifted the cover of the inner layer, stuffed Huang Kun inside, and pushed it all the way to the riverbank. With a kick, Huang Kun sank heavily into the turbid waves.

On the other end.

Kong Wu kept staring at the little notebook he had used to flag down a car on the way last time—Xiao Ye.

That's right.

Li Wenguo had already made up his mind: first eliminate Ono, then stage a scene where he shot Charlie the foreigner, forcing John Bull to tear at the notebook.

Not long after, Wen San and Ding Xiaoqi arrived.

"Is it all done?"

Kong Wu asked casually.

"All done."

Wen San spoke in a light tone, as if he were merely dusting off the dust from his sleeves.

Where are they?

Ding Xiaoqi turned to Kong Wu.

"He hasn't shown up yet."

The three men waited until it got dark before they saw Ono sneak into the alley and squat in the corner to relieve himself.

Wen San and Ding Xiaoqi immediately followed.

Kong Wu then turned back to the foreign firm and took Li Wenguo home.

The next morning.

Everything is settled.

Ono's body had already been dragged into the basement of that abandoned courtyard in the suburbs by Wen San and Ding Xiaoqi.

The clone sneaked in and took it away last night.

This morning, he swaggered into the trading company again, wearing Charlie's face, and called Li Wenguo into his office.

After entering the room, Li Wenguo calmly retracted his clone into his spatial dimension. He sat for a moment, straightened his tie, and strolled out with composure.

He then circled around to a secluded spot in the east of the city, released his clone, now disguised as Ono, and returned to the foreign firm.

Just before lunch break, "Xiao Ye" arrived on time.

Because it was arranged in advance, the doorman didn't even lift his eyelids and let us through directly.

He went straight into Charlie's office, locked the door behind him, and dragged Charlie's body out from behind the desk—the space seemed to freeze in time, the body still warm, his fingertips slightly damp.