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

The next morning, Dong Haitang got into the new car and wondered why Li Wenguo had suddenly changed cars; it wasn't until she saw Chang Binghui introducing several newly transferred team members in the Lixingshe compound—Wen San and Wu Xiaogou were standing in the line—that she suddenly realized what was going on.

That damn bastard!!!

A surge of warmth welled up in my heart, and tears welled up in my eyes.

She immediately guessed that he must have heard about the dangerous incident of arresting He Chaomin and was afraid that she would run into danger again, so he forced her to come in and protect her closely.

But then she thought again—this man is more capable than she imagined!

Even in a government office as impenetrable as the Lixingshe, two people were able to slip in quietly?

She took a quiet breath, her fingertips trembling slightly.

The other person saw the two familiar faces, but gritted his teeth as if he wanted to crush them in one bite.

Qiu Sheng.

He never expected that his two lowly bodyguards would transform into secret agents with orders in hand—it was absurd and chilling.

The Lixing Society is not a street police station; it's not a place where just any idler can sneak in.

Those who can step through this door are either veterans who have endured gunfire or elites honed in the Whampoa Military Academy.

But he was of low rank and had little influence, unable to utter a single harsh word. He could only grit his teeth and watch helplessly as the two people he had once looked down upon stood proudly beside him, becoming his "colleagues."

……

"ah--!"

"ah--!"

In the chilling interrogation room, a shirtless, burly man swung his arm and lashed He Chaomin's back hard with a leather whip soaked in chili water.

His skin and flesh were torn apart, blood splattered, and he curled up on the ground, howling as if his throat was being torn apart.

Dong Haitang was always aloof and arrogant, but seeing such a bloody scene for the first time, her fingertips went cold and her lips turned blue.

Wen San and Wu Xiaogou, on the other hand, were dressed in dark blue stand-up collar Zhongshan suits and black top hats, their expressions as usual. Back when they were fighting in the guard team, they had trampled over severed limbs and piles of corpses; this little commotion was nothing more than a drizzle.

He Chaomin fainted for the second time, and was not yet recovered after being splashed with ice water. He only took two lashes before collapsing and confessing.

Over the course of ten years in the capital, he used silver dollars and seduction to secretly win over three confidants: two officials stationed in the city hall and a shopkeeper who controlled a business.

He also revealed the key location for the next intelligence exchange: the back wall of No. 66 Hulu Hutong, under the third loose blue brick.

Upon hearing this, Chang Binghui's eyes lit up, and he immediately mobilized his men to set up a net, needless to say.

this day.

Outside the maternity ward at Victoria Hospital.

Mary finally gave birth.

They also threw a huge surprise at Li Wenguo—a pair of twins, a boy and a girl, were born at the same time.

Westerners are indeed robust, and her natural childbirth was quick and easy, without the slightest setback, completely shattering Li Wenguo's secret hope that she would die in childbirth.

He felt a tightness in his chest, but when he looked down and saw two rosy little faces, he couldn't help but grin.

Although the two children resembled Maria with her blonde hair and blue eyes, the boy had thick, jet-black hair and the girl had deep, dark eyes, clearly bearing the shadow of Li Wenguo.

Maria's single sentence shattered his newly risen good mood—

"Honey, when are we leaving for the country?"

Fuck!

They deliberately stabbed him in the heart!

She ruined all the joy and celebration with just one sentence.

But he still wore a smile on his face, his tone light and impeccable:

"What's the rush?"

"If you don't take proper care during your postpartum period, who will support you if your health collapses?"

"Can you walk now?"

"Okay, you book the boat tickets first, and we'll leave as soon as you're out of confinement."

……

Maria thought about it and agreed that it made sense, but she couldn't suppress the anxiety in her heart, and her words were full of urging.

"Okay, okay, I'll take care of it right away!"

Li Wenguo had no intention of moving at all, and just lazily agreed.

Turning to the other end, she added, "By the way, this time it's twins, which is beyond my budget—I can't afford to support idle people with the little money I have. Let's leave as a family of four, clean and simple."

"I'm not bringing anyone."

She emphasized the word "who" very much.

Oh my!

This woman's mood changes faster than turning the pages of a book!

One minute they're whining and acting cute, the next they're turning on you and refusing to acknowledge you!

"No way." Li Wenguo said firmly, "They are my family, and I will never abandon them to save my own life."

Even if you've already decided not to leave, you still have to say it with conviction—what if it's a test?

"Choose me and the child, or choose to be paraded through the streets with a gun to your head? Are you really that stupid?"

I grass!

Li Wenguo's face instantly darkened to the point of being icy, and he turned and walked out.

"Stop right there! Don't leave until you've finished speaking!" Maria shouted from behind.

"I'll go book the boat tickets!" He said without turning his head, his voice extremely low, as if squeezed out from between his teeth, as he strode out of the ward.

Only Maria remained, leaning against the headboard, one swaddled baby in each arm, babbling smugly to the two little ones:

"We're going to that free and carefree country soon! Aren't you excited? Afterwards, we'll build a bright, spacious house and fence off a huge, lush, green farm..."

"That capricious shrew, if you really go abroad with her, she'll drag you to your coffin sooner or later."

The longer Li Wenguo spent with Maria, the clearer he saw her true colors.

Extremely selfish, only caring about himself; domineering and arrogant, speaking and acting entirely on a whim.

If she hadn't witnessed the ruthlessness with which he crushed Charlie's neck, she probably would have become even more arrogant and reckless.

To put it bluntly, these foreigners are all the same: they bully the weak and fear the strong, and they cower at the sight of the strong.

The day Maria is discharged from the hospital will be the day she disappears from the face of the earth.

Only the two exquisitely beautiful babies left him in a state of agonizing indecision—

Should we take it home and raise it, or find another way to care for it?

It's safer to keep them outside.

The two children have such Western features that it's obvious they're mixed-race. They'd stand out on the street, let alone being brought home—if someone were to notice them, they wouldn't even have a chance to explain.

Nowadays, foreigners are all over the place. If you, a Chinese person, are secretly raising two foreign children, what will others think?

Could it be that it was kidnapped?

These days there's no DNA testing, and Maria has long since disappeared, so no matter what you say, it doesn't make sense.

Once the hat is on, it's set in stone.

Li Wenguo was unwilling to take this gamble. After much deliberation, he gritted his teeth and decided: keep them outside, don't bring them inside.

this day.

The moment Li Wenguo stepped into the foreign firm's gate, the atmosphere changed.

Many colleagues looked up at him, their eyes darting around and avoiding his gaze. Some even couldn't help but smirk, clearly waiting to see him make a fool of himself.

He subconsciously glanced at Zhang Dadan, then at Xu Meijing, the fake concubine who hadn't yet married into the family.

Xu Meijing quickly gestured towards Paul's manager's office, then made a horizontal slash with her right hand, like chopping vegetables—he understood the first part: Paul was about to cause trouble again; but he couldn't figure out the second part of the action.

Zhang Dadan strode up to him, his voice hushed: "Brother Li, that bastard came before dawn, and the moment he walked in, he dismissed you from your position as deputy manager and ordered you to go straight to his room the moment you arrived!"

"Damn! That foreign bastard's got some nerve again?"

"I'll really turn on them and immediately go work for an American company! Let's see if they can still work with me and the front-end framework!"

Li Wenguo snorted coldly, raised his chin, and looked disdainful.

Zhang Dadan frowned: "Brother Li, Paul spoke with a lot more confidence this time. I think... he probably had a backup plan all along."

"Oh?"

Li Wenguo's face suddenly darkened.

Oh shit!

Could it be that he has something on me?

But I've always kept my hands and feet clean, and haven't given myself away in the slightest!

That's it!

Once you meet them, the truth will naturally come out!

He turned and went up to the second floor.

Just then, several secret agents dressed in dark blue uniforms and wearing stiff-brimmed hats silently stepped into the foreign firm's doors.

I gasped!

Everyone's heart skipped a beat—something bad was about to happen!

Sure enough, the leader raised his voice: "Where is Li Wenguo?"

In an instant, most of the employees' faces revealed an undisguised schadenfreude.

Only Zhang Dadan and Xu Meijing had pale faces and tightness in their chests.

An employee who had always harbored resentment towards Li Wenguo suddenly stood up and pointed straight to the second floor: "He's in the manager's office!"

Without saying a word, the agents rushed upstairs.

As soon as the person went upstairs, the entire hall erupted in chaos, filled with a constant buzzing sound—

"Oh!"

"This time, Li Wenguo is probably going to suffer a big setback!"

"What exactly did he do?"

"Embezzlement? That doesn't seem likely..."

"Bullshit! If they were after money, it would be the inspection department that's coming, not these lackeys!"

"...Could he be a member of the underground Communist Party?"

Xu Meijing's fingertips were icy cold, and her palms were sweaty.

If Li Wenguo is indeed confirmed to be a member of the underground Communist Party...

She's truly become a commodity to be sold off in the hands of her family for the rest of her life.

The second floor.

The agent burst into the office, his gaze fixed on Li Wenguo, his hand already on his waist.

"What are you doing?!"

"What law did I break?!"

Li Wenguo didn't move, but his voice was extremely tense.

"Li Wenguo, you are suspected of selling contraband to the underground Communist Party, violating the Special Public Security Ordinance. I advise you to confess honestly, otherwise—humph!"

Underground party?

His first thought was of the newspaper where Shu Ting worked—could it be that their hideout had been exposed, implicating her?

But out of the corner of my eye, I saw Paul, the foreigner, leaning against the window, arms crossed, a cat-and-mouse smile on his lips.

Li Wenguo's anger flared, and he glared at him: "You fucking set me up!"

"NO! NO! NO!"

Paul slowly wagged his index finger. "Who gave you permission to sell contraband? It's a company directive, written in black and white—you ran into the line of fire, who can you blame?"

That's utterly shameless!

What can't be sold in a foreign firm? As long as the price is high enough, they'll even tear up ancestral rules and burn them down!

Why is it that others turn a blind eye, but when it comes to him, it becomes a capital offense?

Framed!

A complete and utter frame-up!

Li Wenguo felt a tightness and pain in his chest, but then he suddenly understood—

Everything is fine on Shu Ting's side; the problem lies entirely with Paul.

He sent himself to the secret service, firstly to eliminate any future trouble, and secondly to cut off any possibility of me poaching him.

Customers, connections, and livelihoods—all cut off at once.

Paul swiftly and decisively reclaimed all authority.

He waved his hand, and the secret agents quickly escorted Li Wenguo away.

Taking advantage of the moment, Li Wenguo slipped a copper bell he had hidden close to his body into his personal storage space—the sound immediately alerted his doppelganger, "Yang Zhengde," at the police station. He quickly spread out paper and pen, and wrote in a few hasty but clear strokes: "The person has been detained."

He knew perfectly well that the spies who came to arrest him were acting under the guise of the underground Communist Party, so they must be from the same organization.

Dong Haitang, Wen San, and Wu Xiaogou, who belonged to the Second Division, were completely unaware of this matter; at present, they could only rely on Yang Zhengde to quickly inform them, while he himself had to immediately contact the section chief he had dealt with before...

Yang Zhengde's movements were swift and decisive; he turned and started moving immediately.

At the same time, Paul walked into the hall and announced to the public: Li Wenguo was dismissed immediately and all his positions were revoked.