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

In the embassy district, in that garden building covered with vines.

"Dad—Dad—Papa!!!"

"Daddy! Dad!!!"

Alex and Alice, two little dumplings, huddled on Li Wenguo's lap, chattering in their babyish voices, their drool almost smearing his shirt collar.

"Is this Mary's child? So adorable, like an angel."

Selena leaned down and gazed at him with eyes so tender they could melt your heart.

After a long conversation, Li Wenguo finally understood why she had come.

When the twin sisters were ten years old, their parents divorced.

Selena lived with her father, a minor nobleman who, though not illustrious, provided her with a life of luxury and a full aristocratic upbringing.

Maria lived with her mother, a gambling addict who struggled to make ends meet. Unable to endure it any longer, Maria ran away from home and, using her good looks, became Charles's mistress.

They share the same blood, yet fate has cleaved them into two separate paths—one living in the light, the other trapped in the mud.

Before her death, her father finally relented and allowed her to find her long-lost sister.

Selena arrived in China a month ago and, after much inquiry, learned that Maria had been in a relationship with Li Wenguo, had a child with him, and then quietly left the coast to return to the United States, but accidentally fell into the sea shortly after setting sail, and her body was never found.

What she really wanted to take away on this trip were these two children.

"Wow--!!!"

As soon as Alice was held in Selena's arms, her little mouth twitched, tears streaming down her face. Her chubby little hands reached desperately towards Li Wenguo, crying and shouting that she wanted to go back to her father's arms.

When Alex, the older brother, sensed something was wrong, he instinctively gripped his father Li Wenguo's clothes and hurriedly reached out his other hand to his sister, as if to pull her back from the strange woman's arms.

Unfortunately, she couldn't reach it, and her little sister was taken away.

"Alright, come sit over here. If you keep sitting like this, Alice might cry herself hoarse."

Looking at the clingy and aggrieved little girl in his arms, Li Wenguo's heart softened. He beckoned to Selena, signaling her to sit down next to him.

Alice, sobbing, climbed onto Li Wenguo's lap, insisting that he return to his original position—Selena had no choice but to move over and sit almost next to him, her skirt nearly brushing against his trouser leg.

Alice stopped sobbing only when her little hands gripped her father's fingers tightly.

A sweet and delicate fragrance wafted over, and Li Wenguo's heart fluttered slightly.

Selena and Maria are practically identical: their features are so exquisite they're flawless, their skin is radiant, and their bright eyes and brows exude a captivating charm; their figures are even more stunning—having grown up in luxury, their curves are full, their waists are slender, and they hit every spot that appeals to him, making them even more alluring than the women in his family.

To say you're not tempted? That's just lying to yourself.

He still vividly remembered Maria's fiery temper, which could change faster than turning the pages of a book. Until he could figure out whether Selena was gentle or fierce, he preferred to keep his eyes peeled and observe from afar.

"Sweetie, you've finally stopped fussing?"

Selena smiled and kissed Alice on the forehead, her voice as soft as honey.

"You've met both children. What are your plans for the future?"

Li Wenguo asked directly.

He himself wasn't sure what she was planning. He readily agreed to take Alex and Alice away, but his heart was in turmoil—he both hoped they could have a more stable future and couldn't bear to see them leave their hometown at such a young age.

"I'm going back to China this time for two reasons: first, to find my sister Maria, and second, to open a foreign trade company in Beijing."

Selena spoke with certainty.

She went on to explain: her father runs a factory in the United States, but with inflation soaring and warehouses overflowing with goods, orders are piling up. If this continues, the factory may have to close down. So she has to find a market in China.

"Foreign trade companies? The prospects are bright, but the waters in Beijing are too deep - one goes bankrupt every day, and another one pops up. There are new companies that don't last more than three months."

Li Wenguo blurted it out without the slightest hesitation.

He's been in this business for many years and knows all the ins and outs, even with his eyes closed.

"Many have collapsed, but even more have opened. I've already investigated their backgrounds."

Selena remained calm and composed. Her eyes flickered, and a slight smile played on her lips, a smile that was three parts playful and seven parts seductive: "Li, you're a veteran in this industry, a recognized expert. Help me out, do you expect me to beg you a second time?"

Before he could speak, she lowered her voice and added, "I'm still your sister-in-law, for Maria's sake, can't you lend me a hand?"

"I'll give you an extra 0.5% commission, isn't that generous of me?"

Li Wenguo pondered for a moment.

Her meaning was clear: as soon as the company was established, he would quietly divert several of Meifu Trading Company's existing business to her, helping her to gain a foothold.

This incident harms the foreign firm, but doesn't hurt him in the slightest.

He glanced down at Alice, who was yawning in his arms, then at Alex, who was huddled in the corner of the sofa, staring intently at him. Finally, he spoke: "I can help you with the business, but the two children will have to come with you—you'll be taking care of them."

Selena's eyes lit up instantly: "Of course! Alex and Alice are my own nephews, I dote on them, how could I dare to neglect them?"

"Okay, let me know once your company is registered. I happen to have two suitable orders on hand."

The weight that had been hanging over my heart has finally been lifted.

"By the way, where do you live?"

……

He should come and see the children often.

"I'll be staying at the hotel for now."

Selena answered quickly.

"Why don't we move to this villa? It's close by, and it'll be easier for me to take care of the kids."

After thinking it over, Li Wenguo decided to vacate the entire villa. Located in the embassy district, it was practically a concession, with strict foreign control and rock-solid security. He felt safe and sound with his child here.

"Oh my god, this is wonderful! I don't know how to thank you enough!"

Selena blushed with surprise.

The place is spacious and bright, and it's comfortable to live here; with him backing the company, it's getting off to a steady start; even the rent is saved—thinking about this, her heart warmed, and she couldn't help but lean forward and gently kiss Li Wenguo's cheek.

In her eyes, it was just a normal gesture of gratitude—like Americans patting each other on the shoulder, hugging, or kissing each other on the cheek when they're happy, nothing out of the ordinary.

Li Wenguo wasn't the kind of person from the Republican era who lived with outdated ideas. He didn't think much of it and just felt that Selena was straightforward and warm-hearted.

Immediately afterwards, she mentioned the batch of typewriters in her own factory—could she help sell them?

Li Wenguo shook his head as he listened.

He bluntly stated, "This thing simply doesn't sell in China. At most, we'll sell a few units piecemeal. We need to switch production as soon as possible, otherwise, on the day of liquidation, we'll even have to sell the factory to pay off debts."

Currently, people in China still rely on calligraphy brushes for writing, and fountain pens are considered rare items, let alone typewriters—they sound novel, but there are probably fewer people using them than monks in temples.

"Is it really that difficult?"

"Then...which way should we go?"

Selena frowned. She had only recently taken over the family business and hadn't even gotten used to the account books yet. She felt empty inside.

"Switching production, huh? Didn't you just mention that?"

"Switch to what?"

Li Wenguo squinted and thought: What does a typewriter assembly line most resemble?

That's right—submachine guns! Machine guns!

Don't ask how he spotted it—before transmigrating, he worked on production line calibration, and he'd seen more machine tools than he'd eaten meals. With a little modification, he could even fit bullet casings perfectly into the same stamping, riveting, and precision assembly process used for typewriters.

"Submachine gun? Machine gun?"

"Is this...reliable?"

Selena gasped; the leap was too drastic, like jumping from a teahouse into an armory.

"It's a sure thing. In this day and age, gunfire is louder than firecrackers. Whoever hoards machine guns is holding a gold nugget."

"I ship out no less than five thousand machine guns and over ten thousand submachine guns every month through Mei Fu Trading Company."

"Tell me, can you trust him or not?"

Selena gritted her teeth: "Damn it!"

"But the transformation requires a lot of money, and I'm really short on cash... Could you lend me some?"

"Or, how about you become a shareholder?"

Li Wenguo glanced at her and nodded: "Invest."

He immediately pulled out $100,000 to take a 25% stake.

"Miss Miri, this is a breakdown of the social networks of Yan Ming-kun, Yagyu-kun, and Yuda-kun. There are a total of five people with whom the three of them have overlapping relationships. The photos and backgrounds are all here."

Kato handed over five photos with both hands, along with five pages of densely written handwritten materials.

"Okay, I'll have the Special Higher Police investigate this thoroughly right away."

Mitsui Miri took the papers, ran her fingertips across the pages, examined them one by one, and compared them with the original manuscript as she looked at them.

When she turned to the last picture, her fingertips paused—the person in the photo was Li Wenguo.

Although Sun Youtian had never met him in person, he had visited the Indeli Trading Company several times to pick up goods, so they had at least met across the counter.

"Li Wenguo, deputy manager of Meifu Trading Company, previously worked for Industrial Group..."

She finished reading the five files in a short time.

Finally, his gaze settled on the photograph on the table—Li Wenguo was slightly turned to the side, his expression calm.

"My gut feeling tells me there's something wrong with him."

Mitsui Miri's slender, fair fingers rested on a corner of the photo, her brow slightly furrowed.

Her intuition had never been wrong, and there were indeed clues behind it.

"Wasn't He Chaomin, who was the first to get into trouble, also someone he knew?"

She looked up at Kato, her tone turning somber.

"Yes. When Li Wenguo was in Yingdeli, He Chaomin was always his major client."

Kato nodded, his heart skipped a beat—all four of them were connected to him, and all were business owners; it was too much of a coincidence.

But then I thought about it again. The manager of the trading company deals with customers every day, so he can't avoid these bosses.

It's highly likely that he was greedy for money and secretly sold the purchase order to the Lixingshe (a secret society), which allowed the spies to follow the trail and uncover his identity as a Japanese spy.

He voiced his thought.

"It was probably him who did it—he sold the purchase lists of the four companies to the Lixingshe, which allowed the spies to carry out their precise operation."

Mitsui Miri's face darkened.

These four were incredibly talented individuals, capable of laying golden eggs, yet they were ruined by a mere junior manager of a foreign firm. The resulting losses were enough to buy half a boat.

"Alas, it was our oversight. We thought the foreign firm had strict rules and that purchase orders were locked up more securely than a safe. Who knew that Li Wenguo was so audacious, willing to risk his life for a few measly coins? He's really obsessed with money and can't get out of it."

Kato gritted his teeth.

"Didn't you want to win him over before?" she suddenly asked.

"Yes. Yan Mingjun was in charge of this matter, but he said that Li Wenguo was cowardly and meticulous. Yao Yao tried several times but could not get close to him. In the end, the two of them were both defeated."

Kato sighed.

Seeing that Mitsui Miri lowered her eyes and remained silent for a long time, he added in a low voice:

"Should we... shut him up forever?"

After all, keeping him around means we'll have to be on tenterhooks when buying important goods in the future—we'll be afraid he'll be sold again.

"Hold your fire for now. He's a coward, and his bodyguards are impenetrable; a direct confrontation would be suicide. What's more troublesome is that he's very likely secretly colluding with spies—this will be very useful to us later. Li Wenguo is still somewhat of a threat for now; don't rush to dissect him."

Mitsui Miri's eyes flickered, a sharp calculation flashing across them like a blade slicing through water, silent yet sharp.

"Then...should our people continue to keep watch?"

Kato tentatively opened his mouth.

"Proceed as usual. It's been six months, and the intelligence agencies are unusually quiet. They haven't made any arrests or made any moves—which means that the ironclad evidence from back then never fell into their hands."

Mitsui Miri nodded, her tone calm and composed.

The so-called evidence was precisely the dirt Li Wenguo had gathered: a batch of solid evidence of collusion between officials and businessmen and Japanese spies, all of which were in his hands.

The man wasn't caught not because of his innocence, but because Li Wenguo was holding onto him tightly—keeping him as a rope to strangle Niu Dali at any time. Only after he had burned all the real evidence would he be willing to reveal one or two pieces to fool that troublesome old witch, Dong Haitang.

Furthermore, Li Wenguo is now close to Song Qingzhi, and everyone in the Lixing Society recognizes his face, so they'll give him some face. As long as he doesn't speak, even if others suspect something, they won't bother to expose him.