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

"Aunt Sai, please go in by yourself. Master is waiting in the dining room."

Haozi quickly got out of the car, opened the door, and casually reminded him.

"Wow, quite the grand display!"

She glanced at the neatly trimmed roses in the garden, then looked up at the exquisite Western-style building with its carved arched windows and fireplace chimney. She let out a soft hum and unconsciously tightened the hem of her dress with her fingertips.

A maid led the way, and she went straight through the corridor and into the dining room.

My long-absent husband sat in the main seat—

His slicked-back hair was perfectly styled, his brows were solemn, he wore a white shirt with a sky-blue tie, and the gold watch on his wrist gleamed with a cold light—he looked every bit the part of a rising business tycoon.

There were three beauties sitting side by side at the table, their waists as slender as vines and their breasts so full they were dazzling.

Sai Honglian recognized her at a glance: a mistress. She rolled her eyes inwardly.

This kind of person is everywhere.

The three men also stared at her, their gazes sliding from her dark cheeks to her two thick braids, and then down to her bulging old cloth shirt, their eyes filled with undisguised scrutiny—as if they were looking at a mutton pig that had wandered into the living room.

"Look at yourself now! You're such a country bumpkin!"

Li Wenguo didn't even lift his eyelids before launching into a harsh remark.

Sai Honglian's throat tightened, almost choking out a rebuttal, but then she saw him gesture with his chin towards the maid: "A-Lian, take her upstairs to clean her up and change into something decent. Hurry up, dinner is ready soon."

She bit her lower lip and swallowed her words.

"Sir, is this Sai Honglian, the bandit leader who rose from the mountains?"

He Shuting slowly spoke after she turned and stepped onto the stairs.

Despite the thick layer of powder, his eyes were dazzlingly bright, wild and untamed, like a mountain eagle just put into a cage.

The Wen sisters also turned their heads and quietly looked at Li Wenguo.

"Hmm." He nodded.

"Sir, this...this is too shabby! Is this what your eighth concubine looks like? You really married her?"

Wen Keren couldn't hold back any longer, and her voice rose by half an octave.

"Sis, that makeup she wore was just to cover up her flaws. When she comes downstairs, no one will recognize her."

Wen Keyi has a sharp eye and noticed how clear the base makeup was under the foundation.

"Oh? I see..."

Just ten minutes later, Li Wenguo glanced down at the watch face and raised his hand to signal for the dishes to be served.

The dishes had just filled the long table when Sai Honglian gracefully descended in her high heels—

A pure black strapless evening gown hugged her exquisite figure, revealing her sculpted shoulders and neck, delicate ankles, and lustrous feet with even her toenails gleaming like pearls.

In an instant, the room fell silent except for the crackling of the candlelight.

Everyone except Li Wenguo was stunned.

Beautiful! Absolutely stunning!

He Shuting managed to turn the tide, but the presence of the Wen Keren sisters immediately dimmed her luster.

As for Wen Keyi, her temperament is unconventional, and she doesn't follow the usual path; but in this day and age, no matter who looks at her, they would all nod in approval—Sai Honglian's face, figure, and aloofness are enough to keep everyone in check.

Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at the maids and old women from before, and saw that their mouths were slightly open and their eyes were fixed on the spot. Suddenly, her heart warmed: I am brighter than all of you combined when I stand here!

Women, deep down, are naturally competitive.

She deliberately cast a cold glance at He Shuting and Wen Keren before taking her seat in the designated empty seat.

As for Li Wenguo? She wouldn't even spare a glance—it was obvious to anyone that he was glaring at her with venom.

"Come, let me introduce you. This is Sai Honglian, my eighth concubine."

Li Wenguo finally withdrew his gaze from her and cleared his throat.

Then, he introduced the other three to Sai Honglian one by one.

"Oh—you must be He Shuting, the 'former wife'? I've heard so much about you."

Sai Honglian's lips curled slightly, and she spoke clearly, each word distinct.

Former wife?

He Shuting frowned, and her face suddenly darkened.

She didn't know who Xu Wanqing was.

"Shu Ting, don't take it to heart. When we welcomed Honglian into the family, I didn't say everything I wanted to say."

Li Wenguo suddenly remembered this and quickly tried to remedy the situation.

He Shuting then relaxed her brows and nodded in realization—she assumed he was deceiving Sai Honglian, saying that she had already died.

Sai Honglian lowered her eyes and smiled, but the smile didn't reach her eyes. Just as she was about to speak, Li Wenguo picked up a piece of sweet and sour pork and placed it steadily into her bowl: "Eat it while it's hot. This is your favorite."

This action instantly extinguished Sai Honglian's nascent little scheme.

Indeed, sweet and sour pork was her most craving flavor, and she never expected that her husband would remember it and even cook it for her. What made her heart flutter even more was that he put the first bite into her bowl. In that instant, it felt like warm water was flowing over her chest, and a warm feeling welled up inside her: it turns out that someone really cares about you.

This damn man, how come he knows so much?

"Look, Xiaoqi is sleeping!"

After the meal, Li Wenguo led Sai Honglian up the wooden stairs and opened the door to the guest room on the second floor.

Li Jingqi is only eight months old, nestled softly in her swaddling clothes. She can only sit up and can't kick her legs yet.

"Ah—Kiki! My little darling, you've been wronged..."

After not seeing each other for half a year, Sai Honglian's eyes welled up with tears, which almost rolled down her cheeks.

"Smack!!!"

Li Wenguo raised his hand and slapped her hard on the buttocks.

"Why?!"

Sai Honglian shrank back suddenly, turning around in a daze.

His brows furrowed, and his voice was as deep as if struck by a stone vat: "What suffering? Xiaoqi eats well and sleeps soundly here. Her wet nurse watches over her, her maids keep her company, and I hold her and play with her every day. She laughs heartily. Suffering? Where is the suffering?"

Sai Honglian's throat tightened, and her face burned—these words, though seemingly meant to plead for her child's innocence, were actually like knives cutting into her heart: Who was the one who abandoned her husband and daughter? Who was the one who prevented her daughter from having a stable meal and seeing her own father?

"How about the small state gift? Is it alright?"

Li Wenguo asked abruptly.

"He... is doing quite well. He has plenty to eat and plenty to play with, and his life is quite lively."

Sai Honglian's voice was weak, and her eyes drifted to the ground.

The little Jingqi in front of me is fair-skinned and chubby, her cheeks puffed up like freshly steamed milk cakes; but what about the Guoli who follows her? He is tanned dark, his trouser legs are covered in mud, his hair is tangled, and he rolls around on the dirt slope all day long, looking like a mud monkey.

When the brother and sister are placed together, one looks like a phoenix in a golden house, while the other looks like a wild sparrow in a mountain gully—they are completely different!

She felt so guilty that her fingertips went cold.

"Is there enough to eat? Is there enough to play? Is life lively?"

Li Wenguo chuckled, a cold smile playing on his lips. "They can't even make a decent bowl of rice porridge on the mountain. With so many people crammed in, if I didn't deliver food and cloth every now and then, they'd probably be starving and gnawing on tree bark by now, wouldn't they?"

"What are you eating? Burnt sweet potatoes? Overcooked wild vegetables?"

"What are you playing? Walking barefoot in mud puddles? Being covered in ants?"

"Lively? That's more like entertaining a three-year-old—isn't it pathetic to treat this kind of day as fun?"

Sai Honglian lowered her head further and further, almost burying it in her collar.

He's right. That's how State Gifts Day came about.

But children don't know what suffering is; after falling down, they dust themselves off and go chasing butterflies again.

There was no other way—the mountains were short-handed, and she was so busy that she didn't have time to take care of herself.

"Tell me, between Jingqi and Guoli, who lives more comfortably? Who lives a more carefree life?"

Sai Honglian simply pretended to be deaf, only lowering her head to hold her daughter's little hand, gently shaking it to coax her to laugh.

Back then, state gifts were also this pink and round, but now they can't even compare to their shadow.

The harsher Li Wenguo's words were, the stiffer her back became.

Before long, Xiao Jingqi woke up.

She opened her eyes to see a strange yet beautiful face, and her little mouth trembled in fright. "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! Daddy—" she cried out in heartbreaking sobs.

"Qiqi, don't be afraid, it's your mother! Your own mother! I won't hurt you, I really love you!"

"Look closely at this face..."

"Stop nagging! Hurry up and bring me here!"

Li Wenguo shouted sternly.

As soon as his daughter was in his arms, her sobbing stopped immediately, and she buried her little head in the crook of his neck—children recognize people only by their scent and body temperature.

"Hmph! You don't even deserve to be called a mother! My own daughter acts like she's seen a ghost when she sees you! Look at the state you're in, what kind of person are you?"

"You abandoned your husband and daughter, what kind of woman are you?"

"My son has to eat sand and dirt with you, how dare you call yourself a mother? You're heartless!"

Li Wenguo launched into a tirade, every word barbed and piercing. Sai Honglian's lips turned white; she didn't even have the strength to open her mouth, and her eardrums were ringing.

She was wrong, and had no point in arguing.

He could only grit his teeth and remain silent, letting the spittle splatter on his face.

Li Wenguo cursed for the entire duration of an incense stick's burning before his throat became dry. He then summoned a maid to breastfeed and lull the baby to sleep.

Then he dragged Sai Honglian into the next bedroom, poured two cups of wine, and said with a ruthless gaze: "If you dare to act recklessly again, and one day you lie dead in the wilderness, I will give Guoli and Jingqi to Xu Wanqing for adoption, so that they can call her mother and be her servants for life."

"You dare?!"

Sai Honglian's blood rushed to her head, and her fingernails dug into her palms.

"As long as you live well—this will never reach your ears."

"Remember this: you are the only reliable support that Guoli and Jingqi can rely on."

"You...you're such a despicable bastard, I hate you to the core!"

Although she understood that her husband was doing it under the guise of doing what was best for her, his aggressive demeanor made her feel suffocated and her throat tight.

"You can call me a straw man if you want, call me shameless if you want—I'm still your man, the pillar of this family! What I want to do is none of your business!"

Before he finished speaking, he had already unbuttoned his coat and flung it off.

Ever since dinner time, he had seen Sai Honglian in a crimson cheongsam that accentuated her slender waist and long legs, the neckline slightly open, her hair styled in a high bun. That air of both nobility and allure had been irresistible to him. If he hadn't deliberately used a reprimand to put her temper down, why would he have tolerated her until now?

When Sai Honglian saw him loosen his belt, her heart sank, but her body seemed nailed to the spot, unable to move. She still stubbornly retorted, "If you have the guts to scare me, then don't touch me."

—If you actually try, you won't have the guts.

"Fine! I admit it. So what if he's a spineless man?"

"Even if I'm spineless and utterly useless, you, a precious gem, still have to wallow in my mud, don't you? Isn't that great? Isn't that satisfying?"

Li Wenguo grinned, the more he sank himself into the mud, the more he pressed Sai Honglian into the dust.

"You...you...you..."

Sai Honglian's fingertips trembled, her cheeks burned bright red, almost bleeding. She never imagined that this man would be so shameless as to stomp on her and use her as a rag to wipe away the humiliation she suffered.

The more I wanted to prove myself, the angrier I became, the harder it was to breathe.

"What do you mean, 'what are you'? Come on!"

Li Wenguo lunged forward.

It just wrapped around my body.

Old Pan and his team have also tightened their bowstrings.

At this moment, thirty shadowy cats lay prone in the narrow alley behind the maintenance committee, holding their breath, waiting for the explosion in the north of the city before shooting out like arrows.

The flashpoint is in the north of the city—a mine personally planted by Niu Dali. Once the fire starts, the entire city's Japanese military police will pounce like jackals smelling blood, searching every nook and cranny. That way, they can seize the opportunity to break in and buy themselves a few more breaths to survive.