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

"Well... how about this—from now on, I won't step out of the door. Once the child is born, we'll say it's my brother's posthumous child. My sister-in-law stays home all year round, who will investigate?"

Song Caidie risked her life on this gamble, and her father finally relented.

Of course, they had already secretly dispatched three groups of people to thoroughly investigate Li Wenguo's ancestors for eighteen generations.

Li Wenguo was completely unaware that he had become a father. If he did find out, he probably wouldn't be able to sleep all night—the other party was the apple of the Song family's eye, while he was just an ordinary citizen. If the other party really turned against him, he wouldn't even have any bones left.

Fortunately, Song Caidie took the blame for him; otherwise, Qingzhong's wedding bed would probably have been made up for him long ago.

"Wow--!!!"

A loud cry broke the silence.

Wen Ke gave birth to a daughter.

My heart sank slightly, as if it had been gently pressed down by a feather.

One less male heir to fight for the family fortune...

But she immediately straightened her back—she was only in her early thirties, and her body was strong enough to have another child.

"Grandpa, bring him here quickly so I can see him!"

The pregnant sister, Wen Keyi, was seeing a newborn for the first time. She eagerly rushed forward, wanting to touch the little one in her belly beforehand.

"Here, catch it carefully, don't drop it!"

Li Wenguo gently handed the swaddled baby over, cradling it in his hands.

Lou Meie, a few steps away, watched this scene, a gentle smile unconsciously appearing on her lips. But that warmth didn't extend to the infant in the swaddling clothes; instead, it quietly settled back into her slightly protruding belly—

She's pregnant too.

Life has finally come together with the last piece of the puzzle.

Standing behind, Yang Yuerong silently stroked her belly, her fingertips warm. Eight months along, the fetal movements grew stronger each day; the thought of "just aborting" had completely vanished. All she could do was eagerly await that first cry.

Li Wenguo glanced at the faces without making a sound, felt reassured, and slowly nodded.

The newborn babies, clean as the first snow and soft as new cotton, possess a power that touches the heart without needing words. He specially gathered them all in the delivery room so that everyone could receive this overwhelming, vibrant warmth.

His youngest daughter was born at midnight, and he picked up his pen and wrote the three characters "Li Jingye"—the light of the quiet night, hidden in the darkness, yet possessing its own warmth.

As soon as Wen Keren had finished her labor pains, Li Wenguo stayed by her bedside, turned off the lights, and let her rest.

After the fourth watch drum sounded, in a small courtyard with blue bricks deep in Nanluoguxiang, Beijing, the military police escorted out six people: two elderly people, two able-bodied men, and two infants.

Each person had a wad of burlap stuffed in their mouth, and could only make muffled whimpering sounds.

The young woman's clothes were askew, her hair was disheveled, her face was streaked with tears, and there was still blood seeping from the corner of her lips—anyone could guess what had just happened in the room.

The six men were pushed onto a truck parked at the alley entrance, and the engine roared away.

After driving for about ten minutes, as the car turned into a narrow alley, a person suddenly darted out from the shadows and gave chase.

Human strength can never catch up with iron wheels, but he managed to keep up with the rear of the vehicle by relying on the engine noise, and ran for two miles in one go.

"Nanluoguxiang entrance... Next time, I'll squat here."

Panting heavily, Lao Pan stared intently at the alleyway where the truck had disappeared, memorizing the cracks in the blue brick wall, the gaps in the stone steps, and even the crooked tiles on the wall.

This black truck specifically targets people late at night to kidnap them, with the aim of delivering "live samples" to a sealed biological and chemical gas testing site.

This matter must not be leaked to the anti-Japanese newspaper members in the city—if the news gets out, the whole plan will be ruined.

But the reporter happened to smell it.

The only problem is that they can't find the entrance to that shadow laboratory.

Without relying on anyone, relying solely on clues and repeatedly deducing from the ruins and maps, Yu Kong managed to pry open the iron door that was only open to a few Japanese officers.

That's why Lao Pan and his team resorted to this desperate measure—a segmented encirclement, a step-by-step pursuit, like hunting dogs sniffing out a scent, gradually advancing until they could eventually bite into the secret research institute's lair. The only weakness was that it took too long, dragging on so much that it made everyone's teeth itch.

But what can we do?

Yu Kongdejian covered his mouth more tightly than an iron bucket, not even a wisp of wind could get in.

At this moment, he was squatting on his own tatami mat, his ear pressed against Nanako's high, protruding belly, holding his breath and concentrating.

"Haha! It moved! Nanako, did you hear that?"

The gentle kick in his stomach made him smile so hard his eyes narrowed into slits, making him look exactly like a little boy clutching a candy wrapper and refusing to let go.

Nanako is eight months pregnant and will give birth in about thirty days. Despite being busy with official duties, Yu Kongde makes sure to rush home on time, afraid of missing even the slightest sign of labor.

He had heard that pregnant women who experience emotional distress are prone to developing illnesses such as depression or palpitations, so he dared not be careless at all.

Little did he know that Cai Cai Zi had long been well-fed and pampered by Li Wen Guo – with several hot and nutritious fast food meals every week, her mood was as stable as a warm and soft quilt that had been sun-dried, so why would she need to worry?

"Hmm... I feel it too, this little rascal is kicking my belly with his little feet."

The words "little rascal" had barely left her mouth when they made her heart skip a beat. A glimpse of Li Wenguo's profile as he bent down to chop scallions flashed before her eyes, and two blushes instantly rose on her cheeks, making her eyes and brows appear even more delicate and alluring.

When Mikuryu saw her, his eyes lit up, his fingertips burned, and his hand involuntarily reached up to her shoulder, wanting to lift the thin kimono—but was slapped away by Nanako.

"Tokuma-kun, I'm pregnant! What if she gets hurt and loses her manhood? How am I supposed to live then?"

She immediately saw the fire burning in her husband's eyes and tensed up, shrinking back.

She didn't know when it started, but she began to instinctively dodge her husband's outstretched hand.

"Oh, right, right! Only thirty-odd days until landing, I have to be careful, really careful... It's my fault, my fault for being so careless!"

After more than three years of waiting, this pregnancy finally came. I cherished it like a precious gem, afraid of dropping it or melting it in my mouth. Even though my belt was so tight, I could only grit my teeth and swallow my anger.

"Well... Nanako, I'll sleep in the next room tonight."

Before leaving, he bent down and gently rubbed his round belly a few times, then turned and left. Before returning to his room, he turned on the tap and poured ice water over his head.

The next day, as soon as Mikuriya stepped into the military police headquarters, Nanako was taken into the embassy grounds and stood side by side with Li Wenguo by the stove, busily cooking.

Poached eggs wrapped with ham sausage, spicy chicken, small intestines rolled with large intestines... The spatula flies, the aroma is overflowing, and you eat until your mouth is twitching. Where is the worry of "losing the child"?

The two of them have been cooking together like this for a long time—if something were going to happen, it would have happened long ago.

After a month of relentless pursuit through countless late nights, they finally broke through the fog and pinpointed the research site.

It turned out to be hidden in the most inconspicuous old warehouse at the dock.

Who would believe it? A dilapidated, gray warehouse turned out to be a breeding ground for biological weapons. No wonder Niu Dali investigated for so long, searching through every clue but finding nothing; in the end, he relied on this clumsy method to uncover the truth inch by inch.

With the objective clear, the first thing to do is to find out the details: Where are the sentry posts located? How many patrol shifts are there? Where can we hide after the bombing? We need to accurately predict every step of the escape route.

After scouting the location, everyone felt a chill run down their spines—trying to force their way in? Absolutely not.

Two small Japanese squads, about a hundred men, were stationed outside the dock, their guns pointed outwards, forming an impenetrable wall. To charge head-on? That would be suicide.

Patrol boats were bobbing back and forth on the river, but the night was so thick and dark that you couldn't see your hand in front of your face, which ironically became the only way to survive.

Let's just use heavy artillery to bombard it across the river! It's powerful enough, has a long enough range, and is easy to maneuver.

So Ding Xiaoqi quickly transferred the gunners from A Gui's troupe to secretly infiltrate the capital, blend into the dockworkers' team, and repeatedly confirm the exact location of the warehouse on the riverbank.

Two days later at midnight, Niu Dali's clone had already infiltrated the three locations marked by the artillery and silently set up three 120mm medium howitzers, waiting for the arrival of the enemy.

"Captain, your skill is truly amazing! You carried that heavy lump of iron right under my nose, and did it so silently—I don't know whether to call you a god or an ancestor!"

"Exactly! Each cannon weighs nearly ten tons. We had to disassemble and reassemble it repeatedly. Without trucks, cranes, or a large workforce, how did you manage to squeeze it in?"

"And what about that cannon shot at the train station last time? How did the cannon barrel get onto the roof? Could it be... that you really had a spy planted within the Japanese army?"

Since it wasn't their first time working together, the artillerymen couldn't contain their curiosity and started asking questions all at once.

These enormous things should have required trucks, human labor, and lights to transport them—but if the Japanese were alerted, they wouldn't even leave a trace.

"Confidential, I cannot disclose the details. Is the cannon barrel adjusted? If it is, fire immediately, finish the job, and pack up. Nobody wastes time."

Niu Dali, the clone, naturally couldn't reveal that the cannonballs were taken from his personal space—for him, taking things was as easy as breathing; with a thought, the item was already in place.

"What's so difficult about that!"

Although the river stretched out before them, it was only fifteen miles away, much closer than the distance where the train had been blown up, making it easier and more accurate to aim.

In a short while, the gunners had completed the calibration.

"It's done!!!"

The artillery captain nodded vigorously to his clone, Niu Dali, behind him.

The clone Niu Dali glanced at his pocket watch; the hands had already slid to a little over 11:40, with only a dozen minutes left until midnight.

If the other side of the river does not send a retreat signal before the hour, fire can be opened immediately.

This measure was taken solely to guard against the temporary absence of those senior researchers—two people had been taking turns keeping a close watch on the entrance and exit of the research institute with binoculars since two days ago, without letting their guard down for a moment.

Fortunately, the people coming in and out these past few days have all been Japanese soldiers, and those few people have not been seen, which shows that they are currently deeply engrossed in the laboratory and have not left for a moment.

As expected of someone who does research, once they immerse themselves in it, they become completely absorbed and forget about the time.

But it was precisely because of this focus that they were about to meet their demise.

In the blink of an eye—

It's exactly twelve o'clock!

The other side remained silent.

The clone Niu Dali immediately waved his hand: "Fire!"

"BOOM—!!!"

"BOOM—!!!"

"BOOM—!!!"

The three medium howitzers roared in unison.

The shockwave made the ground tremble, and its intensity even surpassed the sound of thunder on a summer night.

Within the embassy compound.

Li Wenguo, who was lying on top of Wen Keren, suddenly stopped.