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

Before she could finish speaking, Jiang Yue's smile froze instantly, and her fingertips unconsciously tightened around the bag strap.

Li Guohua's face also darkened, and his brows furrowed slightly.

"Oh my, what's wrong with your mouth?"

"Is your skin itchy again?"

Li Jinghan darted forward and swiftly grabbed her younger brother's ear, her voice clear and unwavering.

While what he said wasn't wrong, it was really impolite to say it in front of people.

It can't be entirely blamed on him—Xu Wanqing's third son was pampered and spoiled from a young age, so it's no wonder he's a bit stubborn.

"Hurry up and apologize to Sister Jiang Yue!" she urged sternly.

"What are you going to pay for? I'm not as pretty as Jinghan anyway."

He stiffened his neck and remained defiant.

The father made a big fuss by summoning the whole family to "test the waters," and he had been holding back his ambitions: just how stunning must she be to be worthy of the title "sister-in-law"? When he saw the result, she was not even a tenth as good as his own sister, so he was naturally unconvinced.

"I'll count to three—one!"

"two!"

She twisted her fingers, increasing the force.

"Ouch! Sis, let go! Let go!"

"Okay, okay, I admit my mistake, I admit my mistake!"

Li Guoxian immediately wilted, his shoulders slumped, and his voice softened considerably.

Strangely enough, he was a tyrant at home, even daring to tease his youngest sister, but he was most afraid of his eldest sister.

Perhaps it really is true that there is a mark in one's bloodline, making one born a head shorter.

After he stammered through his apology, everyone filed in and entered the hall.

Jiang Yue froze as soon as she stepped over the threshold.

The hall was packed with people, a dense crowd; the sounds of shouting, playing, coaxing, and sobbing mingled together; not to mention the faint yet persistent cries of a baby in the corner.

She looked in the direction of the sound and saw an eighteen-year-old girl sitting on a soft couch, her skin as white as snow and her eyes as clear as glass. She was gently rocking a baby in her arms, her movements as tender as if she were holding fragile moonlight.

omg...

Why are there still so many children?

It's more than double the price outside!

Jiang Yue's mind was buzzing, and she almost wondered if she had accidentally stumbled into the ancestral hall of a century-old family—this was no ordinary family, but clearly a living genealogy of a large and flourishing clan!

"You're Jiang Yue?"

A voice suddenly rang out, neither too loud nor too soft, yet carrying a clear, resonant quality like the clash of metal and an undeniable power. Jiang Yue snapped back to reality and looked up—

A noblewoman sat regally in the main seat, her brows furrowed with composure, her beauty radiant yet refined, her bearing as dignified as the moon reflected in a deep pool.

"Yueyue, this is Aunt Xu!"

Li Guohua quickly stepped aside to introduce them, his voice even a fraction softer than usual.

He Shuting had already heard about Xu Wanqing's affair. That very night, she had a huge fight with Li Wenguo. In the end, he pinned her to the edge of the bed and coaxed her until she was breathless, then threatened, "If this isn't resolved, you won't be pregnant with just one child next time." Only then did she grit her teeth and swallow her grievances...

Of course, Li Wenguo also assured him that both of them were his lawfully wedded wives, regardless of age.

"Hello, Aunt Xu!!!"

Jiang Yue quickly bowed and greeted him, her palms slightly damp.

This beautiful woman had such a powerful aura that just standing there made one's spine stiffen and one's breath become shallow. In contrast, Li Guohua's birth mother was much gentler and more approachable, with every gesture exuding the graceful demeanor of a lady from a distinguished family, instantly warming one's heart.

If her own family hadn't been from an official family, she would probably have been at a loss by now, unable to even speak properly, let alone manage to keep her voice from trembling.

She was secretly astonished: who exactly was Li Wenguo, the father-in-law she had never met, in the Republic of China? How could he marry such a woman with such natural grace and charm?

One glance was enough to tell that Xu Wanqing came from an extraordinary background—ordinary families could not cultivate such nobility and composure in her very being.

"Um."

Xu Wanqing nodded slightly, her lips not moving, but her gaze swept over Jiang Yue's entire body.

If this weren't her husband's eldest son, she wouldn't have even stepped into this hall. Only her own son was worthy of her personal attention.

"Yueyue, this is Aunt Lan."

Li Guohua quietly breathed a sigh of relief and quickly turned to the other side, his voice becoming lighter—clearly, this second concubine made him much more at ease.

"Hello, Aunt Lan."

Jiang Yue sends her respectful greetings.

Xianglan was indeed beautiful, but unlike Xu Wanqing's sharp and noble demeanor, she was delicate and gentle. When she smiled, her eyes curved like ripples on spring water, making people feel relaxed.

But... she felt that this face was strangely familiar.

My gaze unconsciously drifted to Li Jinghan sitting diagonally across from me—

Sure enough, their eyebrows and eyes were sculpted in unison, their noses and lips were similar, and even their subtle air of heroism was identical. If the two walked side by side on the street, nine out of ten people would mistake them for sisters.

Xianglan takes such good care of herself; her skin is as smooth and radiant as porcelain, without a single wrinkle. Only a mature and sophisticated charm, accumulated over many years, quietly emerges in her every gesture.

"Hello, Jiang Yue."

She smiled slightly and nodded in acknowledgment.

Next up is Ruby.

"Yueyue, this is Aunt Yang."

"Guofu, whom we just met, is Aunt Yang's eldest son."

Hongyu, however, was quite different—her eyebrows and eyes were as bold and intense as a fine brushstroke, her figure as graceful as a spring stream, and every gesture she made exuded a captivating charm.

Jiang Yue's heart skipped a beat: This was no ordinary woman. She was clearly Su Daji from a storybook, so beautiful that she was bewitching and stunning, even her breath seemed to bewitch her.

Such a stunning beauty actually became the bedmate of her cheap father-in-law.

She swallowed quietly, her fingertips feeling slightly cool.

The more I listened, the more my scalp tingled.

After meeting all the concubines, Li Guohua introduced his brothers and sisters one by one—only those who were over eighteen years old. If he were to introduce all forty-plus younger brothers and sisters, Jiang Yue was afraid she would faint on the spot.

Now she finally understood what a "wealthy and powerful family" meant.

This is a real big spender!

Just considering the father's generation alone, there are more than sixty offspring—believe it or not.

Even after stepping out of the Li residence, Jiang Yue's ears were still ringing, and her mind felt like it was stuffed with cotton.

Meeting my parents for the first time in my life was even more nerve-wracking than receiving the college entrance exam results.

"Guohua, what exactly is your father's background?" She regained her composure and eagerly pressed for an answer. "To be able to marry fourteen wives in one go, each with extraordinary bearing and impressive background—He Shuting is the current mayor of Beijing, Xu Wanqing's aura is so overwhelming that people dare not look directly at her, Lou Meie exudes an aura of wealth and power... So many formidable women, all married to him alone?"

She paused, then lowered her voice: "Then how unfathomable must he be?"

"My father..." Li Guohua scratched the back of his head, "He worked for a foreign firm in his early years, first for the British, and later switched to the Americans."

"I really don't know about anything else."

"Oh right, he also donated a lot of money to support organizations, he is a true patriotic businessman."

"Just... working for a foreign firm, and you can marry fourteen wives?" Jiang Yue raised an eyebrow, her tone full of suspicion.

"That's not all," Li Guohua quickly added. "Aunt Xu and Aunt Dong are also in Hong Kong, but they haven't come back—they and all their younger siblings have settled down there."

"hiss--!"

Jiang Yue gasped, her fingertips digging into her palm.

Fourteen wives were already astonishing enough, but there were also two concubines who were like ballast stones? Sixteen wives, each with a graceful demeanor, just thinking about it makes one's spine tighten.

"Yes, my father often said that Hong Kong has a unique geographical advantage—facing the sea, bordering many countries, and practicing capitalism, with zero barriers to trade." Li Guohua mimicked his father's tone, "Most importantly, a large number of landlords and wealthy merchants from the mainland brought huge sums of money south, and countless people fled famine to seek a living there. With money, people, and freedom, it would be difficult not to prosper."

"Therefore, he concluded that Hong Kong would sooner or later become one of the world's top ten economic centers."

"Looking at it that way...it really is possible." Jiang Yue nodded. Having graduated from Peking University with a degree in economics, she understood this logic perfectly—with capital, population, and institutions all in place, how could it not take off?

She suddenly realized that this Uncle Li, whom she had never met, had a sharper eye than many experts.

"That's right," Li Guohua replied with a smile. "The five wives that Aunt Xu brought, and the four that Aunt Dong brought, have already settled down in Hong Kong in just three years—according to my father, they are now among the most prominent industrialists in the area."

Of course, Li Wenguo deliberately phrased these words in a more subtle way.

With the strong support of his abundant capital, plots of land were quickly acquired, buildings rose from the ground, chain nightclubs opened one after another, large shopping malls were completed one after another, and modern wharves were put into use one after another—the scale of properties under Huanghe Industrial has long been firmly established as the top in Hong Kong.

Of course, to prevent the United States or other powerful and entrenched forces from getting jealous and causing trouble, the shareholding structure was carefully arranged: part of it came from the US-based Sino-American financial group, part of it was jointly held by Hong Kong local businessmen and partners with British backgrounds, and the one that was truly in their own hands was the absolute majority of 70%.

But this is only a temporary measure. When the political landscape shifts again in the 1970s and 80s and the landscape is reshaped, Yellow River Industry will completely relinquish its shares, establish itself as a separate entity, and no longer allow outsiders to interfere.

The above only covers the real estate property sector.

In three years, Yellow River Industry has been on a meteoric rise, building dozens of factories – leaving no stone unturned in any profitable industry.

Needless to say, there are also clothing factories, electrical appliance factories, vehicle assembly plants, soft drink factories, electronic component factories... spanning both light and heavy industries, flourishing everywhere.

By the way, he also set up a bank—the Yellow River Industrial Development Bank—which was a key foreshadowing of Li Wenguo's future financial empire.

Hong Kong has always had three pillars: real estate, finance, and film.

In the early days, however, manufacturing was the real fourth pillar.

It was only later, with land prices skyrocketing and labor costs rising accordingly, that factories gradually gave way and withdrew from the market.

The real estate sector has now fully expanded, and the financial and film industries are accelerating their entry into the market.

Li Wenguo himself had little interest in making movies, but he spared no expense in building cinema chains—wherever there was a shopping mall, there was a cinema; wherever the cinemas were located, they were the iron gates in his hands.

Which film distributors don't listen? They can simply raise their hand and block screenings, leaving new films to rot in warehouses.

If he really wants to invest in a film company, or even start his own film production, the theater chain behind him is his strongest backing, and success will be a natural outcome.

Ultimately, the future industrial lifeline of half of Hong Kong will likely be firmly in Li Wenguo's hands.

……

Is Hong Kong the country with the largest and most numerous industries?

After hearing this, Jiang Yue couldn't help but secretly gasp.

Although she didn't know exactly how big Hong Kong was, being able to be one of the top players in a city was extremely rare.

What's more, it only took three short years? How much wealth and how quick must one's skills be?

Who would have thought that this boyfriend, who was usually so low-key that he was almost invisible, had such a huge entity behind him.

For a moment, Jiang Yue felt somewhat dazed, as if she were a sparrow that had suddenly been invited into a golden eagle's nest.

The two chatted as they walked, escorting Jiang Yue home.