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

"Uncle Li has the final say at home. If he nods, the wives don't even flinch."

Although some of the concubines were indifferent to her, no one voiced any objection—it was probably because Uncle Li had already given her instructions.

"Your mother is probably worried that you won't have a good life after you marry into Guohua's family, with all those concubines and half-siblings. Just those aunts, uncles, and other relatives will be enough to keep you on your toes. They'll be bickering and arguing openly and secretly, and there won't be any peace."

Jiang's father knew the ins and outs of the household very well, and he understood Jiang's mother's thoughts in just a few words.

"Then... what should we do?"

"Could it be that this marriage is really going to fall through?"

Jiang Yue's fingers tightened, and her voice became weak.

She did have feelings for Li Guohua, but the thought of his large family sent chills down her spine. Today, that young punk Li Guoxian had publicly challenged her, his words barbed and his eyes sharp, enough to make her feel suffocated for half a day.

"That's right, Dad! If Yueyue marries into that family, she'll be manipulated and tormented by them every day. As her older brother, I'll be the first to object!"

Jiang was so anxious that he kept slapping his thigh.

My younger sister has always been a sweet and gentle child, with bright eyes and a smile that's like spring water rippling. He has protected her since she was little and can't tolerate the slightest grievance.

"Actually, there's no need to worry. Once you're married, you can start your own family and live separately."

Jiang's father picked up the enamel mug, slowly blew on it, and spoke in a very steady tone.

"But where are there any vacant houses in the capital right now? After Guohua and Yueyue get married, getting a decent house is as difficult as climbing to the sky!"

Jiang stomped his foot, raising his voice by half a mile.

In the 1950s, government agencies flocked to Beijing, and a massive influx of people made houses more valuable than gold. Seven or eight households squeezed into a single alley, and traditional courtyard houses were transformed into overcrowded tenements. Stovetops were right next to stovetops, and clotheslines stretched haphazardly across the courtyard. The Jiang family lived in a large courtyard where three generations of six people were crammed into four rooms, and even the kitchen had to be used in shifts.

Mayor He's wife, Shu Ting, is capable of approving housing purchases, but good houses in prime locations are already locked on the list. To pry open a door, you have to take away meat from someone else's plate—who would do something that invites hatred?

As for the dormitory building built by the company? The blueprints are still being drawn on the tip of a pencil.

As soon as Jiang Ge said this, Jiang's mother stopped sewing, and Jiang Yue clutched the hem of her clothes, her breathing becoming shallow.

Jiang's father chuckled lightly: "Don't forget, the Li family is a truly wealthy family. Surely they have a few places to stay in the capital, don't they?"

"That's right!" Jiang's mother's eyes lit up. "The Li family owns a whole row of Western-style houses, in Nanluoguxiang, Mao'er Hutong, Shitou Hutong, which one doesn't have their old property? Yueyue, tomorrow you should mention to Guohua—newlyweds need a quiet little place to settle down, they can't just plunge into crowds and feel suffocated. Listen to what he plans to do."

"How about this, we invite Guohua over for dinner tomorrow night, and we'll ask him about it in person."

Jiang's mother handed the words to Jiang Yue and gently gave her instructions.

"Okay, sure."

Before they knew it, it was the next evening.

Li Guohua drove a gleaming Volga, carrying two boxes of finely packaged pastries and a basket of fresh peaches, and parked it steadily at the entrance of the courtyard.

The neighbors peeked out from the courtyard, whispering about whose young master was driving, so young yet already holding a steering wheel. Before long, someone recognized him: it was Li Guohua, the eldest son of Mayor He!

After all, the residents of this compound were either government officials or military dependents. Later, their children were even called "compound kids."

"Guohua's here? Just come, that's enough, why bring anything!" Jiang's mother greeted him from the doorway, her eyes crinkling with a smile.

She was polite in words, but her eyes were bright and piercing—she found her son-in-law more and more pleasing to the eye.

This young man was tall and straight, with thick eyebrows that reached his temples, bright and piercing eyes, and fair skin with a rosy glow. His every move exuded a pampered and efficient air, clearly indicating that he had been raised in a respectable and wealthy family.

Jiang's mother had already given her approval to the marriage.

Li Guohua greeted Jiang's father, brother Jiang, brother Jiang's wife, and Jiang Yue one by one before sitting down in the main room.

Jiang's wife had just taken her two-year-old daughter back to her parents' home yesterday and only returned early this morning. She was still holding the baby in her arms and hadn't even had time to put the bottle in her mouth yet.

"Guohua, you've met both sets of elders, so your relationship with Yueyue can be considered settled."

"But Uncle Jiang, if I may ask—after you get married, will you live with Mayor He, or will you return to this compound?"

After a few rounds of drinks, Jiang's father put down his glass and asked questions tactfully, neither touching on the sensitive topic of "family division" nor going too far afield.

"Uncle Jiang, to tell you the truth, my father has already prepared a house for us brothers—a large house with five courtyards in each of Nanluoguxiang, Mao'er Hutong, and Shitou Hutong, with seventy or eighty rooms in each place. When each of us gets married, we will each have seven rooms. It'll be perfect."

"I've been thinking, Nanluoguxiang is the most suitable place: it's not too close to my dad's place, and it's also right in the middle of Yueyue's house. What do you think, Yueyue?"

Li Guohua spoke casually, but the Jiang family members were all stunned.

Be nice!

Three grand, five-courtyard houses, prepared directly as wedding homes?!

Jiang's father's throat tightened, Jiang's mother's chopsticks hung in mid-air, Jiang's brother's mouth was open and he forgot to close it, and Jiang Yue's face suddenly burned.

Only Jiang's wife was still in a daze. She hadn't even bothered to straighten the baby's bottle, which was tilted in her arms. Her little mouth opened and closed, only uttering one sound:

"Oh my god..."

real or fake?

Three courtyards, each with five entrances and five exits, intended as a wedding home for his son?

Is this Li Guohua really Mayor He's son? How come he's even wealthier than the rumors say?

Jiang's wife's only knowledge of Li Guohua was that he was "the son of Mayor He Shuting," a thin veil of impression. She had no idea what his father did.

"Well... Guohua, you decide! I think all three are good, choose whichever you like!"

Only then did Jiang Yue's heart, which had been hanging in suspense for so long, finally settle down, feeling as at ease as if she were walking on cotton.

What surprised her even more was that there were a total of seven rooms! The space was dazzling, and the extravagance was astonishing—her own family of six was crammed into four rooms, and they even had to turn their heads sideways to turn around. She never dared to imagine such a life.

Seven rooms! There's more than enough room for two more kids. Jiang Yue felt a warm glow in her heart, and her lips never drooped.

A house has always been the most important factor for a young woman when choosing a husband.

"Yueyue, I'm so envious of you! With so many rooms, you won't have to worry about where to put your kids even if you have a whole bunch of them!"

As soon as Jiang Ge said that, a sour taste seeped out from between his teeth.

Jiang's mother smiled so broadly that wrinkles appeared at the corners of her eyes: "Oh, so our in-laws had already planned everything out! Guohua, have your parents picked a good date yet? When are you and Yueyue getting married...?"

A few days later, Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill held a grand opening ceremony.

Li Wenguo and his brother-in-law Lou Zhenhua stood side by side, with several leaders from Beijing standing beside them, holding golden scissors, ready to cut the ribbon.

That's right, this factory was the source of livelihood for almost everyone in the courtyard house, and it was also the old factory that officially went into production in 1953.

Actually, it was built before the liberation, but it was under Japanese control at that time. Now it has been taken over by the state and invested in by Li Wenguo and Lou Zhenhua, and renamed "Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill". Although it is privately owned, it also has state-owned capital participation.

Li Wenguo naturally became one of the factory's prominent shareholders.

His involvement wasn't for a share of the profits—it was to keep those people in the courtyard firmly under his control and prevent them from causing any trouble.

"General Manager Li, General Manager Lou, thank you so much for your strong support! With this batch of new equipment and technology, our factory will definitely be able to contribute more and work harder for the country!"

After the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the leaders shook hands tightly with the two men, their voices sincere and full of expectations.

The so-called "new technology" refers to the advanced processes that Lou Zhenhua learned from Li Wenguo in the United States a few years ago at a local steel rolling mill. Now, all of these processes have been brought back to China and implemented at the Hongxing Plant. This gesture truly adds fuel to the fire and strength of the motherland.

"It's only right! We're all Chinese, it's only natural to help our country."

"Yes! We will do our best to contribute, no matter how small."

Li Wenguo and Lou Zhenhua responded in unison, their humility perfectly measured.

Because it was a privately owned factory, Li Wenguo naturally gave himself the title of deputy factory director—a purely nominal position. Whether he went to the workshop or not depended entirely on his mood; he was too lazy to care about factory affairs at all.

He wanted this position so that the people in the courtyard would have to call him "Director Li" when they saw him.

"Hello, Factory Manager Li!"

"Hello, Factory Manager Li!"

"..."

On this day, as Li Wenguo stepped into the gate of Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill, he was greeted with a warm welcome.

He smiled and nodded in response to each one.

Upon entering the workshop, a middle-aged man was busy at work, his work clothes splattered with black paint, his hair disheveled, and his cuffs stained with oil—it was Liu Haizhong.

Upon seeing Li Wenguo, he immediately straightened up and respectfully greeted him, "Director Li, you've come to inspect the work again?"

"Um."

"Master Liu, keep up the good work and try to get your senior fitter's certificate by the end of the year! Your salary will increase by fifteen yuan then!"

As Li Wenguo spoke, he patted his broad shoulder.

Encouraged by the factory leader's personal praise, the chubby Liu Haizhong was immediately filled with enthusiasm, puffed out his chest, and loudly replied, "I will definitely live up to your trust, Director Li!"

Li Wenguo continued walking and ran into his master Yi Zhonghai and his apprentice Jia Dongxu. As usual, he gave them some encouragement, and both of them beamed with pride.

But just after greeting Jia Dongxu, Qin Huairu's name suddenly flashed through Li Wenguo's mind—that's right, she hadn't married into the Jia family yet! He had to hurry and go to Qin Family Village to find her before the marriage was finalized.

Then he turned and walked toward the cafeteria.

The one in charge of cooking was He Daqing.

As soon as I lifted the kitchen curtain, I heard a series of crisp "thump thump thump" sounds—a burly young man with a youthful face was quickly chopping carrots.

His name is He Yuzhu, but the neighbors call him "Silly Zhu".

He was eighteen years old and had only recently entered the culinary world; he was still an apprentice.

The area around the stove was unbearably hot and stuffy. He was only wearing a sleeveless coarse cloth jacket, and the muscles in his arms were taut, with veins faintly visible—clearly the result of being forced by his father, He Daqing, to flip the wok since he was a child.

He Daqing's culinary skills are superb, and his reputation is well-deserved. He passed on his skills to his son without reservation: tossing the wok, slicing, making sauces... he practiced everything to the point of exhaustion. It would be strange if his arms didn't develop muscles.

He Daqing, who was busy stirring the sauce, looked up and saw Li Wenguo arrive. He immediately put on a fawning smile, bowing and scraping, "Oh, Director Li has arrived! Please come in!"

Before he could finish speaking, his face suddenly darkened, and he turned to his son, growling, "Director Li is here! Hurry up and greet him!"

Turning back, her face was beaming with joy and a smile.

Li Wenguo couldn't help but click his tongue; this ability to change his expression was as swift as turning the pages of a book.