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

"Hello comrade, who are you looking for?"

The young security guard glanced up from the window, immediately straightened his back, and raised his voice slightly, making the air seem hotter. The older guard, in his forties, silently shook his head—so hasty and lacking in composure!

"Hello, I'm looking for Hu Jianhua."

The person who arrived was Hu Ke'er.

Two days ago, her younger brother mentioned that Li Guotai, the director of the personnel department at the factory, was outstanding in appearance and demeanor, and was also a top student from Peking University. She immediately asked for an hour's leave from work and rushed over, hoping to sneak a peek from the shadows.

"Oh, you're looking for Jianhua? What's your relationship with him?"

Upon hearing that he was looking for Hu Jianhua, the young man's eyes visibly dimmed—he had initially thought it was his girlfriend.

"I'm his sister, I need to talk to him about something."

Huh? Sister?!

The young security guard's eyes lit up suddenly, like a light bulb being turned on, and his heart became lively again.

"Okay! Please register, I'll go get someone right away!"

He deftly handed over the registration form and pen, his mind already racing: how to get close to Hu Jianhua and then, in a seemingly natural way, meet his sister…

In his eyes, Hu Ke'er was already a rare beauty, and it was hard to say who would win if she stood next to Qin Huairu, the factory's most beautiful woman.

He was truly moved, and the thought of marrying her came quickly and firmly to him.

Hu Ke'er finished filling out the form in a few strokes, and the young man glanced at it before immediately calling out, "Please wait a moment, I'll call someone right away!"

Before he finished speaking, he had already rushed towards the factory like a gust of wind.

Hu Ke'er leaned against the wall by the door and waited quietly—the north wind stung her face, and the wall shielded her from the howling cold.

At this moment, Li Guotai suddenly came out of the factory and walked straight to the car parked in the yard, seemingly intending to leave work early.

The old security guard in the guard room had sharp eyes and immediately stepped forward to push open a large iron door that was more than four meters wide.

Hu Ke'er mistakenly thought it was her younger brother who had come to welcome her in, so she stepped towards the door without thinking.

Suddenly, a car sped out of the door—

"ah!!!"

She instinctively screamed.

Li Guotai glanced at the car out of the corner of his eye and immediately slammed on the brakes.

"Clang!"

The front of the car still lightly grazed her knee, causing her to stumble and fall heavily to the ground.

"Oh no, I've hit someone!"

He turned off the engine, jumped out of the car, and rushed to her side, his voice strained: "Comrade, where do you feel unwell? How badly are you injured? There's a clinic at the factory; should I take you to the hospital right away?"

"How can you drive like that...?"

Hu Ke'er was just about to complain, rubbing her knee, when she looked up and froze.

What a handsome comrade!

With skin as white as jade, clear and sharp eyes, a high nose bridge, a well-defined jawline, and a head of short, jet-black hair combed meticulously; a white shirt paired with a dark gray suit, clean and sharp yet substantial—a dashing and handsome young man with an imposing presence.

Her heart suddenly pounded in her chest, then pounded again, "thump, thump, thump," like a drumbeat that never stopped.

"I...I'm fine."

Her cheeks flushed crimson, and her voice was as soft as a feather.

"How can it be nothing? You've been pressing your knee the whole time, it must hurt terribly. I'll go with you to the infirmary!"

Li Guotai frowned slightly, his tone urgent and sincere.

Regardless of who is right or wrong, he is the one who bumped into the person and injured them, so he has to take responsibility for it.

"Director Li, how is the situation? How serious are the injuries?"

Old Zhao, a security guard in his forties, hurried over, wiping his sweat as he asked.

Hu Ke'er gently furrowed her willow-leaf-shaped brows: "I guess she scraped her skin. It hurt terribly when she first bumped into it, but it's gotten much better now."

"Oh—I see, that's good, that's good!"

Li Guotai breathed a sigh of relief, and his shoulders relaxed a bit.

Then, in a gentle voice, he advised, "Why don't you try standing up? I'll take you to the infirmary."

"Director Li, please go ahead with your work. Leave this to me; I'll take care of everything perfectly, I guarantee I'll make sure our female colleagues are taken care of!"

Old Zhao chuckled and smoothed things over, his words laced with a mixture of flattery and ingratiation.

"It's really nothing serious, but I was the one who bumped into you. I won't be able to relax until I see you standing still and all right."

Li Guotai waved his hand, his tone calm but leaving no room for refusal.

That's so responsible!

Hu Ke'er felt a surge of warmth in her heart, and her eyes sparkled, almost brimming with light.

She bit her lip and tried to sit up.

"Ouch!!!"

"Ouch—it hurts!!!"

She had barely exerted any force when her knee felt like it was being clamped by red-hot iron clamps. The pain made her eyes redden, her body went limp, and she slumped back down.

"Are you alright?"

"It still hurts this much?"

It looks like he's seriously injured!

I can't even get up!

The cement floor is hard and cold; if I sit down any longer, I'm afraid I'll freeze!

Li Guotai's heart tightened. After a moment's hesitation, he tentatively said, "Comrade, how about Old Zhao and I lend a hand to help you up? The ground is too cold. If we delay any longer, your knees will suffer even more."

In those days, men and women were careful about boundaries, and offering help without thinking would inevitably invite gossip.

"Just help me up, after all you bumped into me."

Hu Ke'er quickly glanced at Lao Zhao—his temples were gray, his belly was slightly protruding, and he looked exactly like a mature and steady older brother. How could she let him get close?

But this Director Li, with his clear features and upright posture, if he were to lend a helping hand, it's hard to say who would benefit!

Huh?

and many more……

His surname is Li, he's a director, and he drives a car?

No way... Could it be that he is the personnel director Jianhua was talking about—Li Guotai?

Hu Ke'er's heart skipped a beat, as if a fawn had burst through a floodgate!

The person I'd been longing to see for so long had actually barged into my life—even this unexpected turn of events seemed like a preordained foreshadowing!

Her heart suddenly started racing, thumping like a drum.

"Comrade, slow down, watch your step!"

Li Guotai firmly supported her right arm with one hand, his palm warm and strong; Hu Ke'er used the support to stand up, her fingertips trembling slightly.

"Get in the car, I'll drive you to the infirmary."

The clinic is 200 meters away. Walking there with a limp is torture; taking a car would at least save me some of the suffering.

We arrived shortly afterward.

After examining the patient, the doctor said that the knee only had subcutaneous bruising and swelling, and that the bone and ligaments were not injured. He advised applying some blood-activating and stasis-removing ointment and resting for two or three days, after which the patient would be fine.

On the way, his younger brother, Hu Jianhua, also rushed to the clinic.

Before leaving, Li Guotai personally drove the siblings home.

"Sis, how could you be so careless?!"

Hu Jianhua muttered to himself as he helped his sister step into the courtyard.

"What nonsense are you talking about? Do you think I want to break it?"

Hu Ke'er glared at him, annoyed.

"Alright, alright, you've seen Director Li, but after he bumped into you, are you still holding a grudge against him?"

Hu Jianhua blinked and lowered his voice.

"No! You didn't see how sincere his eyes were and how honest his words were when he hit me—it was a sense of responsibility from the bottom of his heart."

Hu Ke'er's ears burned, but the corners of her mouth quietly turned up.

"So...you really have a crush on her?"

"Jianhua, you need to pay attention to this! If it works out, I'll thank you handsomely!"

"Alright! Once your good deed is settled, I need to get my hands on the steering wheel of Director Li's car and have some fun!"

After getting off work the next day in the evening,

Li Guotai, carrying two boxes of pastries and a basket of fresh fruit, drove Hu Jianhua to visit Hu Ke'er.

If you hit someone, it's only right to go and check on them.

"Director Li, there's really no need to buy so much stuff. You're being too polite."

Hu Jianhua, sitting in the passenger seat, looked a little awkward, his hands neatly placed on his knees.

Despite his distinguished background—his father was the director of the railway bureau, his grandfather was a division commander, and his mother was a unit director—he felt inexplicably inferior to Li Guotai, who was composed and had a calm demeanor.

"Of course. I was the one who hit him, so I can't be rude."

Li Guotai spoke calmly, yet every word he uttered carried weight.

In the blink of an eye, the car entered the courtyard where the Hu family lived.

"Ke'er, do you think that guy was blind? Why would he bump your knee like that for no reason?"

As Hu's mother helped her daughter sit down in the rattan chair in the living room, she frowned, her words tinged with reproach, and cast a glance straight at Li Guotai.

Seeing the bandage wrapped around her daughter's knee, Hu's mother felt a tightness in her heart, as if pricked by needles.

"How could they not have eyes? Their eyes are as bright as stars, full of life!"

Hu Ke'er was trying to figure out how to talk to Li Guotai more, so she couldn't bear to let her mother scold him to his face.

"You're a grown woman, tall and beautiful, how could he not see you? Is he blind or what?"

Mother Hu wouldn't fall for such sweet talk and wouldn't indulge her in the slightest.

If she had been there, she would have pulled him aside and given him a good talking to.

"Oh dear, it's not his fault! I was just too hasty—I heard the door open and thought Jianhua was coming to greet me, but instead a car rushed out and I slipped and bumped into it. He didn't do anything wrong at all."

Hu Ke'er quickly explained, her words light and quick, her eyes still shining with an undisguised light.

"Whether it was right or wrong is another matter, the person who bumped into you failed in their responsibility."

These words may sound biased, but they truly reflect a mother's thoughts—

How could a mother not be heartbroken when her daughter's bruises on her legs hadn't faded?

"But he apologized on the spot and kept asking me if I was in pain and if I needed to go to the hospital. Later, he accompanied Jianhua and me all the way back, and even helped me carry the medicine safely. He is such a reliable person."

Hu Ke'er's tone revealed an undeniable warmth.

"Um?"

"Something's not right, something's really not right!"

The more Hu's mother listened, the more she understood. She stared intently at her daughter, her brows furrowed into knots.

She knew this girl too well: she was proud and picky, and she had never seen her care so much for any strange man before. It was as if she had become a completely different person.

"Mom, what are you muttering about?"

"Since they sincerely admitted their mistake, please stop nagging them."

Hu Ke'er lowered her eyelids, her ears turning slightly red.

She used to be a complete skeptic of love at first sight, but this time, her heart truly skipped a beat—she made up her mind to date Li Guotai.

Just as Hu's mother opened her mouth to offer some advice, two sets of footsteps suddenly came from outside the door.

"Jianhua and the others are back? That can't be right. How could they be back so quickly, taking the bus and walking?"

Getting off the bus at the steel mill requires navigating a narrow alley and walking a mile on a muddy road; it's certainly not as convenient.

In the blink of an eye, Hu Jianhua pushed open the door and entered, followed by a tall and handsome young man: with clear eyes and a broad shoulder and narrow waist, exuding a calm and steady demeanor in every gesture.

What a spirited young man!

This was Hu's mother's first impression of Li Guotai.

Could it be... the one who hit Kerr?

When she caught a glimpse of the apples, malted milk powder, and a bag of red dates he was carrying, Hu's mother's heart stirred.