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

At this time, in a small village 100 kilometers away from the capital.

Xu Damao had just finished showing a movie and was packing up the projector with Li Guobiao when he leaned closer and winked at him: "Guobiao, that widow Liu in the village is really pretty, with delicate features and a seductive figure. How about I take you to 'experience something new'?"

That's right, this widow Liu is Xu Damao's "base" in the countryside.

As the old saying goes: the four iron bonds in life are: fighting together, studying together, sharing spoils together, and visiting prostitutes together.

He and Li Guobiao had already fulfilled two obligations: splitting the spoils—the eggs and cured meat given to them by the villagers were split equally between the two; and carrying a gun—they had actually carried a projector, their shoulders were chafed raw.

If Li Guobiao were to accompany them on a visit to Widow Liu's house, their relationship would surely become as solid as a welded steel ingot.

But when Li Guobiao heard this idea, his legs trembled—his father Li Wenguo's face was more piercing than ice shards in the twelfth lunar month.

He shook his head vigorously, his voice weak: "No! No! You go by yourself. If I dare step on that threshold and my father sees me, he'll break my legs!"

Xu Damao had just started the conversation when he heard these words, and a chill ran down his neck, cold sweat pouring down his back.

He suddenly remembered that Li Wenguo was not someone to be trifled with. If he were really accused of "corrupting the only son of the Li family," he would probably be left with nothing but bones.

The thought was immediately extinguished, and he dared not mention it again.

She also kept an eye on things: when dealing with Li Guobiao in the future, she had to be careful not to drag him into everything, otherwise she would burn herself to ashes before anyone else could be affected.

That night, the two obediently went back to their room, blew out the lights, and went to sleep, even suppressing their coughs.

At the entrance of the Li residence.

Haozi stood under the blue brick screen wall, his brows furrowed: "Master Li, this black market... it's really almost empty. As soon as a good item appears, we scramble to buy it like we're fighting for a bride. Now we can't even scrape together three ounces of chicken fat, and the kitchen in the mansion is almost starving."

These days, while other families eat cornbread and salted vegetables, the Li family eats braised pork hock and steamed mandarin fish every meal, all thanks to the black market.

But as the war in the south intensified, the weather turned against them, with some areas suffering from drought and others from floods. The granaries were empty, the meat stalls were deserted, and it was difficult to even find a single pig hair on the black market shelves.

Money? Li Wenguo has no shortage of it; gold bars and silver dollars are piled up like mountains in his chest.

But no matter how much money you have, you can't buy air—if no one is selling it, even the biggest money bag is just a waste paper bag.

"I'll think about it."

Li Wenguo, with a sullen face, twirled his fingers on his sleeve before stepping through the hanging flower gate.

His stomach, fed on fatty meat at every meal, couldn't stand coarse grains and wild vegetables. He could manage on his own, but the rest of the family—Jinhua complained that the brown rice was too hard, and Xiaoxue felt nauseous at the smell of sorghum flour; not to mention the children, who were used to eating beef jerky as a snack, they would probably overturn the table if a bowl of sweet potato porridge was suddenly served.

He looked up and sighed, "They say even heroes can't resist money, but I'm different. I have mountains of gold and silver in my pocket, but I still got stuck on a few pounds of pork."

In fact, Hong Kong had long prepared mansions, yachts, and cabinets full of abalone, sea cucumber, and shark fin, ready to leave at any time.

But this land in the capital is the foundation he built brick by brick over thirty years. If he moves it, he will be scattered.

Just as I stepped into the threshold of the Golden Flower bedroom—

"bite!!!"

"Plot triggered, shop system activated."

A sharp sound, like a stone being thrown into a stagnant pool.

Li Wenguo felt a jolt:

Thirty years! This broken system, which hadn't moved for a full thirty years, actually came back to life?!

Just as I was falling asleep, my pillow rolled to my side by itself—what incredible luck!

He slapped his thigh hard, making the seam of his pants bounce.

"Sir? What's wrong?"

"Sir, are you feeling unwell?"

Jin Hua and Xiao Xue had just changed into their gossamer-thin pajamas. Barefoot, they approached, their eyes misty and their voices soft enough to drip water.

"It's nothing, I'm just really tired and my temper gets flared up...you know how it is."

"I understand. Just close your eyes and lie down, and I'll make sure you're so comfortable you'll forget what day it is."

The two of them smiled so hard their eyes crinkled, and their fingers were already on his shoulders.

Just as they bent down to knead, Li Wenguo's consciousness had already slipped into the depths of the mall.

After scanning the area, he felt much more at ease:

This place truly has everything. It sells anything that still exists in the world—even atomic bombs are priced, though he would never dare touch them.

The prices are also honest. If the supply and marketing cooperative sells eggs for 30 cents a pound today, they'll be 30 cents here too; if they rise to 32 cents tomorrow, they'll jump 2 cents here as well.

At the very bottom of the interface, there is a grayish "Upgrade" button that says "Requires meeting specific conditions".

Li Wenguo glanced at it once and then looked away—the most pressing thing right now was to fill his stomach, so he couldn't care less about such mysterious things.

However, he had a vague feeling that once the mall was truly upgraded, it might even be able to sell the Book of Life and Death of the King of Hell.

Ha! That felt great!

With hundreds of millions in assets, what to buy is just a matter of a thought.

The food problem? Solved.

Of course, he wouldn't conjure up a truckload of pork belly out of thin air.

They had already planned their plan: have their clone pose as "Boss Zhang," a regular customer in the black market, to pick up goods from the mall and then resell them to the Li family—accounts flowed smoothly, goods traveled through secret channels, and the whole operation was seamless.

He pulled his thoughts back and lifted his eyelids—

Jin Hua was straddling his waist, while Xiao Xue lay on her side, her ten fingers gently pressing on the back of his neck.

"Take a break, it's my turn."

Two days later, Haozi drove Li Wenguo into a small courtyard with gray walls deep in the alley.

The door opened immediately upon being knocked on.

The man in his thirties, wearing a faded blue cloth shirt, with unremarkable features, was none other than Boss Zhang, the alter ego.

"Boss Zhang, are all the goods ready?" Li Wenguo asked.

"They're all in the hall, please take a look."

Boss Zhang stepped aside to lead the way, and on the floor of the hall, more than a dozen white foam boxes were neatly arranged.

Li Wenguo raised his chin at Da Yan, gesturing for him to come and take a look.

Big Eyes lifted the first styrofoam box—inside were six plump hens, their down feathers completely removed, wrapped tightly in a thick layer of ice.

The second box contained a whole goose, frozen solid.

The third container held freshly picked vegetables, glistening with dew.

The fourth one...

The fifth one...

"Big Eyes, you'll be in charge of liaising with Boss Zhang from now on."

"Understood, Mr. Li!!!"

Da Yan looked up at Li Wenguo, her eyes full of admiration.

There's really nothing in this world that he can't handle.

Sai Guohao Wan.

When He Shuting came in after get off work, she immediately frowned when she saw the overflowing pile of various dishes on the long kitchen table.

Sweet and sour carp, braised sea cucumber with scallions, braised abalone in its shell, braised prawns, clear fish soup with vinegar and pepper and white fungus, sweet and sour pork tenderloin, braised prawns, Zhaoyuan steamed meatballs, roast duck, Zaozhuang spicy chicken, braised goose with lion's head, braised pork belly with preserved mustard greens, scallion and pepper fish fillets, cuttlefish egg soup, ginseng chicken soup...

The feast was outrageously lavish, even more eye-catching than the banquets at time-honored restaurants!

For several days in a row, she was only given a chicken leg, a few pieces of fish, and three or four slices of pork belly at the company cafeteria at noon, with the rest being vegetables and radishes.

Compared to the food on this table, that meager meal is worse than what you'd feed a pig.

"Shu Ting, what are you staring at?"

"Sit down and eat!"

Li Wenguo was urging him on impatiently. Before he could finish speaking, he had already filled a bowl with meat and was burying his head in it, chewing it heartily.

Lou Meie, Wen Keyi, and Wen Keren had also picked up their chopsticks early and were eating in a lively atmosphere.

He Shuting had no choice but to swallow her questions and silently pull up a chair to sit down.

Late at night.

The master bedroom light was warm and yellow, and the bedding was slightly disheveled.

"Sir, the whole country is starving right now, and even the food at our unit has been cut so drastically. How can we afford to eat so much meat and fish every day?"

He Shuting, naked, pressed against his shoulder, her voice soft yet tinged with doubt.

"Bought on the black market."

Li Wenguo casually agreed, his hand already sliding down.

She was like a ripe peach, full of juice; how could he possibly have the mind to answer?

"That's not right. The black market is also seeing fierce competition right now. We have informants there, and the commotion over there can't be kept from the higher-ups."

"Sir, please don't rush... First tell me, where did all this food come from—ah!!!"

The world is vast, but nothing compares to his temper.

One hour later.

"Sir, you still haven't told me where you got all those good things?"

Seeing that he had finally calmed down, He Shuting, ignoring her aching back and weak legs, quickly pressed him for answers.

"Click!"

Li Wenguo lit a cigar, took a slow puff, exhaled a ring of white smoke, and said with a half-smile, "A country has its own way, a snake has its own way, a rat has its own way—and I, your humble servant, have my own way."

"Sir, is your 'path' wide enough? Do you have a lot of goods?"

She immediately climbed up the pole.

What he was thinking about was whether he could make this route work and get a batch of life-saving grain for the Guo family.

Unfortunately, she underestimated the situation.

Li Wenguo would rather keep the system a secret than utter a single word about it to anyone—even if there were starving people everywhere outside.

"Not much, just enough for our two families."

His tone turned cold.

How could I not understand that she had fallen back into her old habits?

If the Guo family is to overcome this tribulation, how much rice, flour, oil, salt, canned food, and medicine will they need? It's a bottomless pit that can never be filled.

"Oh...I see."

Her voice lowered.

The reason why supplies are called supplies is that they need to be transported by truckload and ship. What use are they if they are transported piecemeal?

These words gave Li Wenguo a sudden insight—why not have the system transfer the goods, resell them through Hong Kong, and have Li Guoming secretly sell them to the Guo family?

They weren't after personal gain; they were after political achievements, face, and the official document handed to them by their superiors.

With a change of heart, he turned to He Shuting and said, "I'll make a call to Hong Kong tomorrow and see if we can get a batch transferred over."

"Yes, sir, you must take this to heart!"

She knew that Mavis Hee and Tung Hoi-tong's families had been rooted in Hong Kong for many years, with extensive connections and hidden networks, and that they likely possessed secrets that others couldn't access.

"Keep it in your heart? Besides the Guo family, do you even care about me?"

He was furious when he heard this, his jealousy surging – in her heart, the Guo family was more important than her husband.

"Sir, please don't be stingy... The Guo family is the Guo family, and you are my man. These are completely different things."

"Not the same thing? I'm just being petty! Next time you mention the Guo family, think carefully before you speak. If you upset me, I'll still beat you up."

"And—this matter ends here. I'm not helping anymore."

After saying that, he turned over, his back to her, his shoulders taut.

"Sir, you can't go back on your word... you promised me!"

She is in a hurry.

I tried to persuade him for a long time, but he didn't budge.

He Shuting bit her lip, then leaned closer, her fingertips circling his chest, her breath brushing against his ear—

The most tormenting thing is never swords or spears, but the whispers in one's ear.

The power of pillow talk should never be underestimated.