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

After a long silence, Xu Yaling leaned against the edge of the bed, her eyes sparkling, her smile as gentle as spring water: "It's been half a year, tonight... we should have our second child."

The old method—first suppress it, then coax it.

Upon hearing the words "tonight," Li Guofang felt much of the pent-up frustration dissipate.

Downstairs, He Yushui was sitting on a small stool, gently stroking her slightly protruding belly with one hand and flipping through the factory's newly issued cadre appointment and dismissal briefing with the other.

"Guotao, I heard that the deputy section chief in the office is retiring next year?"

Despite being pregnant, she didn't relax at all.

"I don't know about this."

Li Guotao only focused on tightening his own screws and keeping his own accounts, ignoring all the other noise and commotion.

Like his brothers Li Guofang and Li Guobiao, he longed to be a peaceful fish, quietly swaying his tail at the bottom of the water.

But the people around him wouldn't let him lie down.

"I've already discussed it with Uncle Guowei: next year, when the deputy section chief retires, I'll take his place; the group leader position I vacate is for you." He Yushui closed the briefing, her voice flat and uncompromising.

"this……"

"Alright."

Li Guotao agreed readily—not because he wanted a promotion, but because he couldn't resist her insistence.

Another year has passed.

It was 1968.

Under Xu Yaling's close supervision, Li Guofang became the deputy section chief's clerk at the office.

He Yushui was transferred to the textile factory office as deputy section chief, and Li Guotao took over the original group leader position.

Li Guobiao went to the propaganda department, along with Xu Damao—the behind-the-scenes manipulator and the verbal agitator.

Three members of the Li family, who were honest and kind-hearted and never competed for anything, were thus pushed, pulled, and coaxed into embarking on their official careers step by step.

That year, another storm swept through all the cities in the country.

City dwellers, whether sixteen or fifty or forty, all those who had received an education were drawn into it.

Educated youth went to the countryside.

That afternoon, the window of the west wing of the courtyard was half open.

"Zhihua, I'm pregnant, one month along."

The speaker was Liu Shujuan, nineteen years old, with bright eyes and a tight voice as she twisted the hem of her clothes with her fingers.

Sitting opposite me was Liao Zhihua, also nineteen, wearing a faded blue cotton shirt, but with a composed expression.

"Shujuan, don't panic. Now that we're pregnant, let's get started."

He raised his hand to gesture for her to sit still.

"Now that you're pregnant, it actually makes things more secure."

"Exactly! That idiot Li Guojiang got a free father figure."

Liu Shujuan's lips curled up, and a glint of light flashed in her eyes.

The three were classmates at the same school. They disliked textbooks and preferred to hang out, skipping classes, daydreaming, and always pairing up. Liao Zhihua's father was a factory director, a division-level cadre, who had already secured a job for his son—one that wouldn't require him to go to the countryside.

Liu Shujuan came from an ordinary family and had no choice but to leave. Marrying Liao Zhihua would have been a way out, but he was already engaged to the daughter of another section chief in the compound. With that path blocked, she had to find another way out.

Li Guojiang was a new employee at the factory. The quota was empty, he was honest, and easy to manipulate.

The original plan was to get him drunk, stuff him into Liu Shujuan's room, and then use the pretext of "being a hooligan" to force him to give up his factory quota.

Now that she's pregnant, Liao Zhihua has a new idea in mind—

Let Liu Shujuan marry Li Guojiang, the child will take his surname, and he will raise her; once Li Guojiang leaves, she can still sleep with him.

That fiancée had a plain face and a bloated figure; how could she compare to Liu Shujuan, who was so vibrant and alluring?

I can't bear to part with it, and I can't let it go.

After the two had finished discussing it, they invited Li Guojiang, along with two other people who often hung out with Liao Zhihua, to Liu Shujuan's house for dinner that evening.

After several rounds of drinks, Li Guojiang was already completely drunk.

Liao Zhihua gave a wink, and the three men lifted him up, carried him into the west wing, gently closed the door, and turned to leave.

As soon as Liu Shujuan entered the room, she deftly stripped the two men of their clothes, crawled into the covers, and lay down side by side, feigning drunkenness and loss of control. Before leaving, she secretly smeared some chicken blood on the sheets, leaving a small patch of dark red.

"Oh, what a pity, Guojiang. You have such a handsome face. If it weren't for Liao Zhihua getting me drunk and dragging me into the woods back in school... I would have willingly married you eight hundred years ago."

She gently traced her fingertips across Li Guojiang's cheek, her voice as soft as honey.

The more I looked, the more itching I became, and I almost wanted to take the opportunity to make the act a reality.

But she stopped just an inch from his chest with her fingers—the warm baby inside her was less than three months along and couldn't withstand any more stress. Anyway, she'd already agreed to the marriage; there was plenty of time ahead, plenty of opportunities.

As evening fell, the sky turned gray.

Li Guojiang's eyelids fluttered open, and his head felt like it had been hit by a hammer, buzzing. Opening his eyes, he saw unfamiliar walls and Liu Shujuan pressed tightly against his side, the two of them naked and wrapped in a thin blanket.

He sat up abruptly, his head hitting the headboard with a dull thud.

Almost simultaneously, Liu Shujuan also "woke up," clutching the corner of the blanket and shrinking into the corner of the bed, her shoulders trembling, tears streaming down her face: "You...you bullied me! I'm calling the police to arrest you!"

Li Guojiang stammered, waving his hands repeatedly, "No, no, no, I'll take responsibility! I'll take full responsibility!"

She stopped sobbing, bit her lip, and nodded: "Then you have to marry me."

Before the words were finished, the Liu family of three pushed open the door and came in—Father Liu was carrying a vegetable basket, Mother Liu was still wearing her apron, and Brother Liu was still holding a half-smoked cigarette in his hand.

Upon seeing this, Liu's father grabbed a broom and was about to hit someone.

Liu Shujuan rushed over and hugged her father's arm, her cheeks flushed, her voice soft yet firm: "Dad, Mom, Brother... I like Guojiang. We've discussed it, and we'll get our marriage certificate in a couple of days."

Mr. Liu stood frozen in place, the broom hanging in mid-air. Mrs. Liu frowned and sized up Li Guojiang, but ultimately remained silent. Mr. Liu exhaled a puff of smoke, squinted at Li Guojiang for a full five seconds, before stubbing out his cigarette on the doorframe.

Li Guojiang's mind went blank, his lips were dry, and he could only squeeze out a sentence from his throat: "...Okay, I'll marry him."

It was already dark when I got home.

He didn't dare to beat around the bush; he knelt on the blue brick floor of the main room as soon as he entered and told the whole story.

"Snapped!"

Li Wenguo slapped him hard across the face, leaving a stinging mark on his left cheek.

"You shameless bastard! Sleeping with other people's girls? Are you glued to your waistband?"

"I've been cursing them to death—stay away from those good-for-nothing scoundrels! And you, what's wrong with you?! I should have stuffed you in the stove and roasted you dry!"

"Snapped!"

He was hit on the right cheek again, and both cheeks immediately turned symmetrically red.

Jin Hua rushed in carrying a bowl of ginger soup, hurriedly blocking the way: "Sir, calm down! Since what's done is done, why not hold the wedding sooner rather than later? Guo Jiang can't let people talk behind his back! Your health is the most important thing!"

Li Wenguo sneered, slamming his teacup on the table, spilling water halfway across it: "Marry? Marry someone who's like a coffin to worship? This isn't a marriage, it's a noose! A noose specifically to strangle your son!"

His gaze swept over his son's blank face, then over Jinhua's bewildered eyes, and his voice deepened: "What era are we living in now? Returning educated youth to the city is strictly controlled. Those without a work unit and with education are all sent to the countryside to dig in the dirt. Why is Liu Shujuan clinging to Guojiang so desperately? Because he has a permanent job quota—once he gets married and transfers his household registration, he can immediately avoid being sent to the countryside!"

He suddenly stared at Li Guojiang, emphasizing each word: "If it's just ordinary scheming, I'll cover for you. But if there's something else going on behind your back..."

He didn't finish speaking, but the room was so quiet you could hear the light bulb buzzing.

He had read some miscellaneous books when he was young, and the one he remembered most clearly was a passage: An old man was lying on a hospital bed when his wife led in several "biological sons," threw out a stack of paternity test results, and laughed as if a knife was scraping bones—the family property belonged to her, and her life belonged to the King of Hell.

Li Wenguo's Adam's apple bobbed.

so similar.

Even if his son is mediocre, he will still have several shops and land when the family divides the inheritance. If he is used as a pawn and the Li family's hard-earned foundation is handed over to someone else... not to mention using the Li family's name to build connections, acquire resources, and enrich outsiders.

He will absolutely not let this happen.

"Use the same logic your mother passed down to you—she's just a regular classmate, why would she sleep with you? Why didn't those three men who were drinking with you carry you away? Leaving you there is practically asking Liu Shujuan to take you to bed!"

Li Wenguo pressed his index finger hard against his son's forehead until his knuckles turned white.

"Let me ask you again, that woman, were you particularly close to any of the three men inside?"

"Yes! Yes! There's something really off between her and Liao Zhihua. They seem indifferent on the surface, but the moment their eyes meet, it's impossible to hide it. They're always the last to leave after every event."

Li Guojiang answered honestly.

"Then there's no doubt about it; they've already hooked up."

"Also, is that Liao Zhihua already engaged? And is the girl someone else?"

Li Wenguo followed up with a sentence.

"Yes! It really is!"

Li Guojiang nodded vigorously.

"You've got it all figured out, becoming someone else's sucker, and who knows, you might even have to raise someone else's child someday!"

Li Wenguo's voice boomed, spitting everywhere.

Actually, you can't entirely blame Li Guojiang for being clueless—Li Wenguo's eyes saw things ten years earlier than others.

Jin Hua, realizing what was going on, stared at her son and sighed, "You silly boy, what kind of friends have you made? They're all ruthless characters in human skin, only interested in taking advantage of others!"

"Dad... what do we do now?"

Now that things have come to this point, how could he pretend to be confused?

"What do we do? Get out!"

Li Wenguo raised his hand and pointed directly at the gate.

Nineteen-year-old Li Guojiang, with no experience or connections, and without his father's protection, would have been swallowed up long ago, leaving not even a trace.

"Sir, let me soothe your breathing."

As soon as Jin Hua saw Li Wenguo's gaze sweep over her, she immediately blurted out and turned to kneel down.

"This time I'm here. Take off your own clothes and lie down on the wooden plank."

"Sir...I...I'm in my fertile period today."

Jin Hua has already had seven or eight children, and now she just wants to live a peaceful life and really doesn't want to get pregnant again.

"Um?"

Li Wenguo glared at him.

"Oh dear—sir, please come quickly!"

Before Jin Hua finished speaking, she was already lying naked on the broadwood, her waist slightly twisted, striking a seductive pose.

The next day, just as dawn broke.

Li Wenguo then secretly sent people to investigate the backgrounds of Liao Zhihua and Liu Shujuan's families.

the other side.

Zhao Ziying burst into Li Guoxiong's house in a flurry, her heels clattering loudly on the floor.

Li Guoxiong is Wen Keyi's third son. He is nineteen years old and his appearance speaks for itself—he is a spitting image of Li Wenguo when he was young: broad shoulders, long legs, and sharp features.

"Guoxiong, finding you is harder than finding a person."

Zhao Ziying's tone carried a hint of resentment.

If she hadn't found out that his older brother worked as a security guard at a textile factory, she wouldn't have been able to find the door at all.