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

They were the ones who blocked the road and started the fight, yet they were able to leave unscathed once they arrived at the scene? Do they really have powerful backers who can act with impunity and break the rules?

"stop!!!"

He suddenly roared.

All eyes immediately turned to them.

"Deputy Director Gu, he led his men to surround me and started the fight. Is this matter just to be wiped clean? Don't you even need to give me an explanation?"

Li Guoxuan had bruises on his left cheek and jaw, and the swelling had not subsided, clearly indicating that he had been hit hard.

Upon hearing this, Li Jingmi frowned and turned to look at Gu Aimin.

Gu Aimin nodded slightly—he had witnessed Duan Zhihui throw the first punch.

But he had already made up his mind: he had to help the Li family suppress this matter. So he said to Li Guoxuan in a gentle voice, "Classmate, this is just a fight between classmates, not a criminal case. At most, it's a public order dispute. Write a self-criticism, submit it to the station, and this matter will be settled."

That's what they said, but everyone knew it was just a perfunctory response.

At this moment, besides Li Jingmi and her son Duan Zhihui, whose palms were sweating and backs were tense, Gu Aimin himself was also restless—he had just completely offended Li Guoxuan, the young master. Li Jingmi lowered her head, twisting the hem of her clothes with both hands, her knuckles turning white, her shoulders hunched and her eyes downcast, looking just like a little girl who had made a mistake and was being scolded by her father.

Where is the demeanor that a division-level cadre's wife should have?

Li Wenguo berated Li Guoxuan for nearly half an hour before pulling him away, who hadn't said a word the whole time.

As soon as Li Jingmi saw her father disappear at the gate, she immediately turned hostile, pointing at her son and launching into a tirade of insults, every word barbed and piercing.

Back home, she felt increasingly aggrieved and turned around to tell Duan Tianming the whole story.

Upon hearing this, Duan Tianming became so angry that he grabbed a thin bamboo stick from behind the door and chased Duan Zhihui all over the yard. No one could stop him, and in the end, the child's arms and legs were covered with red marks, but fortunately, no bones were broken.

Afterwards, he personally visited his brother-in-law, who was more than 20 years younger than him, to apologize.

"ah--!!!"

"Brother Zhihui! Stop hitting him!!!"

"Spare me!!!"

That morning, Duan Zhihui, along with his three sons and Changfa, rushed to Li Deying's house, blocked the door, and began kicking it hard. Li Deying knelt down and begged for mercy, but no one paid any attention.

"Li Deying, you bastard! I've been completely ruined by you this time!"

"Bang!!!"

Before he could finish speaking, a solid kick landed on his lower abdomen.

Li Deying immediately curled up like a shrimp, clutching her stomach and gasping for breath on the ground, her throat filled with sobs.

"Listen carefully—from this day forward, we have nothing to do with each other!"

"And another one? Dare to make a move on Cao Ying again? I'll kick you so hard you'll be crippled for the rest of your life!"

After saying those two sentences, Duan Zhihui turned and left.

Before leaving, he turned back and stared at the two men: "Keep a close eye on Li Deying lately. See if he contacts Cao Ying again, and if he dares to... uh, target my Uncle Xuan. Understand?"

"clear!"

The two agreed in unison.

At the police station, upon hearing that the person who had been beaten was the older brother's uncle, both men's legs went weak and their faces turned pale. They were terrified of being implicated and punished.

Fortunately, Duan Zhihui was the mastermind, which saved them from disaster.

"Also—no one is allowed to reveal that Guoxuan is my uncle."

He added another sentence.

His mother had already found out the whole story: it turned out that her younger brother, who was twenty years younger than her, was dating Cao Ying, a third-generation member of the Cao family; and Li Jiacheng, who was present at the time, did not mention Li Guoxuan's identity at all, obviously because he was afraid that Cao Ying would back down if she knew that the other party was too senior.

Therefore, she strictly ordered her son not to reveal this secret.

"Understood, Brother Zhihui."

……

early morning.

The morning light slants across the blue brick floor of the courtyard house.

Li Guoxuan straddled a brand-new 28-inch bicycle, its handlebars gleaming and its chain jingling softly.

"An old man!"

"Second Uncle!"

"Third Auntie!"

He greeted his neighbors with a smile and a clear, bright voice whenever they met him. They returned the greeting with equal joy.

"Uncle Damao!"

"Guoxuan, are you rushing to work?"

"Where will you be employed?"

Xu Damao was dressed in a well-fitting gray-blue Zhongshan suit, with a smile on his face and a familiar and warm tone.

In just a few years, he rose to the position of head of the publicity department of the steel rolling mill, a minor leader with real power.

This position was entirely due to clinging tightly to Li Guobiao—who is now the deputy director of the factory office, a deputy division-level cadre.

Therefore, upon seeing the Li family, Xu Damao immediately became extremely respectful.

It is worth mentioning that ever since the Li family moved into the courtyard house, and Xu Damao has been focused on his career at the factory, he no longer has the time or the courage to engage in those petty and underhanded tricks.

The courtyard house is much quieter than before.

"Establishment Bureau".

Li Guoxuan answered decisively.

"Oh—establishing a community bureau is good, it's stable and respectable."

Xu Damao nodded with a smile.

"By the way, isn't your brother working at the Construction Bureau?"

"Yes, that's my second brother, the current director of the Construction Bureau."

Wow!!!

Another official at the provincial level! (The administrative ranks in Beijing are always half a grade higher than those in other places.)

Xu Damao felt a surge of warmth in his heart, and a light quietly appeared in his eyes.

"Silly Uncle Zhu!"

They bumped into Sha Zhu head-on.

"Hey, Guoxuan's here!"

Sha Zhu, with a loud and clear voice, gripped the handlebars of his bicycle and hurried toward the steel mill.

Now he is the director of the factory canteen—a position that should have been given to him by the factory director out of consideration for their past relationship, but right now, it's all thanks to his sister He Yushui secretly helping him out.

Lin Meili had a son, He Xiao, and now there were six people in her family to feed. She also had to save face, so she forced herself to help Jia Zhangshi, which turned the family into seven mouths to feed. Even with her salary plus her thirty yuan, she was still struggling to make ends meet.

He Yushui couldn't stand it anymore, so she asked her husband, Li Guotao, to speak to his brother, Li Guotai, which finally helped Shazhu get the position of director. The family's financial difficulties were finally eased.

Sha Zhu never expected to be promoted out of nowhere. His first thought was of Li Guotao—this cheap brother-in-law is really a good friend.

He immediately stopped Li Guotai and asked him to find out. The other party nodded in confirmation and whispered, "Don't tell anyone. It was Guotao who helped."

From then on, Sha Zhu paid special attention to the Li family. Whenever he saw Li Guoxuan, he would smile so much that wrinkles would appear at the corners of his eyes.

"I just heard from Da Mao that you work at the Construction and Social Security Bureau? That's a good job! Work hard, contribute to the country, and you'll bring honor to your family."

He patted Li Guoxuan on the shoulder, as if he were an elder giving instructions or an old friend making a plea.

"must."

"Oh, where's the stick?"

"I heard Uncle Shazhu also arranged work for him?" Li Guoxuan asked.

Originally, Bang Geng was supposed to go to **, and Sha Zhu had even considered it. But Lin Meili, his own mother, kept nagging him with increasingly intense pillow talk and constant crying, forcing him to find another way.

But after seeing Bang Geng's true colors, Sha Zhu secretly hatched a plan—to get someone to help him get a job sweeping the streets in the sanitation team.

He knew perfectly well: this kid was lazy and greedy, even complaining that a broom handle was too heavy, and would be fired in a few days. Once he really packed his bags and left, even Lin Meili and Jia Zhangshi wouldn't be able to stop him from going back to his old ways.

"It took a lot of effort to get him into the sanitation team to sweep the streets."

Sha Zhu deliberately raised his voice, taking advantage of the few neighbors in the yard who were also riding out on their bicycles, and said clearly, "This is all I'm capable of. Getting this job is already the best I can do!"

This is a pre-emptive statement—if Banggeng gets kicked for slacking off, he will never reach out to help him again.

"whispering sound!!!"

"Silly Zhu, you've got a lot more tricks up your sleeve lately."

Xu Damao stood beside Li Guoxuan, sneered, and curled his lips downwards.

After getting on Li Guobiao's good side, he became even more insightful. He saw right through Sha Zhu's little scheme.

"Hehe, Da Mao, we know what we're doing."

Sha Zhu glanced at him sideways, but the smile didn't reach his eyes.

Everyone in the steel rolling mill knew who Xu Damao was backing. Everyone knew exactly what kind of person Li Guobiao was—he never did any work, relying entirely on Xu Damao to do it for him. It was precisely this willingness to "shoulder the burden" that allowed Xu Damao to rise to the position of section chief.

They both pretended not to know, neither revealing the other's secret.

Xu Damao didn't reply, but just shrugged and gripped the handlebars even tighter.

He's never just aiming to climb this level.

In the blink of an eye, everyone had pushed the cart out of the courtyard gate.

Li Guoxuan rode his bicycle onto the main street.

For the first few sections of the road, the sanitation workers swept it clean and the road surface was spotless. As the wheels rolled over it, even the wind seemed to carry a touch of lightness.

But if we go a little further ahead, the style changes abruptly—

Paper scraps, cigarette butts, and broken plastic bags were scattered everywhere, sticking to the curb in a dusty mess.

He caught a glimpse of a young man in a sanitation worker's uniform, leaning his broom against a utility pole, squatting in the shade of a tree, puffing on cigarettes, a thin layer of ash accumulating at his feet.

If it's not Bang Gang, then who else could it be?

Li Guoxuan silently shook his head.

Only four words popped into my mind: "Too good to be true."

A short while later, he stopped his bicycle and entered the gate of the Construction Bureau.

He went straight to the archives, opened the cabinet door, and began to rummage through the stacks of yellowed files, preparing to make copies and archive them one by one.

Several clerks glanced up and exchanged glances without making a sound, a cold smile appearing on their lips.

Why did you have to offend Section Chief Lin of all people?

In the archives, the files were piled higher than a person.

Each page needs to be backed up twice. Just the numbering, binding, and warehousing processes alone are enough to exhaust half your life.

In less than a month, he couldn't even touch the corners properly.

Spending all day in the archives, never seeing the light of day, with unfamiliar colleagues and barely even a familiar face to the superiors, promotion is naturally out of the question. After a while, even the newest young people in the bureau might start asking, "Li Guoxuan? Who's that?"

"Squeak—!"

The door was pushed open with a jarring thud. A young man carrying a towering stack of documents strode in, gesturing with his chin toward Li Guoxuan: "These must be printed today, urgently needed tomorrow morning." Before he finished speaking, he had already turned and left, without even pausing.

Li Guoxuan had no choice but to put aside his work for the time being, and a photocopier hummed until evening.

Every day, at least three or four groups of people would come with documents to urge him to print them, each with a firm and uncompromising tone. He could only agree to it for now, and then go back to finish the backlog of old orders after this batch was printed.

He didn't say a word. Before he left, his father, Li Wenguo, patted him on the shoulder and said, "Once you're in the bureau, don't think about getting ahead overnight. First, make sure you're firmly planted on your feet." So he really bent down and buried himself in his work.

Li Wenguo gave this advice because he was confident in his abilities—his second son, Li Guofu, who worked in personnel, had already assured him that as long as Li Guoxuan was hardworking and reliable, getting promoted wouldn't be difficult.

Unexpectedly, this down-to-earth attitude attracted hidden attacks.

That's right, they came specifically for him.

The workday bell had just stopped ringing.

"Cao Ying!!!"

Lin Guosheng stood beside her workstation, waving two movie tickets in his hand, and smiled warmly: "Let's eat first, then watch the movie, how about it?"

Cao Ying had only been in the bureau for two months when Lin Guosheng set his sights on her. After making some inquiries and learning she came from a privileged background, he immediately began showering her with attention. But Cao Ying never reciprocated. Later, he simply brought up Li Guoxuan, saying he was dating someone—hoping he would back down. Unexpectedly, Lin Guosheng nodded on the surface, but then secretly shoved Li Guoxuan into the archives room, locking him in a corner like a metal cabinet.

That's how Li Guoxuan was nailed down.

Since ancient times, the word "love" has often caused trouble, and this is absolutely true.