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

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

Cen Weiwei spoke very quickly, her shoulders shaking.

"And another thing—your mouth is filthy. Slap yourself, at least three times."

Li Jingjiao didn't budge an inch.

This wasn't about showing off. She knew her younger brother already harbored resentment towards the marriage; this was both to set rules for him and to vent her own anger. More importantly, it was to make her understand who held the reins in the family from now on, and who would take care of the children.

"this……"

Cen Weiwei stared longingly at Li Guolei, her fingertips icy cold.

Slapping herself in public? Just thinking about it makes my throat tighten, especially for someone like her who has dignity ingrained in her bones.

Li Guolei ignored her gaze, instead bending down to pick up his terrified daughter and gently patting her back to comfort her.

"Snapped!"

She closed her eyes, gritted her teeth, and swung her fist.

"Didn't you eat?"

"Your hands are so soft?"

Li Jingjiao's tone was cold and hard.

"Smack!!!"

"Smack!!!"

My cheeks burned, and the fingerprints on my fair skin looked like two striking red maple leaves.

Li Guoxuan, who had been in high spirits, had long since stopped smiling and was silently shaking his head.

To stumble upon this as soon as I walked in—what bad luck!

Inside the small Western-style building.

The room was filled with handsome, upright men and elegantly dressed women, some leaning, some sitting, chatting and laughing freely. Cen Weiwei sat in the corner, holding her several-month-old son. The baby was warm in her arms, but she felt as if she were holding a block of ice.

When she heard that Li Guolei had more than ten siblings, her mind went blank—it turned out that she had married into a genuine old Beijing family.

I overheard people chatting and learned that among those present were several division-level cadres, several section-level cadres, and even three deputy-department-level leaders—all of them were her parents-in-law's biological children, that is, her uncles, aunts, and sister-in-law...

Some even said that a brother or sister at the level of a department director was absent today.

day!

Those "leaders" she used to only dare to look up at on the front page of newspapers are now all her own people.

She actually stepped into the grand courtyard gate that she never dared to dream of.

The joy in my heart almost overflowed from my eyes.

"I don't come here often, and I'm too lazy to boil water, so how about a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice?"

Li Jingjiao sat down with a glass in her hand and handed it to her.

"Oh... thank you, sis."

She lowered her head and took a sip—crisp, slightly sour, with a sweet aftertaste; the pulp was thoroughly filtered, and her tongue was filled with the aroma of sun-dried oranges.

He finished the glass, and even the corners of his lips were stained with honey.

"There's still some in the kitchen; go get some yourself if you want to drink."

"Come on, I'll take you there."

Li Jingjiao got up and led the way.

The kitchen connects to the dining room, with a high ceiling and bright interior. The marble countertop gleams with a cool light, and the built-in appliances have clean lines. Cen Weiwei stares intently at the gleaming stainless steel stove, her eyes unblinking—how dignified it would be to cook here, take care of the children here, and be in charge of the household here…?

"Um... Sister, this house, is it under my father-in-law's name?" she finally mustered up the courage to ask.

"Yes. The entire Li family."

"It's not just this one. In the old embassy district, our family owns more than a dozen similar small buildings."

One set is enough to brag about for half a lifetime, what about a dozen sets?

Cen Weiwei's throat tightened, and she subconsciously opened her mouth.

"Buzz—"

In the corner of the dining table, a small, silver-gray machine suddenly beeped. She glanced over instinctively.

"Juicer." Li Jingjiao pressed the switch casually. "Fruits and vegetables, squeeze out the juice."

"Want one? Have Guolei write to his big brother in Hong Kong and ask someone to send one to him."

"All these appliances in my home were shipped from Hong Kong."

"The factory was also set up by the Li family in Hong Kong."

What?

Homegrown?

She suddenly raised her hand to cover her mouth—not from pain, but from shock that made her jaw go numb, and her lips involuntarily twitched open, as if pulled by an invisible hand, forcibly splitting open a crack.

At that moment, she suddenly realized that she had married into a mountain, not a "family" at all.

"Weiwei, there's something I'd like to talk to you about."

"Sister, please tell me."

Cen Weiwei lowered her head, and her voice became even softer.

Snobbish people are always like this—the moment they see someone more assertive than themselves, they immediately put away their pride, put on a smile thicker than honey, and bend their backs more limp than willow branches.

This was precisely the fire that Li Jingjiao intentionally set on.

"I want to arrange for Guolei to be transferred to our branch."

"This is fantastic news!"

Cen Weiwei agreed without hesitation.

"However, you need to go to the factory to apply for a leave of absence without pay and stay at home to take care of your child."

The smile on her face froze instantly.

"Don't panic—I'm a section chief in the branch office; Guo Lei's brother-in-law is a division chief, and another brother-in-law is a bureau chief. Once he walks in the door, his promotion is a sure thing."

"Don't you think being the wife of a section chief, a division chief, or a bureau chief is much more respectable than being an ordinary factory worker?"

"Besides, once the child is weaned and starts kindergarten, you can still go back to work at the factory without any delay."

The more she listened, the brighter her eyes became, like a lamp wick being licked by a flame.

"Is this a worthwhile deal?"

"What a bargain! It's such a great deal!"

Cen Weiwei readily agreed, her palms resting on her knees: "I'll go back right away and process the leave of absence without pay, and have Guolei report to the Public Security Bureau immediately!"

She was overjoyed—the bureau chief's wife? Just thinking about it made her feet feel hot.

.

In the living room.

"Guoxuan, I'm really sorry about last time. It was my fault for not keeping an eye on Zhihui, which led him to do such a disrespectful and outrageous thing. Don't worry, your brother-in-law gave him a good beating, and I'll keep a closer eye on him from now on, and I'll make sure he doesn't cause any more trouble."

Li Jingmi sat upright, her tone earnest, her eyes open and honest.

She was affectionate with her younger brother, but she didn't really care about him; however, she dared not disregard her father Li Wenguo's attitude.

If this matter causes him to dislike his mother and makes her suffer, she, as her daughter, will not be able to sleep soundly at night.

She remembered when she was ten years old, she and her brother had just put on their schoolbags and were about to leave when they bumped into their mother, whose left cheek was swollen. Her father casually remarked, "She fell. You're more likely to trip when you're doing something wrong."

……

But when she grew up, she realized that the slap was delivered by her father.

It must hurt so much to be swollen like that!

From then on, she never spoke a word back to Li Wenguo, terrified of the look in his eyes when he turned hostile.

So this time, she made a special trip to completely smooth things over.

I had no intention of attending this gathering at all.

"Brother-in-law Tianming personally came to apologize, so I'm all over it now. Don't worry, this matter is over."

Li Guoxuan spoke frankly, without a trace of reluctance on his face.

That's really what he thought.

Li Jingmi, forty years old and a division-level cadre, had seen countless people. She could tell at a glance that Li Guoxuan's words were sincere and not just polite talk. Only then did her heart truly settle back down.

After chatting for a few more minutes, she got up to say goodbye.

I still have a few urgent documents waiting to be filed.

Then, Li Guoxian led Li Guoxuan to meet all his brothers and sisters one by one.

There weren't many people present today, only about twenty.

The group consisted entirely of young faces, mostly under thirty, with only two or three slightly older.

Although there weren't many people, they made Li Guoxuan's heart flutter—deputy director-general, director-general, deputy director-general, section chief... the room was full of cadres, almost all of them wearing the hat of "leader".

Only then did he realize that his surname, Li, carried such a heavy weight.

He secretly clenched his fists in his heart:

While they are still young, I want to stand in the same position and stand tall for my mother, Qin Huairu's, branch of the family.

After most of the people had left, Li Guoxian accompanied Li Guoxuan as they departed.

He was the youngest, so according to the rules, he had to stay until last.

"Guoxuan, after seeing so many older brothers and sisters today, what are your thoughts?"

On the way, Li Guoxian asked casually.

"Yes," Li Guoxuan answered decisively, "I'm going to give it my all and catch up with them."

Li Guoxian listened, nodded, and without saying much, simply patted him on the shoulder:

"With Brother Guofu looking after me, the road ahead won't be bad."

But things took a turn for the worse the very next day at work.

Huang Xirou rushed into the archives room. While Li Guoxuan was still stunned, she tore her clothes and screamed as she ran out of the room and headed straight for the office.

She stood before the crowd, her shoulders half-exposed, her shirt buttons undone down to her navel, her right shoulder dazzlingly white, wiping away tears as she cried out:

"Waaah... Li Guoxuan... he... he touched me inappropriately..."

boom--!

These words were like a muffled thunderclap, causing everyone in the office to change color.

All eyes were fixed on her.

Huang Xirou was truly going all out—the buttons were ripped off hard enough, revealing the most clearly. Five seconds later, she slowly gathered her front, but deliberately left them unbuttoned, letting her disheveled state hang there, plain and clear.

The clerks all looked away, some secretly wiping their mouths, and then they were all indignant, accusing Li Guoxuan in unison.

"What? Li Guoxuan laid a hand on you?"

"Did I hear that right? He really dares to do something like that?"

"They look so respectable, but they actually do such despicable things behind the scenes."

"You really can't judge a book by its cover; you can't know someone's heart just by their appearance!"

"How did such a beast get into our bureau?"

……

Cao Ying sat at her workstation, her brows furrowed, her clear eyes fixed on Huang Xirou's face—a face pale and flushed, with tear stains still wet, her eyes filled with fear and grievance.

She didn't believe Li Guoxuan would do such a thing.

But the scene before us is so real that we can't ignore it.

Ultimately, they were too young and hadn't experienced the complexities and undercurrents of human nature.

"No! Really, I didn't! I didn't touch her at all!"

Li Guoxuan finally rushed out of the office, ran a few steps to the lobby, sweat beading on his forehead, and spoke rapidly: "As soon as she came in, she started tearing at her clothes, screaming and yelling. I was a full three meters away from her, I didn't even touch her! After she finished yelling, she turned around and ran away, it had nothing to do with me!"

"It really has absolutely nothing to do with it."

"Absolutely true!"

"Waaah..."

As soon as Huang Xirou saw him appear, her shoulders immediately trembled, and her sobs became urgent and thin, like a taut string.

Lin Guosheng stepped into the hall at that moment, his steps steady, his face ashen: "Li Guoxuan! As a public official, you openly sexually harassed Comrade Huang Xirou in your workplace. Do you have any regard for organizational discipline? Are you even a qualified Party member?"

His tone was cold and hard, each word like a hammer blow.

But a barely perceptible glint flashed in his eyes—cold, smug, like a viper flicking its tongue.