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

For the next month, Zhong Linlin was naturally proactive and gently soothing. Li Guohang declined twice, but the third time, just as he stubbed out his cigarette, she leaned in, her fingertips twirling around the third button of his shirt: "Guohang, I heard your brother lives upstairs? The one who manages the office at the machinery factory?"

"Hmm, Defense Bro." He exhaled a puff of smoke, his voice lazy.

"What a coincidence, my brother also works at the factory. He's been there for over six years and is still a clerk." She leaned closer, her voice soft. "Could you ask Brother Guofang to help you out? Even just a promotion, a raise in salary, and more subsidies would give you something to look forward to."

"Okay, I'll ask around for you." He didn't give a guarantee, but he didn't hesitate either. "That guy from the National Defense Department is a stickler for rules. Six years of service is enough, and he's not breaking any regulations, so there shouldn't be any problem."

"Thank you very much, teacher." She smiled and stood up, her skirt brushing against the edge of the bed. "It's still early, I'll sit with you a little longer..."

That evening, Li Guohang carried a bag of apples up to the fourth floor.

Li Guofang was putting on his apron when he opened the door. A pot of pork rib soup was simmering, its aroma filling the air. After hearing his purpose, he wiped his hands and flipped through his notebook: "Surname Zhong? Clerk? Okay, I'll check the files when I get back to the factory tomorrow morning. As long as he hasn't just been promoted, I'll give him a promotion according to procedure—his salary, housing allowance, and priority access to work-related supplies will all change accordingly."

Just as she finished speaking, a figure peeked out from the kitchen doorway. It was Xu Yaling, standing there with a bowl of soup in her hand, her eyelids slightly raised: "Uncle Guohang, you're just resting at home every day now, haven't you thought about what to do in the future?"

His tone was calm and even, as if he were asking about the weather. But the word "rest" was pronounced with exceptional lightness and precision.

She looked down on this uncle: he had been to prison, was unemployed, and was still entangled with that female student—the last time she saw them going upstairs together in the hallway, one carrying a bag and the other smiling with his head down, she could smell the sticky smell from three steps away.

She lives in the same building, upstairs and downstairs, and doesn't need to work. Of her three children, two are in school and one is in kindergarten, leaving only her youngest son with her. She's so bored she can hear the dripping of the neighbor's tap. Some things simply can't be hidden.

Li Guohang wasn't annoyed, he just smiled and said, "My dad mentioned that the policy will be relaxed in a few years, allowing individual businesses to operate. I've made up my mind, I'll try that approach."

"Do business?" Xu Yaling paused, her hand holding the bowl still, then her eyes suddenly lit up. "Can this really be done in China?"

"My dad said it himself." He nodded. "If he believes it, then I believe it too."

"Then...why not go to Hong Kong?" she pressed. "Your relatives there have all built up their businesses, some even have tens of millions in assets."

"My dad said that no matter how big Hong Kong is, it's just one city; but here we have over six hundred cities, and every road connects us. A big tree is good for shade, but only when the roots are deep can you withstand the wind."

Xu Yaling didn't speak again. She lowered her head and blew on the soup noodles, the steam rising and blurring her glasses. But in her heart, it was as if a window had been opened—outside the window were not tall buildings and narrow alleys, but a vast plain stretching as far as the eye could see, with the wind blowing from south to north.

On the other side, Li Guozhui opened his eyes in the early morning and found himself lying side by side with Ye Xiuli on the same bed. Neither of them was wearing anything. The morning light slanted across the windowsill and spread a pale golden line on the floor.

The bed sheet was so thin it was translucent, with a few dark red marks on it, like plum blossom petals wet with rain, scattered and glaring.

Everything goes without saying.

Li Guozhui's temples throbbed; the hangover hadn't worn off, and now it felt like an iron nail was hammering into his brain. He raised his hand and slammed the inside of his wrist against his forehead, once, twice, until his knuckles turned white.

"Drinking is bad, drinking is bad... alcohol..."

"Guozhui, don't do this." Ye Xiuli also sat up, pulling the blanket over her chest, her shoulders still damp with sweat. "It was my own choice."

Last night, the educated youth gathered for a drinking party. Once they started talking, they couldn't stop. All the male educated youth were drunk, while the women remained somewhat sober. Ye Xiuli saw Li Guozhui slumped on the bench, unable to speak clearly, his eyes unfocused, and she had an idea. When the party ended, she took his arm and half-helped, half-dragged him into the empty room at the east end—the door closed, the light blew out, and it was done.

She knew perfectly well that Li Guozhui's heart belonged to Shen Shanshan. If she didn't seize this moment of confusion to secure a real title for him, she feared she would never even get a glimpse of him in her life. Now that she was officially in a relationship, she had to speak softly and adopt a humble attitude.

"Sigh... In the end, you're the one who suffers." Li Guozhui turned his face and looked at her with regret. He assumed that the two of them had gotten drunk and ended up together in a daze, and he never thought of any "scheming" at all.

"Guozhui, I don't expect you to marry me, I just beg you not to push me away again." Ye Xiuli had confessed her feelings three times before, and each time she was rejected for the same reason—Shen Shanshan. This time, she used her innocence as a key, determined not to fail to open that door to her heart.

"Sigh, why are you doing this to yourself..." Li Guozhui's throat tightened, and his words softened as soon as they came out. She's given you her body, how can you be so heartless? He was only in his early twenties, his heart wasn't hardened yet, and guilt came faster than reason.

From then on, the two began to secretly date.

Ye Xiuli knew perfectly well: in terms of feelings, she couldn't compare to Shen Shanshan; but in terms of real intimacy, she had a huge advantage. So, whenever no one was around, she would take Li Guozhui's arm, their fingers intertwined tightly; once inside, she would sit next to him, knee to knee, her lips almost brushing against his earlobe when she spoke; if she wanted to stay longer, she would make an excuse to go to the county on business, ask for half a day off, and stay at the guesthouse—booking two rooms, and as soon as the corridor lights went out, she would tiptoe into his room.

But what wall is truly impenetrable? No matter how tightly the two hid, their eyes couldn't lie: the moment they saw each other, their eyes lit up, their smiles softened, and even handing each other an enamel mug seemed to have a sticky quality to it. Bystanders noticed something was amiss, but dared not say anything.

Although Shen Shanshan didn't witness it, she could sense that Li Guozhui had changed. Before, if her shoelace came undone, he would squat down and tie it; now, if she coughed twice, he would only look up and ask, "Are you alright?" before burying his head back in digging. She assumed it was just because the autumn harvest was approaching and he was exhausted, and didn't think anything of it.

That midday, Shen Shanshan and two other female educated youths squatted on a washboard on the riverbank. The water was cool, and the foam shimmered with tiny sparkles. The girl next to her, surnamed Lin, stopped washing her clothes abruptly, frowning, and said:

"Shanshan, don't you think... Guozhui's attitude towards you isn't the same as before?"

Shen Shanshan's fingers paused, the soap slipped into the water, she scooped it up, and said in a flat voice, "What do you mean by that?"

"Didn't you see? He and Ye Xiuli kept making eye contact—the kind of eye contact that no one else could get in." Miss Lin wrung out her clothes and shook off the water. "I've seen it with my own eyes several times."

She was straightforward by nature and couldn't stand this kind of thing: sweet-talking Shen Shanshan to her face while secretly holding hands and laughing with someone else. She just forgot that the slices of meat in her bowl every few days, and the extra bits of pork lard on the stove, were all things Li Guozhui had saved up from home to bring back.

Hearing this, Xiao Hong paused in her hand holding the washboard, her brow furrowing slightly.

"You mean... Guo Zhui and Ye Xiuli are really together?"

Shen Shanshan's voice softened, her fingers unconsciously twisting the hem of her clothes.

"Impossible, right?" she muttered to herself, yet also as if speaking to someone else. "He even turned down a permanent job at the forest farm to stay here with me..."

Before he could finish speaking, he fell silent. Lately, his aloofness was like fine sand seeping into a shoe—it didn't prick, but it hurt his feet.

"Why not?" Miss Lin sneered. "Last time I passed by the alley behind the supply and marketing cooperative, I saw them leaning against the wall talking. She was looking up, and he was listening with his head down, laughing so hard his shoulders were shaking—is that how an ordinary comrade should act?"

Shen Shanshan lowered her head and rubbed a blue cloth jacket, without replying.

"But I didn't see it with my own eyes." Her voice was soft, but stubborn.

"Ha, if he really did this behind your back, would you have caught him?" Miss Lin scoffed. "Do you think he's stupid?"

Seeing that Shen Shanshan was still skeptical, she turned to Xiao Hong and gestured with her chin: "Xiao Hong, you've seen it too, haven't you?"

Xiao Hong kept her head down, scrubbing and washing, and didn't look up when she heard this. She just slowly wrung out a towel. Miss Lin got impatient and nudged her gently with her elbow.

Xiao Hong then looked up and shook her head: "I didn't see it."

"You?" Miss Lin's voice rose. "Last time you asked me if they were secretly dating behind Shanshan's back!"

Xiao Hong wiped her hands and said calmly, "I didn't say that. You've got it wrong."

Shen Shanshan silently picked up the plastic bucket—it contained her own clothes folded inside, along with Li Guozhui's faded work jacket. For over two years, he had carried the heaviest sacks for her, taken the sunniest jobs, and even secretly made brown sugar water for her when she had menstrual cramps and placed it on the windowsill. She had long since regarded this man as the only solid foundation she could stand on in this land.

"Since Xiaohong says you're mistaken, then you must have really misjudged me." She stood up, the tub rope digging into her palm. "I'm done washing, I'm going home now."

Miss Lin stared at her retreating figure, her chest heaving with anger: "Xiao Hong! Why didn't you tell Shan Shan the truth? Could you really bear to let her stay in the dark?"

Xiao Hong scraped the last bar of soap clean, slowly wrung out the towel, and then looked up: "Let me ask you something—who carried that piece of cured meat you ate this morning back from thirty miles away?"

Upon hearing this, her face paled instantly, her eyes darted around, and her voice trembled: "It was...it was Li Guozhui."

As he spoke, his voice grew fainter and fainter, as if it would dissipate with a gust of wind.

People need to be well-fed to be able to endure a whole day of heavy work in the fields.

"I'm an honest person. If I take something from someone, I'll be hesitant; if I eat someone's food, I'll be indebted to them."

"Alright, I've cleaned myself up."

After saying that, Xiao Hong turned and left.

Only the female educated youth remained, her face turning pale and then red—a guilty conscience had just surfaced, followed by annoyance: if Li Guozhui heard her gossiping about him behind his back, she wouldn't be able to get a single piece of fat meat in the future!

"Guoxuan, it's my birthday today. How about we go to a state-run restaurant for a meal and have some fun?"

As soon as the bell rang to signal the end of the workday, a girl with a ponytail and bright eyes quickly walked up to Li Guoxuan and greeted him with a smile.

Her name is Su Leilei, she is twenty years old, and she was transferred to the Construction Bureau two months ago.

Once the man arrived, he started hanging around Li Guoxuan's desk frequently within a few days, pouring water, borrowing books, and asking about reports, his words revealing his closeness to Li Guoxuan.

It's obvious to everyone that she wants to date Li Guoxuan.

That's right, this Su Leilei was sent in through connections by several children of high-ranking officials, specifically to keep Li Guoxuan tied down and break him up with Cao Ying.

"Well... I need to go home for dinner tonight."

Li Guoxuan scratched the back of his neck, looking a little flustered.

He'd already been invited three times—he'd declined the first two. This time, it was her birthday, and if he stubbornly refused again, it would seem like he was cold-hearted.