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

Xiao Cong trotted in, and upon recognizing Lü Wei standing next to Li Guojiang, his face turned deathly pale: "Young Master Guojiang! This... Comrade Lü Wei didn't mention you! We really didn't know it was your goods!"

He immediately pulled a manila envelope from his pocket and presented it to Lü Wei with both hands: "I will return the full amount of 100,000, not a penny less. I was very rude earlier, please forgive me..."

Lu Wei waved his hand and laughed instead: "It's nothing, it's a misunderstanding, all a misunderstanding."

Xiao Fo then asked someone to make tea and made a phone call to Li Guohang to come over.

Less than twenty minutes later, Li Guohang, wearing a dark blue Zhongshan suit, pushed open the door and sat down. His first words were: "How about this, Guojiang, Comrade Lü Wei—we'll buy all the bell-bottom jeans from your factory."

He paused, picked up the enamel mug, and blew on it to cool it down: "But it has to have a Hong Kong brand label. People recognize that now; they think it's stylish and durable."

Lu Wei felt a surge of warmth in his heart: the sales channels were there, and they were readily available!

Upon hearing the words "put up the Hong Kong sign," he instinctively turned to look at Li Guojiang, his lips slightly parted, but he remained silent, his eyes full of questions—

Can this brand really be slapped on so casually?

He had never dealt with the factories in Hong Kong before. He was unsure about using their brand without careful consideration, fearing it might cause trouble. "I'll use Brother Guoan's factory brand."

Li Guohang began.

Li Guoan is Xu Wanqing's second son and Li Guoxian's brother.

Now that he was Li Guojiang's brother, Lü Wei felt relieved.

Li Guoxuan's side—

Su Leilei pestered him for a whole year before finally inviting him into her home for a meal.

Ultimately, it was her peers who were pressuring her. Just two days ago, her brother, Su Zhenguo, slammed his fist on the table and said, "If we keep dragging this on, the Cao family girl will have already decided on him!" That's why she gritted her teeth and set the date for today, intending to finalize the matter once and for all.

Su Leilei lost her parents at a young age, and her older brother raised her alone. Growing up by the stove, she naturally became quick and efficient, mastering cooking and stewing without relying on tricks, relying entirely on her hard-earned skill.

Before long, eight dishes and a soup were neatly arranged on the table: the sweet and sour pork ribs were glistening with oil, the stir-fried pea shoots were fresh and green, the braised crucian carp lay in the sauce, and even the scallions floating in the soup bowl looked like they had just been picked.

"Guoxuan, try this."

Su Leilei brought over a bottle of Gujinggong liquor, opened the cap and poured two glasses, then casually picked up a large piece of dark brown pork ribs and placed it in Li Guoxuan's bowl.

"Mmm! It smells delicious!"

He swallowed and couldn't help but nod, "Whoever marries you will be incredibly lucky."

He's equally at home in formal settings and in the kitchen—if he didn't already have Cao Ying in his heart, he might not have been able to resist his charm.

He was born in 1955 and just turned twenty-five. By all accounts, he should have been seriously dating and discussing marriage with Cao Ying last spring. But Su Leilei's gentle words and considerate actions have kept the matter dragging on until now.

"Guoxuan... if you really like me, why don't you marry me?"

She lowered her eyes, her fingers gently twisting the hem of her apron, her ears burning red, and her voice as soft as a feather brushing against a table.

This was the first time she had taken the initiative to speak frankly; her heart was pounding so fast she could hear it herself.

"Oh, let's eat first, let's eat first!"

Li Guoxuan quickly lowered his head and shoveled some rice into his mouth, inwardly cursing himself: "I can't keep my mouth shut! Knowing what she was thinking, I still went along with it. Wasn't that just jumping into a pit?"

It wasn't that he disliked Su Leilei as a person—she was reliable, meticulous, and capable, lacking in every way. It was just that her family background was too meager: her parents had passed away early, and although her brother doted on her, he was just an ordinary worker; her family had no connections or influence. This was what Old Master Li Wenguo valued most, and he had long ago said, "Our family doesn't aspire to climb the social ladder, but we must be able to stand firm and go far."

In contrast, Cao Ying comes from the Cao family compound; her grandfather managed cadres in a ministry before retiring, and her father currently works in the municipal revolutionary committee. A marriage between the two families would not only add another family to the family but also provide an additional stepping stone in their social standing.

He was twenty-five years old and had worked in the factory for eight years; he was no longer the naive young man he once was. Some choices were no longer made solely based on impulse, but required careful consideration.

Su Leilei was not surprised to be politely rejected. After two years of getting to know each other, she knew she couldn't beat Cao Ying—not because she was a better person, but because she was at a disadvantage from the start.

Losing is not the same as accepting your fate.

Without making a sound, she poured Li Guoxuan another glass of wine. At the bottom of the glass were a few colorless and odorless powders, which her brother Su Zhenguo had secretly given her yesterday: "It's potent, but won't harm your body, and will only last for two hours."

After several rounds of drinks and five courses of food,

Li Guoxuan's forehead was sweating, his fingertips were burning, and his mind was as if shrouded in a thin fog, but he only thought it was the aftereffects of the liquor and didn't think about it any other way.

Su Leilei drank very little, only taking a few small sips, but two faint blushes rose on her face, and her eyes softened.

Another fifteen minutes passed.

His eyes were slightly red, his breathing was heavy, and his gaze was fixed on her as if he were being drawn to a magnet.

Su Leilei didn't speak, but gently put down her chopsticks, got up and walked into the inner room. Her steps were unhurried, and her skirt swept across the threshold, stirring up a gentle breeze.

Li Guoxuan's body moved faster than his mind. He stood up in a daze, staggered, and entered the bedroom.

"Drinking leads to trouble...it really does!"

Around nine o'clock at night, Li Guoxuan suddenly opened his eyes. He was lying on the narrow wooden bed in Su Leilei's house, the bedding beside him slightly disheveled, and the air still carried a faint smell of alcohol mixed with jasmine perfume. He raised his hand to wipe his face, his chest feeling tight and heavy.

"Guoxuan," Su Leilei said softly, sitting on the edge of the bed wearing a light coat, "if you're really in a difficult position, just pretend this never happened."

She lowered her eyes, her tone suggesting concession, but her fingertips had already subtly dug into her palms.

She knew him too well—he was loyal, principled, and definitely not the kind of man who would just walk away. If he woke up, he would most likely take responsibility.

"Sigh... what's done is done, how can we pretend it never happened?"

Li Guoxuan leaned back against the wall, sighed, and his voice was very hoarse.

"So... what's next?" she asked.

But in my heart, I kept shouting: Promise me! Promise me! Promise me!

"I...I need to think about it."

He frowned, his temples throbbing. "Go back tonight, I'll give you a definite answer in a few days. Don't worry, I, Li Guoxuan, am not one to run away from trouble."

For the next few days, the matter was like a red-hot coal, making him restless and uneasy.

Marry Su Leilei? He couldn't bear to part with Cao Ying; not marry her? His conscience wouldn't allow it, and he couldn't explain it to the old man. After much thought, he decided to consult his brother—not for advice, but to hear the truth and see what the older generation thought and how they would proceed.

The first person that comes to mind is Li Guoxian.

They were brothers, living across the street from each other. They grew up climbing trees together to steal bird eggs and getting disciplined by the old man with a ruler together. They were closer than anyone else.

When the bell rang to signal the end of the workday, Li Guoxuan turned directly into the textile factory gate.

Li Guoxian is the head of the security department. Every day, he has to wait until the last truckload of fabric arrives at the warehouse, the iron gate is locked, and the patrolmen have signed off before he can leave work. The work is tedious and slow-paced, much like a school student who has to check the windowsills after wiping the blackboard.

When he found Li Guoxian, the man was walking out with his keys jingling.

Li Guoxuan didn't beat around the bush and told the whole story from beginning to end: what the situation was like at Su Leilei's house, what Cao Ying meant, how she got drunk last night, and what she thought when she woke up... He didn't miss a single word.

"Let's walk and talk."

Li Guoxian patted him on the shoulder and casually put the keys into his pocket. "A few brothers from the factory have arranged to have dinner today at a state-run restaurant. We can go together."

Li Guoxuan had thought he would eat at home, but when he heard "restaurant," he was taken aback.

Once inside the private room, he realized—this was no ordinary meal. The large room, about a hundred square meters, was crammed full of seven or eight round tables. At the main table sat Li Jiacheng, Hu Yeming, Wei Hao, and others, all third-generation descendants who had grown up in the compound; at the other tables were all second-generation employees of the factory, some in supply and marketing, some in foreign trade, and some in charge of infrastructure.

It turned out to be a quarterly meeting. The group, who were partners in the bell-bottom jeans business, had just finished selling their first batch of goods, so they gathered together to eat, go over accounts, check sales, and divide the work for the next quarter.

"Guoxuan, go sit at Jiacheng's table."

Li Guoxian pointed to the main table and then added in a low voice, "After we finish eating, we can chat in detail, you and I."

Li Guoxian led him straight to the area where the three generations had gathered.

The group over there consisted entirely of young people who had recently graduated and were learning how to negotiate projects and secure resources; Li Guoxuan had neither business dealings nor old acquaintances with them, so they were naturally unrelated. It was the few people of similar age from the third generation who spoke more casually, and the atmosphere was more relaxed.

"Uncle Guoxian, Uncle Guoxuan."

When Li Jiacheng saw the two elders coming over, he quickly stood up, his hands hanging down slightly, his waist slightly bent, and his voice clear and without any dragging.

But as soon as he finished speaking, several young faces in the corner froze.

It was Weihao's group—the same group that had previously targeted Cao Ying and secretly pushed Su Leilei to her position.

They were already puzzled: why did the Li family act like they were protecting their child, repeatedly trying to matchmake Li Guoxuan and Cao Ying, even warning them to their faces not to touch Cao Ying?

It turns out he wasn't being kind at all; he had already set his sights on his own people!

But Su Leilei... she's already "settled down"!

Weihao and the others quickly exchanged glances, their Adam's apples bobbing, and a thin layer of sweat seeping from their backs.

"Brother? You said to stop? And you told me not to marry Li Guoxuan? But... but I've already given myself to him, can you just turn things around like that?"

Su Leilei stood in front of her brother, clutching the hem of her clothes, her eyes red and her voice trembling, each word seemingly squeezed out from between her teeth.

We need to go back in time to tell the story.

When Weihao and his group heard that Li Guoxuan was actually Li Jiacheng's uncle, they immediately backed down—if they dared to touch him and Cao Ying again, they were probably tired of living in the capital.

So he quickly sent Su Ge to stop his sister, saying only one thing: "She can't come in, she can't ruin things, and she has to push the two of them together."

The more naturally you make your deductions, the less likely they will be to be exposed when investigated later. Even if you are exposed one day, it will just be dismissed as "a moment of confusion in youth," and the matter will be easily forgotten.