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

Li Guoman lowered his eyes, remained silent for two seconds, and then looked up with a frank gaze: "I think I should tell you the truth about this matter."

He knew Guan Yan was tight-lipped and trusted her sense of propriety.

So he calmly recounted the whole story, without embellishment or exaggeration.

After listening, Guan Yan shook her head slightly, a helpless smile appearing on her lips: "Love, hate, and grudges... these really aren't things made up in novels."

She paused for a moment, then looked up, her tone calm and clear:

"But I can't help with this."

"Why?" Li Guoman was taken aback.

"Because persuading her to leave would be the greatest injustice to her."

"According to you, she and your brother were originally a couple, but someone forced their way in, which led to this situation. Now, pushing her far away, sending her to the other side of the ocean, so that your brother and sister-in-law can live a peaceful life—Guoman, tell me, is this fair to Shen Shanshan?"

She didn't favor or protect anyone; she simply laid her words out under the light, speaking plainly yet sharply.

Indeed, if we set aside the initial incident of Shen Shanshan setting up a scheme to get close to Li Guozhui, she has suffered some injustices over the years.

However, only Shen Shanshan herself, her family, and Li Wenguo knew about this old matter—even the neighbors were kept in the dark. Guan Yan naturally had no way of knowing either, so she had been judging based on the surface situation.

Li Guoman was taken aback by these words. He had never expected Guan Yan to say that.

He opened his mouth for a moment, but couldn't say anything.

"Boss! Quickly, give me five more of each color!"

Just as things were at an impasse, a tobacco and alcohol vendor at the alley entrance called out loudly.

"Okay, coming right away!"

Guan Yan readily agreed, turned around and went inside to move the goods, quickly stacking them neatly and handing them out to the vendor.

After she returned, wiping her hands, Li Guoman spoke again: "But my brother and Sister-in-law Xiuli have been living together for a long time, and their child is already two years old. Logically speaking, they are the perfect match, right?"

Guan Yan folded the rag on the edge of the cutting board, looked up and stared directly at him: "It looks like it, but life isn't made of paper. You can't just look at the surface. You have to break things down and see who was tempted, who hurt someone, and who upheld the bottom line. If everyone only recognizes appearances, then sooner or later this world won't even be able to reflect its true nature. In the future, when we're working for the country, I'm afraid we won't even be able to keep our own moral compass steady."

She spoke with her chin slightly raised, her eyes clear and bright, without the slightest hesitation.

Throughout her years as class monitor, she never treated "fairness" as a mere slogan; she upheld it with her very backbone.

Besides, she's a native of Northeast China, and she never beats around the bush when she speaks or acts.

"Uh... okay, okay, never mind."

Li Guoman scratched the back of his head; his ears felt a little hot.

I learned another lesson.

No one expected that, just two days after returning home, Guan Yan would specifically seek out Shen Shanshan and ask if she would be willing to study in the United States. She even said that as long as she nodded, she would help her with the quota, procedures, and recommendation letters.

Shen Shanshan was stunned.

To be honest, she was moved.

The United States—skyscrapers, bustling traffic, the air thick with the golden aroma of bread, even the air seems to exude a carefree spirit. Studying there is like stepping into a completely different life. Who wouldn't want that?

But when she thought of Ye Xiuli staying with Li Guozhui, raising their child and living a peaceful life, as if she were wrapped in a plaster, a little bit of resentment quietly resurfaced in her heart.

"Shanshan, put your hands on your heart: what is your status now? You're the one who got involved in this mess, and you even have a child with someone else. How long do you plan to keep this up?"

"Why don't we change locations and start over?"

Guan Yan didn't pressure her, but her words struck deep into her bones.

Shen Shanshan tossed and turned in bed that night, asking herself: If this drags on any longer, can I win? And even if I win, what then? What if I lose? I'll lose everything...

It would be better to fly far away.

Later, with Guan Yan's repeated trips to the Education Bureau, asking people to revise her application materials, and helping her practice her spoken English, Shen Shanshan was successfully admitted to a full scholarship program at a university in the United States.

Upon hearing the news, Li Guozhui breathed a long sigh of relief. This matter had weighed on his mind for several years, and he was finally relieved.

To show his sincerity, he also asked his old classmates in the United States to secretly take care of Shen Shanshan: finding her an apartment, arranging her internship, and even getting her first part-time job interview arranged in advance.

Just as the plane was taking off, Shen Shanshan was eating her boxed lunch when she suddenly felt nauseous. She covered her mouth and gagged, then frantically grabbed a plastic bag...

Three days after Shen Shanshan left, Li Guoman overheard Aunt Wang from next door mentioning the matter in casual conversation, and he was stunned.

It turns out that Guan Yan was just spouting platitudes, but she had already taken care of things behind the scenes.

He stood at the alley entrance grinning, but his heart felt as if it had been gently bumped by something:

Ha, this woman, she's all bark and no bite, cold on the outside but warm on the inside, and she's got a whole bunch of schemes up her sleeve.

It was much more interesting than he had imagined.

That evening, he rode his bicycle directly to Guan Yan's apartment building and said, "Let's go eat!"

Guan Yan had just finished washing her hair, a towel draped over her shoulder, and waved her hand, "No need. That hundred yuan saved my dad's life last time, this is nothing."

"Hey, saving lives is one thing, eating is another! Besides, you already paid back the money—let's go!"

Without a word, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her away. Her fingertips were slightly cool, and her wrist bones were delicate. The moment he touched her, her face flushed red, but she didn't pull away.

For this meal, he took her to Shuxiangxuan, a restaurant co-owned by Brother Guotao and Uncle Shazhu.

The octagonal table was polished to a shine, and the blue-and-white porcelain plates held braised pork hock, braised sea cucumber with scallions, and stir-fried pork intestines—all of Sha Zhu's specialties. Guan Yan, who had grown up eating cornbread, was seeing such large pieces of meat and such glistening sauce for the first time. Her chopsticks trembled slightly as she picked up a piece of pork hock, blowing on it because it was so hot, but she couldn't bear to put it down.

Sha Zhu personally brought in a bottle of Moutai, placing it on the table with a grin: "Old Li's son, once you're here, you're family!"

He knew the Li family very well; they'd been neighbors for over twenty years. He remembered better than anyone whose child was in school and whose elderly relative was sick. Seeing that it was Li Guoman today, he casually slipped him two movie tickets: "Here, a new movie, just downloaded. Take it!"

Li Guoman couldn't refuse, and Guan Yan didn't stop him, so he smiled and accepted, "Thank you, Uncle Shazhu!"

Guan Yan frowned: "Uncle Sha Zhu? That title... isn't quite appropriate in Beijing or Northeast China, is it?"

"Hey, you don't know this—we've called him that since we were kids, and he's really happy about it! Look at his loud voice and his straightforward manner, calling him 'Silly Pillar' is even more affectionate than calling him 'Brother Pillar'."

As Li Guoman explained, he glanced around the lobby. Guan Yan looked up and saw the crystal chandelier reflecting the mahogany carvings, and the marble tiles on the floor so reflective they made her eyes light up. She couldn't help but gasp, "This shop... how much capital does it take to keep it afloat?"

He deliberately lowered his voice and leaned closer: "I heard that several million were invested back then."

Guan Yan's eyes widened, and she almost dropped her chopsticks into the soup bowl.

Millions? Her father needed a hundred yuan for surgery, and the whole family rummaged through drawers and borrowed from every relative; her mother clutched her food coupons for three days before daring to buy half a pound of pork to make dumplings. Millions—that wasn't a number, it was a cloud floating in the sky, something she could never reach even if she stood on tiptoe her whole life.

After finishing their meal and leaving the house, Li Guoman waved the tickets in his hand: "Let's go, don't waste them."

She sat sideways on the back of the bicycle, hesitated for a moment, then gently wrapped her arms around his waist. The wind brushed past her ears, and she looked up to see a small tan line on the back of his neck. Suddenly, she felt a burning sensation in her heart and buried her face in his soft, washed blue shirt.

The posters outside the movie theater were bright and cheerful, showing the movie "Railways to the East," with the lead actor's name prominently displayed: Li Guoyao.

"Wow! It's a film by Li Guoyao!" Her eyes lit up, and her voice rose.

Li Guoman turned his head to look at her: "If you ask me, Li Guoyao is my own brother, do you believe me?"

"I don't believe it!" She shook her head, laughing so hard her shoulders shook. "He looks nothing like you."

He didn't argue anymore, but just smiled and pushed her through the door.

Some things don't need to be said outright—there's plenty of time.

As soon as the two figures disappeared through the ticket gate, a pair of dark eyes stared at them from behind the utility pole diagonally opposite, until the door closed completely.

Two hours later, the lights came on as the event ended.

They came out side by side, their smiles still lingering on their faces.

A few young men in bell-bottoms approached, cigarettes dangling from their lips, their eyes scanning Guan Yan: "Comrade, how about we have a late-night snack?"

She didn't answer, but gently squeezed the empty soda bottle in her hand, making a crisp snapping sound.

Just as Li Guoman was about to step forward, she saw her sidestep, push with her left hand and twist with her right, and the person in front stumbled and fell into the roadside flower bed, his trouser legs covered in mud, still dazed.

He paused for a moment, then suddenly burst out laughing: "Guan Yan, I didn't realize you were such a good fighter... uh, quite cool too."

He wanted to blurt out the word "take action," but when his eyes met Guan Yan's, his throat tightened, and he swallowed the words back—afraid that she would actually raise her hand to attack.

Just now, in that narrow alley outside the school gate, a few loitering men came up to chat with her. Without saying a word, Guan Yan twisted her waist to the side and threw a punch with the wind, knocking one of them down. Then she shoved the second one with an elbow, sending him crashing into a telephone pole and groaning.

Seeing this, Li Guoman didn't hesitate. Relying on his height and strong arms, he pushed left and right, squeezing open two paths.

The two of them took off running and only stopped when they reached the school gate. Before they could catch their breath, they already knew perfectly well that this girl was not someone to be trifled with.

Those idlers had vanished without a trace, like scraps of paper swept away by the night wind, leaving not even a cough behind.

"Hmph, didn't expect that, did you?" Guan Yan flicked her wrist, a smirk playing on her lips and an eyebrow raised. "My dad came from the military, and he taught me from a young age—a young lady shouldn't rely on others when she goes out into the world; she should rely on herself. These skills were taught to me by him personally."

"No wonder." He nodded naturally. "Whoever marries you in the future will probably be too afraid to even speak loudly."

"No way!" She turned her face away, her ears turning slightly red, and lowered her voice. "When I set my mind on someone, it's for life. I only use these tricks on outsiders. If I get married in the future, and my husband treats me well, I'll cherish him; if he doesn't..." She paused, her fingertips unconsciously twisting the hem of her clothes, "I can only endure it and not make a fuss."

As soon as he said that, Li Guoman felt like he had a grain of rice stuck in his throat, unable to cough it up or swallow it down. He could only chuckle dryly and scratch the back of his head: "Hurry up and go in, it's almost ten o'clock."

But today, the guardhouse at the school gate, which was usually half-open, was tightly shut, and the lights were blindingly bright. Old Zhang, on duty, sat behind the window, not even lifting his eyelids, simply pushing the registration book onto the table: "It's closing time. Student ID? The rules are right here—once it's past closing time, no one is allowed in."

Left with no other choice, Li Guoman led Guan Yan westward.