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

"You...you..."

Hong Liutao's fingers trembled, his face turned a deep purplish-red, and he couldn't utter a word.

Since the other party has openly admitted defeat, if he continues to argue, wouldn't that just confirm that he's "a cornered dog jumping over the wall"?

But swallowing this anger felt like swallowing a raw date pit—it was suffocating.

"Brother Li, ignore him. He's just being unreasonable."

"I love roast duck, the crispy skin dipped in sauce, it's so delicious I can't stop smacking my lips!"

Xu Meijing suddenly spoke up, her voice clear and bright, her smile radiant, her words reassuring Li Wenguo.

She is not someone who doesn't know how to behave appropriately.

Li Wenguo's decisive and efficient manner in speaking and acting was completely different from the usual humility and evasiveness of this day and age.

But this contrast, in her eyes, was like a breeze blowing in through the window, refreshing and bright—

To put it simply, it's about being attracted to someone.

That's why I always find excuses to get closer and take a few more glances.

Of course, she was already thoroughly fed up with Hong Liutao's "I've read the Analects" attitude.

Using Li Wenguo as a shield is also a way of sending a clear message to the other party: if you've taken a wrong turn, turn back as soon as possible.

"Did you hear that?" Li Wenguo turned to Hong Liutao, his tone indifferent but every word sharp and firm. "Meijing loves to eat duck, and she's the one who started this gathering. If you don't like it, the door's over there—please go ahead."

Upon hearing this, several employees who had initially wanted to agree with Fuyuan immediately lowered their heads and pretended to organize documents.

"Who cares about your duck carcass! Invite whoever you want!"

Hong Liutao flicked his sleeves and turned to leave.

Oh--

I would be more than happy if you didn't come.

Now we've finally got our chance to kick him out of the trading company.

Let's see if you dare to challenge me again!

Li Wenguo felt a surge of warmth in his heart and was secretly pleased with himself.

Ever since Xu Meijing got closer to him, Hong Liutao has been setting obstacles and attacking him openly and secretly—stealing his clients, delaying his progress, bowing and scraping to his face, and tripping him up behind his back.

Li Wenguo's temper was already flaring up.

If it weren't for Hong Liutao's interference, he would have earned at least 20% more in commission this month.

As the old saying goes: Cutting off someone's source of income is like digging up their ancestral grave.

So when he stumbled upon Hong Liutao finalizing a big deal with that small-time businessman, with the goods already at the dock, he immediately sensed something was up—wasn't this the perfect opportunity to crush him? And squeeze another layer of profit out of him, why not?

Before we knew it, it was time to wrap up work in the evening.

Li Wenguo gave a shout and, with seven or eight colleagues, headed straight for Bianyifang in a menacing manner.

Huang Kun's shameless face naturally followed.

But as soon as he saw Li Wenguo glaring at Hong Liutao, he immediately shrank back and didn't dare to breathe.

.........................

Bianyifang is a century-old brand. Its signboard means "convenient for the people and suitable for home and family". It pays attention to both taste and appearance, and the prices are not too expensive. It is definitely the place that the middle class loves.

The banquet started after 7 p.m.

After several rounds of drinks and dishes, Li Wenguo excused himself to go to the restroom and slipped out of the private room. No one noticed that he had darted into the shadows of a corner and, in the blink of an eye, released another version of himself from his personal space.

The clone had already changed its appearance in the space—its face was an ordinary face that would be hard to find in a crowd, but its height, shoulder width, walking posture, and even the wisp of hair sticking up at the back of its head were all cut from the same mold as Hong Liutao.

If you only see the back of an acquaintance, nine times out of ten you'll admit your mistake on the spot.

Why not just become Hong Liutao himself?

The logic is simple—if they were caught red-handed, how could the two Hong Liutaos possibly explain themselves when they were standing together?

His space and clones are the foundation of his survival; he cannot reveal even the slightest bit of his secrets.

The clone winked at Li Wenguo, then turned and left.

This clone has a brain; it can think and reason.

But that thought was copied verbatim from Li Wenguo's mind.

To put it bluntly, Li Wenguo simply stepped into another body.

He is in charge and has no ulterior motives—who has ever seen someone betray themselves?

However, the events experienced by the clone are unknown to others, and even Li Wenguo himself can only recall them from his memories.

Before long, the clone had reached the warehouse of the Indre Trading Company.

Although the warehouse is next to the dock, there are no streetlights yet, and the whole street is so dark you can't see your hand in front of your face.

Only two black dogs patrolled the night, pacing back and forth with flashlights; the rest of the place was deserted.

The clone nimbly bypassed them and crouched down close to the high wall.

With a swift movement, his clothes instantly changed into the outfit Hong Liutao often wore—coffee-colored casual trousers, a snow-white shirt, and a slicked-back hairstyle, exactly the same.

That's right, even clones can use space.

To be precise, as long as consciousness is under Li Wenguo's control, space is at his disposal.

He casually pulled a bamboo ladder out of his pocket and, with a "click," placed it against the four-meter-high wall.

That height requires real skill to reach—unless you hire a slam dunk master.

Of course, there are a few extraordinary people who can scale walls and leap across rooftops these days, but who would dare to break into a foreign trading company's warehouse? Wouldn't that be asking for trouble?

Foreigners are in power right now; anyone who crosses them is doomed.

In the blink of an eye, the clone had already scaled the wall, crouching low and moving along the outer wall of the warehouse, quietly peeking out its head to glance at the guardhouse thirty paces away.

The guard was facing away from the gate, slowly sipping his wine from a small cup.

The clone held its breath and stealthily approached the warehouse door.

There was a heavy brass lock on the door, weighing at least five pounds. It couldn't be broken with an axe, and even a crowbar couldn't budge it. If you really wanted to force it open, you'd probably have to bring in cannons.

But in the face of space, it is nothing more than a decoration.

With a single press of his hand, the copper lock vanished silently, sucked into the depths of space.

A slight smile played on his lips as he gently pushed open a crack and slipped inside.

Index & Co. was a trading company that specialized in foreign trade. They sold everything from arms and warships to needles and thread. As long as you had the money, there was nothing they wouldn't sell.

In business, only silver dollars matter; personal relationships are disregarded.

What Li Wenguo was eyeing was the hottest and most valuable item in this batch of goods—black gold.

To put it bluntly, it was opium.

It's top-quality, with high purity and a bright color, even harder than gold, which is why it earned the name "black gold".

This batch of goods was just ordered by the small-time merchant, and the person in charge was Hong Liutao.

It was just unloaded from the ship and stored in the warehouse this morning, with a total value of 100,000 silver dollars.

Xiaobenzi immediately handed over 10,000 silver dollars as a deposit, and said he would inspect the goods and settle the balance first thing tomorrow morning.

What if this batch of goods disappears in the blink of an eye—

Hong Liutao is definitely involved; he made the decisions and handled the entire deal from beginning to end.

"Ugh!"

"This is the stuff; it's so poisonous it makes bones brittle and hearts rot. So many families have been dragged into this mire, broken apart, families torn apart, and lives lost!"

The clone, clutching a flashlight, approached the pile of goods, the beam sweeping across the boxes, his tone heavy with apprehension.

Fifty thick wooden crates, stacked with sharp edges, resembled soldiers lined up waiting for orders.

Despite saying that, he didn't hesitate at all—he raised his hand and swallowed them all into his personal space.

Fifty boxes stacked together would take up a lot of space, but once inside the space, they automatically fold up and shrink, taking up only a small area.

The moment the goods landed in his spatial dimension, Li Wenguo, who was drinking with his colleagues at the Bianyifang Restaurant, sensed it. He was already smiling, but now his eyebrows and eyes relaxed even more, as if they were blooming.

This batch of black gold is worth 100,000 silver dollars. As long as it is sold smoothly, a net profit of 90,000 silver dollars will be easily pocketed.

How could he not be overjoyed?

As for burning it down to give a few poor families a breather?

That's something only someone with a brain full of water would do.

The opium market was already packed with people; even without this batch, opium dens would still open and opium lamps would still be smoking.

Besides, what kind of bastard wouldn't take money that's offered to them?

This batch is all top-of-the-line stuff, ordinary people can't even afford to smell it, it's exclusively for those officials and nouveau riche who ride roughshod over the common people.

Li Wenguo wouldn't even blink an eye when swindling their money.

Instead, it helped them die early, preventing them from harming more people.

To put it bluntly, it's a way of accumulating good karma in disguise.

"Come on, come on!!!"

"Fill it up! We're not leaving until we're drunk!"

Li Wenguo raised his glass with great enthusiasm, his voice loud and clear.

His colleagues assumed he had received a generous bonus and raised their glasses in agreement.

"Hey Li, you look so radiant today, did your bonus double?"

Huang Kun glanced at him sideways, his words containing three parts envy and seven parts probing.

He worked at Inderley & Co. for ten years before finally becoming a manager (or director).

Li Wenguo had only been in the company for two months when he quickly rose to a high position thanks to a few impressive deals, and his performance continued to improve in the third month—all while Hong Liutao was setting obstacles for him at every turn.

Even Huang Kun himself couldn't figure it out.

Hong Liutao's success was entirely due to his fluent Japanese, which allowed him to retain almost all of his Japanese clients.

"Ha ha!!!"

"Not much, just a tiny bit more than last month."

Li Wenguo smiled modestly, but his words were perfectly tactful.

He knew exactly what kind of person Huang Kun was.

His jealousy was as intense as boiling oil in a pot; the slightest provocation would cause him to bare his teeth and turn into a mad dog, just like Hong Liutao.

Getting involved with this kind of person is both troublesome and disgusting.

Of course, Li Wenguo wasn't afraid of him.

Right now, he just wants to use the prestigious name of the foreign firm to quietly make a fortune and avoid any unnecessary trouble.

After all, every move carries the risk of being exposed.

He would never take action unless absolutely necessary.

Hong Liutao, however, has already crossed the line.

Therefore, Li Wenguo had already begun making moves in this game.

"Yeah?"

"Even if it's just a tiny bit more, it's still real, high-quality stuff."

Huang Kun's lips twitched, a sour taste emanating from him.

"Sigh! I think my luck has run out."

Li Wenguo swirled his wine glass, his tone slightly weary, "Everyone knows that the Americans have recently opened two trading companies in our territory, stealing so many orders. From now on, we'll be lucky to maintain our current performance; expecting to climb any higher? That's going to be tough."

"Brother Li, it's already quite remarkable that you've managed to maintain this momentum every month."

Xu Meijing replied softly.

Slightly tipsy, her cheeks flushed a rosy hue, and her eyes sparkled, making her even more beautiful and captivating.

Several male colleagues kept glancing in her direction.

"Okay, okay, I love hearing Meijing say that!"

"Come, come, let me toast you again, and also to all my brothers and sisters!"

Li Wenguo took the opportunity to raise his glass and offer a toast, subtly cutting off Huang Kun's words.

The warehouse side—

After collecting the opium, the clone turned and looked at another corner.

Several ammunition boxes lay quietly there, from the orders handled by Huang Kun.

Li Wenguo knew what was going on:

Three boxes of M1917 Enfield rifles, twenty rifles per box, for a total of sixty rifles.

It is 1.176 meters long, with a barrel length of 0.66 meters, an empty weight of 4.08 kilograms, and an effective range of around 550 meters, slightly better than the Type 38 rifle.

The other two boxes contained Ninglang pistols, thirty in each box, for a total of sixty, specifically for use by the Kuomintang secret agents under Boss Dai.

Fifty thousand bullets each.

There were also two Czech-made light machine guns, each with 20,000 rounds of ammunition.

A box of hand grenades.

The total value is five thousand silver dollars.

Li Wenguo knew that this was a large landowner in a county outside the capital who had ordered the goods, intending to equip his guards with all the necessary tools to keep out the bandits on the mountain.

no way.

In those days, bandits were like weeds, everywhere on the mountains and fields—one gang on the east ridge, another on the west slope, and "Double-Gun Old Six" was hiding in the north ravine.

If landlords don't tighten their grip on the knife handle, they'll be stripped down to nothing sooner or later, and won't even be able to keep their ancestral hall and memorial tablets.

"Since it's a job that a tough nut like Huang Kun took, then I won't be polite."

As soon as he finished speaking, the weapons silently slipped into Li Wenguo's personal storage space.