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

But when the patrol officer leading the team stepped through the door, his face stern as he scanned the room, he suddenly paused, startled:

"Huh? Silly Qiang?"

The guards standing by the door called out.

"Oh, Hiroko!"

Sha Qiang responded and stood on tiptoe to peek inside.

"Master Li is inside!"

"Silly Qiang, over here!"

Ding Xiaoqi raised his hand and made a gesture.

"You all wait outside for now."

Sha Qiang waved to the group of patrol officers, then quickly stepped forward with a fawning smile, bowing and saying, "Master Li, what brings you here?"

"Shopkeeper, could you please bring me another pair of chopsticks?"

Li Wenguo first raised his chin at the cook who was standing dumbfounded by the stove, then gestured to Sha Qiang, "Sit down."

"Silly Qiang, it's already this late, and you're still running errands with all your might?"

"Oh, Mr. Li, don't even mention it! Director Yang just stepped down, and Old Cow Shit immediately turned on us, dumping all the hardest and dirtiest work on me, Tie Dan, and Kong Wu—you tell me, in the dead of night, how can I not go out and investigate?"

Sha Qiang picked up a piece of fatty and lean braised pork and stuffed it into his mouth, his voice filled with a sense of frustration.

He had no idea that this scene was a setup orchestrated by Li Wenguo and Niu Dali, just to test their resolve and fervor.

Judging from the looks of it, this loyalty seems quite genuine.

Seeing that the patrolmen were as familiar with Li Wenguo as if he were their own brothers, Lao Pan, the other two, and the cook immediately held their breath and didn't dare to blink even for fear of attracting the slightest attention.

"Who are you investigating?"

Li Wenguo followed up by asking further questions.

"Look, this is the person the higher-ups specifically named to arrest, calling him a 'rebel'."

Sha Qiang pulled a yellowed portrait from his waistband and unfolded it with a "whoosh"—Li Wenguo, Ding Xiaoqi, and A Gui glanced at it and their hearts skipped a beat.

Old Pan glanced over there, and a cold sweat instantly broke out on the back of his neck.

The face in the portrait was clearly that of the guest who had just been brought in that evening, and was now sitting at the table next to them.

Ding Xiaoqi was the first to lose her composure, twisting her heel as she turned to look at Lao Pan—

"Cough! Cough cough!!!"

A short, forceful cough, like a stone thrown into water, abruptly interrupted his movements.

"The person you're looking for isn't here."

Li Wenguo's tone was flat, yet it carried an undeniable weight.

"Alright! As you say, Mr. Li! We'll go somewhere else now."

As soon as Sha Qiang propped himself up, his arm was pushed back down.

"What's the rush? Eat your fill before you leave."

Li Wenguo's palm pressed firmly on his shoulder, the force not heavy, yet making it impossible for him to break free.

He then turned to the cook, his voice crisp and clear: "Shopkeeper, do you have meat buns?"

"No...no steamed buns, just a few steamers of plain white steamed buns and two pig lungs."

The cook's voice was weak, and his fingers unconsciously fiddled with the hem of his apron.

"Alright, quickly simmer a big pot of piping hot mutton soup, and steam some buns too. One bowl for each of the brothers outside, put it on my tab!"

"Ouch—alright!!!"

Before long, the noise subsided and the heat cooled down.

Only Ah Gui was a beat behind and glanced back. When he saw the person's face, his face turned pale, and he ran back into the house, slamming the door shut with a loud bang.

"call……"

Old Pan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead; his honest and simple face had long since been torn to shreds, leaving only a grim expression.

"Those three guys have probably caught wind of it."

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

Today is the day of the "Little Notebook" campaign.

"Sir, what exactly is the plan for today?"

"Why are you stopping me from going to the newspaper office?"

At the dinner table, He Shuting's chopsticks paused in mid-air, her brows slightly furrowed.

Li Wenguo declared last night: No one is allowed to step out of their house today.

She wanted to get to the bottom of things, but Li Wenguo pulled Hongyu away and left without even leaving her a corner of his clothes.

He held his breath until morning.

"I told you to guard the house, and there's a reason for that. Stop nagging."

Li Wenguo held a bowl of soy milk in his left hand and a shiny meat bun in his right, biting into it and squirting juice everywhere.

"Reason? There has to be some reason! What's going on in the capital? You should at least give us a heads-up!"

She wouldn't give an answer and kept pressing for details.

My heart was filled with fear—had the stronghold been leaked? Were all the spies mobilized, just waiting to close the net?

Holding her bowl of porridge, Dong Haitang raised an eyelid upon hearing this and said unhurriedly, "Women should only worry about daily necessities. If the sky falls, the man will hold it up. Why are you so anxious?"

Her words were partly a professional instinct and partly an instinct to protect secrets.

"Am I being unreasonable? If lightning strikes outside, the roof beams inside will sway too! If something goes wrong, who's going to cover it up? I have to nip it in the bud!"

He Shuting sneered, her gaze piercing straight at her. "Unlike you, always leaving early and returning late, acting all mysterious, always hiding your true intentions when asked. You wouldn't be doing something shady behind people's backs, would you?"

Ever since she learned Dong Haitang's true identity, she has become ruthless in her speech.

"Bang--!"

The porcelain bowl slammed heavily on the table, spilling rice porridge and wetting the tablecloth.

Xiaoju, quick-witted and agile, rushed forward, tidied up the mess, and then went to the kitchen to fetch more porridge.

"I know exactly what I'm doing; he hasn't said a word, so who are you to boss me around? Don't use your status as the legal wife as a magic weapon; it has nothing to do with me anyway."

Dong Haitang stared at her, her eyes as cold as ice.

"Good heavens—has the powder keg exploded so early in the morning?"

Li Wenguo, sitting at the head of the table, slammed down his chopsticks. The sound wasn't loud, but it silenced the entire table.

Xianglan and Hongyu lowered their heads to eat, but their eyes secretly lingered on the two of them out of the corner of their eyes.

They knew perfectly well: one was someone they couldn't afford to offend, and the other was someone they couldn't mess with. Trying to mediate? That would be asking for trouble.

Besides, isn't watching a play more enjoyable than eating?

The day after her wedding, Xu Meijing was afraid that her mother would commit suicide, so she rushed over to keep watch over her at the crack of dawn and has not returned home since.

"Master, look at her! I am the lawfully wedded wife, and I have managed everything in the household perfectly. I only said a few words to her, and she threw down her bowl, her face darkened, and she embarrassed me in front of the whole family—how can I possibly maintain order in this house from now on?"

Dong Haitang was unyielding and wouldn't listen to reason or pressure, so He Shuting had to drag her husband over to back her up, asking him to come up with a plan and put pressure on her.

"Alright, alright, you're all my people, they're all my flesh and blood. If any of you are wronged, it hurts me to see you suffer. Why don't you all take a step back, say less, and you'll be able to vent your anger and protect your health—but don't forget, you're all carrying babies in your bellies."

Li Wenguo could only try to smooth things over and appease everyone.

Whoever gains the upper hand, whoever loses, in the end, it's still him, the man caught in the middle, who feels the most frustrated.

"Master! You're still protecting her? She's only been in the household a few days, and she already dares to smash bowls and glare at me. In a few more days, she'll probably be running wild with me! How am I supposed to manage this household?"

No wonder He Shuting refused to budge—Dong Haitang's smashing of the bowl and her cold face had already shattered her prestige.

If we don't take advantage of the situation to suppress it, Xianglan and Hongyu will probably gossip about it behind our backs.

"Enough, He Shuting!" Dong Haitang sneered, not even lifting her eyelids. "You are the legal wife, that's true, but don't forget, you were bought with money; I was brought in with all the proper betrothal gifts. I'm not arguing because I'm too lazy to fight with you—but you're really using a straw as a magic staff?"

She had long since had enough. If it weren't for saving Li Wenguo's face, she would have overturned the table long ago. This time, she finally snapped and simply exposed the scar that the other party dared not show to others.

Oops!

Li Wenguo's heart sank.

Sure enough, He Shuting's face turned bright red, and her fingers trembled like reeds in the wind.

"You...you...you!!!"

"Waaah—"

She abruptly covered her mouth, turned and ran, crying and shouting, "Master, please give the position of the main wife to the man surnamed Dong!"

Li Wenguo jumped to his feet, his face ashen, and growled at Dong Haitang, "Dong Haitang, you've gone too far!"

"We'll settle the score tonight."

Before he could finish speaking, the man had already strode out the door.

Pregnant women are already prone to anxiety.

Being sold into the Li family as a commodity is He Shuting's deepest, most feared, old wound.

Now that the wound has been torn open in a bloody manner, how could Li Wenguo dare to hesitate?

After some gentle coaxing and reassurance, and with a promise that Dong Haitang would serve tea as an apology afterward, He Shuting slowly stopped sobbing.

"Sir, what's going on outside? Why aren't they even letting us out the door?"

She still held onto the matter, her tone revealing resentment.

There was nothing wrong with saying it, but I held back because Dong Haitang was there.

Besides, He Shuting couldn't get involved anyway.

Li Wenguo then truthfully recounted the news that Japanese spies were planning a surprise attack on Lixingshe.

"Oh...I see."

She secretly breathed a sigh of relief—at least they weren't arresting underground party members!

"By the way, I ran into one of your hideouts at the dockside restaurant a few days ago."

He brought up that night again.

"Yes, that's our transportation station, specializing in intelligence transmission, military supply transfer, personnel support, and coordinating operations in emergencies."

He Shuting explained casually, her tone frank and completely trusting of her husband.

"Speaking of which, we just saw off an important figure a couple of days ago. He specialized in youth mobilization and often persuaded frustrated officials, businessmen, and gentry to join the organization."

"Unfortunately, my identity has already been exposed."

No wonder the patrolman was holding a portrait!

No wonder.

"So, I unintentionally saved his life?"

Li Wenguo nodded, his eyebrows slightly raised, a hint of smugness in his eyes.

He didn't think it through: if they hadn't chosen that particular night to go out for dinner, the restaurant would have been closed long ago, and they wouldn't have run into the patrol officers. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that they almost ruined a major incident.

Sudden--

Boom!!!

A muffled, thunderous cannon roar rolled in from the far distance.

Li Wenguo's pupils contracted as he glanced down at the Rolex on his wrist.

It was exactly the scheduled time, down to the second.

"here we go!"

He strode out of the room, his gaze fixed on the direction of the Lixing Society.

He Shuting followed him out, took his arm tightly, and looked serious.

"Won't the entire capital city... be in chaos?"

"Not at all. The Lixingshe is located in a very remote area, so they can't cause trouble in the city."

"Oh……"

Unfortunately, the cannon fire only lasted for five minutes before it stopped abruptly.

Li Wenguo knew perfectly well that the ambushers on the perimeter must have arrived in time, suppressing the first round of artillery fire on the spot—the cannons must have been destroyed immediately.

Next, gunfire erupted.

Moreover, it was a pincer attack from both inside and outside, specifically designed to trap the Japanese special forces members—the only way out was to be killed on the spot, Wang.

"Sir, is the fighting really starting?"

"Will we be in trouble here?"

Xianglan and Hongyu rushed into the courtyard like a gust of wind, their faces pale and their breathing erratic.

In their eyes, war is like the sky falling down.

The shells have no eyes; one shot can overturn the entire house, taking everyone and everything with them.

They're living a comfortable life right now, with fine clothes and delicious food, and everything they could want.

Who would willingly become cannon fodder without knowing why, and die without ever understanding the reason?

"Don't panic, don't panic, stay calm!"

When Li Wenguo saw Xianglan running forward with her big pregnant belly, his heart tightened. He rushed over to her and grabbed her arm, afraid that she might slip and fall.

"Are you...really okay?"

Xianglan gripped his sleeve tightly, her knuckles turning white.

"Absolutely true. In the west of the city, the little devils attacked a machine gun, which is completely out of our reach. The military and police have already surrounded it, and those sneaky things won't last long. I specifically told you to stay inside this morning, just in case things got chaotic outside."

Li Wenguo spoke in detail, each word falling steadily into her ears.

Xianglan and Hongyu slowly relaxed their brows and their shoulders also felt lighter.

Dong Haitang followed, and after her husband explained everything clearly, she simply nodded slightly and didn't interrupt—there was no point in saying anything more now.

"Let's go back inside."

Li Wenguo gently put one arm around Xianglan's waist and back, and placed the other hand warmly on her protruding belly, as he slowly moved towards the main hall.