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

"I'm the captain, what have I done wrong?"

Dong Haitang, on the contrary, raised her chin, looking somewhat competitive.

"You dare talk back? I'm the sky, you're the cloud. If I tell you to go east, you don't go west! If I say you're wrong, then you're the one who's wrong!"

Li Wenguo glared fiercely, showing no sign of backing down.

"Um... Mr. Li, my bladder is about to burst, I need to get out of the car and relieve myself!"

"I'm feeling suffocated too, Mr. Li!"

"Look..."

Ding Xiaoqi and Agui were restless, their heads almost buried in the steering wheel—who were they to stand here when their masters and their spouses were arguing? If they heard even half a sentence they shouldn't have, they'd probably be packing their bags and leaving as soon as they turned around.

"Go, go, go! Don't wander too far. If there's even the slightest disturbance, get back to your positions immediately!"

Li Wenguo waved his hand, urging them to get out of the car and keep watch.

The world is vast, but life is the most important thing!

As soon as the two disappeared into the shadows, Li Wenguo turned around abruptly, his gaze sharp as a hook, fixed on Dong Haitang's face: "They're gone—let's see how I deal with you!"

"Don't you dare do anything reckless! We're doing serious business right now!"

Dong Haitang's heart raced, her ears burned, and her spine went numb from that gaze.

"I'm going to do whatever I want! You think you're so capable?"

Before he finished speaking, his hand had already reached out.

A moment later—

Gunshots rang out in the distance, a continuous barrage of crackling sounds.

Gunshots indicate that the other side resisted arrest; resistance to arrest must mean something is wrong; and if something is wrong, it's most likely a Japanese spy.

"Hey! Master, let go! They've started!"

Dong Haitang gave him a hard shove, quickly sat up straight, and smoothed out the wrinkles in his clothes with swift fingers.

She glared at her husband before lowering her voice, "Open the window! When they come back and see my messy hair and crooked collar, they'll laugh their heads off!"

"Hmph, will you dare talk back to me again?"

Li Wenguo smirked, his face full of smugness, looking just like a rat that had stolen some oil.

"You... shameless!"

Dong Haitang gritted her teeth, her fingertips trembling with anger.

"Xiao Guoping has no teeth either, but you still feed him and he gnaws happily every night, don't you?"

"This, this can't be the same? You—" Dong Haitang was speechless for a moment, almost confused.

"My God, how can you be so shameless? Stealing milk from your own son and then justifying it—does someone like you even exist in this world?!"

She almost couldn't catch her breath, her eyes nearly popping out of their sockets—how could there really be such shameless people in the world, even wrestling with their own babies over a baby bottle!

"BOOM!!!" "BOOM!!!"

Two muffled thuds exploded in the distance, making the paper windows vibrate and snapping the two back to their senses.

"Tsk, those Japanese devils are pretty tough, they even threw out a grenade."

Li Wenguo squinted, his gaze fixed on the direction of the billowing smoke outside the window.

"That's right! Back when we didn't have these things, every time we cleared them out, we lost several lives."

Dong Haitang agreed, then immediately softened her tone, "Sir, we're almost out of grenades, how about another seven or eight boxes?"

"Seven or eight boxes? Do you think this is a military supply depot or a charity? You're talking about seven or eight boxes all you want? You might as well just rob a bank!"

Two boxes are usually enough for half a year—and that was during the height of Japanese espionage. Seven or eight boxes? Are they going to be distributed to the neighboring unit? The silver dollars in his pocket didn't grow on trees!

...Hmm, it really was stolen!

"Sir, please stop being so stingy! Besides, all my dowry is locked up in your storeroom. How about we use it as collateral?"

"Dowry? From the day you entered the house, every hair on your head belonged to me! Those silver dollars and gold bracelets hidden away have long been in my private account—'your dowry'? You must be joking!"

Li Wenguo chuckled, his teeth clenched with sarcasm.

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

"Forget about 'you'—it's just two boxes, take it or leave it."

He decisively cut off the conversation and ultimately approved two boxes.

Dong Haitang had no choice but to swallow the rest of her sentence. Facing her husband, who was both greedy for money and gluttonous, she was too lazy to even sigh.

"Sir, how about... two more boxes of submachine guns?"

She blinked, her tone like a little girl begging for candy, but every word she spoke was loaded with meaning.

"Are you never going to stop? Is the department so short of guns that it can't even afford to eat?"

Li Wenguo's eyebrows twitched, his voice filled with anger.

"Sir, you may not know this, but lately they've been very active, arresting local traitors one after another. They've taken most of the supplies, leaving us with nothing!"

The Special Higher Police's tactics have indeed been effective... but why did it only emerge in one place?

"Oh? Is that so?"

Li Wenguo tapped his knuckles lightly on the table, his brow furrowed slightly, and a sudden realization struck him—something was wrong.

How come a creature that always keeps its tail between its legs suddenly darts faster than a rabbit?

"Make a list of what's missing later, and I'll get it for you."

The agents under Dong Haitang's command are mostly his closest confidants, transferred from his personal guard. If their firepower isn't up to par, they'll be crushed to dust sooner or later.

"Okay!!!"

Dong Haitang readily agreed, his mind already racing: Mauser pistols, Thompson submachine guns, Czech-made pistols, shotguns, sniper rifles, grenades, explosive charges, matching ammunition... Oh, and should he also take two 60mm mortars? And three American-made Dodge cars!

If Li Wenguo heard the abacus beads clicking in her stomach, he'd probably grab a teacup lid and smack her on the head, mimicking Zhang Geshen's disappointed expression and yelling: "Dream on! Give me a break!"

At this moment, the gunfire in the distance completely ceased.

The battle is over.

Sure enough, Haozi burst in, his trouser legs still covered in mud: "Boss! The hideout's been raided! There were over a dozen Japanese spies inside. We killed most of them, captured four alive, and one had a broken leg, just groaning and barely breathing."

One soldier was killed and three others were injured, all fresh recruits; the veterans from the guard unit, however, were unscathed.

The casualties weren't high, but Gao Yang and Qiu Sheng's side suffered a terrible loss—

That's right, three raids were launched simultaneously tonight, and the other two hideouts were the tough nuts they had to crack.

How can all the credit be piled on Dong Haitang's head? The higher-ups would love for all the teams to keep up the fight and not allow any one team to dominate.

"Did you find anything valuable?"

Outside the courtyard gate, Li Wenguo asked Wen San.

Wen San glanced at Dong Haitang, whose face was ashen, before whispering, "There was a codebook with some intelligence inside, but it was all burned, leaving only ashes."

"All that's left are some loose silver dollars, a few broken guns, and nothing else."

This place is dirt poor!

Li Wenguo sighed inwardly; the old gun and the silver were not even good enough to fill a tooth gap.

"What's the use of just having a codebook? Let's also stuff a radio in there."

"Fall back."

He raised his hand and waved it decisively.

In the car, Dong Haitang's face was tense, and her voice was as taut as a fully drawn bowstring: "Sir, stuffing a radio in... what does that mean?"

"This is a frame-up! It confirms their identities as Japanese spies, it's a done deal!"

Li Wenguo answered confidently, as naturally as if he were saying, "You have to chew your food thoroughly."

"Is it really necessary? Isn't the codebook enough to convict them?"

She frowned, looking unconvinced.

Hmph, you woman, you're all talk and no action! This is Mitsui & Co.'s territory, we have to nail down their identities as Japanese spies—how can we solidify the evidence without adding a radio station? Now no matter how hard they try to explain, they won't be able to clear their names, understand?

Li Wenguo scolded him again with a stern face.

"Where did the radio come from?"

Dong Haitang raised an eyebrow and asked in return.

"Have you forgotten what I do for a living?"

"I can get as many units as I need."

"I'm warning you, this is a special supply from WJ, it's extremely valuable! If it's not concealed properly and it gets exposed, not only will you be in trouble, but the entire production line will collapse!"

Dong Haitang immediately tensed up and lowered her voice to remind him.

"Don't worry about any of that. Just go back to your office and rest during your pregnancy. Don't worry, your name will be the first one listed in the credit book."

At the end of last year, Dong Haitang was promoted to a higher military rank.

It was almost entirely thanks to Li Wenguo's support.

This time, having wiped out the Japanese spy's hideout, his promotion is practically a done deal.

If you move up one more level, you'll be on equal footing with him.

If Li Wenguo hadn't been completely uninterested in pursuing an official career, it wouldn't be surprising if he had been promoted two ranks in a single year.

Of course, if he really married Song Caidie... then becoming a commander might not be a dream at all.

The Special Higher Police received the urgent report just as dawn broke the next day.

"It's terrible, Major Mitsui! Last night, all three groups were wiped out by the Second Division—either killed on the spot or captured alive!"

An Special Higher Police officer rushed into the office, his voice trembling with urgency.

"What?!"

Mitsui Miri's face suddenly turned ashen.

I thought I had the situation under control, but reality slapped me hard in the face.

The loss of three elite teams paralyzed most of the subsequent operations.

"Immediately notify all other groups—evacuate the stronghold, disperse and hide, and await further orders!"

She didn't panic; instead, she immediately came up with the safest solution.

Now that three groups have been exposed, it's hard to guarantee that the other groups aren't being watched.

Don't retreat? Are we just waiting to die?!

"By the way, what about the people we planted in the Second Division? Why weren't they alerted beforehand?"

Just as she finished setting things up, she suddenly frowned and asked a question.

The subordinate shook his head: "No response yet."

"waste!!!"

Mitsui Miri rebuked him sternly.

"Hi!!!"

The man stood at attention with his head bowed, his back ramrod straight.

"Major Mitsui!"

Another person rushed in; it was a female detective.

"Our inside sources have sent word!"

"speak!"

"Those hideouts were all monitored by the third team. The teams were only notified at the last minute the night before the operation, so there was no time to send messages and evacuate."

"It's the third squad..."

Mitsui Miri clenched her fists tightly, her nails digging into the soft flesh of her palms.

The third squad has always been special—its members mostly come from the same mountain, and their factions are deeply entrenched. To prevent leaks and infiltration, the moles are always planted within the first squad, which has a complex background and high mobility.

But this time, they were defeated by the third squad.

"Their ability to pinpoint the location accurately indicates they've been keeping a close eye on Mitsui & Co. from the outset. Effective immediately, abolish all intelligence relay functions of the company."

She acted decisively, personally cutting off this escape route.

"Hi!!!"

"Do you have the resume of the third squad leader?"

"Her surname is Dong, and her given name is Haitang. She just returned to the team last month after giving birth. She usually sits in the office and delegates all the affairs, big and small, to her subordinates."

The subordinate answered readily.

The spy's movements were like ghosts, and following her would easily expose her; we dared not get too close, for fear of alerting her—all we could touch was her appearance of being buried in her desk all day and too lazy to even step out of the door.

Naturally, no one could have imagined that this "office captain" was actually Li Wenguo's bedmate.

"It seems that the captain of this third squad is just a figurehead. The one who actually gives orders is someone else."

It's not surprising that she made this deduction—who wouldn't immediately assume that a woman in the Lixing Society who always had a heater by her side and was pregnant while signing documents is just a pretty face who got promoted through nepotism?

"Let's dig deeper inside and find out who's making the decisions behind the third team."

"Hi!!!"

"Any news from Meifu Trading Company?"

She was asking about Li Wenguo.

The person sent to keep an eye on him last time was killed on the spot. Now they dare not send anyone to follow him anymore, but instead planted a female notebook with an open identity in the trading company, under the guise of an employee, to secretly keep an eye on his whereabouts.

"The target has been quite well-behaved lately, much like usual, except that business seems a bit slow."

The subordinates reported in great detail, not missing even this slight change.

"Slow business?"

"Is something else holding you back?"

Mitsui Miri's eyebrows were slightly furrowed, like two willow leaves brushed by the wind.

I was definitely distracted.

But she never imagined that Li Wenguo's declining performance was a deliberate effort to help his own business—Selena's newly established foreign trade company.

Coincidentally, Li Wenguo invested another $10,000 in the company, exchanging it for 20% of the shares.

Of course, this money, whether overtly or covertly, was all to support Selena.

"Have our informants keep a close eye on him. Record his every move in the trading company, even his sneeze."

If you can't figure it out, just observe; you can't just sit and wait.

Besides increasing manpower to keep watch, they were also secretly figuring out how to get close to Li Wenguo naturally.

Mitsui Miri herself had been thinking about making a public appearance, but she couldn't find a suitable excuse.

She knew very well that Li Wenguo was very shrewd, and that if she approached him rashly, she would only arouse his suspicion.

Song Caidie was exceptionally excited tonight, and even put more effort into her makeup than usual.

She was going to a ball, and more importantly, she was accompanied by Li Wenguo.

She herself was puzzled as to why a sweet feeling quietly welled up in her heart.

When her uncle told her earlier that he would be taking her to the event, she felt bored and even a little annoyed.

But when it was Li Wenguo, his heart skipped a beat, and he was secretly looking forward to the moment of departure!

What on earth is going on?

Could it be... that she's really fallen for him?