In 1992, a small village owner became the richest man in the village by owning a car.

Chapter 142 The Oil City's Nodding Doves
The three hit it off immediately, and the date was set for tomorrow.

Yu Dawei had nothing else to do, so he prepared to go back to the village to be with his wife and children. When he left, everyone saw him off to the courtyard and exchanged a few more pleasantries.

"Dawei, when does the repair shop open? Don't forget to invite your sister-in-law over. I'll give you a big red envelope then." Sister-in-law Duan said with a smile, carrying her bag.

"Sister-in-law, you're too kind. There's no need for any opening or closing. I'm the only one working at the repair shop, so there aren't any of those rules. I'll just wait until I see a good day and then invite a few friends over for a simple meal." That's exactly what Yu Dawei was thinking. He put up a signboard, and that was it—he was officially open for business.

“That won’t do. Everything has to follow a procedure. We have to choose an auspicious day, set off firecrackers, and of course, we can’t skimp on our red envelopes.” Boss Liang chimed in. Over the years he’d run his shop, he’d always been very particular about these things.

"Did you hear that? Old Liang said so, so you'd better do as he says, otherwise they won't supply you with documents anymore," Duan Dahai said with a grin.

Yu Dawei didn't refute it anymore. He said he'd see how it went; it was just a matter of buying a few strings of firecrackers.

Just as he was about to drive away in his four-wheeled vehicle, Duan Xiaowu, who seemed to have heard some good news, ran over excitedly and looked at Yu Dawei: "Brother-in-law, you can fix cars, right? I'm not going to school anymore, can I become your apprentice?"

Children's thoughts are simple: I'll try to get along with you, so won't you help me get together with someone?
Yu Dawei tapped Duan Xiaowu's slightly sunken forehead with two fingers: "You should focus on your studies. Studying is far more important than fixing my old car with me."

After Yu Dawei finished speaking, he turned around and left, leaving behind the crowd watching him go, as well as the little boy with a stubborn look on his face.

Standing to the side, Boss Liang could tell that this kid was probably going after Yu Dawei. It would be fine if they didn't run into each other, but if they did, they might have to bring up the matter of becoming Yu Dawei's apprentice.

"Dad, what kind of cars does my brother-in-law repair?" the chubby boy asked, thinking that if he knew what kind of cars the other brother-in-law repaired, he could go find other mechanics to learn from first, and if he had the skills, the other brother-in-law wouldn't look down on him.

Duan Dahai was somewhat helpless. After a moment's thought, he decided to veto the idea of ​​his child becoming an apprentice: "Your Uncle Yu specializes in repairing special machinery."

"Special, special what?" Duan Xiaowu was dumbfounded.

"Special machinery, you can think of it as repairing imported excavators, road rollers, loaders, and the like." Duan Dahai looked down at his son.

Duan Xiaowu's chubby face was filled with shock, and his eyes were full of admiration for Dawei.

An imported excavator! So Xiaofang's older brother is really that capable! No wonder they wouldn't hire him.

Duan Xiaowu lowered his head in thought. It seemed that he still had a long way to go before he could become his brother-in-law's apprentice. He needed to make several preparations to ensure that the other party would accept him as a disciple.

He had forgotten that he was actually a student and that school was starting tomorrow.

Meanwhile, Yu Dawei returned to the village and tidied up the chicken coop, duck carcass, and pigsty.

Cleaning up feces regularly is part of the routine work, and Yu Dawei would help Han Jingfan clean it up when he was around.

Yu Dawei cooked dinner that night and also gave instructions about going to the oil city.

Han Jingfan didn't seem to be very interested in big cities, unlike the other women in the village who were full of curiosity and longing for everything about big cities.

Yu Dawei was both surprised by the difference in personality between the other person and that of the previous life, and impressed by Han Jingfan's rationality and self-awareness now.

It's not wrong for two people to get along and blend in, but it's better to have some boundaries. No one has to live for the other; both are living meaningful lives.

When Han Jingfan told him that she had been writing something recently, Yu Dawei thought that was great. He would take care of earning money to support the family, and his wife would take care of accompanying the children in writing and drawing.

After dinner, before it got dark, Yu Dawei filled the water tank again.

Most families in the village still have a water tank in the outer room of the kitchen, and the water in the well is not as clean as the old man's.

Some water contains a lot of sediment. If you have a water tank, the water and sediment will separate, and the sediment will settle automatically.

Children have no worries when drinking water or cooking with adults; they won't get diarrhea even if they drink directly from a ladle.

Yu Dawei's water tank wasn't big, only about half his waist high, and it would be full in less than two buckets. He specially filled the iron bucket with water again.

After preparing the water and cleaning up the clothes, Yu Dawei didn't forget to take the old man's tin gourd from the wire covering the towel and take a tiny sip.

Finally, go to bed.

Drinking alcohol is not a good thing, but drinking a little bit every day is okay. Besides, although this alcohol is spicy at first, it tastes really good later. He takes a small sip every night before going to bed whenever he's at home.

The next day, Yu Dawei drove his four-wheeled vehicle to town early in the morning. After arriving at Duan Dahai's new scrap metal recycling station, the three of them drove Liang's beat-up pickup truck westward, heading straight for the oil city.

Oil City is also known as the City of a Hundred Lakes, mainly because other surrounding cities are not low-lying areas, but Oil City is a natural low-lying area. If the rainfall is heavy enough, the entire city can even form a huge lake.

Of course, such a thing is unlikely to happen now or in the future. However, the natural depressions have created many naturally formed lakes, each of varying sizes. Some of these lakes have been converted into artificial lakes or lakeside parks in the future, while others, being relatively inexpensive and of little value, have become stagnant, polluted ponds.

So another characteristic of the city of a hundred lakes is that there are a lot of mosquitoes in the summer, especially in more remote areas.

The three of them drove around chatting as they went, first leaving Sui City, then passing through Da City, and soon arriving at You City.

Of the three, Boss Liang has visited the oil city the most, and he knows the area like the back of his hand, whether it's a district or a county.

This is related to the fact that he came here to make a living back then. Later, he probably realized that this was not a sustainable business, so he returned to his hometown and opened a parts store.

After making some money, he brought his parents from Heshan Village to the town to enjoy their old age, while he himself tended his small plot of land every day.

The biggest difference between urban and rural architecture is that there are multi-story buildings, some of which are taller than the trees that you've raised for over ten years. There are also various oil pumps on both sides of the road.

It has a yellow exterior and a head that looks like a donkey's head, hence the nickname "donkey head." There is a black line on the donkey's head, below which is a silver-white steel pipe tied. Behind it is an electric motor and gearbox.

Yu Dawei had repaired this thing in his previous life when he was in the oil city, so he knew exactly how it worked.

During operation, the rotation of the electric motor is converted into the up-and-down movement of the donkey head through the gearbox and crank-connecting rod mechanism. The donkey head drives the plunger of the downhole oil pump to move up and down through the polished rod and sucker rod, thereby continuously pumping crude oil out of the wellbore.

It sounds complicated, but you can understand it as simply giving oil as long as you kowtow.

Oil pumps are a distinctive feature of the oil city, though their numbers are currently limited. This oil field also has a story associated with the spirit of the "Iron Man."

A long time has passed, but Yu Dawei still remembers how his son used to tell him every day that he should have the spirit of an iron man.

"We're here! This is the tool shop I mentioned before."

The three arrived in the Sa district and headed north. After crossing a highway, they saw an artificial lake under development in the distance. Across from it was the main street of the district, with many people coming and going outside various doorways.

"Big cities are really different, look at this flow of people, there are so many!" Duan Dahai had been to other cities around him, but he had never been to the oil city before.

It feels like the prosperity of this oil city is not much different from that of Harbin.

"Old Duan, stop acting like a country bumpkin. We're here to buy things, so we need to keep a proper appearance, or we'll get ripped off." Boss Liang parked his car on the curb, took out the keys, and looked at Duan Dahai.

"What's wrong with being from the countryside? Just because someone is from out of town doesn't mean you should rip them off." Duan Dahai clearly didn't believe it.

Yu Dawei knew the nature of city dwellers opening shops these days, but he didn't care too much. Opening a shop was like being a person; there were good and bad times.

He believed that Boss Liang wouldn't cheat him by bringing him to a shady tool shop.

However, he probably knows the shop owner and is afraid of losing face.

"Just keep a calm mind. If it's too expensive, we can just look around somewhere else." Yu Dawei said before getting out of the car.

The three arrived at the main gate, where there were three steps leading up to a wooden glass door resembling that of a supply and marketing cooperative. Through the glass, they could see various tools displayed on the white walls inside.

Besides that, there are two rows of shelves on the ground, and there are many items on the shelves, but they are not very clear because of the glass.

"Old Liang, have you been here before?" Boss Duan looked up at the signboard, with large red characters pasted directly on the wall above.

Lingda Tool Shop

There are only five big characters in total. It seems that there is nothing else besides these five characters on the storefront, which looks very awkward.

Duan Dahai felt that none of the signs were as nice as the custom-made corrugated steel signboards he had made in the town.

"I've been here before. When I was buying goods, I heard that this guy had some parts channels, so I came to take a look." Boss Liang seemed to have touched on some bad memories, and his face was a little ugly as he said, "The owner of this store is so arrogant. He always has a cigarette in his mouth and acts all high and mighty. I left after only a few words."

"But I have to say, all the parts store owners I know say their tools are good and durable. If their stuff wasn't reliable, I wouldn't bother coming here." Boss Liang glanced inside the door as he spoke, as if venting his emotions.

Yu Dawei smiled wryly. So, you're being so serious and aloof this time because you're here to settle scores.

"Is anyone here?" Boss Liang opened the door and went in, his gaze sweeping over everything in the shop.

"Are you blind? What are you looking at with your dog eyes?" A man sat at the mahogany table on the left, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, fiddling with a deck of cards in his hand.

(End of this chapter)