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

Chapter 155 can hardly be called a reunion of old friends, please...
Old streets in the urban-rural fringe of Qingcheng Jiangbei

Master Lü lay on a bamboo rocking chair in the courtyard, next to a stool-like tea table with a pot of freshly brewed tea and a jade teacup about an ounce in size.

There is a three-room brick house in the courtyard, with gray tiles covering the roof. There are two pomegranate trees in front of the house. In the summer, he would put his bamboo rocking chair under the trees to cool off. Now, in the winter, he would sit in the sunniest spot in the courtyard, rocking the chair while sipping his tea.

Ever since returning from the oil city, Master Lü has been living a completely retired life, storing all his car repair tools in the warehouse on the west side of the yard.

He had three sons and three daughters in his life. Except for his youngest daughter, they have all found their own husbands. Originally, he planned to work hard for another two years to earn enough money for his youngest daughter's dowry. However, he has now become indifferent to this. Even if he doesn't have money, he still has her older brothers and sisters. He won't let his younger sister marry too badly.

He also had three apprentices. His eldest apprentice went directly to the city and opened a repair shop. His second and third apprentices were also quite skilled. One worked in the maintenance team of an engineering team, and the other worked as a maintenance worker in an open-pit mine.

In terms of career, he has also made a legacy.

In his heart, Master Lü was still grateful to Master Xiao. Now he was almost seventy years old, and even if he repaired cars, he wouldn't be able to do it for many more years. When he just turned sixty, he felt that he couldn't use his strength anymore.

Being able to retire in my sixties now can be considered a fulfilling life.

It's just a pity about those tools in the warehouse; they'll probably never see the morning sun again.

"Knock, knock, knock." A knock sounded at the door, followed by the neighbor's voice, "Is Old Lu home?"

"Yes, come in." Master Lü rocked back and forth in his rocking chair, poured himself another cup of tea with his right hand, and calmly looked towards the front door.

"Squeak." The wooden door at the entrance was pushed open by someone.

The first person to enter was an old man wearing an orange short-sleeved shirt, with a six or seven-year-old child beside him. The child was happily munching on a bowl of instant noodles.

Behind the old man, three people followed closely in. One was burly with strong arms and large, fan-like hands, all of which showed his imposing stature. Beside him was a tall, thin man with dark skin, who was observing the courtyard with a reserved expression. The other was fair-skinned, plump, and tall, with a few beads of sweat on his forehead.

"Whoosh!" Master Lü suddenly looked up, his face filled with disbelief. He put down his teacup on the coffee table and hurriedly stood up: "Master Yu!"

"Master Lü, it's been a long time." Yu Dawei stood at the door. Actually, before he came, he wasn't sure if the other party would choose to help him.

"Hey, Old Lu, I've brought this friend over for you. I have something to attend to at home, so I'll be leaving now." The old man who had just entered, sensing the tense atmosphere, inwardly cursed his grandson for insisting on accepting the bag of instant noodles offered by someone else, and quickly made an excuse to leave with his grandson.
Before leaving, the old man thoughtfully closed the wooden gate to the courtyard.

He looked down and gave his grandson a flick on the forehead: "You little rascal, if you weren't so greedy, would you have brought these three strangers over? I bet Old Lu owes someone money he hasn't paid back yet."

But then he thought about it again and realized that something didn't seem right. His family, the Lu family, was known throughout the village for being very wealthy.

On the other side of the courtyard, Master Lü finally composed himself and was about to move stools for Yu Dawei and the others: "You really have amazing connections, how did you find my place? Is that Ackerman broken?"

Yu Dawei beat the other man to it and moved a few small bamboo chairs from the base of the wall over, sitting down next to Master Lü: "It broke down before. One of the drive gears on the Ackerman you repaired was broken, and I replaced both drive gears with new ones."

"Is it a problem with the oil?" Master Lü's eyes narrowed slightly. If the gears are broken, you just need to replace the broken part. But Master Xiao replaced them all. The most likely problem is the oil.

Although he's retired, he still has that kind of insight.

Master Lü took out three white porcelain teacups from the drawer under the coffee table and poured tea for the three of them.

Yu Dawei nodded: "It's low-quality gear oil, and it hasn't been changed in a long time. It's fortunate that this excavator is so durable; if it were any other brand, it wouldn't last this long."

"Hmm." Master Lü nodded, and said with some helplessness, "If it doesn't completely stop walking, it's really hard to tell if it's broken or not."

Master Lü said this to distance himself from the situation, since he didn't know Master Xiao's real purpose in coming to see him.

To be honest, this Master Xiao is about the same age as his apprentices, or even younger, but his car repair skills are worlds apart, even surpassing those of his own master.

If this kid were his own apprentice, he'd probably be laughing in his sleep.

"By the way, you still haven't told me how you found my place?" Master Lü gestured for the group to sit on the coffee table, then picked up his jade cup.

"It was the leaders of the Eighth Bureau who helped me find your current address." Yu Dawei picked up the white porcelain cup and drank the tea in one gulp, then put the empty cup back in its original place. Without wasting words, he went straight to the point: "Master Lü, I came here this time to ask you for help in repairing an excavator."

"I could guess." Master Lü held his teacup, lost in thought. He figured the leader who helped him find out about his family must be General Manager Huang. When he left, he felt that General Manager Huang would definitely be targeted again, it was just a matter of time.

The manager Wu Qi who came to see me back then seemed ordinary on the surface, but he seemed to have a lot of connections at the Eighth Bureau headquarters. When I went into the headquarters with him, many people greeted me warmly.

This is just one example.

He and Wu Qi have now completely broken off relations. He even became an unwitting pawn of General Manager Huang, which backfired on Manager Wang's faction. Now he has completely extricated himself from the situation and has no intention of getting involved again.

As the saying goes, "Old men are cunning and horses are slippery." Master Lü had been in the business for many years. Although he started out repairing trucks, he had seen a lot of people. After thinking about a few key points, he finally understood the general purpose of Yu Dawei's visit.

"Master Xiao, thank you for remembering this old man, but as you know, I'm not exactly a clean thief. Even if you dare to hire me, I wouldn't dare touch a single screw again." Master Lü, having already made up his mind, naturally declined tactfully.

Yu Dawei did not show any disappointment. He had considered this possibility before coming, given Master Lü's answer.

Since the other party seemed to be refusing, he dropped the subject, picked up his teacup, and took a small sip: "What kind of tea is this?"

“Hey, you’ve definitely never had this before.” Seeing that the other party wasn’t making things difficult for him, Master Lü’s mood immediately improved. He picked up the teacup and began to talk at length: “This is a local tea from Qingcheng, called Tuocha.”

"Qingcheng Tuocha?"

“Yes.” Master Lü leaned back in his rocking chair, rocking back and forth while gently inhaling the aroma of the tea in his cup. “This tea originated in Xiushan. It’s been around since the 1950s and was very popular with the locals back then, mainly because it was cheap. But when people were struggling to make ends meet, they couldn’t afford it no matter how cheap it was, and could only drink the scraps of Tuocha.”

"Times are progressing, so your tea should progress too. How was the white tea I had at Director Bai's place before?" Yu Dawei asked with a smile after taking a sip of tea.

“Fuding aged white tea? That’s a good thing.” Master Lü then thought of something and smiled sheepishly, “But I still prefer to drink this aged tuocha. Although the quality is just average, I’m used to it.”

“We always need to change things up, right? I happen to have two 10-year-old white teas. We can’t finish them both, so I’ll send you one when I get back.” Yu Dawei, imitating Master Lü, leaned back in his chair, sipping his tea while gazing at the pomegranate tree in the yard.

"Let me make this clear first, I won't help."

"Don't worry, I won't make things difficult for you. If you really feel uneasy about accepting it, why not send me some Qingcheng specialties at the end of the year?" Yu Dawei said.

"What local specialty? Want some chili peppers?" Master Lü asked half-jokingly.

"Yes, we want them! The more the better, but don't forget to dry them before sending them, otherwise they'll definitely grow mold on the way," Yu Dawei reminded him.

"Hey, I've really struck gold! A few lousy chilies can be exchanged for some good tea."

"Since I'm visiting you empty-handed today, I'll let you make money."

The two chatted idly, mostly about everyday matters, but also discussing some technical issues.

As fellow car mechanics, each person's experience and insights in car repair are entirely unique to them. Exchanging ideas with each other can help fill in any gaps in our knowledge.

In particular, both of them are highly skilled. Master Lü has been repairing cars all his life and is a well-known figure in the Qingcheng repair industry.

Although Yu Dawei is young at this time, he has lived two lives and has a lifetime of repair experience in his mind. Unlike the old man who talks about agricultural machinery repair, Master Lü is a genuine, battle-hardened special machinery repairman.

Some of Yu Dawei's technical skills were still theoretical. After discussing with Master Lü, he had other ideas. If he had a car, he would have liked to take a wrench and try it out.

Master Lü also had a very pleasant chat. Although he already knew that Yu Dawei's repair skills were definitely up to par, after exchanging some repair experiences, he still felt a sense of admiration for him.

He saw Yu Dawei as no longer a young man, but a car mechanic who could be his peer.

The two left Huang Man and Yao Jinfu completely out of the way. It was only thanks to Master Lü's wife washing some fruit for them and taking them inside to find something to do that they were able to pass the afternoon.

The old couple usually live in the yard. Mr. Lü is not a person who likes to do heavy work at home. He likes to lie in the rocking chair and sunbathe when he has time, so he has accumulated some heavy work.

(End of this chapter)