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

Chapter 168 Encountering Robbers on the Road
The two drove at high speed in the northeast direction. Don't underestimate the Fiat because it's small; even with the accelerator floored, it only goes up to about 100 miles per hour. But being small has its advantages: it's fuel-efficient. And with a car, the two of them won't be as noisy as on the train. Although the sound insulation in the car is just average, Yu Dawei and Yao Jinfu are already quite satisfied.

"By the way, brother, when you came back from Master Lü's yesterday, you took a jack and a wrench, but why did you also take two crowbars? They're so heavy." Yao Jinfu was speechless at the occasional clanging sounds coming from behind him.

"What do you know? It's several thousand kilometers from Qingcheng to our hometown. Even if we drive fast, it will take about two days. Who knows what might happen on the way?" Yu Dawei just couldn't get a gun, otherwise he would definitely keep one in the car.

The roads aren't so safe these days. In some remote areas, they even dare to rob people inside buses, let alone those driving cars.

So last night I went to Master Lü's house, firstly to say goodbye, and secondly to pick up some tire-changing tools. Not only that, before leaving, he also brought a 20-liter iron can of gasoline and a newly bought tire of the same size.

As for the spare tire, Yu Dawei replaced it directly. The quality and size of the spare tire on this Fiat car don't match the original tires. If it breaks down on the road, you can only replace it with the spare tire as a temporary solution. Otherwise, how could it be called a spare tire?

But Yu Dawei did it differently. He simply got a good tire of the same size, and even brought the steel rims, and put it directly in the front trunk.

The entire engine assembly of this car is in the back, while the front is left to store things. Yu Dawei's New Year's goods were placed in the front, and the back seat contained gasoline, some other items, and two crowbars.

Along the way, Yu Dawei and Yao Jinfu saw many different landscapes. The further north they went, the colder the weather became. Fortunately, they had cotton-padded clothes and trousers when they came. After more than a day, they finally passed Shanhaiguan and hurriedly changed into cotton-padded trousers.

At that time, there was no navigation for long-distance driving in China. Not only was there no navigation, but there were also occasional road signs. Yu Dawei and Yao Jinfu could only ask the people in the towns and villages they passed by.

They gradually made their way to Shanhaiguan. Once they passed Shanhaiguan, they were home. People in the three northeastern provinces are very warm and friendly. As long as you don't say anything that offends them or cause trouble, they are very polite to strangers. If you ask for help, everyone is happy to lend a hand. Of course, this is the case most of the time.

The robbery that Yu Dawei had imagined did not actually happen. Occasionally, he would see a few fierce-looking people on the road, but Yu Dawei would speed up whenever he saw them, so even if they had any ideas, they could not catch up with him.

However, there were still some interesting things that happened along the way.

While driving on a stretch of highway at the border between the north and south, the two men's car suddenly got a flat tire. There was a repair shop not far from the road, where several cars were lined up waiting for repairs.

When Yu Dawei's car broke down, everyone was waiting to see what would happen, including the mechanics in the repair shop who were changing tires. They all had sneers and mockery on their faces, thinking that another car would be coming in for repairs soon.

To everyone's astonishment, Yu Dawei didn't drive towards the repair shop. Instead, he parked the car on the side of the road and began disassembling and patching the tire himself. His skill was so impressive that even the mechanics at the repair shop were ashamed of their own abilities.

After fixing the tire, Yu Dawei started the car and drove off amidst the stunned gazes of the onlookers.

On another occasion, the car was driving in the suburbs of a city. Yu Dawei and Yao Jinfu were about to go somewhere to get something to eat when suddenly an old man jumped out from the side and crashed into Yu Dawei.

Yu Dawei reacted extremely quickly, stepping on the brakes, shifting into reverse, and reversing all the way to a kilometer away before turning around and circling around at another intersection.

The old man lay on the ground, completely dumbfounded, watching with a heavy heart as Yu Dawei's little Fiat drove away.

Even Yao Jinfu in the car couldn't help but give his brother a thumbs up: "You're so good!"

Yu Dawei responded with a calm expression: "Nothing special, just practice makes perfect."

Yu Dawei never installed a camera while driving in his previous life. At first, he forgot to install one, and then there were staged accidents everywhere.

If you don't have a dashcam, there might be seven or eight old ladies lying on the ground waiting for you on the street. Their expressions of longing are more like a mother missing her child than a mother missing her child.

After being extorted several times, Yu Dawei's evasion skills improved dramatically, and he no longer needed to evade them later on.

The Northeast is sparsely populated and has few cars, unlike some cities in the future that implement odd-even license plate restrictions every day, and occasionally even odd-even restrictions, where cars can drive on odd-numbered days but not on even-numbered days.

Most parts of Northeast China are fine, except for Harbin.

Many people think that there were no staged accidents in the 1990s, but in fact there were many, no less than those on the curbs in the future. It's just that back then, people drove with their eyes on the sky, and without some courage, it was really not easy to lie under a car.

After all, once it's over, it's truly over, without a trace of regret.

After the two passed Shanhaiguan, the car's heater was turned on, filling the entire car with warmth.

Although this car is small, it's still better than my brother-in-law's 212.
Yu Dawei still remembers last year during the Spring Festival, when his brother-in-law, who worked at the grain depot, drove back in his 212 truck. It didn't even have a heater, and his calves were almost cramping from the cold, but he was still pretending to be warm.

The red Fiat drove north, and as it approached the border of its province, snowflakes began to fall. Occasionally, birdsong could be heard in the white sky. The car didn't have snow tires, so Yu Dawei planned to drive to a city to find a repair shop and get a set of snow chains. Otherwise, driving home naked like this, who knew what might happen?

"Bang!" Just then, a gunshot rang out from the road in the distance. Yao Jinfu, who was driving, and Yu Dawei, who was sleeping in the passenger seat, suddenly tensed up.

Yu Dawei sat up abruptly, his eyes fixed on the front of the car. Sure enough, there were about a dozen people not far away, each holding a hunting rifle.

"Brother, can we get through by stepping on the gas?" Yao Jinfu's palms were sweating unconsciously. The road was covered in white on both sides, and there were unnamed mountains not far away. If they were really tied up, they probably wouldn't even be able to find the bodies.

"We've run into a tough opponent." Yu Dawei's heart sank. He had also been observing his surroundings immediately.

Smoke could be faintly seen in the distance, indicating that it was a village. There were mountains on one side and a vast white plain on the right.

At this point, the only option is to reverse, drive back the way you came, and then take a detour to leave.

Having made up his mind, Yu Dawei started to have Yao Jinfu reverse, turn around, and quickly shift gears to prepare to return the way they came. Unfortunately, several people had stopped behind them at some point. Not only were there people, but there was also a vehicle. A dilapidated four-wheeled vehicle drove over from a distance and stopped in the middle of the road, clearly indicating that they did not want Yu Dawei and Yao Jinfu to go back.

"What should we do?" Yao Jinfu asked Yu Dawei.

“Nothing’s wrong. Let’s get out of the car and talk to them. There are more than ten of them, so they must be repeat offenders. There might be more people behind them.” Yu Dawei opened the car door. For now, the only option was to talk to them about their background.

In Yu Dawei's view, these people were probably looking for a ride because they saw that his car had an out-of-town license plate, and people in the south are generally wealthier than those in the north.

"Fellow villager, I'm from here too. Could you do me a favor?" Yu Dawei looked at the bearded man who was leading the group as they approached.

The man was wearing a dog-skin hat, cotton-padded clothes, and a hunting rifle in his right hand. With each breath, the frost on his stubble turned a few more snow-white.

"Where are you from?" The man didn't lower his gun. Three or four men rushed forward, dragged Yu Dawei and Yao Jinfu out of the car, and pinned them to the ground. They then began to search them.

Seeing that the two men had no guns or anything, the men pulled them up and pinned their arms down with their hands.

"From Yujiatun, Luhe Town, Sui County." Yu Dawei appeared calm on the surface, but his heart was pounding uncontrollably.

The man put down his gun, wiped his face, removing all the white frost from his stubble, and exhaled a breath that clearly showed his displeasure.

“Boss, we can’t let the locals go either. We’ve been staking out this place all day. This guy has a car, he’s definitely a fat sheep,” said the young man holding a gun.

"Take them back first, don't touch anything in the car." The man grabbed Yu Dawei's collar. "Don't try anything funny with me. I only want money, not your lives. Out of consideration for our fellow villagers, I'll let you go after you take the money."

The group then blindfolded Yu Dawei and drove the two of them towards a distant city.

Yu Dawei felt quite helpless. He never expected that despite all his precautions, he couldn't keep up with the people from his hometown.

Even before he returned, he had anticipated this, since the Lunar New Year was approaching. Even in the future, in a society governed by the rule of law, there would be no violence, but every year before the Lunar New Year, a few private cars would have their wheels stolen.

If you park on the curb the night before, the four wheels will be gone by the next morning, leaving behind a few screws and bricks underneath.

How did Yu Dawei know so much about this? Because every winter, tires are stolen from the neighborhood where his eldest son lives.

Moreover, these activities become increasingly rampant towards the end of the year, ranging from home invasion robberies and breaking into cars to "borrow" items, to brazenly swindling people, and even impersonating monks or Taoist priests...

No matter how people change, their hearts remain the same. The only way to live a peaceful life is to be more careful.

At this moment, Yu Dawei was thinking about how to leave safely.

He and Yao Jinfu were taken to a cold place and then dragged to a corner.

The man's voice rang in Yu Dawei's ear, and a double-barreled shotgun was pressed against Yu Dawei's chin: "Give me a call, and I'll have someone demand the money right now, 50,000 per person, 100,000 in total. Once you pay, you can release them."

"Don't tell me you don't have a phone number. If you dare say you don't, I'll shoot you right now." The man said viciously, pressing the shotgun in his right hand against Yu Dawei's chin twice more.

(End of this chapter)