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

Chapter 170 Everyone Goes Home
"Uncle Dawei is back! I haven't seen him for days, how come he brought back a car? Your family must be rich!" The family next door to Yu Laonian on the west side is a branch of the Gao family, nicknamed Gao Da Maozi.

He's eighteen years old and just got married last year. His father is Gao Laomaozi, and he's related to the Gao family in the front yard as an older sister-in-law and younger brother-in-law. The Gao family is cold-hearted, and although they live in the same village, they rarely interact.

Gao Damaozi's family is doing well, but his father, Gao Laomaozi, died young, and his mother passed away last year after her child's wedding. All that's left in the family is Gao Damaozi and his pregnant wife.

Then you see Yu Dawei drive into the yard, climb over the mud wall, and start circling the car.

"Dawei is getting more and more amazing. It hasn't been that long, and he already has a car." Old Jiang's family from the front yard also came over, and the whole family flattered him.

“Who says otherwise? Look at this car. Although it’s a bit dirty on the surface, all the parts are brand new. It looks like a brand new car! Dawei is a really promising kid.” The Zhang family, who lived next door to Old Jiang, also came over.

More and more people gathered in Yu Laonian's courtyard. Fortunately, everyone was generally well-behaved and did not open the car doors to go in and sit down. Instead, they praised Yu Dawei while gently stroking the car body with their calloused hands.

Those of us of the same generation as Yu Laonian will probably never be able to afford a car in our lifetime.

While humbly agreeing with everyone's words, Yu Dawei carried the New Year's goods he brought back from the south into the house one by one. When the people next to him saw that there was still a lot of things in the car, they also helped to carry them.

When Yu Laonian went out, he stopped the enthusiastic crowd and invited them into the house one by one. Then Zhang Yunqin made tea and poured water for everyone. Since they were all neighbors and relatives, she had to make some tea to entertain them.

Yu Dawei took this opportunity to put everything in the car into the storage room, planning to take it out for everyone after they left.

After moving his things, he went inside and chatted with everyone.

Many people have been asking what Yu Dawei has been busy with in town lately, and some have even said they'd like to follow him after the New Year.

Yu Dawei politely declined, and then talked about his trip to the south to repair his car.

A boss from the south recognized his car repair skills. He happened to have a car that had been broken for a long time that needed repair, so he took him to the south. He worked very hard to repair the car in the south, and in the process, he remembered the old man's teachings on car repair. Finally, he managed to fix the car.

The boss from the south was rich and owned many cars, so he picked out the least valuable one and gave it to himself.

The credit for the car repair was mainly given to the old man, who is still in good health and can definitely take the blame for me for many more years.

With the old man taking the blame for him, he won't be bothered too much by the villagers anymore.

Sure enough, when people heard that Yu Dawei could get a car by repairing cars, many people looked at Yu Laonian differently.

Some teenagers who had dropped out of school immediately knelt down before Yu Laonian and asked to call him "Master".

Fortunately, Yu Laonian had seen all sorts of people and was adept at handling all kinds of situations over the years, so he easily found some excuses to get away with it.

No one was angry and continued to chat about the car and Yu Dawei's car repair, but the focus of the conversation shifted from Yu Dawei to Yu Laonian.

Yu Dawei finally breathed a sigh of relief, led his wife and children into the inner room, closed the door, and then gently picked up his eldest son, "Little Muyu, did you miss me?"

"He's quite something now, he can even talk." Han Jingfan stretched out her slender index finger and teased her son's chubby little face. "Son, come on, call me Dad."

"Wah, wah..." Little Muyu tilted her head, stretched out her little hands to ask her mother for a hug, and was just subconsciously imitating her mother's words.

But it made the couple very happy. Yu Dawei even lifted his son up with a bright smile: "He is indeed my eldest son. Flying, flying!"

"Giggle, giggle." Laughter and cheerful voices came from the inner room.

----

Heshan Village, Xinglongtun Village.

Yao Jinfu first went to his second brother and sister-in-law's house. Now, including the old man, his second brother's family has five members. His second niece was born on the 25th day of the third lunar month this year, one day earlier than his brother Dawei's son.

I only found out from Brother Dawei that my second sister-in-law had given birth to a girl. He took an afternoon off to come back and see her, gave his niece a thousand yuan, and then left in a hurry.

I came back today to see my grandfather and niece. My grandfather is in good health. He is over fifty years old and although I can see a few gray hairs, he is in good spirits overall.

When Yao Jinfu's second brother and sister-in-law saw that their younger brother had brought over a large amount of New Year's goods, they politely accepted them and started cooking dinner.

Of the three Yao brothers, the eldest occasionally visited the county town, while the second and third brothers were somewhat closer. However, the one who treated Yao Jinfu the best in the whole family was his second sister-in-law.

They didn't look down on him; instead, they showed him great care and concern.

Yao Jinfu also has a younger sister who got married when he was still a child and rarely interacts with her family.

During dinner, Yao Jinfu talked about operating the excavator. The whole family already knew that Fuzi was helping Yu Dawei operate the excavator, so they figured Fuzi wouldn't be shortchanged. Everyone couldn't help but praise Yu Dawei.

Later, Yao Jinfu talked to his family about repairing cars in the south, and finally about the vast rivers and mountains of China he saw when he drove back. He didn't mention a word about the robbery he and Brother Dawei had been robbed.

Finally, Axe started teasing his second niece. Her name had been decided: Yao Meiling. Her older sister was named Yao Meishuang, and her younger sister Yao Meiling—both very nice names.

The Yao family members are all good-looking with thick eyebrows and big eyes. In addition, the second sister-in-law has a baby face, and their eldest daughter, Yao Meishuang, is simply the prettiest girl in the surrounding villages.

People who know Yao often go in and play with little Meishuang, who has just learned to walk, when they pass by his house.

Little Meiling, still in her swaddling clothes, was very pretty from a young age. She also inherited the dimple gene from the Yao family. When the little one giggled, there was a shallow dimple on each of her cheeks.

The reason why Axe liked his second niece was because the little girl wanted to be hugged as soon as she saw him, and she wasn't shy at all. Naturally, he loved such a cute little girl very much.

There was just one thing he couldn't understand: why did Brother Dawei's expression become so strange every time he mentioned Xiao Meiling? Sometimes he would frown, sometimes he would sigh, and sometimes his eyes would hold a hint of complexity...

As soon as he arrived home, his sister-in-law wanted to leave the axe with him and told him to stay at his brother's house instead of going back to the backyard, since it had been empty for a long time and must be cold.

After thinking it over, Fu Zi agreed to stay the night. It was the dead of winter, and the house must be freezing cold. But he was afraid that if he stayed with his second brother, the villagers would gossip and make his brother's family uncomfortable.

He was thinking that tomorrow he would go to the backyard to tidy up a bit and put the removed stove back on.

There's no work operating excavators in winter, so he'll have to stay in the village until April next year, at least half a year. Now that he has some money in his pocket, it's good to tidy up the old house a bit.

Maybe someone won't mind that I used to live in that place, and if they see that I can earn money and the house is clean, they'll decide to marry me.

After all, even barbarians have admirers, so at least "Axe Bro" has a girlfriend, right?

----

Team Four, Yujiatun, Yu Laonian's house.

Zhang Yunqin, Yu Dawei's mother, opened the door to the inner room and asked, "Dawei, some kids in the village want you to start the car and take a look. What do you think?"

"Alright then." Although Yu Dawei wanted to refuse, they lived in the same village after all, and he couldn't refuse the other person's request.

So, he led everyone outside and drove around the yard for a bit.

After a while, the young people were finally satisfied and happily went home.

The older generation in the village had even more to think about. Even a blind man could see that Yu Dawei was completely different now compared to before. They didn't expect him to climb the social ladder, but at least they had to curry favor with him. In the future, they might even be able to help him out because they were from the same village.

Yu Dawei ignored these people, since they were all from the old man's generation, and went to sleep on the kang (a heated brick bed) in the inner room.

Throughout the journey back, I maintained exceptional concentration. Even when sleeping in a hotel in Sui City, I dared not sleep too soundly, fearing that something unexpected might happen.

With the New Year approaching, all sorts of strange and unsavory characters will come out to "beg for alms." Being bold can only reduce your fear, but vigilance is equally important.

Yu Dawei lost in his past life because he was too careless, too trusting of others, and too confident in himself.

Now that he's home, he's no longer afraid. He can distrust anyone, but he trusts his parents. With them protecting him, he sleeps with complete peace of mind.

While the people on the kang (a heated brick bed) in the next room were chatting idly, the snoring of Yu Dawei in the inner room could occasionally reach the ears of these elderly people.

When the others heard this, they simply assumed that Yu Dawei was just tired, and then chuckled.

Zhang Yunqin, however, couldn't laugh at all. Occasionally, she would open the door and go into the inner room to see if her eldest son had kicked off the covers or anything.

Then they added more fuel to the fire in the stove to make the innermost room warmer.

Zhang Yunqin told Han Jingfan not to go back to sleep tonight.

Han Jingfan nodded obediently, then placed Xiao Muyu in Er Yan's arms and went to the front yard to feed her chickens, ducks, geese, dogs, and pigs.

Of the dogs in the house, Gou Shengzi is the fiercest, followed by the handsome rooster in the yard that has just grown up. Both are excellent at guarding the house.

Normally, outsiders are not allowed to get close to the yard, so after feeding the livestock, Han Jingfan turned around, locked the door, and left the yard with peace of mind.

Yu Dawei slept until dark without waking up. The warm bed and the familiar, old smell of home were simply the best haven.

If his mother hadn't woken him up and made him eat, he probably would have slept until the next morning.

Dinner was plentiful, with fish, meat, and bean sprouts that my mom had grown herself. She stir-fried them, and peanuts and shredded potatoes were a must, as they are Yu Dawei's favorite dishes.

(End of this chapter)