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

Chapter 179 Old Ji Repairs
Yu Dawei spent two days overseeing the repair of the Ackerman excavator. After handling the repair matters at the factory, Yu Dawei took Yao Jinfu to Taixian County.

Taixian County, also known as Duerbote Meng, is one of the five districts and four counties under the jurisdiction of the oil city. It is a branch county of the Mongolian ethnic group with a population of about 180,000. Because it is located on the east bank of the lower reaches of the Nenjiang River, it has relatively abundant freshwater resources. The local specialty duck eggs are very delicious, and the salted duck eggs are all oozing oil.

If you follow the road under the railway northwards, you will arrive at Taixian County in about an hour.

With the snow and ice covering the roads, there are no snowplows on the road, and the roads are covered with compressed snow. Even with anti-skid tires, traffic accidents can easily occur if one is not careful.

Yu Dawei knew the dangers of driving in the northern winter, and even though he had some driving skills, he didn't dare to drive too fast. Fortunately, after arriving in Taixian County, he drove south along the road that passed through two villages and arrived at Yonghe Town, where Captain Ji Youde was located.

Taixian is similar to the county town where Yu Dawei is from. On the dilapidated roads, there are often large potholes. If you can't go around them, the undercarriage of your car will be scraped hard by the edge.

The red car dodged and weaved its way through the road, continuing its relentless descent down the steep road into Yonghe Town. As it went downhill, a donkey cart came uphill from below, and the two vehicles nearly collided.

Finally, we made it through the narrow, snow-covered dirt road without any major incidents, followed the uneven slopes, and passed through the dry, shady forest before finally arriving at the somewhat remote Yonghe Village.

Although Yonghe Village and Yonghe Town share two characters, they seem to have no connection. There are very few people in this village, consisting of only three brigades. The brigades are separated from each other only by two ditches. You can reach another brigade by crossing a high, steep slope.

Yu Dawei was somewhat surprised by everything in Yonghe Village as he drove here. When passing other villages, at least he could see a few brick houses, but Yonghe Village was almost entirely made of adobe.

Each family's yard was small, with a plot of land of about nine-tenths of an acre being considered good. The adobe houses were also very low, at most two and a half meters high, or even less.

It was already afternoon when the two arrived. In Northeast China, families usually eat two meals a day at this time of year, so when the car window was rolled down slightly, the smell of burning firewood and steaming rice would mix together and waft into the car.

"Brother, if you open a repair shop in this place, you'll lose everything, not even your underwear!" In the passenger seat, Yao Jinfu gripped the car window with both hands, wiped away the window frosting, and looked outside.

Even the dogs roaming the streets were thinner than those in other villages they passed through. It was no exaggeration to say that this village was the poorest Yao Jinfu had ever seen.

The place is small and barren. Looking into the distance, all that can be seen are wastelands and meadows. It seems that the ponds of all sizes have frozen over. This place is suitable for growing rice, but it seems that no one has cultivated the area around the village.

"Those who live by the mountains live off the mountains and those who live by the water, they can't rely on anything else, but they still have a silver tongue." Yu Dawei smiled at Fuzi, "Even if you're poor, you'll always find a way to survive."

As the car drove further ahead, some courtyards along the main street started displaying signs advertising bargains. These signs were really just large wooden planks painted red.

The labels say "accommodation," "restaurant," and "convenience store."

The further into the village they went, the more they could see. The whole street seemed to be full of small businesses. Finally, Yu Dawei settled on one at the east end of the village.

The courtyard's design is very similar to his grandfather's house. Near the main street, there is a small barn built up, next to which is a pigsty for raising pigs, behind which is the garden, and at the very back are the main courtyard and the living quarters.

A wooden sign also hung on the top of the small shed, with the words "Old Ji Repair" painted in red.

Yu Dawei also saw a bicycle with its tires removed parked at the other party's door. There was a middle-aged man wearing black, worn-out thick cotton trousers and a brown cotton-padded jacket over his upper body, with a large red patch clearly visible on the back.

The man was inflating the inner tube that had been removed. After inflating it, he held one end of the inner tube with both hands and placed it in water. After pressing it down, he found no leaks. He then moved to the other end and tried to find the puncture point little by little.

Yu Dawei drove the car around the ditch in front of the yard, down the dirt road, and parked it in front of the man's repair shop.

The man was initially quite excited to see a car parked in front of his yard. After all, not many cars pass through the village, and even fewer break down. Unless they had to go to town to get major repairs, there was no way a car would be parked here.

Inside the barn, an old man sat on a worn-out rattan chair, smoking a pipe. He glanced at his mentally challenged son through the doorway and scolded him with a hint of disapproval, "What are you standing there for! There's a car parked at the door, why don't you get up and go check it out?"

"Oh." Ji Youde pulled his hands out of the basin, shook them vigorously to both sides, then wiped the remaining water stains on both sides of his cotton-padded jacket before walking towards the parked car.

But when he saw the person stepping out of the car, the shock in his eyes lingered for a long time. His hands awkwardly went into the pockets of his cotton-padded coat, showing both nervousness and evasiveness...

He was once a prominent master craftsman in the oil city, and with the Eighth Bureau as his backer, he could be considered a former high-ranking executive.

That's why he's now somewhat afraid of seeing acquaintances. The friends he met while repairing cars in the oil town are now rarely in touch. Since he returned, he's settled down to farm with his grandfather, and he's set up a small shop near his door using his skills. Business is so-so, but his family isn't starving.

"Long time no see, Captain." Yu Dawei was wearing a dark green long down jacket that his second uncle had bought for him last year, with a dark gray wool sweater underneath. He was wearing jeans that his mother had bought for him, with cotton pants made by his mother underneath.

He smiled sincerely at the captain in front of him, as if they were old friends who hadn't been in contact for many years but still remembered each other vividly.

"Long time no see, Master Yu." The captain smiled somewhat awkwardly. "I'm not a captain anymore, just call me Lao Ji."

He didn't dare let the other person call him "Youde" because he felt he was not worthy of the title.

"Master Yu is amazing. Did you buy a new car?" Old Ji didn't want to dwell on the awkward atmosphere of the past. He looked at the red car next to him and changed the subject, saying, "It's a brand new Big Head Shoe. It's easy to find the old one, but the new one is hard to find. Its highlight is definitely the rear-mounted air-cooled engine, which is quite unique."

"It's good, but the speed is too slow. The top speed is only about 100 miles per hour. Even if you step on the gas, that's about it." Yu Dawei turned around and smiled helplessly at his car.

"It's pretty good. It's only a 0.6-something liter engine. What more can you ask for? I think this car is better than the Beetle. With a few modifications later, it'll be incredibly fast." Old Ji's initial embarrassment completely disappeared as he talked about cars.

He subconsciously reached out to pat the car, but then remembered that his hands weren't very clean, so he quickly pulled them back.

"You're here because..." Old Ji turned to look at Yu Dawei, his eyes filled with confusion.

Yu Dawei paused for a moment, then happened to catch a glimpse of the old man coming out of the small warehouse. He waved and walked over, saying, "Uncle Ji, you're here too."

"Young man, what brings you here?" The old man said, taking a puff after saying this, his old pipe in hand.

"Xiao Bai told me you live here, so I thought I'd come and visit you." Yu Dawei turned back, unloaded a box of fruit from the back seat of the Fiat, and Axe behind him also carried a box.

"You're too kind. You've come all this way, why bring anything?" Old Ji glanced at his good-for-nothing eldest son. "What are you standing there for? Help me carry some things. You're just a blind man crying all day long."

Old Ji, the son, was helpless. After all, this was his own father. He turned around and quickly walked to Yu Dawei's side, taking the fruit from him: "Come on, you guys go inside first. I'll tidy up the things at the door."

"Okay." Yu Dawei nodded.

The group entered the house, which was not large. The kitchen was directly in front of the door. There was a large water vat about half a person's height at the entrance, next to which was a stove. In the corner of the north wall, there was a stack of firewood. This was the arrangement of most kitchens in Northeast China.

Lifting the white embroidered curtain and entering the inner room, Yu Dawei saw an old lady and a middle-aged woman.

The old woman was lying at the end of the kang (a heated brick bed), covered with a quilt. A middle-aged woman was sitting on the edge of the kang doing needlework. When she saw someone coming, she hurriedly put down the winnowing basket, got up, and looked up at her father-in-law.

"This is Master Yu, a friend of Youde." Old Ji tapped his pipe twice on the edge of the stove under the fire pit, and the ash inside floated out with the tapping. "Please, have a seat."

"This is a virtuous daughter-in-law, and the one on the kang is my husband. He's been paralyzed from the waist down for over ten years, so please don't mind." Old Ji pulled over a wooden stool from the side and placed it in front of Yao Jinfu. "Young master, please sit down."

"What's so strange about that?" Yu Dawei took the stool from Old Man Ji and placed it next to Yao Jinfu, then sat down on the kang himself.

Old Ji's wife hurriedly poured hot water for everyone and took out some glasses that were not often used at home. They were particularly old-fashioned double happiness glasses with a red "happiness" character on them. Families usually prepare several of these glasses when they get married.

The cup looked brand new, as if it had never been used. When Yu Dawei held it in his hands, the frosted texture of the pattern could be felt through his fingertips.

"This cup was left over from when Youde and his wife got married. They don't come over often, so it hasn't been used much," Old Ji explained casually when he saw Yu Dawei staring at the cup. ("Qie" means guest.)
"Your sister-in-law knows how to manage a household well. Just look at this cup. She must be a thrifty and hardworking woman." Yu Dawei said with a smile in his eyes as he drank hot water.

Ji Youde was tidying up the things outside the warehouse. Since the main person in charge was not there, Yu Dawei did not explain his purpose for coming, so he chatted with the old man Ji and his family.

(End of this chapter)