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

Chapter 180 Worker No. 01 at Fanfan Repair Shop

During the conversation, I learned that the villagers of Yonghe Village are indeed having a very difficult time. They are not allowed to cultivate farmland in many of the surrounding wastelands because they are told that there may be oil underground. The leaders above have ordered all villages around Yonghe Town to remain inactive.

This has led to young people from Yonghe Village and several nearby villages leaving their villages to work in the cities.

Yu Dawei was speechless. His position determined his thoughts. If he remembered correctly, many years later, the so-called oil field in Taixian County did not produce much oil. Instead, the population dwindled, and development stagnated for many years.

Besides this, Yu Dawei also learned that there weren't many people in Yonghe Village who owned agricultural machinery. It's understandable that everyone in the village was so poor, so where would they get the money to buy a vehicle? It's easy to imagine how dismal Lao Ji's repair shop business was.

The group chatted idly until Ji Youde returned to the house. Only then did Yu Dawei reveal the purpose of his visit: he wanted to invite Old Ji to work at his repair shop, with a monthly salary of one thousand yuan and a year-end bonus.

The salary was determined after we learned about the other party's salary level when they were working in the equipment factory from Xiaobai, and then we reconsidered and settled on this salary.

The equipment factory initially paid Ji Youde 800 yuan a month, with a small bonus at the end of the year. He was lucky if he could earn 100 or 200 yuan at most.

Although the conditions offered by Yu Dawei were not much in terms of the market, they were definitely acceptable compared to Ji Youde's current standard of living.

Moreover, the repair circle in the oil city is not large. Now, as for why Ji Youde resigned, anyone who cares can probably guess the general idea if they ask around. Some large factories may not be able to tolerate someone like Ji Youde who has a tainted past.

When Yu Dawei said that he could earn 1,000 yuan a month, Ji Youde's wife's eyes lit up. When she heard that there would be a bonus at the end of the year, she couldn't help but secretly wink at Ji Youde.

No wonder she's so enthusiastic. She has four daughters and one son. Two of the daughters and one son are in elementary school. The eldest daughter is doing well in her studies and got into the county's health school. The second daughter is in junior high school. These children alone have already emptied the family's coffers, not to mention the old lady lying on the kang (a heated brick bed) who needs to be taken care of every day.

Although she, as the daughter-in-law, holds the reins of the family finances, she still has to be very careful with money every day. This was the case when the father and son worked at the equipment factory, and it's even more so now.

"Thank you for your kindness, Boss Yu." Ji Youde finally understood Yu Dawei's purpose in coming, but he was too embarrassed to work for him: "My dad said that if you can't even be a good person, don't expect to do a good job. I won't go to your place and cause you any trouble."

Upon hearing this, Yu Dawei sighed, but he could understand Ji Youde's concerns. Ultimately, Ji was afraid of being gossiped about in the car repair industry.

However, before Dawei could even speak, the old man sitting on the stool next to him hit Ji Youde on the back with his pipe.

"Are you trying to drive me crazy! Why would you give up such a good opportunity!" Old Ji looked at him with a face full of anger and disappointment.

"But..." Ji Youde rubbed his back, which hurt a little from being hit by the pipe.

"But what! I did say that being a good person comes before doing anything else, but you're a good person, so why can't you do anything else?" Old Ji pursed his lips in annoyance, then looked at Yu Dawei and said earnestly, "Young Yu, you can take Youde with you, I'll take care of this!"

"Don't worry about him causing any trouble at your repair shop." As Old Man Ji said this, he tapped Ji Youde's shoulder twice with his pipe. "As long as I, this old man, am alive, he won't be able to do anything immoral in his life!"

Upon hearing this, Ji Youde looked at his elderly father, his nose tingling with emotion. He was getting on in years, yet his father still had to swallow his pride and vouch for him like this.

“Alright, with your kind words, I’ll take Brother Ji with me.” Yu Dawei didn’t mince words and looked at the old man earnestly, saying, “Since Brother Ji has chosen to come to my place, I certainly won’t treat him unfairly.”

"Good!" A rare smile appeared on Old Man Ji's face.

They insisted on inviting Yu Dawei to stay for a meal, and Yu Dawei, feeling it was difficult to refuse their hospitality, agreed.

Old Ji killed the old hen in the yard and then made chicken stew with potatoes for Yu Dawei and the other man, along with a few other common dishes.

Since Yu Dawei had to drive, the task of drinking was left to Yao Jinfu. Besides being good at driving excavators, his brother was also good at drinking. Even when the father and son teamed up, they couldn't outdrink Yao Jinfu alone, and their faces didn't even turn red with alcohol.

Perhaps Old Man Ji had drunk too much, because at the dinner table he was both cursing his good-for-nothing eldest son and praising him to Dawei.

With two younger sisters and a younger brother, Old Ji shouldered the entire burden of the family, helping with matchmaking, finding husbands for his younger brother, and getting married. He, as the eldest son, was always the one paying for everything.

His eldest son is righteous, but he occasionally makes a fuss.

As he spoke, Old Man Ji started cursing at his eldest son, hitting him on the head with his pipe.

Fortunately, Yu Dawei was quick-witted and snatched the pipe away, then secretly hid it under the bedding next to him. Otherwise, how would he repair the car at the factory? That wouldn't do.

As they were leaving, Old Ji's elderly mother, who was lying on the kang (a heated brick bed), held her eldest son's hand tightly and repeatedly told him to take good care of himself, not to always have a long face, and to smile more at everyone he met.

Yao Jinfu, who was standing nearby, couldn't bear to watch this scene and quickly walked out of the outer room first.

Yu Dawei also went out and started the car in the yard, letting it idle first, otherwise the engine oil would solidify when driving.

Even antifreeze engine oil won't work; driving the car without warming it up first can easily damage it.

And so, Yu Dawei left Yonghe Village with two men who were drunk.

Two beams of light illuminated the darkness at the village entrance, heading from Taixian County towards Luhe River. "Sigh, they really are a handful," Old Ji sighed deeply as he watched the car drive away from the gate of his courtyard.

The reason I followed Youde to the oil city equipment factory was because I felt that my son was acting recklessly because of the parachuted-in factory manager, and the result was exactly as I expected.

This child is just like his mother; he's sensitive and always thinks the worst of things, so he'll never find a bright future.

After he left his job, he told Youde to set up a shop in the village, shattering all his former glory. He said, "You're just a farmer, nothing but a farmer."

Only when you are covered in mud and stand up again will you truly respect everything that has been hard-won.

"Young Yu is a good man, and he's capable. If you really follow him wholeheartedly, you might not become rich and powerful in the future, but your family will definitely be able to live a life of comfort and ease." Old Man Ji withdrew his gaze, his wrinkled old hands pulled open the old wooden fence, and he walked into the yard, slightly tipsy.

At this moment, the other person's demeanor was completely different from the drunkenness at the dinner table. He seemed like an old fox hiding in the deep mountains, only revealing his true form when he was alone.

After hearing his eldest son's account of Yu Dawei's activities at the equipment factory, he clearly understood that this man was definitely not simple, and he trusted his judgment.

When he got back to the house, he reached into the blankets with his left hand to take out the old opium pipe that Yu Dawei had hidden, but as he touched it, he felt that there was something else besides the pipe.

The old man withdrew his hand in confusion, looked down, and saw that the two-hundred-yuan bill was with the pipe.

"Oh my! How come there's two hundred yuan in this quilt!" Ji Youde's wife was tidying up the table when she saw her father-in-law holding money in his hand. She was surprised, but then seemed to understand something, and her eyes and heart were filled with complicated emotions.

"Sigh, if Youde doesn't behave well this time, I'll skin him alive!" Old Master Ji put some tobacco on his old pipe, sat cross-legged on the kang (heated brick bed), and started puffing away.

On the road.

"Brother, the road you're driving on doesn't look quite right to me," Yao Jinfu said, glancing at the road signs and scenery from the passenger seat.

"Keep heading south, that's right." Yu Dawei continued to press the accelerator without caring.

"Brother, heading south is the right thing to do, but isn't our town in the southwest?"

Yu Dawei: "..."

"Boss, trust me. Turn west at the next intersection and keep going straight until you reach the national highway." Old Ji's voice came from the back seat. He was curled up in the back seat, feeling nauseous but holding back the urge to vomit, and quickly gave his boss directions.

"Old Ji, you've drunk yourself into this state, do you think I can trust you?" Yu Dawei rolled his eyes at the rearview mirror.

"Absolutely, boss! Although you are resourceful and quick-witted, I've been walking around this area for decades. Trust me!" Old Ji patted his chest confidently from the back seat.

"Then I'll trust you this once?" Yu Dawei was half-convinced.
Trust me! I'll take responsibility if anything goes wrong!

"Alright then." Yu Dawei sighed. It was too dark, and there weren't any streetlights or signs. He was a bit lost, so he decided to just listen to him and walk around.

"By the way, boss, how many employees does our factory have now?" Old Ji asked curiously, leaning over the car seat.

“Strictly speaking, you’re our factory’s employee number 001.” Yu Dawei then pointed to Yao Jinfu and said, “He doesn’t belong to the repair shop, because he’s the employee number 001 of the future engineering vehicle fleet. But Fuzi also lives in the factory and currently helps us repair vehicles.”

“Understood. It’s good to separate the mechanics from the drivers into small teams; it’ll increase work efficiency.” Old Ji gave Yu Dawei a thumbs up. “You’re a true boss.”

Yu Dawei smiled bitterly. He had witnessed the brigade leader's ability to flatter back in the equipment factory, but he was destined to be disappointed. He was no longer the ambitious Yu Dawei of the past.

“Fanfan Repair Shop is separate from my car maintenance business. It specializes in handling the natural flow of vehicles outside the shop. Don’t underestimate the natural flow of vehicles in front of my shop. There’s an equipment rental market right outside, and the highway is not far away. I told you at the dinner table that we’re really too busy to handle everything.” After explaining, Yu Dawei added, “Our shop can make a lot of money just from the natural flow of vehicles.”

"Because if there's work on the excavators in the summer, I can't be at the factory repairing cars, so you'll be in charge of coordinating all the car repairs at Fanfan Repair Shop." After giving his instructions, Yu Dawei looked in the rearview mirror and asked Lao Ji, "How's that?"

"No problem!" Old Ji grinned, listening to the boss describe the factory's location. He felt that he had a bright future ahead of him!
It's truly a case of things turning from bad to good!
Yu Dawei actually thought so too. It's best not to mix car maintenance and car repair. Managing and operating them as two separate systems would make it easier for Yu Dawei, the boss, to give orders.

It can also provide a preliminary definition for different work natures later on, which in general makes management easier.

Of course, this is just a rough idea for him at the moment. His experience in his previous life stopped at opening a special machinery repair company. Now that he has to deal with car maintenance as well, he still needs to think about it carefully and take it seriously.

"Something's not right, Lao Ji. Why do I feel like we're going further and further astray? Lao Ji... Lao Ji?!" Yu Dawei turned around and looked back.

Good heavens, just like Yao Jinfu, he fell asleep leaning against the seat.

Damn it, you guys made me, the boss, drive, and then you gave me the wrong directions!

(End of this chapter)