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

Chapter 216 Winter Solstice
"By the way, Third Brother, I also heard that this kid fixed that pile of scrap metal road rollers. Now Second Brother will have to treat him like a treasure even more." Qi Daduzi suddenly teased, remembering this.

"Being able to fix that broken-down car and make it work is quite a skill," Uncle San nodded in approval.

Not long after, the group stopped at Fanfan's repair shop.

Qi Dadu had been to this place before, the time when he brought Yu Dawei and the road roller back from Nianzishan. The courtyard was surrounded by a high wall covered with broken glass. The gate had been reinforced and covered with sheet metal, more than two meters high, making it impossible to see inside.

However, from the outside of the atom, when you look up, you can still see the body of the engineering machinery that extends beyond the courtyard wall, such as the excavator cab, the upper part of the road roller, the roof, the hood, etc.

Compared to before, now there is a strong smell of gasoline and diesel in the yard, and there is a small wooden sign at the entrance, tied with hemp rope to the highest diamond-shaped decoration on the right side of the gate.

My third uncle was a little curious, so he reached out and picked up the wooden board to examine it closely. It read: "Three-day holiday for the Winter Solstice, work resumes on the 25th."

I don't know what the Winter Solstice means to people in the South, but in the North, people make dumplings.

For the boss, eating dumplings is a very serious and important matter. Dumplings taste best when eaten by a family or a large group of people.

Many years ago in the rural areas of Northeast China, when Yu Dawei was a child, it was considered a luxury to eat dumplings during festivals; on ordinary days, they rarely ate any wheat-based foods.

Therefore, in Dawei's memory, eating dumplings means reunion and happiness.

So, while others might not get a holiday for the Winter Solstice, Yu Dawei insisted on getting one, otherwise he would have no excuse to go home and eat dumplings.

Old Ji hadn't been home for a long time, so Yu Dawei gave him an advance of a month's salary, enough to buy some New Year's goods or something for the house.

He then took Yao Jinfu and Xiao Agui back to Heshan Village.

Although Axe didn't really want to go back to Xinglong Village, with Yu Dawei around, he couldn't let Axe be bullied, so he drove home in a high-profile manner.

Whenever he bumps into someone he knows, Yu Dawei rolls down his car window to greet a group of people from Xinglongtun. These include his former elementary school classmates, distant relatives from the Yu family who often visit their village, and some strangers whose names he can recall but whom he doesn't know well.

When others envy Yu Dawei for having a car, Yu Dawei will take the opportunity to say, "Oh? How did you know that Yao Jinfu and I opened a repair shop together? It's not bad, business is pretty good."

In just one afternoon, the rumor spread that Axe owned a repair shop and had more than a dozen excavators. All of this was just part of Yu Dawei's plan, something he had anticipated.

At Axe's age, he's of marriageable age in the village, and as his good brother, I can't bear to see him all alone.

But if you want to find a partner, you have to get rid of all the discordant voices in the village and build up your reputation.

In fact, Yu Dawei is using 21st-century star-making methods to create a persona.

I believe that once I actually make my move, the number of people wanting to find me a match will be so great that they'll be lining up from one end of the village to the other.

After returning the axe to its home, Yu Dawei took Xiao Agui back to his own home.

"Third brother, what do you mean?" Qi Dadu stood at the gate of the courtyard and glanced at his third brother.

"Let the people at the back of the convoy continue towards Minquan. Let the three of us deliver some pork to this kid." The third uncle was somewhat helpless, but he understood the kid's thoughts.

The winter solstice is a special day for Dawei, Hou Wanshan, and many other northerners.

Because this day has the shortest daylight hours and the longest darkness, and because it's colder than usual, it's warmer when everyone gathers together.

Hou Wanshan chose to return home for the Winter Solstice, hoping to have a reunion dinner in his birthplace. However, his parents had already passed away, his second brother was working in the oil city, his younger sister was married and living far away, and his eldest brother was a scoundrel, so let's not even mention him.

Whether he returns to Minquan Village or not doesn't mean much to him, but he still has many brothers under him who want to have dumplings with their families on the Winter Solstice. The project is also finished, so he can leave the final payment to his second brother.

So Hou Wanshan took his brothers home.

The closer he got to home, the less he knew where home was; this complex feeling had accompanied Hou Wanshan all the way.

"Third brother, since the three of us are all alone, how about we mooch some dumplings at Boss Xiao's place tonight?" Qi Dadudu was quick-witted and had already guessed most of his third brother's feelings.

But it's not easy to offer direct words of comfort.

Qi Daduzi was from out of town; his hometown wasn't in Suishi. He was kicked out by his parents at a young age, and they never spoke to each other again. Si Tuzi's parents had passed away before his third brother's, and he had been hanging out with his third brother since he was little. Neither he, Si Tuzi, nor his third brother had ever started a family.

Four Bald Men and he are the kind of men who love everyone. They don't want to donate to just one woman. Their lives are about loving wherever they go, so that they have no regrets in life.

Hou Wanshan had no interest in love. In his view, no human being is simple-minded, and human nature is unreliable, let alone love.

Back when my second brother married my second sister-in-law, he made solemn vows in front of the whole village. Haha, what about now?
When two people are together, they act like strangers. Deep down, they probably curse each other countless times. If it weren't for the child, they probably wouldn't have any status as husband and wife anymore.

What is love? It's nothing but a fart.

Instead of wasting time and money on romance, he'd rather find a quiet place to get a good night's sleep, undisturbed, with his mind blank and free from all thoughts.

"We'll leave after we deliver the goods," Hou Wanshan replied casually. Seeing the slight disappointment on their faces, he added helplessly, "You two can go wherever you want, just don't bother me for a while. I need to rest by myself."

"Alright! Third Brother, don't worry, we definitely won't bother you." The bald guy in the back seat almost jumped up.

It's a holiday, so of course I have to donate all the money I've earned. And I have to go to a big city, because only in big cities are there many young women who need donations.

"Don't worry my ass! What are you thinking, Baldy? How can you leave Third Brother alone? What if something happens and he's all alone?" Big Belly Qi firmly disagreed. Although he was disappointed, he still had to be loyal.

"Huh? Oh! Then I'll listen to you." Baldy pursed his lips, a hint of regret on his face, but he understood what Big Belly Qi meant.

Hou Wanshan, sitting in the passenger seat, remained silent. He had said everything he needed to say; whether they left or not was their business. In any case, these two would eventually be unable to hold back their words.

The three of them drove for less than half an hour to reach Yujiatun.

At this time, Yujiatun was covered in snow. Since November, several heavy snowfalls had occurred in Northeast China, and passing vehicles had driven over the snow, creating relatively hard snow roads.

Qi Dadu was also an experienced driver. He turned left and right and drove smoothly into Yu Dawei's yard.

"Third Uncle? Old Qi, Fourth Brother, is the project up north finished?" Yu Dawei was chopping wood at the landlord's place. Besides repairing some cut branches, there were also some rotten pieces of wood that needed to be processed. "Come inside quickly, it's cold outside."

"No, it's almost New Year's, so I'll give you two coins' worth of pork." Third Uncle glanced at Big Belly Qi and Baldy Si, and the two of them took two coins' worth of pork out of the trunk and threw them on the ground.

"One is for your family, and you can deliver the other to your grandparents' house for me," the third uncle instructed before preparing to leave with the two of them.

"Don't go! You've finished all the work, what's the rush? Why are you being so polite at your nephew's house?" Yu Dawei grabbed his third uncle's arm. "Lunch is ready, stewed fish. I'll cook a couple more dishes for you later, let's have some drinks together."

Just then, the wind direction changed at the cigarette butt in Yu Dawei's house, from northwest to southeast, and the smoke from the cooking fire, carrying the smell of stewed fish, drifted down and passed by the nostrils of several people.

The four bald men's stomachs were the first to rumble, as the three of them hadn't eaten since they started driving in the morning, and it would be a lie to say they weren't hungry.

Four Bald Men swallowed hard, then glanced at Third Brother and Big Belly Qi.

Yu Dawei took in his fourth brother's expression and then advised, "Third Uncle, there are still many things I haven't shared with you yet. I've already fixed the road roller you gave me. And what happened when I came back from Qingcheng last time was incredibly dangerous. If it weren't for the hunting rifle that guy gave me, I wouldn't dare to go far from home recently."

"Third Brother, Boss Xiao must have encountered some interesting things lately. Why don't we have lunch before we leave? He's not an outsider." Qi Dadu suggested at the right moment.

In fact, he knew why his third brother didn't want to stay in Yujiatun for too long. It wasn't because he was being polite to Yu Dawei, but because he was avoiding certain people and things.

Qi Dadu kept Third Brother behind, and then subtly suggested to Yu Dawei at the dinner table that perhaps Third Brother's unresolved issues could be resolved with Boss Yu's help.

His life principle is to leave no regrets, while his third brother's life is filled with too much thinking and exhaustion, with countless unresolved issues in his heart. As a brother, I certainly wouldn't refuse to help him if I could.

"Alright, then I'll have to bother you and your nephew's wife." Third Uncle glanced at Baldy and Big Belly Qi, but ultimately gave in.

After all, we were really hungry after walking all this way.

Yu Dawei hurriedly invited his third uncle, Qi Daduzi, and Si Tuzi into the house. Inside, Han Jingfan was cooking, while in the inner room, Xiao Agui was lying on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) watching Xiao Muyu on the kang.

Little A-Gui can't speak and isn't very good at entertaining children; his only trick is making funny faces.

(End of this chapter)