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

Chapter 236 The Daihatsu Minivan is Acquired in Jinshi

When I was working at the equipment factory in the oil city, I didn't feel homesick much, but now that I've only been here for a short time, I can't help but miss home.

Perhaps it was the strong sense of community here that made him think of his own father, wife, and children.

The next morning, after Yu Dawei finished getting ready, he made breakfast for his brothers, which consisted of leftovers from the pork stew restaurant the night before.

But after heating it up in the pot, everyone still ate it with gusto. (Sweet-mouthed: meaning delicious and never enough)
After lunch, Yu Dawei took Xiao Agui and drove away from the factory in his red Fiat.

He planned to go to Brother Duan's place first. One reason was to get the engine that the scrap metal recycling station had previously acquired into his possession. The other reason was to ask Brother Duan for a favor and see if he could use his connections to find the van and transfer it to Brother Duan's name.

Yu Dawei guessed that Zheng Sanpao would not let go so easily, and even if he sold his shares, he would probably make things difficult for him.

Zheng Sanpao underestimated Duan Dahai's influence in the town. Brother Duan had been working his way up in Luhe Town for many years, and from officials to all sorts of people, everyone knew him as the owner of the largest scrap metal recycling station in Luhe Town.

However, Brother Duan was somewhat self-conscious and looked down on himself as a so-called "industry leader." On the other hand, he was very low-key in the town, always willing to help others, but never seeking anything from others for himself.

If such a kind person were to encounter any difficulties and ask someone in town for a word, how could they not remember past favors and lend a helping hand?

And things went just as Yu Dawei had planned. Duan Dahai learned that Yu Dawei wanted to sell the van yesterday, and then took Yu Dawei to inquire in Luhe Town. Before long, they found a small to medium-sized scrap metal recycling station.

Coincidentally, this recycling station happened to be one of Brother Duan's bases covering villages in the northeast of the town. After removing some non-ferrous parts, such as the seat and tires, the car weighed less than a thousand pounds in total.

According to the old man at the scrap metal recycling station, the man took less than 700 yuan with him. However, before he left, he did tell the man not to sell the money if any other scrap metal recycling stations in town or people from Fanfan Repair Shop came to buy it.
However, the old man only verbally agreed to this. Not only the old man, but also his two sons were not familiar with this person. It was just that the other party had suddenly found their scrap metal recycling station.

After understanding the whole story, Yu Dawei smiled wryly to himself. At least the man hadn't lost anything, given the price his third uncle had offered of five hundred yuan. But Zheng Sanpao wanting more than a thousand yuan was definitely a pipe dream.

Yu Dawei also got to know the scrap metal recycling station, which was not far from his repair shop, in a new light. It turned out that the family behind it was a father and two sons.

Usually, it's just the eldest son and father here, but today the younger son is on holiday and came to help out. The whole family knows Duan Dahai.

It can be said that there is no garbage collector in Luhe Town who doesn't know Duan Dahai. Some elderly people like to call Duan Dahai "Haizi", while younger people like to call him "Brother Hai".

The old man's surname is Cui. He had received a favor from Duan Dahai back then. When his youngest son was in junior high school, the family was already struggling to make ends meet in town. If Duan Dahai hadn't had the idea of ​​turning his small scrap metal recycling station into a base, he probably wouldn't have been able to support his youngest son's education.

This is a real favor, equivalent to letting you pass through the same town for free back then, taking a cut in the middle. If anyone dares to say that this person is unkind, Old Man Cui will be the first to turn against him!
The van was easily taken away by Duan Dahai and Yu Dawei. Old Cui knew that Yu Dawei and Duan Dahai were friends, and in order to give Duan Dahai face, he sold it for the same price he had received before.

Not counting the cost of the fuel towing it back, it's practically free.

Zheng Sanpao probably never imagined that Brother Duan, whom Yu Dawei knew, held such a high position in the scrap metal recycling industry in Luhe Town. Otherwise, he probably would have simply driven the truck back to the village or sold it in another town.

This was the first time Yu Dawei had truly felt how powerful Brother Duan was in Luhe Town. He had only heard Boss Liang mention it before, back in early 92 when the three of them had just met.

I reckon Boss Liang must have heard of Brother Duan over the years, otherwise he wouldn't have suggested that I go to Brother Duan's place to see if there were any scrapped excavators.

However, since they belonged to different professions, they didn't have much interaction. Now, they're practically inseparable.

Yu Dawei took the van directly to Fanfan's repair shop.

As soon as they entered the courtyard, Lao Ji and Yao Jinfu stared wide-eyed, completely unable to believe that the car had returned after circling around in such a short time.

According to the two of them, it would take at least a day to find the van at another scrap yard, and then they would have to appeal to each other's emotions to finally get the van back.

Xiao Agui got out of the driver's seat of the Dafa van, glancing at Uncle Fu and Uncle Ji with some surprise, wondering why these two weren't fixing cars and were looking at him. "Agui, go help them out. Your Uncle Dahai and I are going to his place to check on his engine," Yu Dawei told Xiao Agui, then got into Brother Duan's tricycle and headed over.

Taking Ah Gui along wouldn't make much difference. I'm going to buy that six-cylinder engine anyway; I just need to glance at the specs and brand. What if it turns out to be a dump truck's six-cylinder engine? That would be a complete mess.

Truck and dump truck engines are generally arranged longitudinally. Putting aside the issue of speed distribution, simply putting a 400-horsepower truck diesel engine (long-haul truck diesel engines are usually about 1 meter high) into the flat engine compartment of a car is simply impossible.

The six-cylinder engines in dump trucks and other trucks are much larger than those in cars. Furthermore, the fuel return systems of a diesel engine and a gasoline engine are completely different.

However, in Yu Dawei's memory, that six-cylinder engine was relatively small and should be a car engine.

Duan Dahai claimed he knew nothing about it, saying he had only bought the engine at scrap metal prices. The other party had other spare parts, but he had already sold them. The reason he kept the engine was because that bastard Lao Liang suggested it.

They insisted that by disassembling the engine parts, they could resell them as used parts. They even said they'd let them handle the disassembly.

As it turned out, the weather was unbearably cold, and the kid didn't have the same level of skill as Dawei and the other guys at the repair shop, so disassembling the engine was simply out of the question.

This shows that you shouldn't use your amateur skills to challenge someone else's expertise. Lao Liang is all talk and no action—a complete charlatan.

Fortunately, my brother Dawei took a liking to the engine; otherwise, he would have sold it along with the other scrap metal in the yard before the new year.

Iron prices rose quite quickly at the end of the year. It was fine to play around with it on ordinary days, but now was the time for Duan Dahai to make money. He was planning to take all the scrap iron to the scrap yard in the next day or two to sell it all, which would earn him a lot more than usual.

After the two arrived at the scrap metal recycling station, Boss Liang came out of the house.

Normally, the key to the door of the scrap metal recycling station is hidden under the scrap metal blocks under the windowsill, and Yu Dawei and Lao Liang both know this.

The kid's here so early, the shop must be quiet again. Anyway, ever since he started selling excavator parts, Boss Liang's business has become increasingly slow. In the summer, he's still a bit busy, but in the winter, most of the people who come to him are buying agricultural machinery parts. I guess he's starting to look down on this little bit of money now.

It's also possible that because they recently got their secret stash back, they're currently feeling quite comfortable with it.

"What have you two been up to? You went to the pharmacy yesterday to get some... you know, Chinese medicine." Boss Liang was wearing a pair of brand-new leather shoes, the leather was light brown, and there was some suede peeking out from the ankles.

At this time, whether in villages or towns, people rarely bought ready-made leather shoes. The main reason was that homemade cotton shoes were warm, and of course, the high price was also the biggest reason.

Yu Dawei and Duan Dahai were the kind of people who could tell from their own eyes that Deng Zhijun was not a good person. The two of them almost immediately noticed that Boss Liang had changed his shoes, and they were the big leather shoes that were selling well at the town market recently.

"Looks like this old bastard has really turned the tables and is now singing songs of triumph." Duan Dahai didn't miss the chance to mock Lao Liang, and nudged Yu Dawei on the shoulder. "Did you see that? He's wearing new shoes even though it's not a holiday. Did your tigress buy them for you?"

Yu Dawei, standing beside him, grinned mischievously and said, "Brother Liang, take it easy. It's only been two weeks. Don't ruin your health that you've been working so hard on."

"No way." Boss Liang waved his hand confidently. "Brothers, let me tell you, resistance within a family is just like fighting a war. It's all about striking while the iron is hot! If we don't subdue her this time, the tables will turn next time!"

Yu Dawei and Duan Dahai walked towards the scrap metal area on the west side of the yard, staring at Boss Liang in surprise.

If the two of them truly admired Lao Liang for anything, it must be his tragic experiences in marriage. That last sentence was absolutely a wake-up call for them.

Duan Dahai was just short of going back to his room to get his notebook, write down what Lao Liang had just said, and then secretly take it out to ponder it when he had nothing to do.

"Hey? You two aren't coming inside, what are you planning to do?" Boss Liang followed them into the scrap metal area. Although the yard was dirty with snow and mud mixed together, what did it matter if his shoes were dirty or not compared to brotherhood!
At worst, I can just go home and throw the shoes at my wife and let her clean them up. It's no big deal, it's all no big deal.

(End of this chapter)