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

Chapter 397 Daewoo Excavator

The excavator Zhao Yi was repairing was a Daewoo 220. Yu Dawei lost interest in the excavator the moment he saw it.

Currently, there are many excavators both domestically and internationally. Since the 1980s, various heavy industry brands have been focusing their efforts on excavators.

Daewoo excavators are a brand created around the 1980s and belong to South Korea.

If Yu Dawei remembers correctly, the brand was created either in 1984 or 1985. Compared with foreign brands like Volvo, Komatsu, and Caterpillar, it was created relatively late.

Therefore, it is not unreasonable for Yu Dawei to underestimate it in terms of price and quality.

However, it does have its advantages. Compared to top-tier heavy industry brands like Caterpillar, Daewoo excavators are cheaper. You could say that the price of a similar-sized Caterpillar excavator is roughly equivalent to that of two Daewoo excavators.

Secondly, although the other party's quality is average and it is prone to breaking down, its quality is just slightly above the upper limit of domestic excavator brands.

If any domestic excavator brand were to raise its price ceiling even slightly or lower its prices even slightly, Daewoo would be virtually invisible in the domestic market for the next decade or so.

Of course, some people also find it convenient to replace parts when Daewoo breaks down, because it is a neighboring country, and many parts are not only cheap to buy, but also supplied quickly.

Therefore, it must be admitted that there are reasons why Daewoo can maintain a firm foothold in China for the next twenty years.

Yu Dawei recalls that the car maintenance business owners who were willing to use Daewoo excavators were generally concentrated in Hebei, Henan, and Jiangxi provinces.

In Northeast China and Inner Mongolia, Volvo cars are generally used, while Caterpillar cars are more common.

It's not that those car maintenance owners are particularly wealthy, but rather that they're willing to spend money.

“Dawei, the engine is right next to the excavator, the one covered with a plastic sheet.” Claw led Dawei to the excavator and pointed to the cab. “All the maintenance tools are in the cab. If you need anything, just ask me anytime. I’ll be keeping watch over the gravel area behind you.”

"Okay." Yu Dawei nodded and took the key to the excavator cab from the other party.

As Claw was about to leave, he glanced at Yu Dawei and couldn't help but say, "Brother, it's not that I don't trust you, but you must be careful when you're repairing cars and installing engines. This excavator was bought with money pooled together by the brothers. If it breaks down and we can't work, not only will the brothers have something to say about Brother Yizi."

"Understood. Don't worry, as long as the repairman didn't make a mistake in the initial installation, there shouldn't be any major problems with the subsequent installation." Yu Dawei gave Claw a reassuring smile.

Claw nodded, turned around, and drove away.

Actually, quite a few guys objected to Yu Dawei's car repair business last night.

Since the person in question wasn't there, many of the villagers said some very unpleasant things, such as, "He's not even fully grown yet, and he's already showing off." Others said, "Letting a greenhorn fix the car is pointless; we might as well just install the engine ourselves! What does he know?"

Claw could naturally understand these people's feelings; in fact, when they passed by the construction site just now, everyone completely ignored Yu Dawei.

He actually spent a lot of money to buy the excavator, and he was thinking that he could get a bigger share when he made money, so he didn't want the excavator to be damaged like this.

"Sigh, I don't know what Second Brother and Brother Yizi were thinking. What if they really messed it up?" Claw couldn't help but complain in the car.

On the construction site, Yu Dawei watched Claw drive away and then glanced around.

This is actually a construction site. In the distance, there is a very tall building under construction, the main body of which is about the size of two basketball courts. The surrounding open space includes areas for road construction, areas for digging pits to create waterfall landscapes, and parking areas.

Yu Dawei could roughly tell these things with just a glance, after all, he had worked on construction sites when he was young.

Next to this excavator was a section of road under construction, and not far away, you could hear the sounds of other excavators working, and further away, several people were using a concrete mixer truck to mix concrete.

Yu Dawei noticed that a few people in the distance were secretly glancing in their direction. If he wasn't mistaken, those people should be from Yantian.

He looked away without paying much attention, opened the door of the excavator's cab, and saw various repair tools covered in oil stains, looking extremely dirty and messy.

"Those two bastards." Yu Dawei shook his head helplessly.

He guessed it as soon as he saw the repair tools: the two mechanics before didn't have any maintenance tools at all, and they were too lazy to even wash or wipe things down.

Yu Dawei wiped the tools he had prepared with a rag, then put on gloves, tore off the plastic sheet on the engine, and began to examine it.

Judging from the appearance, there shouldn't be any major problems with the assembly. Now all that's left is to install the cylinder head, the parts around the engine, the oil pan, and so on.

Without further ado, let's get started!
At lunchtime, while others ate, Yu Dawei didn't rest either. He had his dog, Claw, bring him food, and after eating, he continued working. This enthusiasm earned him the approval of the local people from Northeast China, and some of them who had invested in the excavator started to look at Yu Dawei more favorably.

Let's not talk about whether the other party can fix the car or not, but judging from their attitude, there's really nothing wrong with them. Their screw-tightening technique is also very steady, without any sloppy feeling. They really seem like a master mechanic.

In the afternoon, Zhao Yi came from elsewhere and specifically called Claw aside to ask him questions.

"How's it going over there?" Zhao Yi asked.

"It's alright, the technique seems quite skilled, but I don't know if there will be any problems. Right now, the brothers are quite emotional." Claw explained, but he was still being subtle.

Who wants their hard-earned money to go wrong? It's like putting all your savings into the stock market and watching it turn green every day – your heart can't take it.

"It's alright. Explain to the brothers a bit more. Right now, the people in Yantian are keeping a close eye on things, and we can't find any experienced mechanics. If this car really can't be fixed, I'll compensate you for whatever the loss is." Zhao Yi took out a box of Hongtashan cigarettes from his pocket, handed one to Zhao Zi, and put one in his own mouth.

"It's alright, the brothers will understand. I'll explain it to them properly when I get the chance." Claw took out a lighter from his pocket, lit it for Zhao Yi, and then put the lighter to his own lips.

"Send someone to keep an eye on Dawei's area, whether there's something to do or not. If any of the people from Yantian dare to harass him, don't be polite, just take them out!" Zhao Yi coldly said, then whispered a few more words to Claw before turning and leaving.

Claw glanced at his brothers behind him, his expression complex, but in the end, he could only let out a sigh.

As evening approached, Yu Dawei had already closed the cylinder head of the excavator engine. There was also a complete set of valves on top of the cylinder head. After adjusting the valves, Yu Dawei was finally done with the main body of the engine.

We'll deal with the remaining odds and ends tomorrow.

Before leaving, Yu Dawei made sure to cover the engine with a plastic sheet. He had heard from Claw that there would be people watching over it at night, so it was very unlikely that the excavator would be tampered with.

Yu Dawei felt somewhat relieved upon hearing this, after all, it would be terrible if the engine were ruined again after he had finally managed to repair it.

Dinner was at a night market stall chosen by Claw and his brothers. They had a few bottles of beer, spicy crayfish, oysters and other seafood, as well as various kinds of green vegetables that Yu Dawei couldn't usually get inland.

Perhaps because it was my first time eating it, I didn't quite get used to the taste.

The topic they talked about most was naturally Jiang Shang, since everyone in the group knew that Jiang Shang was going to hold a belated wedding. However, when they mentioned his sister-in-law, they all seemed to be keeping quiet about it.

The scene was even somewhat awkward.

Claw seemed to sense Yu Dawei's doubts, and then let slip a little information: "My sister-in-law is alright, but she has a bit of a bossy personality. When she's behind my second brother's back, she always likes to boss us brothers around, so every time we see her, we just give her a simple greeting and leave."

Yu Dawei looked surprised: "I didn't realize my sister-in-law was so wild. She's always been quite gentle the two times I've met her."

"That's because you haven't had much contact with her." A shirtless man next to him chuckled. "In the past, which of our brothers wasn't controlled by her? Think about it, if she were a really good girl, how could she have severed ties with her family just to be with my second brother?"

Yu Dawei nodded, agreeing that this was indeed the case.

However, they didn't talk about these things too much. They just drank and chatted casually, and the questions they asked were all about Yu Dawei's car repair business in his hometown, as they wanted to verify how skilled he really was.

Yu Dawei knew that bragging at the dinner table was pointless, so he simply gave a few perfunctory replies. Before finishing his meal, he didn't forget to tell his cronies that they should find a crane tomorrow to lift the engine into the excavator.

When the others heard Yu Dawei say this, smiles appeared on their faces to varying degrees. The sooner it could be repaired, the more money they could make.

When Dawei returned to the barbershop, it was already closed. The dark shop contrasted sharply with the dim streetlights outside.

Claw drove his beat-up, secondhand Xiali to the barbershop and left. Before leaving, he gave Yu Dawei a phone number that belonged to Zhao Yi.

Yu Dawei also knew what kind of situation this group of people were.

Zhao Yi is the leader of this group in the entire Northeast, or you could say the person in charge. There was another person in charge of the Northeast before him, but he stepped down from that position seven or eight years ago.

In terms of wealth, Zhao Yi is actually considered to be doing quite well among Northeasterners. He bought an apartment in Shenzhen, which is over 100 square meters, and his wife and children have also moved here from the Northeast.

Zhao Yi's earlier statement that we should contact him if we needed anything was not a joke, as he is the president of the Northeast Business Council. Of course, this is a non-governmental organization and doesn't carry much weight.

But as long as people in Northeast China recognize this name, it will work.

(End of this chapter)