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

Chapter 400 Second Uncle?
Yu Dawei didn't make a move to alert the enemy; he simply glanced at them briefly, then turned and quickly left the mall.

At first, he thought it might be his imagination, but after several twists and turns outside, the person behind him was still chasing closely.

Yu Dawei waited patiently at a corner of a commercial area until he finally saw who it was.

The other person was an old man wearing a white vest and shorts. He had very little hair left on the top of his head, but there was still some hair around the sides of his head.

He carried a plastic woven vegetable basket in his right hand and leaned on a wooden cane in his left. The cane had a visibly worn patina at both ends, as if it had been used for many years.

When Yu Dawei discovered that it was an old man following him, his first reaction was that his safety was guaranteed, but he was still puzzled deep down.

If this person is one of Yantian's gang, why would they send an old man to follow me? Is it so that I would knock the other person down and then try to extort money from me?

For a moment, the two men stared at each other in the sunless alley. Yu Dawei was deep in thought, while the other man squinted at him, observing him for a long time, seemingly wanting to say something but still hesitant.

"Old man, what are you doing following me?" Yu Dawei finally broke the silence. If the other party really had any ill intentions, he had already decided that he would turn around and run away in a moment.

With his massive physique, he could probably leave his opponent far behind.

"Are you from Northeast China? When you asked me something at the counter, you spoke with a strong Northeastern accent." The old man didn't answer Yu Dawei's question, but instead voiced his own doubts.

Yu Dawei frowned slightly: "There are quite a few people from Northeast China in Shenzhen. So what if I'm from Northeast China?"

"Where is your hometown?" the old man asked again, a hint of excitement flashing in his eyes.

"This isn't your responsibility anymore." Yu Dawei sensed something was wrong and turned to run away, fearing he'd be extorted for every second he stayed.

"Young man, don't misunderstand. I'm also from Northeast China. My hometown is Qing County, Sui City, Heilongjiang Province." After the old man finished speaking, his cloudy eyes stared intently at Yu Dawei's face, just like a child eager for knowledge, waiting for his parents to answer his questions.

Seeing the other person's expression, Yu Dawei felt increasingly uneasy and also felt a little surprised: "Qing County? That's quite a coincidence, I'm also from Qing County."

"Where in Qing County are you from?" The old man seemed to find the vegetable basket a bit heavy, so he casually put it on the ground, and then leaned on his cane to quickly walk up to Yu Dawei.

"Hey? Old man, wait a minute! Even though we're from the same hometown, let's get this straight. What do you want from me?" Yu Dawei nervously took two steps back. He seriously suspected that someone was secretly observing him, or even taking pictures of him. He wondered if the old man had fallen in front of him and was now trying to extort money from him.

It wasn't that he was overthinking things; in his past life, he had been the target of countless scams by elderly people on the street.

"Where in Qing County are you from? Tell me quickly!" The old man became noticeably impatient, and his previously slow steps quickened considerably.

“I’m from Luhe, let’s talk this out. If you need any help, just ask. We’ll see if I can do it then.” Yu Dawei took two steps back again and started making empty promises to the old man.

"Hehe." The old man heard what he wanted to hear, and suddenly stopped. He then pointed his index finger at Yu Dawei and scolded him with a smile, as if he were an elder talking to a younger man: "You little rascal, you may not have much guts, but you've got a lot of tricks up your sleeve."

The old man stood there, smiling as he looked at Yu Dawei, shaking his head more and more as he looked: "He looks just like him, so much like him... but he's too timid."

"So, what do you mean?" Yu Dawei felt goosebumps all over from the other person's gaze.

"What do you mean? Your surname is Yu, right? Your hometown is Yujiatun, isn't it?" The old man tapped the floor tiles hard with both hands, holding his cane. "I am your second uncle, Yu Cong!"

Upon hearing this, Yu Dawei froze on the spot, then frowned even more and began to carefully examine the other person. Apart from noticing the other person's unique Mediterranean hairstyle, he couldn't see anything that resembled any of his elders in the Yu family.

"Who is Yu Wenyi to you?"

“My grandfather…” Yu Dawei scratched his head. Goodness, the other party could even call out his grandfather’s name, so this person in front of him might really be his second great-uncle.

It seems that when we burned paper money for our ancestors during the Lunar New Year, my grandfather mentioned to my eldest uncle, Yu Chen, that my second uncle's family had settled down in Shenzhen. He even wanted to bring the villagers to Shenzhen with him.

"I knew it! Your frame and those thick eyebrows and big eyes are exactly like your Sixth Uncle when he was young." The old man was clearly even more excited. He finally walked up to Yu Dawei and grabbed the other's hand. "Good, good, good! Sixth Uncle's grandchildren have all grown up so much! What's your name? Are you from the Ninth Brother's family or the Eighth Brother's family?"

"Old Nine" refers to Yu Dawei's biological father, Yu Laonian, who was the ninth oldest among the elders of his generation in the village. "Old Eight" refers to Yu Dawei's eldest uncle, Yu Chen, and many people in the village felt that Yu Dawei resembled his uncle more in terms of physique.

Actually, we overlooked the fact that Yu Laonian was born weak and sickly, which is why he appeared thin and small. If he had been healthy and well-fed as a child, he would actually have had a large frame.

"My name is Yu Dawei, and my father is Yu Xue." Yu Dawei forced a smile at the old man. Although he was still a little unfamiliar with the old man in front of him, he did not sense any ill intentions or ulterior motives from him.

"You're from Xiao Nianzi's family, huh? That kid's abilities are limited, it's a pity he lacks ambition, he's too family-oriented. You probably learned your courage from your father, you're too cautious in everything." It seemed that after talking about his peers, the old man's subtle negative emotions were brought out.

Fortunately, the old man still looked at Yu Dawei with a smile: "I didn't expect to see the Yu family in Shenzhen. Come on! Come home with me! I'll introduce you to your sisters and brothers tonight!"

"This... Second Uncle, it would be too presumptuous of me to go like this. Why don't you tell me where you live, and I'll visit you another day?" Yu Dawei politely declined.

Although he knew that his second uncle was good to him, who knew how his children viewed him, a poor relative from the countryside?

"Stop dawdling! Did you come to Shenzhen alone or with your wife and kids? If you're with others, bring them all." Yu Cong turned to Yu Dawei. "I'm seventy-six this year. Look at my old arms and legs, how many more days can I wait for you?"

Yu Dawei scratched his head awkwardly, but finally nodded: "Alright, let's go then. Give me the basket, I'll carry it for you."

"That's right." The second uncle smiled with satisfaction, and the wrinkles on his old face smoothed out considerably.

"By the way, Second Uncle, you didn't just recognize me as a member of the Yu family from my face, did you?" Yu Dawei asked curiously.

"Of course not. I was just on my way back from buying groceries at the market when I passed by the mall and saw you looking around blankly. Then, the second thing I noticed was the gourd of wine hanging from your belt, and the copper coin that has been passed down through generations of the Yu family."

Uncle Er walked ahead, leaning on his cane, a cold smile on his face: "That bastard Yu Quan finally realized he wasn't good enough to guard the house, and he finally knew to step down and make way for someone more capable. Heh! He's not senile yet."

Yu Dawei followed behind the other man, raising an eyebrow in surprise. It seemed that his second uncle was unaware that his eldest uncle had already passed away.

Last year, my grandfather said that my second uncle's family had come back to the village. Didn't my second uncle come back with them?

"By the way, are you planning to stay in Shenzhen permanently, or just come and take a look?" Uncle Er asked again.

The other person's voice was naturally a bit hoarse, and coupled with his advanced age, it always gave people a sense of a hero in his twilight years when he spoke.

"I've been asked to come and fix your car, so it's just a short stay. If nothing comes up in a few days, I'll probably go back." Yu Dawei didn't dare to walk too fast. He could see that his second uncle's forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat, probably from chasing him earlier.

"Car repair? Good. Little Nianzi's efforts back then weren't in vain. At least the family has a skill that will keep us from starving." The second uncle smiled with some relief. "However, development in our hometown is ultimately limited. If you ever want to come to the south, just ask your older brothers and sisters here."

Then the second uncle explained some other things, mostly old, trivial matters from back then.

Like back then, he had a fierce argument with Yu Quan over the livelihood of the villagers, young and old. Second Uncle Yu Cong was an ambitious man by nature. Knowing that it was not easy to make a living in the Northeast, he thought of taking the men of the Yu family in the village to the South.

In the end, no one dared to go against Uncle Yu Quan's wishes; only Uncle Er led his entire family away from Yujiatun.

They left in the spring of 1979. At first, the whole family went straight to Haicheng. After staying for a few years, they heard that Shenzhen was going to be built, so the second uncle took the whole family to Shenzhen.

The second uncle only did one thing after coming here: he opened a hotel, starting as a small inn, then a small guesthouse, and later a small hotel.

When he was in his sixties, he handed over the business to his eldest and second sons.

Yu Dawei heard from his second uncle that his health had been deteriorating day by day over the years. In earlier years, he could still go home to pay respects to his ancestors every year during the Spring Festival, but ever since he suffered a serious illness the year before last, his son and daughter have refused to let him return to his hometown.

However, every time he went back before, he would never take a second look at the village. In his words, it was "a bunch of good-for-nothings! They won't even do jobs that would make money outside! They're destined to die poor in this mountain valley!"

Upon hearing this, Yu Dawei understood two things: first, his second uncle definitely didn't know that his eldest uncle had passed away; second, his second uncle harbored great hostility towards the Yu family's peers.

(End of this chapter)