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

Chapter 454 Overall Situation of Caterpillar Excavators
"Xiaoxue, your room is such a mess!" Duan Xiaowu stood to the side, looking old-fashioned with his hands behind his back.

“This house has always been like this, it has nothing to do with me!” Shao Mingxue pouted. “When my dad was alive, he never cleaned the house, and I didn’t have time to clean it when I was in school.”

"Alright, since we're staying here for a short time, let's tidy up the house first." Yu Dawei looked down at the three children and began to direct the division of labor. "Duan Xiaowu, you and Agui tidy up the living room, I'll tidy up the kitchen, Xiaoxue, you tidy up your bedroom, and then take these two to tidy up the other bedrooms."

“Okay, Mr. Yu.” Xiaoxue nodded.

"Just call me Uncle Yu. It sounds awkward to hear 'Boss Yu' too often," Yu Dawei said with a smile.

The three then began to work according to their assigned tasks. The kitchen was the dirtiest and most tiring place in the whole house, and Yu Dawei guessed that the three of them probably didn't know how to clean the kitchen.

First, clean the plates and bowls in the sink, then wipe the corners and edges of the countertop thoroughly, especially the oily areas.

Back when my eldest son was making his way in Dingcheng on his own, I was working as a cleaner. Once, when I went to visit him, I found his house incredibly dirty, and it took me almost a whole day to clean it.

I used to be a lazy person, but seeing how diligent my son was, I felt a little embarrassed, so I took the initiative to participate in cleaning the kitchen, and was lectured by my eldest son for it.

"Hey? Xiaoxue, why are there so many little notes in your trash can?"

While tidying up the living room, Duan Xiaowu found many white slips of paper in the trash can next to the refrigerator. Driven by curiosity, he reached in, picked up the slips of paper, and read them: "Let me see what's written on them."

"Girl, breakfast is ready in the kitchen, remember to eat."

next.

"Girl, there's some breakfast I just bought in the kitchen, remember to eat it."

Next one.

"Girl, Dad will be home a little late tonight. There's ten yuan on the table. Go eat out by yourself."

Duan Xiaowu found it increasingly boring as he read through the notes; they all seemed to be talking about food over and over again: "Xiaoxue? Is this thing still useful? If not, just throw it away?"

As Duan Xiaowu spoke, he reached out and raised his hand toward the door of the master bedroom, holding a handful of white paper slips.

"Oh, those are the little notes my dad reminds me to eat every day. I usually clean them up once a month." Shao Mingxue peeked out from the master bedroom doorway. "They're useless, you can throw them away."

"Alright then." Duan Xiaowu was quite obedient and was about to throw the note back into the trash can.

"Wait a minute." Yu Dawei heard the two talking in the kitchen, opened the kitchen door, walked over to Duan Xiaowu, glanced at the note in his hand, thought for a moment, and then said, "Keep it for her, put it in a small box or a small plastic bag or something."

"Uh... okay, I just happened to see an envelope under the coffee table. I'll flatten it and put it in her bag." Duan Xiaowu turned around and walked to the coffee table next to the sofa, taking out a small brown paper envelope from it.

Yu Dawei didn't say anything more and turned back to work.

As for A-Gui, he was sweeping the floor methodically from beginning to end. To him, his parents were irrelevant.

My mother still remembers him very well, but as for my father... he has long forgotten what he looks like.

"Xiaoxue, I've put the note your dad wrote for you in the envelope on the coffee table," Duan Xiaowu said, making sure to let her know after he finished.

"Okay! Thank you!" Xiaoxue's voice came from inside the house, but she didn't seem to care much about the matter.

The four of them worked together to clean the whole house, and they did it very quickly. In no time, the whole house looked brand new.

Yu Dawei went to the refrigerator in the living room, opened it and looked inside. He found that both the upper and lower shelves were completely empty.

Three children sat on the sofa next to me, watching a TV series on the color television. The series was showing the 1983 version of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes".

Yu Dawei turned to Shao Mingxue, somewhat speechless: "Xiaoxue, why is there nothing in the refrigerator? What do you usually eat?"

"Uh..." Shao Mingxue smiled sheepishly at Yu Dawei again, "I've spent all the money at home, so now I eat whatever's available. Have you ever had rice with soy sauce?"

Yu Dawei looked at the girl in shock, his throat bobbing involuntarily. He really couldn't imagine how this girl had been getting by these past few days.

I turned my head and took another look at the empty green refrigerator. It was a good refrigerator, a Snowflake brand, which is quite a popular brand these days.

Unfortunately, as it developed, it was overtaken by other domestic brands, and by the time rural appliance subsidies were introduced, it had no place to survive.

"Sigh, you guys stay home, I'm going to the market to buy some groceries." Yu Dawei closed the refrigerator door and let out a long sigh.

"Uncle Yu, the market is near the north gate of our house. Just walk straight out from the north gate and you'll see it." Shao Mingxue didn't stand on ceremony with Yu Dawei and turned to remind him with a smile.

"I know." As Yu Dawei was leaving, he didn't forget to turn back and instruct his two apprentices, "Agui, Xiaowu, you two are not allowed to bully Xiaoxue. If I find out that you two are bullying her, I'll skin you alive."

These kids are now on the verge of puberty, or have already reached puberty, and may exhibit all sorts of strange, even incomprehensible, behaviors.

When his eldest son, Yu Muyu, was going through puberty, he watched as his son borrowed an electric clipper from somewhere and shaved off all the hair on his head.

Even this seasoned father, who had traveled all over the country, was utterly astonished by his sensible eldest son. Yu Dawei later even saw this passage in his eldest son's diary.

"I used to regret it. During my teenage years, I was a bit of a chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) and always thought that Shaolin monks were cool, so I shaved my head."

"Later on, the hair on the two spots next to my forehead never grew back... My dad said it was hereditary, but if I don't touch it..."

"Perhaps this genetic issue can at least be delayed a little longer..."

Even now, Yu Dawei can't help but smile when he thinks about it.

However, this also illustrates that parents must keep a close eye on their teenagers and make sure nothing goes wrong.

The vegetable market is indeed not far from Shao Mingxue's home, and the vegetable prices are much cheaper than in the south. It may be because it is summer, and all kinds of vegetables are in season in the Northeast, making them particularly cheap to buy.

Cabbage and potatoes are definitely a must-buy; these two things keep well. Eggs, freshly picked scallions, peppers, eggplants, pork, beef, lamb...

Thankfully, Dawei drove, otherwise he really wouldn't have been able to carry so much stuff.

After returning to Shao Mingxue's house, Yu Dawei stuffed the vegetables and meat he had bought into the refrigerator, filling it to the brim.

In addition to these, Yu Dawei also bought a bag of rice, a bag of flour, and a bag of small popsicles made with pure milk.

The three children happily surrounded Yu Dawei, each taking away two small popsicles from their hands.

Fortunately, his eldest apprentice had a conscience and shared one with him.

Watching the three children huddled on the sofa, eating popsicles and watching TV, Yu Dawei finally realized something: the children were just beginning to experience the joy of summer vacation.

"Behold my Nine Yin White Bone Claw, hmph ha hey!"

Not long after things calmed down, Duan Xiaowu started jumping and bouncing on the sofa again.

"Duan Xiaowu, you better behave yourself, or I'll break the sofa and stuff you here as a sofa!" Yu Dawei put down what he was doing in the kitchen, turned around and glared at Duan Xiaowu with murderous eyes.

Startled, Duan Xiaowu quickly shrank into a corner next to the sofa, not daring to utter a sound. This scene truly amused the girl next to him.

Afterwards, Yu Dawei busied himself in the kitchen for a while, putting away rice, flour, cooking oil, and other groceries, while piling cabbage and potatoes in a corner.

Looking at the time, it was 2:30 pm, so he said goodbye to the three children and prepared to go check on the broken Caterpillar excavator again.

At least we'll know exactly what went wrong.

Xiaoxue gave the car keys to Yu Dawei. Agui, who was standing next to her, wanted to go with his master, but Yu Dawei stopped him.

After all, it's summer vacation, and Ah Gui seems pretty happy, so I'll just hang out with these two carefree people next to me for now.

Yu Dawei opened the door and went straight to the secondhand market.

According to Shao Mingxue, the secondhand market is not close to the city center, but it only takes about ten minutes to drive there, since there is no traffic jam anywhere these days.

Returning to the flea market, Yu Dawei climbed onto the top of the excavator and glanced at the engine unit under the hood.

The engine looks very well maintained, with no rust at all.

Upon inspecting the cooling system, Yu Dawei crouched down and discovered some minor changes. The Caterpillar fan had likely been replaced, with the new fan blades being significantly larger than the original.

Yu Dawei guessed that the excavator was likely overheating over time, as the top cover didn't have a mesh screen. Of course, it's also possible that the guy surnamed Shao designed it this way intentionally; otherwise, rainwater ingress would damage the machine over time.

"No wonder he's a mechanic; at least he knows how to maintain a car and how to make it better." Yu Dawei licked his dry, cracked lips, as if he had accidentally wandered into a paradise and encountered a beautiful flower girl.

Overall, this Caterpillar excavator is really worry-free. You can tell at a glance that Shao Gang has put a lot of affection into this machine, making all sorts of small modifications and repairs.

Even inside the driver's cab, there is a very small external air conditioning system.

It cannot be said that they put in a lot of effort.

Xiaoxue told me that her dad not only repairs and maintains cars, but he's also the driver for this particular car, though he only takes jobs in the neighborhood.

He must be unable to leave his child behind, otherwise, if he put that car on highway or mountain road repairs, it would cost at least 20,000 yuan a month.

"This guy's skills must be pretty good." After inspecting the car as a whole, Yu Dawei stood on the roof and gave a very fair assessment.

"If Shao Gang knew that his daughter had sold her beloved excavator, he'd probably be heartbroken," Yu Dawei said with a smile and a shake of his head.

He already had a plan in mind back when he was in the hospital.

(End of this chapter)