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

Chapter 464 Investigating Master Zhang

"His wife is so rich? It must be his in-laws who are rich." Old Ji, reminded by Taozi, instantly remembered the man who was only in his early thirties.
"I remember that car was a new one, right? This two-armed thing probably doesn't know how to drive. It never even put the handbrake on the whole way. How could it not break?" Old Ji felt a pang of heartache when he thought about it. What a waste of such a good car.

Taozi sighed upon hearing this. Unlike Lao Ji's pain, he was in charge of repairing the car, so he felt the pain on the vehicle as if it were his own.

"Knock knock." Yu Dawei tapped the table hard with the second knuckle of his index finger, and glanced at the two of them seriously. "Have you two gone off-topic? You were discussing the newspaper, and now you're talking about other people's cars."

Lao Ji and Taozi instantly felt embarrassed and quickly sat up straight, listening attentively.

"So, Dafeng, you mean to tell the news to a newspaper, preferably one with a lot of influence?" Yu Dawei subconsciously rubbed his chin. "If a newspaper endorses this, it can indeed dispel the rumors on its own."

"However, whether it can be published in the newspaper or not, we'll have to ask the newspaper office." After saying that, Yu Dawei gave Da Feng a thumbs up. "Not bad. If this newspaper publication goes through, you'll be the one to make the greatest contribution."

"Yes, yes, Da Feng is so smart. Even if it's just published in the county newspaper, it's still good." Old Ji thought this was a good idea and didn't forget to flatter him.

“No.” Yu Dawei offered a different perspective at that moment. “It’s not that it’s good to publish in the county newspaper, but it must be published in the county newspaper.”

"Why, why?" Old Ji looked bewildered.

Hearing this, Da Feng chimed in to explain, "Local newspapers are more persuasive, especially since Fanfan Repair Shop is only located in a small town. No matter how well-known it is, it's impossible for the province to know about it. County newspapers are just right for the repair shop."

“Yes, the county newspaper is convincing enough.” Yu Dawei looked at Taozi. “Do you have the contact information for that county newspaper reporter?”

"Yes, yes!" Taozi nodded quickly. "He got a membership card when he left, and he even left his own phone number."

Yu Dawei nodded. Judging from this man's air of wealth, he probably had some influence in the newspaper. After all, they were all under the same roof, and the county town was only so big. Even if you don't respect the monk, you have to respect the Buddha.

"I'll try to get in touch tomorrow." Yu Dawei considered the matter settled, then looked at Lao Ji, "Did you find anything when you went to Xiao Li's house this afternoon?"

"Yes! Little Li and his family told the truth to everyone in the village, and they were quite grateful that our repair shop paid them wages while they were recovering from their injuries." Old Ji couldn't help but roll a pipe from the tobacco dustpan next to him. "I've also inquired about the people in the village."

"What they said is almost identical to what Leonardo DiCaprio's family told us, so I don't think it's Leonardo DiCaprio's family spreading rumors maliciously."

"Hmm." Yu Dawei nodded, confirming his earlier thoughts that the possibility was indeed very small.

“However, I did find a few workers in the village who went to work in the oil city. I heard that two of the young men had apprenticed with masters in the oil city.” Old Ji raised his head and recalled, “I also heard that the master’s surname was Zeng, and that he was very skilled. But I had never heard of such a person when I was in the oil city.”

Yu Dawei fell silent. A repairman in an oil city spreading negative news about him? What's the point of speculating in this direction?
I've had my contract with the Eighth Bureau for almost a year now. It's unlikely that he planned to apply for it himself at the beginning of the year, but instead he's trying to cause trouble after the new year.

Therefore, the repairman surnamed Zeng should not be closely related to the matter on my side.

"Let's leave it at that for now. I'll see what the Eighth Bureau says tomorrow." Yu Dawei gave a few more instructions before the group left.

The next day, Yu Dawei called Lao Chang early in the morning to inquire about the situation on his end.

The result was surprisingly smooth. According to Lao Chang, the information that the Eighth Bureau received came from a driver named Zhang Yang.

Moreover, this driver was the same one Yu Dawei used to maintain the Jiefang trucks for the Eighth Bureau. His subordinates must have had regular contact with him, which is why the news spread so convincingly.

Upon hearing the news, Yu Dawei was stunned for several seconds as if his brain had crashed; the situation was completely different from what he had imagined.

"What methods do you want to suppress this false information?" Lao Chang asked again on the phone.

"Yes." Yu Dawei recounted the incident of publishing the advertisement in the newspaper.

"Hey! You're a genius, you've got a great idea. Hurry up and finish it, send me a copy, and I'll post it on the bulletin board in the lobby on the first floor. Let's see who's still complaining there." Old Chang's tone on the other end of the phone was also a bit angry.

In the two days since I returned, several people have approached me, saying that Yu Dawei's factory has a bad reputation, which is greatly affecting cooperation.

Some people are considering whether to terminate the cooperation directly, etc.

People are usually not very proactive in their work, but they seem to be exceptionally proactive when it comes to things involving Yu Dawei.

Although Yu Dawei is somewhat well-known in the Eighth Bureau branch, it's not like everyone is fixated on a repairman, is it?

Old Chang could clearly sense something fishy going on, but with the year-end approaching and all sorts of things piling up on his shoulders, he simply didn't have the energy to untangle this mess.

It was up to Yu Dawei to decide. After hanging up the phone, Yu Dawei quickly called Taozi over to find out about the man surnamed Zhang. After asking him, he realized something was wrong.

"This young Master Zhang, we used to get along quite well, there were no conflicts." Taozi sat down on his small stool, recalled for a moment and then said, "But about two months ago, I think he had a few words with Xiao Gao from our factory."

"What argument?" Yu Dawei turned his head to look.

"I don't know, I didn't go with them that time, I was getting another car serviced." Taozi said innocently, then got up and jogged outside. "Boss, wait a minute, I'll call him over right away."

Yu Dawei subconsciously licked his chapped lips. The air inside the house in Northeast China was particularly dry in winter, and Yu Dawei's lips were always peeling, which had become one of his habits.

He was fairly familiar with Xiao Gao. Xiao Gao's family lived in the oil city. He used to work with Taozi and the others at the Eighth Bureau's equipment factory. Xiao Gao was a steady and honest person. His only downside was that he was a heavy smoker.

I like to hide in a corner by myself, listening to everyone chat, and smoking a foreign cigarette.

When Yu Dawei tried to say something to him, he didn't speak, only responding with "uh-huh" sounds.

From the boss's perspective, this guy is meticulous, conscientious, and hardworking. He never causes trouble for the factory or anyone else, making him a highly regarded employee in Yu Dawei's eyes.

There isn't a "Best Employee" award right now, but if such an award were created, Xiao Gao would definitely deserve it.

"Boss, he's here."

Taozi pushed open the door and walked in with Xiao Gao behind him, not forgetting to turn around and remind him to close the curtain tightly.

The two people standing at the door subconsciously rubbed the snow and mud under their feet hard on the bricks, so that the floor would be covered with black footprints when they came inside.

Yu Dawei, including the dormitory next door with its large communal sleeping area, had a layer of red bricks laid on the floor, just to prevent the rooms from getting dirty during rainy or snowy days.

Although the living conditions of car mechanics are not exactly clean, Yu Dawei still cares about his brothers' basic living conditions.

"Boss, you called me."

He's about 1.7 meters tall, with a pointed chin and squinty eyes. At first glance, he looks like a bad guy, but once you get to know him, you'll find that he's straightforward and doesn't have any bad intentions.

He was in the repair shop tightening screws on the gearbox when he was suddenly called over. The team leader didn't tell him why, which made him inexplicably nervous.

"Sit, sit." Yu Dawei gestured with his chin for the two to find small stools to sit on. "How's work lately? Any difficulties?"

He took two plastic cups from the cabinet on the north side, lifted the kettle sitting on the stove, poured a cup for each person, and then turned around and placed it on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed).

"Difficulties?" Xiao Gao sat down, picked up the cup on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), and took a sip while it was still hot. "There are no difficulties. This year's work is much better than last year's."

"After the stove was installed in our repair shop, we have to take off our cotton-padded coats to work, otherwise it's too hot to work," Xiao Gao said with a satisfied smile when he talked about the current repair environment.

He had also experienced hardship at the equipment factory, where maintenance and repairs were done in the heated warehouse during the winter. However, when he first arrived last year, he was working on construction projects outside, which almost killed him.

It's minus thirty or forty degrees Celsius! If they didn't take breaks every now and then, they would all be exhausted.

At that time, he had the idea of ​​returning to the oil city. His family lived in Tiexi Community, Sa District, the oil city. His family was not rich, but his parents were old oil field workers and they lived a good life.

It's really unwise to come here and suffer like this.

Firstly, all the brothers work here, and the boss is a good person; secondly, the salary is indeed not low, and there are bonuses at the end of the year.

As it turns out, he didn't leave last year, and now it seems he was right not to leave! Boss Yu is no ordinary person; in less than a year, he got a repair shop and the factory's food improved.

In winter, when there's not much work, the brothers can at least have a day off.

That's perfect.

“Isn’t there a thermometer over there in the repair shop?” Yu Dawei sat down and looked at Taozi. “I told Uncle Ji to keep the temperature at eighteen or nineteen degrees. Don’t keep pushing it to the brink of death; people can’t stand it.”

"That's how Uncle Ji did it, and the temperature has been kept around 18 or 19 degrees Celsius," Taozi quickly explained.

(End of this chapter)