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

Chapter 70 The past

"Sigh." Old Yu tossed the three or five peanuts in his hand into his mouth. "In the end, it's all my fault for being incompetent when I was young."

Seeing that the old man had finally relented, Yu Dawei hurriedly picked up his wine jar and clinked it against the old man's, and the two of them took a sip of wine.

Old Yu's face, which usually turned pale when he drank, was now flushed: "That was when you were just born. Your grandma was cooking for the brigade, and I was about your age now, driving for the brigade. Life was far worse than that of your grandpa's family in the west end of the village."

"The only thing that's better than your uncle's family is that your mother gave birth to a big, healthy boy for our family." Old Yu tilted his head back, took a sip of wine, and squinted his eyes as if he were reminiscing. "When you were born, you weighed a full eight pounds and two ounces. Back then, your grandma wanted to hold you in her arms every day. She was so protective of you that she was afraid you would melt or break if she held you like that."

Yu Dawei was aware of this matter.

The eldest aunt's family had a total of nine daughters, and the last one was a boy.

Grandma still had a strong preference for sons over daughters. Her eldest son had children every year, and every year he had daughters, which made Grandma very angry. Her relationship with her eldest daughter-in-law was extremely strained. In the end, Grandma even moved to her second son's house, which was where Yu Laonian lived.

My mom is lucky; she gave birth to a boy like me as her first child.

“Grandma was the best to me. I still remember that during holidays, all my older and younger sisters could only watch me eat the good food.” Yu Dawei shook his wine jar and smiled. “Even if I secretly gave them candy, they wouldn’t dare to accept it, and they always gave in to me.”

“Your grandmother’s precious eldest grandson, who can compare to her?” Old Yu’s eyes were glazed over. “She was even willing to pawn her family’s most beloved heirloom for you.”

Yu Dawei looked up blankly: "What treasure? How come I don't know anything about this?"

Yu Laonian fell silent, picked up his wine jar, and clinked glasses with Yu Dawei: "Bottoms up."

He didn't react much to Dawei either. He took the lead and poured all the wine in the white jar into his mouth. The spicy wine slid down his throat and into his esophagus. It was as if he was using this method to resist the pain in his heart.

Yu Dawei looked at the old man and subconsciously opened his mouth, then looked down at the half-full vat of liquor, gritted his teeth and drank it all down with his father in one gulp.

To be honest, I drank at least three times as much alcohol today as I did during the Chinese New Year.

As he listened to the old man's story, he frantically pinched his thigh under the table, trying to stay as conscious as possible.

Yu Laonian was half-drunk and half-awake at this time, his mind filled with thoughts of his elderly mother. In the end, he couldn't resist and took out the old photos of his mother that he had offered as New Year's offerings from the wardrobe in the inner room.

This is a black and white photo. The mother is sitting on the wooden chair at home, her hands neatly placed on her knees, her face kind.

"Dad, why are you taking my grandma's picture?" Yu Dawei's tongue was a little slurred.

"I've been thinking about it a bit," Old Yu said, gently wiping the dust off the photo.

"When your grandfather and grandmother got married, the Zou family gave them an ancestral treasure as a dowry. It was a white jade Guanyin with a thousand hands joined together, about 20 centimeters long, with a white jade lotus platform below. On the left and right sides, there were also golden boys and jade girls standing. It could be separated and put back together, and it was very lifelike."

As Yu Laonian spoke, he sighed deeply: "Then one year, when you were still very young, you developed pneumonia from a fever. At that time, our family was barely making ends meet. I had only been working for two years, so how could we afford to treat you?"

"Your grandmother sold the white jade Guanyin statue, which was passed down from the Yu family, to the Wang family in the front yard."

"Is it Old Wang's second brother's house?!" Yu Dawei's eyes widened in surprise; he had never heard of this before.

Yu Laonian nodded and picked up a peanut: "In those years, Wang Lao Er's father, Wang Duoshui, took his eldest son to the big city and made money by trading pigskin gloves."

“You’re lucky, kid. During the pneumonia outbreak, Wang Duoshui returned home in glory. Your grandma went straight to Wang’s house to borrow money from him without saying a word. But given the way the Wang family conducts themselves, how could they easily lend money to your grandma?”

"Your grandmother begged and pleaded, and finally Wang Duoshui agreed to lend us the money, but on the condition that we give away our white jade Guanyin statue to his family. Your grandmother was heartbroken, but she was afraid that your condition would worsen, so she had no choice but to give up the white jade Guanyin statue in exchange for the money to pay for your medical treatment."

Yu Dawei fell silent, never expecting that the cause of the matter was him.

I never expected that there would be such a thing between my neighbor Old Wang's second brother's family and my own family.

Old Man Yu sighed inwardly, "After your grandmother sold the white jade Guanyin, she became much more silent. She used to pray to it every day." "There's something Old Man Yu didn't say. Back in those chaotic times, all the antiques and cultural relics in the family that could be taken were confiscated. This white jade Guanyin was the only thing that the Yu family still cherished. Without it, she must feel empty inside, like she's lost her faith."

Yu Laonian felt that the reason his mother cherished the white jade Guanyin so much was probably because she wanted to do everything she could to protect the last thing in their Yu family lineage.

"Dad, when our family had enough money to maintain the car later, didn't you think about buying it back?" Yu Dawei asked, puzzled.

“I went, but we couldn’t agree on the price. You know what kind of person your second brother Wang is. He’s always been a money-grubber since he was a kid.” Old Yu shook his head and sipped his wine. “Back then, I offered a thousand yuan, ten times the price, to buy back the white jade Guanyin, but they didn’t agree, and there was nothing I could do.”

“At the time, I thought, since I can’t buy it back, I’ll just leave it there. I’ll buy it back when the other party urgently needs the money, or when our family is better off.” Old Man Yu looked at his mother’s photo with a dreamy gaze. “The Wang family is still very powerful. There’s a reason why they say that even a starved camel is bigger than a horse. I haven’t seen them urgently need the money all these years, until a few days ago.”

"A few days ago?" Yu Dawei frowned slightly. Had something happened in the village a few days ago?
“A few days ago, an antique dealer drove through our village in a black Santana. He seemed to have heard of Wang Duoshui’s reputation and made a special trip to Old Wang’s house. He ended up taking a fancy to our white jade Guanyin.” Old Yu put down his mother’s photo and took a sip of wine. “Although we couldn’t agree on a price, I heard that the antique dealer hasn’t given up and will come back to talk to Old Wang’s house again.”

"I've been feeling really uneasy these past few days. Your dad is nowhere near as good as he used to be. I have to support two kids in school and the whole family. These days, there are quite a few families with four-wheeled vehicles. Plus, my physique... haha." Old Yu didn't say anything more, just continued to drink in silence.

Yu Dawei knew about the old man's current situation. Although the second son was staying at his aunt's house, his father paid for his tuition and living expenses every year. The same was true when Yu Dawei was staying at his aunt's house.

It can be said that his two sons have basically emptied the old man's savings.

Yu Dawei never quite understood what was going on and slunk back to the village. Any father in his shoes would probably be heartbroken.

My younger sister is also studying now. In a few years, she'll go to high school and then university, where she'll need even more money.

Yu Dawei guessed that the old man had been thinking about buying back the white jade Guanyin all these years, but times are changing, like the great waves washing away the sand. Some people take risks and make money, while others are cautious and slowly withdraw from the stage of history.

It's not about right or wrong, it's just the times.

"If the white jade Guanyin is to be sold, I feel like I'm a useless son, and I've let my grandmother down." Old Yu lowered his head and stared at the white wine in the wine jar. He couldn't see clearly because the candlelight was too dim; he could only smell the aroma of the wine.

Yu Dawei nodded silently. He understood the feeling. His right hand subconsciously raised the wine glass, feeling like he was about to vomit, and then he gently put the wine back on the kang table.

"dad?"

"dad?"

At this moment, Yu Dawei noticed that the old man had suddenly become quiet and stopped talking.

He held the candlelight and looked out at his father, whose head was drooping. He then realized that the old man had fallen asleep without him noticing.

Yu Dawei spread out the quilt, helped the old man into bed, and quietly started cleaning up the dishes by himself.

After finishing, he picked up a chopstick, ran to the outhouse, and desperately tried to vomit.

After vomiting, he lay on the kang (a heated brick bed) and started to think wildly. With his current savings of three thousand yuan, it was simply unrealistic for him to buy back the white jade Guanyin.

They wondered when that antique dealer would come to their village again. If they could hold out for a few more days, they would be able to earn the commission for the excavator at the construction site in May, which would give them more confidence.

If he had returned earlier, he said he would have had to beg the higher-ups to settle the maintenance costs for the two Ackermann trucks a year in advance.

However, doing so would be too hurtful to the relationship, so it's best to avoid this path unless absolutely necessary.

Lost in thought, Yu Da didn't even realize when he had fallen asleep.

My mind was a complete mess. Lying on the kang (a heated brick bed), I felt as if I were lying in a giant spinning disc, and I felt dizzy and disoriented.

(End of this chapter)