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

Chapter 69 The Father and Son's First Drinking and Late-Night Talk

Yu Dawei held the child in his right arm and carried something in his left hand, with Han Jingfan and Er Yan following behind, each carrying something.

He walked along the road, pondering for a long time, but still couldn't figure out what was on the old man's mind.

At this time in his previous life, he was working in the oil city and didn't hear his family say anything about what happened to the old man.

Could it be that the old man has had enough of the countryside and wants to leave?

He knew from his past life that some of his children settled down in Hohhot and others in Qingdao, and then the old man left the village not long after.

After he settled down in Qingcheng, the two old houses in the village were completely empty and no one lived there ever since.

In the middle of that time, the old man brought his mother back to the village for a while, but Yu Dawei was unwilling to recall it because his mother passed away that winter.

"Stop guessing. Don't be the one who passes out after drinking today," Han Jingfan whispered to Dawei as she walked beside him.

"Don't worry, with the old man's limited drinking capacity, he can't beat me," Yu Dawei said confidently.

Han Jingfan looked worried. During the Spring Festival, she had mentally ranked all her family members.

Yu Dawei is definitely no match for his mother, his brother-in-law, or even his grandfather.

He has a problem: after drinking, not only does his face turn red, but he also gets sleepy. His second brother is better; he can drink a little, but he's just a chatterbox.

If the second son were here, perhaps drinking with the old man would be more effective.

When Yu Dawei returned to the backyard with his wife, children, and Er Yan, the old man was tending to the tree branches at the landlord's place. (Author's note: The landlord refers to the tree branches on the east side of the house in the yard.)
The group of people walked up to the old man without him noticing, mechanically taking out their machetes and chopping down the tree stumps bit by bit before turning around and arranging them neatly.

"Dad?" Yu Dawei handed the child to Han Jingfan, walked to his father's side, and asked softly.

At this moment, Yu Dawei was genuinely worried. What was wrong with the old man? He seemed so dazed.

"Hmm?" Old Yu subconsciously raised his head. When he saw Yu Dawei, he didn't show much surprise. He said in a flat tone, "You're back. Your mother misses you every day. Come in."

"Okay, then you go ahead and get busy." Yu Dawei didn't ask directly, but anyone with eyes could see that the old man's condition was not quite right.

He wanted to go inside first and ask his mother.

The answer was "I don't know." My mother said she had asked him before, and he said "It's okay," and then nothing more.

Yu Dawei sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), exchanged a glance with Han Jingfan, and made a decision in his heart.

Then, he quietly whispered something in his mother's ear.

My mom didn't rest in the afternoon; she started picking vegetables in the yard, while Yu Dawei helped cut meat.

After finishing with the tree branches, Old Yu entered the house and saw the mother and daughter making such a fuss. He frowned slightly and said with a hint of bitterness, "She really misses her eldest son. She comes back and immediately starts preparing food."

"Then don't eat it." Zhang Yunqin retorted to her husbands in an annoyed tone.

"Why wouldn't I eat? I'm going to eat anyway. I'll also get a plate of peanuts, and I'll go get some wine. I'll have a good drink with your eldest son tonight." Looking at the many ingredients by the stove, Old Yu felt that if he didn't have a good drink tonight, he would be letting down Dawei who bought the meat.

The group watched as Old Yu left the inner room with an empty bag, all with smiles on their faces.

"Mom is amazing. Why did she even try to persuade me to drink? She just saw the stove and all that stuff and went to buy the wine herself, haha." Yu Dawei was in awe of his mother's wisdom and gave her a deep thumbs up.

“Him? I knew what he was up to the moment he raised his hand.” Zhang Yunqin glanced at Yu Laonian through the window. “Hurry up and get it done. After we’re done, we’ll eat and then go to the front yard. We’ll leave the back yard to these two tonight.”

Han Jingfan smiled and said, "I think this is a good idea."

During dinner, the whole family was happy. My younger sister, Yu Fang, lives at the central school in the county and rarely comes back except on weekends.

Then the mother saw her eldest son and started talking about her youngest daughter, saying things like, "She made such delicious food, the old maid is really unlucky." Then she talked about her second son, wondering how he was doing at university. It seems that ever since the mother gave birth to five children, her heart has been divided into five pieces.

It wasn't quite dark yet, and many children were running around wildly in the street. Some of them were playing with mud balls in the open space in front of Old Man Nian's garden.

Draw a circle on the ground, and each person throws out three or four mud balls. Then draw a line two meters away, and whoever throws the mud ball out of the line gets to keep it.

In Yujiatun, this is a game that every generation of children plays. In winter, they switch to spinning tops, and in summer it's this game. A few brave kids will go swimming in the pond at the east end of the village.

However, parents at home would sternly warn their children that they must not go.

There are many who hear it, but even more who don't.

The three women finished eating quickly and left the table early. Zhang Yunqin used the excuse of spending time with her grandson to say that she wouldn't be coming back that night.

As for Er Yan, ever since Yu Dawei went to town these days, she has basically been helping her sister-in-law take care of the child every day.

Old Yu didn't say anything, but continued to ask Yu Dawei about what happened between him and that out-of-town Master Lü when they were in the oil city.

Yu Dawei isn't a great storyteller, but he can give a general overview, especially focusing on Master Lü's skills and character.

After listening, Yu Laonian sighed, "Some people are very capable, but their character is not commensurate with their abilities."

The old man clinked glasses with Yu Dawei and took another sip of wine. Without the three women around, he felt much more at ease. He leaned back against the windowsill, pulled the table in front of him, grabbed a small handful of peanuts, and chatted with Yu Dawei about precautions for excavator maintenance while eating.

For example, the raw rubber tape wrapping done by Master Lü is quite remarkable.

The old man seemed to have returned to his youth when he was teaching in the brigade, explaining the differences between imported and domestic excavators, the manufacturing and craftsmanship of the parts, and when he got excited, he would dip his little finger in wine and draw on the surface of the kang table.

As Yu Dawei finished speaking, it gradually got dark.

Yu Dawei did not disappoint his wife's expectations. Today he really "went on a killing spree", drinking a full half catty of baijiu (Chinese liquor), and his whole face was as red as a ripe tomato.

He didn't forget Xiao Fan's instructions and made sure to drink two egg whites before drinking. The egg whites played a crucial role in enabling him to drink to this extent with his father this time.

After Yu Dawei finished telling his story of the past few days, it seemed there was nothing left to talk about. Then he saw the old man drinking his wine while staring blankly into space.

"Dad." Yu Dawei sensed that the old man was almost in a drunken stupor, so he groggily propped himself up on his hands and leaned closer to the old man. "Is something on your mind?" (Author's note: "In a drunken stupor" is a Northeastern dialect term, originally meaning one card away from winning, but in this context it means being very drunk, almost completely intoxicated.)
The old man didn't speak, but looked at his eldest son, and finally reached out and drank all the wine in the white jar in one gulp.

Yu Dawei didn't know what to say at this moment.

He had never seen his father like this in either of his lives, like a lonely beggar, huddled up, looking up at the world.

According to Dawei's memory, although his father was thin, he was resolute and did not like to ask for help. He never wavered in the face of even the most difficult things. It was as if as long as his father was there, the family would never collapse. His thin back seemed to be able to support the whole world.

But what did he see at this moment?

I saw that my father looked like he was covered in wounds, seemed lost and helpless, and seemed to be unable to open his mouth in bitterness, just silently enduring his sadness.

Xiao Fan is right; the old man has something on his mind, something important.

Yu Dawei felt incredibly guilty. Why didn't he know in his past life? His younger siblings had never mentioned it to him either. The old man still had a hurdle he couldn't get over!
It's either that he didn't know, or that he hadn't told him.

Yu Dawei suddenly realized that, given the old man's personality, he definitely hadn't told anyone.

He felt a pang of bitterness in his heart. Staring at the remaining wine in his white jar, he, like the old man, gulped it down into his mouth.

"Dad, tell us something, otherwise just drinking isn't fun." Yu Dawei picked up his wine glass and poured one for himself and his father.

Let him drink himself to death, he just needs to know what's wrong with his dad!

(End of this chapter)