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

Chapter 8: Yu Laonian Balances Family Conflicts (Part 2)

Yu Dawei watched his parents leave, then turned to the dish rack. He opened the rack, which had two shelves. The top shelf held freshly washed plates and bowls, as well as a small basket filled with chopsticks made of old chicken wing wood. The bottom shelf contained the sugar triangles his mother had mentioned earlier.

Yu Dawei reached out and took two, taking a bite out of one and clutching the other in his hand: "Feng'er, when are you leaving?"

The two younger sisters beside him stared at him speechlessly, creating an awkward atmosphere. Yu Dawei then took the initiative to speak.

"Soon, Dad will arrange for me to work there after the New Year. My aunt said it's already been arranged." Yu Feng smiled faintly, her expression somewhat forced.

Everyone in the family knows that arranging for my eldest brother to live with my aunt caused her a lot of worry.

Yu Feng was somewhat reluctant to trouble her aunt, but there was no work to be found in the village these days. In the end, she could only find a man to marry early.

My second sister, Yu Yan, is only 15 years old. She's still young, so she doesn't have to worry about finding a job. But she's 18 this year, a grown woman. If she doesn't go out and do something, the villagers will talk her to death.

Yu Dawei nodded silently as he ate.

He remembered that at this time in his previous life, Yu Feng was arranged by the old man to go to his aunt's house. His second brother was admitted to university at his aunt's house, and his household registration was transferred to his aunt's husband's house. He changed his name to Wang Dasheng.

His uncle treated him like a son, supporting him from both sides, and he's doing quite well now.

As for Dafeng, her headaches flared up frequently after she went there, and she eventually couldn't bear it anymore and went home. Not long after, she married a man from the village.

He vaguely remembered that Da Feng actually had a small tumor in her brain. If she had undergone craniotomy earlier, the chances of the surgery would have been very high. However, she was born in a rural area, and even the medical equipment in the city was not up to par. No one dared to perform such a high-risk craniotomy.

As time went by, illness developed. He remembered that Da Feng suddenly passed away not long after giving birth to the child.

In fact, Da Feng was the smartest of the five brothers. He was shrewd, intelligent, and did things in a methodical and orderly manner, just like his father.

When she was at home, the old man would often secretly discuss things with Fengzi first.

Unfortunately, because of headaches since childhood, I stopped attending school after finishing elementary school. Fortunately, there were many books in the family's book box, and I learned many things on my own.

When her second brother came home, he would also teach her some arithmetic and history.

She would find time to study, but if her head started to hurt, she would stop looking at it. That's how Yu Feng has gotten by all these years.

“Big brother, you seem to have changed.” Yu Feng looked at Yu Dawei with her big eyes.

"Really? Is he getting more and more handsome?" Yu Dawei put the last piece of sugar triangle into his mouth and gave his two younger sisters a narcissistic smile.

"No, big brother, you're getting more and more shameless," Yu Yan said with a grin as she leaned closer.

Yu Feng smiled but didn't say anything.

She just felt that ever since they caught the thief the night before last, her older brother wasn't the same as before, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what was different.

Just then, Yu Laonian returned with Zhang Yunqin, and the three children turned to look at him.

"Dawei, let your wife come sleep here tonight." Zhang Yunqin's expression was still unpleasant. "I'm telling you, if she dares to talk back to me, she can pack her bags and get out of here right now."

"Oh my dear mother, with her timid nature, how could she dare to talk back to you?" Seeing that his mother had relented, Yu Dawei hurriedly stepped forward and smiled as he massaged her shoulders, then turned around and secretly gave his grandfather a thumbs up.

Dad, it has to be you!

“Your mom’s all set, but I still have to say a few words beforehand.” Old Yu rolled his eyes at his eldest son, “Xiao Fan is not a child anymore. Think before you speak. Don’t just blurt things out. It would be bad if he got hurt.”

Actually, Yu Laonian also disliked Han Jingfan, mainly because she didn't talk much, and when she did, she wasn't very good at speaking.

The whole family felt terrible hearing this.

Two boys at Xiaofang's school have a crush on his daughter, but everyone keeps it a secret and only talks about it in private.

One day, Xiaofang suddenly came home with two love letters, looking worried and wondering how to reply and reject them.

Suddenly, this young lady said, "The book says that having two boats at the same time is a dilemma, so little sister, you'd better choose one."

Another time, there weren't many eggs left at home, so they boiled a few less. When it came time to distribute the eggs, Zhang Yunqin worried that some children might not get any and might be unhappy.

So at the dinner table, he took the initiative to say, "We didn't lay many eggs this spring, just a few. How do you think we should divide them?"

Xiao Fan is pregnant. Anyone with eyes can see that her mother is favoring her daughter-in-law, or rather, the child in her belly.

The goal was to find a responsible child who would voluntarily give up those eggs.

Then this good daughter-in-law suddenly said, "I'm pregnant, so I have to eat an egg."

Han Jingfan, you're heavily pregnant, who can stop you from having an egg? Even if you don't say anything, the egg is still yours. But after you said that, no one will be happy.

Yu Dawei nodded: "I understand, Dad. I'll tell her when I get back."

"Okay, you come out with me too." Old Yu glanced at his eldest son, then turned and led him to the warehouse.

"What's wrong, Dad?" Yu Dawei closed the door and turned to look at the old man.

"What kind of car are you going to town to fix?" Old Yu pulled some planks from the corner and threw them at the doorway, intending to use them as firewood.
"Dig, excavator." Yu Dawei felt that after saying this, the old man would definitely guess what it was.

"How much did it cost?"

Sure enough, no one in the village could outwit this old comrade; he figured it out in less than a second.

"Two thousand five hundred. I also treated the guy from the scrap metal recycling station to a meal. I plan to go to town to get my car repaired tomorrow. I'll be able to make money when I get work next spring." Yu Dawei spoke clearly and concisely, without wasting any words.

Old Yu nodded, stopped what he was doing, and looked at the two military green toolboxes on the north wall: "Made in China or imported?"

Nowadays, there are domestic excavator brands, but they have always been outpaced by foreign companies in terms of technology, and the quality is also vastly different.

"Hitachi UH03, the lower half is all cement, the upper arm is leaking oil, apart from that, I don't think there's anything wrong, after all, it just came down from the front line." Yu Dawei analyzed to himself.

During our conversation, the guy selling the car mentioned that this car was still in use even in the dead of winter, working until the end of November.

I wonder if that guy was trying to squeeze every last bit of value out of that excavator.

In Northeast China, the ground starts to freeze in October, and even fewer excavators are working in November.

"You'll get about three thousand yuan inside and out. Aside from the effort, you've gotten a great deal, kid." Old Yu turned around, a rare smile appearing on his wrinkled old face as he looked at his eldest son.

Yu Dawei also smiled, as if in the old man's eyes, he had always been very disappointed in him.

"Find out the money for the parts yourself. Your younger sister is going to visit your aunt with her second brother after the New Year, so I need to give her some living expenses. We need to keep some money at home for farming next spring." Yu Laonian sighed, which was unusual for him. "Life in the village is better than before, and our four-wheeled vehicle isn't as useful as it used to be. I'm planning to sell it, which might help you out a bit."

"No need, Dad, I can handle this myself. But I'll need to borrow your tools, hehe." Yu Dawei scratched his head and smiled sheepishly.

"Take it all, it's all yours." Old Yu lightly kicked the toolbox and turned to leave with a very generous air. "By the way, your mother just told me in detail. Once when she went to the ditch, she heard people in the village saying that Xiao Fan had an affair with their elementary school teacher, and that she even got pregnant a few years ago. Dawei, what do you think about this?"

Yu Dawei stopped what he was about to do, turned around and looked at the old man very seriously, saying, "Of course I believe her."

Their village is a complete mess. Doesn't he know whether his wife is a virgin or not?
Those who say their relationship is ambiguous are mostly girls of the same age who envy and are jealous of Han Jingfan's stunning face.

Looking at his eldest son, Yu Laonian smiled again: "I actually found out about this long before you got married."

“Before Xiao Fan was fifteen, he always borrowed books from Teacher Zhang from the neighboring village. Teacher Zhang is also related to our Yu family. I heard from Teacher Zhang that some girls and old women in the village look down on your wife and make fun of her all the time.”

Old Yu picked up the wooden plank from the ground and said coldly, "That's why the countryside is poor, dirty, and like a big dye vat. No father wants to see his child living in the village."

"Now that you're back, just live your life properly." Old Man Yu pushed open the door and looked at the snow that had been flattened on the street. "Go back and tell Xiao Fan that now that she's married into the family, this is her home. Don't always treat yourself like an outsider. Nobody treats you like that anyway."

“My inner room is full of good books. Tell her not to be reluctant to read them, and to read them from top to bottom, and not to leave them lying around.”

"On the top shelf are books on basic principles of life and interpersonal relationships, such as *Cai Gen Tan*, *Xiao Chuang You Ji*, and *Wei Lu Ye Hua*."

After saying this, Yu Laonian left, leaving behind his thin, frail figure.

Yu Dawei lowered his head with some guilt. Back then, he was forced to return to his hometown. Actually, the household registration was secondary; it was ultimately because he couldn't control his temper.

If he hadn't led the entire grade of boys into a brawl before graduation, he probably would have had a place there later on.

In the end, I can only blame myself.

"Meng Kai, Ai Yongqiang..." He thought of the two good brothers he had betrayed, and wondered how they were doing now.

The next day.

Around four in the morning, Zhang Yunqin lit two candles and made dumplings for her eldest son.

She moved very quietly, afraid of disturbing the people on the kang (a heated brick bed).

When Yu Laonian returned from outside the door emptying the bucket of dirty water, the bucket of dirty water in the countryside had already suffered enough humiliation since it was placed in the outer room where the cooking was done.

It's used for emptying swill and throwing away garbage, and in winter when it's cold outside, it becomes a urinal.

In short, none of life's hardships are as bitter as this.

"Mom, let me help you." Yu Feng put on her clothes, washed her face, and followed her mother to knead the dough and mix the filling.

It's my eldest son's favorite sauerkraut filling.

"Mom, let me help you too." Yu Dawei poked his head out from the doorway of the inner room. "I can tell it's sauerkraut filling just by the smell. I've been craving this smell so much."

Her mother's sauerkraut dumplings were a specialty of the surrounding villages.

"Hey, have you noticed? Ever since that equipment incident, our silly son seems to have changed a lot." Zhang Yunqin's small eyes crinkled into crescents with laughter, her mood so good that her hands moved faster as she folded the dough. "He doesn't sleep in late anymore, he doesn't go visiting neighbors anymore, he knows how to chat with his sisters, and he even knows how to work..."

As he spoke, I don't know what he touched on that touched a nerve with my mother, but she couldn't help but tear up.

It feels like after all these years of waiting and hoping, my child has finally grown up.

She even thought that her silly son might just stay this way for the rest of his life.

It's truly a blessing from heaven.

"Oh dear, why is he crying so early in the morning? He already has children, how can he still act the same as before?" Although Old Yu had a stern face, the corners of his mouth were upturned so much that even an AK couldn't suppress them.

Yu Dawei outwardly appeased his parents, but inwardly he sighed for no reason.

He truly never imagined that he had caused his parents so much heartache in his past life.

That's true. They put in so much effort hoping for things to be better for themselves, but in the end, they only cause trouble for others when they try to get things themselves.

Fortunately, he can make amends for the mistakes he made in the past, and he can avoid future mistakes. He is determined to become the pride of his parents in his life.

The panel was placed on the kang (a heated brick bed), and the three people chatted quietly.

Han Jingfan felt lightheaded and woke up as soon as the worktable was placed on the kang (a heated brick bed). She got up to put on her clothes and help.

"Why are you getting up so early? Lie down and sleep some more," Zhang Yunqin said, rolling out dough as she tried to dissuade her daughter-in-law from getting up.

"It's okay, I'm awake." Han Jingfan continued to look for the cotton-padded coat at her feet.

Zhang Yunqin and Yu Laonian exchanged a helpless glance. Yu Fengguang listened with his ears and continued making dumplings without saying a word.

She thought to herself that her older brother was probably too dense to see anything, and she would have to find a way to start a conversation to ease the awkward atmosphere.

"Honey, Mom's telling you to go to sleep, so go to sleep. You're carrying the eldest grandson of the Yu family." Yu Dawei suddenly walked up behind Han Jingfan, put his hands on her thin shoulders, and pressed her back into the quilt.

Yu Feng turned around and looked at her older brother in surprise, her expression filled with disbelief.

She was a little confused; when did her older brother become so good at judging the situation?

He has really changed.

Yu Laonian and Zhang Yunqin exchanged another glance, their eyes filled with a sense of relief.

Why did they insist on finding someone for Yu Dawei who was eloquent and preferably well-educated and worldly-wise?

It's because this eldest son is also stubborn and always acts according to his own whims.

He is different from Xiao Fan. Xiao Fan doesn't understand, but he clearly understands everything, yet he still does things his own way.

"Sigh, we have to have a drink today. You guys pay, I'll go heat up a pot of wine." Old Yu put on his shoes and got out of bed, scurried into the inner room, opened the cabinet, and took out a bottle of Jiannanchun that had been hidden away for who knows how many years.

In winter, people in Northeast China always warm up their liquor before drinking it. The warm liquor slides down their throat and into their stomach, instantly warming their bodies.

There are always people who enjoy drinking, whether it's morning or night.

Yu Dawei smiled as he looked at his father. At this moment, his slightly mischievous personality indicated that his father was in an extremely good mood, better than anything else.

"Once your son becomes the new richest man in the village, you can expect to be sipping wine and having a good time," Yu Dawei thought to himself with a smirk.

Yu Feng and her mother laughed, but Han Jingfan, who had been pushed back into bed, stared blankly at the group with a dazed expression.

(End of this chapter)