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

Chapter 89 Third Uncle and the Village-to-Village Electrification Project
As soon as Sun Heming entered the house, he realized that the old man was dying. He immediately became anxious and insisted on taking the old man to a big hospital in the city!

The older generation of the Yu family began to offer advice.

"Please don't, brother, your health can't take any more strain now."

"It's good that you have the intention, but Fourth Brother is forcing Big Brother to keep this momentum going, so don't cause trouble."

Finally, Yu Huai, who was on the kang (a heated brick bed), also spoke up to stop them: "My elder brother's internal organs are failing, and he could pass away if we are not careful. No one can touch him now."

Seeing the lingering hope in Sun Heming's eyes, Yu Dawei walked over to him and explained, "You must know that my fourth uncle's medical skills are no worse than those of a hospital. If there really is a way to prolong your uncle's life, I believe that none of the uncles and elders here would stand idly by."

"Sigh." Sun Heming slumped onto the stool, his face full of dejection. "He was fine just two days ago, how could this happen..."

As he spoke, tears streamed down his face. All his achievements were thanks to his uncle, who had cared for him like a father since he was a child and even gave him his name.

"Xiaomin, take it easy." Yu Quan slowly opened his eyes and looked at Sun Heming. "Getting the village electrified is the best way to repay me."

"Ninth Brother." Yu Quan took a breath.

Yu Huai, standing nearby, couldn't help but advise, "Brother, you should talk less."

“I’m hanging on by my breath just to make arrangements for my funeral. Otherwise, why would I suffer like this?” Yu Quan glanced at his fourth brother, Yu Huai, and then looked at Yu Laonian. “Go to the mahogany cabinet in the inner room. There’s a wooden box at the very bottom, under the quilt. Take it out.”

"Okay, brother." Old Yu turned and ran into the inner room, taking the old mahogany box to the kang (a heated brick bed).

The antique rosewood box is rectangular in shape and dark red in color. The arched top and the square lower half of the box blend perfectly, with the gaps barely perceptible. The round copper clasp is fitted with auspicious cloud patterns, giving it a simple and elegant appearance.

"The Yu family has four family genealogies, which are managed by the ninth brother, the third brother, myself, and the fourth brother respectively. The portraits of each family are the same, but the details of each family's experiences are different in the annals of the genealogies."

Yu Quan focused his gaze on the mahogany box on the kang (a heated brick bed): "Actually, there is also a family genealogy book, divided into two volumes, which has always been managed by the heads of the family in successive generations. It was not easy to leave anything behind in those days. I used to hide it underground. Now, a small part of the yellowed book has become moldy and is completely illegible. It was my fault."

“Brother, don’t say that. You’ve done more than enough over the years,” an older generation member said.

"Yes, brother." The people around him echoed.

Yu ignored them completely, staring blankly at the mahogany box with lifeless eyes.

Once the room was quiet, he spoke: "Dawei."

"Huh?" Yu Dawei was hiding behind the crowd at this moment, looking at the information about the various villages that Sun Heming had compiled, and exchanging views with him on a few unclear data points.

Yu Dawei, who was suddenly called out, was taken aback. He pushed aside the uncles and grandpas and looked at Grandpa Yu Quan: "Grandpa, you tell me, there's anything I can do, I won't refuse."

"Keep the box on the kang (heated brick bed)," Yu Quan said, and the gazes of the elderly people around him changed.

From Yu Quan telling Yu Dawei about the village getting electricity to the matter of the family genealogy, everyone was shocked. Now the Yu family has become a scattered household, but in the past, this would have been equivalent to passing on the throne. It would be a lie to say that they were not shocked.

After all, they just couldn't figure out what it was about Yu Dawei that their older brother saw in him.

Is he lazy and good-for-nothing? Or is he a womanizer? Although Yu Dawei has toned it down a lot lately and has started to focus on making money.

But old habits die hard, and that's no joke.

They were relieved that Dawei was getting better, but at the same time they were worried that Dawei would give up one day and revert to his old, unreliable self.

Only two people present were confident about Dawei's future.

One was his own father, Old Man Yu, who was standing at the end of the kang (a heated brick bed), and the other was Uncle Yu Quan, who had a keen eye for detail.

Whether a person has changed on the surface or in their heart, he has experienced similar things before, so how could he not know what "a prodigal son returning home" means?

People in the Yu family probably all have this problem: unless they have a complete awakening, they will never truly change their ways.

The reason he thought so highly of Yu Dawei was because he saw his younger self in Dawei. "Should I keep it?" Yu Dawei could clearly sense that the atmosphere around him was off, and he was a little reluctant to accept it.

"Keep it. Write down whatever you want, or if you don't want to, it's fine to leave it anywhere." Yu Quan looked at Yu Dawei with certainty in his eyes.

"Well, sir, it's not that I don't want to agree, it's just that my handwriting is so terrible, it's not presentable at all." Yu Dawei said with a bitter face. His handwriting was even worse than a cockroach that had dipped a little ink.

"Hehe, of all the people who have received these two booklets throughout history, which one actually wrote them themselves? Yet the characters inside are all so delicate." Yu Quan was completely exhausted; otherwise, he really wanted to go with Yu Dawei and his brothers to expose the secrets of the older generation of the Yu family.

"Dawei, just keep what your great-uncle told you to keep. He shouldn't talk anymore." Uncle Yu Huai looked at his elder brother with a worried expression. He was going to prepare another dose of herbal medicine to try, which might really prolong his life a little longer, but the premise was that he must not lose his last breath.

"Keep it, Dawei. We're all getting old. It's just right for you, a junior, to take it," Uncle Twelve advised.

The others all agreed, saying that the Yu family's children were getting worse with each generation, and it would be better to leave them with Yu Dawei.

"Well, alright, I'll keep it for now." Yu Dawei picked up the wooden box with both hands and hugged it to his chest, then looked at Yu Quan, "Uncle, I have to go to town with the village chief now."

Yu Quan nodded, indicating that he understood.

Yu Dawei then left with the village chief. He went to the old man's house first, placed the mahogany box in his wife's hands, and instructed her three or four times, "Don't let the little guy play with it. Make sure to put it away properly when you get home."

Although Han Jingfan and Zhang Yunqin were both curious about what was inside, they wisely refrained from asking. Han Jingfan nodded very seriously and then carefully placed the box in the inner room, away from the child so that the child wouldn't cry if he wanted it.

Yu Dawei was relieved, then went to the old man's storeroom and put all his tools into the four-wheeled vehicle's bed, then secured the front of the vehicle to the bed with bolts.

After finishing all that, he drove the four-wheeled vehicle away from the village with the village chief.

Yu Dawei first took Sun Heming home. When he saw that Sun was carrying two cans of tea, especially since they were obviously not new cans, he smiled meaningfully and said, "Your tea must be expensive."

“There are advantages to the high price. I’m a little worried that Grandpa won’t live long enough to see our village get electricity. At least I want him to hear with his own ears that the village will have electricity soon.” Sun Heming turned around and smiled at Yu Dawei, but there was a hint of bitterness in his smile.

Without saying a word, Yu Dawei stepped on the gas and drove the four-wheeled vehicle straight to the town.

According to my second uncle, the project to bring electricity to every village involved a three-party cooperation. One party was the power supply bureau, which entrusted local government officials with all the funds allocated to those officials. These officials, acting as the entrusted parties, then sought out contractors.

So the two of them went to the town to find the officials. With two cans of Monkey Brand tea as a stepping stone, things became much simpler. In addition, the data collected by Sun Heming and several village chiefs was very complete and had a certain degree of authority. The officials directly made the final decision and agreed to place the first village electrification test site in Heshan.

Sun Heming had a good relationship with the official in the town, and they had some connections. Following the procedure, he took the initiative to provide two reports to Heshan Village: one was a report on the regional division of the five hamlets in Heshan Village, and the other was a detailed list of construction site assessment criteria. With the detailed data brought by Heshan Village, the quota was completely confirmed.

However, both reports still need to be taken to the construction contractor, and they need to be approved, signed, and stamped by them to be valid.

Yu Dawei then took Sun Heming to the temporary command center for the village-to-village electrification project. It was a small farmhouse at the southernmost part of the town, with a state-owned flour mill behind it.

The temporary command post had just been built, and people in the yard were working on it, setting up many new houses to serve as offices. Yu Dawei found someone and asked about the whereabouts of his third uncle, Hou Wanshan, before leading Sun Heming through the middle house to the backyard.

It was already dinnertime, and the workers gradually arrived, squatting in groups of three or five, holding small iron basins filled with eggplant soup, and two steamed buns in their other hands. They would take a bite and a sip of soup, and occasionally get a little bit of minced meat, which was already considered a great blessing.

Yu Dawei scanned the crowd in the backyard but did not find his third uncle.

In Yu Dawei's memory, his third uncle was a dark-skinned and thin man who didn't like to talk much and liked to fight. It seemed that only fighting could unleash his true nature. However, there were too many dark-skinned and thin people in the crowd, so he didn't notice him at first.

"Have you found your third uncle after looking for so long?" Just then, the dark-skinned, thin man squatting next to Yu Dawei spoke up. He had a full beard, wore a yellow vest, and was chewing his food, taking bites of steamed buns and vegetables, blending in perfectly with the people around him.

"Third Uncle...long time no see." Yu Dawei scratched his head awkwardly, and followed suit, squatting down next to his third uncle.

"The second brother wrote a letter a couple of days ago saying that you might be coming over in the next few days." The third uncle glanced at Yu Dawei. "He hasn't said anything yet, but it's pretty much what your second uncle said. He's been very different since he came back from the city, but his simple-minded personality hasn't changed much."

"Ahem, can we please stop comparing me to my past self?" Yu Dawei looked at him with a smile. "I'm here to deliver something."

(End of this chapter)