Courtyard House: Drunk and tipsy, the whole courtyard exposed at the start.

The lighter Zhang Dabiao was referring to was the cheapest kind, costing only one yuan.

Zhang Dabiao had more than a dozen of those things in his little den, but he couldn't bring any of them out.

There are several theories about this type of lighter—some say that the "butane disposable lighter" invented by the brilliant George Brisdale in 1932 is the ancestor;

Some say it was invented by the BIC company in 1952;

Some say it was John Harris's key patent from 1956;

In addition, in 1961, Tunghai Company launched the "TinyLight" lighter...

However, in the 1970s and 80s, it seems that lighters produced in Wenzhou and Ningbo were exported all over the world, making China the largest producer and exporter of lighters.

The most common type is the one that uses a low-voltage electric spark ignition, so it's impossible for it to be pulled out.

But there is another type, the kind with a rolling flint.

This doesn't even qualify as a "small home," so the problem lies with the lighter's plastic body.

The lighter body is made of one piece of plastic, then filled with flammable gas. Other small parts such as the metal shell and flint wheel are easy to manufacture.

Zhang Dabiao can go back and disassemble a few lighters to draw three-view diagrams; there's no problem with that.

Regarding the issue of the unibody stamped plastic casing, and the delicate rubber gaskets...

After thinking about it, Zhang Dabiao gave up. Not to mention the severe shortage of chemical raw materials in our country, we probably couldn't handle the production of such delicate components.

Previous pressure mixers and hand-cranked egg beaters were mainly made of stainless steel with few plastic parts, which made them relatively easy to work with. However, lighters are primarily made of precision plastic parts, which makes this completely impossible to implement.

So he regretted it; he figured he couldn't get a disposable lighter.

Then let's just stop wasting our time and get all excited for nothing.

"A disposable lighter? Da Biao, explain in detail?"

Zhang Dabiao said awkwardly, "I made a mistake. With our country's technology, we might not be able to make it. It's too delicate..."

Liu Guangqi and Tian Baocheng thought Zhang Dabiao was being difficult, which made them very anxious: "Dabiao, just say what you're thinking. If you do it well, our factory can get approved."

But Zhang Dabiao shrugged: "What if, like before, my invention is simply taken away?"

"The last certificate of merit, a prize of one or two hundred yuan, and then it had nothing to do with me anymore."

"If the new product is doing well, it has nothing to do with me. But what if some leader gets carried away and turns it back into the manufacturing plant? Wouldn't all my work have been for nothing?"

"To put it bluntly, I'm not short of money, so why should I worry about this?"

Zhang Dabiao shook his head and turned to go back.

"Those who are not in a position should not meddle in its affairs."

"I think it's best if I don't get involved in this."

Without waiting for Liu Guangqi and Tian Baocheng to stop him, he returned to the courtyard house.

Liu Guangqi and Tian Baocheng were unable to stop Zhang Dabiao and could only look at each other in bewilderment.

"Baocheng, don't blame Dabiao. The way the ministry handled things last time also disheartened him."

"Money is one thing, but his opinion wasn't asked at all throughout the whole thing. He was sidelined as the inventor, and it ended up like this. Naturally, he's unhappy."

"Moreover, even if he returns to the main factory, he will still be a purchasing agent, or even if he doesn't have this job, he can still study and take exams."

"How the factory develops and survives has nothing to do with a student who has just graduated from elementary school."

Tian Baocheng nodded. Indeed, expecting a primary school student to be selfless, especially since he was just a temporary purchasing agent at their factory...

It's a bit too much.

"But, could he really make those disposable lighters?"

Liu Guangqi shook his head: "He just said he couldn't make it because he didn't have the technology, which is probably true. But I can ask him if there's anything else our factory can make."

Tian Baocheng gritted his teeth: "Guangqi, go back and ask him what level we need to reach before he'll help us with some inventions."

"He can make any demands he wants, just let it be merged back into the main factory, and I'll obediently become a logistics manager..."

"I'm not reconciled!"

Liu Guangqi's eyes hardened, and he nodded heavily.

------------

Zhang Dabiao returned to the courtyard house, then went back to his small apartment to take a closer look at the small metal tube and valve from the lighter...

With our country's current technology, even if we wanted to overcome this challenge, it would probably be very troublesome and inefficient.

So there's absolutely no need to get involved in this.

However, Zhang Dabiao still patiently drew out the three views of this thing, thinking that he would find someone to study it carefully when he had time.

The market and business opportunities for this thing are huge.

Then I carefully considered the current situation of the integrated utilization plant...

Nothing can be done.

There are some impressive inventions—the small house has quite a few modern industrial products, but the current domestic industry and chemical technology can't keep up, let alone a small scrap recycling plant. It's completely unsustainable.

Making other recycled gadgets... doesn't have much value.

In the end, Zhang Dabiao still managed to come up with a few solutions—

1. Tin Tea/Grain Canisters – Waste tinplate (canned food boxes, paint buckets). Cutting, rolling, hammering together, and edge binding. For home storage, moisture and insect protection.

2. Fabric strips used to make mops/floor wipes – made from waste fabric strips and old clothing from textile factories. The fabric strips are neatly combed and tightly bound to one end of a wooden stick with wire or hemp rope. A core cleaning tool.

3. Cardboard File Baskets/Storage Boxes – Waste cardboard boxes and packaging boxes. Cut cardboard to size, glue them together to form a basket shape, and reinforce the edges with fabric strips. Used for office and home storage.

4. Simple Wire Clothes Rack – Thick wire (construction waste, scraps). Bend it into a hanger shape with pliers, and twist the hook into a loop. You can cover it with waste plastic tubing for anti-slip.

5. Cutting out shoe soles from discarded tires – scrapped car tires (outer tires). Draw a pattern on the tire rubber according to the foot size, cut it with a sharp blade, and it can be used as a wear-resistant sole. Combine it with a cloth upper to make "tire shoes".

6. Bamboo/Plastic Baskets – Made from bamboo scraps and recycled plastic bags. The materials are soaked to soften them and then hand-woven into baskets. Lightweight and durable, they are essential shopping containers for every household.

7. Waxed Paper Rope – Made from waste newspapers, old books, and paraffin wax. The paper is cut into strips, soaked in molten paraffin wax, and then twisted by hand into a rope. Waterproof and strong, it is used for binding items.

8. Simple wooden clothespin – made from wood scraps, thin springs, or small wires. Saw the wood into strips, drill holes at one end, and connect two strips using a spring or bent wire as a spring-loaded element. Essential for drying clothes.

9. Reclaimed Rubber Hot Water Bottle Stoppers – Waste rubber (rubber shoes, inner tubes). The rubber is crushed, vulcanized, and then hot-pressed into shape using a simple mold. Used to seal hot water bottles, replacing expensive natural rubber stoppers.

10. Precast Cement Flower Pots – Cement, sand, and scrap iron wire (for reinforcement). Use wooden molds or old tin cans as molds, pour in cement mortar, and insert iron wire for reinforcement. After curing, they are ready for home landscaping.

11. Down-pressing wringer mop - manual down-pressing and rotating, with a bucket. Although it has to be made of plastic, the precision is not high, but it is easy to solve.

12. Magnetic or snap-on broom dustpan – the broom needs to be made of plastic parts, but it's not very precise, so it's easy to fix;

Although my country's chemical industry couldn't produce precision parts in the 60s, it could still make sandals, rain boots, switches, stockings, and so on. Therefore, the production of simple one-piece stamped plastic parts was not a problem.

When Liu Guangqi got off work, he returned to the yard and went straight to Zhang Dabiao.

Da Biao, you have to lend your brother a hand!