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

The factory director, the party secretary, Director Zhao from the department, a man who looked distinctly Japanese, Tian Baocheng's uncle, some unfamiliar "cadre"-like people, and two blond-haired, blue-eyed foreign businessmen.

And everyone is watching me.

Something's not right here.

Of course something's wrong! Three grown men crammed into a cheap bicycle... the wheels are practically flattened! You tell me, isn't that right?

That's absolutely indecent!

Moreover, Tian Baocheng is the factory's logistics director and general affairs officer, and Liu Guangqi is the clerk and accountant. They are both proper cadres—couldn't they pay more attention to their image?

Can you?

The ministry leaders are still here! And there are foreign businessmen too!

These shameful bastards!

Both the factory director and the Party secretary felt like they wanted to die...

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Soon after, everyone moved to the factory's conference room.

At one end of the rectangular conference table sat Factory Director Han Mingshan and Party Secretary Cheng Daniu, both elderly men holding enamel mugs and sipping tea intermittently. Beside them sat Tian Baocheng and Liu Guangqi.

On the other side were Director Zhao from the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tian Baocheng's uncle, Tian Youfu, who held a deputy section chief position in a department of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and wielded considerable power.

Factory director Han Mingshan and Party secretary Cheng Daniu spoke first. It turned out that the mop sets had been produced and were selling very well in supply and marketing cooperatives, department stores, and overseas Chinese stores, among other places!

In addition, other ideas that Zhang Dabiao came up with, such as snap-on or magnetic broom and dustpan sets, wire clothes hangers, and other new products, all saw sales take off.

Therefore, the factory plans to commend Zhang Dabiao and award him the title of "Outstanding Worker" at the end of the year. Even though you are working part-time, it doesn't prevent you from being an outstanding worker, right? They will also give him 500 yuan and a 200 yuan note as a reward.

Hongxing Daily Necessities Manufacturing Factory made a fortune from this wave of business, while Zhang Dabiao was still a student, only working part-time at the factory. So they thought, "We're all roughnecks, no need for such roundabout methods"—let's just give him a bonus!

Just a month or two ago, they were merely a subsidiary comprehensive utilization plant of a steel rolling mill, which, simply put, was a peripheral department for the recycling and reprocessing of waste materials.

The two old men were just looking forward to retirement and didn't think much of it.

But now it has transformed into an independent entity, and the new products produced in the factory are in high demand, all thanks to Zhang Dabiao.

So the two old men were straightforward: Zhang Dabiao hasn't graduated or officially started working yet, so since he can't get promoted, they'll just give him money!

But Tian Baocheng leaned over and said a few more words, and the secretary thought for a moment—

"Considering Comrade Zhang Dabiao's work environment and habits, we will grant you a bicycle for official use. You can ride it back after get off work."

The factory doesn't have bicycle tickets, but it does have bicycles. Why not just allocate one to Zhang Dabiao?

This is a minor issue and can be easily resolved.

After the factory's incentive program ended, Director Zhao from the department brought more good news: the mops and brooms had caught the eye of foreign companies, and orders had been placed. The Hongxing Daily Necessities Manufacturing Plant was preparing to expand and recruit more staff to start producing these two export products at full capacity—our Hongxing Daily Necessities Manufacturing Plant could now earn foreign exchange!

The Ministry of Foreign Trade and the Ministry of Light Industry are preparing to allocate quotas and provide funding to the factory, directly surpassing the previous "Export-Oriented Small Commodities Manufacturing Factory," which manufactures the semi-automatic hand-cranked egg beaters, pressure mixers, and small fans invented by Zhang Dabiao. Moreover, the higher-ups intend to observe the situation and, if the Hongxing Daily Necessities Manufacturing Factory performs well, directly merge all the employees and production lines of the small commodities manufacturing factory.

This time, however, they were more careful and could not repeat the mistake of the Ministry of Metallurgy being overly ambitious.

After the factory and departmental matters were announced, everyone looked at the three men in suits.

"These foreign businessmen are Mr. Tatsunosuke from Japan, Mr. Brooke from England, and Mr. Alexander from France. They are quite interested in the disposable lighter invented by Comrade Zhang Dabiao, and they are here today to discuss the issue of patent licensing."

Director Zhao explained the situation to everyone. Actually, the department didn't take the lighter patent seriously, but he listened to Zhang Dabiao and mentioned it to Dazhizhu.

In addition, Zhang Dabiao had already found a skilled craftsman to make a lighter with the help of Liu Guangqi, Tian Baocheng and others, so he was able to bring out the rolling flint lighter from the "little nest".

When I went to register in Hong Kong, I brought three lighters and three mop sets with me.

He also left a lighter at the department.

After Tatsunosuke played with this thing for a while, the other party decided that he had to buy the patent license.

He recognized the market value of this little gadget.

It's a pity we didn't get it before. As a result, Zhang Dabiao went and registered it directly. That way, even if they get the physical product and try to imitate it, they won't be able to get around the patent.

Tatsunosuke was unsure of himself when it came to a patent lawsuit against the long-established powerhouse, England.

So we have no choice but to come here to negotiate.

Across the conference table, three men in dark suits sat upright. The one in the lead was a lean Japanese man in his fifties, his hair neatly combed, and gold-rimmed glasses perched on his nose. His translator introduced him: "This is Mr. Tatsunosuke from XX Trading Company."

Tatsunosuke stood up, bowed, and said in broken Chinese, "Please take care of me."

The other two were blond, blue-eyed foreign businessmen from England and France, who claimed they were "just here to learn about the new products."

Director Zhao cleared his throat: "Today's meeting is mainly to discuss the patent issue of Comrade Zhang Dabiao's 'disposable lighter' design. Mr. Tatsunosuke is very optimistic about this invention and hopes to obtain a patent license to promote friendly trade between China and Japan."

Tatsunosuke began through the translator, "Mr. Zhang's design is ingenious, and we admire it greatly. We are willing to pay for the patent, the price is..." He paused, then held up three fingers, "...three thousand US dollars."

There was a moment of silence in the conference room.

Liu Guangqi glanced at Zhang Dabiao instinctively. Tian Baocheng frowned. The two foreign businessmen exchanged a meaningful look.

Zhang Dabiao laughed: "Three thousand US dollars? Mr. Tatsunosuke, do you know how much it cost to register this patent?"

"As far as I know, Zhang Dabiao, you didn't spend a single penny on the patent registration fee; the Lou family paid for it for you," Tian Youfu suddenly interjected (Tian Baocheng's uncle, a deputy section chief in a department of the ministry), his tone carrying a condescending and lecturing tone.

"Comrade Zhang, you need to consider the bigger picture. The fact that Japanese trading companies are willing to introduce our technology presents a great opportunity to promote our country's industrial achievements to the world. We can't just focus on short-term gains."

"The publicity value of this event outweighs the actual value it creates."

"Clerk Tian is right," Director Zhao chimed in. "The country is facing a foreign exchange shortage right now, so earning foreign exchange is a contribution. Three thousand US dollars is quite a lot. If we calculate based on the current average monthly wage of 30 yuan, that's equivalent to more than ten years' wages for a worker."

Zhang Dabiao chuckled: "The Lou family paid 3 Hong Kong dollars for the registration, and now you think you can just buy it from the Japanese for 3000 US dollars?"

"I reckon they also want to buy out the production rights and prevent other countries from producing it, including ours—"

"Right?"