In 1959, what's wrong with me pedaling a tricycle?

When Wang Yongchang saw that Wang Xingguo had friends over, he went to ask Wang Yongshan to cook a few dishes so that Wang Xingguo could entertain his friends with drinks.

Wang Xingguo told him about his recent situation, and the two chatted over drinks. Lian Sheng was also quite busy; he was now a technician, repairing machines with his master every day.

Moreover, the situation at Shijiazhuang Iron and Steel Group is not good either. Although it is a key supplier, it is still short of food and meat.

Wang Xingguo whispered, "I'll get you two pieces of pork fat. They're not very big, but you can render the fat to help my uncle and the others get some nourishment. You should also keep an eye on my uncle; he already has stomach problems, and if he's malnourished, his stomach problems will probably get even worse."

Lian Sheng nodded and said, "I'll take what you have. If you're lacking it yourself, then forget it. My sister-in-law is about to give birth, and I can't take her nutritional supplements."

Wang Xingguo grinned and said, "No way, would I, Director Wang, be short of such a small thing?"

Lian Sheng chuckled and said, "Come on, all that 'Director, Director' stuff gets really awkward to me. Can you stop being so smug?"

"No way! You've already become a technician, can't I, Director Wang, even show off a little? Hahahaha..."

After a drinking session, Wang Xingguo showed Lian Sheng the door of his new home, then asked him to stay there for a while before running out. He returned shortly with a wooden bucket filled with half a bucket of chicken and duck eggs, and two pieces of pork fat weighing three or four pounds.

They were childhood friends who shared the same pants, so there was no need for excessive formalities, and Lian Sheng didn't refuse.

I have to admit that my childhood friend is doing quite well; he can get so many chicken and duck eggs so easily.

After seeing off Lian Sheng, Wang Xingguo returned to the night market. It was almost 10 p.m.

At this time, the night market is basically empty of customers because there's not much to buy. People usually arrive very early to buy the four essential items.

Only those who come here to cash in gold will arrive later.

Wang Xingguo packed two lunchboxes of braised rabbit meat and some chive pancakes that Uncle Yongshan had made, then arranged his work and went home.

Wang Xingguo shared a lunchbox of rabbit meat and chive dumplings with his family, and then gave the remaining lunchbox to his father-in-law and his family.

Li Wenbin lives alone in the rented apartment now, while Li Wenlong and Li Chunmei have moved here with him.

Wang Xingguo asked, "Dad, why hasn't my older brother's marriage been finalized yet?"

Li Laishun said with a bit of helplessness, "We've decided to settle down, but with this situation, it's difficult to organize a wedding banquet. Although the bride's family doesn't have any specific requirements, we can't hold one even if we want to."

Wang Xingguo frowned and said, "Dad, really, I may have limited abilities, but I'm not so poor that I can't even get those ingredients. I told my older brother a long time ago that last year would have been the best time for the wedding, but he wouldn't listen to me. Let me tell you, this year is bad, but next year will be even worse. While I can still help get chickens, ducks, fish, and a few pounds of pork, let's get my older brother to get the wedding done as soon as possible. If we postpone it until next year, I really can't guarantee that we'll be able to get these things."

Hearing that his son-in-law had put in so much effort, Li Laishun slapped his thigh and said, "Alright, I'll listen to you. I'll talk to your older brother about this tomorrow. It can't be dragged on any longer."

Wang Xingguo really felt that they couldn't delay any longer, because the situation would be even worse next year, and if they held a banquet then, just the meat dishes alone would be a huge problem.

Even he couldn't possibly take a bunch of wedding banquet ingredients outside next year. He could only eat those things secretly or take them back to the night market to exchange for gold for the country. Otherwise, it would be a big problem if he were discovered.

The situation is slightly better now; at least his preparation of these ingredients isn't particularly conspicuous.

Therefore, he wanted to persuade his father-in-law to resolve the matter as soon as possible, so as not to drag it out until next year, when his father-in-law would come to him for help and he would be the one in trouble.

After chatting with his father-in-law for a few minutes, Wang Xingguo returned to his own home. Li Xiuping had already finished eating and was brushing her teeth and washing her face. Wang Xingguo also went to wash up.

The houses here are all like this, with the kitchen and bathroom behind the living room, and a room on each side, just like the east and west wing rooms in most courtyard houses.

Next to the door is the window, which faces the dining table. Further inside is the cabinet area, near the entrance to the kitchen. There's actually enough space to put a bed.

That's how Director Zhao's house is set up, but he uses a screen to separate the rooms. The elderly couple sleeps in the living room, the eldest son's family of four lives in the room on the left, and the second and third sons live in the room on the right. So the way to the kitchen in his house is quite narrow.

Actually, their eldest child could have a separate room, but since there's heating here, it's better for the whole family to squeeze in together; at least it'll be more comfortable. It's not too late to apply for a separate room once the eldest has a dormitory with heating.

Wang Xingning greeted the two of them and ran back to her room to sleep.

Wang Xingguo and Li Xiuping returned to their room, chatted for a while, and then turned off the lights and went to sleep.

The next morning, Li Xiuping got up after sleeping in, while Wang Xingguo continued to sleep in, as he was used to sleeping until around noon.

However, he couldn't sleep in today. Around nine o'clock, Gan Ping arrived excitedly.

After being woken up by Wang Xingning, Wang Xingguo rubbed his eyes and came to the living room. Seeing Gan Ping, he asked with a puzzled look, "Old Gan, what good thing happened?"

Gan Ping chuckled and said, "I went to the seafood company this morning. They gave us a batch of ribbonfish and dried kelp. What do you think is the best way to sell these?"

Wang Xingguo looked at Gan Ping speechlessly. The ribbonfish was considered a good product, but the kelp was not worth mentioning. Both of them were readily available at the market, so expecting them to fetch a high price was unrealistic.

He explained the situation, and Gan Ping was dumbfounded, then said somewhat unwillingly, "Director Wang, is it really true that we can't sell it for a high price? We were given four thousand catties of ribbonfish and two thousand catties of dried kelp."

After thinking for a moment, Wang Xingguo said, "It's not that there's no way, but it's quite troublesome."

Upon hearing that there was hope, Gan Ping quickly asked, "What method? Director Wang, just tell me, I'll go and do the errand. I won't make you go through all that trouble."

Wang Xingguo lowered his voice and said, "Old Gan, the brewery has surplus grain every year, but they should be short of things like ribbonfish and kelp. You can ask them to exchange it for corn or japonica rice. The price of grain is much higher than that of ribbonfish and kelp right now."

Gan Ping frowned and shook his head, saying, "Director Wang, I'm afraid this won't work. The brewery leaders aren't stupid; who would willingly exchange more expensive grain for ribbonfish and seaweed?"

Wang Xingguo smiled and explained to him, "Old Gan, you're mistaken. Don't you know that adjusting prices at the original cost is legal for any factory? But adjusting prices according to privately set higher prices is tantamount to reselling state-owned goods. Who would dare to do that?"