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

"Brother, please stop hitting him! The child is still young and doesn't understand anything. Don't take it to heart!"

"Brother, calm down. Cheng'an is just a bit mischievous; he didn't do it on purpose..."

Wang Xingbang didn't actually use much force; he just held up the belt and threatened, "Tell me, can we still stay in this house?"

Wang Cheng'an wiped away his tears and said in a pitiful voice, "Yes..."

Wang Xingguo hugged Wang Cheng'an and comforted him, "It's alright, it's alright. You know your dad's temper. You can talk about your second uncle, why did you have to talk about your dad?"

Wang Cheng'an sobbed, burying his head in Wang Xingguo's arms, and said, "But my dad is afraid of my mom, and you're not afraid of my aunt, Uncle..."

Enraged, Wang Xingbang raised his belt, but Wang Xingguo quickly stopped him, saying, "No, no, brother, don't be impulsive. Cheng'an is still young; he's just immature. Why are you arguing with him?"

Wang Xingbang snorted coldly, put down the belt, and said to Wang Xingguo, "You're just spoiling him. If he dares to speak ill of his parents today, he'll dare to rebel tomorrow!"

That's ridiculous...

Wang Xingguo thought to himself, "My brother is really something. All he did was say that he would listen to his sister-in-law."

Is it really necessary to get so angry?

But my nephew is really honest. Silly boy, even though your father is honest, he still has his pride, you know...

Shen Qingqing stepped forward to protect Wang Cheng'an, glaring at Wang Xingbang and saying, "You, surnamed Wang, what do you mean? What happened to my son? Why did you hit him? Explain yourself, or I'm taking both children back to my parents' home!"

Wang Xingmin said timidly, "Sister-in-law, don't be silly, Uncle Shen's house is right next door..."

Shen Qingqing glared at Wang Xingmin. This brat messed things up at the crucial moment, and he even undermined her...

Li Xiuping didn't seem to notice anything; she was busy cooking.

She poked her head out with a spatula and said, "Brother, bring me a deep plate. Sister-in-law, please help carry the dishes. Xingmin, go set the table. Xingning, quickly take the children to wash their hands."

After the speech, everyone agreed and got to work.

Even Wang Cheng'an, who was still wiping away tears, obediently followed Wang Xingning to wash his hands...

Wang Xingguo was stunned. Was his wife really that domineering?

This is absolutely incredible!

However, after thinking about it, Wang Xingguo felt it made perfect sense.

Wang Xingning had a good relationship with her and listened to his second sister-in-law in everything.

Needless to say, Wang Xingmin was completely under Li Xiuping's control; how could he not obey?

As for the eldest brother and sister-in-law, they both work and owe Li Xiuping, who works hard and takes care of the household chores, too much. Naturally, they have no temper with her.

The children are even more so; Li Xiuping takes care of them all day long, and they are very close to and dependent on her.

So Wang Xingguo realized that there was something wrong with him being afraid of his wife.

She is the highest-ranking leader of the royal family!

Wang Xingguo also went to the kitchen to help Li Xiuping serve the dishes, and didn't forget to flatter her a few times.

I have to try to please her, otherwise the whole family has fallen for her and everyone is on her side. If I don't try to please her, I'm afraid I won't have a good life in the future.

Wang Xingbang poured the wine, and Li Xiuping said cheerfully, "Brother, bring me some wire tomorrow. The clothesline rope broke, so I had to wash all my clothes again today."

Wang Xingbang nodded, then asked, "Xiuping, isn't iron wire a bit too weak? How about copper wire? I'll wrap it in rubber; that way it'll be strong and durable."

Wang Xingguo quickly said, "Brother, don't do anything reckless. Do you think you can just use the copper wire from the wire factory like that?"

Wang Xingbang chuckled and said, "Second brother, you don't understand. I'm taking scrap copper wire, not finished products. What's the big deal? Besides, it's not like I'm the only one doing this. Everyone's taking it. People would be worried if I didn't take it."

Wang Xingguo was stunned, but he quickly realized that this was the prevailing trend in this era!

Everyone says the factory is my home, so what's wrong with me taking some things from home?

You're saying this is theft?

Who would steal something from their own home?

You're saying this violates factory regulations?

Didn't the factory regulations mention this?

We treat the factory like our home, and love it as if it were our own. What's wrong with me taking a few things?

Li Xiuping said with a smile, "Brother, don't take too much, just enough to tie up our clothes drying poles."

Wang Xingbang nodded and said, "No problem. Actually, it would be better to use an electric wire instead of a bamboo pole, but our bamboo clothesline pole is still usable, so let's use it for now."

Sometimes Wang Xingguo feels like his mind is a little confused.

One brother is an honest man, the other brother takes bribes from his work unit...

It's like two different people who have merged into one.

Wang Xingguo understands that this is a characteristic of the times, but why does it feel so awkward to put an honest person and the characteristics of the times together?

…………

After his vacation, Wang Xingguo returned to the fuel transportation department.

In fact, logically speaking, the oil transportation department should be responsible for transporting diesel and gasoline to secret units like Malan.

But the reality is frustrating!

From 1958 to 1961, the biggest problem at the Malan base was the lack of drinking water!

At that time, we relied entirely on water from Bosten Lake for drinking water. Although it was a bit salty and bitter, the water was edible and could be used to leaven dough for steamed buns.

The water of Bosten Lake, along the so-called Peacock River, flows past the Malan base. Because of the saline-alkali land it passes through, the slightly salty and astringent lake water turns into salty and bitter water!

Therefore, the base's drinking water at that time was all brought back from Bosten Lake.

The fuel consumed in transporting diesel and gasoline to the Malan base, plus the fuel consumed during water transport, is equivalent to exchanging one ton of oil for one ton of water!

One can imagine how harsh the conditions were back then, and how much they paid for food and water!

As the base became more and more complete and the number of people increased, the supply of daily necessities became insufficient!

The oil transport division was initially established to be responsible for transporting oil to these bases.

However, as time went on, the tasks became increasingly heavy, and the number of bases increased, so naturally, the transportation work also increased!

It doesn't have to be like the town of Maran to be called a base. In fact, many factories in various regions that only have numerical code names are also secret bases.

Therefore, the tasks of the oil transportation department became increasingly heavy, the number of personnel increased, and the scale grew larger, eventually reaching its current size.

The oil transportation department is responsible for oil transportation at the Malan base. Due to the heavy workload, the higher authorities have assigned them various transportation tasks.

In fact, the logistics department also has fuel transportation divisions one, two, three, four, five, and so on...

So Wang Xingguo discovered that the people he trained were not supplied to their oil transportation department, but to all the oil transportation departments of the logistics department!

Wang Xingguo then realized that their oil transportation department should actually be called the Second Oil Transportation Management Department!

The fuel transportation department is just a general term for a department. Similar to employees in a company, they are not necessarily all formal employees. They may be employees of outsourcing companies, labor dispatch workers, temporary workers, contract workers, etc.

Before Wang Xingguo was officially transferred to military service, he was a contract worker. After the transfer, he became a formal employee!