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

The next morning, Wang Xingguo, with his daughter and nephew in hand, followed by his son and nephew, and Li Xiuping carrying a basket of food, went to Beihai Park together.

The main reason we chose this park is because it has swings and slides for the children to play on. In the past, Wang Xingguo and Li Xiuping loved to go hiking in Jingshan Park.

The main reason is that hiking is fun, and it's also convenient to be lovey-dovey in a secluded place.

When we arrived at Beihai Park, there weren't many people because it wasn't a holiday. Most of the visitors were elderly people with their grandchildren.

Before long, the children were sitting on the swings. Wang Xingguo pushed his daughter and nephew, while his son and eldest nephew played by themselves.

Li Xiuping sat next to him eating Muscat grapes. There were also Beijing white pears, snacks, and soda, but Li Xiuping preferred grapes.

The little ones were having a great time, their laughter ringing out. Wang Xingguo smiled as he pushed the swing, careful not to push too hard for fear his daughter might lose her grip and fall.

After they had played enough, they found a shady spot, sat down with newspapers on their hands, and ate.

The four little ones are rarely taken out to play, so they had a wonderful time today.

Wang Niannian is usually a heavy sleeper and needs to take many naps during the day, but today she played all morning without feeling sleepy.

I took them out for lunch at a restaurant, then we went to a department store and bought a lot of things. After that, we bought some groceries and then headed home.

As soon as the three little ones returned to the compound, they ran off to play again. After Wang Xingguo and his wife took their daughter home, Wang Niannian started to doze off, her little head nodding off, which was extremely cute.

Wang Xingguo spread a mat on the ground, gave his daughter a small pillow to sleep on, and fanned her with a fan himself, otherwise it would be too hot for her to sleep.

He said to Li Xiuping, "Honey, I think we need to buy this fan. My precious daughter loves to sleep so much, she can't sleep well without a fan."

Li Xiuping shook her head and said, "You can't buy one. It's not that I haven't thought about buying a fan, but every time I ask, they say they're out of stock and you need a permit from your work unit. You'll have to find a way to get that permit."

Wang Xingguo asked in surprise, "Can't we just buy it directly with money and industrial vouchers?"

Li Xiuping laughed, "You wish! Industrial coupons and money are things everyone can save up. If it were that easy to buy, every household would have a fan. You need a permit; without one, they'll say they're out of stock. Your unit should be able to get a permit, right?"

After thinking for a moment, Wang Xingguo nodded and said, "Then I'll go back and ask tomorrow. It really breaks my heart to see my daughter so hot and still wanting to sleep."

Li Xiuping rolled her eyes at this doting father. Her son used to sleep like this in the past, and she had never seen him feel sorry for him.

But I have to admit, she really wanted an electric fan; it would be so comfortable to sleep with a fan blowing on you.

Thinking of this, Li Xiuping joked, "Since you have nothing to do this afternoon anyway, why don't you go back to your workplace and ask? If you can really buy one, you can sleep with a fan blowing on you tonight."

And sure enough, it was a good idea. Wang Xingguo was a man of action, so he actually rode his bicycle back to his workplace and went to ask Li Zhong about it.

After thinking about it, Li Zhong still gave him the approval slip.

If it were Wang Xingguo wanting to enjoy it himself, Li Zhong would definitely not agree, but when Wang Xingguo said that the child was too hot to sleep, Li Zhong had no way to refuse.

He also likes Wang Xingguo's children; they are a pair of very cute and well-behaved children. Given his relationship with Lao Lin, they really should be taken care of.

So Wang Xingguo got the approval slip, happily rushed home, and then used the industrial coupons to buy a fan.

This stuff is mainly for export to earn foreign exchange. In reality, it's quite difficult for government agencies to buy it. Li Zhong was able to issue the approval slip because his unit does have this quota, but there are only a few each year.

If such a large organization only has a few quotas, then ordinary organizations and ordinary people can forget about it.

He bought a Diamond brand table fan. This one fan cost Wang Xingguo seven months' salary in industrial vouchers, plus 110 yuan in cash.

The industrial coupons were issued one for every 20 yuan of wages. Wang Xingguo issued six coupons each month, which means that 42 industrial coupons were needed.

After buying the fan, Wang Xingguo spent industrial coupons and money to buy a power strip, because there was only one socket in the house, which was in the living room, specifically for the radio.

If you want the fan to run at night, you have to plug it back into the room with an extension cord; otherwise, you won't need it.

Wang Xingguo regretted buying the power strip!

My older brother works in an electrical wire factory, and their factory can also produce power strips, so why should I spend money to buy them...

But what's done is done, there's no use regretting it now.

Back home, Li Xiuping enthusiastically started tinkering with the fan. After unpacking it, she plugged it in, turned the mechanical knob, and the fan started spinning, blowing out gusts of cool air.

Li Xiuping said happily, "That's great! With this thing, we don't have to blow it directly at people anymore. The room will cool down as soon as there's a breeze."

Wang Xingguo smiled and nodded in agreement, saying, "It's really good. Just don't let the kids have the air blowing directly on them at night, or they'll easily catch a cold. Just let it blow against the wall to circulate the air."

During the day, the fan can be directed at people. With this fan blowing, the living room became much cooler. Even Wang Niannian, who was sleeping on the mat, turned over and slept even more soundly.

Wang Xingguo chuckled, grabbed a pillow, and went to sleep in with his daughter on a makeshift bed on the floor.

Li Xiuping sat knitting a sweater to the side, watching the father and daughter sleeping soundly, a happy smile on her face.

The three rascals came back for a drink of water after playing until they were tired. They were excited when they saw the electric fan. They had actually seen and used it before, since some experts had one at home. They even knew that you shouldn't touch a fan with your hands.

The boys sat together, enjoying the breeze from the fan. Wang Jianhua even asked, "Mom, when did you buy this fan?"

Li Xiuping said without looking up, "Your dad just bought it. Don't sit too close. Let the wind blow from a distance. If you're all sweaty, it's easy to catch a cold if you sit too close."

The three little ones obediently moved their stools a little further away. They still listened to Li Xiuping, after all, she had raised them single-handedly, and they had a very good relationship.

In the evening, the group of students who came home from school or get off work were pleasantly surprised again. These days, the four major items are not hard to buy, as long as you have money. After all, you can also collect them with industrial coupons.

But electric fans are different; they're really hard to buy. You can't buy one without a permit.

The large number of workers in the capital city weren't lacking in money or industrial coupons; rather, they couldn't buy them even if they wanted to. Permits from small units were generally ineffective; workers had to register and wait in line for allocation, a wait that could easily take several months or even half a year.