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

Wang Xingguo is not the same as before; he is now a high-ranking official, and because of his achievements over the past ten years, he has been recognized by many leaders and has a promising future.

More and more people started trying to curry favor with him. Sometimes, out of consideration for their feelings, Wang Xingguo couldn't refuse their requests, so he would ask them to arrange jobs and housing for him.

This kind of thing is very common at this time, after all, many people don't even have a place to stay after returning to the city.

Liu Weidong even came to him asking for help in arranging jobs for several of his childhood friends, because Liu Weidong and his friends had gone to the border regions together, and many of them had returned.

Now, Liu Weidong is doing quite well because he follows Wang Xingguo; he's already a level 16 cadre.

Even at Liu Weidong's wedding, Wang Xingguo was chosen as the officiant, which shows Wang Xingguo's importance to him.

Moreover, Liu Weidong had a bad relationship with his father. Although his father was later exonerated after being sent to the countryside, he was only assigned to a nursing home.

One issue is his age, and the other is his performance back then, which made many people feel that he was no longer suitable for important work.

However, Liu Weidong has a good relationship with his younger siblings and occasionally brings them to visit Wang Xingguo.

After returning to work, Wang Xingguo wasn't busy.

Because his job was to set the direction and conduct ideological work, the day-to-day affairs were handled by a dedicated deputy director.

In June, not long after Wang Xingguo got home from get off work, his house was greeted by several important guests!

Those were several chiefs of staff and experts working at the Malan base. They were returning to Beijing to report on their work and took the opportunity to visit Wang Xingguo.

Wang Xingguo was overjoyed and warmly welcomed them. These were all old comrades-in-arms; he had become very familiar with them when he was in charge of oil transportation.

Two important experts also came with them.

One of them said to Wang Xingguo, "Back then, we all ate the canned food and cured meat you brought back. We still remember the taste. It's a pity that now that we have plenty of supplies, we can no longer eat such sweet and delicious cured meat."

Wang Xingguo laughed and said, "So much time has passed now, I'm not afraid you'll laugh at me. Those cured pork pieces were from pigs I secretly obtained, and I dried them myself. Because I didn't know much about how to make cured pork, I used a lot of sugar and soy sauce to marinate them, which is why they're so sweet."

Chief of Staff Song, his hair already gray, said with a sigh, "The poultry and livestock you smuggled over back then were the best meat I've ever eaten. But I'm quite curious, how did you manage to do it back then?"

Wang Xingguo explained with a smile, "Actually, it's not as complicated as you think. It's just about adding more wagons. The main problem is that getting this batch of goods was very expensive and involved a lot of favors. As you know, things were so difficult back then. I really used every possible method to get the poultry and livestock for you."

Everyone nodded in agreement, and for a moment they all recalled the scene from back then. It really wasn't easy back then!

Some of those people from back then have now risen to high positions, and some can even chat and laugh with national leaders.

They have always kept in mind what Wang Xingguo did.

Including this promotion, many people actually spoke up for him.

After all, while there is a push to make cadres younger, Wang Xingguo is just too young.

But for the things he did in those years, it was one thing if others didn't promote him, but when Wang Xingguo was brought up, not only were there few people who opposed him, but many people spoke up for him.

Some of these people were exiled and returned to their hometowns, some were leaders of the State Science and Technology Commission, and some had received help from Wang Xingguo for various reasons.

That's why he was able to rise to the position of director this time.

Generally speaking, a director-general position requires a minimum rank of 10, but he was given an exception, and Wang Xingguo, a rank of 11, became a director-general.

He is really young. Most other leaders at this level are close to fifty years old, and many are even over fifty.

After the meal, Wang Xingguo saw off his old friends, and only turned back after their car disappeared from sight.

So many years have passed, and everyone has changed, but the friendship forged together in the struggle for the Republic's nuclear weapons program remains unchanged.

Back inside, Li Xiuping made him some honey water, worried that drinking too much would upset his stomach.

Now that their children are all grown up and don't need their care anymore, the couple can finally relax.

Li Xiuping asked Wang Xingguo, "Xingguo, when do you get a day off?"

Wang Xingguo asked, "Why are you asking this all of a sudden? Is there something you need me to do?"

Li Xiuping said with a smile, "It's nothing serious, it's just that you haven't visited my parents in a long time, and they said they miss you."

Wang Xingguo smiled and nodded, saying, "Alright, I'll take a day off the day after tomorrow, and we'll go visit your parents together."

Li Xiuping nodded happily and said, "Then it's settled. Your clansmen miss you a lot. Go back and visit them; they'll be very happy."

Wang Xingguo laughed and said, "Haha, I don't really want to see them. There are too many people to arrange work for, and every time I meet them, I get a headache about it."

Li Xiuping nudged his shoulder and asked curiously, "Xingguo, don't you know a lot of leaders? It shouldn't be difficult for you to arrange factory jobs for everyone, right?"

Wang Xingguo shook his head and said, "It's not easy to get into a factory now, and it's not a good option either. I want them to become self-employed. Now that the policy has been relaxed, I can lend them capital if they don't have any, so they can become self-employed and do some small business, which is quite good."

Grandpa Lin asked, "Xingguo, are you so sure that small business owners can support their families?"

Wang Xingguo said seriously, "Grandpa, reform and opening up is an inevitable trend that no one can stop. Individual business owners can not only support their families but also become wealthy. As for getting a stable job in a factory, I don't think that's feasible. Think about it, when the private economy develops, will factories loosen their policies? And what will private factories be like?"

Grandpa Lin frowned. He had never thought about these questions before, and he couldn't imagine what they would be like.

He couldn't help but ask, "So you mean that the emergence of private factories will change the 'iron rice bowl' policy?"

Wang Xingguo countered, "Grandpa, look at the state-owned factories nowadays. They're inefficient, produce poor-quality products, and the workers aren't very motivated. How can these problems be solved? They can't go on like this, can they? If they continue like this, how can the country develop its economy? How can we develop our modern industry? How can we improve people's living standards?"

Grandpa Lin was stumped; he couldn't answer Wang Xingguo's question.

Actually, Grandpa Lin is a conservative type of person, but after talking to Wang Xingguo about this today, he suddenly realized the seriousness of the problem.