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

Li Xiuping didn't understand these things, but she smiled and said, "Grandpa, I think Xingguo is right. I heard that many factories are not doing well now, and holiday benefits are starting to get worse. But it's very possible that individual business owners can make money."

The other day I saw a clothing stall while shopping. The vendor said they brought the clothes back from Guangzhou. The clothes and pants were stylish and expensive, but lots of people were buying them. They must be making money, but I wonder if there will be any changes to the system for self-employed individuals in the future.

Grandpa Lin, on the other hand, was very clear about this: the reason for opening up the possibility of individual businesses was because there were too many educated youth returning to the city, and if this door wasn't opened, society would be unstable.

Now that this door has been opened, it cannot be closed again immediately. It needs to be observed for a period of time. This policy itself is a product of accumulating experience.

Shen Qingqing nodded repeatedly and said, "You know what, all the young people in the compound are buying these clothes now, saying they're fashionable and stylish. Not just them, even the kids love these clothes, and those shoes too, they're called sneakers, they're ridiculously expensive."

Wang Xingguo said with a smile, "Young people like to follow trends, but we can't spoil them too much. It's not good for them to develop extravagant spending habits."

After chatting for a while, everyone went to take a shower and rest.

Wang Xingguo dried Li Xiuping's hair and they went back to bed. Li Xiuping said to Wang Xingguo, "Honey, when will our eldest son get married and give us a big, healthy grandson?"

Wang Xingguo replied, "I'm afraid it's still a long way off. They rarely have the opportunity to meet girls while they're in the army. I don't know when they'll be able to arrange their marriage."

Li Xiuping sighed, a little disappointed, and said, "Now that the children are all grown up, I feel a bit bored. It would be nice to have a grandson to take care of."

Wang Xingguo laughed and said, "You've spent your whole life worrying about the children. Now that they've finally grown up, you've only had a few days of peace and quiet, and you already feel restless."

Li Xiuping rolled her eyes at him and said irritably, "What do you know? When you suddenly have free time, it feels quite comfortable at first, but it gets boring after a while."

After thinking for a moment, Wang Xingguo asked, "How about planting some flowers and plants? There's so much empty space in the yard; you can plant whatever you like, and it'll help pass the time, won't it?"

Li Xiuping's eyes lit up, and she immediately perked up: "That's a good idea. I'll go and look into it tomorrow and see what would be suitable to plant."

Wang Xingguo breathed a sigh of relief, fearing that Li Xiuping might not like this or that.

The next day, Wang Xingguo arrived at his workplace by car, and his secretary went to collect the documents that needed his approval.

Wang Xingguo's bodyguards were named Li Mingliang and Xu Guoqiang, and his secretary was named Qiao Guodong.

In addition to two bodyguards and a secretary, he also had a driver, a private car, a chef, and a waiter.

However, since we already have a chef and waiters at home, we didn't arrange for these additional staff.

Qiao Guodong walked in carrying a thick stack of documents. After placing them on the table, he went to make tea for Wang Xingguo and said to him, "Sir, there are quite a lot of documents today. Some are mainly applications for funding, some are personnel transfers, and some are project application materials."

Wang Xingguo said with a headache, "This costs money, that costs money, where am I supposed to get so much research funding for them?"

Qiao Guodong said with a smile, "Boss, I think you still need to talk to your superiors first, otherwise this matter will be difficult to handle."

Wang Xingguo sighed helplessly and said, "Don't even mention it. The leadership is practically putting up a sign saying 'Wang Xingguo is not allowed in.' Honestly, it's not like I need the money for myself. How can we develop these weapons without funding?"

Qiao Guodong couldn't help but chuckle to himself.

Don't be fooled by your boss's righteous words; when they go to their superiors, they shamelessly ask for money all day long.

Moreover, he indulged the various weapons development teams, resulting in ever-increasing funding.

The funds weren't wasted; they were all used for research and development, and we've already achieved many results.

However, the development of conventional weapons has not been a priority compared to other projects, so funding has always been very limited.

That is, Wang Xingguo became the director. Relying on his youth, he always acted like a junior and shamelessly pestered his superiors, forcing them to approve more funding each time.

However, after this happened many times, the leaders of their conventional equipment department did become a little afraid.

When Wang Xingguo's car arrived, the leaders who had been notified would really avoid him, fearing that he would pester them and never let them go, and in the end they had no choice but to approve the funding for him.

Although many people laugh at Wang Xingguo for being shameless, it has to be said that many people would like to have a leader like him.

After all, no matter how shameless Wang Xingguo was, he was trying to secure funding for his department, not for himself.

Many people believe that this is the mark of a good leader; what's the use of having a thick skin?

The real skill is being able to secure research funding!

Just after approving two documents, Deputy Director Huang Dinghua walked in.

Wang Xingguo looked up, frowned, and said, "Old Huang, don't tell me you're here to ask for money again. We're really short on cash lately. When I try to get funding, the leaders always avoid me. It's getting harder and harder to get money."

Huang Dinghua laughed and said, "No, no, Director Wang, don't talk nonsense. How could I come here every day asking you for money? I'm here to report on my work. The research report we submitted last time was approved, but the reward was a bit small, only 500,000 yuan in research funding. I do think it's a bit too little. Perhaps you could try to negotiate with the higher-ups, Director Wang?"

Wang Xingguo exclaimed in surprise, "Wait, only a reward of 500,000? I remember the funding for this achievement was over 300,000. This reward is far too small!"

Huang Dinghua said helplessly, "I don't know what happened either. That's how the approval was written. Logically speaking, this kind of achievement should be worth 800,000. 500,000 is really too little."

After thinking for a moment, Wang Xingguo asked in a low voice, "Was it approved by Minister Liu? Is it because he's angry about me pestering him for funding last time?"

Huang Dinghua laughed and said, "It's very likely. It was indeed Minister Liu's approval. I think it's mainly because you were a bit harsh last time. I heard that Minister Liu cut back on funding for other projects before approving it for you."

Wang Xingguo gasped, "Hiss! This is bad! Minister Liu is planning to settle scores later and use our deserved rewards to cover this shortfall!"

Huang Dinghua thought so too. After all, Wang Xingguo had asked for one million yuan in funding last time, and it was reasonable for Minister Liu to cut back three hundred thousand yuan this time to make up for it in other projects.

Wang Xingguo sighed and said, "Alas, I can't do anything about Minister Liu. He's avoiding me like the plague now. He even locked himself in his office once. I just can't do anything about him."