Courtyard House: Drunk and tipsy, the whole courtyard exposed at the start.

Zhang Dabiao smiled and said, "I haven't thought that far ahead. Anyway, having a patent in hand is always a guarantee."

The leader smiled and nodded: "I understand. However, there is no precedent for this in our country. I need to report it to a meeting for discussion. Comrade Zhang Dabiao, please understand."

Zhang Dabiao didn't care: "I understand. Anyway, I was already prepared to hand it over to the country."

After exchanging pleasantries, the leader was about to leave when he glanced at the lighter in Zhang Dabiao's hand. Only one of these lighters had been made; the others had all failed.

Zhang Dabiao handed it over.

The leader jokingly asked, "Da Biao, aren't you afraid we'll just use your design and not pay you patent fees?"

Zhang Dabiao shrugged helplessly: "Anyway, my design drawings are still with Brother Baocheng. They've figured them out, so there's nothing I can do if you want to use them directly, right?"

The leader laughed heartily and patted Zhang Dabiao on the shoulder: "Now I believe what you said, that you had long intended to hand it over to the country. Because otherwise, you wouldn't have handed over such an important design."

"Comrade Zhang Dabiao is a good comrade!"

"Have you considered working in this department after graduation?"

Everyone was shocked. Holy crap?

Will Zhang Dabiao be able to get into the ministry after graduation?

Isn't that like trying to reach the sky in one step?

The Ministry of Foreign Trade?!

A bright future awaits!

Zhang Dabiao scratched his head: "Boss, I only graduated from elementary school. Is it appropriate for me to say this now?"

"What if I drop out of junior high school?"

The leader smiled and pointed at him: "You little rascal, I know you invented these things because you're lazy, Zhang Dabiao."

"Alright, that's enough. I need to go back and report, and then we'll discuss what to do next."

"Wait for my message. What's yours will be yours."

Just as he stepped out of the gate of the courtyard and the side room, the leader turned around and asked, "Da Biao, what you said about industrial espionage, secretly filming our technology, that kind of thing..."

Zhang Dabiao nodded affirmatively and said, "I can't speak for other countries, but I'm sure I can do something like this to make a living."

[I've made it this obvious, shouldn't the higher-ups take note? We've suffered huge losses in the area of ​​patents and intellectual property rights!]

The leader nodded solemnly, then turned and left the courtyard.

There's a lot of information today, so he needs to report it and have the department hold a meeting to discuss it.

Whether Zhang Dabiao was being farsighted or just worrying unnecessarily, he couldn't make a direct decision.

After the leader left, the group of guys from the mutual aid society gathered in the small courtyard, asking about the situation while enjoying the cool air.

Because Da Biao's small courtyard has many mint, artemisia, and patchouli plants, there are fewer mosquitoes compared to the central courtyard.

It's very comfortable to get together with a few close friends to drink tea, smoke, chat, and play cards.

Xu Damao and Shazhu said that Zhang Dabiao was being foolish.

Go work in the ministry! Such a great opportunity, a meteoric rise!

Why don't you just agree already?

Are you out of your mind again?

Zhang Dabiao rolled his eyes: "Yeah, if I go to work in the ministry, and then I have another episode and offend a few more leaders, my life will be over."

"You all know what I'm like when I lose my temper, even I'm scared of myself."

"That kind of place isn't suitable for me."

After thinking about it, everyone nodded. Indeed, Zhang Dabiao's personality was too reckless and not suitable for advancement.

"Da Biao, what kind of job do you want to do?" Yan Jiecheng asked curiously.

Xu Damao immediately answered, "I know! Da Biao wants to be an artist! A painter!"

Zhang Dabiao — [?!]

"I know he loves inventing and wants to be an expert! An invention expert!"

【! ! ! 】

"I don't want to be an artist, nor do I want to be an expert..."

"So what exactly do you want to do?"

"I'm just going to live a life of leisure and idleness! I want to be a freeloader!"

------------

If possible, Zhang Dabiao would like to be a capitalist, but he can't say that out loud, can he?

So he just made things up, and everyone just took it as a joke.

Within three days, the Ministry of Foreign Trade sent a message.

1. A disposable lighter, a press-type spin-dry mop set, a magnetic & snap-on plastic broom and dustpan set, plus a bunch of other haphazard waste-utilization designs, were awarded the title of "Folk Inventor" by the Ministry of Foreign Trade, along with a 300 yuan bonus.

That's the rule, and that's all we can do.

50年颁布了《保障发明权与专利权暂行条例》，但从53年起到57年期间，先后只批准了6件发明和4件专利。从条例颁布后只在53年批准了4件专利这一事实来看，该条例在保障专利权方面实际上并没有起到太大的作用。

2. The mop and broom dustpan sets were put into production by the Comprehensive Utilization Plant, which was renamed the Hongxing Daily Necessities Manufacturing Plant and separated from the Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill under the Ministry of Metallurgy. The Ministry of Light Industry and the Ministry of Foreign Trade took over the plant, but at a certain cost, the two ministries took over the debts of the Comprehensive Utilization Plant.

3. The factory also gave Zhang Dabiao a bonus of 500 yuan and receipts worth 200 yuan. They also hired Zhang Dabiao as a part-time designer/researcher with a monthly salary of 60 yuan. He would be eligible for a permanent position after graduation, provided he had at least a vocational school or university degree.

Up to now, Zhang Dabiao's part-time designer/researcher salary is 60, and his temporary purchasing agent salary is 30-40 per month. This means his official monthly salary is already comparable to that of an eighth-grade worker, not to mention the things he sells privately to Liu Guangqi and Tian Baocheng. Xu Damao sometimes buys some too, so the total could easily reach 200. Furthermore, this means he has two workstations. After graduation and joining the company, he can take on one workstation, sell another, and continue working as a temporary purchasing agent.

The factory even provided him with an office, and he only needed to go there once a month to show up, which was considered an extremely generous offer.

4. Regarding his previous suggestion of giving Mu Wanqing a quota for university entrance exams, the ministry stated that Mu Wanqing would receive a certificate from the ministry during next year's exams, and there would be no problem with the verification process. However, she must be able to pass the exams herself, and while her performance at the steel rolling mill this year doesn't have to be outstanding, she can't make any mistakes either, and she can't apply for sensitive or important majors. This would be perfectly fine for Mu Wanqing. Li Huaide also indicated that if Mu Wanqing leaves after passing the exams, her position at the factory could be reserved for her, or she could find someone to fill in for her. Old Li is quite good at handling people.

5. Regarding Zhang Dabiao's request to skip a grade, the Ministry indicated that it could discuss with the Ministry of Education to give him an opportunity, limited to junior high school, but Zhang Dabiao's grade skipping exam results must be satisfactory. It can be said that the Ministry of Foreign Trade and the daily necessities manufacturing plant showed great sincerity, much more generous than the Ministry of Metallurgy before.

6. Regarding the patent issue, the higher-ups held a meeting and decided that this trend should not be allowed to continue.

However, due to Tadanosuke's repeated price increases, indicating that he was willing to spend a lot of money to buy the design drawings for the lighter and the push-button mop, especially the lighter which was priced very high, the higher-ups took notice, and the copied drawings were strictly kept secret.

Brooms and dustpans are too simple to make, so they're not very valuable. Lighters can't be mass-produced with current industrial capacity, but the department is already preparing to start producing push-button mops.

The final agreement was that we would give Zhang Dabiao one month. We wouldn't care what he did, since he couldn't possibly leave the country anyway.

If you manage to get the patent, then you, as the patent owner, can talk to Tatsunosuke.

If you can't get it done, then our Foreign Trade Department will handle it on your behalf. But if you succeed, we'll give you credit and a reward.

Who to contact, what channels to use, how to proceed, how much money to spend—the ministry doesn't care about any of that. They simply acknowledge that your invention was difficult to make and that you've made a certain contribution to the country, so they've given you a buffer period to have a chance to be recognized. Whether it succeeds or not depends on your own abilities.

Actually, the intention was to discourage Zhang Dabiao, because this was not something a half-grown boy like him could handle.

Regardless of whether the project succeeds or not, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and the Ministry of Light Industry can use Zhang Dabiao's inventions for free, and Zhang Dabiao has no right to object.

Simply put—they give certificates, money, tickets, positions, opportunities…

What more could you ask for?

But Zhang Dabiao still had doubts in his mind—about Xuan paper, cloisonné, and the matter of commercial espionage.

I wonder if those above have taken it to heart?