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

◆Division of Responsibilities: Zhang Dabiao is only responsible for "technical research and development and innovation guidance," and does not participate in non-technical work such as administrative meetings and report filling. The department shall not arbitrarily assign him miscellaneous tasks.

Simply put, Zhang Dabiao can invent or create whatever he wants. If he has a new invention or idea, he can hold a technical seminar at the ministry to check the progress or listen to the research and development needs of various departments. There are no administrative ranks; the discussion is only about technical issues, and all decisions are based on technical feasibility.

You can do whatever else you want. Just delegate tasks to your assistants. There are no hard and fast rules. You should be able to come up with at least four inventions a year, right? One per quarter shouldn't be too difficult, should it?

The conditions were indeed quite lenient. Zhang Dabiao thought about it and realized that with three departments protecting him, he would have a strong backer, whether it was for getting things done or during a storm.

So he agreed.

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In the afternoon, Zhang Dabiao returned to the courtyard, and three upright plaques bearing the names of the organizations were delivered—

Research and development studios under the Ministry of Foreign Trade; Research and development studios under the Ministry of Light Industry; Research and development studios under the Ministry of Food and Sanitation...

The neighbors in the courtyard stared wide-eyed. What was going on?

The three plaques were simply pressed onto the wall between the side room and the small courtyard by the workers. You wouldn't see them unless you looked closely and turned to the covered walkway – they were quite discreet.

But with this white sign with black lettering—that means it's a ministerial-level work unit! Even though it's a subordinate unit.

Zhang Dabiao got promoted—no, he became an official?

Everyone was stunned—didn't he fail to graduate from junior high school?!

When questioned, Zhang Dabiao, looking smug, put his hands behind his back and said in a bureaucratic manner, "Keep it down, keep it down. My invention is just too awesome, so the state has taken it over."

"I have no administrative rank, I'm not an official, I'll keep a low profile..."

This can be considered as wearing a tiger's skin, or borrowing the tiger's power.

After that, Zhang Dabiao's status changed. He was no longer just a temporary purchasing agent and part-time designer at a factory. He was now under the protection of the department, and three departments at that!

That's a completely different concept!

The tangible benefit was the monthly allowance of 90 yuan, which wasn't a big deal for Zhang Dabiao.

Out of a sense of reciprocity, Zhang Dabiao had to show some sincerity.

The other three assistants came directly to report for duty, as a way of introducing themselves. Although they were somewhat resentful—why should they take orders from a junior high school graduate?—their personnel records belonged to the department, and they had no choice but to comply. If they didn't comply, they wouldn't get paid or receive promotions. What could they do?

Moreover, Zhang Dabiao genuinely generated foreign exchange for the country, so they couldn't deny it.

"Researcher Zhang, I am Huang Yan (female), 21 years old, a graduate of the Beijing Iron and Steel Industry University, affiliated with the Ministry of Light Industry, a Level 5 clerk, Administrative Level 23, reporting for duty, please give instructions."

"Researcher Zhang, I am Chen Puqing (female), 22 years old. I graduated from the Senior Commercial Cadre School of the Ministry of Foreign Trade and am affiliated with the Ministry of Foreign Trade. I am a Level 4 Clerk and Level 22 Administrative Officer. I am reporting for duty and request your instructions."

"Researcher Zhang, I am Wang Fushan (male), 25 years old. I graduated from the Department of Nutrition and Food Hygiene, School of Public Health, Peking University. I am a Level 3 Clerk, Administrative Level 21, under the Food Hygiene Department. Reporting to you, please give instructions."

Three young cadres, two women and one man. The man had thick eyebrows and big eyes and exuded an upright aura. It must be said that he was even more handsome than Zhang Dabiao, like a protagonist.

The women were all incredibly beautiful, more beautiful than He Yushui, no less so than Qin Huairu and Lou Xiao'e, but slightly less so than Mu Wanqing—they lacked Mu Wanqing's allure. How to describe it?

Mu Wanqing possesses an innate charm that evokes pity and a desire to protect her.

Although these two girls are beautiful, their demeanor is too resolute and upright, just like female warriors.

Zhang Dabiao wondered if these three men would beat him up and take him to the police station on the spot if he said something wrong.

When the three young cadres said to Zhang Dabiao, "Reporting to you, please give instructions," everyone in the compound was shocked. Each of them had an impressive background, they were the pride of heaven!

Cadres!

Now you're supposed to "report" to Zhang Dabiao, this junior high school student, and "seek instructions"?

So, Zhang Dabiao's official rank was higher than theirs?

Zhang Dabiao was also a little guilty. Although he was also a college graduate in his later life, it was a third-tier private university, while there was a genuine Peking University graduate in front of him!

There was a bit of guilt involved.

"Hey, big brothers and sisters, we don't need to be so serious. Just call me Da Biao."

"There are no instructions or anything like that. We all have the same goal: to generate foreign exchange for the country."

"This is our first time meeting, so I'll treat everyone to a meal!"

Zhang Dabiao is at it again. If one meal can't solve a problem, then two meals will do!

Qin Jingru was about to start cooking, but one of the three girls was a little unhappy: "Researcher Zhang, we're here to work, not to freeload."

"Please get to work as soon as possible and come up with a feasible product design innovation plan so that we can work with the department to figure out how to turn it into a real product and put it into production."

That means—Zhang Dabiao is neglecting his duties.

Zhang Dabiao laughed. This guy's not convinced, he's trying to intimidate me!

But I specialize in treating all kinds of dissent!

"Inventions require inspiration, but since you've all said that, it would seem like I'd be letting down the ministry's high regard for me if I didn't come up with something."

"Fine, you wait!"

Zhang Dabiao dashed off into the cabin.

The three young cadres looked at each other, wondering if Zhang Dabiao had achieved something again.

They waited in the veranda, surrounded by middle-aged and elderly women who hadn't gone to work. It was a little awkward, but having just said those things, it wouldn't be appropriate to go into Zhang Dabiao's courtyard now.

So they stood in the corridor, waiting for Zhang Dabiao to bring out the items.

They didn't believe it. They'd seen geniuses before, but surely designing and inventing couldn't be that fast?

Zhang Dabiao ran out and showed everyone something.

After Huang Yan and Chen Puqing looked closely, they chuckled, "I thought it was something else, but isn't this just nail clippers?"

"What's so strange about that?"

Huang Yan added, "In 1953, Suzhou successfully copied the first nail clipper in our country. There were nail clipper factories in China, mainly for domestic sales. There were also exports, mainly in small quantities to Southeast Asia and Africa, but the annual sales volume was very low."

"You had these nail clippers custom-made, right?" When they came, they had all investigated Zhang Dabiao. He often took design drawings and, through the connections of Li Huaide, Liu Guangqi, and Tian Baocheng, would go around looking for people to make samples.

This is a private matter. As long as scrap materials are used, and the money is paid for by the individual, and it does not affect the factory's production, it is not against the rules.

"Although they're prettier than the nail clippers you have now, if I may be so bold—"

"This product has low market value and is difficult to export."

Zhang Dabiao wasn't angry; instead, he gave her a thumbs up: "Professional!"

"Then look what this is?" Zhang Dabiao took out another nail clipper, with a flatter and larger opening.

The three were somewhat puzzled: "This..."

"A larger nail clipper?"

Zhang Dabiao waved his finger: "That small one was just a regular nail clipper."

"This large, flat-topped clipper is used to trim big toenails; it's used to trim very thick ones."

The three women, Qin Jingru, and the surrounding aunties and grandmas were all confused: "Isn't that still a nail clipper?"

Zhang Dabiao pulled out another one: "And this one is called a pair of pliers..."

He started taking things out again.