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

"30 US dollars per family, totaling 90 US dollars!"

"I bought all three!"

"Adding the 10 from your previous daily expenses and the 5 from mopping, you alone generate 105 million US dollars in foreign exchange for the country in a year!"

"No, you only have 8%, so it's $84, but that's still an incredibly impressive performance, isn't it?"

Upon hearing this news, Tian Baocheng, who was standing nearby with a cigarette in his mouth, was so frightened that he immediately slid to the ground.

"How much?"

"840,000 US dollars, which is equivalent to 2,067,912 yuan!"

Zhang Dabiao's legs went weak.

Damn, that's way too much!

Something bad is going to happen!

"Please come with us to the ministry quickly. We've been looking for you everywhere. The bank manager is also waiting for you there."

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

A short while later, Zhang Dabiao and his three assistants arrived at the Ministry of Foreign Trade. Under the guidance of the bank director, they first processed the exchange of the $40,000 patent licensing fee for the mop, and then deposited it into the bank. The total amount was $98,472...

Zhang Dabiao wanted to round up his money again, but he only had 200 yuan left, and it wasn't time for his November paycheck yet.

Seeing his predicament, the bank director, Lu Hongjun, asked him a question, and Zhang Dabiao finally revealed his anxiety—he wanted to save up 10 yuan for a lump-sum deposit to earn interest, but he didn't have enough money on hand.

Everyone was stunned. Do you have some kind of weird quirk?

More than 9!

You have 20 yuan lying in the bank? Why would you care about a few thousand yuan?

Is this the world of the rich?

In the end, Director Zhao, Director Lu, and three assistants pooled their money and managed to scrape together the remaining 1528. Seeing their pained expressions, Zhang Dabiao even said something.

"Director Zhao, you're a ministerial-level leader, and you only have a few hundred yuan in savings?"

"Director Lu, you're a bank director, how come you only have so little money?"

"Huang Yan, Chen Puqing, Wang Fushan... never mind, you've just started working, it's normal that you don't have much money..."

The people Zhang Dabiao mentioned all wanted to beat him up. "You're so Versailles-like!"

Do you think everyone is like you?

How could you make so much money selling a measly lighter and mop?

I can do it too!

Of course, they were just complaining in their hearts; if they were actually asked to invent it, they really wouldn't be able to.

In addition, they really couldn't afford the registration fee of more than HK$3, and the government wouldn't allow them to register. Zhang Dabiao was completely confused that time, which allowed him to take advantage of a loophole.

Director Lu is now specifically working with Zhang Dabiao, who is a major client. Some state-owned factories don't even earn as much in a year as Zhang Dabiao has in the last two months!

张大彪9月底存的20万，10月产生利息1020块，再加上这10月底刚刚存进去的10万，张大彪银行存款总计30万1020块！

Zhang Dabiao had just forgotten that he had a little over a thousand yuan in interest, but it didn't matter.

Of course, there were benefits to the group helping Zhang Dabiao pay the "small change". When the bank settled the remittances for him later, they could exchange RMB (the money borrowed from Zhang Dabiao) for remittances at a 1:2 ratio.

This thing can be used to buy scarce goods at the Overseas Chinese Store and the Overseas Chinese Building Department Store! You can buy everything from bicycles and televisions to refrigerators!

They were on the same level as industrial coupons and various other notes, and for some imported food items, remittance coupons were even more useful!

Everyone has money, but no one has tickets.

Today, Director Lu from the bank came to fulfill this obligation. The $9 in remittance certificates from the end of September hasn't been redeemed yet. (In chapter 226, it was written that over $8 in remittance certificates were given, but after checking the data, it wasn't quite right, so it's been changed. The remittance certificates weren't issued before, so they're being redeemed all at once now.)

◆Remittance Certificates: Although Zhang Dabiao's remittance certificate was not a form of remittance, the country had relevant policies regarding its applicability to non-remittance foreign exchange: Although remittance certificates were mainly established for remittances (family support), in 1960, during a period of hardship, in order to encourage various foreign exchange incomes, personal non-remittance foreign exchange income (such as patent authorizations) was usually also issued remittance certificates according to the same standards.

Policy objective: "To broaden the channels for remittances from overseas Chinese, so as to encourage returned overseas Chinese, their relatives, and students to actively seek remittances," while simultaneously replenishing the national treasury and addressing the shortage of supplies.

In addition, the standard for issuing remittance coupons in the Beijing area in 1960 was basically the same as that in the whole country, mainly focusing on basic living materials such as grain and oil. After research and decision by the higher authorities, Zhang Dabiao had a total of US$120,000, which was exchanged for RMB295,416. According to the ratio, he was issued remittance coupons with a face value of RMB147,708.

More than 14!

Overseas Chinese remittance coupons could be used to purchase oil, rice, and various high-end goods that were not included in the planned purchase, such as Moutai liquor and Zhonghua brand cigarettes at discounted prices.

In addition, Director Lu also provided corresponding standards—

The eligibility to purchase every 100 RMB of remittances from overseas Chinese—that is, 50 RMB remittance vouchers (which require payment in cash; these are receipts, not vouchers)—is as follows:

Grains (rice/wheat/beans) – 12 jin (approximately 6 kg);

Cooking oil – 2 jin (approximately 1 kg);

White sugar – 2 jin (approximately 1 kg);

Pork - 2 jin (approximately 1 kg);

Cotton cloth – 10 Chinese feet;

Premium pastries – 4 catties (approximately 2 kg), special offer;

Cigarettes – 5 packs;

Tea leaves – 0.5 jin (approximately 0.25 kg);

Liquor - 0.5 jin - It doesn't mean that you can buy 50 yuan worth of goods with a 50 yuan remittance certificate. There are standards for the resources that can be purchased, but in this era, it was already considered a "privilege" (the information I found said 1:1, some places said 65%, some places said 45%, we tentatively set it at 50%).

Special treatment: Those who remitted more than 500 yuan could purchase, in addition to the above-mentioned goods, the following additional items: 10 feet each of woolen cloth and silk, or a bicycle, or a sewing machine, or a watch. These were "luxury goods" that were extremely difficult for ordinary people to obtain at the time.

这些物资在1961年之前是以高于市场价30%-50%的价格供应的。从1962年7月1日起，才改为平价（即按正常国家定价）。

Zhang Dabiao held the bankbook in his left hand, and with his right hand... he looked at the two suitcases full of remittance certificates...

It seems, it appears, that the food problem for Qinjiatun and Old Zhang's family has been solved...

Although it cost a lot of money, now I have the money, the ticket, and the right to buy it.

Without hesitation, Director Zhao, Director Lu, and their three assistants converted the money they had advanced into remittance certificates, and took whatever amount they were entitled to.

Zhang Dabiao still had 144,652 in remittance certificates left...

What should I buy?

Zhang Dabiao seemed to have lost his sense of purpose again.

After the spoils were divided, Director Lu brought out another leather suitcase—

◆Reward-based savings:

"Prize savings" was a type of bank savings that became very popular in a specific historical period (especially during times of low interest rates) starting in the 1950s. Its core feature was that some or all of the deposit interest was pooled together as a prize and distributed to a small number of lucky depositors through a lottery or draw, thereby attracting public deposits and raising funds for national construction.

However, there were also many drawbacks. In 1960, the prize-winning savings program came to an abrupt end. The People's Bank of China issued a notice stating that prize-winning savings programs contained material incentives, which could easily foster a gambling mentality among people and were inconsistent with the spirit of the Party. Therefore, "all programs will be discontinued within the year."

How will existing prize-winning savings accounts be handled? The document explains: "Prize-winning savings accounts with regular deposits will begin accruing interest from January 1, 1961. Prize-winning savings accounts with current accounts will begin accruing interest after the last draw in the fourth quarter of 1960..."

Zhang Dabiao managed to catch the last train.

There are quite a few stickers for this 30 yuan. Today, Director Lu called him to participate in the lottery draw and prize redemption, which is really just going through the motions.

Then, Zhang Dabiao had terrible luck; he didn't get anything at all, and he even started to doubt himself—

Was Director Lu deliberately messing with him?