The leader’s secretary stayed at the Lin household for quite a while—twice as long as he had spent at other families.

The iced green tea Ning Shu served was delicious, and Lin Hairui was an interesting young boy.

It had been a long time since the secretary had met a child who was so unpretentious and carefree.

As he left the Lin home, he still felt a sense of unreality.

Ning Shu and Erbao saw the secretary and Director Ji to the door. “You all take care; we won’t see you off further,” Ning said.

“Please don’t see us off,” the secretary replied quickly. “I’ll come by another day. Sorry for taking up your time today.”

Director Ji smiled and added, “Comrade Ning, come by our neighborhood office for tea sometime.”

“Definitely! Goodbye,” Ning Shu said.

“Goodbye, Uncle! Goodbye, Aunt!” Erbao chimed in.

“Goodbye,” the secretary and Director Ji echoed.

Once the two left, Erbao suddenly remembered something important and hurried back into the house.

A moment later, he emerged holding two popsicles. “Mom, I’ll be right back!” he shouted as he dashed outside.

The secretary and Director Ji hadn’t walked far when they suddenly heard Hairui calling behind them, “Hello, Uncle! Hello, Aunt!”

Both turned around to see Erbao sprinting toward them.

He was certainly fast, a testament to his training as an athlete.

The secretary had never witnessed an athlete running in person until now and was surprised at how quickly they could move.

“Uncle, Aunt, here are some popsicles for you to enjoy on your way!” Without waiting for them to respond, Erbao handed the popsicles to the secretary and Director Ji, then turned and ran off again.

The secretary and Director Ji exchanged amused glances and then laughed.

The secretary thought, Well, let’s consider this a bribe from a child.

He chuckled to himself, realizing he was actually accepting such a bribe.

If he were to apply for a vehicle, this wouldn’t be an appropriate reward, but he could plan something.

Erbao, unaware that he had just bribed the secretary with popsicles, ran back home, where he found Ning Shu waiting in the cool shade by the door. “Mom…”

“Did you go give them popsicles?” Ning Shu asked playfully, already knowing the answer.

“Yes!” Erbao replied. “Everyone loves popsicles. Maybe after eating mine, Uncle will reward me with a car!”

Ning Shu patted his sweaty head and teased, “You’re getting clever, aren’t you?”

The child had grown up, learning the tricks of sweetening people up.

Erbao was indeed trying to impress the secretary.

He may seem silly, but he was a smart kid.

When Erbao returned to the backyard, his siblings and a few friends were watching him.

Earlier, when Erbao had been called into the living room, they had eavesdropped at the back door but gave up because they couldn’t hear anything.

Now that Erbao was back, they surrounded him and asked, “Lin Hairui, what did you talk about in there? Who did you meet?” Yu Chengci asked.

Erbao didn’t hide anything: “It was the secretary of XXX Grandpa; he wants to reward me for winning the gold medal.”

“Wow…” His friends gasped in admiration.

“It’s XXX leader!” Some of the kids might not have known who XXX leader was, but those in the compound had some awareness.

Kids like Yi Bao and San Bao, who studied hard, might not have met those national leaders, but they read newspapers and watched the news.

They could recognize the leaders they had seen on TV or in print.

“So, did he give you any rewards, Second Brother?” San Bao asked.

Surely, such a big shot would give a different kind of reward.

At that moment, everyone was curious about the same thing.

Erbao wasn’t someone who kept secrets, especially not a happy one.

So, he happily shared his conversation with the secretary: “Do you think that uncle will reward me with a car?”

“Definitely not,” Yu Chengci said first. “Adults love to trick kids like that.”

Zhang Mingcheng nodded in agreement. “I think so too.”

Even though Erbao was a world champion now, to be honest, they were proud of him, but they didn’t fully grasp the significance of being a world champion.

They still saw him as just one of them.

“I think so too; he probably won’t come back again,” another friend chimed in.

After all, a car has four wheels; it wasn’t something you could just give away.

Even Yi Bao and San Bao felt the same way.

Hearing their doubts, Erbao felt a bit discouraged but wasn’t angry.

He hadn’t held out much hope anyway. “I’ll just have to win more gold medals next time!”

The children started playing and teasing each other again.

That evening, when Lin Guodong returned home, Ning Shu told him about her conversation with the leader’s secretary.

As soon as Ning Shu brought it up, Er Bao asked his father again, “Dad, do you think that uncle will reward me with a car?”

Lin Guodong thought for a moment and replied, “There’s a fifty percent chance.”

“Really?” Ning Shu felt a surge of excitement.

“But Dad, everyone says it’s unlikely. Adults just like to deceive children,” Er Bao countered.

Lin Guodong analyzed the situation for them: “With his position, if he didn’t think a car could be rewarded, he would have directly refused instead of behaving this way. If he’s acting like this, it means he might have some thoughts about it.”

The leader’s secretary was no ordinary person; his suggestions and advice were far more valuable than those of regular individuals.

Moreover, someone of that status wouldn’t deceive a child.

He wouldn’t look down on a child, especially someone like Er Bao; he would regard him as a world champion and treat him with respect.

After hearing Lin Guodong’s analysis, both Ning Shu and Er Bao’s hopes brightened.

If the secretary really did reward them with a car, that would be wonderful. “Er Bao, if that uncle rewards you with a car, then I’ll be the one driving it,” she said, feeling no shame in driving her son’s car.

After all, apart from Lin Guodong, she was the only one with a driver’s license.

Yes, she had decided to get her license last year, signed up at the beginning of the year, and had already passed.

It was surprisingly easy to get a driver’s license in this era.

Lin Guodong was quite surprised by how quickly she learned to drive.

But little did he know, she had already possessed a license.

“It’ll definitely be for Mom to drive. All my rewards belong to Mom,” Er Bao sweetly declared.

He genuinely believed that things belonging to his mother were hers, things belonging to his father were hers, and his own things were hers as well.

Exactly!

There was nothing wrong with that.

Seeing how much Er Bao valued his parents, Yi Bao and San Bao exchanged glances and then Yi Bao said, “Dad, Mom, San Bao and I have something to say.”

Instantly, Ning Shu, Lin Guodong, and Er Bao turned their attention to Yi Bao and San Bao.

“What do you want to say, Yi Bao?” Ning Shu asked, feeling a bit nervous as her son looked so serious.

She was curious about what Yi Bao and San Bao were so secretive about.

Yi Bao said, “Dad, Mom, we’re going into the second year of junior high next semester, but we’ve already learned all the material for the second year. Dad is almost done teaching us the third-year material as well, so we don’t want to waste time in the second year anymore. We want to skip ahead to the third year.”

In fact, they were not only inspired by Er Bao; they had this thought on their own as well.

Continuing in the second year felt like a waste of time.

The difficulty of junior high material was significantly greater than that of elementary school, and Lin Guodong had deliberately slowed down his teaching for them.

Even so, they had been learning quite quickly.

Skip a grade exam again?

Ning Shu thought the kids were really pushing themselves.

However, respecting their choices, she had no objections. “I don’t mind, as long as you can pass the skip exam.”

Lin Guodong said, “That’s fine, but once you’re in the third year, make sure to pay attention in class. Your performance on the high school entrance exam will affect which high school you can attend. Back when I was in the production brigade, the number of slots for junior high students going to high school was limited, and if your grades didn’t meet the standards, you wouldn’t be able to attend junior high.”

“We know, Dad. Don’t worry,” Yi Bao and San Bao replied with knowing smiles.

…

After Lin Guodong shared the car reward incident, Ning Shu and Er Bao waited several days for the leader’s secretary but did not hear back, gradually losing hope.

What they didn’t know was that during these days, the leader’s secretary had been working tirelessly to draft a proposal, barely sleeping or eating.

After several days of hard work, he finally submitted the proposal to his superior.

Upon reading the proposal submitted by his secretary, the leader was somewhat surprised.

In particular, the section regarding the car reward and the installment plan caught his attention.

First, there was the proposal for the car reward.

The state could grant purchasing qualifications for cars to individuals who had made significant contributions.

With the gradual approach of reforms and the redress of those sent down to the countryside, the leaders knew some people had money.

Though the state would not take advantage of individuals, it also needed funds.

Those with money needed other things, so allowing them to purchase what they needed would create a win-win situation.

Moreover, the allure of a reward car would motivate many people to strive for this goal.

In the proposal, the secretary highlighted Er Bao, the world champion, who had naturally made a significant contribution to the country.

Not just him, but all athletes who participated in competitions, even without winning awards, contributed to the nation.

Such individuals deserved rewards.

Thus, there could be different classes of rewards, like a car for those who earned a certain number of gold medals, etc.

Next, the installment payment plan was an idea Ning Shu had suggested to the secretary.

The state could lend money to citizens, who would then repay it in installments, with interest of course.

For citizens, borrowing a few hundred yuan and paying a few dimes or cents in interest wouldn’t be a big deal.

But for the state, collecting even small amounts from millions of borrowers could amount to a significant sum.

What Ning Shu didn’t realize was that the state would later implement similar plans for lending after the reforms, particularly to encourage personal entrepreneurship.

Initially, there would be policies that didn’t involve interest, and in a few years, this policy would shift to loans with interest.

Now, thanks to the inspiration from Ning Shu, the leader’s secretary had directly proposed the idea of lending with interest, skipping the stage of interest-free support for citizens starting their businesses.

And so, more than half a month later, just before Er Bao was set to return to the sports school, the leader’s secretary came to visit again.