78: Bringing his wife and children to Harbin Institute of Technology

"Mr. Zhang, you're here so early?"

"Come early so you can see it quickly; you have to rush back to the meeting after you're done."

Zhang stubbed out his cigarette and asked.

"Did you bring the plan?"

"I brought it."

Ye Bingwen handed over the proposal from the canvas bag.

Zhang took it, turned to the first page, and walked towards his office while reading.

Ye Bingwen followed behind.

Xiao Wang and Xiao Sun stood up and followed.

In the office, Ye Bingwen pulled out a chair and invited Engineer Zhang to sit down.

Engineer Zhang didn't sit down; he stood up, flipped through the plan, and asked a question.

"Where do you get your carbon fiber from?"

Ye Bingwen stood to the side and said.

"Jilin. Wang Guoqiang went to make the purchase; he has a letter of introduction from the provincial military region."

"What about the price?"

"Eighty yuan per kilogram."

Engineer Zhang frowned and said.

"It's too expensive. The price can be reduced for bulk orders, but this is the only price we can offer for the first batch of samples."

"I know. It doesn't matter if the prototype costs a little more; the key is to improve the performance."

Mr. Zhang nodded, continued scrolling down, and asked a question.

"Temperature resistance of 185 degrees Celsius, impact resistance doubled, surface finish Ra0.4. Were these data measured by Professor Cai's team?"

"Yes. Professor Cai conducted the test himself, and the data is authentic and valid."

"I trust Professor Cai."

Zhang closed the plan, tied the string around the document bag, and said.

"I'll take the proposal back. Once it's approved, I'll let you know."

"How long will it take?"

"Half a month. During this half month, you can do the preliminary preparations. Carbon fiber can be purchased in bulk, and the molds can be made in advance."

Zhang Gong paused for a moment, then said.

"Xiao Ye, this project is quite large. There are many people watching it from above, so don't mess it up."

"I know."

Engineer Zhang left carrying the file bag.

The jeep started up and quickly disappeared into the distance.

Master Li came out of the workshop and asked.

"Xiao Ye, will it be approved?"

"able."

Ye Bingwen lit a cigarette and said.

"But we'll have to wait."

"Half a month?"

"Half a month."

Master Li turned around and went back to the workshop.

In the afternoon, Liu Xiaojun was going back to the technical school.

Ye Bingwen rode his bicycle to take him to the bus stop and gave him some instructions.

"Xiaojun, go back and study hard. There are only two weeks left until graduation, so don't slack off."

"Understood, Uncle Ye."

Liu Xiaojun stood under the bus stop sign and said.

"I wrote down all the process parameters for civilian products in my notebook and handed them to Master Li."

"The automatic timing alarm device on the press has also been set up, and Master Li knows how to use it."

"OK."

"I've drawn a sketch of the carbon fiber layup tooling, and it's on my desk in the office."

"Brother Chen said that design is usable, you just need to have Master Wang make it."

"OK."

The bus has arrived.

Liu Xiaojun got into the car, leaned out of the window, and shouted something.

"Uncle Ye, wait for me to come back! Two weeks!"

Ye Bingwen stood on the platform, watching the bus drive away.

He turned around, got on his bike, and headed towards the factory.

Back at the factory, Chen An was already in the workshop.

He squatted in front of the press, holding a bottle filled with a pale yellow liquid, and said.

"Director Ye, Professor Cai asked me to send these. They are samples of modified phenolic resin, along with a matching high-temperature curing agent."

Ye Bingwen took it, looked at it, and said.

"Make a small test piece first."

Chen An put on gloves and began preparing the ingredients.

Master Li watched from the side; after Liu Xiaojun left, the workshop seemed a bit empty.

Pour the mixed material into the mold, close the mold, and place it on the press.

Chen An pressed the start button, and the upper beam slowly descended, pressing down on the mold.

The pressure gauge needle rose to 18 MPa and then stabilized.

"Temperature rising."

Chen An said from the side.

Master Li rotated the knob on the temperature controller and set the temperature to 180 degrees Celsius.

The heater started working, and the pointer on the temperature gauge slowly moved upwards.

The only sound in the workshop was the hum of the press.

Ye Bingwen stood to the side and watched for a while before returning to his office.

Several documents were laid out on the table.

The provincial military district's plan has been submitted, orders for civilian products are in normal production, and half of the textbooks for next semester have been previewed.

Next week, when school starts, Professor Zhao said that his attendance rate in his lab classes is only 60%, and if this continues, he will have to repeat the course.

He needs to schedule his lab sessions properly; he can't take leave every few days like he did last semester.

The lab sessions are scheduled for Wednesday afternoons, two sessions, from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

At this time, the factory affairs can be left to Master Li and Chen An.

Liu Xiaojun will be back in two weeks and will be able to share some of the burden.

He folded the timetable and put it in his pocket.

In the evening, An'an was dismissed from school.

Zheng Shuyun picked her up and came directly to the factory.

An'an, carrying her little schoolbag, skipped and hopped into the office, smiling as she spoke.

"Dad! Look! I drew a new factory!"

Ye Bingwen took it and said with a smile

"An'an's drawing is really good. It's much better than the last one."

"My teacher praised me! She said my drawing was the most lifelike!"

An'an climbed onto Ye Bingwen's lap and said.

Zheng Shuyun placed the thermos on the table, opened the lid, and said.

"Eat first, then get busy."

Ye Bingwen picked up his chopsticks, took a piece of potato, and put it in his mouth.

An'an watched longingly from the side. He picked up a piece of beef, blew on it, and fed it to his daughter.

"Dad, it's delicious!"

An'an danced with joy.

"Eat more if it's delicious."

Ye Bingwen picked up another piece and said.

An'an ate two pieces of beef and then continued drawing while lying on the table.

Ye Bingwen and Zheng Shuyun sat side by side eating, neither of them speaking, but the quiet was very comfortable.

After finishing their meal, Zheng Shuyun took An'an back home first.

Ye Bingwen sat alone in his office, opening the textbooks for the next semester.

He wrote several pages of summaries in his notebook and did a few more of the exercises.

It was dark, but the lights in the workshop were still on.

Chen An came out of the workshop, holding a black board in his hand, and said excitedly.

"Director Ye, the small prototype has been made. Look."

Ye Bingwen took it; the board wasn't big.

The surface is smooth and shinier than the previous boards.

He weighed it in his hand and said.

"It looks good."

"Modified phenolic resin has better fluidity than ordinary phenolic resin, resulting in a higher surface smoothness."

"I'll take it back to Professor Cai for testing tomorrow, and I'll let you know the results."

"OK."

After Chen An rode away on his bicycle, Ye Bingwen sat in his office for a while longer.

He picked up the small sample and looked at it; the modified phenolic resin did indeed produce something different.

The carbon fiber hasn't even been used yet, but just changing the resin has already had such a noticeable effect.

Once the carbon fiber arrives, we can mix it in and lay a layer, which should overcome the impact resistance hurdle.

the phone is ringing.

It was Professor Cai calling.

"Xiao Ye, Chen An is gone?"

"Just left. The small prototype is finished, and the surface looks good."

"The good surface finish is to be expected. Modified phenolic resin has high fluidity, but its downside is that it's expensive."

"Regular phenolic resin costs a little over three yuan per kilogram, but this one costs twelve."

Professor Cai paused on the other end of the phone, then continued.

"But for projects of the provincial military region, even if they are a bit expensive, performance is the top priority."

"Professor Cai, I've had Wang Guoqiang order the carbon fiber. Ten kilograms should be enough for making samples."

"Ten kilograms is enough. When laying the layers, be careful because the interface between carbon fiber and glass fiber doesn't bond well, so you need to add a transition layer in between."

"I'll have Chen An draw up a diagram for you out of detail on how to lay it out."

"OK."

After hanging up the phone, Ye Bingwen tidied up the documents on the table.

The provincial military district's plan has been submitted, orders for civilian products are proceeding normally, and half of the textbooks for next semester have been previewed.

Everything seems to be on track, but I still feel a little uneasy.