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

The phone rang several times before being answered: "Master Wang, this is Xiao Ye from Hongqi Machinery Factory. Have you finished making the blueprints for the layering fixture I gave you last time?"

"It's finished." There was a lot of noise on Master Wang's phone; Ye Bingwen had to call out to hear him. "When are you coming to pick it up?"

"Tomorrow morning."

"Okay. I'll be at the factory tomorrow morning, you can come and pick it up."

After hanging up the phone, Ye Bingwen went back to his work.

In the evening, Old Zhou from the gatehouse called him to answer the phone.

It was Zheng Shuyun calling, saying that An'an had a bit of a cough, so she took the child home directly after school.

Ye Bingwen hung up the phone, feeling a little uneasy.

I told Mr. Li and rode my bike back ahead of time.

When we got home, An'an was lying on the bed in the inner room, her little face a bit pale.

Zheng Shuyun is making pear soup in the kitchen.

Ye Bingwen reached out and touched An'an's forehead; it wasn't hot.

An'an saw him and reached out to hug him.

Ye Bingwen picked her up and asked, "Is An'an's cough bad?"

"She's alright. She coughed a few times at kindergarten this afternoon, and the teacher let her come home," Zheng Shuyun said, peeking out from the kitchen. "You stay with her for now; the pear juice will be ready soon."

Ye Bingwen placed An'an on his lap and opened the picture book to tell her stories.

An'an leaned against him, coughing occasionally.

"The pear soup is ready," Zheng Shuyun said softly as she brought it over.

"Good girl, An'an, you'll stop coughing after drinking it."

Ye Bingwen took the bowl, blew on it, and brought it to her lips.

An'an frowned and took two sips, but refused to drink the third one no matter what.

Zheng Shuyun coaxed her a few more times before she finally finished drinking it.

An'an fell asleep that night.

Ye Bingwen sat in the living room flipping through textbooks, while Zheng Shuyun studied English under the lamp.

"Shuyun, I need to pick up my work clothes from Master Wang tomorrow. We'll start trial production of carbon fiber samples this afternoon. If An'an is still coughing, please take her to the hospital for a checkup," Ye Bingwen said, rubbing his temples.

"Okay. You go ahead and do your thing."

Ye Bingwen glanced at her.

Zheng Shuyun didn't even look up, her pen scratching as she wrote in her notebook.

"When is your English exam?" Ye Bingwen asked.

"Next month. What's wrong?"

"Nothing much. Just asking."

Zheng Shuyun looked up at him, smiled, and said, "Don't worry, I'll pass the exam."

Ye Bingwen didn't say anything more and lowered his head to continue reading.

The next morning, Ye Bingwen rode his bicycle to Master Wang's mold factory.

Master Wang's factory is in the north of the city; it took him forty minutes to get there by bike.

The factory was small, consisting of two single-story buildings with piles of iron filings at the entrance.

Master Wang was squatting in front of the grinding machine grinding something when he heard the sound of a bicycle and stood up.

"You're here? Wait here."

He went into the inner room and came out carrying an iron frame.

"I made it according to your drawings. Take a look and see if it's okay."

Ye Bingwen took it and looked at it.

The welded areas have been ground smooth, and the positioning pins are in the correct positions.

Liu Xiaojun's sketch had clear dimensions marked, and Master Wang followed the sketch with minimal error.

"Okay. How much?"

"Give me twenty."

Ye Bingwen took out twenty yuan and handed it over, then tied his work clothes to the back of his bicycle and rode back home.

It was almost 10 o'clock when I arrived at the factory.

Chen An was cutting carbon fiber cloth in the workshop when he handed over a new blueprint and said, "Director Ye, I've redrawn the layup diagram and added the positioning holes for the layup fixture."

Ye Bingwen looked at it and found that the position of the positioning hole matched the positioning pin on the tooling.

"We can get started now."

In the afternoon, Mr. Li preheated the press to 180 degrees Celsius.

Chen An laid out the floor layer by layer according to the floor plan.

"Raise the temperature to 180 degrees Celsius and keep it warm for 90 minutes," Chen An said as he pressed the start button.

The press started working, and the numbers on the temperature controller slowly rose.

Ye Bingwen stood in the workshop for a while before returning to his office.

I opened the textbook, but couldn't concentrate on reading it.

My mind was filled with thoughts of carbon fiber—the insulation time was 90 minutes, twice as long as before.

If the provincial military district's project is approved, will the efficiency of mass production be able to keep up?

the phone is ringing.

Zhang's voice came through the phone.

"Xiao Ye, I've submitted the proposal. They asked a few questions, which I answered for you. So far, everything is fine; we're just waiting to proceed with the formalities."

"How much longer?"

"About ten days. Don't rush me, it won't help."

"Okay. Thank you, Mr. Zhang."

"No need to thank me. Get ready on your end, and we'll get started as soon as the approval comes in."

After hanging up the phone, Ye Bingwen wrote in his notebook: "The proposal has been submitted. Waiting for the procedures, about ten days."

He glanced at the calendar; ten days later was the day Liu Xiaojun would return.

If the timing is right, nothing will be delayed.

Ninety minutes have passed.

Chen An stopped the stopwatch, turned off the heater, and opened the cooling water valve.

"Make a mold," he said.

Master Li pressed the start button, and the upper beam slowly rose.

Chen An put on gloves, took the board out, and placed it on the worktable.

"The sound is crisp, and the rebound is good." He handed the board to Ye Bingwen and said, "Director Ye, take a look."

Ye Bingwen took it.

The board is not heavy; it is significantly lighter than a fiberglass board of the same size.

"This board is even better than the one Professor Cai's lab made," Chen An said, his eyes lighting up.

"Take measurements," Ye Bingwen said, handing the board back to him.

Chen An measured several key dimensions.

"Thickness three millimeters, tolerance plus or minus 0.05. All dimensions are qualified." Chen An finished writing down the data in his notebook and looked up to say, "Director Ye, the carbon fiber path has been successfully established."

Ye Bingwen took the board in his hand and looked at it again.

"Take this back tomorrow and have Professor Cai test its mechanical properties. If the data is fine, it will be easier to explain to the provincial military region."

"Okay. I'll send it over first thing tomorrow morning."

Chen An wrapped the board in newspaper and put it into a canvas bag.

Master Li was wiping the press machine nearby.

"Master Li, let's call it a day," Ye Bingwen said.

"Okay. I'll leave as soon as I'm done packing."

Ye Bingwen rode his bicycle home.

An'an is already asleep, and Zheng Shuyun is reading in the living room.

"Is An'an still coughing?" Ye Bingwen asked.

"I coughed twice last night, nothing serious. I didn't cough during the day." Zheng Shuyun closed her book and asked, "Have you eaten?"

"I ate in the cafeteria. Do you still have pear juice? I'd like a bowl."

Zheng Shuyun went to the kitchen and brought out a bowl of pear juice.

Ye Bingwen took it and drank a sip; it was sweet.

"Should we ask for leave from An'an Kindergarten tomorrow?" he asked.

"Don't invite them yet. Let's see how it goes tomorrow; if they're not coughing, we'll send them over." Zheng Shuyun sat down and asked, "Have you finished making the sample over there?"

"It's done. Chen An said it's even better than what Professor Cai's lab did."

"That's good." Zheng Shuyun paused, then said, "School starts next week, have you finalized your schedule yet?"

"It's all arranged. I've already told Professor Zhao that I won't be taking any leave for the lab class every Wednesday afternoon."

Zheng Shuyun nodded and didn't ask any more questions.