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

The bell rang, and Ye Bingwen packed his bag and headed to Professor Zhao's office.

He walked to the door, knocked, and asked.

"Professor Zhao, you wanted to see me?"

Professor Zhao heard the knock on the door, looked up and said, "Come in and have a seat."

Ye Bingwen pulled up a chair and sat down. Professor Zhao asked, "What stage is the provincial military region's project at now?"

Ye Bingwen put his backpack aside and replied, "The process parameters have been basically finalized: the heat preservation time is seventy minutes, the processing temperature is one hundred and eighty-five degrees, and the carbon fiber is formed by stacking eight layers. After Professor Cai's testing, the impact resistance of the finished product is more than twice that of the original formula."

Professor Zhao put down his pen, looked at him, and asked, "Has the acceptance date been set?"

"There's no news yet, but we expect an announcement to be issued soon."

"Remember to let me know in advance when it's time for the acceptance inspection, so I can come and take a look. Projects completed by the Mechanical Engineering Department of our university cannot have the slightest problem in any aspect."

Ye Bingwen nodded.

Professor Zhao reached into his drawer, pulled out a form, and handed it to him, saying, "This is the schedule for the lab classes this semester. Classes start every Wednesday afternoon, eight in total, and you can't miss a single one. You missed five classes last semester, but luckily your final grades were excellent, otherwise you would have had to repeat the course."

Ye Bingwen took the form, glanced at it briefly, folded it neatly, put it in his pocket, and nodded.

"Don't worry, Teacher Zhao, I promise to attend classes on time this semester and will not be absent without a reason again."

"I hope you'll keep your word. If there's nothing else, you should go back now."

After leaving the teaching building, Ye Bingwen rode his bicycle straight to the factory.

As soon as he stepped into the factory courtyard, he saw Liu Xiaojun squatting next to the press machine, busy with his work. He stepped forward and asked him what was wrong.

"Xiaojun, is the machine fixed?"

Liu Xiaojun stood up, shook the old temperature controller he had repaired, and said, "I replaced the capacitor, and it works normally now that it's powered on, but the accuracy still needs to be calibrated with professional instruments."

"Just leave it there for now, no rush to adjust the parameters." Ye Bingwen asked after parking the car, "How much civilian goods have you produced today?"

"Master Li has been busy the whole time. He's made more than ten pieces so far, and he can continue working on them this afternoon. He'll easily make thirty pieces by the end of the day." Liu Xiaojun wiped the dust off his hands and casually asked, "Brother Ye, is Chen An coming today?"

"He will come. He said he'll take some time this afternoon to come over, organize the carbon fiber manufacturing instructions, and print them out for archiving."

Liu Xiaojun responded and squatted back down to continue fiddling with the instruments.

Ye Bingwen had just sat down in his office when the phone on his desk rang. The person on the other end said, "Xiao Ye, this is Engineer Zhang. The acceptance date has been set. Next Tuesday, the Equipment Department of the Provincial Military Region will lead a team of five people, including the National Defense Industry Office, to come and inspect the project. How are your preparations going?"

Ye Bingwen replied, "The process parameters have been finalized, three samples have been made, all kinds of test data are available, and the equipment, molds, and raw materials are all ready."

Engineer Zhang said, "Then there's no problem. We'll be there promptly at nine o'clock next Tuesday morning. Make sure you have all the documents ready beforehand, including test reports, process files, and equipment registration records. Don't forget anything."

Ye Bingwen said, "I understand."

Engineer Zhang continued, "Let me tell you something else. After Director Zhou's on-site inspection last time, he gave you a good evaluation. However, the final acceptance will not be based solely on his opinion. Two members of the expert group are working on this project for the first time. When you introduce the situation, make sure your thoughts are clear and not ambiguous."

I know what I'm doing.

After hanging up the phone, Ye Bingwen took out his notebook and wrote down the materials that needed to be prepared for the inspection, one by one.

In the afternoon, Chen An arrived on time, took out several manuscripts from his cloth bag and handed them to Ye Bingwen, saying...

"Factory manager, this is the carbon fiber production process description. The material ratio, laying steps, temperature and pressure values ​​are all recorded. Professor Cai has reviewed it, and there are no problems with the content."

Ye Bingwen flipped through a few pages, looked up at Chen An, and said:

"Print three copies of this document: one for daily use in the workshop, one for the office for future reference, and the last one for filing." "Okay, I'll print it out when I have some free time tomorrow." Chen An sat down and chatted casually, asking, "I heard the inspection team is coming to check next Tuesday?"

"That's right, it's set for next Tuesday. Will you be able to attend?"

"There's definitely no problem. Professor Cai also said he would be there in person on the day of the acceptance inspection. With experts from Harbin Military Engineering Institute present, we have even more confidence."

Ye Bingwen smiled and remarked, "I didn't expect Professor Cai to be even more enthusiastic about this project than I am."

"He wants to make the industry-academia-research base a model so he can ask the university for funding later," Chen An said with a smile. "Director Ye, I'll dress formally on the day of the inspection, so as not to embarrass Harbin Military Engineering Institute."

"You can wear whatever you want, just make sure you explain yourself clearly."

Chen An nodded and rode away.

Ye Bingwen sat alone in his office for a long time.

With the inspection on my mind, it would be a lie to say I wasn't nervous.

But being nervous won't help; as long as the work is done well, that's all that matters.

He opened his textbook and reviewed what Professor Zhao had taught that day.

The sky outside the window has darkened.

After finishing his work, Mr. Li pushed his bicycle out of the workshop and waved to him through the window.

Ye Bingwen also waved.

Liu Xiaojun was the last to leave.

He turned off the power to the press, covered the molds on the mold rack with tarpaulin, and cleaned the carbon fiber debris off the worktable. He walked to the office door and peeked inside.

"Uncle Ye, I'm leaving."

"Drive carefully."

Liu Xiaojun is gone.

The factory quieted down.

Ye Bingwen stood up, turned off the light, and locked the door.

When I got home by bike, An'an had already taken a shower and was sitting on the bed flipping through picture books.

Zheng Shuyun is folding clothes.

"Dad! You're back!" An'an put down the picture book and reached out her hand.

Ye Bingwen walked over, picked her up, and placed her on his lap.

"An'an, Daddy has an inspection next Tuesday. After I'm done, I'll take you out to play this weekend."

"To Sun Island?"

"Yes. To Sun Island."

An'an was happy. She slid off his knees, ran to the desk, picked up her crayons, and started drawing.

Zheng Shuyun glanced at him and asked in a low voice, "Will it pass the inspection?"

"It will pass."

"And then what?"

"After that, the orders from the provincial military region will be secured. Civilian orders will also follow suit."

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

After finishing her drawing, An'an ran over holding it up: "Daddy! Look! This is Sun Island! This is a boat! This is Daddy, Mommy, and An'an!"

Ye Bingwen took it and looked at it. On the drawing paper was a winding river with a boat floating on it. Three people were standing on the boat, holding hands.

"An'an's drawing is really good. We'll ride on a boat like this when the time comes."

An'an nodded vigorously, pasted the painting on the wall, and arranged it next to the previous paintings.