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

Ye Bingwen walked to the podium, where Professor Zhao was erasing the blackboard. Without turning his head, he asked, "Did it pass the inspection?"

Ye Bingwen said, "It's approved."

Professor Zhao said, "That's good. Don't forget the lab class, Wednesday afternoon."

Ye Bingwen said, "I can't forget it."

Professor Zhao waved his hand and left.

In the afternoon, Ye Bingwen returned to the factory. Liu Xiaojun and Master Li were producing civilian products, and the press was humming. Chen An was in the office organizing the process instructions, adding a few minor questions raised by the expert group during the acceptance test.

Chen An said, "Director Ye, Section Chief Zhou requires that the quality of a large number of products be the same as the samples, so I wrote that sentence into the instruction manual."

Ye Bingwen said, "Write it in. From now on, every batch of products will be randomly checked according to the sample standards before leaving the factory."

Chen An said, "Okay."

In the evening, Zheng Shuyun picked up An'an from kindergarten.

As soon as An'an entered the factory gate, she ran to the office and asked, "Dad, have you inspected it?"

Ye Bingwen said, "That's too much."

An'an asked, "Really?"

Ye Bingwen said, "It's true."

An'an was happy. She took a small cardboard box out of her schoolbag, opened it, and found a cookie inside. The cookie was broken in one corner. An'an said, "Dad, this is a cookie I made at kindergarten. Here, have it."

Ye Bingwen took it, broke off a piece, and put it in his mouth. It tasted sweet and was a little hard. He said, "Delicious."

An'an said, "Really? I tried a bite, and it didn't taste good."

Ye Bingwen said, "Dad finds it delicious."

An An smiled and stuffed the remaining cookies into his hand.

Zheng Shuyun stood to the side, watching the father and daughter, and the corners of her mouth curved into a smile.

Ye Bingwen asked, "What are we having for dinner?"

Zheng Shuyun asked him in return, "What do you want to eat?"

Ye Bingwen said, "Noodles."

Zheng Shuyun said, "Okay, let's eat noodles."

An'an pulled Ye Bingwen's hand and walked outside, saying, "Dad, play with me today."

Ye Bingwen said, "Okay, I'll play with you."

The family of three walked out of the factory gate. The setting sun cast long shadows on them. An'an rode on Ye Bingwen's shoulders, her hands holding his ears.

An'an said, "Dad, you have such soft ears."

Ye Bingwen said, "Don't pull it, you'll pull it off."

An'an said, "So what if it's gone? You don't listen to me anyway."

Zheng Shuyun laughed from behind. Ye Bingwen didn't respond. He bounced An'an up a little, and An'an hugged his neck tightly, pressing her face against his head.

An'an asked, "Dad, you said you wouldn't take any leave this semester, so can you come pick me up from school?"

Ye Bingwen asked, "Which day?"

An'an said, "Tomorrow."

Ye Bingwen said, "Dad has an experiment class tomorrow afternoon, I'll pick you up after class."

An'an said, "Then you have to be first in line."

Ye Bingwen said, "Okay, let's go first."

An'an was satisfied, and she buried her face in his hair.

The streetlights came on, illuminating the road ahead. Ye Bingwen walked slowly, with Zheng Shuyun beside him. An'an hummed a children's song, her tune off-key, but she sang earnestly. A gust of wind blew, brushing An'an's hair against Ye Bingwen's face, making it tickle.

On Wednesday afternoon, after finishing his lab class, Ye Bingwen rode his bicycle to the kindergarten. When he arrived, a long line of parents had already formed at the entrance. He parked his bicycle and stood at the front of the line. An elderly woman next to him asked, "Young man, are you first in line?"

He replied, "I promised the child I'd be first."

The door opened, and the parents walked in. An'an stood at the classroom door, tiptoeing to look out, and spotted him at a glance.

She ran over with her schoolbag on her back and threw herself into his arms. Ye Bingwen picked her up.

An'an hugged his neck and said, "Daddy, you really were first in line!"

Ye Bingwen said, "I can't go back on my promise to you."

An'an took a small red flower out of his schoolbag, stuck it on his chest, and said, "The teacher praised me again today, saying that I draw well."

Ye Bingwen looked down at the little red flower and said with a smile, "An'an is better than her father. Her father didn't get so many little red flowers when he was a child."

An'an puffed out her chest and said, "Of course."

Ye Bingwen placed An'an on the crossbar of the bicycle. An'an gripped the handlebars with one hand and held up the windmill with the other. The windmill spun rapidly in the wind. An'an asked, "Dad, are we going to the factory?" Ye Bingwen said, "Yes, Uncle Chen is still waiting to see the sample data."

When they arrived at the factory, Liu Xiaojun was squatting in front of the press adjusting the parameters. Seeing An'an enter, he stood up and smiled, saying, "An'an's here?"

An'an slid off the car and ran over, calling out, "Brother Xiaojun!"

Liu Xiaojun took a piece of candy out of his pocket and handed it to her.

An'an took it, unwrapped the candy, and popped it into her mouth. She mumbled, "Thank you, Brother Xiaojun."

Chen An came out of the office with a notebook in his hand. He said, "Director Ye, the data for the third batch of samples is out. The sample that was kept warm for 80 minutes is a little more flexible than the one that was kept warm for 70 minutes, but it is less resistant to impact. Overall, the one that was kept warm for 70 minutes is still the best."

Ye Bingwen said, "Then let's set the condition of seventy minutes. Starting tomorrow, we'll try small-scale production under this condition, making five pieces first, and see if it's stable."

Chen An said, "Okay, I'll go back and tell Professor Cai."

Master Li was cleaning the molds when he heard this, so he poked his head out and asked, "Xiao Ye, are five pieces enough?"

Ye Bingwen said, "That's enough. Let's get the process running smoothly first. If there are no problems with five items, we can expand it to twenty."

Master Li nodded.

An'an squatted next to the press, watching Liu Xiaojun adjust the equipment. She didn't quite understand it, but she watched very attentively.

Liu Xiaojun asked her, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

An'an said, "I want to operate a big machine, just like Brother Xiaojun."

Liu Xiaojun laughed and said, "Your dad's machine is even bigger than mine."

An'an said, "Then I want to operate a machine bigger than Daddy's."

Just as Ye Bingwen was about to return to his office, someone at the factory gate called out, "Bingwen!"

He looked up and saw Liu Yongqiang standing in the doorway, looking travel-worn. Ye Bingwen walked over and asked, "Yongqiang, what brings you here?"

Liu Yongqiang stepped forward, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and said, "I've finished up with things in the countryside, so I came to see you and bring you some things."

He untied the burlap sack, which contained several large cabbages and a bunch of scallions. He said, "These were just harvested from the field. Take them home and eat them."

Ye Bingwen said, "You can just come; you don't need to bring anything."

Liu Yongqiang said, "It's not for you, it's for An'an."

When An'an heard someone calling her, she ran over and shouted, "Uncle Yongqiang!"