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

Ye Bingwen stared at the pried-open drawer, his fingers gripping the stack of folders missing the blueprints.

Ma Kui leaned closer, his expression changing. "What's missing?"

"The control circuit diagram of the brushless motor, the two most crucial pages."

"Who did it?"

Ye Bingwen walked to the door and flipped through the laboratory usage log. Yesterday afternoon, there were three names: Ge Jianjun, Liu Weidong, and Zheng Zhiyuan.

Ge Jianjun, a graduate student in the research group, initially resented Ye Bingwen but was later impressed by his abilities. However, Ye Bingwen wasn't sure if Ge Jianjun truly respected him. Liu Weidong was a sophomore, and they didn't interact much. Zheng Zhiyuan was a junior and also Professor Zhang's student.

Ye Bingwen wrote down three names and closed the register. "Teacher Ma, don't tell anyone about this yet. I'll check it myself."

Ma Kui nodded, "Okay, but be careful. Don't get distracted by the placement test."

Ye Bingwen locked the remaining blueprints in a drawer and added an iron lock he had brought from home. The two stolen pages were incomprehensible to outsiders, but he worried that someone had deliberately sabotaged the project, not to steal the technology, but to prevent him from making anything.

Who would do such a thing? He'd only been at Harbin Institute of Technology for less than a month and hadn't offended many people. If he had to name one, it would be Zhou Mingyuan, the head of the physics department, who had refused to poach his students. A department head wouldn't steal a student's blueprints, would he? But Ye Bingwen had spent most of his life in academia and knew that some people were narrow-minded.

The diagnostic test will begin at 8:00 AM on Monday.

The exam was held in a lecture hall on the third floor of the main teaching building. Besides first-year students, there were dozens of upperclassmen and graduate students. Ye Bingwen found a seat near the back.

Next to me is Chen Zhiyuan, the tall, thin guy from Liaoning. "I heard there are graduate students taking this exam. Are you feeling a lot of pressure?"

Ye Bingwen smiled and said, "Just take the test yourself."

"Some people are betting on whether you can get first place, and a few graduate students disagree, saying that it's impossible for a freshman to be better than them."

Ye Bingwen didn't respond. The proctor started curling his hair.

The math exam was significantly more difficult, with the final proof question using real analysis, a topic completely unfamiliar to first-year students. Ye Bingwen immediately began writing, deriving the solution step by step using the most standard method.

He finished in one hour and ten minutes, checked it once, and then raised his hand to hand in his paper.

The corridor was empty. He heard hurried footsteps behind him and chased after him. "You finished so quickly? I didn't even understand the last proof question."

"I did it."

Chen Zhiyuan shook his head. "You're not human."

Ye Bingwen smiled and said, "Do your best on the exam. You still have physics and chemistry this afternoon."

Ye Bingwen also handed in his physics and chemistry papers early in the afternoon. On the last question on the physics paper, about electromagnetic induction, he pointed out an ambiguity in a parameter and wrote a line of small print on the edge of the paper: "It is recommended to correct the value of B to 0.5T, otherwise the calculation result will not match the actual situation."

The day after the exam, Chen Zhiyuan found Ye Bingwen in the cafeteria, and his expression was not good.

"Someone is spreading rumors that you cheated on the exam, saying that you got the exam paper in advance."

Ye Bingwen paused, his chopsticks still holding the food. "Who passed this on?"

"I don't know, but the rumors are quite detailed. They say someone saw you loitering around the registrar's office before the exam and talking to the exam setter."

Ye Bingwen recalled. He had indeed gone to the Academic Affairs Office once before the exam to deliver materials for Ma Kui. He had bumped into a middle-aged man he didn't recognize in the corridor, who he later learned was Deputy Director Zhao of the Academic Affairs Office. Could such a small matter really be fabricated into getting the exam papers in advance?

"Let them spread the word; the innocent will prove themselves innocent."

Chen Zhiyuan became anxious, "If you don't clarify, people will think it's true."

"A reputation isn't something you can build with words." Ye Bingwen put down his chopsticks. "We'll know when the results come out."

The night before the results were released, Ye Bingwen was giving An'an a bath in their rented room. The little girl sat in the tub splashing water, getting him all over. Zheng Shuyun was washing clothes nearby, watching the father and daughter playfully bickering, and couldn't help but laugh.

After showering and putting An'an to sleep, Ye Bingwen sat at the table and redrawn the blueprints for the brushless motor. He reproduced the two stolen pages from memory and made some optimizations.

Zheng Shuyun brought over some water. "Still busy?"

"Almost done." Ye Bingwen put away the blueprints. "How's it going with the publicity department?"

"Section Chief Sun asked me to write an article for a provincial essay competition, titled 'Reform and Opening Up and the Mission of Youth.' I wrote a beginning, but I didn't feel it was very good. I wanted to write about the household responsibility system, but I didn't know how to make it more insightful."

Ye Bingwen thought for a moment, "Let's write a specific story. For example, the Wang family in our village used to go hungry, but after the household responsibility system was implemented, they were able to eat white flour steamed buns in the first year. The changes in one family reflect the times, which is more powerful than empty slogans."

Zheng Shuyun's eyes lit up, and she took a notebook and sat down next to him to write. Ye Bingwen would occasionally offer a few pointers, and the couple would write while one of them watched.

Halfway through her writing, Zheng Shuyun suddenly looked up and asked, "Bingwen, do you think we'll always be like this? Even though life is tough, our hearts are sweet."

Ye Bingwen held her hand. "Yes. Things will get better and better, and your heart will grow sweeter and sweeter."

On the morning the results of the preliminary exam were announced, Ye Bingwen was pulled aside by Ma Kui as soon as he arrived at school.

"Bingwen, the results are in. Perfect score in math, perfect score in physics, and perfect score in chemistry."

Ye Bingwen was not too surprised.

"But..." Ma Kui changed the subject, "someone submitted a report to the academic affairs office, saying that you cheated on the exam."

Ye Bingwen frowned.

"The whistleblower letter said that you received the math exam questions before the exam because you had an 'unusual relationship' with Professor Chen Shou-chou, the person who set the questions. It also said that you pointed out the parameter error in the last question of the physics exam, and that you deliberately made a mark on the exam paper to make it easier for the examiner to give you a high score."

"absurd."

"I know, but the Academic Affairs Office will investigate according to procedure." Ma Kui sighed. "Principal Liu wants you to go to the school office now."

Ye Bingwen turned around and walked towards the school office.

Ma Kui shouted from behind, "Bingwen, calm down, don't be impulsive!"

Ye Bingwen did not turn around.

When he pushed open the door to the school office, there were three people sitting inside: Liu Deben, Wang Xueming, the director of the Academic Affairs Office, and Zhao, the deputy director he had seen in the corridor.

On the table in front of the three people lay a letter of denunciation.

Liu Deben raised his head and looked calmly at Ye Bingwen.

"Sit down, Ye Bingwen. There are some things we need you to explain."

Ye Bingwen sat down, his back ramrod straight.

"Principal Liu, please ask."

Liu Deben pushed the letter of complaint in front of Ye Bingwen.

Ye Bingwen picked up the letter and quickly scanned it. The letter listed three "suspicious points": entering and leaving the academic affairs office before the exam, answering questions too quickly, and making deliberate marks on the physics paper. It was signed "An upright student".