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

"Principal Liu, may I say a few words?"

"you say."

"First, I went to the Academic Affairs Office before the exam to deliver materials for Director Ma Kui. Deputy Director Zhao can testify to that." Ye Bingwen looked at Deputy Director Zhao. "The whole process took no more than two minutes, and I didn't see any of the exam setters."

Deputy Director Zhao nodded.

"Second, the speed of answering questions is not the standard for judging cheating. If you know how to do it, why dawdle? If you don't know how to do it, sitting for a long time is useless. Third, the parameter annotations on the physics paper are because there were problems with the parameters in the questions. I wrote correction suggestions on the edge of the paper, not 'marks'."

After listening, Liu Deben looked at Wang Xueming. "Director Wang, what's your opinion?"

Wang Xueming pondered for a moment, "Procedurally speaking, a report should be investigated. But these 'suspicious points' cannot withstand scrutiny."

"Then investigate. Retrieve the invigilation records, question the invigilators, and review the answer sheets. Give me a conclusion within three days." Liu Deben looked at Ye Bingwen, "You can attend classes normally for these three days. The innocent will clear themselves."

Ye Bingwen nodded.

When I came out of the school office, Ma Kui was still waiting in the corridor. "How did it go?"

"Investigate for three days."

Ma Kui patted him on the shoulder, "With your grades, no one can wrongly accuse you."

Ye Bingwen remained silent. He was thinking about the handwriting on the whistleblower letter; it seemed familiar. The signatures of Ge Jianjun, Liu Weidong, and Zheng Zhiyuan on the lab register closely resembled one of theirs.

In the afternoon, Ye Bingwen went to the department office, ostensibly to borrow books, and then browsed through the student files. Ge Jianjun's application for admission was neatly written, exactly like the letter of complaint.

He didn't make a fuss.

Ge Jianjun, a graduate student, considered himself one of the best among his peers. He felt resentful that a freshman had stolen his thunder in the research group. If Ye Bingwen came in first place in the placement test, it would be like stepping on the head of a graduate student. Ge Jianjun couldn't stand it.

Ye Bingwen understands this mentality, but that doesn't mean he will forgive it.

Three days later, the investigation results were released. The report was found to be false, and Ye Bingwen's exam scores were valid.

Ma Kui immediately told him, "The proctor wrote a written statement. Professor Zhou Mingyuan, who set the physics exam, personally reviewed the parameter annotations and said you were correct; there was indeed a problem with the question."

Ye Bingwen was taken aback. "A physics exam paper set by Zhou Mingyuan?"

He added, "This student has excellent physical intuition, it's a pity he's not in the physics department."

Ye Bingwen was both amused and exasperated.

At 2 PM, the bulletin board in front of the main teaching building was crowded with people. The rankings were posted: Ye Bingwen, with 100 in Mathematics, 100 in Physics, and 100 in Chemistry, for a total of 300, ranked first. The second place went to a graduate student from the Mathematics Department with a total score of 288.

"Perfect scores in three subjects? Is this even human?"

"Didn't they say he cheated? How come he's still in first place?"

"We investigated, and they didn't cheat. They're really skilled."

Chen Zhiyuan excitedly ran to find Ye Bingwen, who was in the lab debugging the brushless motor rotor. "Bingwen, you're number one! You've even surpassed graduate students!"

Ye Bingwen put down the screwdriver. "Do you know anything about Ge Jianjun?"

Chen Zhiyuan thought for a moment, "A math graduate student, good grades, but a bit petty. What's wrong?"

Ye Bingwen didn't answer. He unlocked the drawer and took out the blueprints. Since someone didn't want him to do scientific research peacefully, he would expand his operations even further, to the point that no one dared to touch him.

That evening, Ye Bingwen went to Zhang Guangyuan's house.

Zhang Guangyuan poured him a cup of tea. "What's wrong so late?"

"I'd like to talk to you about that project at Institute 601." Ye Bingwen handed over a thick stack of proposals, "including the parameter design of the eddy current generator, its installation location, the wind tunnel experimental verification plan, and alternative plans."

Zhang Guangyuan flipped through the pages slowly. When he reached the last page, he looked up, his expression complex. "How long have you been working on this plan?"

"It took about a week, on and off."

"The people at Institute 601 worked on it for two years and couldn't figure it out. You figured it out in a week?"

"I'm not smarter than them, I just think about things from a different perspective."

Zhang Guangyuan stared at him for a long while, then let out a long sigh. "I will send this proposal to Institute 601. If they approve it, your name will appear in Institute 601's file. But you need to think carefully; once you get involved in a military project, you can't just withdraw from it as you please."

"I don't want to withdraw."

Zhang Guangyuan nodded. "Okay, I'll send it tomorrow."

Ye Bingwen left Zhang Guangyuan's house after 9 p.m. The autumn night was cool, and he wrapped his coat tighter around himself and hurried home.

When I got downstairs, I saw a dark figure crouching at the entrance of the building.

"Who?"

The dark figure stood up; it was Zheng Shuyun.

"What are you doing waiting here?"

"An'an is asleep, and I'm afraid opening the door will wake her." Zheng Shuyun's voice trembled. "Bingwen, my essay was rejected from the provincial essay competition. Section Chief Sun said it wasn't good enough and told me to rewrite it. He said if rewriting it still doesn't work, then it means I'm not suitable for the work in the publicity department."

Ye Bingwen held her hand; it was ice-cold. "Don't worry, let me take a look."

The couple tiptoed upstairs. An'an was already asleep, her little face buried in the pillow.

Ye Bingwen read through the manuscript under the lamplight. "It's not that it's poorly written, it's that it's too realistic. Your story about the Wang family is too real; some people will feel uncomfortable. Although the household responsibility system has been implemented, some people's minds haven't changed. Your article touched a nerve with them."

"So what should I do? Change it?"

Ye Bingwen picked up his pen and circled a few places on the manuscript. "Remove specific names and locations from these places and replace them with general terms. Keep the facts the same, but use a gentler tone. The power of an article lies not in its sharpness, but in making readers understand it for themselves after reading it."

Zheng Shuyun leaned on his shoulder, feeling much more at ease.

After revising the manuscript, Ye Bingwen suddenly asked, "Shuyun, among the people you know, is there anyone with exceptionally good handwriting?"

Zheng Shuyun thought for a moment, "Section Chief Sun's handwriting is quite good; I've seen the documents he approved. What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, just asking."

He mentally compared the handwriting on the whistleblower letter with Ge Jianjun's handwriting, confirming his judgment. But he figured he could handle these things himself.

The night outside the window was as dark as ink. Ye Bingwen turned off the desk lamp and was about to lie down when he suddenly heard hurried footsteps coming from downstairs, stopping at the entrance of his building.

Then came a knock on the door, very soft, but very urgent.

Zheng Shuyun sat up in bed. Ye Bingwen made a shushing gesture, walked to the door without turning on the light, and asked in a low voice, "Who is it?"

There was a two-second silence outside.

"It's me, Maguire. Open the door."

Ye Bingwen opened the door, and Ma Kui slipped in, his face ashen. He was clutching a crumpled piece of paper in his hand.

"Look at this. It was just posted on the bulletin board at the school gate, and the old man on night patrol tore it down."

Ye Bingwen glanced at it in the moonlight. A line of words was scrawled crookedly on the note:

"The evidence that Ye Bingwen plagiarized others' research results is conclusive and will be made public tomorrow."

Zheng Shuyun leaned closer, her face instantly turning pale.

Ma Kui said in a low voice, "This wasn't done by students. Students don't have the guts or the connections. Someone is targeting you behind the scenes, and they're going to destroy you."

Ye Bingwen crumpled the paper into a ball and held it in his palm. The paper ball hurt his palm, but his voice remained calm.

"Teacher Ma, could you please help me look into something?"

"you say."

"Does the handwriting on that note resemble that of Deputy Director Zhao from the Academic Affairs Office?"

Ma Kui froze, his pupils suddenly contracting.