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

Chapter 151 Silence

After the review meeting.

Three days have passed and there is still no news.

Ye Bingwen has been suffering greatly for the past three days.

For the past three days, the first thing Ye Bingwen did every day when he arrived at the factory was to ask Chen An.

"Has the Economic Commission called? Has Li Jianguo relayed any message? Has Mayor Liu made any move?"

Chen An shook his head each time he asked, indicating that there was no progress.

"So there's no concrete answer? What stage has the project reached?"

"Director Li said it's still going through the process, and the others also said it's still going through the process."

"Going through the process, going through the process, how many days will it take to go through the process?"

66

"They didn't say how many days it would take."

Ye Bingwen nodded, said nothing more, and turned to leave.

Chen An watched Ye Bingwen's retreating figure, opened his mouth as if to say something, but ultimately held back.

Ye Bingwen walked to the workshop entrance and stood there blankly, neither going in nor leaving.

Ye Bingwen saw that the workshop was bustling with activity. Liu Xiaojun was squatting next to the press to record the temperature, Master Li was working, and several apprentices were standing beside him helping.

Ye Bingwen looked at these things as if they were the same as usual, but he knew in his heart that something was different.

Ye Bingwen knew that there was only enough carbon fiber cloth left in the materials warehouse to make forty pieces.

The second batch of 150 pieces is still 70 pieces short of being completed.

Ye Bingwen was calculating in his mind that, based on the current production capacity, the materials probably wouldn't last more than a few days.

But now everything costs money: new materials cost money, workers' wages cost money, even unpaid electricity bills cost money. Sigh, it's really too difficult.

Just as Ye Bingwen was making his plans, Liu Xiaojun saw him and quickly ran over to ask.

"Uncle Ye, how's the loan going?"

66

"It's still going through the process."

"How long will the process take?"

66

"I don't know yet."

Seeing that Ye Bingwen's expression was not good, Liu Xiaojun didn't dare to ask any more questions and left directly.

Master Li also saw Ye Bingwen, wiped his hands, and walked over.

"Xiao Ye, I heard about that matter. It wasn't approved, was it?"

66

"They didn't say they wouldn't approve it, but there's been no movement or progress."

"That means there's hope."

66

"Maybe."

Seeing that he didn't want to say more, Master Li didn't ask any further questions.

At noon, Chen An came over to call Ye Bingwen for lunch.

There were two lunchboxes on the office desk, which Zheng Shuyun had brought from home.

Ye Bingwen opened the lunchbox, glanced at it, and then closed it again.

"You eat, I'm not hungry."

"Director Ye, you barely ate anything yesterday. If you don't eat today, your body won't be able to take it."

"6

"I'm fine."

Chen An didn't try to persuade him any further, sat down opposite him, opened his lunchbox, and started eating slowly.

The office was quiet for a while.

Chen An put down his chopsticks after eating half of his meal.

"Director Ye, I've called my dad, and he can scrape together a thousand yuan."

6

Ye Bingwen looked up at him.

"You told your family about what happened at the factory."

"I didn't tell him everything, I just said that the factory was a little short of funds and asked him for help."

"Chen An, I can't accept this money."

"Director Ye, we're all in the same boat. I don't consider anyone in the factory an outsider."

"6

"That doesn't mean you should use money from your own household to cover the cost."

66

Chen An pursed his lips and remained silent.

Ye Bingwen sighed.

"Once the loan comes through, I'll try to make up for the cost of the materials and the wages. Tell your dad to keep the money he has and not touch it."

"6

"What if the loan doesn't come through?"

6

Ye Bingwen did not respond this time.

Just before I was about to leave work in the afternoon, a tricycle pulled up at the factory gate.

There were two people in the car, one was a meter reader from the power company, and the other looked like he was collecting fees.

Ye Bingwen's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly went out to greet them.

The meter reader got off the bus and handed me a slip of paper.

"Director Ye, this is your factory's electricity bill for this quarter. It's 3,200 yuan. You need to pay it by next Wednesday at the latest."

Ye Bingwen took the notice and glanced at it.

Ye Bingwen saw a line of red text at the bottom that read: "Overdue payment will result in power outage."

"Master Liu, could you give us a few more days?"

The meter reader's surname was Liu, and he was fairly familiar with Ye Bingwen, chatting with him occasionally when they met.

Master Liu looked at Ye Bingwen and scratched his head.

"Xiao Ye, you know the rules. The first quarter's payment hasn't been settled yet. It's been two quarters already. The higher-ups are pushing me hard, so I'm just following the regulations."

"I know Mr. Liu, could you talk to your supervisor and ask for a few more days' grace?"

66

"I've said it several times, look at the stamp on the notice, it's officially issued by the power company."

Ye Bingwen held the notification in his hand without saying a word.

Then Master Liu added a comment from the side.

"Director Ye, we are just following the rules. If the payment isn't made by next Wednesday, we'll shut down the power."

"Okay, I'll definitely find a way to submit it before next Wednesday."

66

"Okay, then we're off."

Ye Bingwen stood at the factory gate, still clutching the notification slip in his hand.

Master Li came out of the workshop and saw Ye Bingwen standing at the door.

"Xiao Ye, who's here?"

"The power company has given us an ultimatum: the payment must be made by next Wednesday or the power will be cut off."

"How much.

66

"Three thousand two, for two quarters."

66

Mr. Li glanced at the notice but said nothing.

Liu Xiaojun joined in at some point.

"Uncle Ye, what should we do?"

Ye Bingwen did not answer, but folded the notification and put it in his pocket.

"Let's get to work first, and talk about it after we finish today's work."

Liu Xiaojun opened his mouth, then swallowed his words and turned back to the workshop.

Master Li squatted down by the wall and lit a cigarette.

"Xiao Ye, how about I give you some more of my retirement money?"

66

"Mr. Li, I still owe you that money."

"My money is just sitting idle in the bank, so I'll use it here first."

66

"No, that's your retirement money."

66

Master Li took a puff of his cigarette but didn't say anything.

Ye Bingwen stood outside the workshop watching the sunset slowly descend.

As the sun set, Ye Bingwen's shadow grew longer and longer.

People came again early the next morning.

This time, it wasn't the power supply bureau that came; it was the materials supplier.

Ye Bingwen got up early that day, and soon after arriving at the factory, he saw a Jiefang brand truck parked at the gate.

Three people got out of the car. The one in the lead was a fat man surnamed Deng. He was in his forties and worked in sales for the Longchang Chemical Plant. Ye Bingwen had dealt with him a few times.

Fatty Deng was wearing a faded Zhongshan suit, his belly was bulging, and he started shouting as soon as he entered the door.

"Director Ye, is Director Ye here?"

Upon hearing this, Ye Bingwen quickly walked to his side and said with a smile.

"Old Deng, what brings you here?"

"Why did I come? I had to come. Director Ye, let's make a deal. Can you give me a definite answer today about when the 5,000 yuan for materials will be paid?"

"6

Ye Bingwen smiled and quickly invited the person into his office.

"Old Deng, have a drink of water first."

"6

"I won't drink the water, Director Ye. Let's get straight to the point. Our factory has been urging me to settle that debt three times already. To be honest, if it weren't for the fact that our cooperation with you has been going smoothly, I wouldn't have made this trip in person."

66

"I know, it's like this, Lao Deng, I'm having some cash flow problems."

"Everyone can understand this problem, but how long have you been dragging this out? The first shipment was delivered at the beginning of last month, and it's been more than forty days now. According to the contract, the payment should have been settled within thirty days."

Ye Bingwen nodded without offering any explanation.