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

Chapter 160 Goods Arrival

The next day, the factory went to work as usual.

Ye Bingwen arrived at the factory early in the morning.

Chen An checked the accounts with the ledger. Professor Cai's 4,500 yuan had arrived yesterday. Ye Bingwen told him to arrange the accounts to be settled today: half of the wages would be paid first, one month's salary for each person, and the rest would be paid after the loan came through; as for the material costs, Deng Pangzi would pay 1,500 yuan first, and Zhou Laoban would pay another 500 yuan, and the rest would have to wait until the payment for the goods arrived.

Chen An did as Ye Bingwen instructed.

Liu Xiaojun disassembled and wiped the two mixers again, while Master Li continued working on the milling machine. Old Hu the carpenter didn't come today.

His daughter took her child back to her parents' home, and he stayed home with her. The machines in the workshop started running again, and the busy work resumed.

At noon, Zheng Shuyun brought lunch, including a box of braised pork.

That was Ye Bingwen's favorite food. Ye Bingwen tried two pieces and thought the meat tasted especially delicious today.

Chen An ran back from outside just before the end of the workday in the afternoon.

"Director Ye."

"What?"

"He signed for the 1,500 yuan from Fatty Deng and even made me write a receipt."

Ye Bingwen nodded.

"OK."

"The five hundred yuan for Boss Zhou has also been sent over."

"The rest?"

"I'll pay the remaining 3,700 yuan after the loan comes through."

"Um."

Chen An said with a smile.

"Director Ye, you look much better today."

Ye Bingwen smiled but didn't say anything.

Nothing much was going on that evening, so Ye Bingwen went home early.

When Ye Bingwen got home, he saw Zheng Shuyun washing clothes and An'an playing in the house, while Ye Bingwen sat in the living room listening to the radio.

A storytelling performance was playing on the radio, and he fell asleep while listening to it.

Ye Bingwen was woken up in the middle of the night by the ringing of the telephone. It took him a while to realize that not every household had a telephone these days. The ringing was from Grandma Wang next door, who had a public telephone.

Grandma Wang came to knock on the door.

"Xiao Ye, you have a phone call."

Ye Bingwen snapped out of his daze, put on his clothes, and went out to answer the phone. It was Chen An calling.

Chen An said on the other end of the phone.

"Director Ye, the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense just called the school's security department. They said the funds were transferred this afternoon and asked us to go to the Agricultural Bank of China tomorrow morning to verify them."

Ye Bingwen was pleasantly surprised.

"It arrived today?"

"Yes, it was one day earlier than what Engineer Sun said."

Ye Bingwen nodded and said, "Okay, I'll go first thing tomorrow morning."

After hanging up the phone, Ye Bingwen went back to his room. Zheng Shuyun was also woken up by the ringing phone and asked what was wrong.

Ye Bingwen said happily, "The payment has arrived."

Zheng Shuyun hummed in agreement and didn't say anything else. She turned over and went back to sleep. Ye Bingwen also lay down. He lay on the bed staring at the ceiling, unable to fall asleep for a long time.

The next morning, Ye Bingwen rode his bicycle to the Agricultural Bank.

The Agricultural Bank spent the whole morning checking the documents, and finally processed the order in the afternoon. The amount was 84,200 yuan.

Ye Bingwen stood in front of the counter, looking at the number, thinking to himself, "Eighty-four thousand is enough. The suppliers' accounts can be settled, the remaining wages can be paid, materials can be bought, and the electricity bill for next quarter won't be a problem. Plus, with the loan to expand, Hongqi Factory will be back to life."

After leaving the bank, Ye Bingwen went to the pawnshop in Daoli first.

As soon as Ye Bingwen entered, the boss saw him and said with a smile, "Director Ye, you've come to redeem your things, haven't you?"

"Yes, to redeem the watch and bracelet."

The shopkeeper took out the watch and bracelet and handed them to Ye Bingwen. Ye Bingwen paid off the principal and interest, spending a total of more than nine hundred yuan.

Ye Bingwen put the watch and bracelet in his pocket and rode his bicycle straight to the factory.

Chen An, Liu Xiaojun, Master Li, and Lao Hu were all waiting for him in the workshop.

Upon entering the workshop, Ye Bingwen immediately pulled out his wallet.

He returned Chen An's 1,200 yuan; he returned Master Li's 1,550 yuan; he returned Old Hu the carpenter's 50 yuan, but he didn't return Liu Xiaojun's 60 yuan.

"Uncle Ye."

Ye Bingwen said, "Xiaojun, I'll keep your sixty yuan for now, and I'll give it to you when you get married."

Liu Xiaojun laughed: "Uncle Ye, you're treating it like savings?"

"Yes, it's saving money."

Mr. Li took the money and said, "Xiao Ye, there's no rush to pay this back."

"What's owed must be repaid. We should handle things properly." Mr. Li didn't say anything more and put the money away.

Chen An held the 1,200 yuan in his hand without touching it.

"Director Ye, please take this money."

"Chen An, take this. You need to give your father an explanation too."

Chen An hesitated for a moment, then nodded and accepted it.

Old Hu, the carpenter, took the fifty yuan in his hand.

"Xiao Ye".

"What's wrong with Master Hu?"

"I don't want this fifty yuan, I'll donate it to the factory."

"Master Hu, this won't do, please take it."

"I won't take it. I'm already this old, I don't need fifty yuan."

As Old Hu the carpenter spoke, he stuffed the money back into Ye Bingwen's hand.

Having no other option, Ye Bingwen said, "I'll keep track of this fifty yuan for you and give it to you when we distribute the profits at the end of the year."

"Okay, okay, okay."

After finishing his business, Ye Bingwen called Deng Pangzi and Boss Zhou again, saying that he would send the remaining 3,700 yuan over that afternoon. After hanging up, he sat down in his office chair, lit a cigarette, and took a puff.

At this moment, Chen An came in from outside and said, "Director Ye."

"Um?"

"Director Li Jianguo just called about the loan."

Ye Bingwen looked up and asked, "What do you mean?"

"It's been reviewed and approved by the municipal government; it's 100,000 yuan."

Ye Bingwen grunted in response and remained silent. After finishing his cigarette, he stubbed it out in the ashtray and asked, "When will the loan be disbursed?"

"next week."

"OK."

Chen An remained standing and continued, "Director Ye."

Ye Bingwen asked Chen An.

"What's wrong?"

"Our factory has come back to life."

Ye Bingwen nodded and said, "Chen An, go and tell everyone that I'll treat them to dinner after get off work."

"Where to?"

"Hongguang, where is Sister Song?"

"Okay, I'll go and inform them right away."

Ye Bingwen sat down in the chair, lit another cigarette, and took out the watch and the bracelet from his pocket, placing them on the table to look at.

Sunlight streamed in through the window, reflecting off the watch face. The bracelet, made of silver, appeared somewhat dark.

He thought he should give the two items to Zheng Shuyun when he got home that night. After thinking about it, he felt that simply bringing the items home wasn't enough, so he took out a piece of paper from the drawer and wrote a few lines: "Shuyun: The watch is the watch, the bracelet is the bracelet. Our family's life will be stable from now on. Bingwen."

After writing it down, he folded the note and placed it between the watch and the bracelet.

Later that afternoon, Ye Bingwen delivered the money to Fatty Deng and Boss Zhou.

The two suppliers each took the money, wrote receipts, and didn't say much. After receiving the money, Fatty Deng did say, "Director Ye, come to me again if you need any work."

"OK."

"My factory manager should apologize to me this time too."

"Old Deng, I also want to apologize to you."

"Oh, don't be so polite."

Fatty Deng stuffed the money into his pocket, got on the truck, and drove away. Boss Zhou did the same; he took the money, wrote a receipt, and didn't say much.

Ye Bingwen returned to the factory and went to the Hongguang Restaurant that evening.

Seeing the group of people at their table, Sister Song asked with some surprise, "Xiao Ye, are you treating us again today?"

Ye Bingwen said with a smile, "Sister Song, the last table was bitter, but today's table is sweet."

"Oh, that's wonderful!"

"The same dishes as last time, plus four more, and we want the good ones."

"What's good?"

"Braised pork knuckle, roast chicken, sweet and sour carp, and a Northeastern stew."

"OK."

Sister Song went to prepare.