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

The letter from the Provincial Department of Education arrived on Liu Deben's desk three days later.

When Ye Bingwen was summoned to the school office by Ma Kui, Cai Xun was also there. The three of them sat around the desk, the ashtray overflowing with cigarette butts. Liu Deben pushed a letter over, its wording official but its meaning clear: Zhou Mingyuan had appealed, requesting the revocation of the disciplinary action, and at the same time, "suggesting a re-examination" of Ye Bingwen's admission qualifications.

"What does 'admission qualification' mean?" Ma Kui asked impatiently.

"I suspect there's something wrong with his college entrance exam scores." Liu Deben looked at Ye Bingwen. "What do you think?"

"Let the provincial education department investigate if they want; my grades can withstand scrutiny."

"It's not a matter of grades." Liu Deben shook his head. "Zhou Mingyuan said that you didn't attend high school but still scored 493 points, which is 'unreasonable,' and suggested investigating your 'source of knowledge.'"

Ye Bingwen understood the ruthlessness of this move. How could a rural youth who hadn't even finished high school possibly understand university or even graduate-level knowledge? He himself couldn't explain it clearly.

"I'll give them another test in front of them. They'll set the questions, and if I pass, Zhou Mingyuan's appeal will fall apart."

Cai Xun and Ma Kui looked at him simultaneously, their eyes filled with worry. "What if they ask questions beyond the syllabus?"

"Even if it's beyond the syllabus, it's still university-level knowledge. I can handle it."

Liu Deben stared at him for a long time, then nodded. "Okay, I support you. No matter the outcome, the school will always be your support."

The news spread quickly. Within half a day, the entire school knew that Ye Bingwen was going to take a "special exam" from the provincial education department. Chen Zhiyuan stopped him in the cafeteria and called him foolish. Ye Bingwen only replied, "You can't hide forever."

In the afternoon, Ge Jianjun stood at the laboratory door. He took an envelope out of his pocket and placed it on the lab table. Inside, he wrote a detailed account of how Zhou Mingyuan had asked him to write the whistleblower letter, and he signed and pressed his fingerprint on it.

"Have you thought this through? If you submit this, you might lose your graduate degree."

"I've thought it through. What I owe you, this is what I should repay." Ge Jianjun's voice was steady.

Ye Bingwen put the envelope into his pocket. "Thank you."

On the fourth day, the provincial education department's investigation team arrived at Harbin Institute of Technology. Leading the team was Deputy Director Wu of the Higher Education Department, accompanied by two experts: Chen Shouzhou from the Department of Mathematics and Professor Fang from the Department of Physics. Professor Fang was Zhou Mingyuan's senior, but Liu Deben said he had a straightforward personality and wasn't one of Zhou Mingyuan's people.

Deputy Director Wu explained his purpose: to arrange a special examination, with questions posed on-site by two experts, to be answered immediately. Passing the exam would automatically withdraw Zhou Mingyuan's appeal.

"I agree," Ye Bingwen said.

The exam is scheduled for the morning of the following day.

That evening, Zheng Shuyun brought An'an to the lab to keep him company. An'an crawled around on the floor, gnawing on a worn-out gear. Zheng Shuyun sat beside him reading, glancing up at him every now and then.

"Bingwen, are you really sure?"

"Yes." Ye Bingwen put down his pen. "You don't believe me?"

"It's not that I don't trust you. What if they deliberately make things difficult for you?"

Ye Bingwen removed the gear from An'an's mouth and picked her up. "Have you forgotten how I did on my college entrance exam?"

An'an wrapped her arms around his neck and smeared saliva all over his face.

The next morning at 8:30, in the school office conference room.

The three members of the investigation team sat down, with Liu Deben listening in. After a brief introduction by Deputy Director Wu, Chen Shouzhou posed the first question. He wrote a nonlinear partial differential equation on the blackboard and asked what method to use to solve it.

Ye Bingwen walked to the blackboard and began to derive the solution step by step using the perturbation method, explaining as he wrote. He stopped halfway through and said, "Professor Chen, there is another solution here, using the variational method, which requires less computation."

Chen Shouzhou's eyes lit up. "Write it down and let me see."

Ye Bingwen finished writing down both solutions and put down the chalk.

Professor Fang stood up and wrote a formula on the blackboard. "The form of Maxwell's equations in a vacuum. How would you rewrite them if the medium were anisotropic?"

Ye Bingwen's heart tightened. This was graduate-level material, requiring tensor analysis. But he had studied it before; electromagnetic compatibility was a required course when he worked on airborne weapon integration in his previous life.

He took a deep breath and picked up the chalk. "In anisotropic media, the dielectric constant and permeability are tensors." Lines of formulas flowed from his pen, the chalk making a sharp sound on the blackboard.

Professor Fang's expression changed from calm to serious, and finally to surprise.

Ye Bingwen finished writing the last formula and turned around.

"Have you studied electrodynamics?" Professor Fang asked.

"I've read some books. Jackson's 'Classical Electrodynamics' and Landau's 'Electrodynamics of Continuum'."

Professor Fang was silent for a few seconds. "These two books are very difficult to find in China."

"Found in the Russian literature section of the library."

Professor Fang didn't ask any more questions, walked back to his seat, and nodded to Deputy Director Wu.

Deputy Director Wu looked at the two experts. Chen Shouzhou was the first to speak: "I've taught mathematics for thirty years, and I've never seen a freshman like this. His mathematical level has already reached the level of a graduate student."

Professor Fang said, "His physics level is at least that of a second-year graduate student."

Deputy Director Wu closed the folder and stood up. "Ye Bingwen, you passed the exam. The Education Department will not support Comrade Zhou Mingyuan's appeal."

As soon as they came out of the meeting room, Cai Xun and Ma Kui surrounded them. Upon learning that the application had been approved, Ma Kui laughed so hard that tears almost streamed down his face.

Ye Bingwen's gaze passed over the two men's shoulders and looked towards the end of the corridor. Zhou Mingyuan stood there, wearing a dark gray coat, his expression unreadable.

The two stared at each other for a few seconds. Zhou Mingyuan turned and walked away quickly.

Ma Kui snorted. "Old man, should you give up now?"

Ye Bingwen remained silent. He knew Zhou Mingyuan wouldn't give up. But at least today, he had won.

That evening, Zheng Shuyun prepared a table full of dishes to celebrate. An'an sat in her high chair, munching on cucumber strips, her face covered in juice.

Zheng Shuyun poured two glasses of baijiu (Chinese liquor), and said as she clinked glasses, "Bingwen, you're amazing."

"It's not that your man is great, it's that those people are too weak."

Zheng Shuyun rolled her eyes at him. Ye Bingwen took a sip of wine, his mouth burning from the spiciness. An'an reached out her hand for some, and he dipped his chopsticks in a little white wine and dabbed it on her tongue. The little girl scrunched up her face, making Zheng Shuyun burst into laughter.

The moon outside the window was very round. Ye Bingwen leaned back in his chair, feeling a long-lost sense of peace.

But the night was far from peaceful.

At two in the morning, a rapid knocking on the door startled him awake. He got out of bed, went to the door, and whispered, "Who is it?"

"It's me, Ma Kui. Open the door, something's happened."

Ye Bingwen opened the door, and Ma Kui's face was even more unpleasant than last time.

"Zhou Mingyuan packed up his things in the office tonight and left."

"Gone? Where did you go?"

"I don't know. But he left a letter for Principal Liu before he left." Ma Kui handed over a letter.

Ye Bingwen unfolded the letter, which contained only one line:

"Principal Liu, Ye Bingwen is no ordinary person. You'll find out sooner or later."

A cool night breeze blew in through the crack in the door. Ye Bingwen closed the door, leaned against it, and closed his eyes.

Zhou Mingyuan is gone, but his words are like a thorn stuck in his heart.

not simple.

How could a reborn person be simple?

This secret seems to be one step closer to being discovered.