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

"I have hated. But hating someone is too tiring." Ye Bingwen closed the door.

No one in this world can live on pure hatred.

Outside the window, the snow started falling again. An'an crawled around on the kang (a heated brick bed), and her mother chased after her to feed her. Her father watched from the side, beaming with joy.

As Ye Bingwen watched this scene, a thought suddenly occurred to him. Zhao Jianguo's matter was not over yet, the motor factory's matter was not over yet, and the matter of setting up the factory was even more unresolved.

As he was thinking, he heard hurried footsteps outside the door. There was a loud knocking.

Ye Bingwen went to open the door. Chen Zhiyuan stood at the door, panting heavily, his face red from the cold.

"Bingwen, that jeep you asked me to keep an eye on, I followed it all the way from Harbin to Daxing Village. It's parked right at the village entrance, the engine still running."

On Lunar New Year's Eve, snow fell in Daxing Village.

Father was chopping firewood in the yard, and Mother was stewing meat in the kitchen. An'an sat on the kang (a heated brick bed), chewing on a wet cloth tiger. Zheng Shuyun dressed her in a new red cotton-padded jacket with a small flower embroidered on the collar.

"Shuyun, your cooking skills are getting better and better." Her mother brought in a bowl of dumpling filling.

"I learned it from my mom when I was little."

Ye Bingwen hung a string of firecrackers on the door frame and lit them. The crackling sound made An'an shiver, then she grinned, clapped her hands, and shouted "Firecrackers!"

During the New Year's Eve dinner, the father raised his glass. "Bingwen, I've heard about what you've been doing outside. Good."

Ye Bingwen bumped into him. "Dad, I won't let you down."

"It's not about embarrassing me. The village chief said that since you came from Daxing Village, the village's children will take you as a role model when they go to university."

Li Sanguang didn't come, but he sent his wife a basket of eggs. Ye Bingwen accepted them and had Zheng Shuyun return them with a bag of brown sugar.

The father sighed. "Sanguang is a fool. But he truly regrets it; he cried for days after you left."

"Dad, let's not talk about the past."

An'an fell asleep in Zheng Shuyun's arms. Her mother looked at her, her eyes reddening. "This child looks just like Bingwen when he was little."

Zheng Shuyun looked down at An'an and said, "I think she looks more like me."

The mother smiled. "You'll look good no matter who you resemble."

On the third day of the Lunar New Year, the county post office delivered a telegram.

Ye Bingwen opened the telegram at the gate of the school. The sender was Harbin: "The school council has approved the factory plan. Return immediately for discussion. Liu Deben."

He clutched the telegram, his heart skipping a beat. The factory project was settled.

Zheng Shuyun came out of the house. "What's wrong?"

"The school approved it. I'll leave after the fifth day of the Lunar New Year."

"So fast?"

"The factory matter can't be delayed. Zhao Jianguo's side is still making progress."

Zheng Shuyun nodded, turned around and went back into the house to pack her luggage.

On the evening of the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, someone knocked on the door.

The father went to open the door, and there stood a man and a woman outside. The man was in his fifties and wearing a Zhongshan suit. The woman was younger, wearing a red cotton-padded jacket and had two braids.

"Does Comrade Ye Bingwen live here?" the man asked.

"That's me."

The man stepped forward and shook his hand. "I am Zhang, the director of the county agricultural machinery factory. This is my daughter, Zhang Hong. We have come to visit you."

Ye Bingwen ushered them into the house. Director Zhang sat down, his gaze falling on the stack of papers covered in writing on the table.

"Comrade Ye Bingwen, I heard that you developed a brushless motor that is 30% more efficient than a regular motor?"

"Yes."

"Our factory buys over a hundred motors every year. If we switched to yours, we could save a lot of electricity," Factory Manager Zhang said, looking at him. "Could you sell them to us?"

"We don't have mass production capacity yet. But the factory is being prepared, and the first batch should be ready in the second half of the year."

Factory Manager Zhang pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. "This is a tentative order for 120 units. If you can produce them, we'll pay a 30% deposit first."

Ye Bingwen accepted the order: 120 units, a deal worth tens of thousands of yuan.

"I will make progress as soon as I get back, and I will contact you then."

Factory Director Zhang stood up and extended his hand. "I've been in the agricultural machinery business for twenty years, and I've never seen a young man like you. You're capable and have guts."

Zhang Hong remained silent, simply watching Ye Bingwen. Zheng Shuyun came out from the inner room to serve tea, and Zhang Hong's gaze lingered on her face for a moment before shifting away.

After seeing Factory Director Zhang and his daughter off, Zheng Shuyun closed the courtyard gate and turned around. "That Zhang Hong, the way she looked at you was strange."

Ye Bingwen was taken aback. "What kind of look is that?"

"Don't you know that yourself?" Zheng Shuyun snorted and turned to go inside.

Ye Bingwen stood in the courtyard, scratching his head. He hadn't noticed; he was thinking about the order for 120 units.

On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, the family of three boarded the train back to Harbin.

The father saw Zheng Shuyun off at the village entrance, while the mother held Zheng Shuyun's hand, her eyes brimming with tears. "Shuyun, take care of yourself."

"Mom, don't worry."

The mother went to see An'an again. An'an was nestled on Zheng Shuyun's shoulder, sucking her fingers, and showed no reaction to her grandmother's farewell.

The father didn't say anything, but simply stuffed a bag of dried mushrooms into Ye Bingwen's canvas bag. "Your mother dried these; you can't buy them in the city."

"Dad, you should go back inside; it's cold outside."

"Um."

Ye Bingwen turned and walked away. After taking a dozen steps, he turned back and saw his father still standing at the village entrance, his hands tucked into his sleeves and his neck hunched. His mother leaned against him, and the two elderly figures looked very small in the snow.

There weren't many people on the train. An'an sat on Ye Bingwen's lap, peering out the window and calling out "Xuexue." Zheng Shuyun leaned on his shoulder with her eyes closed.

"Shuyun, go back and focus on your studies. I'll take care of things at the factory."

"Um.."

"If you want to go back to the publicity department, I'll talk to Principal Liu."

"I'm not going back." Zheng Shuyun opened her eyes. "I want to go to university. If I get in, I won't have to depend on anyone anymore."

Ye Bingwen took her hand. "Okay."

The train slowed down, and the sign for Harbin Station appeared outside the window. Ye Bingwen woke Zheng Shuyun, picked up their luggage, and carried An'an off the train.

The platform was crowded. Ye Bingwen walked out of the station exit and was about to head to the bus stop when a figure blocked his way.

It was Chen Zhiyuan. His face looked terrible.

"Bingwen, you're finally back. Something's happened. Your lab has been ransacked, and two blueprints are missing. Professor Ma has called the police, and they're investigating."

Ye Bingwen tightened his grip on An'an. "When did this happen?"

"On the second day of the Lunar New Year, someone broke the lock and rummaged through the drawer where you kept your blueprints."

Standing in the cold wind, Ye Bingwen felt as if something had struck his heart hard. The blueprints were a spare set he had kept; they weren't the core control circuits, but rather the overall structural assembly drawings. However, they contained the dimensions and tolerances of all the parts.

Which two are missing?

"The assembly drawings and rotor structure drawings." Chen Zhiyuan looked at him. "Bingwen, someone stole your technology while you were away."