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

"Zhou Mingyi doesn't need to go to such lengths to harm me. He's in the shadows, I'm in the open; he can finish me off with a flick of his finger. He introduced this person to make me win."

"You trust him that much?"

"I don't believe him. But I do believe in one principle: the enemy of my enemy is my friend."

The train rattled along for more than seven hours before arriving in Shenyang. Ye Bingwen looked for a public phone in the station square and dialed the number on the business card.

The caller answered, their voice gruff. "Who is it?"

"Director Liu? I'm Ye Bingwen from Harbin, introduced by Section Chief Zhou Mingyi."

There was a two-second silence on the other end, then the voice changed. "Comrade Ye Bingwen! Section Chief Zhou called me. Where are you?"

"Shenyang Station".

"Wait, I'll send a car to pick you up."

A nearly new Jeep was parked on the edge of the square. After driving for over half an hour, we left the city and turned onto a dirt road. Farmland stretched out on both sides, covered thickly with snow. In the distance, a row of gray-white factory buildings stood, their chimneys belching black smoke.

We arrived at Zhenxing Electric Machinery Factory. The factory area was small, with two rows of factory buildings, a two-story office building, and piles of rusted steel and discarded motor casings in the yard.

Liu Yongqiang was waiting at the entrance of the office building. He was in his early fifties, short and stout, with a round face, wearing a greasy blue overall, and his hands were covered in calluses. When he saw Ye Bingwen, he strode over and shook hands.

"Comrade Ye Bingwen, I have long admired you."

"Director Liu, I apologize for disturbing you."

"Don't bother us. Section Chief Zhou's friend is my friend." Liu Yongqiang led them inside. "The factory is small and the conditions are poor, please don't mind."

Upon entering the office, Liu Yongqiang poured them tea. "Section Chief Zhou mentioned your situation on the phone. Brushless motors are 30% more efficient than traditional ones. I've seen this technology in foreign magazines; no one in China has made it yet."

Ye Bingwen took out the blueprints from his canvas bag and spread them on the table. "I've finished it. The prototype is in Harbin; I didn't bring it. This is the complete set of blueprints, including the control circuit."

Liu Yongqiang bent down and looked at the pages one by one. He read very slowly, sometimes pausing to think, sometimes gesturing with his finger on the drawings. After more than half an hour, he straightened up, his eyes bright.

"I can do this job. Give me two weeks, and I'll make the first batch of prototypes for you. Ten units, is that enough?"

"That's enough. But what I need isn't a demo unit, it's a product that can be sold."

"Yes, we can sell them." Liu Yongqiang patted the blueprints. "The process isn't too complicated. I have a few experienced workers who have been working with motors for twenty years. If you trust me, leave the blueprints. Ten finished units will be sent to Harbin before the exhibition."

"What are the conditions?"

Liu Yongqiang smiled. "First, you'll cover the material costs. Second, the processing fee is fifty yuan per machine. Third, I'll have priority in processing your products from now on."

"make a deal."

Liu Yongqiang grasped his hand. "Don't worry. I, Liu Yongqiang, have worked in Shenyang for twenty years and I've never cheated anyone."

It was getting dark when they left Zhenxing Electric Machinery Factory. The two of them waited for a car by the roadside, the cold wind biting.

"Bingwen, do you really trust him? You won't even sign a contract?"

"What's the use of signing a contract? Zhao Jianguo can go back on his word even after signing one." Ye Bingwen looked at the gray sky in the distance. "I trust the people I employ. I believe in him."

"On what grounds?"

"Just look at the way he looks at the blueprints. That's the look of someone who truly loves technology."

The truck arrived. Chen Zhiyuan leaned back in his seat with his eyes closed. "Bingwen, do you think we can deliver the motor to Harbin on time?"

"able."

"What if it can't be delivered?"

"Then take the motor to the exhibition. In front of everyone, tell Zhao Jianguo who the original creator is."

Upon returning to Harbin, Ye Bingwen went directly to the school-run factory. Factory Director Sun had already moved the new machine tools into the workshop, and three experienced workers were debugging the equipment. Ye Bingwen explained the processing plan he had brought back from Shenyang.

"Student Ye, your rotor requires high precision, which a regular lathe can't achieve." A master craftsman surnamed Li pointed to the new machine tool. "This is a precision lathe, just pulled out of the warehouse, and hasn't been used yet. I've adjusted it for you; the error can be controlled within two passes."

Two lines, two-hundredths of a millimeter. That's enough.

Ye Bingwen stood in the factory building, looking at the row of equipment. The machine tools were polished to a shine, the tools were neatly arranged, and the floor was swept clean. The factory hadn't started operations yet, but it already looked like a proper factory.

He walked to the window and looked at the snow-covered ground outside. The first batch of products was to be shipped from Shenyang, and he wanted to stand at the exhibition and let everyone see who truly owned the brushless motor.

Someone called him from behind. The postman handed him an envelope from Beijing. It was an acceptance letter from the editorial office of the *Journal of Mechanical Engineering*, stamped with their official seal. The paper was about to be published. The technology was his; no one could take it away.

Zheng Shuyun took An'an back to Harbin. An'an fell asleep on the way, her little face rosy. Zheng Shuyun had lost weight, but was in good spirits.

"An'an made a fuss the whole way, insisting on finding you, and I couldn't coax her no matter what I did."

The three of them went home. Zheng Shuyun took things out of her luggage: dried mushrooms, vermicelli, cured meat, and frozen tofu, piling them up on half the table. "Mom told me to bring these. She said you've lost weight and need to eat more."

Ye Bingwen felt a lump in his throat.

Liu Yongqiang called. "The rotor is finished, and the stator is finished too. We'll start final assembly tomorrow. I've soldered five control circuit boards according to your drawings, and they all work normally after power-on testing."

"Can it be delivered on time?"

"Yes. I'll drive it to you myself. You can wait at the school."

After hanging up the phone, Ye Bingwen stood at the entrance of the convenience store and exhaled a puff of white smoke.

When Zhou Mingyi got downstairs, he stood at the entrance of the building.

"I heard you went to Shenyang? Did you see Liu Yongqiang?"

"I saw him."

"How is it?"

"He's a good guy. And he works quickly too." Ye Bingwen looked at him. "Section Chief Zhou, why are you helping me?"

Zhou Mingyi stood in the snow, his hands in his pockets, his shoulders hunched. He glanced at Ye Bingwen, his expression unreadable.

"My brother is gone, but he hasn't paid off his debts. I'll pay them off for him."

"No need."

"I know." Zhou Mingyi looked away, staring at the snow that had been trampled on the ground. "But I still need to be able to sleep."

Without waiting for Ye Bingwen to say anything more, he turned and left. His gray cotton-padded coat became increasingly blurry in the snow, eventually blending into the night.

Ye Bingwen stood downstairs for a while before going upstairs.

The room was steaming, and the glutinous rice balls in the pot were turning white-bellied. An'an sat in her high chair, clutching a spoon and banging it against the edge of the table. Zheng Shuyun scooped out a few glutinous rice balls and let them cool in a bowl. She cut one open with a spoon, blew on it, and then held it to An'an's mouth.

An'an took a bite, and the heat made her face scrunch up. Her mouth was wide open, and her eyes were brimming with tears, but she just wouldn't spit it out. She held it in her mouth and whimpered softly.

Ye Bingwen sat down at the table.

Just then, someone suddenly banged on the door.

Chen Zhiyuan never knocks on the door; he taps it instead.

Ye Bingwen opened the door and stuffed a piece of paper into his hand.

"Look at this."

Official document, from the Provincial Department of Industry.

This was to commend Harbin Electric Machinery Factory for its major breakthrough in brushless motor technology.

Zhao Jianguo attributed the credit to the motor factory. The technology belonged to Ye Bingwen, but the recognition went to someone else.

Chen Zhiyuan's expression was not good.

"What should we do?"

Ye Bingwen stuffed the document into his pocket.

"Wait. Once the motor arrives, I'll take it to the exhibition. Then it'll be clear at a glance who's real and who's fake."