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

The certificate had been displayed on the wall for several days, and Zheng Shuyun would glance at it every time she passed by. An'an couldn't reach it and jumped around anxiously, but after a couple of jumps, she still couldn't reach it and her lips trembled as if she was about to cry. Zheng Shuyun picked her up and let her touch the certificate. An'an poked a small hole in the paper with her finger. Zheng Shuyun wasn't angry; she simply pasted the certificate back up, saying that it was her father's honor and she shouldn't poke at it. An'an didn't understand, but she stopped poking at it.

In the school-run factory, all ten motors had been debugged. Master Li recorded the test data for each motor in a book, signing and stamping it—a thick stack. Ye Bingwen flipped through it; all the data met the standards, and some motors even exceeded the design efficiency by two percentage points. He locked the data book in a metal cabinet, the key hanging around his neck.

Liu Yongqiang returned to Shenyang, saying before leaving that he needed to let Ye Bingwen know in advance when the next batch of orders would be placed. Ye Bingwen said it would be soon, the factory was about to start production, and the first batch of products would first fulfill the orders from the Light Industry Bureau. Liu Yongqiang drove away in his nearly new Jeep, kicking up a cloud of snow behind him.

Inside the factory, Master Li was leading two young workers in cleaning the equipment. The precision lathe was polished to a shine, with a thin layer of machine oil applied to the guide rails. Ye Bingwen walked over and touched the guide rails; they were smooth and even.

"Master Li, do you have enough workers?"

"That's enough for now. We'll need to hire more people for mass production." Master Li lit a cigarette. "Director Sun said we can borrow people from the school-run factory, but not for a long term. You need to have your own people."

After Master Li finished speaking, he added that he had an apprentice who could help him a lot, and that he could call him over immediately if the apprentice agreed.

Ye Bingwen was naturally the same. Master Li quickly made a phone call. After speaking quickly, he told Ye Bingwen that he would arrive the next day.

Mr. Li pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket, walked to his desk, and dialed a number. The phone rang for a long time before being answered, the voice very soft. Mr. Li said a few words, hung up, and turned away. "He'll come tomorrow."

Someone outside the factory was calling Ye Bingwen's name.

The person who arrived was a young man in military uniform, not the same person who had been at the exhibition that day.

The young man handed him an official document. Ye Bingwen glanced at it and then led Zhou Jianguo into the factory. Master Li discreetly left. Zhou Jianguo stood in front of the row of motors for a while, then took a document from his briefcase.

"Our department head is very interested in your brushless motors. We'll initially purchase twenty units for the radar servo system upgrade. If the results are good, we'll place larger orders later."

Ye Bingwen took the document and glanced at it. The technical parameters were written in great detail, and some of the specifications were even higher than those of his current motor.

"My current motor can't achieve the precision you're asking for. It needs improvement."

"Can it be improved?"

"Yes. Give me some time."

Zhou Jianguo nodded. "The section chief said there's no rush. Get twenty units made first, and we'll sign the formal contract after we pass the tests." He put the documents away. "Have you applied for a patent for your technology?"

"Applying."

"Okay. The section chief said that for military procurement, the technology must be your own, and there can be no disputes."

Ye Bingwen understood. The people in the provincial military region knew that Zhao Jianguo was still causing trouble. What they wanted was clean, uncontroversial technology.

"Don't worry. The technology is mine, and no one can take it away."

Zhou Jianguo left. Ye Bingwen stood at the factory gate, watching the jeep disappear, his head down as he looked at the document in his hand. Twenty radar servo systems. Military products, the requirements are much higher than civilian ones. But he could make them.

He turned around and went back to the factory, took out the blueprints and began to revise the design.

Later that evening, Zheng Shuyun returned from the provincial newspaper office, carrying a thick envelope. Inside were her award certificate and a money order for eighty yuan. She had won second prize in the essay contest.

"Eighty dollars." She placed the remittance slip on the table. "That's enough to buy a lot of things."

"Aren't you going to collect the award?"

"I went. The awards ceremony has already been held, and Editor Liu accepted it for me." Zheng Shuyun sat down. "He said the judges gave my article a very high evaluation. They were originally going to give it first prize, but someone raised objections, saying that the article's description of the household responsibility system was 'too positive,' so it was reduced to second prize."

"Who made the suggestion?"

"I don't know. Editor Liu didn't say."

Ye Bingwen remained silent for a moment. Zhao Jianguo, or Zhao Jianguo's man?

"Second prize is good too." He handed the remittance slip back to her. "Keep the money, buy whatever you want."

"I want to buy An'an a stroller. It's too tiring to carry her around."

"purchase."

When An'an heard her name called, she looked up and smiled at them, then looked down and started chewing on her cloth tiger.

More and more equipment filled the factory. Master Li's apprentice arrived; his surname was Zhao, he was in his early twenties, tall and thin, a man of few words but efficient at his work. Ye Bingwen taught him how to wind coils, and he mastered it after only two tries, producing coils with even turns and consistent tightness. Master Li watched from the side, nodding in satisfaction.

"Student Ye, how's my apprentice?"

"Okay. Better than I expected."

A few days of quiet followed Zhao Jianguo's side. The motor factory didn't cause any more trouble, and Director Wang didn't show up either. But Ye Bingwen knew this wasn't a good thing. The calm before the storm is always there.

That afternoon, Ye Bingwen was debugging the motor in the factory when Chen Zhiyuan rushed in, his face pale.

"There's trouble at the motor factory again. Factory Director Han filed a complaint in the provincial capital, saying that you stole their technology and that the motors you exhibited at the exhibition were copies of their prototypes."

Ye Bingwen paused, the screwdriver in his hand still. "What's the province's attitude?"

"Someone told me that the Provincial Department of Industry is going to set up an investigation team to come to the school to investigate this matter."

"Go ahead and investigate. I'm not afraid."

"Aren't you afraid? Aren't you afraid the school? What if the investigation team comes, shuts down the school-run factory, and seizes the equipment? What will you do then?"

Ye Bingwen put down the screwdriver. Zhao Jianguo's move was ruthless; he didn't target him directly, but instead targeted the school. If the school couldn't withstand the pressure, his factory would be finished.

He picked up the phone and dialed Liu Deben's number. Liu Deben answered.

"Principal Liu, are you aware that the motor factory filed a complaint with the provincial authorities?"

"Know."

"Is the Provincial Department of Industry sending an investigation team?"

"I heard about it. But they can't come. I wrote a report to the provincial government, detailing the motor factory's theft of the blueprints. The approval was just two words: 'Investigate thoroughly.'"

"The investigation team isn't here to investigate you, they're here to investigate the motor factory."

Ye Bingwen gripped the microphone, his heart skipping a beat.

"thank you."

"You're welcome. You're a student at Harbin Institute of Technology; if I don't protect you, who will?"

After hanging up the phone, Ye Bingwen leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh. Chen Zhiyuan looked at him. "How did it go?"

"The investigation team is here to inspect the motor factory."

Chen Zhiyuan was taken aback.

Ye Bingwen stayed at the factory that night. In the middle of the night, he heard a noise outside. When he opened the door, he saw a note.

"Be smart and stop now."

Ye Bingwen knew that Zhao Jianguo was warning him.

But he wasn't afraid.