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

Professor Zhao looked at it very carefully.

People came and went in the corridor. Students would pass by, glance at it curiously, and then hurry away.

Professor Zhao closed his notebook and remained silent for a few seconds.

Then he said something that made Ye Bingwen's heart skip a beat.

"Your vibration model is beyond the scope of undergraduate courses. That's something you only learn in the first year of graduate school."

Ye Bingwen's heart tightened.

He realized he had been exposed.

Having taught at Peking University for so many years in his previous life, these formulas were as natural to him as one plus one equals two.

I never thought that a freshman "shouldn't" know these things.

"I just figured it out myself."

He tried to make his tone sound as natural as possible.

"There's an old machine tool in the factory. The foundation is bad, so the work it produces is always terrible."

"I pondered this for a long time and read many books before I finally understood that it was a matter of resonance."

Professor Zhao did not ask further questions.

"I'll go to the infrastructure department with you tomorrow morning."

Professor Zhao returned the notebook to him.

"I know Director Sun. It's not that he's unreasonable, it's that he's afraid of taking responsibility. If I put in a word for you, he should give me face."

"Thank you, Professor Zhao."

"Don't thank me."

Professor Zhao picked up the enamel mug.

"Your approach is correct, but there's one flaw in your calculations—the foundation's damping is too high compared to your chosen value."

"Go back and read the book again, and think about why."

Ye Bingwen was taken aback. He had indeed deliberately exaggerated the damping ratio—to make the calculation results look more convincing.

Unexpectedly, Professor Zhao saw it at a glance.

During his afternoon Advanced Mathematics class, Ye Bingwen listened attentively while mentally reviewing the day's events.

Although Director Sun has been temporarily silenced, this matter is not over yet.

Professor Zhao's intervention only provided immediate relief; to truly resolve the issue, we must rely on facts.

The last class ended at 4:30 pm.

Ye Bing rode his bicycle to the old factory.

The workers sat on the pile of bricks, smoking and chatting.

"Xiao Ye, how are you?"

Master Li came to greet him.

"Professor Zhao will go with me to the infrastructure department tomorrow to discuss it; it should be approved."

"That's good."

Ye Bingwen walked to the edge of the foundation pit, squatted down and looked at the foundation that was already half excavated.

He had dug almost a meter deep, and the soil conditions were better than he had expected, but soft soil layers were still present.

He grabbed a handful of the dug-out soil and rubbed it between his fingers.

The high moisture content of the soil indicates that the groundwater level is not low.

This further confirms his judgment—the traditional lime-soil solution is simply not feasible under these geological conditions, and replacement is necessary.

"Master Li, after the approval is granted tomorrow, the construction team will come to the site. I will personally inspect the thickness and compaction of each layer of crushed stone." Ye Bingwen patted the soil off his hands.

"Tell the workers that my standards are higher than the national standards. Even a little bit off is unacceptable."

"understood."

Ye Bingwen got on his bicycle and headed home.

When we arrived at the family compound, An'an was playing hopscotch with some other children downstairs.

Upon seeing him, An'an immediately ran over.

"Daddy! Daddy's home!"

Ye Bingwen quickly braked and bent down to pick up his daughter.

An'an pressed her little face against his and gave him a kiss.

"Was An'an a good girl today?"

"Sweetie! Mom bought me new crayons, and I drew lots of pictures!"

"Should we show it to Dad?"

"Go home and see!"

Ye Bingwen carried An'an upstairs, while Zheng Shuyun was busy in the kitchen.

A pot of stewed potatoes and pork was simmering, and the aroma filled the whole house.

"You're back?"

Zheng Shuyun peeked out.

"How are the factory negotiations going?"

"We haven't reached an agreement with Director Sun yet. We'll talk to Professor Zhao tomorrow."

Zheng Shuyun nodded.

"Let's eat, An'an is starving."

The family of three sat around the table.

An'an chattered on about what happened at kindergarten.

Zheng Shuyun listened and laughed, wiping An'an's mouth from time to time.

As Ye Bingwen watched this scene, the irritability and pressure in his heart gradually dissipated.

After dinner, An'an did her homework in the living room.

Zheng Shuyun cleared the dishes, and Ye Bingwen spread the blueprints on the table.

He picked up his pen and re-derived the calculations on the paper.

Damping, stiffness, mass, natural frequency.

An'an came over at some point and stood on tiptoe to watch him write.

"Dad, what are you drawing?"

"Doing math."

"I can do math too!"

An'an stretched out both hands.

One plus one equals two!

Ye Bingwen picked up An'an and placed her on his lap.

"Yes, An'an is the smartest."

When Zheng Shuyun came over after washing the dishes and saw this scene, the corners of her mouth curved into a smile.

She didn't disturb the father and daughter, but instead took out a correspondence course textbook from her bag and sat down to read it.

My work at the publishing house takes up most of my time, and I also have to take care of An'an, so I have very little time to read.

The three people each occupied a corner of the table: Ye Bingwen was correcting calculations, An'an was tracing characters, and Zheng Shuyun was reading correspondence course materials.

Outside the window, the night breeze of Harbin blows gently.

Ye Bingwen put down his pen and glanced at his wife and daughter.

He suddenly recalled a scene from his previous life at Peking University, where he sat alone in his office working overtime until late at night.

At the time, he thought he was fulfilled, but now he realizes it was just loneliness.

This life is different.

He has a family.

We'll talk about the foundation tomorrow.

He closed his notebook and picked An'an up.

"Let's go, take a shower and go to bed."

"Daddy told me a story!"

Okay, tell me one.

"Tell me two!"

"Okay, two."

Zheng Shuyun watched the father and daughter's backs and shook her head with a smile.

The next morning, when Ye Bingwen arrived at Professor Zhao's office, Professor Zhao was grading assignments.

"You're here?"

Professor Zhao didn't even look up.

"Wait until I finish approving this one."

Ye Bingwen sat down on the chair next to him.

He glanced around the office—a mechanical structure diagram hung on the wall.

Several black-and-white photos were pressed under the glass of the desk, including a group photo of Professor Zhao when he was studying in the Soviet Union in his youth.

There are also photos of him with each graduating class.

Professor Zhao turned around after grading the last assignment.

"Let's go to the infrastructure department."

The two walked out of the Mechanical Engineering Department building one after the other.

"Xiao Ye".

Professor Zhao spoke as he walked.

"Regarding your foundation plan, let me ask you one more question—did you find it in a book, or did you figure it out yourself?"

Ye Bingwen's heart tightened.

He knew that Professor Zhao was not questioning the feasibility of the plan, but rather testing the source of his knowledge.

It was indeed unusual for a freshman at Harbin Institute of Technology in the early 1980s to be able to understand the problem of vibration coupling.

"Yes, we have them all."

Ye Bingwen carefully considered his words.

"I looked through 'Mechanical Vibration' and 'Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering,' but the formulas in the books were too abstract."

"I figured it out after trying it several times, taking into account the actual condition of the old machine tool in the factory."

"Try again?"

Professor Zhao turned his head and glanced at him.

"Did you conduct experiments at the factory?"