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

An'an looked curiously at the workers wielding shovels and picks in the distance.

She had never seen so many people working together before, and she exclaimed "Wow!"

Zheng Shuyun spread the old bed sheet under a big poplar tree next to the construction site, and then took out a comic book and a few animal biscuits.

"You're just going to let her stay here?"

Ye Bingwen hesitated.

"They don't even go inside; they just sit under the tree."

Zheng Shuyun said.

"If she doesn't come, she'll cry three times in one morning. You didn't hear her voice this morning; the whole building could hear it."

Ye Bingwen glanced back at the workers by the foundation pit, then looked at An'an.

An'an had already opened the picture book, pointing at the pictures with her little finger and muttering to herself.

"Alright."

He said.

"But you can't get too close to the edge of the pit."

He turned and went back to the edge of the foundation pit.

Ye Bingwen squatted by the pit, mentally estimating the progress.

He was looking around when he heard footsteps behind him.

"Director Ye."

It's Master Li.

Ye Bingwen patted the dirt off his hands.

"Master Li, what brings you here? Isn't the factory scheduled for production today?"

Master Li took a piece of paper out of his work clothes pocket and handed it to Ye Bingwen.

"Look at this."

Ye Bingwen took it.

It was a letter of intent to purchase, stamped with the official seal of an agricultural machinery factory in Liaoning.

"Fifty units?"

Ye Bingwen frowned.

"It's not just this one."

Mr. Li then took out two more pieces of paper from his pocket.

"They've also come from Shandong, they need thirty units. There's another company in Heilongjiang, they need twenty units. All together, it'll be more than a hundred units."

Ye Bingwen read through the letters of intent.

The orders from the motor factory came in much faster than he had expected.

But the problem is also quite straightforward.

The factory is too small.

The current motor factory's production workshop is a converted old warehouse from the former school, which is less than 200 square meters in total.

With an order for 100 units, plus potential additional orders from the military sector, the existing production capacity can't even handle half of it.

"Master Li, what are your thoughts?"

Master Li drew a simple layout diagram in the soil.

"I did the math, and if we add two new machine tools and an automatic winding machine, and reorganize the current factory building..."

"We can produce up to fifty units a month."

He tapped the ground with a twig.

"But two things are stuck."

"Equipment licenses and money."

Ye Bingwen spoke for him.

"right."

Master Li threw the tree branch away.

"The equipment approval is with the Industrial Bureau. I've inquired about it, and the person in charge is surnamed Ma. He's someone from Zhao Jianguo's line."

"If the permits aren't issued, you can't buy the equipment even if you have the money."

Ye Bingwen remained silent for a while.

Zhao Jianguo played this game very steadily.

Since they can't directly target the motor factory, they're trying to cut off its supply chain from the outside.

Raw materials, equipment, and permits—these combined constitute an insurmountable hurdle.

"I'll figure out how to get the permit."

Ye Bingwen said.

"Go back and arrange production at the factory first. Take care of the order for the first thirty units, and we'll talk about the rest later."

"There's one more thing."

Master Li lowered his voice.

"People from the provincial department are coming."

"What?"

"It's the quality inspector. His surname is Gu. He's supposedly sent directly by the Provincial Department of Industry, and it's said to be a routine inspection."

Master Li's expression was somewhat solemn.

"I inquired about this person's background, and it's not exactly clean."

Ye Bingwen felt a chill run down his spine.

The timing is too coincidental.

Orders were just piling up when the equipment approval was stuck halfway through, and then the quality inspectors arrived.

It wasn't Zhao Jianguo pushing him from behind; he simply wrote his name backwards.

"When are you coming?"

"the day after tomorrow."

Ye Bingwen nodded.

"I understand, you can go back now."

Master Li glanced at An'an, who was reading a comic book under a tree in the distance, and a smile appeared on his face.

"Your daughter came to see you?"

"Kindergarten is closed for the holidays."

"Spend some quality time with her."

After saying that, Mr. Li turned and left.

When Ye Bingwen returned to the tree, An'an was dozing off in Zheng Shuyun's arms.

Zheng Shuyun had one arm around her while the other hand was sewing shoe soles.

"What's wrong?"

Zheng Shuyun noticed that his expression was not quite right.

"Things at the factory."

Ye Bingwen reached out and touched An'an's hair.

"The provincial inspection team is coming the day after tomorrow, so I need to make more preparations."

"Is there trouble?"

"uncertain."

Ye Bingwen said.

"But we have to be careful."

Zheng Shuyun put the shoe soles into the cloth bag and gently changed An'an's position to make her more comfortable.

"Go ahead and do your work, I'll watch over An'an."

Ye Bingwen stood up and looked at the foundation pit.

The excavation is still ongoing, and the workers have already dug to a depth of nearly half a meter.

He turned and walked towards the school gate.

Ye Bingwen sat in the office of the motor factory for a long time.

The table was piled with material reports, production plans, and several letters of intent.

Ye Bingwen picked up the phone on the table, rang it twice, and after the switchboard connected, he gave Liu Yongqiang's company number.

The phone rang more than a dozen times, but no one answered.

He hung up the phone and changed his approach.

Quality inspection matters cannot be dealt with passively.

The person surnamed Gu will arrive the day after tomorrow, so today and tomorrow are the only time window he can make arrangements in advance.

If Gu was indeed sent by Zhao Jianguo, then he must have been on a mission.

Either find a fundamental technical flaw, or if you can't find a fundamental flaw, nitpick.

Ye Bingwen was not afraid of the former.

His motors have all the real performance indicators; none of them are afraid of being tested.

The latter is the real problem.

If the other party is determined to find fault, they will always find an angle.

Even a slight misstatement in the wording of the quality inspection report can halt production for months.

He needs a third party to endorse him.

A senior expert, recognized by both the provincial and ministerial levels, issued a technical assessment report in his personal capacity.

This report does not replace official quality inspection, but it can serve as a safety net.

If there is a problem with Gu's report, he can immediately use the report to negotiate.

The problem is, how do you find a senior expert of this caliber?

He then dialed Liu Yongqiang's home number.

It's working now.

"Yongqiang, I need to ask you for a favor."

Ye Bingwen got straight to the point.

"you say."

"The provincial authorities will be coming for quality inspection the day after tomorrow; the people there will likely be from Zhao Jianguo's side."

"I need a senior expert, either from the province or the ministry, to give me a technical assessment report."

"We don't ask him to take sides, we just ask him to examine the products in a fact-based manner."

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone.

"Wait for my news."

Liu Yongqiang hung up the phone.

Ye Bingwen leaned back in his chair.

The office was quiet, with only the ticking of the wall clock.

Half an hour later, the phone rang.

"Old Ye, I've found out about someone."

Liu Yongqiang's voice came through the receiver.

"His surname is Hu, and his given name is Hu Guangzhi. He retired from the Provincial Machinery Research Institute; he used to be the deputy chief engineer."

"I've spent my whole life working with electrical machinery, and I'm respected both in the ministry and the province. I'm retired now, but my technical expertise still carries weight."

"Can you get in touch with me?"

"I'll send someone to deliver the message."

Liu Yongqiang said.

"But you have to prepare the motor parameters and test data. They need to see the real thing before deciding whether to help or not."