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

Final exams are getting closer.

Ye Bingwen divided his time into four parts.

Professor Zhao has already called his name twice in class.

He understood the meaning behind her tone perfectly: Don't think I don't know you've fallen behind in your studies.

He broke down the textbooks for the five courses by chapter and created a review plan.

Two hours of advanced mathematics, one hour of mechanical principles, and one hour of mechanics of materials every day.

Mechanical drawing and political economy are interspersed in the gaps.

This plan was written in a notebook, and I checked it off every day without fail.

The second round of trial production has also begun on Chen An's side.

Slowing down the heating rate did improve the resin's fluidity considerably.

Chen An drew a temperature curve and showed it to Ye Bingwen. The curve was much smoother than the last one.

After working with Chen An for the past few days, Liu Xiaojun has been able to operate the press independently and has taken over most of the ingredient preparation work.

"Uncle Ye, Brother Chen said he wants to try three more rounds."

Liu Xiaojun was holding a notebook filled with densely packed data.

"Here are today's data, take a look."

Ye Bingwen took the notebook.

"Xiaojun, you have a good habit of taking notes. From now on, everyone in the factory should develop the habit of taking notes."

Liu Xiaojun scratched his head.

"Brother Chen taught me."

He said that for people who work in technology, the first requirement is to be able to do the work, and the second is to be able to remember things.

"They can do things but don't know how to remember them, and after they're done, they don't even know how they got them done."

Ye Bingwen smiled.

Chen An spoke as if he were a proper engineer.

That afternoon, Ye Bingwen was reviewing mechanics of materials in his office when he heard footsteps outside the door.

"Yongqiang?"

Ye Bingwen put down his textbook.

"Why are you here? Didn't you say you couldn't leave the countryside?"

Liu Yongqiang put the snakeskin bag on the ground and took an envelope out of his coat pocket.

"I can't leave, but there are some things I have to do."

"Here are the accounts for this month from the factory in the countryside. Take a look."

Ye Bingwen poured Liu Yongqiang a glass of water first.

Have you eaten?

I ate two steamed buns on the train.

"There's still some leftover food in the cafeteria, I'll have someone heat it up."

"No, no, I'm not hungry."

Liu Yongqiang glanced up at Ye Bingwen's office.

"This place is much more spacious than the one in the countryside. That little, run-down factory in the countryside was so cramped you could barely move."

"Once the new factory is built here and the equipment from the old factory is moved here, we won't take on any big jobs in the countryside anymore; we'll just do some simple processing."

Liu Yongqiang nodded.

He remained silent for a while before speaking.

"Bingwen, I inquired about that investigation again."

Ye Bingwen put down the cup in his hand.

"I had someone follow that car all the way to the county town, and then we stopped. But I asked an acquaintance at the county town's guesthouse."

"Three people checked into the hotel that day; they registered with work IDs from the Provincial Department of Industry. I wrote down their names."

Liu Yongqiang took a piece of paper out of his pocket.

Ye Bingwen glanced at him and saw that it was a man named Sun Cheng. But since he was from the Provincial Department of Industry, the root of the problem was still with Ma Li.

"How many days did they stay?"

"Two days. The first day I went to Daxing Village, and the second day I went to the town."

Liu Yongqiang paused.

"Bingwen, they also asked about Xiaojun."

Ye Bingwen frowned.

"What do you want to ask Xiaojun?"

"They asked Xiaojun how he got into your factory, what skills he learned, and how well he was doing. They also asked what his relationship with Xiaojun was."

Ye Bingwen remained silent for a few seconds.

Liu Xiaojun was brought over from Daxing Village by him. He was smart, hardworking, and quick to learn.

The fact that Ma Li's people traced him back to him indicates that the other party was conducting a comprehensive investigation and was not letting go of anyone connected with Ye Bingwen.

"Don't worry about Xiaojun. He's with me at the factory, and there's nothing shameful about him."

"I know. But I'm telling you this so you're aware of what I'm talking about."

Liu Yongqiang finished drinking the water.

"Alright, the payment's been delivered. I'm off. I still have a lot of things to do back in the countryside."

Ye Bingwen saw him off at the factory gate.

Back in his office, Ye Bingwen opened the ledger and looked at it.

The old factory in the countryside has finished its orders. The profit is not much, but it's enough to keep it running.

He put the ledger away and then continued reviewing the mechanics of materials.

At 4:30 p.m., Ye Bingwen went to the construction site of the new factory.

Director Sun stood on the roof of the factory building, directing the workers to lay the roof panels.

The main structure has been erected.

Ye Bingwen stood below, looking up.

Six months ago, this place was an empty lot overgrown with weeds.

Now, an 800-square-meter factory building is taking shape.

"Xiao Ye!"

Director Sun poked his head out from the roof of the factory building.

"The roof panels will be laid by tomorrow! We'll start installing doors and windows the day after!"

"Director Sun, thank you for your hard work!"

"What's so hard about it! Getting paid for work is only fair!"

Ye Bingwen smiled.

Although Director Sun is conservative, he is an excellent worker.

After leaving the construction site, he took a walk around the old factory buildings.

Master Li and two workers are rushing to finish the last batch of orders; most of the 150 military items have already been completed.

The rest will definitely be submitted by the end of the month.

"Mr. Li, after you finish this batch of orders, take a couple of days off. We'll move the equipment once the ground at the new factory is finished."

Ye Bingwen called Master Li aside and gave him a few instructions.

"Move the equipment? Move everything over there?"

"We'll move the press and two old milling machines over there. We'll keep an old lathe in the old factory building for odd jobs."

Master Li nodded and didn't ask any further questions.

When Ye Bingwen returned to his office, it was almost dark.

He opened his textbook and continued doing the exercises.

He has already done more than 30 problems in the chapter on applications of definite integrals in advanced mathematics, but there are still some problem types that he is not very familiar with.

An'an pushed the door open and came in.

Zheng Shuyun followed behind, carrying a thermos in her hand.

"dad!"

An'an ran over and climbed up the table, clinging to the edge.

"Mom made braised pork!"

Ye Bingwen quickly picked her up and placed her on his lap.

"Was An'an a good girl today?"

"Sweetie! I drew a picture at kindergarten, and my teacher praised me!"

"What is being drawn?"

"It's a drawing of Dad's factory! A big building, lots of machines!"

"An'an is great."

Ye Bingwen lowered his head and kissed his daughter's little face.

Zheng Shuyun placed the thermos on the table, opened the lid, and the aroma of braised pork wafted out.

"Eat first, then review."

Ye Bingwen picked up his chopsticks, took a piece of meat, and put it in his mouth.

An'an watched longingly from the side, and he smiled as he picked up another piece and fed it to his daughter.

The family of three sat around an old desk, eating braised pork, with An'an chattering away about kindergarten.

Outside the window, a light was still on at the construction site of the new factory.

Director Sun was still working overtime, and the intermittent sound of the rivet gun could be heard in the night wind.

After finishing his meal, Ye Bingwen held An'an in his arms and continued reading his textbook.

An'an sat obediently on her father's lap, drawing on the table with her little hands.

Zheng Shuyun was reading an English book nearby, occasionally glancing up at the father and daughter.