Binjiang Police Affairs
Chapter 138 - 116: No Irresponsible Talk

Chapter 138: Chapter 116: No Irresponsible Talk

At 2:28 a.m., Xu Sanye and Li Weiguo returned to the Dunship.

Seeing that Master Zhou from the Bailong Port Shipyard and Master Zhou, who was asked to help from the ship lock management office, were actually dozing off in the first-floor duty room, and the 001 was unexpectedly missing, the two were shocked and quickly climbed up to the command and dispatch room on the second floor to ask what happened.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony was to be held tomorrow, and Sister Zhu didn’t want Zhang Lan and Han Xiangning to spend the night here, so she let the two girls rest an hour and a half ago; they were to sleep even if they couldn’t fall asleep.

As soon as she saw Xu Sanye, she quickly stood up and started talking about the rescue.

"The coal ship sank!"

"Based on the impact location reported by the captain and crew of Hexiang 9, the underwater scanning results described by Salted Fish, and the waterway conditions previously held by the Dacang Port Supervision Station, our Traffic Control Center judges that the sunken ship at the bottom of the river is most likely that coal ship."

Xu Sanye pressed on, "What about the people on the ship?"

This wild police station chief, though fond of "extortion," only "extorted" useful equipment, not money.

Considering the poor food quality at their station, he suggested on the second day of his arrival that the Port Supervision Bureau should take care of the food expenses.

He firmly disagreed, saying that supplying rice and food expenses was a matter of principle, and they could not just mooch off without offering anything in return, and certainly not cultivate the bad habit of freeloading among the officers.

He deemed human life more important than anything else; everything he did was to combat illegal crime on the river and firefighting rescues.

A few days ago, when he returned to the bureau to report his work, he learned about his past from Director Feng, and Sister Zhu respected him even more, reporting back like she would to a subordinate:

"All signs indicate that before the coal ship sank, it was either an engine failure or a rudder failure, and the crew must have been prepared to abandon the ship."

Xu Sanye took out a cigarette and stared at her closely, asking, "What signs?"

"Firstly, the heading was abnormal. If the captain and crew of Hexiang 9 didn’t lie – and they wouldn’t dare lie about this matter – then rather than saying Hexiang 9 hit it, it’s more like its bow suddenly swung over and hit Hexiang 9."

Sister Zhu paused for a moment before continuing, "Also, the wind was so strong on the river, and the weather was so cold, if they were sailing normally, no matter how thick the fog, they would at most arrange for one crew member to keep watch at the bow. But the captain and crew of Hexiang 9 reported that they saw at least two people falling into the water."

Concerned more about his own subordinates than Hexiang 9 and the sunken coal ship, Li Weiguo anxiously asked, "Director Zhu, what about Salted Fish and Captain Wang?"

"They led the Dacang Port Supervision Station’s summoned port tug to the accident waters, found Hexiang 9 already tilted to thirty degrees on the port side, helped locate a shallow area with the newly installed Water Depth Detector where Hexiang 9 could ground without endangering the port tug, and then they headed towards Wusong Port to search for the overboard crew members of the coal ship."

"Can the radio contact them?"

"They’re too far away, our radio can’t reach them, but the Traffic Control Center can."

"Director Zhu, could you please ask the Traffic Control Center to get in touch with them for us?"

Without waiting for Sister Zhu to speak, Xu Sanye turned around and said, "Old Li, they’re busy; let’s not add to their troubles."

"The wind is so strong outside; I hope Salted Fish and the others won’t run into trouble," Li Weiguo said with concern.

"Salted Fish is not a careless youngster, and with Captain Wang there, what trouble could they be in?" Xu Sanye lit his cigarette and turned around to ask, "Director Zhu, how is Hexiang 9 doing now?"

"It’s grounded, and the tug from Dacang Port has straightened out the ship’s body, so there’s no immediate danger of capsizing. The Traffic Control Center said the wind is gradually decreasing, and after it lightens up at daybreak and the fog clears, they will organize other ships for rescue."

"That’s good to hear. Now it’s up to Salted Fish and Captain Wang, to see if they can find any survivors from the coal ship."

If they’re lucky, they might really find someone.

Once, three crew members fell into the water at Zhangjia Port, and the bureau’s law enforcement boat launched an immediate search, finding them all the way in Wusong Water Area and successfully rescued them.

But at that time, it was during the day, and the wind wasn’t as strong.

Now, in the coldest time, once a person falls into the freezing river, they can hold on for at most fifteen minutes.

Passing that fifteen-minute mark, even if you manage to pull them up, they’re likely to be cold corpses.

In short, once someone falls into the water, the chances of survival are slim.

If it were that easy to rescue, during a collision in the Binjiang Port Waters in May of ’87, out of over a hundred people who fell into the water, they wouldn’t have only been able to save six.

Sister Zhu didn’t know how to answer, so instead, she asked, "Director Xu, how did the night’s operation go?"

"Very smoothly; we arrested more than twenty criminals."

"What kind of criminals?"

"Gangsters entrenched in more than a dozen docks along the inland rivers, they bullied and dominated the market, especially targeting foreign cargo ships and even fleets. Just in Four Factory Town alone, we caught three of them; they used violence to monopolize the loading and unloading of cotton bales. Because the victims were all from out of town and nobody reported it, they had been getting away with it until today."

"They even dared to monopolize the loading and unloading of cotton headed to the Fourth Textile Factory!"

"That’s why they were so brazen; we must crack down hard."

The Fourth Textile Factory was too famous; Four Factory Town was named after it.

The Binjiang Old City has a moat, and the Fourth Textile Factory has a factory protection river!

The factory spans several thousand acres, and with several thousand employees, it’s one of the leading enterprises in China’s textile industry; several ministers from the Ministry of Textile Industry have come to inspect it.

It is said that in earlier years, there was a railway leading to Bailong Port, with a dedicated small train that would transport cotton yarn and cloth there to be shipped out, then sold in the East Sea.

Sister Zhu had always wanted to visit the clock tower of the Fourth Textile Factory, but she never expected the docks of the Fourth Textile Factory to actually be controlled by the underworld.

She steadied herself and asked, "What about Director Yu and Xiao Chen?"

"Director Yu went back to Binjiang overnight, planning to come here early tomorrow morning with Director Zhong. Xiao Chen and the others are at the Criminal Investigation Fourth Squad, watching over the gang members we just arrested and taking the opportunity to learn how interrogations are conducted there."

"All the criminals are kept at the Fourth Squad?"

"No, only five are kept at the Fourth Squad, the rest are at several other newly established Criminal Investigation Squads."

Talking about the case they were investigating, Xu Sanye remembered something: "Director Zhu, I was just about to ask for your help."

Sister Zhu responded anxiously, "Director Xu, don’t mention it; if there’s anything you need, just let me know."

"Our Transportation Bureau’s Port Supervision Stations have set up ship visa checkpoints at several major docks, with records of visas for foreign ships, and the docks also have records of foreign merchant ship names and numbers.

However, if we want to build a solid case for the one we’re investigating, we need to locate the victims. But these ships are here today, gone tomorrow. We not only can’t get in touch with them, we don’t even know where to start looking."

"Leave it to us. We’ll keep an eye out ourselves and also ask the Yangtze River Port and Navigation Supervision Bureau to help. As long as these ships engage in transport on the Yangtze River Mainline, we will find them. But this will take time, we have to wait for them to enter the port for their visas."

"That’s great, thank you so much."

"Director Xu, you’re too polite. We’re all one family; family doesn’t need to stand on ceremony."

"Alright, then I won’t stand on ceremony with you."

Xu Sanye lifted his arm to check his watch, then with a smile asked, "Did you just say Wang Xiazhi also boarded the ship?"

Sister Zhu asked in confusion, "Who is Wang Xiazhi, Director Xu? I really don’t know."

"He’s Director Wang from our office’s Political Work Office."

"Salted Fish didn’t let him board, and I advised him not to go either, but he insisted on boarding, determined to follow."

"He’s just trying to weasel his way out. He must’ve been worried that the 001’s rescue mission, followed by the commissioning ceremony at dawn, would fail, and he’d have nothing to report to the leadership. So, he simply made a sneaky getaway."

Sister Zhu, unaware that Director Wang had this nickname, laughed, "I didn’t know that. He’s probably just worried about Salted Fish."

Xu Sanye said bitterly, "That’s a good excuse. Seems he’s taken his slippery skills up a notch."

It’s said that one’s dirty laundry should not be aired in public, and it was inappropriate to speak like this in front of someone from the Port Supervision Bureau.

Li Weiguo immediately patted his arm: "Director Xu, it’s nearly 3 a.m. There are activities to deal with after dawn; you should rest earlier."

Sister Zhu saw that his relationship with Director Wang might not be very good and couldn’t help but laugh: "Director Xu, Director Wang must be regretting tagging along right now."

"Regret? What happened to him?"

"The main waterway is stormy, Director Jin said three hours ago on the radio that Director Wang was severely seasick, hugging Master Qian’s newly purchased plastic bucket vomiting again and again, almost puking out his bile. Later, Old Zhu and Xiao Yu had to go on deck to look out for the search and rescue and could not look after him, so they tied him to a bunk in the crew cabin."

"Hahahaha!"

"Director Xu, what are you laughing at?"

"Wang Xiazhi, you finally got what’s coming. You wanted to board the ship? Now you get to enjoy it."

The more Xu Sanye thought about it, the more amusing he found it, picking up the walkie-talkie and shouting, "Master Zhou, it’s Xu Sanye, over."

"Director Xu, what is it?"

"Don’t we have canvas? There’s just the right amount of steel pipe in the storage room below. You rest for now, and when it’s light, make a stretcher."

"Make a stretcher for what? Who’s injured?"

"No one’s injured, it’s just someone with severe seasickness."

"Who?"

"Our bureau’s Director Wang. When the 001 is back, you’ll use the stretcher to carry him off. When 001 is about to return, I’ll contact Bailong Port Health Center again, asking them to arrange for two medical staff to come over, ready for resuscitation."

Master Zhou had been drowsy just a moment ago and thought he’d misheard due to grogginess, mumbling, "Director Xu, seasickness is indeed uncomfortable, but it’s not life-threatening."

"Director Wang is about to be sick out of his mind; we can’t ignore it!"

"Oh, alright, I’ll make a stretcher at daybreak."

Xu Sanye put down the walkie-talkie, turned, and looked at Sister Zhu: "It happened on our ship, I have to take responsibility; otherwise, I can’t explain it to the bureau, nor to his family."

Sister Zhu quickly said, "I used to get seasick too, throwing up is truly miserable; it harms the stomach and the body, and it takes days to recover. When Director Wang is back, we really should take him to the health center for some glucose."

Xu Sanye nodded and then reminded, "Old Li, after dawn, let’s have a meeting and give Chen Zikun and the others a gag order."

"What kind of gag order?"

"Director Wang is someone who cares about face. Don’t let them go around saying that the plastic bucket Director Wang hugged and threw up in is the manure bucket that Old Qian bought for spreading fertiliser on the fields. And certainly don’t let them say that before Old Qian even had a chance to use it for manure, these stinky boys used it as a piss pot at night when they were too cold and lazy to go out to urinate."