Binjiang Police Affairs
Chapter 162 - 131: Late Night Escort

Chapter 162: Chapter 131: Late Night Escort

After entering the main waterway, a new situation was discovered.

Some freighters engaged in water transport, seeing so many boats fishing for eel larvae, also followed suit and cast their nets, fortunately concentrating mainly at the river mouth, sluice gates, and anchorages, which did not greatly affect the passage of the passenger ship convoy.

When sailing near Liuhe Port, the situation became quite serious.

The radar screen was crowded with bright spots; unexpectedly, there were forty or fifty eel fishing boats brazenly interweaving through the waterway, severely disrupting the navigational order and affecting the nearby waterway environment.

If it weren’t for the Supervision Boat deployed by the Port Supervision Station at Liuhe Port that came to assist, and the Bai Liu, which had fired four flares, turned on the police lights, and sounded the siren with stern warnings at a critical time, the Bai Liu passenger ship would not have been able to enter the port.

The subsequent journey was much smoother.

Bai Shen, Bai Wu, and Bai Zhuang also had radars on board, and their larger ships and taller antennas gave them a much greater detection range than 001.

The Captains, Chief Officer, and Second Officer were all very familiar with the waterway conditions. As soon as they detected any vessels that might affect safe navigation, they would use the intercom to inform 001 and request 001 to check what was happening.

"001 calling Bai Shen, Bai Zhuang, Bai Wu, the eel fishing boats occupying the waterway have been cleared, over!"

"Bai Shen received, over."

"Bai Zhuang has seen, over!

"Bai Wu received, over!"

Han Yu put down the intercom and, holding the steering wheel, said: "Director Xu, it’s almost two o’clock, why don’t you go down and rest for a while."

"No rush, I’ll keep watch a little longer."

Xu Sanye glanced at the radar display and emerged from behind the curtain, sighing softly: "It seems that as long as we don’t seize boats, collect nets, impose fines, or make arrests, simply turning on the police lights, sounding the sirens, launching a few flares, and shouting a warning, they will obediently clear the waterway."

Han Yu smiled bitterly: "The New Year is just around the corner, in such cold weather, these folks don’t even celebrate the New Year. They risk their lives to catch eel larvae on the river to make money, not to confront us."

"A peaceful approach brings wealth?"

"Something like that."

"Salted Fish, that view of yours is dangerous. We have radar. Imagine if we didn’t—just how many collisions there would have been these past few hours."

"I was just saying."

Director Xu had strong principles, and Han Yu didn’t dare joke around any longer, quickly changing the subject: "Director Xu, you could send Uncle Zhu to assist the Fourth Squad with the case, but why also send Xiao Yu? With his big mouth, he can’t keep anything secret."

Thinking about how well Old Qian had disciplined Xiao Yu into honesty, Xu Sanye couldn’t help but smile: "That’s exactly why I sent him, because he doesn’t know what should or shouldn’t be said. That’s why I had him assist the Fourth Squad with the case."

"Aren’t you afraid he’ll mess up the Fourth Squad’s work?"

"What is Xu Mingyuan there for? If he didn’t consider this, what’s the point of him being squad leader?"

The elder brothers in the squad were indeed formidable. Being a newcomer, Han Yu could think of this, and certainly, the elder brothers would have thought of this too.

Han Yu was silent for a moment, then asked: "Director Xu, you sent Director Yu and Captain Chen to investigate the case, they only know how to write reports and seem never to have handled cases before."

Being left out of cases involving gangsters monopolizing the loading and unloading of goods at the inland river terminal, and not being included in the current cases of speculation and even smuggling...

Xu Sanye realized the young man might be feeling left out and asked with a smile: "Salted fish, are you envious that Uncle Zhu and Xiao Yu get to work on cases with Xu Mingyuan and the others?"

"A bit, I might be an intern, but I am also a police officer. Even Ma Jintao gets to handle cases, so why can’t I?"

Xu Sanye didn’t directly address this but instead smiled and said: "My son, Xu Haoran, won’t be coming home for the winter vacation this year as he’s staying at school for some training, and he wrote me a letter a few days ago."

Xu Haoran, his son, was thought to have entered a local college but later was found to have been admitted to a military academy, attending university was effectively enlisting.

Han Yu had seen his son’s photo, a tall young man just like him, wearing a military uniform and holding a gun, quite imposing, though he hadn’t expected him to bring up his son all of a sudden.

"Our Police Bureau is strapped for cash, and their school isn’t well-funded either, but they still intend to improve the food for the students and the Guard Company staying over the New Year - only with full stomachs can homesickness be kept at bay."

"And then?"

"Their school has a fish pond. The school leaders decided to drain it and catch the fish for the New Year’s feast. But as you know, a fish pond can’t be completely drained, and while many fish are visible, they’re all in the muddy bottom water. They’re not fishermen and lacked the tools, leaving them quite befuddled."

Xu Sanye paused for a moment before continuing: "It’s colder there than here. Just when they saw the fish but couldn’t catch them, one student took off his trousers, grabbed a bucket, and without a second thought, plunged into the icy cold pond with his bare hands.

Seeing their classmate go in, the rest couldn’t just stand by, so they gritted their teeth and also dived in without trousers. With over a hundred students working together, they quickly caught the fish.

The school leaders were very pleased and praised the first student who jumped in, deciding to award him a commendation. Going forward, his chances of joining the party and other things will also be prioritized."

Han Yu was confused, not understanding why he was being told all this.

Xu Sanye smiled and, looking at a distant cargo ship approaching, said: "Xu Haoran couldn’t grasp this, he wrote in his letter that they also went in and got cold, even catching more fish than the first student. Why did the school only praise the first one and not them?"

Han Yu unconsciously said: "Because he was the first to go in."

"That’s just the simple truth I wrote back to him. No matter what you do, always strive to be the first. If that guy hadn’t led the way, would they have jumped in?"

It’s the same for our police station; why are we better than other stations? It’s because we’re not afraid of hardship or difficulty, always the first into the Yangtze River."

Xu Sanye patted his shoulder, persuading gently, "Salted Fish, it’s the same for you. The bureau has plenty of officers who can handle cases. But officers who can operate and repair boats and are familiar with the river conditions, the bureau only has you!"

Han Yu muttered, "So what."

"That’s your advantage, you know—play to your strengths, don’t you understand? If it’s about public security management or criminal investigation, we surely can’t compete with those professionally trained. But if it’s about water police services, even ten of them combined can’t match you."

"Oh."

"You know, you are the future chief of Yanjiang Police Station, you are going to take over my place. Being a chief is different from being just an officer, leading by example at crucial moments is necessary, but you don’t have to do everything yourself. You need to learn how to command, to lead others, let them do the work."

This kid lacks a bit of confidence...

Xu Sanye thought he should offer some praise and immediately shifted his tone, "The Dunship, 001, and 002 have been managed very well by you, Captain Wang, Old Zhu, and Xiao Yu all respect you. As long as you are on the boat, even Director Yu and Chen Zikun have to listen to you, that’s leadership."

Thinking about it, Han Yu couldn’t help but smile as he truly was in charge on the boat.

Xu Sanye patted him again on the shoulder, "Keep up the good work, keep it up. Not only will Yanjiang Police Station rely on you in the future, but even the Water Police Division of the Director Yu will depend on you."

"Director Xu, your expectations of me are too high..."

"We have confidence in you, you should have confidence in yourself."

"Yes."

"I’m going downstairs to take a nap; let your real sister come up and keep you company."

"No need to call her, I can manage alone."

"That won’t do, it’s easy to get drowsy at night while sailing, there must be someone keeping watch."

"Alright."

Considering the prolonged operation ahead, the crew on the boat was divided into two groups.

Han Yu, Han Xiangning, and Lv Xiangping formed one group, Captain Wang, the director, and Liu Xinpei formed the other, switching shifts every two hours.

Since there was no mechanical engineer, Han Yu and Captain Wang could not rest in the crew’s cabin and had to rest in the engine room instead.

As the driver fully involved in the maintenance and modifications, even if he fell asleep in the engine room, he could quickly notice anything wrong if he heard strange noises from the main or auxiliary engine.

Han Yu pulled back the curtain and peered at the Water Depth Detector’s computer monitor, calculating how long it would take to reach Zhuangming Port waters, when his senior sister, wearing a military coat, squeezed through the door.

"San’er, are you hungry?"

"Can you not call me by my nickname?"

"Alright, alright, I won’t. Are you hungry? There’s food downstairs, should I get you a bowl?"

"Not hungry."

"Then I’ll help you monitor the radar and the water depth."

"Okay."

While they were talking, a cargo ship seen earlier passed about a hundred meters away from the port side, causing a wave that rocked 001.

Han Yu, holding onto the steering wheel, anxiously asked, "Sister Xiang Ning, how are things at the Binjiang side?"

Han Xiangning, sitting in the corner and looking at the radar monitor, helplessly said, "Not good."

"What do you mean by ’not good’?"

"The Traffic Control Center reported that a foreign ship docked at No.3 Pier was scheduled to set sail at midnight but is unable to leave because it’s surrounded by groups of boats illegally fishing for eel fry.

There is also a cargo ship from Hong Kong anchored in the Wusong Water Area, encircled by boats illegally fishing for eel fry; the pilot’s boat can’t get close, so it had to return to the anchorage."

"So the dispatch plan for Binjiang Port is completely disrupted."

"The Port Authority is suffering big losses, and the shipowners even more so."

Han Xiangning rubbed her eyes, chuckled bitterly, and added, "The Traffic Control Center said the foreign captain, using a satellite phone to ask the Ship Agency, wondered if this was still a primary shipping waterway or had it become a fishing ground, making us a laughingstock internationally."

This kind of situation also happened last year; it’s hard to say how long this big battle for eels will last.

Han Yu sighed silently and further inquired, "How about on the East Sea side?"

"The situation in the East Sea is even worse than here, because they have more passenger and cargo ships entering and leaving the port. The Traffic Control Center mentioned that an oil tanker, returning from Gen’an Port in Japan to Jiangyin, was fully loaded with 20,000 tons of heavy oil and just entered the North Waterway Light Buoy Area. To avoid a small fishing boat blatantly fishing for eel fry, in a moment of urgency, they had to drop both anchors."

"Dropping anchors suddenly is very dangerous for such a large ship, were there any accidents?"

"There was an accident; the anchor machine was damaged, the main engine stopped, the ship lost control, and a 180-meter-long oil tanker ended up sideways in the waterway, nearly colliding with another large ship following behind."