Binjiang Police Affairs
Chapter 166 - 135: Someone Else’s Child

Chapter 166: Chapter 135: Someone Else’s Child

At 7:45 in the morning, Wang Xiangguang came to the Binjiang Port Passenger Pier to see off a friend.

Unexpectedly, from just after seven o’clock, he had been waiting until eleven in the noon, and even though more than three hours had passed since the departure time, tickets had yet to be checked, causing passengers to grumble with complaints, and Wang Xiangguang also grew increasingly anxious.

Seeing a policewoman walking by, he approached her and asked, "Comrade, these days following the holiday, Changhang Passenger Transport should be in its off-season, with fewer ships on the river; why are there delays?"

"There are not a few ships on the river, lots of eel fishing boats; they’re blocking the waterway, so the passenger ships really can’t get through."

"The Yangtze River is not the sea, this is a waterway not a fishing ground; what are the eel boats doing here?"

"Fishing for eel fry."

"Aren’t eels supposed to live in the sea; how come there are some in the river?"

"Eels do live in the sea, but eel fry migrate every year."

Han Ning was supposed to be off today, but because several passenger ships were delayed for several hours again, and with many passengers inside and outside the waiting room, she had no choice but to stay and continue her duty.

Although Wang Xiangguang works in Binjiang and has his home set up here, he was completely unaware of this information and asked, "Comrade, could you let me go to the riverbank and have a look?"

The gate from the waiting room to the dock’s floating bridge couldn’t be easily opened; otherwise, the already impatiently waiting passengers might mistake it for the start of ticket checking.

"It’s no use looking, you’d better just wait patiently. When it’s time to check tickets, the staff will make a broadcast announcement."

Han Ning, having already explained the reasons for the late ships until she was hoarse and after working over twenty consecutive hours, was naturally not in the best of spirits.

The more Wang Xiangguang thought about it, the stranger it seemed, and he felt the need to have a clear understanding, so he plainly revealed his identity: "Comrade, I’m not a passenger. My surname is Wang, and my name is Wang Xiangguang, a reporter from the Binjiang People’s Broadcasting Station, News Department. Please help me, let me take a look by the river."

A reporter!

Han Ning was startled and quickly asked, "Reporter Wang, do you have your credentials?"

"I came to see someone off, and forgot to bring them."

"Without a work ID, I... I..."

"You should have a phone in the police office, right? Could you call my unit to verify my identity?"

Reporters are the Crownless King; they are formidable, and if you don’t cooperate, they might write you into a news report.

Then, thinking that the situation on the river really needed to be exposed, Han Ning looked around and whispered, "Reporter Wang, we can’t open the door to the ticket-checking area, but I can take you around through our duty room."

"Thank you."

"Don’t mention it."

Wang Xiangguang nodded to his friend and followed Han Ning into the police duty room. They exited through the back door to the riverbank, and the scene before him stunned him.

It was high tide, and countless large and small boats were vying to drop anchor and set their nets in the main and secondary waterways and around the dock. Despite the traffic boats from the Binjiang Port Police Station warning them, and despite the passenger ships sounding their horns, they refused to make way.

He calmed his mind and asked in a low voice, "Comrade, what’s your surname, and what’s your name?"

"My surname is Han, and my name is Han Ning."

"Which ’Ning’ is that?"

"The ’Ning’ from ’peaceful,’ short for ’Jiangcheng.’"

"Comrade Han Ning, with the cold wind and icy waters, can so many people really catch eel fry by crowding over the river during the New Year?"

"Yes, they can."

"Nobody eats eels; how much could eel fry possibly be worth?"

"We might not like eating eels, but Japanese do. Exported to Japan, it’s very expensive. Eel fry can’t be bred artificially, only wild ones are available, and every year around this time, they migrate into the river, which is why these people all rush here to catch them."

Han Ning thought for a moment then added, "Eel fry are also very expensive, for one slightly thicker and longer than a needle, it can sell for three yuan."

Illegal fishing for eel fry has been exposed by the news media multiple times, but this has mostly occurred in coastal waters. The appearance of such a large-scale overfishing incident on the Yangtze River is indeed rare since the founding of the country.

Do the superiors know about this situation?

Can this situation be brought to light?

A series of question marks reminded Wang Xiangguang that he must not let go of this potentially major news topic that could generate tremendous response. He hurried back to the waiting room to say a quick farewell to his friend and immediately rushed to the Port Authority to dig up something juicy.

However, since he forgot to bring his press ID, he was questioned by the duty personnel about whether he was really a reporter and what his intentions were in inquiring about the Changhang transportation situation.

With no other choice, he changed course to the city’s transport operation office, only to find that the ’Iron General’ was locking the door, and an old comrade said kindly, "Don’t you see it’s only the beginning of the year, who would be working today?"

Having hit a dead end, he had no option but to acknowledge his bad luck.

On the bike ride home, the more he thought about it, the more dejected he felt.

Usually, while in the editing department, he would look at the great articles written by big-time reporters from Xinhua News Agency and People’s Daily, always ignorant and unconvinced, telling himself that if he had a big story, he could also make a name for himself.

But now that he had stumbled upon a major story, why did he falter?

Could it be that due to the holiday making it impossible to find people, he’d admit defeat?

Thinking of this, Wang Xiangguang didn’t even go home but directly headed to the Fishery Command.

...

Meanwhile, Han Shuqun had just finished lunch at the invitation of Director Zhang Junyan from the Bailong Port Police Station, and returned to the Law Enforcement Rescue Boat at the Yanjiang Police Station to continue fixing the radar.

His wife, Xiang Fan, was watching television in the Dunship’s second floor command and control room, and their older daughter was teaching the younger one to operate Little Salted Fish’s light motorcycle on the river embankment.

Little Salted Fish, while assisting him, was also using the walkie-talkie to learn about the situation of 002 providing escort to the "Bainiu Line" passenger ship on the river surface.

"Uncle Zhu, was 901 the one that just departed?"

"Yes, yes, today there are many passengers visiting relatives, and the ship is packed."

Just not long ago, Bailong Port celebrated a Safe Production Hundred Days Campaign, and now they have begun a new round of striving for another hundred days of safe production.

The passenger ships running the "Bainiu Line," to be precise, ferries, sell tickets whenever there are passengers buying them, unlike Bai Shen, Bai Wu, and Bai Liu, which have a fixed number of cabin and seat tickets for sale.