Binjiang Police Affairs
Chapter 60 - 56 Late Arrival?

Chapter 60: Chapter 56 Late Arrival?

As long as there are Friendship Stores, it’s no rare thing for people to privately find others to exchange Foreign Exchange Certificates, even many from the Port Authority exchange them through various channels.

However, people exchange Foreign Exchange Certificates in order to shop at Friendship Stores or foreign-related stores like the Sailor Club, to buy imported goods that aren’t available in other stores.

If it were just for consumption, the relevant departments generally turn a blind eye.

But if someone profited from this, it wouldn’t just be illegal, but also suspected of being criminal.

Therefore, Han Yu had no sympathy for the two suspects who might come to exchange Foreign Exchange Certificates.

Considering that the two suspects might really show up, and they would likely move around near the Friendship Store and Sailor Club, Old Liu simply asked Huang Jiangsheng to sit in the Volga Sedan driven by the Criminal Investigation Department investigator Liu Guixiang, to observe the passersby across the Friendship Store.

Staff Xiao from the Propaganda Department of the Port Authority sat in the "rabbit head" driven by Deputy Director Zhou of the Criminal Investigation Department, and stationed at the entrance of the Sailor Club, while Han Yu followed Old Liu into the Friendship Store.

The store had lots of products that dazzled the eyes, with the most popular being the imported goods counter.

These years, the rich are truly rich.

Old Liu’s daughter is getting married on the New Year’s Day, needing preparation of the "three big items".

Daughters from rich families also need to prepare the "three big items" for marriage, but not bicycles, sewing machines, and watches, but refrigerators, color TVs, and washing machines!

And even richer families not only prepare these "three big items" but also imported ones.

Old Liu couldn’t afford them; even if he could, he couldn’t buy them without the Foreign Exchange Certificates, but looking was free.

He stopped in front of a Japanese imported color TV, his eyes filled with envy.

Han Yu felt a little embarrassed and tugged his sleeve: "Uncle Liu, let’s go."

"Oh."

Old Liu came to his senses, walked to the door and then couldn’t help looking back again, secretly sighing that if he could buy one for his daughter’s dowry, it would be very prestigious.

Han Yu understood his feelings and was wondering what to say when a bespectacled young man approached.

"Comrade, do you have Foreign Exchange Certificates?"

"What for."

"To exchange. If you have some, I want to exchange them, we can discuss how."

Old Liu looked around and asked in a low voice: "What do you need the Foreign Exchange Certificates for, to buy things?"

The young man scratched his neck, looking embarrassed: "I want to take the TOEFL, can’t register without Foreign Exchange Certificates."

Old Liu asked perplexedly: "Whose fortune, TOEFL still need registration and exams?"

Obviously, he had been in Bailong Port for too long and was a bit out of touch with the times.

Just now he seemed like a country bumpkin, now he didn’t even know what TOEFL is.

Han Yu couldn’t help but laugh: "Uncle Liu, TOEFL is an English exam. To go abroad, you need to take the TOEFL first, and you can’t go abroad if you don’t pass."

The store had all sorts of goods, but money couldn’t buy them.

Old Liu was already feeling a bit upset, he asked with a straight face: "Isn’t staying in China good, why go abroad?"

"..."

A speech mismatch leads to an extra word.

The young man didn’t want to explain, adjusted his glasses, and turned to leave.

Han Yu didn’t expect that even registering for the TOEFL exam required Foreign Exchange Certificates, and was about to suggest going to the intersection ahead when a few more people gathered around asking for Foreign Exchange Certificates.

"If I had any, I would have gone in to shop already, how could I exchange them with you..."

Old Liu was annoyed, patted Han Yu on the shoulder: "Salted Fish, doesn’t your sister work at the Sailor Club? Want to go see her?"

Han Yu had long wanted to see his sister, grinning he said: "Sure, let’s go see her."

"Wait for me inside when you find your sister, I’ll wait for you in the hall."

"Okay."

The two walked leisurely to the entrance of the Sailor Club, but outside here too, someone was asking for Foreign Exchange Certificates.

Old Liu couldn’t be bothered with them and went inside to browse the store.

The Sailor Club store wasn’t as big as the Friendship Store and didn’t have imported TVs, refrigerators, washing machines, and other home appliances.

Mainly imported food like cigarettes, wine, milk powder, chocolate, as well as domestic high-end tobacco and alcohol like Moutai, Jian Nan Chun, Fen Jiu, and Zhonghua, all of which required Foreign Exchange Certificates to buy.

Han Yu saw that he liked to look at these things and didn’t want to spoil his mood, so he left him and headed straight to the front desk.

"Sister Xu, you’re on duty today."

"San’er, haven’t seen you in a while, you coming to see your sister?"

"Yeah, is my sister here?"

"She took several days off last week, this week she’s been working every day, definitely on the second floor, go find her yourself."

"Alright, thanks."

The sister at the front desk was very pretty, friendly, and spoke fluent English, but Han Yu thought she wasn’t as good-looking as Lin Xiaohui.

Han Yu thanked her and confidently headed to the western building where the guest rooms were located.

Han Ning was busy cleaning the bathroom, seeing her brother come by, surprised she asked: "It’s not Sunday today, why did you come back?"

"Came to do something."

"What is it?"

"Official business."

"Does Director Xu know?"

"He’s the one who asked me to come."

"When are you going back?" Han Ning went into the washroom and turned on the tap to wash her hands.

Han Yu leaned against the door smiling: "Not sure, when I’ll go back depends on how the business is handled."

Han Ning walked out of the restroom, rummaged through a small trolley filled with various items, and handed over a pack of biscuits to him.

"I took four days off last week, so I need to make up for those shifts in the next few days. Later, I’ll give you the keys, and you can head back home directly. If you have time in the afternoon, help me pick up Dongdong from the daycare."

"I have a place to stay tonight, so I won’t be going to your place, and I probably won’t have time to pick up Dongdong."

"Where are you staying tonight?"

After a couple of bites of the biscuits, Han Yu replied proudly, "I’m staying at the Port Authority guesthouse."

Han Ning couldn’t help but laugh, "Not bad, although it’s not as nice as our place here, it still costs quite a few bucks a night."

As he was on a secret mission, Han Yu didn’t want to say too much. Curiously, he looked at the newly placed biscuits and fruits, "Sis, do we have foreign guests tonight?"

"We had them yesterday and the day before too."

Picking up a cloth, Han Ning efficiently wiped the TV while smiling, "These past few days I’ve been so busy with accommodating the foreign guests from the Ship Agency companies. The rooms downstairs were booked by the Ship Agencies, and the ones I’m cleaning now too. They said that there’s a foreign vessel docking today."

Even his sister, a room service employee, knew about it; it seemed that the arrival of foreign vessels at the port wasn’t a secret.

Just as Han Yu was wondering what to say, someone in the corridor started calling for a service worker.

"Coming, hello, what can I do for you?"

"Service worker, sorry about this, but I locked the keys inside the room when I went out."

"Which room are you staying in?"

"218."

"I remember now, you must be Miss Shen, you checked in the day before yesterday, right?"

"Yes, I’ve been staying for two days already. I just went out for a meal and forgot to bring the keys."

Han Ning dug through the mass of keys tied to a metal ring in the trolley, located the one marked with ’218’, and prepared to go help the stylish-looking lady in her thirties unlock the door when a short and chubby male guest burped loudly as he walked over.

"Ru Lan, isn’t the door open yet?"

The female guest turned around and said, "What’s the rush? I just found the service worker."

"Ah Sheng, why don’t you come over to my room for a bit?"

"Sure, let’s have a smoke at your place first."

After stepping out from the room, Han Yu saw a tall and thin middle-aged male guest with a long face and glasses standing at the door of room 216.

Then, looking back at the man who had just spoken, a thirty-something-year-old, short and chubby, with a big black mole on his chin adorned with several strands of hair!

From the accent, he was from the East Sea!

Except for the presence of an additional woman, everything else perfectly matched the description given by Huang Jiangsheng.

It was like finding what you’re searching for without any effort when least expected.

Han Yu’s heart thumped excitedly; he couldn’t believe he ran into them here and kept reminding himself to stay calm.

After helping with the door, Han Ning returned and saw Han Yu looking foolish, and asked puzzledly, "San’er, what are you thinking about?"

"Nothing much."

Regaining his composure, Han Yu asked out of curiosity, "Sis, they’re not foreign guests, why are they staying here?"

"Our place doesn’t only host foreign guests. Besides, we don’t get that many foreign vessels docking throughout the year."

"So anyone with money can stay here?"

"Yeah, but it’s expensive to stay here for a night, not everyone can afford it."

Han Ning gave a subtle smile and pointed towards those two rooms, "They came from the East Sea. People from the East Sea have money; three people booked two rooms and have been staying for several days!"

It seems they are planning to make a big investment for a big reward, by taking advantage of their proximity to the dock.

Han Yu steadied his emotions and casually inquired, "Sis, is this floor fully booked?"

"With such high prices, how could it be full? There are several empty rooms."

"What about the first floor?"

"The first floor is fully booked; over a dozen guests are here for a meeting in Binjiang, and there are seven foreign sailors, one of them seems to be a Captain, but they’re going to check out soon."

That’s not right, from information previously gathered, there should only be one foreign vessel docking this month.

Unable to contain his curiosity, Han Yu asked, "Sis, how many foreign vessels are docking?"

"Just one."

"Where are those foreign sailors from downstairs?"

"They’re probably from East Sea. I heard the Captain and a few sailors from the vessel that’s docking today are going on leave. The ones downstairs came two days early to wait; as soon as the ship arrives, they’ll board and change shifts."

He had been so focused on inquiring about the ship’s schedule that he’d forgotten to ask about such an important matter as crew change!

Realizing he might be too late, Han Yu chatted absentmindedly with his sister for a bit more, then excused himself to make a phone call and hurried downstairs. He pulled Old Liu, who was still looking at famous tobacco and liquor brands at the counter, out of the club and anxiously shared his discovery in the guest room department.

"Such a coincidence?" Old Liu asked incredulously.

"I didn’t expect it at all. Just stumbled upon them."

"Do you mean that they might have already gotten the Foreign Exchange Certificates from those early foreign sailors?"

"It’s very likely."

"This is important; you go back in and keep an eye on them, I’ll report to Director Zhang and Director Jiang using the walkie-talkie in the car."

"Okay, I’m heading back."

Han Yu shared the extension number of the duty room on the second floor of the guest room department with Old Liu. He then re-entered the Sailor Club and found his sister, who had made her way to room 209.

Han Ning looked puzzled. "I thought you were off to do something, how come you’re back so soon?"

Helping her move the vacuum cleaner to the side, Han Yu smiled and said, "I just went down to make a phone call. They said their leader was in a meeting and told me to come back later."

Thinking of her brother who had been on a business trip to East Sea alone a few days ago, Han Ning asked without thinking, "Were you getting someone’s help with your unit’s vessel procedures?"

"Yeah, dealing with paperwork is a hassle."

"Tugs may be small, but they are still vessels, and vessel procedures are of course a hassle. You think it’s like our family’s cement boat, you just go to the Transportation Bureau, find someone to talk to, pay the fee, and get it done."