Binjiang Police Affairs
Chapter 69 - 65: Plans Cannot Keep Up with Changes

Chapter 69: Chapter 65: Plans Cannot Keep Up with Changes

The best-laid plans often go awry.

Han Yu was about to make a call to his sister when the political security police responsible for monitoring reported via walkie-talkie to Director Hu that the scalper had told Zhang Asheng it was impossible to get the tickets and emphasized repeatedly that it wasn’t a matter of money.

It was normal for the scalper to not get hold of tickets.

Because Binjiang Port, unlike Bailong Port, didn’t have a dedicated passenger line to and from East Sea. The two ferries docking at the port each day, the "Jiang Shen" and "Jiang Han", run between East Sea and Hanwu.

There are over a dozen ports upstream, and if they have sold out their tickets, Binjiang Port won’t have any left.

The same goes for those coming from East Sea; if there are more buyers for tickets to Yangzhou, Jiangcheng, Wuhu, Jiujiang, Hanwu, and other places, they won’t sell short-haul tickets to Binjiang.

Due to the extreme scarcity of ferry tickets, it was said that even city leaders going to Jiangcheng for a meeting had to ask someone to book their tickets several days in advance.

Although Binjiang Port Police Station wasn’t part of the Changhang navigation police, it was still part of the Port and Navigation System, and they were well acquainted with captains, political commissioners, and onboard police – they could get on board even without tickets.

It would be troublesome for the three suspects if they couldn’t get tickets; it was impossible to help them reach out for connections.

Director Chen and others frowned with concern when the call from the political security police came through the walkie-talkie again.

"Director Hu, Director Hu, Zhang Asheng is making another call, now he’s contacting a shipyard in Bailong Port, asking them to look for a person from East Sea named Huang Jiangsheng."

"Did they find him?"

"Not yet, the shipyard’s duty staff went to call him. He just hung up, saying he’d call back in ten minutes."

Director Chen looked up and asked, "Who is Huang Jiangsheng?"

Director Hu was stumped by the question, and Director Jiang, Deputy Director Zhou, Old Liu, and Liu Guixiang subconsciously turned to Han Yu.

Han Yu hurriedly said, "Huang Jiangsheng is a security activist at the Yanjiang Police Station; he provided the leads for the sale of Foreign Exchange Certificates by Ye, Zhang, and Shen. This morning, he helped us identify the three suspects."

"Where is he now?"

"He went back to Bailong Port this afternoon."

Thinking it over, Han Yu added: "Zhang Asheng is probably looking for Huang Jiangsheng to help buy ferry tickets, they might be planning to return to East Sea from Bailong Port."

They must do this favor for the three suspects, or all efforts would be in vain.

Director Chen took a deep breath and said, "Get in touch with Director Xu immediately, if they really are looking for Huang Jiangsheng to buy ferry tickets, have Huang Jiangsheng agree to help them. Junyan, contact the Bailong Port Passenger Pier right away, make it clear to them that they must reserve three ferry tickets no matter what."

"Yes!"

...

Following Director Zhang into an office, Han Yu quickly phoned his station.

Xu Sanye just happened to be on duty tonight and, upon understanding the situation, laughed and said, "After all that, it has come back to me. Relay to Director Chen, please reassure him, I’m heading to the shipyard right now."

"Director Xu, I’ll be going to East Sea with Director Chen shortly."

"Go ahead, get some worldly experience. Opportunities to catch foreign criminals aren’t common; I’ve never done it myself. "

"Director Xu, why don’t you go..."

"Why should I go? If I go, I’d have to listen to them. You can go, you’ll fully represent me!"

Thinking about it, that made sense – he was in charge of leading others.

In Linghai, he could afford not to give face to Director Yang.

But if he partook in the operation, he couldn’t fail to give face to Director Chen, after all, Director Chen was a Standard Department Level leader, on the same rank as the head of the City Bureau.

Han Yu dared not linger on the phone and quickly handed it to Director Zhang.

After Director Zhang arranged everything with the person in charge at Bailong Port Passenger Pier, Han Yu took the phone back and called the main switchboard of the Sailor Club, asking the operator to transfer him to the second-floor duty room of the guest service department.

His brother, Xiao Han, came and went as he said.

Han Ning felt somewhat reluctant to let go and asked softly, "Aren’t you coming back?"

"Not going back."

"Where are you now?"

"I’m in Binjiang Port Police Station, I will be going on a business trip with the bureau shortly."

"Be careful on the road."

"I know, oh by the way, Sister Wu gave me a piece of bread, it’s in the drawer, don’t forget to take it to Dongdong."

"I’ve seen it, I won’t forget."

...

Exiting the office, he saw several plainclothes police officers from the bureau hurriedly arriving with luggage.

They all lived in the Port District; their homes were mostly equipped with internal line phones from the Port Authority, which could be used to notify them with a single call. Unlike in Linghai Police Bureau, where police stations are so far from the county, gathering them would take half a day.

The bureau leaders in charge of the various groups gathered them in the next few offices, directing Director Jiang, Chief Zhou, Old Liu, and Liu Guixiang to brief them on the case details.

In the conference room, only Director Chen, Director Zhang, Director Hu, and Director Qian from the office remained, one police officer even brought a phone line, installing a red telephone.

Without asking, it was clear that this was a secure line, and Director Chen was waiting for instructions from his superiors.

Feeling that it was inappropriate to sit in the conference room, Han Yu was about to find an excuse to step out for some fresh air when the walkie-talkie on the table called out again.

"Director Hu, Director Hu, please respond if you receive this."

"Receiving, please proceed."

"Zhang Asheng has got in touch with Huang Jiangsheng. He’s asked Huang Jiangsheng to buy three tickets for eight o’clock tomorrow morning, from Bailong Port to East Sea Sixteen Piers. Huang Jiangsheng has agreed to look for someone to help, and told him to call back in ten minutes."

"Received, continue monitoring."

Director Chen lifted his head, looking at Han Yu.

Han Yu quickly said, "Director Xu is right there with Huang Jiangsheng now."

Director Chen nodded in satisfaction and then glanced at the red secure telephone.

At that moment, a police officer came in, knocking on the door: "Reporting to Director Chen, the transport boat is ready. Master Liu said we can depart at any time."

"Director Qian hasn’t returned yet; let Old Liu wait a little longer."

"Yes!"

It seemed that immediate guidance from the superiors wasn’t forthcoming. With a smile, Director Chen looked up and asked, "Little Salted Fish, have you ever been to East Sea?"

Han Yu laughed, "I’ve been there over a dozen times."

"Over a dozen times!"

"The last time, when we were cracking down on the scalping of boat tickets, we had to board the ship to investigate and collect evidence. Uncle Liu and I were a team, taking a boat to East Sea in the morning and returning by boat in the evening, for ten consecutive days."

Han Yu scratched his head and added with an embarrassed face, "Later, I had to provide drawings and photocopies of the shipyard’s business license to the ship inspection department, so I went to East Sea again."

"Now I remember, you were involved in ship repair and construction. Once the riverside base is ready, remember to let me know. I’ll send you a banner and set off firecrackers for you, wishing you a prosperous opening."

"Thank you, Director Chen. You visiting would definitely please our Director Xu."

"Your director is very capable; he’s a rather interesting person."

"Director Chen, you know our Director Xu?"

"I’ve seen him a few times at meetings in the City Bureau, but haven’t had any dealings with him."

"How could you not have had dealings? The radar and radio were gifts from you. Director Xu was overjoyed, saying you were generous."

"I might be generous, but not as much as he is. He throws hundreds of thousands into the river."

"Director Xu says it’s for the job."

"He does it for the job, and so does your bureau’s leadership—all for the job. It’s just that people have different perspectives. But to us, your Director Xu is a good neighbor."

Zhang Junyan couldn’t help but laugh, thinking that one can only be neighbors with Xu Sanye, not colleagues.

If Xu Sanye were transferred to Binjiang Police Department, Director Chen would probably have the same headaches as the leaders of Linghai Police Bureau.

As they were chatting, Director Hu’s walkie-talkie crackled with a call.

"Director Hu, Director Hu, the call to Zhang Asheng went through, Huang Jiangsheng said his friend at Bailong Port Passenger Pier managed to buy three boat tickets."

"Are there more?"

"Yes, they’ve arranged to pick them up at the waiting room entrance at 7 tomorrow morning. Zhang Asheng, thinking it over, doesn’t feel assured and plans to travel to Bailong Port overnight. He told Huang Jiangsheng not to hurry, that he would call him again in ten minutes."

After the conversation ended, Zhang Junyan looked up and said, "It makes sense to be concerned; after all, if they miss out, they can’t exchange the currency."

Director Chen pondered, "It’s so late, how do they plan to go to Bailong Port."

Binjiang isn’t like East Sea; taxis are scarce.

Han Yu was wondering whether they were going to find "rabbit head" when a police officer knocked on the door and asked, "Who is Salted Fish? There’s a phone call for Salted Fish."

"I am Salted Fish. Who’s looking for me?"

"It’s a female comrade, says she’s your sister."

"Oh, thank you."

Han Yu quickly stood up and followed the police officer to the duty room by the hall.

As soon as he picked up the phone, he heard his sister say, "San’er, Manager Ye said they couldn’t get tickets for tomorrow’s boat and are thinking of checking out overnight to go to Bailong Port, to catch the boat back to East Sea early tomorrow morning."

"What’s that got to do with us?"

"He just came over and asked me to help find a vehicle."

"Sister, wait a moment, let me report to the leadership first."

"Okay, hurry up, they are waiting for news."

After understanding the situation, Director Chen analyzed, "They have a lot of Foreign Exchange Certificates on them, which is as good as money. Going to Bailong Port in the dead of night, they’re probably looking for a relatively familiar person to help find a car, considering safety."

Zhang Junyan whispered, "What do we do now?"

"We’ve got cars, but we can’t let them get suspicious. Little Salted Fish, can your sister find one for them?"

"Definitely no cars, but we could find two motorbikes. My brother-in-law’s apprentices have motorbikes, but they know I’m with the police."

"Are they also employees of the Port Authority?"

"Yes."

"That makes things easier. What are their names?"

"One is Yang Daming, the other is Gu Xian; both work in the mechanical repair team."

"Go call your sister first, tell her to agree to help Mr. Ye. Old Hu, contact the mechanical repair team quickly, please ask Yang Daming and Gu Xian to come over for a bit, and give them a clear briefing on precautions."

...

Plans are not as swift as changes.

Ye Xingguo, learning that they’d found two motorbikes, felt a bit scared after thinking it over; after all, carrying so much money on a night journey, what if they got robbed?

He weighed his options and with a smile asked Han Ning, "Xiao Han, could you ask your brother to drive us there?"

"San’er can’t drive, and besides, the motorbike is so big, he wouldn’t even reach the pedals."

"I don’t mean for him to drive, I mean asking him to accompany us on the motorbike ride there and then ride back."

"Can a motorbike fit that many people?"

"You said it was a 250, right? A Xingfu 250 should manage if we squeeze a bit."

"I’m not sure about sending him to Bailong Port in the middle of the night..."

Knowing it was a bit much to ask, Ye Xingguo immediately pulled out a stack of money:

"Xiao Han, I won’t let your spouse’s apprentices take a fruitless trip, nor will your brother chauffeur for nothing, plus we’re fellow townsfolk."

Han Ning hesitated to agree, making an evasive reply, "Manager Ye, don’t underestimate my little brother; he’s quite opinionated. How about I call him over to see if he’s willing to go?"

Ye Xingguo smiled, "Sure, call him quickly."