Binjiang Police Affairs
Chapter 70 - 66: Plans Cannot Keep Up With Changes (Part 2)

Chapter 70: Chapter 66: Plans Cannot Keep Up With Changes (Part 2)

After receiving the call from his sister, Han Yu did not dare to make his own decisions.

Director Chen’s gaze was profound as he stared at the secure phone in front of him, pondering, "At the Sailor Club, we can monitor their movements through surveillance. Even if they leave, as long as they are in Binjiang, we won’t lose them. But once they leave, it’s different, especially after they reach East Sea City, how can we keep track of them?"

East Sea City is so big, with so many cars and people; even those who have lived there for two or three years might not be able to tell northeast from southwest.

Director Zhang understood what the Director was worried about and asked quietly, "So what should we do?"

Director Chen weighed the options and looked up at Han Yu, "This is an opportunity; think of a way to see if you can get close to them!"

"Director Chen, are you talking about me?"

"Salted Fish, you are young, and they know you quite well. If you can get close to them, we won’t have to worry about losing track and can monitor their every move."

Getting close is one aspect, but following is still to be done as per usual.

With Director Zhang keeping an eye on them, there wasn’t a worry about danger.

Han Yu thought it over and still with a grim face said, "Director Chen, if I just tell them I plan to go to East Sea City with them, they will definitely be suspicious."

"If it were someone else, they would definitely be suspicious. But since it’s you going with them, they probably won’t be suspicious. In their eyes, you’re just a kid and wouldn’t associate you with being a public security police."

Director Chen pondered for a moment and looked up at Director Zhang, "The key is to find an excuse."

Director Zhang was also worried about losing them in East Sea City and thought that letting Little Salted Fish get close was the best immediate solution. Stroking his chin he said, "Salted Fish, didn’t you take a self-study exam? You can perfectly use the excuse of going to East Sea City to buy books."

"Books are issued uniformly after registration."

"Think again, what else you might need."

"I... I want to buy a tape recorder and some English cassette tapes."

Director Chen slapped the table and said, "Isn’t that a perfect excuse? It’s hard to buy electronics in Binjiang; you should be able to get them in East Sea City, just tell them that."

Han Yu did not expect him to take it seriously, hurriedly saying, "Just saying that will still make them suspicious, I’ve inquired, tape recorders are expensive, the cheap ones cost five to six hundred, and ones with dual cassette slots cost over a thousand, I don’t have that much money!"

"You may not have it, but your family does! After so many years of reform and opening up, the living standard of the masses has improved, who doesn’t have one or two household appliances?"

Director Chen knew Little Salted Fish had neither money nor confidence, and chuckled, "Not only should you say this, but you should also actually go and buy one when you get to East Sea City. As I said before, I’m going to reward you, and this tape recorder will be your reward."

"Really buy it!"

"You think we’d fake buy? Junyan, go to the finance department and advance 1,200 yuan, be mindful of the condition and denomination of the bills, we can’t let the suspects notice they’ve just been withdrawn."

"Yes!"

Port Authority really has the money, and Director Chen really has boldness...

Han Yu felt like he was dreaming, it took him a while to recover his senses, and he cautiously said, "Director Chen, 1,200 yuan is more than I make in a year."

Director Chen waved his hand generously, "If you have any concerns, think of it as our support to your station. Remember to ask them for a receipt, even if there isn’t one it’s alright."

A tape recorder worth over a thousand yuan being given away just like that, although compared to the radars and radios given before, it might not seem like much.

Han Yu was overjoyed, thinking that even if it was sponsored for the station, he would eventually use it.

Seeing how happy he was, Director Chen chuckled thinking how easy it was to please children, glanced at his watch for the time, and brought up the serious matter:

"Next is about contact, for example, hearing their conversation, how to send the message out."

Director Zhang pondered, "Writing with a pen is impractical, always being out of their sight isn’t suitable either."

Director Chen, recalling the previous introduction by Director Zhang, asked, "Little Salted Fish, you graduated from the Binjiang Shipping School, did you learn radiotelegraphy there?"

In the maritime industry, radiotelegraphy is a very important job.

Large ocean vessels and large tug fleets sailing on the rivers all have radiotelegraphists who copy and receive telegrams from the entire Yangtze River in three time segments daily.

The content of the telegrams is mainly about the water level of the Yangtze River, waterways, weather changes, buoy configuration, shifting, and passing through perilous segments by large fleets, all related to marine safety.

From six in the morning to eleven at night every hour, they listen to broadcast sheets from various port radio stations along the Yangtze River. All information related to navigation safety appears on these broadcast sheets.

Unexaggeratedly, a radiotelegraphist is the smooth sailing ears and eyes of the ship.

It’s the same with long-distance marine navigation; there must be a radiotelegraphist who understands Morse code, even the maritime flags and light signals are in Morse code.

Not only had Han Yu studied it, but he was also quite good at it, grinning, he said, "I studied it."

"How well did you learn it, can you memorize the standard Morse codebook?"

"I can, started memorizing from the beginning of school and kept at it until graduation. Last year, the waterway system held an ’irreplaceably competitive’ contest at our school, I also participated. Five hundred Chinese characters, translated into four-character Morse code, I didn’t make a single mistake and won first place in the individual category."

That was his most glorious moment, fearing they might not believe him, he took out a notebook again, "This notebook was the prize for first place."

Director Chen suddenly envied Xu Sanye for having a subordinate who graduated from the Binjiang Shipping School, tapping his fingers while chuckling, "Index finger short, middle finger long."

Han Yu was taken aback, quickly said, "Understood."

"Let’s do one."

"Director Chen, you know it too?"

"Will you know about it after doing one?"

Director Chen watched him with a smiling gaze, his index and middle fingers rhythmically tapping continuously.

He tapped quickly, looking very professional...

Han Yu calmed his mind, watched for a while, then couldn’t help but laugh, quickly tapping in response like him.

After watching for a while, Director Chen smiled, "No problem, we’ll transmit it like this. Junyan, go next door and find the Political Commissioner, ask the Commissioner to contact the radio station, quickly find a radiotelegraphist to join the second team."

Just then, the red secure phone rang.

Director Zhang immediately stood up and walked out of the meeting room.

Han Yu realized that it was inappropriate to eavesdrop on a secure phone, hurriedly followed him out.

Director Zhang was curious, pulling him aside and asked, "Salted Fish, what was Director Chen tapping with you just now."

Han Yu said sheepishly, "Director Chen asked me if I had a girlfriend, and I said no."

"Hahaha, I thought he was giving you some kind of secret signal."

"Director Chen seems to know about radiotelegraphy too, looks very skilled, even more than me."

"He used to work as a radiotelegraphist in the army for several years, then he was promoted to serve in the communication camp, worked his way up from platoon leader to camp commander."

"Old radiotelegraphist..."

"Let’s not talk about this. Many people at Bailong Port know you. I’ll go find the Political Commissioner, and you quickly give Director Xu a call, ask him to help arrange things."

"Okay."

...

Again asking Huang Jiangsheng to help with buying tickets, and having Little Salted Fish stick around too.

Xu Sanye felt that the Binjiang Port Police Station was very unprofessional, handling cases so sluggishly, asking quietly, "Did they agree to give a tape recorder?"

"They gave me money to pick it myself."

"Then choose a good one to buy, don’t be polite with them."

"The good ones are very expensive, over a thousand."

"They don’t need us to save their money, buy it and you can use it to study, we can also listen to songs when we’re free. Remember to buy a few more boxes of song tapes, see if they have ’Fifteenth Moon’ and ’Blood-stained Glory’, sung by Dong Wenhua!"

The Director likes to sing, especially military songs.

Every time he sees Dong Wenhua on TV, he watches captivated, singing along, and absolutely refuses to change the channel.

Thinking about how much he liked Dong Wenhua, Han Yu couldn’t help but say with a smile: "Yes!"

...

Everything was arranged properly, and Han Yu returned to the Sailor Club with his luggage.

Han Ning, seeing him bring his travel bag, asked puzzledly, "San’er, why are you bringing your bag?"

"I’m going to East Sea City."

"What are you going to do in East Sea City?"

"I’m buying a tape recorder, and also English cassettes."

"For self-study exams?"

"Yep."

"Aren’t they available in Binjiang?"

"If I could buy them in Binjiang, would I need to go to East Sea City?" Han Yu put down the bag, turned around and asked, "Manager Ye, do you know where I can buy a tape recorder in East Sea City?"

Ye Xingguo was stunned for a moment, then said with a smile, "I know, but the prices have gone up now, they’re a bit expensive."

"I have money!"

"San’er, stop messing around, I’m not comfortable with you going alone."

"There is Manager Ye, after I buy it, I will take the boat back. I’m sixteen, not some three-year-old kid."

Fearing his sister would worry, Han Yu added, "When we graduated, many classmates didn’t go straight home, they either went to play in East Sea City or took a boat to travel to Hanwu. I haven’t been anywhere, I’m just buying a tape recorder, not going to play!"

Youngsters, all of them like tape recorders.

Even many young people carry tape recorders on the streets, blasting dance music, dancing disco.

Ye Xingguo didn’t find it strange that Han Yu wanted to go to East Sea City to buy a tape recorder, secretly deciding to use this opportunity to develop Han Yu as a middleman.

After all, the company has "business" in Binjiang almost every month, and with the help of Han family siblings, it would be more convenient in the future no matter what they do.

Yet, Han Ning was unhappy, frowning and murmuring, "One idea after another, had I known you were so disobedient, I wouldn’t have let our dad give you so much money..."

"Xiao Han, don’t criticize San’er, he’s buying the tape recorder to study!"

Fearing Han Ning would disagree, Ye Xingguo reassured, "Once we get to East Sea City, I’ll take him to buy it. As soon as we buy it, I’ll help him buy a boat ticket and see him off."

Han Yu, not wanting to raise Ye Xingguo’s suspicions, said indignantly, "Sister, actually there’s no need to trouble Manager Ye, as long as you tell me where they are sold, I can find them. After buying it, I will buy my own boat ticket to come back."

Han Ning stared at him asking, "You can find it?"

"I have a map!"

Han Yu opened his bag and pulled out a crumpled map of East Sea City District.

Seeing the well-prepared little fellow, Ye Xingguo couldn’t help but recall his own youth and laughed, "Xiao Han, see, San’er is well-prepared."

Han Ning put on a very worried, apologetic expression and said with a glum face, "Manager Ye, I’ll have to trouble you then. You know the phone number of the Sailor Club. If anything happens, just call me."

"There won’t be any trouble with me watching over."

As soon as Ye Xingguo’s words fell, Yang Daming and Gu Xian arrived with helmets.

Upon seeing Han Ning, they greeted her as ’Master’s wife’, and then greeted Ye Xingguo under her introduction.

The taxi fare had already been negotiated over the phone, fifty for one trip, a hundred for two cars.

Ye Xingguo had them wait downstairs first, then went to knock on the door of room 218.

Zhang Asheng and Shen Rulan had already packed up and opened the door to the Indian crew next.

They chattered a lot, although not a word was understood, but Han Yu was certain they were agreeing to meet at a certain place the next afternoon.

...

PS: The standard telegraphy code is compiled by the postal telecommunications department, similar to the Chinese version of Morse code.

Back then, the communication system in the shipping industry was outdated, lacking single sideband and very high frequency, relying entirely on radio stations.