Binjiang Police Affairs
Chapter 93 - 85 Threading the Needle

Chapter 93: Chapter 85 Threading the Needle

Binjiang Port and Navigation Supervision Bureau, Seaman Examination Department.

Han Xiangning finished sorting out the materials for the last batch of exam registrations of the year, and was about to leave work when Chief Zhu from the Water Transport Management Department unexpectedly knocked on the door to ask if there was a student named Salted Fish.

"Yes, but he was in the batch after me. Chief Zhu, why are you asking about him?"

Although Han Xiangning wasn’t in the same class as Han Yu, nor the same batch, she had a deep impression of Han Yu, and the image of that little fellow popped into her mind.

Chief Zhu smiled and said, "I ran into him today, he looks very young, like a child."

Han Xiangning couldn’t help but laugh, "He is quite small. When he first came to register at the school, the teachers organised us to welcome the new students, and we thought he was a brother who had come to send his sister to school, almost causing a humorous misunderstanding."

Chief Zhu, who had just reported to the Director and was also about to leave, walked down the stairs while saying, "He’s now with the police. Their police station resolved a dangerous situation this morning, rescuing an out-of-control boat, and they also have two more boats registered with us for inspection."

"Earlier this year, the school organised them to visit our bureau. He didn’t seem to have grown much. Can he really be a policeman, being so small?"

Han Xiangning found it quite strange, then thought for a moment and said, "Moreover, our school is part of the transportation system, and graduates are also assigned to the transportation system. Not to mention, nobody would be willing to go to the Police Bureau, and even if they wanted to, the Bureau would not accept them, since placements are assigned according to a plan every year."

"But this Salted Fish did go, and it seems like he’s doing quite well."

"Really?"

"What’s the point of lying to you? The day after tomorrow, the ship inspection department will go there for an on-site inspection, if you don’t believe me, you can follow along and see."

"Why would I go to see him? He might not even remember me."

"He does remember you, otherwise I wouldn’t have asked if you knew him."

"I was one batch above him, and we barely spoke, yet he actually remembers me."

Chief Zhu really wanted to say that you are quite beautiful, so it’s normal for a junior to remember you and even have a crush on you. But thinking that he was over fifty and it was inappropriate to say these things to a young lady, he just smiled slightly and didn’t say anything further.

The Seaman Examination Department is only responsible for reviewing registration materials, organising exams, and issuing certificates, not for training.

Because of this, Han Xiangning almost communicates with her alma mater, which conducts seamen training for the public, on a daily basis. She thought to herself that she would call Master Wu, Little Salted Fish’s homeroom teacher, tomorrow to ask how Little Salted Fish got assigned to the public security system.

...

At the same time, Director Feng was sitting at his desk, overlooking the Yangtze River, and on the phone with Director Chen of the Binjiang Port Police Station.

"Do you really cooperate with him?"

"Yes, and the cooperation has been very pleasant."

Director Chen didn’t expect Director Feng to inquire about Xu Sanye.

Although both held the rank of Standard Department Level, Xu Sanye had been a Commander position leader in the military before transferring to civilian work, and now he governed the influential Yangtze River Tail as a Director with real power, not someone a Port Police Department Director like himself could compare with, it really was a bit flattering.

Director Feng didn’t know what Director Chen was thinking and laughed, "He rescued an out-of-control boat this morning, helping us remove a danger. He even said he wants to be a strong backing for us enforcing the law on the river, and provide strong support for our law enforcement on the river."

A police station chief of Standard Stock Level actually wanting to provide support for a Port and Navigation Supervision Bureau at Director level seemed a bit comical, but this was very typical of Xu Sanye.

Director Chen couldn’t help but snicker, "Director Feng, Xu Sanye is quite famous in Linghai, and very capable. The things he says he will do, he generally accomplishes."

"Does that mean I owe him a favor?"

"Director Feng, when enforcing laws on the river, you’ll inevitably need the cooperation of the local police. Instead of seeking help from others when something happens, it would genuinely be better to find Xu Sanye. He has people, guns, and law enforcement vessels, and holds prestige in Linghai."

"He’s just a police station chief, our old Zhu from the Water Transport Supervision Department says he doesn’t seem to be that old, only in his forties. What kind of prestige can he have?"

If Xu Sanye wants to get things done, one should help him achieve grace.

Moreover, the Port Supervision Bureau has plenty of money; just a little leaked from their fingers would be enough for Xu Sanye to make a difference for a while. Weighing the situation, Director Chen began to describe Xu Sanye and the situation at Yanjiang Police Station to Director Feng.

Director Feng couldn’t believe this was true and muttered, "He has presided over the Human Protection Group, even executed criminals..."

"That’s why I say he has prestige. In Linghai, when something comes up, it might be more effective to find him rather than his Director."

"This Xu Sanye is interesting."

"He values loyalty and face. Treat him with respect, and he’ll return it tenfold. It’s pretty good being neighbors with him. But with him, you can only be neighbors."

"I understand, thank you."

"No need to be so formal, Director Feng. If you have any issues, just give me a call. I welcome you to come inspect our department when you have time."

"Don’t joke, I can’t inspect anyone’s work, let alone yours." Director Feng laughed heartily, then shifted the topic, "You just mentioned his riverside base; when it’s ready, I’ll go congratulate him. Call me then, and I’ll join you."

"Director Feng, you are so busy..."

"If someone respects me, I should return the favor. Besides, you know the situation at our Port Supervision Bureau. Our enforcement forces are concentrated on the main waterway, and we really can’t cover the North Branch Channel well, we do need their help."

"Okay, once he confirms the time, I’ll report it to you."

Director Chen hung up the phone and saw Zhang Junyan smiling, he couldn’t help but sigh, "Xu Sanye’s approach is wild indeed. I was thinking of finding an opportunity to help him connect with the Port Supervision, but he went ahead and did it himself."

Good neighbors, good everyone.

Zhang Junyan didn’t want to miss this opportunity to help Xu Sanye make friends, he smiled and said, "Director Chen, there’s still a chance to act as a go-between."

Director Chen asked with a smile, "Are you talking about Customs and the Fishery Administration?"

"If he can be a strong support for Port Supervision, he can provide strong support for Customs and Fishery Administration law enforcement on the river as well."

"It’s feasible to help thread the needle for Customs, but let’s forget about the Fishery Administration, they don’t have business dealings with us, and their work focus is not on the river."

"That’s true, we don’t really have a relationship with the Fishery Administration either."

"Customs is off work now, I’ll call Chief Tang of Customs tomorrow when they are back in office."

Worried about forgetting, Director Chen picked up a pen and made a note on the calendar, then looked up and asked, "Have you bought the gift to reward Little Salted Fish?"

Zhang Junyan hurriedly said, "It’s bought, the Logistics Department will pick it up tomorrow afternoon."

Little Salted Fish is the child of the Port Authority who played a huge role in the investigation of the currency arbitrage case and also got injured, so he must be properly rewarded.

Director Chen nodded in satisfaction, and with a laugh, he added, "Since it’s a reward, we can’t bring him additional burdens. After it’s picked up, help him register it, and take care of the insurance and road maintenance fees as well. Just like with the jeep, say it’s loaned to them, to avoid any idle talk."

Little Salted Fish would definitely like that gift, and Xu Sanye would be very pleased to see it too.

Zhang Junyan couldn’t help but smile and said, "Yes!"

...

Yanjiang Police Station, reception room.

Everyone was tired from the day, and although there was no need for a large-scale security check on the water in the evening, they couldn’t just idle away.

Xu Sanye organized the team to review the morning’s rescue operation and studied what to do if similar dangerous situations occurred.

After the review, they discussed how to leverage the day after tomorrow’s trial run to fit in some firefighting, rescue, and other drills.

The police agency’s job is to combat illegal activities, focusing solely on firefighting and rescue always seemed to lack something.

Xu Sanye, resting his chin in his hand, asked, "Captain Wang, have there been any cases of ship hijackings on the river?"

Captain Wang immediately replied, "There are plenty of robberies and extortion cases, but I’ve never encountered a case where they hijacked the ship along with the people."

"There have been, just this year," Han Yu said, lifting his head.

Xu Sanye immediately became interested and looked at him closely, "When did it happen this year, how come I don’t know about it!"

"On May 9th this year, in the early hours, the Panamanian tanker ’Good View’ unloaded 18,000 tons of light oil at our Binjiang Port and then anchored in the Yangtze River Baoshan Water Area near Wusong Port. A Filipino chief engineer, due to losing a lot of money gambling, wanted to take revenge on the crew members who won the money."

Han Yu took a small sip of water and continued, "He took out a gun he bought privately, but missed the crew member. Seeing the situation was bad, the Captain took the crew into a cabin to hide. The chief engineer then cut off the ship’s entire water and electricity supply system and set fire in the cabin, forcing the Captain to hand over the person."

Xu Sanye asked further, "What happened after that?"

"The ship had a satellite phone. The captain’s distress call was received by the East Sea Foreign Shipping Agency Company, who immediately reported to the East Sea Police Bureau. East Sea Police Bureau consulted the Ministry of Police and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, then organized police officers, firefighters, Port Supervision, and shipping agency staff to rush to the scene, evacuate nearby ships, and then boarded the ’Good View’ to put out the fire.

Since the ship had so many cabins, and the chief engineer was armed and held hostages, making announcements were useless. The Armed Police were even mobilized to form an assault team, using tear gas and stun grenades, using all the possible equipment, they finally killed the chief engineer and rescued the hostages."

Wusong Port, not too far from here, such a big incident, how did I not know!

Xu Sanye was a bit gloomy and asked in a low voice, "How did you know about it?"

"That foreign ship unloaded oil at Binjiang Port, and the pilots who facilitated its entry and docking were from the Port Authority. After such a big incident, everyone at the Port Authority knew."

"Salted Fish, I have another task for you."

"What task?"

"Collect and organize the police reports in the Yangtze River waters, mainly around our water area. We are about to enforce the law on the river, and we cannot remain as ignorant about the matters on the river as we are now. We can’t continue to be blind and deaf to it."

This shouldn’t be difficult to collect; when he had time, he could call Liu Guixiang from the Criminal Investigation Department of the Binjiang Port Police Station, or find time to ask the onboard police officer Shao Lei from the Bai Shen Passenger Liner at the dock.

Han Yu smiled and said, "Okay."

Xu Sanye opened his notebook, took a pen and made some notes, and then decisively said, "Let’s add a hostage rescue to the drill the day after tomorrow. We might not have tankers over here, but we have passenger liners. I’ll talk to the dock authorities tomorrow morning, and also to the Captain and the Political Commissioner of the passenger liner, to see if they can work with us when we return from the trial run."

I knew he wouldn’t rest...

Li Weiguo didn’t know what to say, when Xu Sanye looked up again and said, "We also need to equip ourselves with tear gas and stun grenades. If the department doesn’t have them, I need to think about where to get them."