Han Yu led the team in the exercise, working tirelessly. The leader of the retirement home specially gave Xiang Fan half a day off so she could go home and prepare dinner to celebrate for her son-in-law.

What's there to celebrate with family?

But Xiang Fan was quite happy to have the half-day off.

She went to the market to buy some groceries, prepared everything, picked up Han Han from kindergarten, and waited until her daughter was off work, but her son-in-law still hadn't come home.

"Why isn't San'er back yet, Ningning, call him."

"Did he drink at lunch?"

Han Xiang Ning thought it was strange, just as she walked over to make the call, she heard the door open outside.

Little Han Han was the most enthusiastic, immediately dropping the drawing homework assigned by the teacher, and ran to the door shouting happily: "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy is back!"

"Good girl, Han Han!" Han Yu put down his luggage and hugged his daughter, about to kiss her.

"Where's the gift? I want a gift."

Little Han Han struggled to jump down and eagerly rummaged through her father's bag.

Han Yu had a headache, said with a sour face, "Han Han, Dad came back in a hurry, didn't have time to buy a gift, I'll buy it for you tomorrow, okay? Tomorrow Dad will take you to Sanhe to buy one!"

"Bad dad, you lied, you promised to buy me a gift…"

"Always thinking of gifts, how can you be like this, don't make trouble, go do your drawing."

Han Xiang Ning came over and pulled little Han Han aside, Han Han curled her lips but dared not throw a tantrum. Out of everyone in the house, Mom was the fiercest, quick to discipline, and even her grandparents couldn't protect her.

Xiang Fan tried to suppress a laugh, walked over and asked, "San'er, why are you only back now?"

"The unit hosted a celebration lunch, lots of people were drinking, but I didn't. After eating, I piloted the anti-smuggling boat with a few colleagues who didn't drink to the anti-smuggling dock, it can't always be parked at the Shipping Academy dock."

"That shouldn't take all afternoon though." Han Xiang Ning opened the bag, while helping him take out the dirty clothes to wash later, she muttered.

"There was a lot of stuff on the anti-smuggling boat that needed unloading, weapons and ammunition had to be sent to the armory, and the automatic gun needed dismantling. We were busy all afternoon and finally finished."

"You're back, did anyone stay on the boat for duty?"

Docking a boat isn't like parking a car.

Once a car is parked, the driver locks the door and can leave, but after a boat is docked, the crew can't all leave; someone must stay on duty, otherwise if a rope snaps or it drifts, the boat could float away without knowing.

Han Yu saw his senior was also afflicted by "occupational hazards," always thinking about anchorage safety, and couldn't help but laugh: "The anti-smuggling boat has already docked at President Wang's shipyard. Tonight the water and oil will be drained, and work can start tomorrow. Xiao Gong and Old Sun are watching at the shipyard, I'll go replace them in the morning."

"Starting modifications tomorrow?"

"With over twenty-six million dollars' worth of equipment, the faster the conversion to combat readiness, the better."

"What about those logs you dragged back?" Han Xiang Ning asked curiously.

"Sold them."

"How much did you sell them for?"

"700 thousand, but half must go to Jiangcheng Customs."

"Why?"

"Those logs were salvaged together with them, and dragged back together too. We can't take it all, everyone involved should get a share."

…

Meanwhile, Chief Xu and Director Hu were sitting in the cockpit of China Customs boat 823, admiring the scenery on both sides with deep emotion.

Nationwide, there are so many provincial-level direct-affiliate Customs, yet the first batch of newly-built anti-smuggling boats wasn't equipped for East Guang or Jianfu Customs, but instead for Jiangcheng Customs where smuggling isn't very severe.

Thinking of this, Chief Xu couldn't help but laugh: "The higher-ups equipped us first, maybe considering they already had anti-smuggling boats, but we didn't."

Director Hu laughed: "If they were equipped first, they'd have to pass down their old anti-smuggling boats to us, and we definitely wouldn't be happy, why should we use their outdated equipment!"

"Actually, it doesn't matter who gets equipped first, we're vertically managed anyway, so wherever it's needed, it gets dispatched."

"That's true."

"By the way, do you know how many ships are in the second batch?"

"Being constructed now?"

"Yes." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"Eight ships, the headquarters ordered a total of eight. Qingdao Shipyard won the bid for four, East Sea Shipyard also got four."

"Each ship costs over twenty-six million, constructing all eight costs over two hundred million. To combat maritime smuggling, headquarters is investing heavily!"

"It's worth it." Vice Director Hu sighed: "Last time at the Bureau meeting, the leaders said General L casually joked during a conversation, saying if smuggling can be stopped to preserve the tax base, not to mention equipping a few anti-smuggling boats, even equipping cruisers wouldn't be an issue."

The central government is giving unprecedented attention to smuggling.

The crackdown on smuggling is immediately effective.

This year's economy has been heavily affected by the Southeast Asian financial crisis, but tax revenues for several quarters haven't suffered much, in fact, fiscal revenues are higher than last year, previously loss-making companies in petrochemical, steel, and others have turned around, and raw material prices have stabilized.

If it weren't for the decisive crackdown on smuggling, it would be hard to achieve this result.

The two leaders sighed contentedly, and Captain Liu couldn't help but say: "Chief Xu, Director Hu, Salted Fish wants to transfer 350 thousand to our department, but we must issue a 350 thousand invoice."

Chief Xu thought he misheard and asked in surprise: "Salted Fish wants to give you 350 thousand?"

"Money from selling wood."

"Hahaha, makes sense now, didn't expect Salted Fish to be stingy yet straightforward, knowing to share the spoils."

"Chief Xu, we also participated in the salvage, spent a whole half day at sea."

"Understood, I'll have finance handle the invoice for you."