In the blink of an eye, four days had passed.

Director Yan from the General Administration of Customs Anti-Smuggling Department called to ask Han Yu when he was going to the Capital, so arrangements could be made to pick him up at the airport.

The City Committee Office had already informed the Beijing Office in advance, considering that Han Yu was going to the ceremony as an anti-smuggling police. On the suggestion of Vice Director Ma and Political Commissioner Zhou, Han Yu apologized to Vice Mayor Qin, agreeing to follow the General Administration's arrangements upon arrival in the Capital, without troubling the Beijing Office.

Just after calling Vice Mayor Qin, Political Commissioner Zhou called again, asking him to hurry back to the bureau to receive his new uniform.

It's dark blue, looking somewhat like the Hong Kong police uniform, which felt a bit odd and wasn't as good-looking as the olive green uniform.

Han Yu looked at the new police uniform, smiled wryly, and asked, "Comissioner, you're asking me to wear this to the Capital?" 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"It's not me asking you to wear this, it's an instruction from the General Administration leadership."

"I have to wear it?"

"Not just you, we all have to change uniforms soon." Zhou Huixin wasn't fond of the new uniform either, feeling it was too flashy, but then she laughed, "The Changhang Bureau has already started changing uniforms, you can go check at the passenger terminal, the police on duty are all wearing the new uniform."

From olive green to dark blue, no matter how he looked at it, it didn't feel right.

But it was an order from the higher-ups, and they would soon all be changing uniforms, so Han Yu had no choice but to reluctantly try it on.

Zhou Huixin opened a small plastic bag, took out the police rank insignia, and while helping him attach it, she laughed, "The badge number hasn't changed, but the rank has. You, as a First-level Police Chief, haven't completed four years, so you remain a First-level Police Chief."

"From two stripes and three stars to one stripe and three stars!"

"You're not a Young Pioneer, why do you need so many bars?"

"The more bars, the more impressive." Han Yu grinned and curiously asked, "Commissioner, how many bars do you have?"

Zhou Huixin lightly said, "I don't have bars, I have two leaves and a four-pointed star."

Han Yu pressed for more details, "What does it look like? What rank is that?"

Zhou Huixin finished helping him, walked over to a drawer, took out a chart of the new ranks, handed it over with a smile, "It used to be a Third-level Police Inspector, and it's still a Third-level Police Inspector."

Han Yu took one look at the chart and immediately exclaimed, "Lieutenant General!"

"What Lieutenant General, I told you it's a Third-level Police Inspector." Zhou Huixin thought for a second and then laughed, "The ordinary uniform is like yours, but the shirt is different, it's white."

"It used to be four stripes and one star, now it's a leaf and a star. Commissioner, your rank looks impressive, really looks similar to a Lieutenant General!"

Han Yu looked envious.

Zhou Huixin wasn't very fond of the new uniform, but she was quite satisfied with the new rank and couldn't help but smile, "How old am I this year, and how old are you? By the time you're my age, you could be a 'Lieutenant General', maybe even a 'Vice Admiral'."

Han Yu was genuinely envious, he asked with a laugh, "Does it take four years to be promoted from a First-level Police Director to a Third-level Police Inspector?"

"I don't think so."

"Then how do you become a Third-level Police Inspector?"

"To be promoted from a First-level Police Director to a Third-level Police Inspector, you need to meet two conditions."

"What two conditions?"

"First, you must be a First-level Police Director, then it depends on your administrative level, which must reach Director level. I think you need to serve in the Director level for a certain number of years, and the promotion is selective, reaching the Director level doesn't guarantee a promotion in rank."

"How many Third-level Police Inspectors are there in our bureau?"

"Currently, I think it's just me and Ma Guan."

Han Yu realized it wasn't easy to become a 'Lieutenant General', and with a sour face said, "I can only be promoted to a Third-level Police Director next year. It takes four years each to be promoted among police director ranks. I'll be twenty-nine next year, thirty-three when I'm promoted to a Second-level Police Director, thirty-seven to a First-level Police Director, and even if I'm lucky enough to get a Director role, I'll be forty-one before I can become a 'Lieutenant General'!"

"Kid, don't take your blessings for granted. You should know that under normal circumstances, people only reach First-level Police Director by forty-five. Your promotion speed is already fast enough."

Zhou Huixin chuckled with a hint of envy, "Starting work early gives you an advantage. Whether it's a position or rank promotion, you're faster than others. Especially someone like you; getting Deputy Director and Director roles is just a matter of time."

Ever since becoming the 'Binjiang Water Army Commander', Han Yu hadn't been too concerned about promotions. After all, even with a Deputy Director position, the salary increment wasn't much, and probably the increase wouldn't surpass the voyage allowances, plus without a Deputy Director position, he could still manage affairs on the river.

It's different now, the police inspector rank is truly attractive, looking very similar to a 'Lieutenant General'. More appealing than the police chief and director silver bars, more attractive than the reserve officer ranks that looked somewhat awkward.

Han Yu looked at the chart and grinned, "Looks like I can't be idle anymore, I need to progress, I need to get promoted to Deputy Director soon."

"Just to become a 'Lieutenant General'?"

"Yep."

"Vain!"

"A soldier who doesn't want to be a general is not a good soldier, besides I only have this one pursuit."

"Then work hard."

Zhou Huixin knew he was interested in the 'Lieutenant General' rank, patted his arm, and said, "Almost forgot, the General Administration leaders asked you to bring your military medals and awards, wear them during the ceremony."

Han Yu instinctively touched his chest and asked, "Bring all of them?"

"Of course, bring all of them."

"I have a lot of military medals, even if I bring them all, I can't wear them all at once."

Just as Wang Changjiang was passing by the door, he saw Han Yu trying on his new uniform. He walked in and asked with a smile, "Secretary Han, how many times have you been awarded? How many medals do you have?"

"I don't remember. Anyway, there are quite a few—I reckon I can't wear them all."

"That many?"

"I started working early, and the units I worked at before were quite special. At the Yanjiang Police Station, I was the youngest, so when there were good things, my mentor and the others always took care of me. Later, when I was transferred to the Water Police Station, there were many contract policemen, and the awards all went to me as the full-time policeman."

Han Yu thought about it and grinned, "On the water, you encounter more special situations like rescues, so it's easier to earn merits than on land."

The start is different, the platform is different; when you think about it, this old subordinate indeed benefited a lot.

Zhou Huixin said with a chuckle, "Plus, with your reserve service, the military also gave you awards."

"Yes, I've earned so many merits that I'm a bit embarrassed."

"That's too much; you can boast, but not like this."

"I'm not boasting; I really am a bit embarrassed."

Earning so many merits that you're embarrassed and can't even remember how many. What kind of concept is this?

With a look of envy, Wang Changjiang said, "I thought my two second-class merits and four third-class ones were many, but it seems there's always someone better."

Zhou Huixin was also a bit envious and started calculating, "Salted Fish, if I remember correctly, the Ministry of Transport Police awarded you two third-class merits, the City Bureau gave you one third-class merit, the Provincial Department gave you one second-class and one third-class merit, the Ministry of Police recognized you as a second-level model, plus the General Politics and Guangzhou Military Region awarded you two first-level merits, and the East Sea Fleet gave you a second-class merit. So you have one second-level model, two first-class merits, two second-class merits, and four third-class merits!"

"It seems there's more. Before the strict crackdown, we recovered a gun lost by the Economic Police Team at the Four Factory, and the higher-ups commended it. Later, during the crackdown, the Ministry of Transport Police also awarded me merit. To know exactly how many military merit medals I have, I need to ask Ningning when I get home."

"In that case, you really can't wear all those military merit medals."

"I won't participate in merit evaluations anymore. I want to leave the opportunities to the new comrades."

Others can only participate in merit evaluations within the system, from the local police bureau to the Ministry of Police.

This colleague is different; he is cross-departmental!

Not only did the Binjiang City Bureau, Jiangnan Provincial Department, and Ministry of Police award him merits, but also the Changhang Police Bureau, Ministry of Transport Police, and the military did.

Wang Changjiang was thoroughly convinced, couldn't help but laugh and ask, "Secretary Han, you must have also been recognized as advanced and excellent quite a bit, right?"

"Even more so: Police, Port Supervision, Flood Control and Drought Relief Command, Fishery Administration, Anti-Smuggling Office, Firefighting, Linghai Municipal Committee and Government, Binjiang Municipal Committee and Government, all kinds of honor certificates fill up two whole drawers. Unfortunately, they are all spiritual rewards with only certificates and no bonus."

Participating in one action earns you an advanced status.

He not only fought crime but also took part in numerous rescues and joint law enforcement operations.

In short, as long as there were actions, the higher-ups would customarily summarize and commend, each time saying "Award this to encourage," but in reality, they are all spiritual rewards, with encouragement but no "substance."

When Zhou Huixin was the police chief in Linghai, she awarded her subordinates quite a few certificates. She laughed and asked, "Salted Fish, speaking of advanced and excellent, how did you become the excellent reserve officer in your rescue boat team, and did any unit help you get evaluated?"

"Commander Wang asked the Provincial Military District for me, but they wouldn't evaluate us, so I had to find a superior at the East Sea Base. The commander helped report it to the higher-ups, and before I came back, Captain Fang of the Exercise Command Center's logistics support group said the Navy Headquarters helped us evaluate and gave us four spots. Director Qian is now preparing the achievement materials."

"Four spots? That's two more than the Linghai Reserve Camp!"

"The Linghai Reserve Camp is a battalion-level unit, and the Rescue Boat Team is a regiment-level unit, so four spots aren't much."

"But you have fewer people."

"The Navy Reserve Forces are different from Army Reserve Forces; we are a technical branch with strong professionalism."

"Looks like being the sole representative has its perks. The same advanced reserve officer evaluated by the Navy Headquarters is not the same as the one evaluated by the Jiangnan Army Reserve Division, and there are more spots."

As the first reserve forces of the Navy, of course, there's an advantage.

Master said back then, whatever you do, you have to be the first!

Han Yu was secretly proud when his phone suddenly rang.

"Political Commissioner, it's a call from Ningning."

"Don't ask me; answer it quickly."

"Thank you, Political Commissioner."

Han Yu couldn't continue to show off, and rushed over to use the phone on the Political Commissioner's desk to return the call.

As soon as the call connected, he heard his senior sister urgently say, "San'er, I have to go on a business trip, so I can't send you off tomorrow. You'll have to go to the airport by yourself."

"Where are you going on a business trip?"

"Jiangcheng."

"Why go to Jiangcheng?"

"There was a ship collision in Jiangcheng. It seems a new ship built by a shipyard in Jiangcheng for a foreign shipowner collided with a Jiang Han vessel from the Hanwu Changjiang Passenger Transport Company during a trial run. Didn't I just investigate a major collision between Chinese and Korean cargo ships some time ago? Director Tang and 'Boss Huang' might think I have experience, plus the foreign shipowner is also coming, so they want me to rush over to participate in the accident investigation."

"The cargo ship on its trial run collided with a passenger ship?" Han Yu asked, surprised.

"Fortunately, the rescue was timely, and there were no casualties. Otherwise, 'Boss Huang,' as the bureau chief, would have to go back to where he came from."

"Okay, okay, you hurry up and go."