On National Day, the main road of Binjiang District, People Road, is adorned with national flags and large red lanterns.

Banners celebrating the 50th anniversary of the founding of New China and National Day are everywhere, with the entrances of government departments decorated with flowers.

All party and government departments, enterprises, institutions, and schools are closed for the holiday. The streets are crowded, and the businesses on both sides are booming, with a joyful atmosphere everywhere.

Today is also the day Old Ge moves into his new house.

However, the "new house" is not a new building, but a second-hand two-bedroom apartment.

The south gate of the community is right on People Road, but Old Ge bought a house deep inside the community on the first floor, with a small yard at the entrance. It's a quiet retreat amidst the hustle and bustle. Except for the fact that the house is a bit old and small, everything else is fine.

Nothing much happens on National Day, so Master Han and Director Xiang took Little Han Han to congratulate them.

When they came in, they realized they were late.

Xu Haoran had arrived early in the morning and was helping tidy up the yard.

Xu Haoran's wife, Lin Xiaoqin, didn't want her mother-in-law, the "new mother," to do any work, so she was preparing lunch in the kitchen. Xu Haoran's son, Junjun, seeing that Little Han Han had come, took out snacks to share with the little girl.

Director Zhu from the Maritime Bureau also came, smiling as he teased Old Ge, who was holding the baby all day.

"Qiqi, you're the happiest baby in the world! Other babies' dads have to go to work and are so busy they can't even hold them. But look at you! Your dad holds you from morning till night, talking to you and playing with you!"

The little baby opened her big eyes and smacked her lips, curiously observing everything around her.

Feeling teased, Old Ge looked sheepish and said awkwardly, "Director Zhu, please stop poking fun at me. Don't be fooled by me holding her every day now, I'm almost sixty; how many more years can I do this?"

"Don't talk nonsense, now that you have no worries about food and drink, and with good medical conditions, after having little Qiqi, you look like you've become ten years younger. If you don't believe me, ask Master Han."

One must admit, Old Ge indeed looks younger and younger!

Master Han looked at the beaming Old Ge and enviously said, "Not ten, but twenty years younger."

"Yes, Ge Diao, you now look so radiant that if you claimed to be forty, no one would doubt it," Director Xiang agreed wholeheartedly. Having not held little Qiqi for several days, he couldn't resist carefully taking her into his arms.

Old Ge glanced at his equally radiant and embarrassed-looking wife and laughed, "Saying we're younger is just a joke, but I must admit that Qiqi has brought a lot of happiness to Old Wei and me, and our mentality really feels younger than before."

"So, if possible, it's best to have two children. It's a pity I don't have your good fortune or the right conditions," Sister Zhu said with envy and great emotion.

Director Xiang looked at the cute baby and sighed, "San'er and Ningning are the same. Neither of them is an only child, so they don't qualify for having a second child. They don't feel it now, but when they reach our age, they will definitely feel lonely."

"What's lonely? By then, they can just invite a son-in-law to live in!"

As soon as Sister Zhu finished speaking, everyone couldn't help but laugh.

Xu Haoran put the shovel aside and, curious, asked as he took a cigarette from Master Han, "Uncle Han, is it true that Salted Fish didn't go to the capital for the military parade?"

"No, he and Ningning went to Jiangcheng to investigate a ship collision accident."

Missing such a good opportunity to visit his son-in-law, Master Han felt very regretful.

Xu Haoran couldn't understand and asked, "He's not with Marine; what does investigating an accident have to do with him?"

Sister Zhu, having the most to say, smiled and explained, "He didn't go to assist Huang Yuanchang with the investigation; he was commissioned by the Changhang Police Bureau to help the Hanwu Yangtze River Passenger Company investigate. He's like the athlete, and Ningning is like the referee. Although they both went to investigate the same accident, their positions are different."

"The Yangtze River Passenger Company has so many passenger ships and so many experienced captains and chief officers. Can't they find anyone more suitable than Salted Fish?"

"Believe it or not, the Hanwu Yangtze River Passenger Company really can't find anyone else, and neither can the Changhang Police Bureau."

"How is that possible?"

"Why is it impossible?"

Sister Zhu smiled again and patiently explained, "The Hanwu Yangtze River Passenger Company only has inland passenger ships, not sea ships, so naturally, it doesn't have sea captains or chief officers."

Sister Wei couldn't help but ask, "Is there a difference between an inland passenger ship captain and a sea ship captain?"

"Yes, they're completely different systems. Moreover, though river ships and sea ships are both ships, as Salted Fish puts it, they have nothing in common except for being called ships. Salted Fish is both an inland ship captain and a chief officer on a long-distance cargo ship, and few crew members have such qualifications."

Sister Zhu took a sip of tea from her cup, smiled, and added, "Furthermore, knowing how to navigate doesn't mean you know how to investigate accidents. Salted Fish is a public security police officer, and he has investigative thinking that ordinary crew members don't have."

As her apron came loose, Lin Xiaoqin turned around and asked Xu Haoran to help her tie it, asking confusedly, "Director Zhu, why did the Changhang Police Bureau want Hanwu Yangtze River Passenger Company to invite Salted Fish to investigate?"

"That's simple, the Changhang Police Bureau is equivalent to the Internal Security of port and shipping enterprises, so it's also called Port and Shipping Police. Half of their salary is paid by the Port District, and the other half comes from several major Yangtze River Passenger Companies. Not to mention anything else, just the onboard police on passenger ships and the police at passenger terminals, if the passenger companies go bankrupt and the passenger ships stop operating, won't all those onboard and terminal police lose their jobs?"

"Isn't Changhang Police official police?"

"That's not quite right. They are public security police with law enforcement authority, but they aren't civil servants."

"San'er obviously could have gone to see the big military parade, but was called over by the Changhang Police Bureau to investigate an accident, it's really a pity when you think about it."

"What's there to pity?"

Old Ge disagrees with the "daughter-in-law's" opinion, inviting Master Han for tea while smiling: "Salted Fish has seen the world, participating in such events once is enough, attending too many is meaningless and even has no benefits."

"Uncle Ge, this is the fiftieth anniversary celebration, how can you say it has no meaning!"

"I'm not saying the fiftieth anniversary celebration is meaningless, I'm saying it makes no sense for Salted Fish to keep going to the Capital to attend commendations and activities."

Watching their "son," "daughter-in-law," and Master Han and his wife hesitate to say something, Old Ge patiently explains: "Think about it, if a person is always receiving commendations from superiors, always going to meetings at superior units, how would the leadership at their own unit see them, what would their coworkers think?"

Master Han quietly asks: "Would leadership be unhappy and coworkers be jealous?"

"There's always someone like that in any unit. Think carefully, are there any around you?"

Old Ge taps out his cigarette ash and laughs: "Recently, it was said at the Linghai Reserve Camp that the winner takes all in matters of honor and commendation. Superior units prefer familiar faces. After all, they know your background and are certain that commending you won't cause problems. Or, at least, you won't make mistakes or cause issues. This leads to every selection and every commendation conference featuring those same old faces."

This discussion leads Master Han and Xu Haoran to suddenly realize that their previous units did indeed have those "advanced models," whom leaders didn't really like, and coworkers were jealous of.

After all, the work is done by everyone, why should all the benefits go to you?

Moreover, some of those commended, their work performance and personal abilities are not even superior to others.

Once Master Han and Xu Haoran "digest" this, Old Ge continues: "Institutions are permanent, while officials change continuously; the higher the rank, the more frequently leaders are transferred. Just because the current superior values you, doesn't mean the next one's going to. The higher you jump now, the harder you'll fall later. Anyway, being in the limelight too much isn't good."

"That makes sense, Uncle Ge. Hearing you say this, I realize it's really not a pity that Salted Fish didn't go to the Capital."

"Salted Fish got some genuine guidance from your father. When he was alive, he never participated in such activities. Even though he avoided these events, no one dared to ignore him."

Old Ge knocks on the small tea table, emphasizing meaningfully: "No matter what job you do, no matter what unit you're in, you have to stand firm and steady. Maintain your basic position well, regardless of any future changes, you won't be greatly affected."

Sister Zhu doesn't like meetings, doesn't like being in the spotlight, and doesn't even like Vice Mayor Qin always attending various events.

She wholeheartedly agrees with Old Ge's viewpoint, saying earnestly: "Salted Fish, going as just a guest to observe the ceremony, is nothing special. Once you watch the live broadcast, you'll know just how many guests there are. Salted Fish, if he goes, can only stand on the observatory on either side of Tian'anmen, maybe even at the back, but he won't get on Tian'anmen itself. If he actually goes or not, the real high-ranking leaders won't care. Besides soaking up the atmosphere, there's not much else to it."

"Director Zhu has hit the nail on the head with those words."

Old Ge recalls the scene of attending the National Flood Control Summary and Commendation Conference and chuckles: "Speaking of which, I'm someone who's been to the People's Hall. But honestly, I only felt excited when the leaders first arrived on the stage."

Xu Haoran curiously asked: "So you weren't excited afterwards?"

"The People's Hall is too big, we sat in the back, my eyesight isn't good, so I only saw the silhouettes of leaders without seeing their faces clearly. Got up too early that day, and when the General Secretary spoke, I got very sleepy and started nodding off."

"The General Secretary was speaking, and you were nodding off!"

"Not just nodding off, but actually fell asleep."

"Really?"

"Really."

Old Ge chuckled: "I'm just telling you guys, I wouldn't admit it outside, but I really did doze off back then. Fellows from the Ministry of Transport kept nudging me, saying I was snoring and my snoring was quite loud. Maybe having too many meetings has made it uncontrollable; I slept through until the meeting ended, when Secretary Ye asked Hao Qiusheng to call me up front for a photo."

Xu Haoran was exceptionally impressed, giving a thumbs up and laughing: "Uncle Ge, you're impressive!"

"What's impressive? It's quite normal."

Old Ge smiled casually: "When Salted Fish later attended the commendation conference for the whole army's flood fighting efforts, didn't he catch up on sleep at the venue too? Even during the two sessions and party congresses, older representatives still sleep in the hall."

...

PS: An old reader is coming to visit me tomorrow, coding today so I won't work on revisions tomorrow.

This is the first chapter, the second chapter will be updated soon.