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

Han Yu and Zhao Hongxing visited more than a dozen Police Stations in four districts and counties along the river, asking them to use the pre-holiday security inspections to help screen for the rampaging river thief.

However, there were far too few suspicious individuals matching the "river thief" profile.

They finally managed to narrow it down to two, but through face-to-face questioning and background checks, they found that neither of them had the time window to commit the crimes.

Just when everyone was at their wits' end, the 825 boat finished its upgrade and refit and was launched again.

This upgrade didn't just add an extra fuel tank and a fresh water tank; they also installed a Water Depth Detector, and a lot of sensors that hadn't been there before. Even the instruments and warning lights on the bridge had increased by dozens.

For example, if the carbon dioxide level in the engine room air reached a certain point, the system would automatically alarm; for example, if someone smoked in any compartment or there was smoke from an open flame, the system would also automatically alarm. As long as it was advanced technology from cargo ships and could be applied, they slapped it on.

Aside from not having a seawater desalination system, everything that should be there was there.

The 825 boat had been reborn and launched again; by rights this should have been celebrated, but it never occurred to Han Yu to celebrate, and he didn't have the time, either.

Tomorrow would be the year 2000, the 21st century!

The kindergarten was organizing a performance of literary and artistic programs for the kids to celebrate New Year's Day and welcome the coming 21st century.

Senior Sister was too busy with work and really couldn't spare the time to watch the performance or attend the parent meeting. The teacher insisted that the parents had to come; they couldn't keep sending the grandparents like before.

Han Yu didn't want to let his daughter down, so he made a point of dressing up today, put on the suit he'd bought for the wedding, knotted the tie he might wear once or twice a year at most, shaved his beard clean, and hurried to the kindergarten early to sit on a little stool and watch Han Han perform with the other children.

The nursery rhyme was sung quite well, the dance was pretty fun too, it was just that the makeup was simply unbearable to look at.

He really couldn't understand the teacher's aesthetic, or maybe the teacher just wasn't very good at doing makeup for kids.

What left Han Yu even more speechless was that Han Han actually thought it looked good. After the performance she refused to wash it off, and even insisted on being like the other kids, pestering him to take her to the photo studio to have commemorative pictures taken.

Fine, take them then, as long as Han Han was happy.

They got home and Han Han still wouldn't let them wash it off.

Toward evening, Han Xiangning came home from work and burst out laughing as soon as she saw Han Han.

"Mom, do I look good?"

"You do, Han Han looks really good!"

"Daddy said I don't look good, Daddy's bad!"

"Your dad doesn't understand..."

Han Xiangning also couldn't bear to look straight at her, holding back her laughter as she coaxed Little Han Han to go watch TV first. Master Han almost laughed himself into a stitch too, hugging his granddaughter and asking, "Han Han, you didn't wash it off this afternoon. When you go to bed tonight you'll have to wash it off, right? How are you going to sleep like this?"

"I'm not washing it off tonight either, the teacher drew this for me." Little Han Han was extremely firm, convinced she was the prettiest little girl in the world.

Han Yu walked into the kitchen, helping his mother-in-law wash vegetables as he joked, "A bit of One Red between the brows, plateau red on the cheeks. Match it with big red lips, eyeshadow smeared like a ghost! What kind of makeup is this? It was like this when we were kids; it's still like this now. It's actually been in vogue for decades. These teachers too, they really don't know how to move with the times."

"When I was little and took part in a performance, I think the teacher did my makeup just like this too." Han Xiangning really couldn't hold it in; she turned to look at her daughter in the living room and couldn't help laughing.

Han Yu chuckled. "Put her hair up in two standing pigtails and she can play Nezha!"

"What are you laughing at, this is totally normal."

Director Xiang muttered, then explained, "When teachers do makeup for the kids, the first thing they consider is the stage effect. If they don't wear makeup, you sit in the audience and can't even see what the kids look like."

Who knew what cosmetics they'd used; kids' skin is so delicate—what if it harmed their skin?

From the moment he'd seen his "heavily made-up" daughter that morning until now, Han Yu had been thinking about how to help her take it off, and he muttered, "The performance was in the classroom today, it's not like there was some big stage."

"Was it the whole kindergarten together, or just her class?"

"The whole kindergarten."

"Then this was already quite a grand occasion for the teachers, of course they'd put on makeup. Besides, the teacher isn't a professional makeup artist; it's normal for it not to look good, as long as Han Han likes it."

"But with makeup like this, how is she supposed to go out and face people!"

"What kind of dad talks about his own kid like that? You're not needed here—go out and watch TV."

He'd been scolded by his mother-in-law.

Han Yu had no choice but to go back to the living room and, like his father-in-law, keep Han Han company watching cartoons.

Master Han turned around and asked with a smile, "San'er, are you going on duty at the unit later?"

"Yeah."

"What night shift are you guys pulling?"

"We may not be like the Local Police, having to respond to calls, but you still can't leave the boat without anyone on watch."

"What about Guo Weitao and Xiao Gong?"

"Xiao Gong took his girlfriend back to Yangzhou, and Guo Weitao has to go keep his father-in-law company for dinner tonight. Jiang Shengqi and Wang Zhixin have come back, but tomorrow we still need people on duty."

Han Yu thought for a moment, then half-joked, "Tonight is important; the next few hours are a matter of life and death, concerning the survival of all humanity. At a moment like this, of course I have to go to the unit and keep an eye on things."

All kinds of rumors had been flying around recently, the most ridiculous "end of the world" talk.

Master Han was amused and said with a laugh, "Aliens probably won't choose tonight to attack our Earth, and comets are unlikely to hit the Earth tonight either. Judging from this week's satellite cloud images, the weather tonight is perfectly normal; it's not likely to be windy or rainy, much less some great catastrophe. I don't think tonight will be the end of the world; humanity won't die out that quickly."

"That's what I think too."

"Dad, there hasn't been any natural disaster lately, but there has been man-made disaster." Han Xiangning dried her hands and walked over, speaking gravely.

Master Han looked up and asked, "The maritime disaster in Bohai Bay?"

"Yeah, over three hundred people died, only twenty-two survived. Because of that accident five days ago, we've been run off our feet these last few days, having to conduct self-inspections to see if there are any loopholes in our regulation, strengthen patrols and law enforcement on the river, and organize meetings for shipping enterprises and personnel in our jurisdiction to study the case."

Five days ago, the "Dashun" roll-on-roll-off ship operated by Dongshan Yanda Automobile Ferry Co., Ltd departed Taiyan Port, crossing the sea to Dalian. On the way it encountered high winds and waves, and when adjusting course it actually proceeded with the wind and waves on the beam, causing the hull to roll heavily. The vehicles on board weren't properly secured and shifted and collided, starting a fire that led to rudder failure and loss of control of the ship. Multiple attempts at rescue failed, and it sank in waters 1.5 nautical miles off the coastline.

Such a major maritime disaster at the turn of the century was heartbreaking just to think about.

Han Yu was especially heavy-hearted, and after a long silence he finally looked up and said, "I really don't know what that Captain was doing at the helm, actually letting the ship sail with wind and waves on the beam."

"There were plenty of issues exposed, and not just improper operation."

"What else was wrong?"

"According to the latest bulletin from the Ministry of Transport Maritime Bureau, in such weather conditions that ship should have been banned from leaving port, but the shipping company actually got a departure permit. And on top of that, it was seriously overloaded."

Han Xiangning truly didn't know what to say about her counterparts over there.

Han Yu thought for a moment, then looked up and said, "That's a seaport, and a fairly busy passenger and cargo port at that; by rights they should have maritime search-and-rescue capacity. The waters where the ship sank were that close to the shoreline—how did they end up rescuing only 22 people?"

"The weather at sea that day was awful, and their rescue capability over there was indeed insufficient."

"So you're saying that in terms of ensuring passenger safety, the performance of the Jiangcheng Maritime Bureau during that cargo ship–passenger ship collision was at least passable?"

"What's there to compare? If you're really capable, don't have an accident in the first place!"

Now that she'd once again taken up the post of Maritime Department director, Han Xiangning truly felt the pressure. She simply changed the subject: "San'er, are you really planning to join the Navy task group's visit next summer?"

"What do you mean 'planning'? I already agreed to it with Captain Fang."

"You'll be gone for two months straight!"

"I've reported it to Ma Guan and Political Commissioner Zhou, and they support me going."

Master Han knew his daughter couldn't bear to have her husband go far away, so he quickly said, "Ningning, this kind of opportunity is too rare. Teacher Xia and Instructor Wang have served as escort captains—I didn't know at first. I only heard about it when San'er was forming the Rescue Boat Team, and I was really shocked."

"What's so shocking about that?"

"It wasn't just me; even Secretary Lu was stunned. He couldn't believe we actually had people like that in Binjiang!"

With her own father being so supportive, what more could Han Xiangning say? She could only smile and say, "If you want to go, then go. It's just a pity it's Africa. If it were the United States, that would be great; going to the United States, you could bring back things we don't have at home."

Her father supported it, Senior Sister agreed.

Han Yu was overjoyed and couldn't help laughing. "Africa should have its own specialties too. When the time comes, just give me some extra money and I'll go to the bank to exchange some US Dollars. If I see any local specialties that have commemorative value, I can buy more to bring back."

Han Xiangning raised her eyebrows. "Africa has diamonds. How many are you planning to buy?"

"Forget about diamonds. Diamonds are too expensive; we can't afford them."

"Exactly, and you still want to exchange US Dollars. I really don't know what you're thinking."

So much for the idea of applying for funds.

Looked like when the time came he'd just have to stay honestly on the ship; there was no need to go ashore—going ashore without money in his pocket would be pointless.

Then he thought about how he wouldn't be the only pauper. The officers and men going on the visit with him didn't have much money either; even Adviser Wu was broke enough to jingle. That thought made Han Yu feel a lot more balanced.