Binjiang Police Affairs-Chapter 382 - 270: A Turn for the Better

At 1:45 in the afternoon, a line of police cars and sedans slowly made their way onto the river embankment.

Snowflakes drifted in the sky, while the pontoon bridge was wet and slippery.

To ensure safety, Xiao Yu, Zhu Baogen, and Old Qian took out the straw mats they had prepared early from the warehouse at the bridgehead to cover the bridge surface.

Just as Director Yang was escorting Secretary Wang from the Municipal Political and Legal Committee and Chairman Li, the former director, onto the dunship, Political Commissioner Sun and Director Yao from the Political Work Office were welcoming Director Dong from the City Bureau’s Political Office, Director Deng from the City Bureau Security Department, and Director Peng from the Water Police Station who had just arrived.

The first item on the agenda was a tour of the dunship and the 001.

Salted Fish was not at home, and Old Zhang and Old Ding didn’t speak Mandarin well, while members like Shi Shengyong and Comrade Old Li weren’t familiar with the details, leaving Han Xiangning, the quasi-police wife, no choice but to take charge of the introduction.

"Ladies and gentlemen, leaders, please follow me. This is the duty room of the Water Police Squadron; across the hallway is the duty room of our Port Supervision Third Team. Both teams have been sharing the office and conducting joint law enforcement here since the dunship and 001 were put into service six years ago, up until today..."

The young lady had grown up, now dressed in the Port Supervision uniform, she spoke eloquently and forcefully.

Director Peng couldn’t help but tease: "Comrade Xiang Ning, you mentioned ’both teams,’ but in fact, it’s more like one team."

Those in the know couldn’t help but smile, while Director Dong, unaware of the situation, looked puzzled.

Sun Jiawen quickly explained: "Director Dong, Comrade Xiang Ning is Comrade Salted Fish’s fiancée. They have been working and living together on this ship since six years ago."

"So that’s how it is. Comrade Xiang Ning, when do you plan to get married?"

"Next May Day."

"Congratulations, congratulations. Remember to hand out wedding candies to us."

"Sure, leaders, but let’s get back on track. The pennants here in the duty room were all given by the public. There are so many that we had to hang the rest in our Port Supervision duty room..."

Since the duty room was too small to accommodate so many people, Director Yang simply stood on the ’old antique’ to wait.

Shi Shengyong quickly walked up to the director’s side and whispered: "Director Yang, Salted Fish is nowhere to be found, I really can’t locate him."

"I understand."

"Director Yang, I haven’t done my job well. I’m not fit to be the director, I self-criticize."

Shi Shengyong glanced back and couldn’t help but add: "When Salted Fish returns, you must talk to him sternly. He can’t copy everything from Xu Sanye, nor can he become arrogant and hubristic!"

"We’ll discuss these matters later." As the leaders from the City Bureau and Linghai came out, Director Yang patted Shi Shengyong on the arm and smiled as he went to meet them.

Director Dong looked around, puzzled, and asked: "Director Yang, where’s Salted Fish?"

"He’s on an emergency mission and cannot attend the award ceremony."

Director Yang smiled faintly, then looked back at the 001 and lamented, "The leaders might not believe it, but missing the award ceremony is also a fine tradition of the Water Police Squadron."

"Director Yang, what kind of fine tradition is this?" The leader from the Security Department asked with great interest.

"Six years ago, during the commissioning ceremony for the dunship and this Law Enforcement Rescue Boat, we also took the opportunity to commend the achievements of the Yanjiang Police Station’s joint operation with the Binjiang Port Police Bureau and the Changhang Police East Sea Branch on cracking down on the resale of ship tickets.

At the time, Director Zhong from the City Bureau, Director Feng from the Port Supervision Bureau, and Chief Tang from Customs were all present; Secretary Chen from Linghai, our old director, and even the leaders from Changhang Bureau came all the way from the East Sea."

Director Yang glanced at those who had participated in the operation back then, such as Jin Weiguo and Xiao Yu, then shifted the topic: "However, the night before the commissioning ceremony and the award ceremony, a maritime accident occurred on the river. A coal transport ship collided with an ocean vessel – the coal ship quickly sank, and the ocean vessel was severely damaged, taking on water in its hold.

That night, strong winds and thick fog reduced visibility to less than twenty meters; the Supervision Boats from the Port Supervision Bureau and tugs from the riverside docks simply couldn’t leave port, with over twenty lives at stake and the ocean vessel in danger of capsizing."

Director Dong was taken aback.

The leader from the City Bureau’s Security Department unconsciously glanced at the 001.

Although Director Peng had not been with the Water Police Station for long, he had heard more than once how Old Wang was nearly sick to his stomach and how he was stripped to the bone by Xiao Yu and Zhu Baogen. He suspected that Old Wang’s reluctance to come today was probably because he was worried that his old unit’s leadership might bring up that incident.

Director Yang did not mention Wang Wenhong but continued: "At the time, Comrade Xu Sanye, who was the director, and Old Zhang were cracking down on the illegal elements bullying people around the inland river terminals. On the dunship, it was just Salted Fish, Xiao Yu, Zhu Baogen, and a few comrades from the Port Supervision Bureau such as Zhu Chunmiao, Jin Weiguo, and Xiang Ning.

Saving lives was as urgent as fighting fires. Salted Fish was only sixteen years old at that time, and even though he was very aware of the danger of rescuing in those weather conditions, he still ordered to set sail without hesitation. They made it to Dacang Waters using the advanced electronic equipment on 001 to guide the harbor tugboat."

Director Dong instinctively asked, "What happened next?"

"They guided the harbor tugboat to the accident site, then made their way downstream, braving strong winds, and fog to search for crew members who had fallen from the coal ship. The search went on until dawn, eventually rescuing five desperate crew members, but two more were still missing."

Director Yang took a deep breath and continued: "By the time they got back to Bailong Port, it was already 2:00 in the afternoon. They were exhausted and missed the commissioning ceremony and the award ceremony."

Jiang Xiaojun timely added, "Leaders, six years ago, The Yanjiang Police Station in collaboration with our Binjiang Port Police Bureau investigated a large foreign exchange evasion case involving seven foreigners.

Salted Fish was just a kid back then, and considering that no one would suspect him of being a public security police officer, he was assigned to a covert operation in a desperate situation, following from Binjiang all the way to Bailong Port, then to the East Sea, busting the gang and seizing hundreds of thousands in illicit money."

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