Binjiang Police Affairs

At eight o'clock in the morning, just as Han Xiangning walked onto the Dunship, preparing to ask where Old Jia's San'er was, Chen Zikun arrived with a couple in their forties.

"Instructor Chen, these two are..."

"Captain Han, you're just in time."

Chen Zikun turned around and introduced: "Boss Tang, this is Deputy Captain Han Xiangning of the third patrol and law enforcement brigade of Binjiang Port Supervision Bureau. That ship was discovered by comrades from the Port Supervision Bureau, and it was Captain Han who contacted your hometown Port Supervision Bureau."

Boss Tang didn't expect the deputy captain of the Port Supervision Bureau to be so young and so beautiful, and he was momentarily taken aback.

Meanwhile, Boss Tang's spouse anxiously said, "Captain Han, the ship you mentioned must be ours. Where is it? Can we go see it?"

Han Xiangning realized why this couple had come and instinctively asked, "Your ship is missing?"

"Yes, it's been stolen!"

"When was it stolen?"

"It was stolen during the Spring Festival. We parked the ship by the riverside and even got an old man watching nets to keep an eye on it for us. But when we went back after the festival, the ship was gone!"

Ship theft is not the responsibility of Port Supervision.

But when it comes to identifying the owners of a ship, the police are far from as specialized as Port Supervision, since everyone has their area of expertise.

Han Xiangning invited the distant visiting couple, Boss Tang and his wife, into the Port Supervision duty room. While ushering them to take a seat, she asked, "Did you bring the certificates?"

"We brought them, all of them!"

Boss Tang hurriedly opened his travel bag and took out a pile of documents.

Ship registration certificate, class certificates, sanitary certificates, minimum safety manning certificates, safety inspection records, insurance policies – they had everything.

Han Xiangning first verified the authenticity of the certificates. Once she confirmed they were genuine, she opened a drawer, took out the records made by her younger colleague and Xiao Gong during their inspection at the shipyard, and compared the previously held data on ship type, dimensions, and the models of the main engine and capstan, with the information on Boss Tang's ship certificates.

As expected, they matched exactly.

To be absolutely certain, she asked a few more questions about the ship.

Boss Tang and his wife answered smoothly.

Realizing that they were indeed the legitimate shipowners, Chen Zikun and Old Jia immediately took out paper and pen to inquire about the situation in front of Han Xiangning, while taking statements.

"Boss Tang, did you report the disappearance of the ship?"

"We reported it. The police from the station looked by the river and made a statement like this, then told us to go home and wait for news."

"It's been almost half a year, haven't they found any leads?"

"No. I asked at the station several times. Initially, they said they were investigating, but later they said the case had gone to the Criminal Investigation Team. We went there, and the officer responsible for the case at the Criminal Investigation Team was a policeman named Yu who said he was investigating and also told us to wait for news at home."

Chen Zikun pressed on: "If they filed the case and knew the ship might have been sold here, why didn't they come along?"

Boss Tang, disappointed with the police of his hometown, said without hesitation: "They didn't know; it was the Port Supervision Station of our county's Transportation Bureau that notified me. Station Chief Guan from the Port Supervision Station said the ship might have been sold to Binjiang, so we got on the phone and immediately bought train tickets to come here."

This year, with the nationwide crackdown, all the police bureaus are busy and each one has its set of tasks, certainly focusing on cases with leads and easier to solve.

Ship theft is just like car theft – a vessel stolen in one province might likely be sold in another province, making investigation indeed difficult.

Chen Zikun didn't think the local police of their hometown were incompetent and quickly changed the subject: "When the ship was missing, you must have wondered how it happened. Did you suspect anyone?"

Boss Tang was stumped by the question and didn't know how to answer for a moment.

Boss Tang's wife, eager to retrieve the ship worth over a million, blurted out without thinking: "We suspect Zhao Xijiu did it, but we have no evidence."

Zhao Xijiu!

Chen Zikun chuckled.

Old Jia put down his pen, instinctively raising his head.

Han Xiangning also paused, suddenly remembering the name seemed familiar, as if her younger colleague had mentioned it.

"Boss Tang, who is Zhao Xijiu, and how old is he this year?"

"Zhao Xijiu... Zhao Xijiu is a worker who had worked on our ship. This year... after the New Year, he seems to be thirty-two."

Seizing the moment, Chen Zikun asked: "Where is he from?"

Boss Tang looked up and said, "Jianfu. It's not too far from our hometown, and there's a lot of people from there who work on ships."

"How did you come to suspect him?"

"Because of a dispute over wages."

"Be more specific, what kind of conflict?"

"At first, we agreed on 1,800 yuan per month, but he didn't work diligently on the ship. Business wasn't good last year, so we settled accounts with him at 1,000 yuan per month. He insisted on being paid the full 1,800 yuan, and that's when the argument started..."

If you don't pay people according to agreement, naturally they won't be satisfied, so he stole your ship to sell it off!

Chen Zikun gave in completely, unsure of what else to say, when Old Jia took over the conversation, asking without a hint of emotion, "About this situation, did you report it to the Police Station and the Criminal Investigation Team back in your hometown?"

"We did, and they took down our statement."

"And then? With such important clues, they can't just not investigate, can't just leave it there?"

"They went to look for Zhao Xijiu, but couldn't find him. Zhao Xijiu was not at home, and no one knew which ship he'd gone to or where he was."

"What does Zhao Xijiu look like?"

"Tall and thin, with a long face, dressing up like a hipster all the time, despite being a laborer on the ships, always sporting a side-part hairstyle, looking slick."

Just like the description provided by the owner of Changyu Shipbuilding Factory.

After thinking for a while, Old Jia asked again, "Who did Zhao Xijiu get along with normally?"

Boss Tang was stumped by the question once more. Tang's wife thought hard for a moment and then shook her head: "Officer Jia, we're sailors, always on the ship. Honestly, we really don't know who he was close with."

Sailors have the sea as their home and rarely gather with friends and family, so it's indeed hard to find out about Zhao Xijiu's social connections from them.

Realizing that further questioning would yield nothing, Old Jia had them sign and fingerprint the written statement. He then had Chen Zikun take the couple to Changyu Shipbuilding Factory to see their ship, which had already been partially dismantled—the main engine and anchor machine removed, even the pilot house ceiling was disassembled.

...

Han Yu had slept for a few hours, just taking over from Vice Captain Qian by phone and radio, getting the latest from all teams, and was busy marking the suspected ships' positions on the map, when he received another call from Old Jia.

"Deducting Zhao Xijiu's wages, Zhao Xijiu bore a grudge, so when the couple went home for the New Year and the ship was unattended, he conspired with others to bring the ship to Binjiang to sell for dismantling to Changyu Shipbuilding Factory?"

"That seems to be the case."

Old Jia opened the window at the back of the conference room, looking down at the Tang couple just coming ashore, then continued, "Director Yu, this case isn't too complicated. But now the problem is that their hometown Police Bureau has already filed the case. The police in Zhehai don't know yet that the ship is here, but they will find out soon. What if they come here looking for it?"

Han Yu replied with a smile, "There's no 'what if'. If they find out, they'll definitely come here."

Old Jia thought the same and asked, "After they come here, shall we hand over the case?"

"It's not so simple to hand it over. Not to mention we would not agree, even if we did, Director He, Political Commissioner Jiang, Director Peng, and Political Commissioner Wang wouldn't consent."

"But they filed the case first, and indeed the ship was stolen from their jurisdiction. According to regulations, they have jurisdiction."

"The ship is here with us, and we are the ones who cracked the case. We have jurisdiction as well."

"The key point is that we only have a general understanding of the case. It's not truly solved yet. We have no idea where the two suspects are hiding. Considering all the places they could be, capturing them won't be easy."

The implication in Comrade Old Jia's words couldn't be any clearer.

Handing over the case to our colleagues in Zhehai would mean we would not have to worry about the pursuit, and we would still get credit, though not as much as if we had fully solved it.

The superiors put great emphasis on the clearance rate. As long as the suspects are at large, the case cannot be closed.

If we don't hand it over, we would need to organize a pursuit, not knowing when we would catch the two suspects, or how much manpower and financial resources it would take.

Thinking this through, Han Yu realized that if it were reported to the leadership of both bureaus, it was very likely they would decide to "cut their losses", smoothly transferring the case, as seizing the nearly one-million-yuan "stolen goods" and identifying the suspects involved in ship theft is an achievement regardless.

But just handing it over did not sit well with Han Yu.

"Uncle Jia, wasn't Director Shi almost driven mad by the pressure of not meeting the crackdown quota? Give him a call and see if he's interested in this case. If he is, let him take over the chase and recovery."

"If you say he's being driven mad, then how could he not be interested?"

"Then let him take it."

"But who will get the credit for the seized and fined goods? Don't forget, Zhao Xijiu took away 200,000 yuan from Changyu Shipbuilding Factory!"

"We're already doing him a favor by giving him the chance to complete an assignment; would he really be so shameless as to ask for a share of the money?"

"Director Yu, you know him better than I do, you know what kind of a man he is. He's thick-skinned enough, and he definitely would be shameless about it."

"Times have changed; right now, he's in greater need of meeting the crackdown quota than money. But we can't be too stingy. You talk to him first, make it clear that this case is a joint investigation between our two branches. It's already not easy to include him; sharing the money is out of the question, but we can reimburse him for travel expenses incurred in pursuit."

The competition between the seven District County Police Departments was much fiercer than the rivalry between Port Authority security and the Changhang Bureau and Water Police Station.

Here, it's only a matter of pride, a contest over dignity.

There, it's not just about saving face, but also about preserving one's official position.

The City Bureau had implemented a "weakest link elimination" approach among the seven District County Police Departments, and Linghai Police Bureau followed suit with their own Police Stations and Teams.

Thinking about Shi Shengyong's need to compete with so many Police Stations and prioritize meeting, even exceeding, the crackdown quota, Old Jia couldn't help but laugh and say, "Alright, I'll call him now."