Binjiang Police Affairs

Eight in the morning, Changhang Bureau.

Director He began his day by reviewing the faxed documents from Jiang Commissioner at the Bailong Port, excitedly reporting the progress of the crackdown to his superiors.

"…Due to the suspects' unpredictable whereabouts and high mobility, and our bureau's limited workforce, we proactively coordinated with Jiangcheng Branch, Binjiang Water Police Branch, and Linghai Police, among other units. We pooled together the best of our resources to form a joint task force. After nearly two months and traveling across four provinces and cities, we have apprehended forty-nine suspects involved in safeguarding and then stealing from their own cargo."

"Upon interrogation, it was discovered that the shipowners from Hui'an, including Xu Yongjun, realized their iron ore and coal shipments were being loaded onto ocean-going vessels without weighing. Taking advantage of this oversight, they stole and sold 2,600 tons of imported iron ore and over 1,800 tons of imported coal on the Yangzhou section of the Yangtze River!"

Stealing thousands of tons of iron ore and coal, this was truly a major case.

The Changhang Police were delighted with solving the case involving Changhang's own shipments. They smiled and asked, "What about the case value? Has it been estimated?"

"Director Luo, we just checked. The offshore price of the iron ore they stole in the first half of the year was 17.22 US dollars per ton, approximately 145 RMB per ton. Even without including sea transportation and taxes, the iron ore alone is worth nearly 400,000 RMB."

Director He looked up at Director Li and continued with a smile, "Before this, I didn't know much about these things. Only after handling this case did I realize that coal prices are nearly the same as iron ore prices. We've contacted the owner, who said the onshore price was 159 RMB per ton. They stole 1,800 tons, involving almost 300,000 in crime-related proceeds!"

"It's not just iron ore and coal that this gang has stolen, right?"

"Grain, building materials, anything loaded onto ships without being weighed—they dared to steal it all. The police officers handling the case are urgently interrogating further, and we expect to broaden the results soon."

"Good job, this case was handled beautifully. That's how Changhang Police should handle such cases."

"Thank you for your encouragement, Director Luo."

"Encouragement aside, you must continue to dig deeper and broaden your achievements."

"Yes!"

…

Just last night alone, forty-nine suspects were caught.

Several more capture teams are still out there, likely catching another twenty to thirty suspects today.

Director He had never organized an investigation involving so many suspects over such a broad area and with such influential and representative significance.

He hung up the phone and asked with a smile, "Old Li, what is Salted Fish doing now?"

"He's on his way back to Bailong Port."

The division no longer had to worry about failing to complete their enforcement tasks. Director Li was equally happy, making tea for the director while saying with a smile, "The superiors know that our division is leading the investigation of this case, so it doesn't matter where the suspects are held, after all, we don't have our own detention facility.

Considering most of the suspects were at Director Zhang's side, Salted Fish decided to have Zhang Ping and Luo Wenjiang escort the shipowner responsible for the self-theft and two three-no boats full of coal to Jiangcheng, as the coal on those boats was the evidence of the stolen goods."

"What about Chen Xiaojuan?"

"She's been escorted back. According to Salted Fish, she's a 'rich mine,' and several leads have already been gleaned from her."

The main perpetrators have already been captured, the rest can be apprehended gradually.

Director He smiled and nodded, asking further, "What about the case of the boat thieves from Zhehai who sold the boats here for dismantling?"

"We've pretty much sorted out the situation. One of the boat thieves has had his identity confirmed. Considering our short-handedness, and the heavy enforcement task on Old Gu's former unit, the Four Factory Police Station, Salted Fish 'outsourced' the pursuit to them."

"That can also be outsourced, haha."

"It's true, the real shipowner had already filed a report upon discovering his boat missing. Zhehai had already opened a case. But since we've nearly cracked the case, it'd be a shame to just hand it over. It may be better to 'outsource' it to the Four Factory Police Station."

"That makes sense."

…

Meanwhile, 001 had already docked alongside 'Old Antique.'

Han Yu had a rough night, both tired and sleepy. After Jiang Commissioner brought colleagues aboard to escort Chen Xiaojuan and the other two suspects ashore, without even bothering to wash his feet, he went straight into the dormitory to catch up on sleep.

Unexpectedly, he slept until the afternoon.

At first, he felt something itchy on his face, then it felt warm.

He opened his bleary eyes and startlingly found Little Han Han sprawled on top of him, her face covered in drool.

"Awake?" Han Xiangning smiled from the bedside.

Han Yu carefully lifted his daughter and moved to sit up, playing with her while asking with a laugh, "What time is it?"

"Four fifty-two."

"I've slept for an entire day!"

"Political Commissioner Jiang said you've been too tired these days and should sleep more, so I didn't wake you."

"Where's my phone?"

"Here, charged it for you."

Han Xiangning brought over the phone, taking Little Han Han.

Han Yu flipped his phone to check for missed calls while joking, "Ningning, I saw Lu Binxiang at your bureau yesterday."

"What's so surprising about seeing Master Lu?" Han Xiangning cleaned Little Han Han's delicate face and began to nurse her.

Han Yu glanced sideways and asked, "Wasn't he on leave without pay? How come he's back at work?"

Worried that Han Han might choke, Han Xiangning gently patted her back and said, "Maybe he couldn't make it out there. He's an engineer, a technician, not a businessman. It's normal that he couldn't make it in business."

"He took a break from the civil service. Will your bureau leadership still regard him as highly as before?"

"Director Tang and Sister Zhu still value Master Lu a lot, but they can't train him as a key person anymore, or others would definitely have opinions."

Han Xiangning pondered, then sighed softly, "Sister Zhu said probably because he didn't achieve much while away, his wife always argues with him, anyway, their family isn't as harmonious as before."

"They were considered an immortal couple, a perfect match made in heaven; how could they argue?"

"Even an immortal couple can't escape the mundane world."

"It must have been the sea causing trouble."

"Maybe."

Han Yu was thinking of playing with Little Han Han after she was full, then visiting the State-owned Travel Inn when suddenly Han Xiangning looked up: "San'er, I went to the bureau this morning."

"Another meeting?"

"Not really a meeting, Director Tang wanted a talk, discussed work for a while and asked if Hanwu can participate in training next month."

"How long is the training?"

"Half a month."

Han Yu grimaced and asked, "The training is so long, what about Han Han if you go? Surely you can't bring Han Han to class."

Han Xiangning, also unwilling to leave her child, hesitated and said, "I asked your mom, she said Han Han can drink formula milk."

"Do you want to go?"

"Sister Zhu said the Marine Bureau is planning to transfer Huang Yuanchang somewhere else, Huang Yuanchang definitely won't come back, and Third Team can't be without a Big Commander. She and Director Tang hope I attend the training and officially take over Huang Yuanchang's position as Big Commander."

"Promotion to Director!"

"Yeah."

Senior really is a senior, progressing faster than others.

Han Yu couldn't hide his happiness, grinning, "With such good news, you definitely should go. With mom and me here, don't worry about Han Han."

"It's better with mom around, forget you, you're not a competent father, haven't properly taken care of Han Han," teased Han Xiangning with a smile, then switched the topic: "Heard something in the city today."

Han Yu instinctively asked, "What happened?"

"There are several beauty parlors near the long-distance bus station, right? A lady from one of the parlors was murdered! The passenger terminal isn't far from the long-distance bus station, Wang Xiaoxue's former colleague passed by yesterday during work, watched the scene for a while. Today she called Wang Xiaoxue saying the murderer must be a serial killer, they even slashed open the lady's belly, her intestines were coming out!"

"Really?"

"I'm not lying, if you don't believe me, let Sister call the Binjiang Port Police Station later."

Han Yu suddenly recalled that yesterday afternoon, when he called Captain Wei, Wei mentioned being at the crime scene. Surprised how well-informed his senior was to also know about it.

"Wang Xiaoxue, she should just sell her tickets. Why bother with such terrifying, bloody news."

"She had good intentions."

"What good intentions?"

"It's hard to say if the killer will kill again, and if so, it's very likely they'll target females again. Be careful when going out, especially returning to the Port District, better to walk in pairs."

Even the female colleagues far in Bailong Port were uneasy, showing how profoundly disturbing the case was.

Han Yu really wanted to call Captain Wei to ask if the case was solved and the murderer arrested, but he thought better of it, as it's not his place to inquire indiscreetly.

While chatting, his phone suddenly rang.

The caller ID displayed was once from the Changhang Fire Department, now the Port Authority Police Branch Team.

"Hello, Han Yu speaking, may I know who is calling?"

"Director Yu, it's Fang Guoya."

"Brother Fang, no, Branch Chief Fang, why did you think to call me?"

"Stop joking, what kind of Branch Captain am I." Fang Guoya looked around and whispered, "Director Yu, Captain Chen and Director Shen went across the river to capture a fugitive, now they are escorting them to the Port District Bureau."

Han Yu was puzzled and asked, "What does this have to do with me?"

"They captured a fugitive from the branch!"

"Oh."

Fang Guoya, realizing Han Yu seemed uninterested, hurriedly said, "Just wanted to give you a heads-up, Captain Chen and Director Shen have issues with Director He, so... you know. They not only don't want the branch to manage the Port District anymore but also applied to join the Third Tier to compete against the branch at the city level."

Han Yu did not expect the Economic Police Team to be so ambitious, laughed and asked, "Did the city bureau agree?"

"No, but it's not that the city leadership doesn't recognize the Economic Police Team's achievements, mainly because the Economic Police aren't formal police officers, and it's unfair to compare them with the branch. But the city leaders were also inspired, just issued a document this morning to start letting District County Police Departments report the performances of various corporate security departments from this month and assess them."

"Then you guys will definitely win, there aren't many enterprises as significant as the Port Authority in all of Binjiang. You are a Branch, others barely manage to have a team."

"What Branch, even if it's a corps, it has nothing to do with me."

"Brother Fang, what do you mean by that?"

"I handle firefighting, crackdowns have nothing to do with me, just need to manage my Fire Brigade."

It proved, Comrade Old Fang is still very stable, didn't antagonize as others did when moved back to the Port Authority from the Changhang Bureau.

Thinking of Captain Chen and Old Shen possibly facing setbacks, Han Yu said meaningfully, "Yeah, no matter the time, can'tforget our primary duties."

"Don't worry, I won't forget anything but training. By the way, the new fire engine has been purchased. The Port Authority really splurged this time, spent over two million. Come check it out when you have time."

"It was purchased so quickly!"

"It's imported, the dealer had some in stock."

Fang Guoya proudly smiled, then added, "Almost forgot, the Ministry of Police also organized a conference about firefighting equipment, promoting firefighting equipment including water-based law enforcement vessels."

Han Yu pressed, "And then?"

"I don't know if Changhang Police Bureau was notified, but Binjiang City Bureau received the notice, we bought our fire engine there. East Sea Police Bureau also had leaders attend the meeting; they bought several imported law enforcement vessels."

"They have money, we don't, nothing to envy."

"Nothing much to envy, heard the imports are from some Eastern European country, Eastern European countries aren't developed, their law enforcement vessels can't be that advanced, probably not as good as the new ship you're currently building."