Binjiang Police Affairs

Xiao Yu returned to Hanwu, a return not just in person but laden with accolades.

During his internship leading a team at the Changhang Binjiang Branch, due to his outstanding performance and significant achievements in the crackdown on waterfront crimes, he was awarded a third-level merit by the Binjiang City Police Department, and the six students he brought along for the internship were also each honored with an award by the Changhang Binjiang Branch.

It's worth mentioning that Xiao Gong also went with Xiao Yu to Hanwu.

This was arranged by the Branch. They were to attend a police officer training organized by the Changhang Police Bureau. If it hadn't been impossible to leave, even Han Yu would have gone.

As the crackdown was drawing to a close, Bailong Port once again returned to tranquility.

Han Yu and Chen Zikun divided their tasks; one stayed mainly on the dunship, assisting the Port Supervision in law enforcement and water firefighting rescue. The other stayed mainly at the Bailong Port Passenger Pier, maintaining order in the ticket office and waiting room, and while coordinating with the passenger ferry police team, was responsible for gathering clues of crimes committed on the river.

Time flew by quickly, and in the blink of an eye, two months had passed.

The Branch asked for a report on the achievements during the crackdown, as the superiors wanted to evaluate merits and awards, and to commend the units and individuals with significant achievements during the crackdown period.

Because the Bailong Port Police Station had few people, although it had handled several major cases before, none of them were solo efforts. Chen Zikun, overwhelmed, had to communicate first with the Branch's Criminal Investigation Team and even the Water Police Station and Linghai Police Bureau to "unify the narrative," to avoid contradictions in the reports sent upwards about the same matters.

Han Yu, on the other hand, acted as if nothing had happened, repairing boats, steering boats, and taking care of children.

At four-thirty in the afternoon, just back from the river and about to hold Little Han Han, his senior sister asked him to call his uncle in his hometown, Si Gang.

"What's the urgency?"

"Isn't Uncle's family silkworm farming? Because the purchase price at the cocoon station was low and they were skimming weights, he sold the cocoons to a dealer. As a result, the cocoons taken by the dealer were seized by the police special envoy from Liangzhuang. Knowing that you are acquainted with Secretary Lu, he quickly called you."

"Is Agent Li's illness better?"

"No, Agent Li has been receiving treatments in Binjiang and hasn't returned. What Uncle mentioned is a newly appointed special envoy."

"The cocoons taken by the dealer were seized by the police special envoy from Liangzhuang, what's the rush?"

"He hasn't received the money. Of course, he's anxious!"

Han Yu, puzzled, asked, "The police special envoy from Liangzhuang ran to Dinghu to catch the dealer who buys cocoons?"

Han Xiangning replied with a wry smile, "I don't know either, you should call him back first."

The worst fear in police work is encountering such situations, where calling in a favor violates principles, and not doing so leads to complaints from relatives back home.

There was no other option for Han Yu but to bite the bullet and call his sister's uncle. This phone had been installed at the expense of his father-in-law, costing over a thousand yuan, mainly because there was concern that Grandma might be at home alone and unable to contact anyone if there was an emergency.

After waiting for about a minute, the voice of the uncle came through the phone.

"Uncle, it's Han Yu, what's the matter?"

"My cocoons were seized by Han special envoy from Liangzhuang, San'er. You know Secretary Lu, and you can talk to him. Please call and ask if you can tell that Han special envoy to return the cocoons to me!"

"How much cocoon?"

"Four hundred twenty-two pounds, I have the receipt."

"What receipt?"

"It's the slip given by the cocoon dealer. I'd use the slip to get the money."

Silk cocoon farming is rare in Linghai, and Han Yu didn't know much about the market for cocoons, so he asked curiously, "How much is a kilogram of silk cocoons this year?"

"Thirty-eight yuan per kilogram."

Four hundred pounds meant more than eight thousand yuan!

Han Yu realized why his uncle was so anxious and thought to ask again, "The police special envoy from Liangzhuang is also surnamed Han?"

"Yes, same surname as ours, that Han special envoy is no good; he even interferes with our selling of cocoons!"

"He's the police special envoy from Liangzhuang, so why did he go to Dinghu to catch the cocoon buyer?"

"He didn't catch them in Dinghu. The cocoon dealer is from Liu Xia, and they wanted to take the cocoons they gathered to sell at a silk reeling factory near Xin'an. They were caught when passing through Liangzhuang."

"Alright, don't worry for now, let me make a call to ask."

Is the police supposed to manage cocoon purchasing?

There are also people raising silkworms in Linghai, and it seemed like their cocoons could be sold to whoever they wanted.

The more Han Yu thought about it, the more strange it seemed. After a moment of silence, he dialed Secretary Lu's cell phone.

Just like before, it connected but was quickly hung up. After sitting and waiting for a while, surely enough, Secretary Lu returned the call.

"Xiao Han, it's been a long time since we've been in touch. Have you been busy with the crackdown?"

"We've been okay here. How about you, Secretary Lu, is the village busy?"

"Busy, busy every day, just aimlessly busy without knowing what we're exactly busy with." Old Lu laughed heartily and asked, "What made you think to call me? Is there any news about that bidding for the factory building leased by the Hong Kong-funded garment factory?"

"The factory building bidding…"

"The one where your classmate is the manager, President Wang mentioned it to me."

Han Xiangning clearly heard the conversation, hurriedly grabbed a pen and wrote down Lin Xiaohui's name on paper.

Han Yu caught on and quickly replied, "Secretary Lu, you mean the bidding on Manager Lin's side? I really don't know the specifics, I'll call and ask later."

"Alright, alright, that will be great, thank you for this."

""

"It's not about asking for favors."

Han Yu steadied his mind and asked indirectly, "Secretary Lu, I've been busy lately and haven't had the chance to visit Agent Li. Has a new special envoy arrived in the township? I heard his last name is also Han."

Old Lu was amused and laughed heartily, "That's true, I didn't expect you to be so well-informed. The new envoy who just arrived is related to you from five hundred years ago, his last name is Han, his name is Han Bo, a college graduate, and about your age."

"A college graduate, about my age, so he must not have been working for very long."

"He just started working this year, but he's competent and capable, otherwise the Police Bureau wouldn't have let him operate independently."

"Quite capable?"

"Extremely capable."

Speaking of the newly arrived special envoy, Old Lu was animated, "Our Liangzhuang Construction Station had a project in Jiangcheng with a client owing us several million. We made several trips to demand payment over several years to no avail. I handed the task of collecting the debt over to him, and unexpectedly, he handled it with ease, making a single trip to recover the entire project payment with interest."

Nowadays, those who owe money call the shots, projects are easy to work on but hard to get paid for.

That the newly appointed police special envoy in Liangzhuang managed to help get it back, and including interest at that, Han Yu was genuinely impressed.

Old Lu didn't know what Han Yu was thinking and continued, "Xiao Han, there's something I forgot to tell you, although our Liangzhuang's economic development isn't as good as the towns in Linghai, it's still decent in Si Gang, at least we don't have any external debt, and we're able to pay the salaries of our officials and teachers."

"I know, my eldest aunt envies my second aunt so much, the teachers at their school haven't been paid for over a year."

"The problem now is, Dinghu can't even pay the salaries of their officials and teachers and still wants to annex Liangzhuang, that's ridiculous. Our township Party committee has decided to start the process of changing from township to town. We fully meet the conditions for becoming a town, and once it's done, Liangzhuang will also be a town, so what basis does Dinghu have to annex us?"

"Right, right, right, we must become a town."

"Once it's approved by the superiors, we should celebrate properly, and at that time, you and your father-in-law are invited to join us."

"Sure, thanks Secretary Lu."

Every phone call with Old Lu felt like a conversation with a mentor, passionate, it gives one the impulse to accomplish great things.

Han Yu exchanged a glance with his senior sister hesitated a bit and then brought up a serious matter, "Secretary Lu, there's something I'd like to consult."

"What is it?"

"Does Si Gang have any policy regarding the purchase of silkworm cocoons?"

Old Lu was taken aback for a moment, then quickly realized, "Xiao Han, did someone from your hometown call you?"

Han Yu spoke with a touch of embarrassment, "Mmm, not an outsider, it's Ningning's second uncle."

"That's needless to say, Ningning's second uncle is your second uncle."

"Right, right, right, he's my second uncle."

"Is his family raising silkworms?"

"And not just a few, raising silkworms is so hard, my dad advised him to raise less, but he insisted on having so many."

Old Lu lit a cigarette, asked with a smile, "Did your second uncle sell the cocoons to a dealer?"

Han Yu responded with a wry smile, "He sold more than four hundred pounds and didn't get paid. I heard that the cocoons were confiscated by Special Envoy Han, and he was so anxious he immediately called me."

"Did the dealer give him a receipt?"

"He did, he has a receipt."

"Having a receipt is good."

"Secretary Lu, are you saying the cocoons can be recovered?"

"No, they cannot be brought back, according to the county's regulations, they must be purchased by the Sericulture Company. Don't worry, it's not just your uncle who is affected by this situation, there are more in Liangzhuang. Just last night, we caught more than twenty illegal dealers in Liangzhuang alone."

Old Lu smiled and continued, "Sericulture is the pillar industry of Si Gang. The dealers from Xin'an conduct illegal operations; they are stealing Si Gang's business, which must be dealt with severely. It was my order to catch them!

As for the sericulturists involved, I have already instructed the police, commercial authorities, and the Sericulture Company that the intercepted cocoons are not confiscated goods; they must be purchased by the Sericulture Company, without cheating on the weight, and absolutely no issuing of whitebait."

"Now I'm relieved, thanks Secretary Lu."

"No need to thank me, a public official should benefit the locality during their tenure, if these were counted as seizures and taken by them, so many sericulturists would lose everything they invested, how could I explain that to the people?"

"Secretary Lu, there are not many leaders like you who truly care about the people."

"One has to be conscientious, we officials are said to live off the emperor's grain, but where does that grain come from if not the taxes paid by the people. So even though we crack down, while we regulate the order of cocoon purchasing, we cannot ignore the interests of the masses."

"Secretary Lu, I should learn from you."

"Why learn from me? Learning from me will get you nowhere; you are doing very well right now. I heard from my son Lu Sun that you solved several major cases during the crackdown period. By the way, are you planning to build a new ship?"

"Yes, Secretary Lu, you know about this too!"

"It was Lu Sun who told me, it seems like an investment of ten million. It's a pity we don't have a shipyard in Liangzhuang, otherwise, I would have come looking for you already, hahaha."

Business is never far from the conversation.

Han Yu could not help but chuckle, "Secretary Lu, you really know how to joke."

Old Lu didn't think it was shameful to pull strings for business, and while tapping the cigarette ash, he became very sentimental, "I'm not joking, I'm serious. The regional differences are too vast, Liangzhuang is severely behind in economic development. We have to hold study sessions just to collect a few hundred yuan for the three supplies and five unifications, but building a ship costs you ten million, it's really frustrating."

"Secretary Lu, it's not so much the regional differences, it's mainly... mainly..."

"I understand, you enforce the law on the river and can rely on the river for sustenance, the Port Authority also developed thanks to the Yangtze River. I need to think about what advantages Liangzhuang has."