Binjiang Police Affairs-Chapter 416 - 293: Feeling Elated and Exhilarated_2

"I, Zhou Huixin, haven’t worked in Linghai for a long time, but you might have heard something about my temper. There aren’t many people I admire, and your mentor is definitely one of them. Not having had the chance to work with him is my biggest regret."

Xu Mingyuan did not expect the Police Chief to hold his mentor in such high regard, especially since the two previous Chiefs didn’t like the mentor much. He quickly picked up his glass: "Director Zhou..."

"Don’t rush to toast, let me finish."

Director Zhou stood up, glancing around at everyone: "Chairman Li, Director Zhu, Political Commissioner Wang, everyone here, you are all old friends of Comrade Xu Sanye, and today is a joyous day for Xu Sanye’s apprentice, Xiao Yu. I propose a toast in honor of Xu Sanye!"

The person right now truly had traits reminiscent of Xu Sanye.

If Xu Sanye hadn’t passed away so young, they surely would’ve gotten along well and could have accomplished great things together.

Chairman Li, overwhelmed with emotion, raised his glass and said: "Good, this toast is for Sanye."

Following Director Zhou’s proposal, everyone started pouring their wine onto the ground.

Han Yu’s eyes brimmed with tears; he hurriedly poured some of his drink on the ground as well, then followed suit with his senior apprentice brother to substitute wine with their drinks, toasting the leaders and guests present, and expressing gratitude to them.

The atmosphere turned somewhat somber; Old Qian hurriedly called Xiao Yu’s parents, parents-in-law, and Yu Zhen to toast at each table.

Their son has made a good life for himself; the Liang family has truly turned their fortunes around.

Comrade Old Liang had never been this happy before, and while toasting, he got drunk.

His son and daughter-in-law are earning money at Bailong Port, and Old Qian will head to Hanwu in a few days. After taking Yu Zhen to Hanwu, he does not plan to return, as he wouldn’t have peace of mind about the two children if he didn’t keep an eye on them himself.

Old Qian, feeling content, also got quite drunk while drinking.

Li Weiguo and Captain Wang were akin to being half of the hosts, representing Old Qian and Xiao Yu’s parents, accompanying all the leaders and guests, resulting in a dinner where everyone was merry.

Han Xiangning went with Yu Zhen to see off Lin Xiaohui and Liu Xiaomei.

Huang Jiangsheng and Zhang Erxiao helped escort Bai Shen Police Team’s Shao Lei and Bai Liu Police Team’s Guan Xiaoyu to the inn.

Han Yu together with his two senior apprentices escorted Chairman Li, Director Zhou, and other leaders.

"Director Yu, even if Xiao Yu’s family wasn’t hosting, I would need to find you in the next few days. Not just to see you, but also to dine with you."

"Director Zhou, you are my former leader, please call me Salted Fish. Besides, my title as Deputy Division Commander is nominal at best."

"Don’t be modest, I know you’ve earned your title as Deputy Division Commander fair and square."

Zhou Huixin glanced back at subordinates like Shi Shengyong and Xu Mingyuan and firmly shook hands with Han Yu, smiling, "I heard your mentor was frank and straightforward, and I don’t like to beat around the bush either. I mainly want to discuss two matters with you."

Han Yu quickly said, "Director Zhou, please give me your instructions."

"No instructions, just requests. The first one is about security in the Bailong Port Region. The Four Factory Police Station is short on police power. Compared to the waterway checkpoints, the Bainiu Ferry is more important. Old Zhang might need to go help out at the Bainiu Police Office. We’ll need you to keep an eye on the southern waterway entrance for us."

The flow of ships passing through the Bailong Port locks is decreasing, and it does indeed seem wasteful to station an officer just to watch the lock.

Han Yu understood the difficulties faced by his former unit and said without hesitation, "No problem."

"Thank you."

Director Zhou patted his hand and continued, "The other thing has to do with firefighting in the Four Factory area as well as the city district. In the future, you might need to lend us a hand. I’ve visited the fire brigade twice since taking office. The troops there are spirited and train hard, but their equipment can’t keep up and it won’t be resolved anytime soon."

The Linghai Fire Department may be called a large unit, but it’s actually similar to a medium-sized one.

With just over twenty firefighters and only two fire engines, the engines’ pumps have low capacity. In Linghai City District, firefighting infrastructure is outdated – only a few newly built buildings have fire pumps and hydrants. Most older constructions have to rely on tap water or even drawing water from the river to fight fires.

Although the previously transferred Director Yang was a nice person, he was not as effective in his work as the current one, especially regarding fire prevention. Over the past years, although fire prevention was mentioned as important, the real action was lackluster; it could be described as just getting by.

Han Yu was very pleased that his hometown had a Police Chief like Director Zhou. He hurriedly said, "Director Zhou, we just reported to the City Bureau Fire Department last week. Starting from the day before yesterday morning, our radio has been integrated into the Binjiang Fire Communication Command Network. From now on, in case of any fires, we will participate in the firefighting under the command of the Fire Brigade."

"That’s great, then in the event of a fire, I’ll call you directly for support."

"No problem, although we do have two fire trucks, those two fire trucks must be on standby at Binjiang Port. For Bailong Port, only the 001 can be dispatched immediately."

"Linghai is an area crisscrossed by water networks, and there are many rivers in the city district. Bailong Port is not far from the city district. If a fire really breaks out in the city district, the 001 can be of great use."

"Director Zhou, it’s not as simple as you think."

"Is there a difficulty? Does deploying the 001 require burning fuel, and are you worried about the fuel expenses not being reimbursed?"

"Firefighting is about emergency rescue and disaster relief. When it comes to emergency rescue and relief, we don’t talk about money. The difficulty I’m referring to is not the concern about fuel expenses, but about the waterway."

Director Zhou asked subconsciously, "Do you mean the 001 can’t make it through?"

Han Yu scratched his neck and said with a wry smile, "Actually, I’ve discussed this with Captain Fan. If it were six years ago, the 001 could have reached the river behind the government building, and its high-pressure water cannon could spray water up to the fifth floor of the government building.

But in recent years, the Transportation Bureau has never cleared the silt from the inland river waterways. Some riverbanks have collapsed, some waterways have been occupied, and there are even people who have driven piles to build houses on the waterways. Several bridges in the city district are also getting lower and lower with each repair, causing many river sections to be unnavigable."

Director Zhou realized the issue and quickly asked, "Where can the 001 reach now?"

Han Yu said helplessly, "It can only reach the pier of the shipping company. Beyond that, it can’t advance any further."

"So, we should talk to the Transportation Bureau?"

"If the Transportation Bureau can clean up those facilities and even buildings that occupy the riverways and dredge the city district’s waterways a bit, then our 001 would be able to fight fires that could potentially occur in the riverside buildings of the city district."

The Linghai City District is different from the cities in the north. Its waterways are extensive, with many houses built by the river.

If the city district’s waterways could be navigable again, it means that the high-pressure water cannons on the 001 could reach one-fifth of the buildings in the city district, and those buildings are mostly in locations where the fire department’s fire trucks cannot reach.

Thinking of this, Director Zhou patted Han Yu’s arm, "I’ll talk to the Transportation Bureau tomorrow. They can’t just focus on building roads and bridges and ignore the waterways. At the very least, they need to clean up the waterways in the city district!"

Dredging the waterways would cost money.

Han Yu did not believe that Director Zhou could manage to convince the Transportation Bureau, and couldn’t help but remind him, "Director Zhou, dredging the waterways is not only related to water firefighting, but also to water transportation and flood control and drainage."

Director Zhou could certainly read between the lines of what Han Yu implied and couldn’t help but laugh, "That makes sense. It seems I also need to talk to the Water Resources Bureau and the shipping company."

...

At the same time, the well-fed Old Zhang and Old Ding were riding their bicycles back to Four Factory.

Old Ding burped from the alcohol and yawned, "With Sanye gone, Salted Fish getting transferred to Hanwu, Old Qian also heading to Hanwu, and you going to Bainiu Ferry in a few days, even Old Jin going to semi-retire in a few months, the familiar faces around are getting fewer and fewer, it’s about time for Salted Fish to really grow up."

"He has already grown up, he’s been doing quite well these days."

"I’m not talking about his work, I’m talking about his mentality."

Old Zhang thought about it for a moment and laughed, "That’s true, but people ultimately have to grow up."

Old Ding looked back and then said with a sigh, "Shi Shengyong wants to invite Salted Fish and Xu Mingyuan to dinner to express his gratitude, but it’s hard for him to swallow his pride and ask outright. He told me privately just now, asking for my help to extend the invitation."

"What was your response?"

"I agreed to it. I’ll talk to Salted Fish about it tomorrow. Salted Fish should give him this face; even if he is not going to be colleagues with Shi Shengyong, he will still be neighbors with him."

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