Binjiang Police Affairs

It's twelve thirty noon, colleagues from the precinct had just arrived at the Bailong Port Police Station, and Ma Zhen's parents also arrived on two motorcycles.

Han Yu greeted the precinct colleagues and let Ma Zhen's parents see him briefly. After all, Ma Zhen committed the crime at East Sea, and once the peers from East Sea take Ma Zhen away for escort, his parents won't know when they will be able to see their son again.

The New Year was just around the corner, and with such an incident occurring, any parent would find it difficult to feel at peace.

Ma Zhen's mother cried her heart out, while Ma Zhen's father pleaded ceaselessly. Luo Yanfeng, who came to call her son for a meal, couldn't help shedding tears at the scene either.

However, the law is impassive.

Being in this profession, one cannot afford to be soft-hearted!

Seeing that it was almost time, Han Yu, along with Zhang Ping, pulled Ma Zhen's parents away and let the two colleagues from the precinct escort Ma Zhen to the police car and take him away.

After sending off the precinct's police car and seeing Ma Zhen's parents off, Han Yu just picked up his bowl at his family quarter's residence when Luo Yanfeng couldn't help but ask, "San'er, that kid just now said it was the others who started the fight, and they had more people than him, he was just fighting back, does this count as self-defense?"

"Self-defense requires meeting several conditions; his case certainly doesn't count. He says the others started it, they also said that they were the ones who started the trouble first."

"Such a big incident right before the New Year, how are his parents supposed to celebrate?"

"That's why no matter the situation, one should never act on impulse."

In the police profession, you're always dealing with the darker side of society.

Han Yu didn't want to continue the topic, and was about to change the subject when his phone suddenly rang.

Glancing at the caller ID, it was the bureau chief calling.

Calls from others could be dealt with like Secretary Lu, by hanging up first and then returning the call from an office landline; but calls from the bureau chief must be answered immediately.

Han Yu hurriedly put down his cutlery and answered the phone, "Director He, hello, Director He, any instructions?"

Director He's family was in Hanwu, and his spouse wasn't able to transfer to Binjiang until after the New Year. In the past half-year, he had only returned home a few times, and always managed to visit home when he went to the Changhang Police Bureau for meetings. It's fair to say that since taking office in Binjiang, he hardly ever had a break.

With the approach of the New Year, he went back home in advance to be with his family, leaving the work in the bureau to Political Commissioner Jiang. But in reality, since returning to Hanwu these few days, Director He had been visiting the Changhang Police Bureau almost daily, still busy with work.

Hearing Han Yu's voice, Director He flipped open his notebook and said, "No instructions as such, mainly to report a situation to you."

"What situation?"

"You mentioned last time about looking for periscope manufacturers to ask if they could produce a lifeable fire cannon. I got someone to contact the manufacturer and I've introduced the situation to them. They said the principle is similar, but there are many technical problems that need to be overcome."

Director He lit a cigarette and continued, "I said funding is not an issue, if they develop it we will definitely purchase it, but they are not interested. They said the market is too small, and even if developed, only a few sets will be sold, and asked me to inquire with other manufacturers."

Professional firefighting boats, the entire country has only a few. Thinking about it carefully, the market is indeed small.

Han Yu realized his previous lack of consideration and said with a wry smile, "If it really doesn't work, then forget it, don't install the liftable system."

"Not install it?"

"Do what we can with the money we have, save when we can."

That the young man didn't get too fixated was a relief to Director He, who immediately changed the subject, "Speaking of funding, I have one piece of good news and another piece of information that can save us money."

Han Yu asked with a smile, "Director He, what's the good news?"

"These past few days, I've reported our work several times to the leaders of the Changhang Police Bureau. Seeing our determination to build a specialized firefighting ship, they finally decided to allocate three hundred thousand from their already tight budget to support our new ship construction."

"That's great, Director He, to get funding from the Changhang Police Bureau, you're amazing!"

"Stop the flattery, back to business."

Director He gave a slight smile and looked down at his notebook, "A few days ago, an inventor conducted an event in Hanwu. This inventor is very impressive; he developed a high-tech concentrate that, when mixed with water at a ratio of 1 to 100,000, can create a water-based fuel."

Han Yu asked out of reflex, "Turn water into oil?"

"Yes, to turn water into oil!"

Director He put down the notebook and excitedly said, "They say this invention is one of the most powerful since the founding of New China, and could be considered the fifth greatest invention following the four great inventions. The new water-based fuel not only saves on diesel and gasoline for maintaining normal operation of gasoline or diesel engines, but also reduces environmental pollution!"

"That's incredible!"

"That's how amazing it is, not a scam, it's been reported by many major media outlets. The mayor of Helbin has announced that all public buses in Helbin will use the new fuel. This inventor is from Helbin, and to keep him, Helbin invested over four hundred million to build a factory for him."

Director He took several deep drags from his cigarette, creating billows of smoke, "How much oil does 001 burn in a year, and the new ship will burn even more once it's built. I've decided, once the inventor's new fuel is in production, we'll use it. We can save at least five or six hundred thousand a year."

Water turns into oil, it sounds a bit unreliable like a perpetual motion machine.

But then again, China is vast but not rich in resources, especially in the field of energy mines, where reserves are not as rich as some Western countries. Otherwise, there wouldn't have been a need to implement daylight saving time years ago to save electricity during the summer.

From this perspective, it's entirely possible for the country to develop new types of fuel to solve energy problems.

Director He didn't know what Han Yu was thinking, fearing that Han Yu wouldn't believe him, he said with a laugh, "I've collected a lot of information on the new fuel, got someone to send it to the dock, and asked the Passenger Ferry Police Team to bring it back. When you have time, go to the Binjiang Port Police Station to get it and study it, and then communicate with them to see if the ship's diesel engine can burn the new type of fuel."

"Alright, I'll call my sister later, and I'll go get the materials once I receive them."

"I almost forgot, I inquired with the Criminal Investigation Corps about the smuggling operation lead, and after they finished their analysis, it has been reported up to the ministry."

"Oh."

"That's all, wish you and your family an early Happy New Year, may your whole family enjoy happiness and prosperity in the new year."

After hanging up the phone, Han Yu took a long time to come back to reality, listening to the busy tone.

Han Xiangning had been lying in bed and was bored; she had already sneaked into the kitchen-cum-dining room wrapped in a cotton coat. Seeing her junior brother staring off into space, she asked out of the blue, "Turning water into oil, is that really true?"

"Ah..."

"Ah what? Hurry up and eat; the food is getting cold."

"When did you get here? You scared me."

Han Xiangning pulled out a chair and sat opposite him, giggling, "I came a while ago. Saw you were on the phone and didn't dare disturb you."

Han Yu asked with a smile, "How about Han Han?"

"She's sleeping. What else can she do besides sleep? Don't worry, your mom is watching her next door."

"What about Dongdong, Xunxun, and Xu Yuan?"

"They went to the shipyard with your dad. He said after maintenance is done, he's planning to take them to Bailong Port to buy some food."

Han Xiangning didn't want to talk about those little troublemakers who turned the passenger terminal upside down and returned to the previous topic, "San'er, do you believe in technology that can turn water into oil?"

"Director He said many media outlets have reported it, saying that all public buses in Helbin will switch to a new type of fuel that turns water into oil."

"Just because the media reported it, it's true?"

Han Xiangning thought for a while and added, "You should remember Li Zhiyong from our class—obsessed with UFOs. During school, he scrimped and saved, preferring to go hungry to exchange food coupons for money and, along with the living allowance from his parents, used it all to subscribe to 'UFO Exploration' and 'Secrets'. Later, he even joined the Chinese UFO Association.

Both 'UFO Exploration' and 'Secrets' are genuine magazines but can their content be trusted? Today they report a UFO was found here, tomorrow they say an alien spacecraft there. How many are real? Li Zhiyong has researched for years; has he ever seen aliens or their spacecraft?"

Li Zhiyong, a celebrity from Binjiang Shipping School, famous for his study of UFO phenomena.

Not only did he scrimp to subscribe to 'UFO Exploration' and 'Secrets' and join the UFO Association, but he was also promoting the knowledge about UFOs at school and even skipped classes to attend UFO symposiums in East Sea, so obsessed with UFOs that he felt studying shipping was meaningless and dropped out.

Han Yu pondered for a moment and then laughed, "What Li Zhiyong is obsessed with is sci-fi, turning water into oil is about technology, they can't be compared. And water is created by burning hydrogen in oxygen. If we could separate hydrogen and oxygen from water, it might actually burn."

"Can't be compared? I think they're pretty much the same. And Li Zhiyong, you say he's obsessed with sci-fi, I'd say with special abilities. He just wants to find aliens to bestow him special abilities."

"Director He spoke convincingly, such things can't be completely believed nor wholly doubted."

"I think he's been deceived. If someone could really invent such technology, they would've won the Nobel Prize by now."

"That's true. If there was such technology, would China still lack foreign exchange?"

"So you don't believe it either."

"I've believed too many things before, now I dare not believe."

"What did you used to believe?" Han Xiangning asked, snickering.

Han Yu said with an embarrassed face, "Believed in special abilities, there were many media reports about it back then. Later, my master told me to get a firefighting license. When I started studying firefighting, I realized special abilities can't put out the big fires in Xing'an Ridge or the fires in Kuwait."

"Did you really believe it?"

"At that time, the newspapers were so convincing, I couldn't help but believe them."

Han Yu ate a bite of food and continued, "And those Qi Gong masters, supposedly able to fight so well, they even went to teach at the Armed Police Force. Later I asked Kang Kui from the Armed Police Linghai Company and realized it was all fake. Those Qi Gong instructors, he could fight three at a time."

Han Xiangning hadn't expected her junior to have believed in those nonsensical things before and was about to tease him when his phone rang again.

"It's from Director Shi."

"Answer it quickly."

"It's confidential."

"Okay then, I'll go back and check on Han Han."

Han Xiangning didn't think her junior asked her to leave because he mistrusted her and left cheerfully.

Watching his senior sister's figure leave, Han Yu answered the phone and asked, "Director Shi, what's going on?"

Shi Shengyong and Jianghai emerged from the bank, climbed into the jeep, and with a laugh, held up the phone and said, "That bank account was opened in a branch in East Sea Pudong. From Binjiang, we could only get this much information. I'm going back to draft an introduction letter, we'll head to East Sea first thing tomorrow."

"Today's the 27th of the twelfth lunar month; the New Year is coming!"

"Opportunities are fleeting; we must grasp them. Tickets are tight during the Spring Festival rush, help me book two tickets for East Sea for tomorrow morning, fast ferries, since Bai Shen is too slow."

The investigation into the smuggling case had a division of labor between the Four Factory Police Station and the Bailong Port Police Station.

The Four Factory Police Station had many police officers and auxiliary police to spare, mainly responsible for initial investigations.

The Bailong Port Police Station had fewer personnel, but better relations with the Fishery Administration and even border defense, and upon verification from the Four Factory Police Station, would be responsible for borrowing ships and people to catch criminals in the act.

Han Yu didn't expect Comrade Old Shi to be so enthusiastic about his job and couldn't help but chuckle, "No problem."

"Also, your sub-bureau's Criminal Investigation Team has made phone calls to Snake Head in the past, can't lose contact, must keep Snake Head stable."

"Don't worry, I've arranged it with Liu Guixiang. He will not only maintain contact with Snake Head but is even prepared for Snake Head's domestic colleagues to probe him."

"What preparations has he made?"

"The calls are made from the post office. The comrades there are unaware of his identity. Even if Snake Head comes back, he won't be exposed."

Han Yu smiled and added, "He left a pager number for Snake Head, which is with a special informant he recruited. The informant is capable and dependable, and even made it known that he wants to go abroad to work."

Shi Shengyong asked in a low voice, "Even if Snake Head sends domestic henchmen to Binjiang for reconnaissance, they won't blow his cover?"

Han Yu assured, "They won't."