The Yanjiang Police Station was not only a newly established station but also the least important one under the Linghai Police Bureau.
It was supposed to maintain security on the Linghai section of the Yangtze River and the Bailong River waterway, but due to limitations in police force and equipment, there wasn't much they could actually do.
In the eyes of the bureau leadership, as well as the internal affairs and household registration officer Zhang Mingdong, the Yanjiang Police Station was nothing more than a waterborne security checkpoint.
During major operations, such as pursuing and intercepting fugitives, they'd find a small boat, or go to Bailong Port lock to inspect boats passing through the Bailong River.
When there were no major operations, they handled waterborne population management, issuing household registration and Seaman's Certificates to the shipmen drifting on the waters.
They had neither enforcement tasks to strike on, nor duties to generate legal income, not even needing to participate in other actions.
It could be said that the Yanjiang Police Station was specifically established for Xu Sanye, and incidentally, resolved a regular position for Li Weiguo, who had been working in the preliminaries department for many years.
Due to this, the pace of work at the Yanjiang Police Station was very slow.
Zhang Mingdong prepared breakfast, saw his grandson off to school, then rode his bicycle leisurely from the Cooperative Society in Four Factory Town, arriving at the front door of the Police Station just in time for 7:55 AM.
Li Weiguo hadn't come home last night after being on duty, Xu Sanye had arrived very early, and the two were standing by the roadside chatting.
Zhang Mingdong found it strange and joked as he got off his bike, "Director Xu, Commander Li, are you guys here to welcome me?"
"We'll do so when you become the chief."
"I'm retiring in six more years. Hoping to be chief is something I can only look forward to in my next life."
"Old Zhang, I'll retire three years before you. Becoming a chief might be out of reach, but being an instructor still has hope."
"Stop joking, I don't want to be an official anyway." Zhang Mingdong looked curiously in the direction they had been eagerly anticipating and asked, "Who are you waiting for?"
Xu Sanye lifted his arm to check his watch: "Waiting for Little Salted Fish. He said yesterday he'd take the first bus, the one from Binjiang to Bailong Port doesn't even stop at the Four Factory Town Government, it definitely won't stop at our door for him."
Li Weiguo added, "He's probably bringing a lot of stuff. If he rides all the way to the Bailong Port Bus Station, carrying all that stuff back would be a hassle."
Zhang Mingdong suddenly understood: "You're waiting for that kid."
"It's about time for him to arrive."
Li Weiguo took out a cigarette, smiling, "He's about the same age as your grandson, a few years younger than my granddaughter. Once he arrives, our station's average age will drop from fifty-one to forty-two, and we won't be the police station with the oldest average age anymore."
Xu Sanye couldn't help but laugh: "He's even younger than my Er Girl. The age structure in our station is not just old, middle-aged, and young; it's a combination of the old, middle-aged, young, and the youngest."
Zhang Mingdong took the cigarette from Li Weiguo, lit it, and asked with a laugh, "Director Xu, if I and Commander Li are the elderly, and that kid's the youth, who's middle-aged, and who's the young adult?"
"You're not old; forty-five to fifty-five is middle-aged. You're just fifty-four, that's middle-aged. Eighteen to forty-five is considered as the youth, and I'm forty-two this year, a young man."
Xu Sanye spoke with ups and downs, making a serious case of it.
Li Weiguo laughed loudly, "If we divide like this, the four of us at the station really make up a mix of old, middle-aged, young, and the youngest."
Zhang Mingdong also enjoyed the joke, asking, "I heard the kid's family lives on a boat?"
"Mm-hm."
"It's not easy for a child from a shipman family to get into technical secondary school."
"Old Zhang, you not only have a grandson but also a granddaughter, around the same age as Salted Fish, you could make an introduction."
"What's there to introduce? My granddaughter is older than him, she's in her second year of high school."
"Do you look down on the shipman's kids?"
"How could I? But perhaps my wife might think that way."
Discussing this, Li Weiguo pondered, "The whole family is on the boat, no house on shore at all. Although being an official, we police don't have high salaries. Thinking about it, it won't be easy for Xiao Han to find a partner in the future."
Linghai's marriage customs are very particular.
They require a matchmaker to introduce the two parties, confirming mutual interest, then visiting the other's family.
Like police investigation, you have to check the other's family history for three generations, particularly clarifying if they have body odor. If the other family has body odor, the marriage proposal is likely to be called off.
The status of children from shipman families in marriage matters is only slightly better than those from onshore families with body odor. No one is eager to marry their daughter to a shipman without a house, unless the other side is willing to marry into the woman's family instead.
Though self-arranged marriages are now popular, marriage is still a matter of two kids and two families.
Xu Sanye also felt that it would be hard for Little Salted Fish to find a partner in the future and sighed lightly, "He's still young, just sixteen. It's too early to worry about these things now."
"That's true."
Li Weiguo nodded, about to change the topic when a long-distance coach honking its horn passed over the bridge from the north.
Xu Sanye put on a wide-brimmed hat and waved from afar.
The bus driver could ignore the officials of Four Factory Town, but he dared not ignore a police signal. He promptly released the accelerator, slowly gliding to the side of the road.
Han Yu was sitting on this bus, worrying about how to carry all his belongings to the station once at Bailong Port Bus Station since it did not stop halfway.
Seeing the police station's chief and instructor from a distance, Han Yu quickly stuck his head out and called, "Director Xu, Commander Li, I'm here!"
"Did you see it? How many pieces of luggage?"
"Not a few."
"Comrade, could you please open the door?"
"Sure." The driver reacted quickly and pressed the switch, with a zipping sound, the door opened.
Han Yu, with his arms full of big and small packages, moved to the door and apologized, "I have some more things on the roof."
"No worries, take your time." The ticket seller smiled brightly, got off the bus, and went to the back to help untie the knots.
Seeing Director Xu and the instructor ready to take the luggage, Han Yu didn't put on airs and handed over the packages, then climbed onto the roof, lifted the net securing the luggage, and carefully found a bag of rice his sister packed, cautiously lowering it down.
Zhang Mingdong stepped forward to catch it, smiling at him and saying, "Xiao Han, I've never met you before, but I sure know who you are."
"Are you Uncle Zhang?"
"So you know about me too. Hurry up and help them tie stuff up. They have to take the passengers to Bailong Port and then pick up the ones who just got off the ship to Binjiang."
"Got it."
After bringing down all the luggage and thanking the driver and the ticket seller, they carried everything to the second-floor dormitory at the station. What Han Yu saw in the dormitory left him astounded.
Zhang Mingdong was just as surprised and asked about the TV on the desk, "Director Xu, where did this TV come from?"
"Borrowed it from Jindun Hotel last night, and this electric fan too."
"What about this rice cooker? It looks a bit like the one from the cafeteria at the Police Bureau."
"It's exactly that one from the cafeteria that was bought the year before last, a Triangle brand, cost about seventy-eight if I recall correctly. Back then, lots of people hadn't seen a rice cooker and all went to the cafeteria just to marvel at it."
Zhang Mingdong asked with a laugh, "So they just lent them to you when you asked?"
Xu Sanye proudly replied, "Would they be so agreeable? I rushed to Wang Xiazhi's office and gave him an ultimatum—if they wouldn't lend these to me, I'd send Salted Fish back to him."
"And then what?"
"Just so happened that Director Yang was also at the office, he overheard me negotiating with Wang Xiazhi in the Political Work Office and called him, telling Wang Xiazhi to hurry up and arrange things, hahaha."
"What negotiation? You were arguing with Director Wang."
"He slapped the table, so of course, I couldn't lower my voice, otherwise, he'd think I'm afraid of him."
Xu Sanye pulled out a bicycle key and handed it to Han Yu, "Since it was rare for me to go to the bureau, I helped you find a bicycle, pretty similar to your sister's, a women's model, parked downstairs."
Han Yu was taken aback by his audaciousness to cause a stir at the Police Bureau and to threaten the Director of the Political Work Office.
And the thought of using his own return as leverage against the leadership had him torn between laughter and tears.
Xu Sanye smiled and lifted his arm to point at a set of police uniform on the bed, "I checked with logistics, they have plenty of new uniforms but none that fitted you, so I just borrowed an old one for you. Anyway, your main task will be fixing ships; there won't be many opportunities to wear the uniform, so make do for now."
"Thanks, Director Xu."
"A formal welcome to our big family. Now that you're part of the family, there's no need for formalities."
Xu Sanye extended his large hand and patted his shoulder, then pulled Han Yu to the room next door which was empty. He opened the door and pointed to the few bags of snakeskin bags inside.
"Though the shipyard has tools, they need them for work and can't lend them to you to use while they just sit around. I even went back home last night to find friends of our village who previously worked with machines... those who used to contract for farm machinery and borrowed all the commonly used tools for machinery repair. This morning, I also stopped by Xin Hai Textile Factory and got a few bags of waste yarn for you to use as rags."
It was exactly these things that were missing, Han Yu smiled knowingly, "Director Xu, you've thought of everything."
"I don't know how to fix ships or machinery, but I've got to take care of logistics."
"Don't worry, Director Xu, I'll make sure that the ship gets fixed."
...
These two are really taking ship repair seriously.
Li Weiguo didn't know what to make of them and just found an excuse to go downstairs.
Zhang Mingdong only knew that a kid had come to the station, unaware of the ship repair matter, and followed the instructor downstairs to the office.
After understanding the ins and outs of the matter, he furrowed his brows slightly, "Old Li, getting Salted Fish to repair the ship may not cost us labor fees, but buying spare parts takes money. Is the bureau providing the funds?"
Li Weiguo lit a cigarette and responded rhetorically, "What do you think?"
"The bureau is so poor they have to apply for funding from the Finance Bureau even to install two internal telephone exchanges, I doubt they have money for ship repairs."
"He said he has a way to handle it."
"We don't even have a proper jurisdiction, can't find a place to collect security linkage fees, let alone fines refund, what could he possibly do?"
Yesterday, after asking Little Salted Fish privately, Little Salted Fish said fixing the ship would cost at least five or six thousand.
Li Weiguo truly couldn't fathom where Xu Sanye could find the money, so he said helplessly, "Let's not worry about him. If he wants to repair ships, let him do it. It's better than getting into other things."
Thinking about why Xu Sanye was sent to be the chief of this Yanjiang Police Station, Zhang Mingdong felt there was some sense to Li Weiguo's words and nodded slightly, "That's true, if he does something rash again, none of us will have peace."