Chapter 23: The Engine Floating on Water

Just as I was about to speak about the illicit trading of Foreign Exchange Certificates, several people suddenly arrived.

They all came by bicycle and looked like officials, appearing very restrained and even somewhat fearful; two of them said they were looking for Li Weiguo, while a few others said they were looking for Old Zhang.

Xu Sanye was well-known, and Han Yu didn't think anyone would dare to come to the Yanjiang Police Station to seek favors.

After tidying up the dishes and coming out, indeed, they were escorting people to turn themselves in!

More than a dozen men and women who had bought tickets from scalpers were standing in the yard with their heads drooping, not daring to approach the office.

Turning her gaze back to those officials who were hastily offering smokes, Han Yu chuckled internally; just like turning oneself in, but in their eyes, seeking guidance from an instructor or Old Zhang was safer than seeking Xu Sanye.

At that moment, another person pushing a bicycle with six distraught individuals entered the yard.

The one pushing the bicycle was over fifty and wore an old military uniform.

Xu Sanye was very familiar with him, and it was clear from their relationship that they were close; he invited the man into the Director's office and asked Han Yu to fetch a bottle of boiled water.

The water boiled at noon had all been drunk, and they had forgotten to boil some during the evening.

Rushing, Han Yu quickly boiled a bottle, came downstairs, knocked on the door, entered the office, and helped make tea.

Xu Sanye stubbed out his cigarette butt and introduced, "Old Lei, this is Xiao Han from our station. He just transferred here this year; he's a technical secondary school student with good academic performance, ranked sixth in the county during the middle school exams!"

"Such good academic performance, lad, how old are you this year?"

"Salted Fish, this is Minister Lei from the Four Factory Town Military Department, a good friend of mine for many years."

"Hello Minister Lei, I'm sixteen this year."

"Only sixteen, I thought you looked so… so frail."

"Xiao Han is still young, he will grow."

Xu Sanye laughed loudly and asked, "Old Lei, the military draft is about to start, right? You must be getting busy soon."

"Not yet, I heard there's a meeting at the end of the month."

Minister Lei picked up his teacup, blew on the tea leaves floating on top, and smiled, "But it's not idle either, when all the public grain is collected, it'll be time to organize the civilian militia training."

"How long is the training this year?"

"Now unlike when you were the Civilian Militia Camp Commander, the superiors don't prioritize civilian militia training as much, and the populace's enthusiasm isn't high either. Although we have many basic civilian soldiers, each is busier than the next, we can only get thirty to forty people for a week's training."

"Will there be target practice?"

"Definitely we have to; what's a militia training without target practice."

"Let me know in advance when the target practice is. Xiao Han just started working and has never handled a gun, our bureau is very strict with firearms and ammunition, it would be good to bring Xiao Han along for some shooting."

Minister Lei looked at him with a smile and asked, "Is it you who wants to shoot?"

Xu Sanye grinned and said, "It's been a long time since I fired a gun, prepare more bullets for me that day, I need to satisfy my craving."

"Alright, I'll give you a call then."

Minister Lei smiled faintly and then swiftly changed the subject, "Sanye, I've come with a mission. You can fine those few village officials outside, you can scold or even beat them, but you cannot arrest them."

"Why can't they be arrested?"

"Superiors have a thousand tasks, the subordinates are the needle at the bottom, the superiors assign so much work, if you arrest the few village officials outside, who will do the physical work?"

"If enough evidence is accumulated to prosecute criminally, they definitely need to be arrested. They are just a few village officials, if necessary, we'll just elect new ones."

"Elect new ones, you say it so simply. Nowadays, many township officials have resigned to go into business, and the personnel turnover at village level is even more severe; anyone slightly capable has gone out to earn money. We are already coaxing them to continue working."

Linghai is the hometown of the modern industrialist and late Qing dynasty scholar Zhangjiang, and Four Factory Town is named after the establishment of the Dasheng Fourth Textile Factory by Zhangjiang.

Separated from East Sea by just a river, Linghai holds a traditional practice of establishing factories and engaging in trade.

For instance, the textile industry, textile factories have been popping up everywhere in recent years.

And like the shipping industry, the county now has over nine hundred individual ship owners involved in water transport, with a total cargo capacity exceeding 100,000 tons.

As stated by Minister Lei, capable people went into business, and only those without capabilities stayed as officials.

The era was changing too quickly, even the officials were reluctant to serve...

Xu Sanye sighed quietly to himself and didn't say more.

This was Four Factory Town Government entrusting the Military Minister to speak for those village officials.

Next door in two offices were several officials from the Commerce Bureau and Cooperative Society, speaking for employees of a few state-owned shops, state-owned travel inns, and warehouses in Bailong Port.

The 'speaking for' wasn't intended to trivialize major issues or negate minor ones.

It was rather a concern that the impact could be too damaging, hoping that the Yanjiang Police Station wouldn't blow the matter up.

As for the people's involvement in scalping ship tickets, they should be punished as appropriate, just without parading through streets or detention.

Essentially, those who came forward that evening were people concerned about saving face.

Xu Sanye, Li Weiguo, and Old Zhang were busy until past midnight before they could rest.

With the inclusion of Old Liu and a few other police from Bailong Port Police Station the next day, the pressure was not as intense as before, and by nightfall, most of those intending to turn themselves in had done so.

Only a few old men and old ladies still hoped for the best, fully aware that the police had evidence of their involvement in scalping ship tickets, yet chose not to come forward.

The deadline was five days, and today was also a weekend.

Xu Sanye was not in a rush to arrest anyone, allowing Li Weiguo and Old Zhang, who had been busy for over half a month, to go home and rest.

Early in the morning, he and Han Yu rushed to the docks to welcome Zhang Jiangkun who was coming to help repair ships.

For a long time, the two most coveted yet most difficult certificates to obtain were a university diploma and a grade eight professional certificate!

Port Authority has many level 8 workers in big departments, Linghai lacks large departments, so level 8 workers are a rarity.

From Xu Sanye's point of view, Little Salted Fish's brother-in-law is definitely a highly capable man, very respectful and enthusiastic, and he especially asked Old Qian, the newly appointed cook, to prepare several more dishes at noon.

To Han Yu's surprise, her brother-in-law brought not only his sister and child, but also a thirty-something electrician.

Unable to fit everyone in a tricycle, Xu Sanye simply asked Director Zhang from Bailong Port Police Station to arrange a jeep for transport.

Share victories and benefits together; the two families are now close as if they were wearing the same trousers.

Director Zhang was very helpful and quickly ordered the driver to bring the vehicle over and drive Zhang Jiangkun and the others to Yanjiang Police Station.

Since it was the police relatives' first visit to the station, they of course started with a tour of the workplace and living environment.

Xu Sanye, acting like a tour guide, had just finished introducing the station's environment, then turned back and said, "Salted Fish, didn't you take photos in uniform? Old Li said you took some when you went to the East Sea, show them to your sister and brother-in-law."

"What's so great about photos, why not go check out the ship first?"

"How can you act so shy like a maiden!"

Han Ning really wanted to see the photos of her brother in uniform, and laughingly said, "San'er, let us have a look."

With no other options, Han Yu opened the drawer and took out the solo photo taken at the Bailong Port photography studio, as well as group photos with Old Zhang and Old Liu on the ship and at the Bund.

Taking a look at them, Han Ning burst out laughing, "They have been taken really well, you were shy to show us."

"Very majestic, quite nice."

Zhang Jiangkun stepped over to take a look, then turned back and laughed, "Brother Xu, look at how my San'er's little photo turned out."

"Handsome, the uniform really makes a difference!" the electrician nodded approvingly.

Carrying the child, Han Ning asked, "How many copies did you print?"

Scratching his neck, Han Yu replied, "Four copies of the solo, and only one of the group photo with Commander Li and Uncle Liu."

"Do you have negatives for the solo?"

"Yes."

"Then give me all four solo photos."

"What do you need so many photos for?"

"One for home, one to take to Grandma, another to give to our father and mother, and one for Han Shen."

Worried her brother might disagree, Han Ning authoritatively added, "You have the negatives anyway, just send them to be reprinted."

All were taken in woman's uniforms, anyone in the know would laugh at them.

Han Yu felt embarrassed and depressed, but couldn't explain it well, so he just toughened up and packed the photos in an envelope for his sister.

Today, Zhang Jiangkun and others not only came to recognize his place, but also to help repair the ship. After chatting for a while, they changed into work clothes and went to the shipyard.

First, lift the cylinder to check whether important components like the crankshaft are damaged.

Then inspect the starter motor, battery, anchor chain machine...

The electrician, like a doctor diagnosing, went up and down, inside and out, then took out paper and pen to list several pages of electrical instruments, switches, and electrical cables that needed to be purchased.

Carrying the child, Han Ning boarded the ship, glanced around, and found it too hot to bear, returning to the cool canopy to rest.

Xu Sanye mentioned before that he would come and do odd jobs whenever he had time; today, he truly changed into work clothes to assist, as lifting cylinders requires both skill and strength.

After working all morning, he was soaked through.

On the way back to the station for lunch, Han Ning, recalling the days on the ship, exclaimed, "The summers are deathly hot, and the winters are freezing. I never want to board a ship again in my life."

Wiping sweat, Han Yu lamented, "It's already deep autumn and yet the engine room is still so hot."

Xu Sanye, unaware of how cold the ship becomes during winter but having experienced the scorching summer heat, turned back and asked, "Master Xu, is it possible to install air conditioning on the ship?"

"Sure, but it's pointless to install it in the engine room."

"How about the pilothouse and the command cabin below it?"

"Those two cabins are feasible. Director Xu, if you really want to install it, I can help you install a switch box for changing the power source. When sailing, use the ship's power, and when docking, use shore power. This would be more economical."

"Isn't using the ship's power cost-effective?"

"Of course it's not cost-effective. Once the main engine starts, it's not burning oil, but money."

Xu Sanye never thought about the oil issue, and instinctively asked, "Master Zhang, how much fuel does the ship burn in an hour?"

Zhang Jiangkun thought for a moment, smiling, "Ordinarily, ships are fitted with engines, while tugboats are like an engine wrapped in a hull, basically a floating engine. Both engines are old machines; if run at full power, they might burn thirty to forty liters of diesel per hour."

"What's the current price of diesel per liter?"

"The oil price has soared recently; it's up to 1.3 yuan now."

Burning fifty yuan worth of fuel per hour...

Xu Sanye thought he heard wrong, momentarily turning around.

Seeing him gaze her way, Han Yu quickly added, "It's almost that, and it's not like you can just start and sail away; you need to preheat the ship before setting off."

"How long does the preheating take?"

"At least half an hour."

"The fuel consumption is so high, this is a real fuel tiger!"

"Director Xu, this is a tugboat, used to tow fleets of barges. Without such high power, how could it move so many cargo-laden barges?"

With the Yanjiang Police Station overseeing a forty-kilometer stretch of the Yangtze River, if the tugboat was used for river patrols, one round trip would consume a month's salary in fuel.

Xu Sanye suddenly regretted fixing the boat and grimaced, "This consumes too much fuel; we can fix it but can't afford to use it."