Chapter 17: The Flood Swept Over the Dragon King Temple

Chapter 17: Chapter 17: The Flood Swept Over the Dragon King TempleThere are too many travelers who have been distressed by scalpers, with some paying fifteen yuan for an overpriced ticket for this boat trip. Those who managed to buy a regular-priced ticket this time, but have previously purchased several "black market tickets," now want to file a report. Ordinary workers earn so little a month that spending fifteen on a boat ticket has a significant impact on their lives. Li Weiguo understands how travelers feel, but he's too overwhelmed to handle everything himself, so he lets Han Yu handle the case alone. Having the opportunity to uphold justice initially gave Han Yu a strong sense of achievement, but there were too many travelers to question and too many statements to record. As he wrote, his wrist and fingers became as exhausted as the instructor's, feeling that if this continued, the fingers holding the pen would blister. Almost every traveler would ask if it was possible to get their extra money back, and the instructor could not guarantee it; he could only explain repeatedly that he would do his best. As long as they have contact details, if anything could be retrieved, even just a part, they would contact them later... It was like being in a battle, not daring to pause for a moment. Busy until the passenger ship docked, there were still about thirty travelers who bought overpriced tickets from scalpers and had not given their statements. They were only able to look at photos for identification, and then they were given a mailing address to send a written explanation after returning home. The onboard police were also exhausted, handing over the completed statements to the instructor and then escorting the travelers ashore to meet the dockside police. Li Weiguo and Old Liu quickly gathered evidence materials, packing over four hundred statements into one travel bag. In another three and a half hours, they would take the passenger ship back to Bailong Port. But the captain, political commissioner, onboard police, and crew needed to disembark for a break, the ship needed to be cleaned, and another crew would handle the night-time navigation. Furthermore, a rare trip to East Sea meant other tasks aside from work. East Sea is the most westernized place, and whenever colleagues from Linghai went to East Sea for business, they would ask them to bring back some items. Li Weiguo had prepared a list in advance, hoping to seize this opportunity to get a watch repaired and buy some mooncakes for the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival. The mooncakes in East Sea were not only rounder but also tastier than those in Linghai; his granddaughter would definitely love them... Old Liu's daughter was getting married and had brought almost all the money she had saved over the years to buy many items. Phoenix brand bicycles, Butterfly brand sewing machines, East Sea brand watches—these three major items were a must-purchase if available. Sёarᴄh the NovelFire.net* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Dique Liang fabric, velvet corduroy, White Rabbit Creamy Candies, assorted fruit candies—buy as much as possible as they would be needed for the celebration. They only had three hours to shop, so the three, with the help of onboard police, stored their luggage at the dock's police station and headed directly to the bustling Nanjing Road along the Bund. To the right was the busy Huangpu River, filled with ships as far as the eye could see. To the left, the road was bustling with traffic, lined with various foreign classical buildings. The place was crowded with people, truly packed, and there were many foreigners! Han Yu felt like Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden, fascinated by everything and silently marveling at China's biggest city. "Xiao Han, look later, hurry up, or we won't make it." "Stay close, don't get lost!" Li Weiguo, still worried, simply grabbed him and ran forward. The three rushed to Nanjing Road, seeing the famous Peace Hotel. There were also many people on Nanjing Road, with the continuous sound of bicycle bells and a traffic officer controlling the traffic lights, loudly shouting at pedestrians. Many department stores, with nearly each one crowded at the entrance. Li Weiguo squeezed to the entrance of a department store and looked inside, realizing that the people in East Sea were also desperately trying to buy things; getting anything wasn't easy. He grabbed someone coming out of the store to ask, and found out that many items were sold out, there were no TVs in the TV department, bicycles and sewing machines required coupons, and even aluminum pots needed to be exchanged with old ones. Old Liu eagerly asked, "What about the candies?" The man he grabbed chuckled, "Police comrade, you guys must be from out of town, right? White Rabbit Creamy Candies sold out long ago. I just saw that there's some assorted fruit candy, no coupon needed but it's limited; one person can only buy one kilo." "Do we need to queue?" "Definitely." They had to gather more evidence early in the morning and were going back by boat later; there was no time to queue. Old Liu asked with a sad face, "Comrade, what can we buy now?" Hearing the accent, they knew they must be from Gangboring—a place where people definitely wanted to buy something when visiting East Sea. The old local thought for a moment and raised his arm to point down a lane, "There're many individual vendors down that alley, selling foreign trade clothes, very stylish and modern." "Alright, thank you." "You're welcome." Old Liu didn't want to return empty-handed, he turned back and asked, "Commander Li, should we take a look?" Li Weiguo also didn't want to return empty-handed, smiled and said, "Then let's take a look." Han Yu also wanted to buy some White Rabbit Creamy Candies for his little nephew, and since they really couldn't buy them, he had no choice but to join them in checking out the stalls. This was Nanjing Road, after all—where were the neon-lit sentinels, where was the Good Eighth Company located on Nanjing Road... They were curiously looking around when suddenly someone grabbed him. Turning around, it was another person wearing a wide-brimmed hat. Han Yu instinctively asked, "Comrade, what's happening?" "I was about to ask you the same thing." The patrolling police pulled him to the roadside, and two members of the Cooperative Defense Team came up and grabbed his arms. Confused, Han Yu was about to turn around to see where the instructor and Old Liu were when the police sternly asked, "What's your name, and where are you from?" "Comrade, I'm also police; I'm from the Linghai County Police Bureau Yanjiang Police Station, I've come from Linghai." "You are also a police officer, right? Show me your work badge." "I just started working, and the bureau hasn't issued my work badge yet." Han Yu realized why they were suspicious of him, and felt so awkward he wished he could just disappear. A young kid dressed in a women's police uniform parading through the city was bound to raise doubts, and the East Sea police surely wouldn't believe his story. They coldly asked, "What's your name?" "Han Yu." "When did you arrive in East Sea?" "I just arrived, I came on today's ship." "Ticket?" "Comrade, I am here on a mission. Director Zhang from Bailong Port Police Station saw us onto the ship, we didn't need tickets." Han Yu knew nothing he said would be believed, so anxiously added, "I'm not alone, I came with our instructor; he is ahead buying some things. If you don't believe it, you can ask our instructor!" By then, Li Weiguo and Old Liu had realized they had lost Little Salted Fish and rushed back in panic to find him. The two ran to the entrance of the alley and saw Little Salted Fish being questioned by an East Sea colleague, relieved, they quickly approached and saluted. "Are you two..." "Hello, I am the police officer from Linghai Police Bureau and here's my badge." "Comrade, I am from the Binjiang Port Police Bureau. My surname is Liu, Liu Yizhou." The East Sea police officer raised his arm in return salute and after examining their IDs, looked at Han Yu while smiling, "And him?" Li Weiguo almost burst out laughing, but remembered it wasn't the time, and hurriedly explained: "Xiao Han is indeed a police officer from our bureau, just graduated this year and recently assigned. He's young and shorter, we couldn't find a fitting uniform and had to... had to settle for this." "Hahaha, I never would have guessed he's one of us." "..." Han Yu's face was filled with embarrassment. Li Weiguo quickly apologized, "My fault. I was eager to shop in East Sea and forgot to change into casual clothes after disembarking." "Little brother, sorry about that. It's like a flood washing away Dragon King Temple, a family not recognizing its own family," the East Sea officer returned their IDs and patted Han Yu's arm. Han Yu responded awkwardly, "It's okay." So Linghai Police Bureau is actually letting a little girl be a police officer. The East Sea police officer had never seen something so humorous, chuckled again and said, "Comrade Xiao Han, eat more when you get back, grow a couple dozen centimeters more so you can fit into a man's uniform." "Exactly, eat more, focus on meat," Li Weiguo agreed and couldn't help but to laugh as well. After a miscommunication nearly portrayed him as a criminal, Han Yu had no mood to continue shopping. Seeing his gloominess, Li Weiguo bought him a cotton candy. This kind of candy isn't available in Linghai; the vendor puts sugar into a machine, heats it up, and turns it into a fluffy blob – quite magical, and at just one fen each, it wasn't expensive. Old Liu treated Han Yu to a tangerine drink, nice and sweet, but it left a yellow residue on your tongue. They didn't dare to eat at a big restaurant for dinner and bought three servings of minced meat rice at a small stall near the dock, one yuan per serving – quite pricey. But thinking of the current pork prices in East Sea, reaching 2.8 yuan per catty, and eggs at 1.5 yuan, it seemed reasonable, after all, there are costs to cover. No need to collect evidence on the way back, and having a ticket for the fourth class, they could lie down and sleep. The return trip is upstream, traveling by night, not as quick as by day, taking nearly ten hours to reach Bailong Port by dawn. Considering they would have to deliver evidence to the station first thing in the morning and then board another ship to collect evidence, the trio quickly bathed, changed into casual clothes, and washed their day-worn uniforms to hang dry. Han Yu couldn't sleep and chatted with the onboard police. Learning he graduated from the Binjiang Shipping School, the officer introduced him to the captain who then permitted a tour of the engine and even the bridge. "Xiao Han, not to mention Bailong Port, even Binjiang Port used to be managed by us East Sea folks. Binjiang Port Police Bureau, originally was our East Sea Shipping Police Bureau's Binjiang Port Police Station." "Really?" "Truly, feel free to ask Old Liu at Bailong Port Police Station if you doubt it." The captain added with a smile, as the onboard police finished speaking, "Many of our colleagues in the Yangtze River Shipping Company are graduates from your school." Han Yu was taken aback and said, "Our school currently has no East Sea students, only from Hui'an, Xijiang, Beihu, and Nanhu provinces." "We didn't before either; they were all transferred here for work." The captain smiled again, saying, "Not just at our shipping company, but Port Supervision, waterways, and several major ports have quite a few of your fellow alumni; after all, all are part of the Yangtze River Shipping System." The Binjiang River Transport School, earlier known as Binjiang Shipping School, has nurtured countless talents for the Yangtze River Shipping System since its inception. It was a shame to the captain to see a graduate of a shipping school working in the police. Political Commissioner Liu, holding a tea cup, laughed and said, "We in East Sea have the closest ties with you folks in Binjiang. I remember seven or eight years ago, our company managed a passenger dispatch volume of about 209 million, with Binjiang accounting for 121 million, more than half." Han Yu curiously asked, "And now?" Without hesitation, Political Commissioner replied, "Last year, the passenger volume was 341 million, with trips to and from Binjiang accounting for over 16 million, which is about 47 percent. Quite a high proportion." Han Yu couldn't believe it was real and muttered, "There aren't that many people in Binjiang, how could so many travel by ship to East Sea." "Not just Binjiang people, but those from Salt Sea and several other cities in Jiangbei wanting to come to East SeaRead on91%;"> also travel from there." "That's true; there's neither a major bridge nor car ferries, so they have to travel by ship." "We run this route every day, and I estimate at least a million people a year can't get tickets, having to resort to scalpers for high-priced tickets. There're major complaints from passengers, blaming the ticket sellers at the dock, and then blaming us on the ship. Those scalpers are really troublesome, you really need to crack down on them." "Commissioner Liu, rest assured, we will continue to gather evidence tomorrow." "Director Zhang from Bailong Port Police Station told us, we will fully support you tomorrow."