Chapter 320 - 227 Spending Big Money

Words : 2601 Updated : Oct 5th, 2025

Chapter 320: Chapter 227 Spending Big MoneyHigh temperatures and scorching heat, fires are not just likely to occur but are frequent! Just in the past month, Yingchuan Port and the nearby waters have seen nine ship fires, four of which occurred at anchorages at Yingchuan Port, two on Bin Qi River, one at a shipyard by the riverbank, one in the waterway, and one at a dock across the Yangtze River. One incident every three days on average, and each time a fire broke out, 001 had to be dispatched, successfully handling each emergency and minimizing economic losses to the ships. Fifteen minutes ago, "Lian Gang Cargo 102" reported a fire in the cargo hold, calling for help via VHF radio. Today is Sunday, and at the Water Rescue Center only Han Xiangning and the driver Old Bao are on duty on "store ship" accompanying his fiancée Liang Xiaoyu. Upon hearing the call, they immediately asked Captain Wang and Zhu Baogen to prepare the vehicle and notified the Water Police Fourth Squad. At the same time, they rushed to the Floating Pier of the Rescue Center in a small boat, joined Han Xiangning aboard Supervision Boat 39, and headed to the fire scene to assess the situation. This was a more than 4,000-ton inland river cargo ship with thick smoke billowing from the deck, and the fire spreading towards the living quarters and the engine room. The cargo ship was equipped with a fire pump and fire nozzles, but it seemed unlikely that the crew could extinguish the fire by themselves given the situation. The Supervision Boat also had a fire nozzle, and Xiao Yu was nervously preparing it, but the idea of extinguishing a large fire with the small nozzle on the Supervision Boat was equally unrealistic. Han Xiangning couldn’t afford to calculate how long it would take for 001 to arrive. She asked the experienced driver to steer the Supervision Boat around the burning ship at a safe distance, carefully observing before lifting the radio handset again: "Lian Gang 102, the fire rescue ship will arrive soon, please stay calm." "Lian Gang 102, understood." "From now on, follow my command, please immediately reduce the ship’s speed and decrease the air pressure in the cabin. Repeat my order." "Received, reducing speed, decreasing cabin air pressure." "Twenty degrees to port, adjust the course to make the fire-affected area face away from the wind, see if the flames can be blown outboard." "Received, adjusting course, twenty to port." "Keep it steady, steer away from the main waterway." "Received." "Drop the bow anchor!" "Cut off the fuel and gas lines, seal off the engine room!" ... Rescuing people is more important than putting out the fire. After issuing a series of commands, Han Xiangning confirmed that the fire wouldn’t block the waterway and immediately ordered the Captain to organize the crew to abandon ship. When all eleven crew members were safely taken aboard Supervision Boat 39 from the upwind side without incident, 001 finally arrived. Yang Yong, Luo Wenjiang, and Zhu Baogen once again became firefighters, operating the high-pressure water cannon and four high-pressure hoses under Liang Xiaoyu’s command to fight the fire from the upwind side. The First Port Patrol Team’s Supervision Boat followed right behind. Under the command of Han Xiangning, who was in charge of the scene, they started the boat’s fire pump and used the firefighting hoses to assist in extinguishing the fire, just like Supervision Boat 39 did. After nearly an hour of effort, the fire on Lian Gang 102 was mostly extinguished, and there were no casualties. once again "pulled the weight above its class," with the guiding and alerting of the two Supervision Boats, towed "Lian Gang 102" to a safe anchorage, allowing the Port Supervision Bureau and the Water Police Station to conduct an investigation and handle related matters. Han Xiangning, who didn’t physically exert as much as Xiao Yu and the others, had still been intensely focused on commanding the scene. The lack of air conditioning on the boat left her nearly heat-stricken, so once ashore, she just sat down unwilling to move, let alone think about going back to her dormitory to shower and change clothes. Liang Xiaoyu, on the other hand, returned to 001 and joined Yang Yong and Luo Wenjiang to cool off in the air-conditioned command cabin. "Where are Captain Wang and Old Zhu?" "They’re smoking in the cockpit." "I want to smoke too." "Go ahead, just crack the door open." "What’s the point of smoking, when the cigarettes are wet." Yang Yong pulled out a half-pack of cigarettes that had been soaked and casually threw it into the bin. Knowing that he didn’t like the cheapest cigarettes that Captain Wang and Old Zhu usually smoked, Luo Wenjiang teased, "Xiao Yu, do you have any cold drinks on your ship?" "Yeah, we’ve got ice blocks, chilled soda, and beer." "Buy us a soda, Brother Yang is going to buy cigarettes anyway, have your girlfriend steer the ship over." "Buy you a drink, my sodas cost money!" "Miser, making so much money but too stingy to treat us to a soda." "That’s not being stingy, that’s business." "Alright, alright, we’ll pay, just have your girlfriend come over quickly." "Brother Yang, what cigarettes do you want?" "Two packs of Red Plum." "Two bottles of soda, two packs of Red Plum, they aren’t even worth the fuel cost," mumbled Liang Xiaoyu, but still he turned on the VHF radio to ask Zhang Yuzhen to steer the "store ship" over. Han Xiangning could hear everything clearly from the shore, thought of how they had again helped out, and knowing that Captain Yang and his First Port Patrol Team were probably thirsty as well, she immediately sat up and picked up the radio handset: "Yuzhen, this is Han Xiangning. Put the cigarettes and soda on the Rescue Center’s tab. I don’t drink soda; I’ll have an ice block. And please send ten bottles of soda to Supervision Boat 41 as well." "Okay, coming right away." "Drive slowly and be safe." "Sister Ningning, don’t worry when I’m at the helm." ... After finishing the job, enjoying the air conditioning and cold drinks, it was definitely the most comfortable thing in the scorching summer. The Water Rescue Center was treating everyone, so all were included. Captain Wang, sitting in the cockpit sipping chilled soda, looked out at the broad river and sighed, "I didn’t know there were so many fires until I came to Yingchuan Port. The Water Police Fourth Squad has practically become the Water Firefighting Team." "Director Jia and Ma Jintao didn’t join in, the main effort in fighting the fire was ours, alongside Xiao Yang and Xiao Luo." "Director Jia and Ma Jintao just didn’t come out to fight the fire on the river; there was also a fire inside the lock, but it was easier to handle than ours. The river there isn’t that wide, and there are many ships. They just need to move the pump onto a ship and start pumping water to extinguish the fire." When it came to firefighting, Zhu Baogen couldn’t help but laugh: "Who would have thought, that little girl Ningning is quite impressive, commanding so many people just now, even Captain Yang listened to her." "She used to direct traffic at the Traffic Control Center, directing rescue operations isn’t much different from directing traffic." After thinking for a moment, Captain Wang sighed and said: "Director Xu was right when he was here; the firefighting management on the river is too messy. The Port Supervision has authority, the Water Police Station has authority, they all claim authority, but neither has a firefighting team. Anytime there’s a fire, we have to call on others to fight it. What kind of system is that?" In the pilothouse with no outsiders, Zhu Baogen had no reservations and looked up: "It’s easy to collect fees for management, but it costs money to build firefighting ships and set up a Water Firefighting Team. Everyone is proactive when it comes to making money, but aside from Director Xu, who else is willing to spend it?" Rough words, but the logic is sound. Captain Wang did not expect Zhu Baogen to have such insight. After a moment of silence, he chuckled: "Salted Fish is willing to." Zhu Baogen asked subconsciously: "Captain Wang, what does Salted Fish want to do?" "He told me yesterday that the dunship has been in the water for almost six years, and at most, it could only be used for another four years before it needs to be dry-docked. The dunship is not the 001; using someone else’s dry dock would definitely not be free of charge. The maintenance costs for the main and auxiliary engines of the 001 are getting higher and higher, and it consumes too much fuel. It also needs to be replaced in three to four years." "How much money would that need?" "At the very least, the dry-docking of the dunship would cost fifty thousand, and replacing the main engines and one auxiliary engine would be at least a hundred and fifty thousand. If we also need to replace the high-pressure water cannons, probably two hundred and fifty thousand." "The water cannons need to be replaced too?" "Salted Fish said our water cannons can only reach fifty meters. That’s fine for fires like today’s, but if we encounter fires on oil tankers, oil barges, or fires at oil depots or chemical warehouses onshore, we can’t just not fight the fire, but going means risking our lives." "Not enough water pressure, not shooting far enough?" "Mm." Captain Wang pulled out a cigarette and offered one, saying helplessly: "You’ve attended the briefings on fire and explosion accidents before; you know how many firefighters died fighting those fires at oil tankers, oil barges, and chemical warehouses over the years." If you consider it from a safety perspective, it would make sense to replace it with a high-pressure water cannon. Zhu Baogen thought for a moment and pressed on: "Does Salted Fish have that much money?" "He’s writing a report and submitting applications." "Applying to whom?" "To the Water Police Station, Port Supervision Bureau, Port Authority, and our Linghai Police Bureau. Any authority that claims jurisdiction, he’s submitted an application report to them." "Our Linghai Police Bureau definitely won’t provide the money; Chief Ding said not only does the bureau have no money, it also has a lot of external debt." "What debts does the bureau have?" "It owes money for water from the water plant, electricity from the power bureau, telephone bills from the postal and telecommunications bureau, and repair fees from the auto repair shop. The detention center’s construction is complete, but the contractors haven’t been fully paid. It’s said that the Second Construction Company is going to sue the bureau." Linghai Police Bureau has no money, and the Water Police Station is just as broke. The Port Authority, now under municipal management, is holding tight to its purse strings, and it’s unlikely they’ll give Salted Fish the money. As for the Port Supervision Bureau, with a change in leadership, the new people are not familiar with Salted Fish... Captain Wang didn’t believe Salted Fish could secure the money and promptly changed the subject: "He’s piloting today; who knows when he’ll be back." "You can ask Ningning; she definitely knows." ... Just as Captain Wang and Zhu Baogen had said, Han Yu was piloting aboard a foreign ship. The Port Supervision Bureau doesn’t have its own pilots, still relying on those temporarily transferred from the Port Authority. Pilot Cui Qingsong from the Port Authority, an experienced old captain familiar with the waterway situation and tides, didn’t even need a Water Depth Detector to know the water depth in each area. But Comrade Old Cui, before becoming a pilot, was a near-coastal merchant ship captain, and the ships he served on were particularly old. He wasn’t very familiar with ships built in recent years, much less foreign vessels. Today’s foreign vessel entered the Yangtze River from the North Channel. The Yangtze River is not the ocean; the river is crowded with ships, otherwise the section from the sea entrance to Binjiang would not be known as the golden waterway. Because there are so many ships on the river, the freighter has to be constantly mobile. He asked for twelve knots, then fifteen knots, forcing the foreign helmsman to frequently speed up and slow down as per his instruction. seaʀᴄh thё ηovёlFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Han Yu was different; not only had he studied ship navigation, but he also knew about marine engineering. Before boarding, he inquired with the Ship Agency about what kind of main engine the foreign vessel used and understood the engine’s operating conditions. If the engine rpm does not go up, neither will the ship speed. Sure enough, the bridge phone rang off the hook, the engine department was going crazy, constantly calling to remind not to run at a speed of 750 to 800 rpm. Old Cui’s English wasn’t very good, but after listening for a while, he roughly understood the issue and asked with a frown, "Is 750 to 800 rpm the resonance zone?" "It’s not the resonance zone, pilot sir, our main engine has a defect. Constantly running at this speed will get us into big trouble." The foreign captain, aware of Old Cui’s limited English, tried to explain using the simplest terms possible. Old Cui’s job was just to pilot, as long as he ensured navigation safety; he wasn’t a chief engineer and didn’t need to worry about main engine operational safety. He saw nothing wrong with piloting this way. The foreign captain was distraught; unable to watch any longer, Han Yu offered in Mandarin: "Master, shall I go down and take a look?" "Go ahead, see what’s up." After exchanging a few words with the captain, Han Yu followed a sailor down to the engine room. He didn’t know what to expect until he saw it, and was taken aback. He quickly returned to the bridge, stood next to Old Cui, and said without causing alarm: "Their main engine does have a defect. At 800 rpm, the main engine exhaust temperature rises rapidly, with each cylinder reaching between 430-470 degrees." Old Cui encountered this situation for the first time and asked puzzled: "How can there be such a defect?" "There must be a mismatch in the main engine’s operating condition design. When running between 750-840 rpm, the scavenging pressure is low, and the exhaust temperature is high. When the scavenging pressure is below 1.2, the exhaust bypass valve controlled by the air storage tank will activate the turbocharger by supplying air, and it will close when above 1.5." Fearing Old Cui might not grasp it, Han Yu emphasized: "The range is set so wide that it cannot be run for long periods between 750-840 rpm. If the engine operates within this rpm range, the exhaust temperature will be particularly high, and a long-term temperature over 430 can easily burn out the exhaust valves, so we must either accelerate or decelerate to pass this range safely." If the main engine were to get damaged, it could lead to the freighter losing control, which could cause safety accidents. Old Cui dared not take it lightly, weighed his options, and simply turned around: "Xiao Han, you take over. I’m getting old and a bit tired, so I’ll take a break."

Chapter 320 - 227 Spending Big Money

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