Chapter 348 - 246: No Money No Hero (Part 2)

Words : 2086 Updated : Oct 7th, 2025

Chapter 348: Chapter 246: No Money No Hero (Part 2)Because the workers at Four Factory enjoyed high salaries and vibrant consumer spending, the vegetable market at Four Factory was also abounding with supply, including all sorts of poultry, meats, river delicacies, and seafood. The people of Linghai City District were envious and jokingly called it "devouring Four Factory." Moreover, Four Factory was not far from Bailong Port, making trips to East Sea convenient. The folks at Four Factory were early adopters of East Sea trends and were fanatic about products from East Sea. East Sea bran, Sanwu brand desk clocks, Phoenix bicycles, White Rabbit creamy candy, Daqian Gate cigarettes — if East Sea had it, you could buy it at Four Factory. Even the fashion of East Sea people was eagerly embraced here, with the latest in cool shirts, elastic shoes, flared pants, crew cuts, pointed leather shoes, and Peacoats... Dressed to the nines and even occasionally slipping in some East Sea lingo, spicing up their conversations with phrases like "give me a hand" and "that’s ridiculously funny." Han Xiangning had visited numerous times, even catching a movie here. It’s worth noting that Dasheng Fourth Factory was a city-owned state enterprise, with its own textile technical school and a workers’ cinema. The film lineup at the workers’ cinema was provided by Binjiang Film Company; hence new releases were screened here earlier than in the Linghai City District. The pair easily made their way across the Factory Gate Bridge, entering the busiest commercial area of Four Factory. There were state-owned department stores, collective small businesses, private grocery stores, photo studios, and consignment shops. There were night-and-day stores run by the Cooperative Society, banks, credit unions, bus stations, and station restaurants. As well as powder patting shops, dye-works, state-owned pharmacies, watch shops, tailoring shops, and shoe stores. The backstreet was the old street lined with barber shops, breakfast stalls, and various other small shops, just as bustling as the main street. The couple strolled around until they were hungry and stepped into a small eatery for two bowls of wonton soup. While eating, someone in a police uniform pushing a bicycle passed by the entrance. Fearing that her junior would be recognized, Han Xiangning quickly warned him. Han Yu glanced out and chuckled, "That’s not a colleague from the Four Factory Police Station." Han Xiangning was puzzled: "Not?" Seeing the Boss Lady chatting outside with the elderly neighbor, Han Yu smiled and explained: "Guarding such a large entity like Binmian Fourth Factory, you’d assume that the Four Factory Police Station wouldn’t lack funds. But due to the shortage of police officers in previous years, security wasn’t well managed, and the factory leaders had complaints about the Police Station, hence stopped sponsoring security funds." "No money? Wouldn’t that make security even worse?" "They don’t need the Four Factory Police Station for security, first they turned their security department into a Police Department, and later established the Economic Police Team. The person who just passed by is one of Four Factory’s economic police. They wear uniforms like us, have police IDs, and even carry firearms." After a sip of soup, Han Yu remarked with a bitter smile: "If not for my mentor’s strong opposition, they could even establish their own police station." Curious, Han Xiangning asked, "How are the jurisdictions divided then?" "The security of the factory area and residential area for the workers is managed by them. People move around, and almost every family in the town has someone working at the factory. Director Ding mentioned how we would catch gamblers here, and they would there—it’s been tense between the Four Factory Police Station and the Four Factory Economic Police Team these past two years." Han Yu thought for a moment and then chuckled, "Previously, the Four Factory Police Station’s office space belonged to the factory, but later due to some tension, the Economic Police Team took advantage when our police and auxiliary police were out and welded the Police Station’s door shut." "What happened afterward?" "Afterward, my mentor found out and came over in a rage. Although the factory leaders are on par with the city leaders of Linghai and can disregard the Police Bureau and even city leaders, they’ve known my mentor for a long time and had good relations with him, so they had to show respect for him." "And now?" "Now they don’t show respect for anyone, otherwise the Four Factory Police Station wouldn’t be in such a dire financial state." Han Xiangning mused, "How could they owe so much outside debt?" With resignation, Han Yu explained: "Initially, when there were few officers in the station, there were plenty of Cooperative Defense Team members, and they could collect security fees. But later on, considering the urgent need for more police forces at the station, the Bureau assigned several contract police officers, and their salaries had to be covered by the station. With no funds, they had to borrow from the credit union to pay the salaries and the costs incurred during arrests and case handling. These external debts snowballed like a rolling snowball, essentially becoming a historical issue." Thinking of Old Ding, who had been the Chief of the Four Factory Police Station for many years, Han Xiangning asked in a low voice, "Did Chief Ding also borrow money?" "Chief Ding borrowed quite a bit when he was at Four Factory, and when he later stepped aside to our station, my mentor, thinking he was a good man, used our station’s confiscated funds to help fill the financial gaps Chief Ding left." "So, the current debt of the Four Factory Police Station was left by the current Southern City Police Station Chief?" "Mhm." "How could he get promoted with such a deficit!" "You can’t blame him; anyone in that position would do the same. You can’t just not pay the contract officers or fail to investigate cases." It’s hard to cook a meal without rice, and thinking about it, the former station chief couldn’t be blamed. Unable to help herself, Han Xiangning asked, chuckling: "San’er, you’re a police officer at the station now, haven’t you thought about doing like your mentor and helping them fill the financial gaps?" "My mentor helped fill the gaps because he and Chief Ding were old friends, and at that time he didn’t anticipate that the Dunship and 001 would need major repairs." After eating another wonton, Han Yu went on: "Besides, I don’t have the money, and even if I save a bit, I’ve got big plans for it." Han Xiangning loved watching him plan and said with a smile, "It’s just about fixing a ship." "It’s not just about fixing the ship." "What else do you want to do?" "I need to buy firefighting protective equipment." Han Yu took a deep breath and said very earnestly and seriously, "The current firefighting helmets are made of plastic, and the material of the firefighting suits is almost the same as canvas raincoats, offering almost no fire or heat resistance. As for explosion-proof lights, goggles, orientation lamps, and air breathing apparatus, we don’t have any of them. Right now, fighting fires is all about courage, but there are so many ships on the river, and along the Yangtze River, there are so many oil depots, chemical warehouses, and chemical plants. Once a fire breaks out, we will surely have to respond. The thick smoke, poisonous gases, steam, lack of oxygen... just thinking about it is frightening. I don’t want to joke with my own life, and I can’t neglect the safety of Xiao Yu and Uncle Zhu, so I want to buy genuine protective firefighting suits, fire avoidance suits, heat insulation suits, and even heavy-duty protective gear. Only with more professional equipment can we protect ourselves while fighting fires or conducting rescue operations at accident sites involving dangerous chemicals and corrosive substances." Fighting fires is really dangerous. Han Xiangning couldn’t help but think of the fire accidents reported by superiors over the years, and of the firefighters who were injured or even sacrificed each time they faced a major incident. He said with gravity, "We should buy them. You have saved more than thirty thousand now, you needn’t wait, you can buy them now." "Thirty thousand is not enough." "You just need to buy three sets, isn’t it enough for one set to cost ten thousand?" "Not enough." Han Yu heaved a sigh and said helplessly, "We can’t get them domestically; they must be imported. I called a friend at the East Sea Shipping Bureau the day before yesterday. They were very helpful and asked a ship agency on my behalf. A set of firefighter suits used by port firefighters in developed countries like Japan costs seventy to eighty thousand RMB after conversion." Sёarᴄh the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Han Xiangning asked in surprise, "That expensive?" "The professional firefighting suits have several layers, all made of the most advanced materials, and even the soles of the boots have steel plates. I’ve heard that the East Sea Fire Department purchased a few sets and treasures them; they won’t wear them unless absolutely necessary." "So, it seems you have to save up more seriously." "Saving money from part-time work alone won’t cut it; I must think of a way, really step up." "Step up what?" "I don’t know." ... Meanwhile, Shi Shengyong, the Four Factory Police Station chief, was sitting in his office hiding from creditors. The station last year used a black car from the town to arrest a few people, and they haven’t settled the payment for the car yet. The car owner showed up today asking for payment. Although it was not he who used the car, now that he is the chief of the Four Factory Police Station, he can’t deny the bill. But there indeed was no money at the station, so he had no choice but to hide. After about twenty minutes, feeling frustrated, Instructor Old Li knocked and entered the office. "Gone?" "Gone." "What did you say?" "Asked him to wait further, what else could I say?" Old Li closed the door and helplessly took out a cigarette. Shi Shengyong took a cigarette, and with a wry smile said, "The directive for the crackdown campaign has come down. In our jurisdiction, there are a total of six fugitives. There’s no clue for four of them yet, but the whereabouts of the other two are more or less confirmed. We don’t have a penny; how are we supposed to arrest them?" "Didn’t they say there were funds during the last meeting?" "They did, but it’s not just us that can apply for funds." "Shall I go check with the bureau again?" "Don’t bother, it’s useless." Shi Shengyong lit the cigarette, frowning, "I went to see Zhang Lan yesterday. He said that the finance bureau did allocate two hundred thousand, but the bureau, just like us, is deep in debt. As soon as the money came in, a hundred thousand was taken to settle some of the oldest and most urgent debts." "What about the remaining hundred thousand?" asked Old Li. "The Criminal Investigation Team is the main force in the crackdown, and with Wu Ren Guang now a member of the bureau party committee, they immediately took fifty thousand. The rest was claimed by the Southern City and Northern City police stations through their expense claims. I was late and missed out." "That’s like robbing money!" "Everyone has their tasks, everyone has expense invoices and payment orders signed by the bureau leaders; it’s definitely first-come-first-served." "The auxiliary police need their wages in a few days." "Old Li, please talk to them again, ask them to wait a little longer." "They have already been delayed for two months." "I know, and I would like to pay them, but we truly do not have any money now." Old Li pondered and said, "Director Shi, this can’t go on. How about we split up and tackle this?" "What do you mean split up?" Old Li suggested, "You go try and speak to the factory leaders and town leaders again, appeal to them, see if they can sponsor some funds. I’ll go to Bailong Port to find Old Ding. He is the former police station chief; our old unit is in trouble, and especially at the critical moment of a crackdown, he can’t just stand by."

Chapter 348 - 246: No Money No Hero (Part 2)

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