Chapter 390 - 275: A Heavy Responsibility and a Long Way to Go (Part 1)

Words : 2592 Updated : Oct 11th, 2025

Chapter 390: Chapter 275: A Heavy Responsibility and a Long Way to Go (Part 1)At ten in the morning, the Four Factory Police Station. The day after tomorrow is New Year’s Eve, and we are going on holiday tomorrow. With the New Year, the station also needs a fresh atmosphere. First thing in the morning, Instructor Old Li organized the police and auxiliary police to clean up. Deputy Director Jianghai, who has good calligraphy skills, is writing Spring Festival couplets in the conference room with vigorous brush strokes. Sister Xu, who cooks for the station, is busy preparing the "New Year’s Eve dinner" in the kitchen, chopping meat stuffing with a rhythmic clopping sound. The gloom that settled over the station due to Li Shichang’s mistake and subsequent transfer has been swept away, and a festive mood permeates inside and out. "Director Jiang, make sure ’Celebrating the Spring Festival’ is written larger, it’s going to be placed on the front door." "Got it." "Director Jiang, write a couple of couplets for our squadron, too." "We’ve run out of red paper." "I’ll send someone to buy some right away." The Four Factory Police Station is preparing for the New Year, and so is the Criminal Investigation Fourth Squad. Fang Zhiqiang handed Jianghai a cigarette and was about to ask someone to buy red paper when Shi Shengyong walked out of the office. Instructor Li noticed something off about the Director’s face and instinctively asked, "Director Shi, what’s wrong?" Taking a cigarette from Fang Zhiqiang and lighting it up, Shi Shengyong took several puffs and said with a complex expression, "Political Commissioner Sun called to say that Salted Fish and Xiao Yu have been transferred. The paperwork was completed half an hour ago, and he asked us to adjust the Spring Festival duty schedule accordingly since we no longer need to include Salted Fish and Xiao Yu." "Salted Fish and Xiao Yu have been transferred!" "It came straight from Political Commissioner Sun himself." "Do you know where they have been transferred to?" "The Changhang Bureau." Instructor Li was taken aback and anxiously asked, "If they’re transferred to the Changhang Bureau, what’s going to happen to the Dunship and 001?" Looking up at Fang Zhiqiang, Shi Shengyong smiled bitterly, "They’ve been sold. The Bureau has sold both ships to the Port Supervision Bureau. Political Commissioner Sun said that the money from the sale just came in, and the Administrative Office is busy paying off debts. Otherwise, the project manager from the Second Construction Company would end up celebrating New Year’s at our Bureau." Jianghai couldn’t focus on writing the couplets anymore and came out to ask, "How much did they sell for?" "Fifty thousand." Shi Shengyong took another couple of puffs and said through the smoke, "The ships are gone, the people have been transferred, and the Water Police Squadron is also being disbanded. But vacation starts this afternoon; there’s no way we can finish the handover in time. Political Commissioner Sun is considering holding some ceremony on the Dunship on the morning of the sixth day of the first lunar month, involving the Port Supervision Bureau, the Changhang Bureau, and our City Bureau Water Police Team, and asked us to prepare to hand over on the first day back at work after the holiday." Everything happened so suddenly, neither Instructor Li nor Jianghai could believe it was real. But remembering that Director Zhou had even sold the Jindun Hotel, they felt selling the ships really wasn’t anything extraordinary. After all, both ships were anchored on the river, so far from the urban area, and it’s likely that more than half of the police in the Bureau had never seen them, let alone people from other units. Comrade Old Li steadied his mind and asked, "What specific handovers need to be done?" "We need to retrieve the financial accounts, security management records, guns and ammunition, handcuffs, walkie-talkies, and other weapons and equipment from the Water Police Squadron, and then hand over the ships to them." "Let Chief Ding and Old Zhang handle it; they are familiar with the situation." "They probably already knew, I guess they’ve already prepared." "Possible." Old Li thought for a moment and then turned to ask, "Zhiqiang, you are Salted Fish’s senior in terms of experience. Did you know about this beforehand?" Fang Zhiqiang looked embarrassed, "I’m just a senior in name, Xu Mingyuan is the real senior mentor. Salted Fish really didn’t tell me anything about being transferred to the Changhang Bureau; I genuinely didn’t know in advance." There are close and distant relationships even among senior and junior comrades. Thinking of Salted Fish’s closer ties to Xu Mingyuan and Zhang Lan, Old Li nodded in understanding, then added, "Director Shi, with Salted Fish and Xiao Yu going to the Changhang Bureau, and the ships being sold to the Port Supervision Bureau, what will happen to Zhu Baogen?" "Zhu Baogen will also go to the Changhang Bureau as a hired employee; there is no question of his transfer." "And what about Chief Ding and Old Zhang?" "Political Commissioner Sun has decided that they will stay at Bailong Port. One will be in charge of the long-distance bus terminal police office and the other in charge of the water security checkpoint." Just like that, "The First Post of the Yangtze River" has become someone else’s! As the direct superior of the Water Police Squadron, Director Shi wasn’t feeling good about this, and with a bitter smile, he tossed his cigarette butt and said, "I just called Salted Fish, thinking that even if we’re no longer colleagues, we’re still in the same profession, and I asked him to bring Xiao Yu and Zhu Baogen for New Year’s Eve dinner this afternoon. But he’s currently busy reporting to the Changhang Bureau with Xiao Yu, and they also have a dinner planned for tonight. He is now a police officer of the Changhang Bureau, and the leaders of the Changhang Bureau want to use this occasion to welcome him. He’s already agreed to attend their dinner, so he won’t be able to join ours." He’s become a member of the Changhang Bureau now. A job transfer should be a complicated process, and normally, it takes three to five months to complete all the paperwork. Comrade Old Li found it hard to believe and after a moment of silence asked, "Does that mean we no longer have to manage security on the river?" "Political Commissioner Sun said that river security will be managed by the Changhang Bureau and the Water Police Station, while our station will still be responsible for the enterprises and institutions along the riverbank." "Did Political Commissioner Sun say which unit Salted Fish will be joining in the Changhang Bureau?" "He didn’t say, perhaps he doesn’t know either." ... Meanwhile, Liang Xiaoyu, who had just received his police uniform, couldn’t wait to put it on and stood in front of a full-length mirror at the corner of the staircase in the Changhang Bureau, grinning foolishly at his reflection. Han Yu could understand Xiao Yu’s feelings at this moment and didn’t find it embarrassing. Director Zhang had just gone to the Binjiang Port Police Station to inspect the work, while Political Commissioner Huang represented the Bureau at a meeting with the Port Authority. Director Li of the Political Office and Director Tong of the Firefighting department were responsible for receiving these two new recruits who had just reported for duty. "Director Li, Director Tong, Xiao Yu grew up under your supervision, and you both know his character well. Now that he’s put on the police uniform, if you were to ask him to take it off again, he surely... surely wouldn’t be able to part with it." "Don’t worry, once the leaders of the Port Authority reviewed Xiao Yu’s resume and realized he was an experienced firefighter, they agreed without a second thought. Since the Port Authority has given their approval, the Changhang Police Bureau won’t have any objections." "Is it really that simple?" Director Li knew what Han Yu was worried about and explained with a smile, "Several leaders of the Port Authority take firefighting very seriously. The big fire at the Jiangcheng Refinery last year really scared them. So now, anything to do with firefighting gets the green light all the way through." Last October, the 310 tank at the Jinling Petrochemical Jiangcheng Refinery, located at the foot of Qixia Mountain, caught on fire. At the time, Han Yu had just returned to the country and was not a full-time firefighter, so he was not conscripted to join the battle. However, he attended briefings about the fire at the Jiangcheng Refinery and had seen the photos and even videos of the firefighting efforts. When he went to Jiangcheng with his senior sister to see President Yu, he learned about the firefighting process. A while ago, when he came to Binjiang to give lectures, he even visited a squad leader from the Binjiang Fire Department who had participated in the firefighting. At that time, the entire oil tank was like a massive burning body, with black smoke billowing straight into the sky. The towering flames turned the sky within several kilometers red, and their burning roar was like muffled thunder, ominous and threatening. Inside the tank were 6,000 tons of 90-octane gasoline. If an explosion had occurred, its power would have been comparable to that of a small nuclear bomb! To the left and right of the 310 tank, there were three other 10,000-ton tanks—309, 311, and 312—with only about a dozen meters of space between them. Moreover, there were hundreds of other large and small tanks scattered throughout the refinery. If tank 310 exploded, it would undoubtedly set off a chain reaction, completely leveling the refinery in an instant and causing serious pollution to the Yangtze River. Fifteen minutes after the fire started, the Jiangcheng City Fire Department swiftly deployed the three closest fire squads to enter the fire scene, and the desperate battle against the inferno began. The tank area of the Jiangcheng Refinery was a wartime oil depot built in the 1950s. The pipeline layout was extremely unreasonable; pipelines crisscrossed between walkways and tanks, and protective dykes prevented fire trucks from approaching the burning tank. The firefighters had to advance with their bodies alone, braving flames, high temperatures, and suffocating thick smoke, as they made efforts to cool down and lower the temperature of the tanks to prevent explosions. They were too close to the tanks, and life and death were just a step away. An explosion could happen at any moment. If such an event occurred, no trace would remain of those near the tanks. Nevertheless, they climbed up without looking back! The intense heat burned away their eyebrows. Thick smoke laced with chemical gases caused tears to stream down their faces. Their hair got scorched, and their skin blistered, but not one of them backed down. Instead, they turned their hoses on themselves to soak wet and continued fighting the fire. In no time, their clothes were dried by the heat. Soak them again, fight again! However, the fire was too intense. Despite a night-long battle, the blaze was not extinguished but temporarily suppressed to prevent possible explosions. Upon receiving the report, the Ministry of Police instructed to spare no effort to put out the fire. Once the State Council was informed and learned that heads of the Ministry of Police Fire Department were rushing to Jiangcheng to take command, and since there were no flights to Jiangcheng at night, they immediately contacted the Military Commission to coordinate with the Air Force to send a special plane. While leaders from the Fire Department were en route to Jiangcheng, they personally called the fire departments of both East Sea and Hui’an, requesting that firefighters from the two provinces and cities provide full support. Including the Binjiang Fire Department, provincial fire departments promptly organized and rushed to the scene upon receiving orders from the Provincial Department. Provincial leaders and leaders from the Jiangnan Military District all arrived at the scene to set up a Joint Command Center, directing military, police, and public forces to work together to fight the fire. Continuous burning damaged the tank’s structure, causing more oil gas to be released, and the overflowing gasoline ran down the tank wall, forming fiery curtains! Reinforcements from brother cities arrived and joined the battle! The reinforcements from brother provinces and cities also received orders and immediately joined the fight, with those from East Sea even being personally led by the Political Commissioner of the East Sea Fire Department. Despite the reinforcements, and even though they brought their best equipment, the fire still raged on, the situation was extremely critical. The Joint Command Center came up with several plans, even prepared to utilize Air Force jets and helicopters to drop dry ice for firefighting. My in-laws’ old Air Force base had been ready for combat, but the wind was too strong that day, making it difficult for any plans to be effective against the massive fire. In the end, an idea was conceived: six brave firefighters, leaving life and death behind without any time to write their wills, climbed up the twisted and deformed spiral ladder on the exterior of the tank, which was engulfed in fierce flames. In intense heat and amidst flowing and rolling flames, risking the danger of being engulfed by the fire at any moment, they climbed over twenty meters high to the top of the tank, which was engulfed in fierce flames, to install a foam nozzle and spray foam to extinguish the fire at close range. It was a road to hell, where gloves started smoking upon touching the ladder, and burns were inflicted just two or three meters up, but the six heroes endured the severe pain and climbed fearlessly to the top! Once they had set up the nozzle in the midst of flames, foam surged out, and the fire on top of the tank gradually went out. A central leader arrived at the scene to express thanks and condolences to all the personnel engaged in the battle. While emotionally stating "Comrades have forgotten life and death, it took only seventeen hours to put out the tank fire, which is rare within the country," a loud boom was heard as the fire reignited due to a broken oil pipe and the leaked gasoline encountering high temperatures. Through the all-out efforts of the officers and soldiers, the fire was finally put out at two o’clock in the afternoon on the 22nd. The entire process was heart-stopping and emotionally stirring! Han Yu was a Water Police before, and will continue to be, but now also a Water Firefighting Police officer. Although six years ago, under the tutelage of his mentor, he had learned the importance of firefighting, and even at every workplace or during studies, he always treated firefighting as a top priority, he now feels an unprecedented pressure as he truly takes on the role of Deputy Director and concurrently Fire Chief of the Firefighting department. Because at Binjiang Port, there are also large oil tanks and crisscrossing oil pipelines. If a major fire like that were to happen at Binjiang Port, as the Deputy Director and concurrently Fire Chief of the Firefighting department, he would certainly be the first to enter the scene, and when the time comes, he would have to bravely risk his life just the same!

Chapter 390 - 275: A Heavy Responsibility and a Long Way to Go (Part 1)

Comments (0)