Chapter 418 - 295: Regretted It!

Words : 2262 Updated : Oct 15th, 2025

Chapter 418: Chapter 295: Regretted It!3:30 in the afternoon at Huaiyin City Police Bureau. Yu Xiangqian looked at his suddenly arriving former subordinate from East Sea, full of disappointment as if hating iron for not becoming steel. Chen Zikun faced his old leader nervously and extremely ashamed. But since he had come, he had no choice but to plow ahead. "This policy change was too sudden. It was originally agreed to be two years, yet in less than a year, the Political Office asked me to return and process my resignation." "So what you did back then was to take a sabbatical without pay, not resign?" "At first, I thought about resigning directly, but then my dad said a job in a government agency is an iron rice bowl, and no matter how low the salary is, as long as I kept my public service position, there would be room for maneuver in the future. I thought it would be good to leave a way out, so I went to the City Bureau and asked Director Lu for help." In the preceding years, state-owned enterprises, in order to reduce their workforce, used sabbatical leaves without pay as a way to reassign surplus staff. Government and public institutions also encouraged staff to go into business, to run township enterprises or private companies. But this policy was unstable; some were only managed for a year, and others changed within a year. Those on sabbatical leaves without pay who did well outside didn’t care whether or not they could return to their original units. Those who didn’t do well outside or who had to return to their original units after a certain time faced more trouble. The attitude of the original unit’s leadership was crucial, but the head of the unit had a term of office. Take Binjiang City Police Department, for example. The former director, seeing the increasingly bloated office departments and facing difficulties in moving office police to the grassroots level, aimed to reduce the city’s financial burden by actively responding to calls from superiors and encouraging police to go into business. Director Chen, who had just transferred to Binjiang earlier in the year, saw a shortage of police forces and did not want to let those on sabbatical leaves without pay occupy valuable positions. He offered two options: return to the bureau to work or go back within a month to process resignation procedures. Anyone who exceeded the deadline without acting would be considered to have left their job voluntarily. Chen Zikun’s situation was special; it was not that he couldn’t get by outside, but rather that he didn’t do well working with his father-in-law. Previously, although his pay was low, he was an instructor at the Water Police Team, a cadre whom the City Bureau focused on cultivating. After going out, he spent every day on construction sites, either fawning over the Quality Supervision Station, the party A, or the supervisors, or watching over the laborers. Although he could make money, he had no social status, nor any sense of achievement. Step back and say, even if he didn’t go to the construction site, with an engineering father-in-law, he wouldn’t lack money either. Now he regretted it and wanted to continue being a policeman, but the bureau only notified him to return to work or process the resignation, without saying which unit he would return to, or which position he would be assigned to. It was impossible to go back and continue being the instructor of the Water Police Second Team, let alone the instructor of a squadron. Because, in the eyes of the superiors, he was once a "deserter", from the moment he processed his sabbatical leave without pay, the Binjiang City Bureau had already removed him from the list of cadre personnel being focused on for development. That’s why Xu Sanye tried every possible way to send Salted Fish to the East Sea Shipping Public Security Bureau for an exchange rather than have Salted Fish take a sabbatical leave without pay, considering the completeness of a cadre’s career was essential. Yu Xiangqian heaved a sigh and bluntly said, "The good horse does not come back to the same grass, and besides, the world outside is wonderful. You’re not doing badly outside, so why make it difficult for yourself?" "Director Yu, I now realize that I love being a policeman." "Only when lost do you know to cherish?" "Director Yu, I made a mistake, I shouldn’t have been impulsive." "There’s no need to admit wrong, you weren’t wrong in the first place after all; at that time, taking a sabbatical leave without pay was also responding to a call from superiors." "I was truly wrong, Director Yu, I..." Chen Zikun really wanted to ask his old leader for help, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it out loud. Yu Xiangqian understood his old subordinate’s intentions perfectly well, stayed silent for a moment, picked up the phone, and dialed the number of the Political Commissioner’s office at his old unit. After about half a minute, he heard his old partner’s voice through the handset. "Director Yu, you’re so busy with work, how do you have the time to call me?" "Old Wang, can’t I call you if it’s nothing?" "You and your words. What’s the matter, really?" Hearing his old partner’s voice, Yu Xiangqian didn’t know how to start and simply asked, "Xiao Yu was poached by the Shipping Police School, how’s Salted Fish doing?" Wang Wenhong was tidying up documents on his desk, and he laughed, "He’s doing very well. His role as the Deputy Division Commander is both loud and colorful. He’s busy from morning until night, too busy for meals, even. He’s busier than me, a Political Commissioner." Yu Xiangqian curiously asked, "What is he busy with all day?" "There’s a lot. In theory, since he just stepped into a management position, Old Shan and the others from the Fire Division of the Changhang Bureau should have given him support to get on his feet. But it turned out the other way around; he’s busy helping Old Shan and the others to conquer their challenges, he’s the one giving them a leg up." "What does that mean?" "The Fire Division of the Changhang Bureau used to be just a shell, but now it’s become a genuinely functional department. After Salted Fish was transferred there, he first used the fire management regulations of East Sea Port and even those of the East Sea Police Department as references to develop a set of fire management rules and regulations specifically for Binjiang Port." Wang Wenhong paused and then said with exuberance, "Then, with the support of the Port Authority and the Port Supervision Bureau, he struck while the iron was hot and established two Fire Supervision Stations. Since he set up supervision stations, there had to be station chiefs, and he managed to secure two deputy director-level positions in one go. With more work to do and more staff in the department, they had to divide the tasks. Now including him, the fire division has a total of four deputy directors. One is responsible for fire prevention propaganda and training, one for fire supervision, one for administrative approval and penalties, and he himself is in charge of building the fire team and fire rescue operations." Yu Xiangqian served as the head of the Binjiang Water Police Branch and was an old neighbor of the former Binjiang Port Police Department, so he knew the former Binjiang Port Police Department, now known as the Changhang Bureau, very well. Subconsciously, he asked, "What about Old Shan?" "Old Shan is the division head; he’s responsible for the overall work." "How many people are in the fire division now?" "There are ten in the office, six in the two supervision stations, and four in the fire team. That’s the official police officers. If you count the staff and the auxiliary police, there are a total of twenty-seven people. The enterprise fire brigades of Binjiang Port are said to be under the operational instruction of the fire division, but in reality, they are led by the fire division. If you include the enterprise fire brigades, there are already over fifty people now." The same task, handled by different people, yields different results. Yanjiang Police Station has been assisting the Port Supervision Bureau for so many years; the Port Supervision Bureau has always considered Salted Fish one of their own. Moreover, although the pilots are managed by the Port Supervision Bureau, the bureau does not have its own pilots. Whenever there’s a piloting task, it’s like outsourcing a project, assigned to the pilot team of the Port Authority. And since the Port Authority lacks pilots and Salted Fish works as a pilot part-time, he is essentially half an employee of the Port Authority. Plus, his brother-in-law works at the Port Authority, and his sister was transferred from the Port Authority to Binjiang Port Police Station. Thus, the Port Authority, just like the Port Supervision Bureau, also considered him one of their own, making his work naturally easier than for others. Thinking of all this, Yu Xiangqian smiled and asked, "What about equipment?" "The equipment has also been improved. Remember his little fund of over two hundred thousand RMB? After he transferred to Changhang Bureau, he handed over that small fund to the Port Supervision Bureau, asking them to convert the currency and import fire clothing, respirators, and other gear. The people at the Port Supervision Bureau did a bit of research and found that one set of advanced individual firefighter equipment costs about eighty to ninety thousand RMB. His money could only cover two sets, but what’s the use of only two sets? Considering the specifics of water fire rescues, they gritted their teeth and put in an extra one hundred and fifty thousand RMB to help import four sets altogether." Wang Wenhong flipped through the calendar on his desk and continued, "The Port Authority also dug deep into their pockets, purchasing two sets of equipment, including diesel engines, fire pumps, and high-pressure fire hoses; they also bought ten tons of fluorinated protein foam fire suppressant, and gave them two used trucks. But after the purchase, they needed a place to store the equipment, and the enterprise fire brigades needed a place for training. Salted Fish seized the opportunity to pester the leaders of the Port Authority daily for a location. The Port Authority decided in a meeting yesterday to vacate Warehouse Number Nine next to Pier Number Two for their use." "So this means he now has personnel, equipment, and territory!" "His fire brigade is about to establish three squads at Binjiang Port, Gaoru Port, and Bailong Port. I hear that once the squads are up and running, along with the two Fire Supervision Stations and several police stations, they plan to further integrate resources, contemplating some sort of ’unified station and team’ or ’unified station and squad’ model. Anyway, he’s been spinning like a top every day." "Old Wang, didn’t you mention last time that the Bureau also wants to take control of the firefighting duties?" "It’s not so easy to agree on the management rights for shoreline firefighting with the District County Police Departments. The City Bureau is very supportive, and the Fire Brigade is also very supportive. Director Peng is currently talking to several District County Police Departments." Wang Wenhong smiled and added, "Our Bureau’s actions can’t be rushed. Besides, Salted Fish hasn’t yet fully established the internal fire forces of the port area. Only when he has organized and consolidated that side can he divert attention to managing the bigger picture of Yanjiang firefighting." Having talked about Salted Fish, Yu Xiangqian felt much better and couldn’t help but laugh, "Old Wang, Salted Fish is capable indeed, but you can’t work him to death." "Director Zhang and I would like to help, but we are laymen. Laymen shouldn’t give blind orders; all we can do is support him." Wang Wenhong thought for a moment and then laughed, "Besides, it’s not like we’re doing nothing. For example, to strengthen the power of the Fire Division in the Changhang Bureau, we’ve been striving to secure positions for the department’s staff and units for the supervision stations, all advocated by Director Zhang. Once Director Peng secures the management rights of fire supervision along the Yanjiang shoreline, our Bureau will follow the model, establishing the Water Fire Rescue Team. This will involve not only staffing and organizational positions but also funding. In short, in terms of fire services, he has to be the main pillar. In other aspects, we act as his strong backup. His job is to charge forward, and wherever he pushes to, our logistical support will follow!" In such a short time, Salted Fish had already become the Deputy Division Commander and in fact, the key person in charge of fire rescue along the Yangtze River waterfront section. Political Commissioner Wang supports him. Director Zhang of the Changhang Bureau supports him. The leaders of the Port Supervision Bureau and the Port Authority support him. Even Director Peng, who originally didn’t like him, supports him. With so many leaders supporting him, Salted Fish is sure not to settle for just being the Deputy Division Commander of the Water Fire Rescue Team of the Changhang Bureau. Thinking of his own less-than-remarkable situation compared to Salted Fish, Chen Zikun felt extremely embarrassed, wishing he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.

Chapter 418 - 295: Regretted It!

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