Chapter 429 - 303

Words : 1784 Updated : Oct 15th, 2025

Chapter 429: Chapter 303 "Li Gui Fire Brigade"_2"This is it, come on, let’s drink." ... There’s no feast that doesn’t end. Before the song on stage was over, a few leaders apologized and left early due to other commitments. Han Yu, Liang Xiaojun, and Han Xiangning, Han Xiangmeng, promptly stood up to see the guests off, resulting just like in welcoming them in the afternoon, once they reached the door they couldn’t return, saying goodbye to one group after another. "Xiao Han, thank you. I wish you both a happy marriage again, and a life full of happiness." "Thank you, Director Song." Fire Brigade Chief Song Jiwei was about to make further pleasantries when Customs’ Deputy Director Zeng and the current head of Customs Anti-Smuggling walked out laughing, "Salted Fish, Ningning, there were so many people this afternoon, I forgot to give you something." Han Yu quickly said, "Director Zeng, we don’t accept favors or gifts." "It’s not for you personally; it’s a work sponsorship for your Water Firefighting Team. Take it, it’s already activated, and the number is written on the box." "A brick phone!" "What brick phone, it’s now called a mobile phone, not as big as a brick phone." "Director Zeng, this is too valuable." "I’ve already told you, it’s for work. Besides, it’s not something we bought with money; it was confiscated during an operation. More guests are coming out now, quickly take it, we have to go." "Director Zeng..." "We’ll be in touch later; we have an operation in a few days, and we might need your help then." Deputy Director Zeng left the mobile phone and walked away. Seeing Salted Fish and the bride busy greeting the newly emerged guests, Song Jiwei simply led Political Commissioner You and Deng Qikang out of the hotel lobby. "Director Song, that’s a compact brick phone, very expensive!" "Envious?" "Why would Customs give him a brick phone?" Song Jiwei felt equally sour inside, not knowing what to say when Fang Guoya caught up. Deng Qikang, pulling his old comrade-in-arms, exclaimed, "Old Fang, your immediate superior might be young, but he has a deep background and strong connections. With so many leaders coming to his wedding, you better hold tight to his coattails; working with him, the sky’s the limit for you!" Fang Guoya turned back and grinned, "Our Director Yu does indeed have good relations with several Shijiang agencies." "And the border inspection?" "Familiar with them too, but we don’t have much official interaction, so we didn’t invite them tonight." Deng Qikang was just making casual conversation and was surprised to learn that Salted Fish actually knew the border inspection, "Border inspection is also active duty like us firefighters; how could he be familiar with them?" Fang Guoya said proudly, "Our Director Yu once intercepted a foreign ship that entered the Yangtze River without completing entry formalities; how could we not be familiar with the border inspection? Besides, the custody squadron of the border inspection station doesn’t have proper law enforcement vessels. It’s easy to supervise when ships are docked, but if they’re anchored in the river and they don’t have a ship, how can they supervise?" "They borrow your law enforcement ship and ask for your assistance?" "Pretty much." Fang Guoya smiled and continued, "Director Yu is also quite familiar with the Coast Guard on the opposite bank of the river. In the past, when countering underworld activities on the water, the Coast Guard would come out and those thugs would flee toward the Yangtze. Director Yu would step in and those thugs would run to the sea, so the two units had to collaborate." This was the first time Song Jiwei heard about this, and he asked curiously, "Aren’t you guys the Water Fire Rescue Team? Why are you dealing with security matters?" "We are the Water Firefighting Team, but we still have to assist units like the Water Police Station and the Coast Guard in combating illegal activities on the water, and even help Customs combat smuggling." "Is it because you have law enforcement rescue boats?" "Pretty much." "Where is your law enforcement rescue boat docked?" "At Bailong Port." Fang Guoya had nothing else to do that night, so he simply hitched a ride home with his old unit. Song Jiwei got into the jeep, puzzled, and asked, "You said last time that you only have one professional fire rescue boat. Since there’s only one, why keep it at Bailong Port instead of Binjiang Port? Isn’t the fire safety at Binjiang Port more important than Bailong Port?" "Binjiang Port is indeed more important, but there’s an enterprise fire brigade here. In case of a major fire, we can ask Mr. Deng for help in extinguishing it, and we can also mobilize the two fire and towing ships from Zhangjia Port through the Port Supervision Bureau." Fang Guoya paused for a moment, then continued, "Bailong Port has a passenger pier, with ferries docking every day. There’s also the Bainiu Ferry with many ferry crossings and a large volume of vehicles crossing the Yangtze River. Plus, there are ship locks and anchorages on the river. If a fire breaks out, waiting for help from Binjiang will be too late. Besides, the law enforcement rescue boat essentially belongs to the Port Supervision Bureau. While borrowing it, we have to assist the Third Team in maintaining maritime safety in Linghai Waters, so the law enforcement rescue boat can only be moored there." Bailong Port is not as important as Binjiang Port, but that doesn’t mean we can neglect it. Song Jiwei understood, and out of curiosity, he asked, "I heard that you’re planning on ’merging stations and teams’. What does that mean?" Fang Guoya smiled and said, "The number of ferry sailings from Bailong Port Passenger Pier is small, and there are fewer passengers now than before. It’s somewhat a waste of police resources to have both a police station and a fire brigade there, so the Bailong Port Water Firefighting Team will merge with the Bailong Port Police Station." "After the merger, the police at Bailong Port Police Station will take care of the port security and firefighting supervision. If a fire breaks out in their jurisdiction, will they have to act as firefighters too?" "Yes, as the bureau leadership says, we must be specialized but also versatile." "What about Binjiang Port?" "Binjiang Port won’t be merging. Binjiang Port Police Station will still be in charge of security, the Supervision Station will still handle fire supervision, and our team will still be responsible for firefighting." After some thought, Fang Guoya added with a smile, "Director Tong said that once Bailong Port implements ’merging stations and teams’, Director Yu will also take on the role of Deputy Director of Bailong Port Police Station." The institutional reform of the Changhang Bureau sounded a bit chaotic. Political Commissioner You couldn’t help but ask, "Will he be in charge of you then?" "Of course." Fang Guoya patiently explained, "He is first and foremost the Deputy Division Commander of the Water Fire Rescue Team, in charge of the water firefighting team. It’s just that he spends more time at Bailong Port, and since the Bailong Port Police Station is about to merge with the Bailong Port Water Firefighting Team, he will also take on the role of the Deputy Director of the Bailong Port Police Station." Integrating resources and fully utilizing existing police forces sounds scientific. But firefighting is not like anything else; no matter how beautifully one plays with concepts, it’s useless if there’s no combat strength at the critical moment. Despite just having mooched a meal, Deng Qikang still looked down on the "Li Gui Fire Brigade" of Salted Fish, and he laughed and said, "Old Fang, it turns out we’re both part of the firefighting system, we’ll have to cooperate further. Ask your Director Yu if he’s interested in training with us, so we can properly coordinate." "Mr. Deng, you want our enterprise fire brigade to train with you?" "If a major fire occurs, the superiors won’t care whether you’re an enterprise fire brigade or a professional fire brigade like us." "Guoya, I think it’s a good idea." Song Jiwei thought the subordinate’s suggestion was good, and he couldn’t help but smile, "Director Yu said last time that if there’s a major fire that our brigade can’t handle, your Water Fire Rescue Team can help, right? Our two stations are not far from each other. Training together and organizing some fellowship activities will help us better coordinate when it really comes to fighting fires." It seems that a meal couldn’t entirely dissolve the old leadership’s resentment. But then again, Binjiang originally had only one fire brigade; creating a Water Fire Rescue Team would surely cause discomfort in the old leadership’s hearts. Fang Guoya knew very well that the old leadership wanted to use joint training as a way to show the Water Fire Rescue Team some "colors," letting them know who the real professionals were. Hesitating for a moment, he said, "Actually, our Director Yu also wanted to conduct joint drills with the brigade because, as Mr. Deng just said, we’ll inevitably need to coordinate with each other if we’re not familiar with how to do so." "Then let’s settle on that. You, Director Yu, as the groom today, cherish the bridal night as it’s worth a thousand gold. You don’t need to report today. Wait until these couple of days have passed, report it to him then, and we can work out a training plan to organize and implement as soon as possible." "No problem." Fang Guoya readily agreed, and he thought about it again and laughed, "Director Song, Mr. Deng, since everything should be based on real combat, I think we shouldn’t just focus on land but should also take water into account." "What do you mean?" Song Jiwei instinctively asked. "We should train for land-based skills, and also practice water-based skills." "Okay, Qikang, you work out a training plan with Guoya." "Yes!" His old comrade agreed very readily, which was clearly an attempt to make a laughingstock out of our Water Firefighting Team. Fang Guoya laughed to himself, thinking how readily you agree now, the more miserable you’re going to be later. The first training item on water will be to have you guys take a speedboat out on the river for a few spins to experience what seasickness is like. When you’ve all vomited out your gall, swaying as if the world was shaking and unable to stand on solid ground after coming ashore, then we’ll proceed with land-based training. That’s when you’ll see who’s laughing at whom.

Chapter 429 - 303

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