Chapter 9 Where Does Money Come From?

Words : 2320 Updated : Sep 10th, 2025

Chapter 9: Chapter 9 Where Does Money Come From?There's some oil in the oil tank and some water has gotten in too. No idea how long it's been there, but it's definitely unusable. So, they had someone pump it out. The junk oil collector not only paid ten yuan but also helped to clean a few cabins before leaving. To fix the machine means to disassemble it. Before doing so, we needed to clear a space for sorting out the disassembled parts. There happened to be several junk collection boats on the Bailong River, all the collected bottles and cans piled up on the river bank. Han Yu simply found an elderly couple who collected junk and asked them to help clean up, promising to give them all the sorted-out trash. The cabins were cluttered with a lot of stuff. The crew cabins had beds and cabinets, the storage cabins had rusty steel cables, and the web-like old wires contained both copper and aluminum. The junk collecting couple had nothing to do, so they came over with brooms and dustpans to help out. Busy until sundown, you wouldn't know the extent until you looked closer – turns out we cleared out a ton of garbage from this little tugboat. Tools put away and the cabin doors locked, we headed home. Old Zhang had already finished work and returned to the Four Factory Cooperative Society, and the political instructor was probably going straight home after his meeting. Xu Sanye was on duty tonight, no idea when he'd be back. Han Yu, dirty from head to toe, first went upstairs to the dorm to grab soap, a plastic basin, a towel, and clean clothes before heading to the washroom to shower. A cold shower in the heat of summer. Nails full of grime, took almost half an hour to clean. Just as I was getting dressed, the sound of a motorcycle engine came from downstairs. Dressed in clean clothes, I went downstairs to see Xu Sanye sitting in the office on the phone. "Director Jiang, it really won't cost much. Besides, once the law enforcement boat is fixed, you'll end up using it more than us in the future. At worst, I just won't paint 'police' on it. When the time comes, we'll each hang a sign. You guys hang yours when enforcing the law, and we'll hang ours when we're patrolling the river." "What do you mean there's no precedent? We cooperate and make a precedent. It's mutually beneficial. And you only need to chip in a little money, no need to provide personnel. I have someone who can pilot the vessel, a graduate of Binjiang Shipping School, who knows all about maintenance and care – sure, sure, I'll wait for your message." More research, probably leading nowhere. A day's run with nothing to show for it, Xu Sanye was full of sullen frustration. Han Yu had no idea that his mood was bad, and knocked lightly on the open door: "Director Xu, the engine room of the tugboat was filled with oily water, so I had it pumped out. They gave us ten yuan for it." Xu Sanye looked up and asked, "They pumped out our oily water and paid us money?" "It's useful for them, seems they can refine some kind of oil from it." "Let's keep it for the food expenses." "Did you bring lunch? If not, I can help you cook." "I was about to talk to you about that. I brought a bag of rice. I passed by Four Factory on my way back and bought a pound of pig's head meat, left it in the bike basket. Let's take it up and cook it, and then eat together later." Having meat is good, but Han Yu couldn't help asking, "Director Xu, is the police uniform you borrowed for me a woman's?" "Why fuss over it? As long as it fits. Besides, your work is repairing and piloting boats, you don't need to handle cases, it doesn't matter if you don't wear a uniform." "Alright then, I'll go up first." Being young means having no say, even the uniform has to be a woman's – Han Yu was truly feeling a bit down. There was an empty room on the second floor that could serve as a kitchen. Not wanting to fill the dorm with smells of cooking oil, Han Yu moved the coal stove, rice cooker, pots, bowls, utensils, along with rice and oil, over at noon. The rice was cooked into a watery porridge at lunch, a lesson learned – don't add too much water next time. After rinsing the rice, it was steamed in the rice cooker. A piece of coal was added to the stove sealed at noon, a kettle placed on top, and while waiting for the water to boil, Han Yu plucked the greens bought at Bailong Port in the morning. S~eaʀᴄh the novёlF~ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Three salted duck eggs were taken out from those brought from my sister's home and sliced, along with the pig's head meat bought by the director, for two small cold dishes. As the rice was nearly ready to steam, a small portion of greens was stir-fried on the coal stove. And using pickles brought from my sister's home and tofu bought in the morning, a big bowl of pickle tofu soup was made. The meal was served to the ground floor reception room, then upstairs to fetch bowls and chopsticks. Thinking it over, I also moved the electric fan down. Everything was ready, and now it was time to call the leader for dinner. Xu Sanye walked into the reception room and immediately his grumpy mood vanished into thin air, went back to the office to fetch two bottles of beer, and sat down with a laugh: "Three dishes and a soup, not bad cooking skills!" "It's just stir-fried greens and boiled soup, really." "Tastes good." Xu Sanye picked up his chopsticks and took a bite of the greens, then used the chopsticks to open a beer, placed it in front of Han Yu: "I bought these last time I was on duty, there are two bottles left, one for each of us." The beer is neither sweet nor spicy, and has a sour, musty taste; it's really not enjoyable. Han Yu truly couldn't understand why people liked this kind of drink and quickly said, "Director Xu, I don't like beer." "You really not drinking or just saying you're not?" "Really not drinking." "Alright then, eat more meat. It's time for growing, you need to eat more." "Thank you, Director Xu." Xu Sanye lifted the bottle and gulped down two big mouthfuls, then picked up his chopsticks and asked, "The towboat's been hauled ashore." Han Yu held his rice bowl with a smile and said, "It was hauled ashore at noon. Manager Wu helped me find two outboard boats to tow the towboat to the shipyard, and then helped get it onto the riverbank." "Was it troublesome?" "It wasn't too bad at Boss Wu's place—they have two winches, and the riverbank isn't steep. If the towboat had power, they wouldn't even need the winches; it could've just beached itself. They worked for two hours under the sun to help, so I gave out all the cigarettes you gave me." "That's how it should be. I've got a few more packs in my office; I'll bring them to you later." "Great." This was official business; there was no need for formalities. Xu Sanye bit into a greasy salted egg yolk and asked, "So that means the machinery repairs start tomorrow?" Han Yu had already thought it through and was ready to report since it concerned working hours. He hurriedly replied, "It's too hot during the day; no one can enter the engine room. I plan to make use of the early morning and evening coolness, starting at four in the morning to repair until eight or nine, and then returning. And in the afternoon, start at four-thirty to repair until seven to call it a day." Entering the engine room during the hot day could easily lead to heatstroke. Xu Sanye nodded, "Okay, let's arrange it like that." Thinking of how his father sometimes could find a public telephone while loading or unloading at the port, Han Yu cautiously asked, "Director Xu, can incoming calls be made to the station's phone?" "Yeah, our phone was installed by the post and telecommunications office; it's not an internal line of the station." "I'll write down the number later and give it to my sister. If there's anything important at home, she can call me." "Sure, I'll find a phone later and pull a line to your dorm, install an extension." "That's not necessary." "It's no trouble. Old Li and Old Zhang's offices are also equipped. I can't sit in the office all day. Otherwise, when I go out for errands, incoming calls might not get answered." Xu Sanye picked up his beer, thought for a bit, and then reminded, "Phone calls are expensive; it's best to only receive calls and not make them unless it's something really important." Han Yu quickly replied, "I know." This Little Salted Fish is really sensible... Thinking that Little Salted Fish would officially start repairing the boat tomorrow and that they would need to buy various spare parts as soon as they start working, Xu Sanye pondered, "Tomorrow I'll go find Manager Wu again. Whatever spare parts you need, ask him to purchase them in advance and we'll settle the account with him later." "That would be best, he knows where to buy them, saves me the hassle of running around." "Salted Fish, how much do you estimate the repair will cost?" "Six to seven thousand." Even for the station, six to seven thousand is not a small sum. You cannot depend on others; the best help is self-help. Xu Sanye sipped his beer for a while, then suddenly put down the bottle and declared, "We must crack down, there's no doubt about it!" Han Yu was startled, "Director Xu, crack down on what?" "Cracking down on illegal activities." "Who is committing illegal activities?" "There definitely are people out there." Now that Little Salted Fish was also a police officer at the station, Xu Sanye felt there was no need to conceal it and said lightly, "We've got to sort out the funds for the ship repair ourselves, and one way is through cracking down on illegal activities to seize fines and confiscations. The station will return a portion of that to us; then we'll have the money for repairs." It turned out to be about collecting fines... Han Yu came to understand and curiously asked, "But how do we know who's committing crimes?" "That's where we need to gather clues. Starting tomorrow, you'll be by the river repairing the ship every day; help keep an eye out." "Keep an eye out for what?" "Like those who collect scrap, whether they are involved in receiving and selling stolen goods. Or ships from big cities like East Sea, whether they are transporting contraband." "Those kinds of clues are chancy." "That's why we must be vigilant. In our line of work, we must always be on alert." The jurisdiction of Yanjiang Police Station lies on the river and the surface of the river. Although it's said that boats come and go, it's not easy to find one, and even if you do find one, there are very few involved in crimes. Cracking down on illegal activities on the water is no simple task. Xu Sanye talked about cracking down and being vigilant, but even he wasn't confident. Han Yu also wanted to get the boat fixed as soon as possible. Only by repairing the boat could there be a chance to sail it, and that would allow him to accumulate service time on the boat and eventually qualify to take the inland river crew promotion exam. Recalling what he had seen and heard on the car ride to his sister's house yesterday, and considering what East Sea's Huang Jiangsheng said in the afternoon at the shipyard, Han Yu couldn't help but ask, "Director Xu, does speculation count as a clue?" Xu Sanye replied without hesitation, "Of course." Han Yu laughed happily and said, "There are lots of scalpers at Bailong Port selling boat tickets. They buy them for one Yuan seven and sell them for fifteen Yuan. That's speculative profiteering; they're making dirty money, and the public is very dissatisfied." Xu Sanye had just taken office two months ago and was busy helping the shipmen get their documents. Despite the proximity to Bailong Port Passenger Pier, he had only been there once. He knew that boat tickets were scarce and that scalpers were reselling them, but he did not realize the scalpers were so unscrupulous as to sell a ticket worth a little over a Yuan for more than ten Yuan. Illegally profiting over ten Yuan on a single ticket means an involved sum of over a thousand Yuan for a hundred tickets resold! His eyes lit up, seeing this as a money-making opportunity, and he said with a smile, "This lead is valuable. Let's hurry and eat. After we finish, we'll go take a look at Bailong Port together."

Chapter 9 Where Does Money Come From?

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