Binjiang Police Affairs-Chapter 1063 - 693: Men Weep Not Easily

"Mayor Qin, since Ningning works at the Port Supervision Bureau, can't I go there?"

"It's not good for a couple to work in the same place."

"Why is it bad for two people to work in the same place?"

"Ask your senior brother, he'll tell you. He and Zhang Lan both worked at the Police Bureau before, he knows how it feels."

Thinking about how formidable Han Xiangning is, Wu Hai Li couldn't help but tease, "Secretary Han, do you still think your family discipline isn't strict enough?"

Han Yu suddenly realized and said, somewhat embarrassed, "Now that I think about it, it isn't very good for two people to work in the same unit."

Turns out, he's henpecked!

Deputy Division Commander Tao laughed, just about to make a joke, when Liu Wei's call came through the walkie-talkie: "Secretary Han, Secretary Han, floating on the river are indeed boats, a small wooden boat and a speedboat from Diao Guan Police Station! I've first brought the police from Diao Guan Police Station onto the dunship, then sent Vice Director Cao from Shishou Government Office to River Mouth."

"What's the situation?"

"They're all officials, they've been drifting on the river for ten hours. If we hadn't spotted the anomaly on the radar, they... they really would have been in danger."

Late at night, drifting with the tide on the river is more than just a little dangerous; they could have ended up a meal for the fish.

Considering the rescued officials must be very cold, Han Yu immediately ordered the cooking team to prepare some hot meals and then went downstairs to wait for 001 to return.

The rescue area is less than three kilometers from the First Team base; otherwise, the radar set to a 1.5 nautical mile range wouldn't have detected it.

Vice Mayor Qin and Deputy Division Commander Tao also wanted to know what happened, so they went downstairs with Han Yu, waiting in the hallway for about ten minutes. Soon, 001 slowly approached, towing a small wooden boat and a speedboat.

Zhu Baogen had worked on 001 for many years, rescuing many people but had never rescued over a dozen officials at once. Throwing over the ropes, he reminded in a Linghai-accented Mandarin, "Leaders, please don't rush, wait until the boat is securely docked."

Han Yu put on gloves and, while tying the ropes, asked, "Which one is Director Cao?"

"Me!"

A middle-aged official, shivering with cold, raised his hand, his face bitter. "Captain Han, right? Thank you all, sorry to bother you all in the middle of the night."

Han Yu secured the ropes, took off his gloves, and helped everyone onto the dunship, inviting them into the Port Supervision duty room in the hallway. Picking up a remote to turn off the air conditioner, he asked, "Director Cao, how did you end up like this?"

"Weren't the masses of River Mouth Town evacuated? The city held a disaster relief meeting this afternoon—no, it should have been yesterday afternoon—in Diao Guan and established a disaster relief team. I'm the team leader."

Director Cao took a sip of the hot water poured by Wu Hai Li and continued, "After the meeting, we had to rush to Jiangbei. Tens of thousands are living on the dikes, huddled in shelters without any supplies. We couldn't be at ease until we got there. But the river was windy, and the officials in Diao Guan Town said they couldn't find a boat, suggesting we stay in town for the night.

We didn't dare wait, so we found a way to get a wooden boat and had a seasoned sailor take us across the river. However, the night was dark, the wind and waves were high, and despite the sailor's best efforts, the boat didn't advance, just spun in circles on the river. Unable to reach the sandbar, we came up with a plan to use a lighter to burn paper as a distress signal.

The officers at Diao Guan Police Station happened to be coming back in their speedboat from River Mouth and, seeing the firelight, came to rescue us. But the speedboat was too small to carry everyone, so I had some town officials take the speedboat while I and a few colleagues from the Command Center stayed on the wooden boat.

But when you're down on your luck, cold water even sticks in your teeth! The speedboat didn't get far before the engine died, leaving them just as adrift as we were, powerless against the elements. Captain Han, I'm not afraid you'll laugh, but we all thought we were about to meet our end on the river!"

The civil dike across the river has been opened for flood discharge, and River Mouth Town has disappeared from the map. The river is now even wider than the section by the Linghai Development Zone, truly vast.

The wind and waves were not small tonight, and the current was so strong.

They struggled with the vast, indifferent Yangtze River and the fierce, frequent waves for ten hours, truly a life-and-death battle. Seeing their frightened state, you could tell what those ten hours were like for them.

On the opposite dike, tens of thousands of civilians were crowded together. The Party and the government had asked them to sacrifice their small homes for the greater good; they couldn't just mobilize them to move to the dike and then leave them be.

Han Yu could understand their urgent need to cross the river yesterday evening because tens of thousands of people now really need a backbone.

Even though they went empty-handed, they could represent the Party and the government, calm the public, and prevent major epidemics and instability. At the same time, the tens of thousands of displaced people could see hope through them.

Seeing them shivering with cold, Han Yu was very moved and couldn't help but ask, "Director Cao, you should have known we were here, why didn't you call us?"

Director Cao hesitated, then said with some embarrassment, "Captain Han, I'm the deputy director."

Han Yu paused, suddenly realizing that not all officials have cell phones. Even in Linghai, which is much better economically than Shishou, many departments only equip their heads with cell phones. The deputies don't have phones, maybe just pagers.

Vice Mayor Qin was also deeply moved and softly asked, "Director Cao, what units are the disaster relief team members from?"

Han Yu quickly introduced, "This is Vice Mayor Qin from our Binjiang City. Mayor Qin came specifically to greet us."

Director Cao, though not the head, was experienced and knew Binjiang was a prefecture-level city, so he hurriedly said, "Hello, Mayor Qin. Our team members come from the Civil Affairs Bureau, Labor Bureau, Health Bureau, Union, and other twelve units, as well as a few colleagues from River Mouth Town."

"Well done, all of you, well done!"

"Thank you for the praise, Mayor Qin. We didn't expect it to turn out like this; it's really indescribable..."

When the small wooden boat and the stalled speedboat were battered by the waves, and everyone on board faced life-threatening peril again and again, Deputy Director Cao couldn't afford to be afraid because he knew that only by preserving the will to survive could they make it through.

The despair and helplessness aboard left him no time to think; he had to keep encouraging everyone and help them overcome their fear of death.

Tears rarely fall from a man's eyes until he reaches the point of heartbreak.

Now, having narrowly escaped death, he could no longer hold back; as he spoke, tears streamed down his face.

...

PS: There are only two chapters today, but each is over five thousand words, still a ten-thousand-word update.

Someone in their forties pushing fifty, still competing with energetic young authors in word count. I hope all the readers will consider how hard Old Zhuo works, and if you have any votes, please throw a few over. Thank you.