Binjiang Police Affairs-Chapter 2 - : Men Fear Choosing the Wrong Profession

Waiting at the door for over ten minutes, Director Wang and the old instructor came out.

"Xiao Han, your family is in the shipping business, so you should be very familiar with Bailong Port. Yanjiang Police Station is right there at Bailong Port. Go report to Commander Li at the station, you'll officially start work from today."

"Yes." Han Yu promptly stood up.

Director Wang turned back with a smile: "Old Li, see how spirited Xiao Han is. You probably don't know, Binjiang Shipping School also operates under semi-military management. Police academy students wear caps with wide brims and police uniforms, while they wear sailor caps with wide brims and sailor uniforms."

What does it matter if it's military management, in the end, he's still just a kid.

Li Weiguo was anxious, unsure about how to explain bringing this kid back to Director Xu.

Director Wang was in a hurry to sit in at the Agricultural Bank. While leading the two downstairs, he said with a laugh: "Xiao Han, although today is your official first day at work, your attendance starts from the day you reported at the bureau. In principle, we should have issued you a police uniform, but the logistics colleagues have all gone out to maintain order. We'll issue it to you after we get through these busy days."

"Thank you, Director Wang." Han Yu, carrying a military water bottle, gripped the strap tightly.

"No need to thank me. Once you're at the station, humbly learn from Director Xu and Commander Li."

Director Wang patted his shoulder, gave a few words of advice, took out his car keys, went under the shade of a tree, and got on a Xingfu 250 motorcycle. After kicking the start a few times, the engine fired up and he drove out of the Police Bureau compound.

Li Weiguo watched Director Wang leave, then put his briefcase on the handle of his bicycle and turned back to ask, "Xiao Han, how did you get here?"

"I came by bicycle."

"Where's your bike?"

"It's parked over there." Han Yu raised his arm and pointed.

Li Weiguo followed the direction of his finger, and to his surprise, it was a 26-inch bicycle.

It was a women's model, and not only that, it was red. But then again, considering how short he is, if he were to ride a Two-Eight Gang bike, he'd probably have to sit on the bar to reach the pedals.

Li Weiguo sighed inwardly, pushing his bicycle and asking, "Xiao Han, where does your family live?"

"My family lives on a boat." Han Yu ran over to unlock his bike and pushed it along, his face a picture of embarrassment.

"I almost forgot your family are shipmen, where is your family's boat moored?"

"My dad called my sister a few days ago saying they were loading cargo in Hanwu, now where they are, I have no idea."

"Where do you usually live?"

"I used to live at my grandma's, now I'm staying at my sister's."

"Where does your sister live?"

"At the Binjiang Port Authority dormitory." His sister and brother-in-law are the most capable in the family, and Han Yu truly felt proud of them from the bottom of his heart.

The Binjiang Port Authority is a large unit subordinate to the Ministry of Transport, even Bailong Port is under their management.

This kid has relatives in the Binjiang Port Authority, which Li Weiguo found surprising. But at the moment, he was more concerned about how the kid got here, as Binjiang Port is nearly fifty kilometers away from Linghai County.

"Did you come from Binjiang Port on your bicycle this morning?"

"Yes."

"How many hours did you ride?"

"Three and a half hours."

"Did you set off before dawn?"

"I left at 4:20 a.m., it was already light out."

"Weren't you tired after riding such a long distance?"

"Not tired."

Binjiang Port is not far from Binjiang Long-distance Bus Station; he could have taken the bus.

However, taking a bus is not very convenient either. He would have to walk from the Port Authority dormitory to Binjiang Bus Station, then walk to the Police Bureau upon arrival at Linghai Bus Station.

Li Weiguo got on his bike and while pedaling forward he asked curiously, "How old were you when you started first grade?"

"Five." Han Yu quickly pedaled a couple of times to catch up.

"Didn't you go to kindergarten?"

"My family didn't have a house or farmland on shore. I went to school at my grandma's place. There was only a primary school there, no kindergarten. The teacher let me start first grade directly, saying that if I could keep up with the studies, I'd continue; if not, I'd repeat the year."

Started first grade at five, finished primary school at ten to go to junior high, graduated junior high at thirteen and got into technical secondary school, started working at sixteen...

With this thought, Li Weiguo couldn't help but laugh and say: "Looks like you've broken the record for our Linghai Police Bureau. There's never been a police officer as young as you before, and I guess there won't be in the future either."

Back at school, I often prided myself on being younger than others.

Only after joining the workforce did I realize that being young isn't necessarily a good thing.

Han Yu felt somewhat embarrassed and couldn't help but ask, "Instructor, how old was the youngest police officer in the bureau before?"

"The youngest was nineteen, just like you, also a technical secondary school graduate, but he graduated from a police technical school." Li Weiguo smiled and changed the subject, "How big is your family's boat?"

"Not very big, forty tons."

"Forty tons isn't small, must have cost quite a bit. It looks like your family is doing well."

"What's doing well? The shipping company used to implement contracts, and my family contracted a small wooden boat. Later, since the wooden boat was too small to carry much cargo, we borrowed money to buy a fifteen-ton cement boat. After several years of hard work, earning a little over three thousand, we swapped for a twenty-five-ton boat."

Han Yu looked at the people lining up to buy things ahead and continued, "Twenty-five tons was still small. Last year my father invested all the money he had earned into it, swapping it for a forty-ton boat. All the money we made over the years went into buying boats."

Borrowing money to buy boats, earning money to buy larger boats; it seems all shipmen go through this cycle.

Actually, it's similar for the people onshore; they just spend money on building houses instead. They make some money, tear down the old house to build a new one, and then make more money to build an apartment building.

Li Weiguo fell silent for a moment, then asked, "How many siblings do you have?"

Wiping sweat from his brow, Han Yu replied, "Three."

"Where do you stand in age?"

"I'm the youngest; I have an older sister and an older brother." Now they implement family planning, but back then, there was no such thing. Han Yu did not feel that having multiple siblings was shameful.

Unless you see for yourself, you wouldn't understand how frightening the rise in prices is; the storefronts are all crowded with people scrambling to buy.

Li Weiguo raised his hand to greet a police officer who was maintaining order on the roadside and asked, "What do your brother and sister do?"

Han Yu hurriedly said, "My sister works at Binjiang's Sailor Club, and my brother just got married. My dad took out a loan to help them buy a boat, and they also run water transport on the river."

It wasn't strange for Li Weiguo to hear that most of the family worked on boats.

As an instructor at Yanjiang Police Station, he had seen many "family boats," "married couple boats," like Han Yu mentioned, and besides those, there were "father-son boats," "father-daughter boats," "brother boats."

The reason for this phenomenon is twofold: hiring people costs money, and of course, those who work on the boats prefer to stick with their family members for warmth during the constant drift on the water.

After some thought, Li Weiguo continued to ask, "How did your sister get into the Port Authority?"

"My brother-in-law was also a shipman, then he joined the military, became a volunteer soldier in the army. After the downsizing of the army in '85, he was demobilized and placed in the Port Authority, and my sister was also arranged to work in the Sailor Club then."

"Your sister and brother-in-law must have high salaries, right?"

"My brother-in-law's salary is okay, my sister's is not that high. She now makes a hundred and thirty-six and a half a month."

The Port Authority is indeed a big establishment with its own Police Bureau and pays very high salaries.

The Sailor Club is a subsidiary of the Port Authority as well as a foreign-related entity, similar to the Friendship Store in East Sea; primarily it serves foreign guests.

It is said that inside there are stores, restaurants, and high-class guest rooms. The stores not only sell various high-quality domestic products but also sell Trio cigarettes, chocolate, Swiss watches, and Japanese color TVs, among other imported goods, although you need a Foreign Exchange Certificate to shop there.

His sister earning a hundred and thirty-six and a half a month was already high, even more than what he—a regular grade instructor about to retire—made by more than ten yuan.

You really can't compare yourself to others; it's maddening.

Li Weiguo sighed, "Xiao Han, it seems merely having good academic performance isn't useful, you have to be in a good workplace. You can't make that much in our Police Bureau."

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Han Yu asked softly, "Is the police salary very low?"

"For an intern police officer like you, you only make fifty-three a month. The internship lasts for a year, and even after the internship is over, it's not as much as your sister's."

Money isn't everything, but without money, nothing is possible.

Han Yu was just thinking about starting work to help his dad repay the loan and couldn't help but ask, "Instructor, how much will I be able to make after a year?"

The whole family depends on that little salary; you must calculate every penny.

Li Weiguo knew the salary policy like the back of his hand and said without hesitation, "You'll be on the same scale as the rest of us; we're in Jiangnan Province, which is classified in the fifth salary zone, the base salary of thirty-nine.

You've just started working so you can only be ranked as a clerk, and the salary for clerks is fifty-eight and a half. Length of service doesn't concern you for now, and as for allowances, our bureau has never had any."

Han Yu did the math and asked in a low voice, "After the internship is over, I'll be able to make ninety-seven and a half a month?"

Li Weiguo replied with regret, "Choosing the wrong profession is what men fear, with your study in Water Transport Management, if you went to the Binjiang Port Authority, the Binjiang Navigation Administration Office, or to the large enterprises in the city, the salary and benefits would definitely be higher than in the county. Even in the county, our Police Bureau's welfare is far worse than others."

Everyone wants to work for a good employer, but it's not something I can choose.

Moreover, because of my young age, I'm already disdained by the county Police Bureau. I can imagine that even if assigned to the city, I would still be looked down upon.

Han Yu felt that it was useless to think too much about it; he could only take things one step at a time.