Binjiang Police Affairs-Chapter 397 - 282: Being a Leader is Different

White Elephant District, Building 12, Room 501, Fang Guoya is packing a backpack in the bedroom, thinking he would never have to pack it again after transitioning from military service.

His wife, Xu Jie, is helping him pack clothes while discontentedly saying, "It was so hard to finally transition out of the military, but now you have to go into firefighting and train all day just like before. The leaders of the Port Authority really are something, the military transfer office clearly placed you in their Port Authority, but they tossed you to the Changhang Branch instead. Do they think you’re a soccer ball to be kicked around?"

"The leaders of the Port Authority didn’t kick me around; it was me who actively requested the transfer."

"You requested it?"

Xu Jie couldn’t believe it was true and, setting down the clothes, complained, "Fang Guoya, have you gone mad! Wasn’t it good at the Port Authority, that you must go to a fire brigade? You have offices but choose to roll in the dirt; are you itching to work with firefighting that badly?"

Mr. Xu, worried that his son-in-law might find his daughter annoying, quickly came over and said, "Xiao Jie, Guoya must have his reasons for asking to be transferred to the Changhang Branch, let him finish speaking."

"What’s there to say, the Port Authority is such a good unit, it wasn’t easy to secure a placement there."

"Xiao Jie, I’m sorry."

"You haven’t wronged me, you’ve wronged yourself."

Fang Guoya put down his packed backpack, and with a bitter smile explained, "I had no choice, the Port Authority is a good unit indeed, but precisely because it’s too good, they lack everything but officials."

The training in the fire brigade is too tough and tiring, and firefighting is very dangerous.

Since dating, Xu Jie didn’t know how many times she had seen her husband get hurt; she didn’t know how often his eyebrows and hair had been scorched by fire.

She yearned day and night, finally seeing her husband transition out of the military.

She tried everything possible, pleaded everywhere, and her husband finally was placed in the Port Authority, yet he didn’t cherish it. The more Xu Jie thought about it, the more aggrieved she felt, tearfully asking, "What does this have to do with you?"

Seeing his father-in-law also looking at him doubtfully, Fang Guoya helplessly said, "The Port Authority is a very business-oriented unit. If you understand the business, you can go to the business section. If you know technology, you can go work in the dock loading and unloading department. But I don’t know any of this.

If Regular Army commanders transfer, they can go to an office department. But I’m just a deputy at battalion level; people like me can only end up running errands, or even being sent to guard a dock—almost like waiting for death, and still looked down upon by others."

Mr. Xu, who works at the Education Bureau in the Chonggang District, is quite familiar with the Port Authority and subconsciously asked, "Doesn’t the Port Authority have a security department and a department handling safety production? Especially the safety production which includes firefighting; people like you should be able to enter these departments."

"Father, the security department is an old almanac, it’s long been merged into the former Binjiang Port Police Station, now the Changhang Branch. As for the safety production department, what they lack the least are military transfer officials. You don’t know how many transitioning military officers the Port Authority has accepted over the years."

"So you want to return to your old profession and join the Water Firefighting Team at the Changhang Branch?"

"Yes."

"But now Changhang Branch is not in the same system as the Port Authority, and Changhang police seems to be in Hanwu, will there be any issues with such a transfer?"

"Father, what issues?"

"A job transfer is a serious matter, if you move but your file isn’t transferred, they might not treat you like one of them. By the time they assert you’ve been transferred, being left hanging by both sides can cause a lot of trouble; such cases have happened before, even in our Education Bureau."

"Father, don’t worry about that."

Fang Guoya went over to drink some water, then explained, "Although the Changhang Branch split from the Port Authority, the personnel salaries and case handling funds are still provided by the Port Authority as before. The Port Authority’s HR department mentioned that how many personnel the Changhang Branch can have depends on how much money the Port Authority provides."

Mr. Xu, still somewhat confused, asked, "So as long as the Port Authority pays the salaries, the Changhang Police Bureau will recognize it?"

"Essentially, but the necessary transfer procedures still need to be done."

"When will they be done?"

"They are already completed."

"That was fast!"

"Father, Xiao Jie, actually when I reported to the Port Authority last year in December, the leaders in the personnel department asked for my opinion, and I... I thought about it then and agreed."

"Why didn’t you tell us about such a big matter earlier?"

"I was worried it would affect your New Year celebrations."

"You..."

Xu Jie was truly angry, and just as Fang Guoya was unsure how to soothe her, a knock came from outside the door.

Going over to open the door, it turned out to be his old comrade, Qin Dejun, and his wife.

In front of outsiders, no matter what, she had to save face for her husband, so Xu Jie hurriedly put on a smile to welcome them.

Qin Dejun greeted Mr. Xu and then turned to look at the well-packed bag, asking, "Packing your things, ready to report for duty?"

"Tomorrow morning I’ll go to the office to handle the procedures, and in the afternoon the branch will arrange for a vehicle to take me to Bailong Port."

"Bailong Port Passenger Pier, although belonging to Binjiang Port, is a small pier. I really don’t know what the leaders of the Changhang Branch were thinking, setting up a fire brigade there. Don’t they know that in firefighting, speed is of the essence?"

What Xu Jie disliked most was living separately. Hearing her husband’s comrade say this, she couldn’t help but mutter, "Yes, Bailong Port is over thirty kilometers from Binjiang, if a fire really breaks out at Binjiang Port, by the time the fire brigade arrives, it’d be too late."

"It’s just for training, besides the Port Authority has an enterprise fire brigade."

"I know about the Port Authority’s fire brigade, it’s almost like playing house, not professional at all."

"That’s why the Changhang Branch is setting up a professional fire brigade." Fang Guoya smiled and curiously asked, "Old Qin, sister-in-law, what brings you here so late, surely you didn’t come just to see me off?"

Qin Dejun laughed, "The day before yesterday at dinner you said you didn’t know much about the new unit; I have a friend at the Port Authority, asked him to find out for you."

Fang Guoya was very interested and asked instinctively, "What did you find out?"

"The fire brigade you’re reporting to tomorrow is a newly established deputy director-level unit. It’s part of the Changhang Binjiang Branch’s fire department. The deputy director, who is also the deputy division commander and the captain of the Water Firefighting Team, is named Han Yu. He’s quite young, just turned twenty-three after the New Year."

"Only twenty-three years old, really?"

"You’ll see for yourself tomorrow. He used to work in local police at the Yanjiang Police Station under the Linghai Police Bureau. Director Zhang of the Changhang Binjiang Branch used to work at the Bailong Port Police Station for several years, which means he knew Director Zhang quite early on."

"But he’s only twenty-three years old!"

"Don’t be fooled by his youth, he started working in 1988. By the way, his sister and brother-in-law both work in the port, his sister works in the internal affairs at the Binjiang Port Police Station under Changhang Binjiang Branch. His brother-in-law is quite famous in the Port Authority, a mechanic squad leader at the dock, and has been named the city-level labor model for several consecutive years."

"He started working at sixteen..."

"He graduated from Binjiang Shipping School, a vocational school."

Understanding the situation of her husband’s new unit, Xu Jie muttered, "Both his sister and brother-in-law are in the Port Authority, they’ve known the current director for a long time, and being graduates from the Binjiang Shipping School, originally people from the port and navigation system, no wonder he was promoted so quickly."

Qin Dejun agreed and, patting his old comrade’s arm, said meaningfully, "Encountering such a young superior, the superior-subordinate relationship can be easy or difficult to manage, therefore, you must adjust your mindset."

"Old Qin, I understand what you mean. As military transfer officials re-employed, we need to be humble and cautious at the new unit. But firefighting is not like any other job, an incapable general could doom his troops, and one wrong order could cost lives!"

"The problem is when laymen command experts, so you need to be mentally prepared."

"If I had known I would encounter such a superior, I would never have actively requested a transfer to the Changhang Binjiang Branch."

"It’s too late for regrets now; let’s think about how to work with your direct superior."

...

Meanwhile, at Dock No.1, the loading and unloading team leader Old Wu, brought a young man who looked very young to knock on Zhang Jiangkun’s door.

The young man was both nervous and somewhat excited, and felt uncomfortable after entering the house.

Old Wu glanced at Xiao Dongdong, who was doing his homework, asked about why Han Ning hadn’t returned, and got straight to the point.

"Xiao Gong graduated from the same school as your younger uncle. Unfortunately, he was born at the wrong time; the major he studied is now unusable. The personnel department let him work with me for nearly half a year, and his one-year probation period is nearly up. If we don’t find a way to change his position, he can only work as a loader, which has no future!"

Old Wu was famously enthusiastic, especially since this kid was practically his half-apprentice.

In fact, Zhang Jiangkun had seen this kid before and knew he graduated from the Shipping School, feeling it too demeaning to let him be a loader.

After all, not everyone can get into the Shipping School; he could imagine this kid had grades as good as his younger uncle when studying.

"Old Wu, I get your point. It’s indeed a critical time for Xiao Gong, landing a good position means becoming an official, otherwise, he stays a laborer. It’s different from the past, promotions are so hard now, but there’s nothing I can do."

"Squad Leader Zhang, you misunderstood. Xiao Gong has already found a position."

"What position?"

"Didn’t the Changhang Branch just start forming a firefighting team? Considering Xiao Gong is a vocational school graduate and was assigned by superiors, letting him work with me as a loader wasn’t appropriate, and it was tricky to place him elsewhere. They asked if Xiao Gong would be willing to transfer to the Changhang Binjiang Branch Firefighting Team." ƒreewebɳovel.com

"He’s working under San’er!"

"That’s exactly why I came. Xiao Gong will report to your younger uncle tomorrow. Please help me convey this to him and ask him to look out for him."

Being the relative of a leader really made a difference, actually having people come to seek your favor.

Zhang Jiangkun, feeling very proud and honorable, couldn’t help but smile, "Don’t worry, we’ve been colleagues for so many years, Xiao Gong is a graduate from the Shipping School, truly one of our own. I’ll call San’er in a bit, he will certainly take care of him."

At that very moment, Han Ning was at the police office in the waiting room at Binjiang Port Passenger Pier, receiving the familiar couple, Zhang Ping and Wang Xiaoxue.

Zhang Ping was a police officer on the Jiangwu Passenger Ship, which docked at Binjiang Port every day when it was in operation.

As an onboard police officer, every time the passenger ship docked, Zhang Ping would handle the turnover with the dock police. Over time, they became familiar.

As for Wang Xiaoxue, they were even closer. She was a ticket clerk at the neighboring ticket booth, and the couple met, got to know each other, fell in love, and walked down the aisle at the dock.

Two years ago when the couple got married, Han Ning attended their wedding.

Hearing Wang Xiaoxue revealing the purpose of the visit, Han Ning burst into laughter, covering her mouth and asking, "Your husband Zhang Ping is going to work under San’er, really? You’re not joking with me, are you?"

"Sister Han Ning, why would I lie to you? I only found out this afternoon that your brother moved to the Changhang Binjiang Branch and even took up the position of deputy director of the fire department."

"Hahaha, that’s too coincidental. We are colleagues at the dock, and now your husband Zhang Ping will be a colleague of my brother San’er at Bailong Port—it’s kind of funny when you think about it."

"Sister Han Ning, I’ll be working under your brother."

"What do you mean under him? We’re all family. Besides, it’s my brother’s first time in office, and he’s so young. It’s hard to say whether some might not accept his authority. I’ll need to ask you to give him more support in the future."

Without real skills and connections, how could someone so young become a deputy director?

Zhang Ping, recently transferred from Wuhu Branch and unfamiliar with the Changhang Binjiang area, determined to cling to the coattails of his fellow in-law, grinned and said, "Don’t worry, Sister Han Ning. As long as I’m here, I’ll see who dares to disrespect Captain Han!"

"Captain Han?"

"The fire department is part of the Water Firefighting Team. Since Han Yu is both the deputy director and the deputy division commander while also being our Water Firefighting Team captain, of course, we should call him Captain Han."

"Hahaha, he’s just a little man, already a deputy division commander. So, you’re telling me that when he comes to our station to inspect fire safety, should I stand at attention and salute him?"

Wang Xiaoxue, having met Han Yu several times and distinctly remembering what Han Yu looked like before he grew up, couldn’t help but laugh, "You’re his sister; you don’t need to salute."

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