Binjiang Police Affairs

Chapter 739 - 500: Maiden Voyage, First Battle!_2

"It is said that on the banks of the Huangpu River, not far from Lujiazui, there used to be houses for export, specifically sold to foreigners and overseas Chinese. It can be said to be the most upscale residential community in Pudong now.""Buying such an expensive house without the financial capacity is like not having the fate of wealth but suffering from a disease of wealth!"

"One can’t blame Salted Fish or entirely blame Han Xiangning for this. Women are emotional creatures, and they can do impulsive things when their minds are heated. In fact, it’s not just her; Salted Fish’s sister Han Ning and Salted Fish’s senior brother’s wife Zhang Lan also bought houses. Now, the three families are living in unbearable hardship."

Seeing that the Director was in deep contemplation, Wang Wenhong urgently said, "Director Chen, rest assured, although Salted Fish is under tremendous economic pressure and is in dire need of money now, I believe he will keep himself in check. He won’t take a penny that he shouldn’t; otherwise, he would not have thought about arranging a job on the river and then quitting to make money at sea."

"I believe that; he is a descendant of the Old Yanjiang Police Station, with excellent traditions."

"That’s why I’m worried now. If he really submits his resignation, Linghai Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government and Linghai Police Bureau will definitely be reluctant to let him go. But considering the situation of his family, the economic pressure is indeed great, and if we put ourselves in his shoes, it would be unreasonable not to let him go."

"Life was going so well; why did he have to go to East Sea and buy a property, and such an expensive one at that!"

"He is from Linghai. Xiang Ning went to Bailong Port the second year after she started working, and now she has settled down there. Although she is not a Linghai person, she is almost the same as the Linghai people."

Director Chen froze for a moment, then couldn’t help but laugh and scold, "Old Wang, you Linghai people are good in every aspect, but running to East Sea all the time is a bad habit!"

Wang Wenhong hesitated for a moment and said with an embarrassed smile, "Director Chen, don’t laugh at me, but my wife heard that Salted Fish and the others bought houses in East Sea and even got their children the East Sea blue seal household registration. These past few days, she has also been considering buying a house in East Sea."

"Your wife also wants to go to East Sea?"

"Mainly for the kids. Rest assured, Director Chen, my family won’t mess around like Salted Fish did. Speaking of which, I have to thank Salted Fish. When he bought such an expensive house, it wasn’t for vanity, but because he didn’t understand the policy of buying a house and getting a blue seal household registration in East Sea back then."

"What kind of house does your wife plan to buy?"

"I don’t have that much money, and I don’t dare to take out such a big loan. My family plans to buy a cheaper one, just a few hundred thousand is enough. We can first get a household registration and then transfer the kids’ registrations over after two years."

No wonder people say that apart from the Wenzhou people from Zhehai, those who buy houses in East Sea are the Linghai people from Binjiang and the Dongqi people.

First, it was Salted Fish, now it’s Wang Wenhong.

Director Chen was thoroughly convinced and simply couldn’t understand the East Sea complex of Linghai people.

Wang Wenhong realized he had gone off-topic and quickly said, "Director Chen, the reason why the several law enforcement units on the river have been so united over these years is largely due to the Old Yanjiang Police Station’s efforts. If Salted Fish really quits to run boats, who will remember the Old Yanjiang Police Station?"

"Salted Fish is the First Post of the Yangtze River. If Salted Fish leaves, the signboard of the First Post of the Yangtze River will be smashed!"

"Yes, but his economic pressure is indeed great."

"There’s nothing to worry about; he will definitely not resign, he can’t resign!"

"I also know he can’t resign, but sometimes a lack of money can stymie even a hero."

Director Chen thought for a moment, smiled, and said, "There’s no need to worry so much. First of all, I am confident that he is reluctant to take off his police uniform. He actually cares a lot about the work on the river, with a strong sense of responsibility and mission. Otherwise, he would have handed in his resignation to Zhou Huixin long ago, instead of planning to wait until the other patrol boats are delivered and the river’s work is well arranged before resigning."

Wang Wenhong nodded, "I know this; his master treated the Yangtze River as his own, and so does he. But ideal is ideal, sentiment is sentiment, reality is reality, and he must face reality now."

"The reality isn’t as severe as you think."

"But his economic pressure is indeed very great."

"The difficulty is only temporary."

Director Chen smiled, picked up his tea cup, and said, "I went to the province for a meeting the day before yesterday, and the superiors said that we are about to get a raise, and it will happen within these few months, and this time it seems to be a raise in our basic salary."

"How much is the increase?" Wang Wenhong asked eagerly.

"I heard our base salary is going to increase from ninety per month to one hundred and ten. It’s only a twenty-unit hike, but related allowances are very likely to go up as well—after all, compared to enterprise employees, government workers’ salaries are indeed a bit low."

"Even if it goes up by forty or fifty per month, it won’t make much difference to Salted Fish."

"But he’s not alone, didn’t you just say that his father-in-law and mother-in-law are helping with the mortgage repayments? This increase affects their whole family! At least two hundred more per month, that’s over two thousand more in income annually."

Director Chen paused, then with a bit of envy, said, "Moreover, he’s not like you and me, he’s now a cadre in the Linghai Development Zone."

Wang Wenhong asked, perplexed, "What about being a cadre in the Linghai Development Zone?"

"Don’t you know?"

"Director Chen, I really don’t know."

"Where in the city do they pay the highest salaries?"

"The development zone."

"That’s it." Director Chen set down his teacup, smiling as he explained, "The city’s development zones offer the highest salaries. As far as I know, the salary and bonus standards in the Linghai Development Zone are set according to those of the development zones across the river in several other districts and counties, and are going to be even higher than those in the Binjiang Development Zone."

Wang Wenhong really didn’t know this and asked curiously, "How much higher?"

Director Chen’s spouse works in the Binjiang Development Zone, and he couldn’t help but laugh as he had heard from them more than once, "Actually, the basic salaries are similar—it’s mainly the bonuses and commissions. If the Linghai Development Zone meets its investment promotion and foreign exchange earning targets, the annual bonus for development zone cadres might equal a year’s salary."

"Such a big bonus!"

"This is what it means to prioritize economic development."

Director Chen smiled slightly and continued, "In addition, personal achievements in investment promotion come with commissions. There are clear standards for this, and if you can bring in a big project and secure the funding, it’s possible to receive tens of thousands in commissions over the year."

Wang Wenhong asked in amazement, "Really?"

Director Chen laughed, "Why would I lie to you? You can ask around back home. I’ve heard that there are dozens of deputy directors in the Linghai Development Zone Investment Bureau now, all distributing flyers like salespeople in the East Sea and development zones across the river in several other districts and counties, and some have even ventured as far as Shenzhen."

"They’re so proactive in their work!"

"It’s because of the commissions."

Suddenly recalling something, Director Chen couldn’t suppress a chuckle and added, "Last month, the East Sea Police Department sent back a group of people, among whom were two cadres from the Linghai Development Zone. They were stationed at the exit of Hongqiao Airport, and whenever they saw foreign guests or overseas Chinese, they would pester them with investment promotion materials.

The police at East Sea thought they didn’t look right, and since they hadn’t registered for temporary residence permits, and were causing quite a disturbance at the airport, they were taken to a detention center and kept there for several days before being collectively sent back."

The hometown investment promotion has gone crazy, to be doing such things.

Wang Wenhong was astonished.

Director Chen found it just as funny, and went on, "Deputy Mayor Shen of Linghai personally came to Binjiang to escort those two back. After returning, he immediately convened a commendation meeting to praise their spirit of enduring hardship, not fearing difficulty, and not minding grievances. Allegedly, after attending the commendation meeting, those two immediately packed their bags to go out for more investment promotion."

"This leadership of Linghai truly goes all out."

"Linghai’s economy has indeed developed well these past two years, especially regarding investment promotion; they’ve made a big push. In the first and second quarters of this year, Linghai took home the streamer for economic activity. This year, Changzhou’s momentum is also strong. Linghai and Changzhou are neck and neck, putting a lot of pressure on the Binjiang Development Zone."

Who wouldn’t want their hometown to do well?

As someone who deeply appreciates having capable city leaders like Secretary Ye, Mayor Qian, and Vice Mayor Shen, Wang Wenhong was genuinely pleased, and he couldn’t help laughing, "So you’re saying that as long as Salted Fish holds on until the end of the year, his financial stress won’t be as great?"

Director Chen picked up his phone to check the time, stood up, laughing, "Even if the economic pressure is high, he still can’t just give up! If he were to give up and quit, where would we find another Water Army Commander!"