Free Web NovelChapter 1483: Chapter 264: Easy Money!
The reef is very small. The so‑called outpost is nothing more than a crude stilted tin shack, with boundless sea on all sides, far from the base, supplies very hard to come by—you can imagine how tough the conditions are. He managed to stick it out under such hardship and set a number of individual "firsts" in the Nansha Reef Guard.
Mayor Wang asked curiously, "What records did he set?"
"He served the longest time in the Nansha Reef Guard, carried out the most missions, held the reef for the most days in a single stint, logged the farthest and widest patrol mileage, and was praised as the ’South China Sea reef guardian’ and the ’First Person of Nansha Reef’. If he hadn’t come back to visit family a few days ago, he’d still be on reef duty in Nansha right now."
"He’s an active‑duty officer?"
"Yeah, he just came back a few days ago. The Changzhou Armed Forces Department invited him to a discussion this afternoon, and our Military District also plans to ask him to give a heroic model deeds report to our headquarters cadres and the guard and transport companies."
"Inviting these two comrades was a good move, Old Qin, Commander Wang. The fact that you thought to invite them shows you two have really put your hearts into this."
"This is our job."
"Don’t be so modest. And these comrades here?"
"These are the enterprise heads the Salted Fish’s Rescue Boat Team plans to invite."
"Enterprise heads?"
Vice Mayor Qin hurriedly explained, "Aren’t they trying to get that rescue and salvage project going? They definitely can’t pull it off by themselves, they need related enterprises to take part."
Mayor Wang reacted and couldn’t help laughing. "He can sell posts, sure—this isn’t the first time he’s done that sort of thing."
"This time is different from when the Linghai Reserve Camp was set up. First, the investment is big; second, once they put their money in, it might not pay off. Just conscripting people into the army and giving them a Reserve Rank is obviously far from enough."
"Since that’s the case, let him invite them then."
"Thank you, Mayor Wang."
"It hasn’t been easy for him either. Besides, if he hadn’t been pulling the strings, the Fleet Commander wouldn’t have agreed to let the Binjiang Ship come home. Since he has Binjiang on his mind, we in the City Committee and Municipal Government ought to support his work."
The reception and public‑open‑day plan was put together quite well, but Secretary Lu still felt something wasn’t quite right.
He looked again at the plan Vice Mayor Qin and Commander Wang had brought, pondered for a moment, then looked up and said, "Old Qin, Commander Wang, I think these two points need to be adjusted."
"Which two?"
"First, having Salted Fish go to the East Sea Base to pilot the ship in. He’s now a deputy department‑level cadre, has plenty of primary duties already, and he also has to juggle the Rescue Boat Team. Sending him to pilot the ship, which would take two or three days back and forth, is inappropriate."
The Salted Fish now is no longer the Salted Fish of the past.
Having a deputy director of the Changhang Bureau drop everything to go pilot a ship really would be a bit of overkill, if you think about it.
Vice Mayor Qin got it and quickly said, "Then we’ll spend a bit of money and have the Maritime Bureau contact the Yangtze River Pilot Center and ask the Pilot Center to assign a pilot to bring her in."
Secretary Lu nodded in satisfaction, pointed at the plan documents, and went on, "The second is having her come in via the North Branch Channel, with the Yanjiang units in Dongqi, Linghai, and Changzhou’s districts and counties lining up to welcome her along the way—that’s also not quite appropriate."
Commander Wang instinctively asked, "How is that not appropriate?"
"The Binjiang Ship is coming home to Binjiang, not to Dongqi, not to Linghai, and certainly not to Changzhou. We can bet on it: if we really notify it like that, those districts and counties will definitely make a big production out of it. The leaders of the escort frigate squadron won’t have a clear picture of the local dynamics; seeing those places so enthusiastic and putting on such a grand show, they might very well decide to berth at their docks."
"Oh boy, Secretary Lu, if you hadn’t pointed that out, we really might have ended up with a farce on our hands. Those guys absolutely would pull a stunt like hijacking the show!"
"That’s why, as the saying goes, you can guard against a thousand things, but you can’t guard against insiders."
All those districts and counties want to "rebel"; Secretary Lu wasn’t about to give them another chance. Thinking of this, he laughed and said, "We can suggest that the Binjiang Ship come in via the main waterway and go back via the North Branch. There’s no need for the districts and counties to welcome her in; when she leaves, let them line up along the way to see her off."
After this home visit, the Binjiang Ship of course has to return to her Mother Port, and she has to be back within the specified time.
Having the districts and counties see her off from the riverbank—no matter how lively they make it—at most the crew can line up on deck to wave and say thanks; there’s no way they’ll berth at those docks.
In short, we must not let them steal the limelight.
The fiasco where the Binjiang Flood Control Rescue Camp ended up inexplicably turning into the Linghai Reserve Camp must never be allowed to happen again!
Vice Mayor Qin and Commander Wang caught on and couldn’t help laughing.
...
At the same time, Han Yu was in the sub‑bureau office taking a call from Commissar Fang, and they were also talking about welcoming the Binjiang Ship home and opening her to the public.
"The reaction is huge? The masses’ patriotic enthusiasm is running high and everyone wants to visit?"
"China isn’t like foreign countries. Foreign warships are often open to the public; ours rarely are. If you want to see a warship, especially actually get on one, you can only go to the Navy Museum. Now a chance like this doesn’t come easy, and what’s about to open is a warship named after Binjiang. It’s perfectly normal that people are fired up."
"There’ll be a lot of cadres and ordinary folks going then?"
"I estimate there’ll be at least ten thousand visitors a day. I’m actually worrying about whether the Binjiang Ship can handle that many."
When the Navy task group goes on foreign visits, Overseas Chinese enthusiasm also runs sky‑high—Han Yu had seen scenes like that before.
Thinking again that this really is a once‑in‑a‑lifetime opportunity, and that the Rescue Boat Team has big moves coming up and is short on funds, Han Yu couldn’t help laughing. "Commissar, looks like we can use this chance to do a bit of business."
"What kind of business?"
"The Binjiang Ship may be an old frigate, but everything on board is still military secrets. The public finally gets a chance to visit; they’ll definitely want to take photos as a keepsake. But given confidentiality concerns we can’t let them just snap away. We can organize a few comrades who know photography and set up some photo booths."
Commissar Fang hadn’t expected Han Yu to seize this chance to make money, and asked, half laughing, half crying, "Is that really appropriate?"
"Why wouldn’t it be? There are photographers on Tian’anmen Square and inside Tian’anmen as well. Us providing photo services is just meeting public demand. As long as prices are reasonable, people definitely won’t complain; they’ll actually be happy and excited."
"I figure everyone who goes to visit will want to take a picture as a souvenir."
"Looks like this isn’t a small business—if we run it well, it’ll be a big one!"
The Rescue Boat Team is about to take on a major project, and major projects cost money.
Commissar Fang suddenly felt this was a pretty good idea and was just about to say okay when Han Yu couldn’t help adding with a grin, "Last time I went to the Fleet Command, I saw a lot of ship models there, made of fiberglass, including one of the Binjiang Ship. Commissar, find out quickly which manufacturer makes those models. We can buy a batch wholesale and sell them on site when the Binjiang Ship opens to the public."
That would work too—he really did intend to do business!
What left Commissar Fang both amused and exasperated was that, after thinking a bit more, Han Yu laughed again. "When it opens, the pier will be packed to the rafters. To maintain order during the visits, they’ll definitely have people queue up in long lines. What if the visitors get thirsty? What if they get hungry? We can stock up on bottled water and drinks, and bread and biscuits and so on, and sell them on site. A monopoly business—we’re sure to make money, and it’ll be convenient for the public too."
"Director Han, are you sure the Fleet Commander won’t have a problem with this?"
"Why are we taking on the rescue and salvage project? And who are we doing it for? I can guarantee you, once the Fleet Commander finds out, not only won’t he object, he’ll have the entire crew cooperate with us."
"All right, that’s what we’ll do. We’d be fools not to make this money!" The more Commissar Fang thought about it, the more entertaining it seemed, and he pressed, "Director Han, think again—any other business we can do?"
Han Yu recalled how people made money when the Navy task groups visited abroad and smiled. "Visiting the Binjiang Ship is both national defense education and basically a tourist activity. Since it’s tourism, we can sell some souvenirs. Our team is small; if we can just run the photo, water, and snack businesses well, that’s already good enough. We really can’t handle much more.
But we can mark out an area on the pier and rent it to interested vendors, so they can sell all kinds of tourist souvenirs on site. There’ll definitely be plenty of parents bringing their kids to visit. I think the toy business—especially toy guns—will sell like hotcakes. Anyone who sets up a stall will make money."
Commissar Fang was convinced and reminded him with a smile, "The pier belongs to Binjiang Port. If we rent out their site to vendors, won’t the Binjiang Port leaders have something to say?"
"Once the Binjiang Ship enters port, the pier becomes a military‑managed area, even a military restricted zone. We decide how the grounds are used. But since it’s their turf, we can allocate an area and let the Binjiang Port Labor Service Company sell fast food. Everyone makes money together."
