Fishery Administration, Port Supervision and police combined just have a few law enforcement ships; the waters that need patrolling are so lengthy, one side is left unattended while attending the other, even if by chance they encounter smugglers, they flee towards the opposite shore.

The superiors no longer give as much importance as before, the enforcement resources allocated are too few. Spanning several districts across two provinces on both sides of the Yangtze River, without a unified command, it's impossible to form synergetic action, leaving everyone exhausted from running around.

Ma Jintao and Yang Yong can now also take the helm, and Han Yu decided to divide everyone into two groups, with personnel rotating rest but the ship continuously patrolling 24 hours around the key water areas threatened by illegal fishing.

In the blink of an eye, it was again past midnight, and Han Yu was awakened by an alarm clock, swiftly putting on his clothes and climbing out of the crew cabin.

The river surface was pitch dark, neither fishing lights nor navigation lights were visible.

"Director Yu, I'll go up and replace Captain Fan, you get some more sleep," Ma Jintao, draped in an overcoat, came over from the rear crew cabin.

"Who will help you monitor the radar and water depth?"

"Land God will help me, he's already gone up."

"Okay, I just happen to have something to do."

The new ship being constructed at Hanwu will be handed over to Linghai Port for tugboat use, and tugboat crew members are now being trained.

The "Land God" Xiao Chen mentioned by Ma Jintao is an employee under construction at Linghai Port, nicknamed for his farmland being requisitioned by the Management Committee, and he entered Linghai Port Co., Ltd as a "land worker."

During the night without light to assist, catching eel fry is not feasible. Confirming that no one was illegally fishing nearby, Han Yu opened the door, entered the command cabin, turned on the light, and took out a phonebook from his briefcase.

Captain Fan came in, yawning endlessly and asked, "Salted Fish, who are you calling so late?"

"I'm calling two overseas friends, it's the middle of the night here, but it's noon there."

"Use a mobile phone for international calls!"

"This is global communication."

"I know you have global communication, I'm saying international call charges must be expensive, right?"

Han Yu found a number he had never used before, explaining, "The charges are not cheap, but this is for official not personal business; city leaders asked to contact them, the phone bills will be reimbursed by the Management Committee."

Captain Fan curiously asked, "Is this another investment attraction?"

"Yep."

"What kind of investment are you attracting this time?"

"We're recruiting a sailor outsourcing intermediary."

Captain Fan, a native Linghai person and particularly concerned about the development, especially in the Development Zone, and being on the ship every day, knew a lot of information. Lighting up a cigarette, he smiled and asked, "Didn't Ningning say there's a teacher at your school that has connections in this area?"

"Our school's Master Wu has a student in East Guang working as an intermediary; back then, I even thought of asking Master Wu to help me get on a foreign ship. But intermediaries' business is exploitative, too many intermediaries involved, and sailors earn very little."

Having slept for a few hours, his mouth tasted bitter.

Han Yu took a sip of water, pondered, and continued, "Moreover, relying on intermediaries is too uncertain. Linghai Vocational School used to run sailor training, initially did well, but then it failed because they could only provide sailors for a few intermediaries in East Sea, Ningbo, and East Guang, and didn't have their own dispatch channels."

Captain Fan, having sailed for many years though always on the river, wasn't ignorant about foreign ships, instinctively asked, "Directly contact shipping companies?"

"Domestic shipping companies have their own crew teams, many large shipping companies are also involved in dispatching sailors, sourcing them is almost the same as finding intermediaries."

"Are you planning to directly find foreign shipowners?"

"I don't have the energy for that, and just making a few calls won't seal such deals. More importantly, we're not just aiming to run sailor training but also attract investment. Plainly speaking, the intermediary company has to open in our Development Zone, taxes paid in the Development Zone, and the foreign exchange earned from the dispatched sailors must also stay in our Development Zone."

"Inviting foreign friends to establish a ship service intermediary company in Linghai?"

"Pretty much."

"You're handling important tasks; I won't disturb you further."

Captain Fan yawned again, wrapped in a cotton overcoat, and walked out of the command cabin.

Han Yu watched as Captain Fan who had stayed up all night left, looked at the number on the phonebook, picked up his cellphone and started dialing.

It was his first time using a cell phone for an international call, and although he thought it might not go through, the call connected after waiting a short while.

"Hello, may I ask if you are…"

The caller spoke in fluent English.

Han Yu quickly replied, "Sister Shen, it's Han Yu from Binjiang!"

Shen Rulan was stunned and asked in surprise, "Salted Fish, why did you think to call me?"

"I missed you guys."

"Miss us? You're not planning to trick us into coming back and then capture us, are you?"

"Sister Shen, you really have a sense of humor. How are you all doing over there?"

"Fine, not too good but not too bad either."

"How are Brother Zhang and the kids?"

"The kids are at school, Ah Sheng is at home, hold on, I'll call him."

Zhang Asheng, equally surprised, rushed downstairs to take the call and asked, "Salted Fish, you're such a busy person, how do you have time to call us?"

International calls are too expensive, even if the unit reimburses, we shouldn't waste the money.

Han Yu didn't want to engage in any more pleasantries and briefly mentioned that he had been transferred back to Linghai Police Bureau and that the Linghai Development Zone was currently looking to attract investments.

"Do you want us to come back and start a middleman business, handling expatriation of sailors?"

"I think you have an advantage in this field, Sister Shen, with your excellent English and experience working at an agency, having dealt with many foreign shipping companies. Brother Zhang, you, like me, have worked on foreign ships and now your English is not bad either, it's just working in your old profession."

Finding a job in Canada is too difficult.

Working at a Chinese-owned restaurant or grocery store, Shen Rulan and Zhang Asheng felt reluctant. They thought about opening their own Chinese restaurant but found it uninteresting and risky.

The two were worried about depleting their savings, but perked up upon hearing Salted Fish's proposal.

"Salted Fish, getting in touch with shipowners shouldn't be an issue for us, the key problem is that domestic sailors are not proficient in English, which could make this business challenging."

"But domestic sailors are hardworking, enduring, and very obedient and easy to manage."

"However hardworking and enduring they are, it's useless if they can't communicate."

"Our development zone is collaborating with Binjiang Shipping Academy to provide sailor training, and we're going to strengthen language training."

"If you handle the training, and I find shipowners abroad, then we don't necessarily have to come back."

"I didn't say you had to come back, how would you get in touch with international shipowners if you stayed domestic? But if you're genuinely interested, you can't stay away completely, after all, you know best what kind of sailors the foreign shipowners need. You might consider coming back to start a company and have detailed discussions with training institutions to targetedly cultivate sailors who can work internationally."

"Investment promotion?"

"Something like that."

"Are there any preferential policies?"

"Of course, if you only act as an intermediary, you'll only make intermediary money. If you want to earn more, you could definitely invest and manage the training as well. Running a training class doesn't require a big space like a factory, and there are preferential policies for land and taxes."

Zhang Asheng was somewhat intrigued, he joked, "Starting a training program domestically requires handling a lot of paperwork."

"Don't worry about the paperwork, our Development Zone Management Committee can take the lead, introducing you to collaborate with Binjiang Shipping Academy to establish the school. You would be both the principals of the shipping training school and successful overseas Chinese investors returning to the country."

"Why do we have to collaborate with Binjiang Shipping Academy, can't we do it on our own?"

"You can run it on your own, but that would only train ordinary sailors. Partnering with Binjiang Shipping Academy is different, they not only train ordinary sailors but also high-level ones, which broadens the scope of your expatriate business."

"If we go ahead, how much investment would it approximately require?"

"You know the domestic prices, how much could it cost to buy a piece of land and build an office cum teaching building? Moreover, once the training class gets going, it will be profitable. If you think the investment is too substantial, our development zone can contribute land as shares or even invest directly."

Returning to the country is different from before; now coming back means you are foreign investors, and the company established is a foreign-owned company.

Collaborating with local government is akin to partnering in business, and Shen Rulan and Zhang Asheng were hesitating as such partnerships can be challenging. Seizing the moment, Han Yu added, "Sister Shen, Brother Zhang, if you're interested, you can come back to check things out first. Our Investment Promotion Bureau in the East Sea has an office there, I'll arrange for someone to pick you up when the time comes."

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