Chapter 601

The pace of affairs in Haishan Shi remains as unreliable as ever.

Jian Sining called Yu Huacheng at 6:07 a. m., reporting that Wu Changsheng might have furtively returned to his hometown to hide, and demanded that Haishan Shi fully assist in the manhunt.

After receiving the call, Yu Huacheng attached great importance to the matter.

Mainly because he held Lin Dongfan comrade in reverent awe.

He dared not be the slightest bit negligent.

Early in the morning.

Yu Huacheng scrambled out of bed in a panic, face unwashed, teeth unbrushed, not even bothering to scrape his stubble, and immediately called to notify the Municipal Bureau and other departments' personnel to get up for a meeting.

The meeting time set by Old Yu was 6:30.

The result was heartbreaking.

Except for the smoothly promoted Executive Vice Mayor Zhang Yinlan, everyone else was collectively late; they didn't all arrive until 7:30 a. m., trickling in one by one.

Especially the newly appointed Political Commissar of the Municipal Public Security Bureau, Liu Minghui, was the last to walk into the meeting room.

But Old Yu did not criticize anyone.

After all, the incident happened suddenly. In the early morning, everyone was sound asleep; being abruptly woken by a phone call to get up for a meeting inevitably stirred some minor emotions.

As an experienced person, Yu Huacheng could even figure it out with his toes: those tardy heroes led by Liu Minghui, after getting the call, would surely first sit quietly at the bedside for ten minutes, pondering the political impact of the whole incident, then spend half an hour weighing words and actions, and finally spend twenty minutes washing up and changing clothes to go out decently.

By the time they rushed to the meeting room, it was already 7:30, right?

There was nothing wrong with it.

At the meeting, even before someone's butt had warmed the seat, they clung to their insulated cup and complained, 'Is it really necessary to make such a fuss over catching an escaped convict? It's not like we're arresting the municipal Party secretary.'

Yu Huacheng gave them a white-eyed stare and snapped, 'What the hell are you playing at here?'

Although Wu Changsheng is not the Party secretary of any city,

his official authority is no less than that of a municipal Party secretary!

Yu Huacheng emphasized solemnly:

"Comrade Lin Dongfan of the Provincial Anti-Corruption Bureau once stationed in our Haishan Shi for Along time. His investigative style and methods, I believe everyone here still remembers vividly."

"This time Wu Changsheng has furtively returned to his hometown in Haishan, and Director Lin has asked our Haishan Shi to give full assistance in the apprehension."

"To a certain extent, this also counts as a test for our Haishan Shi. At the critical moment, we cannot afford to slip up; the responsibility we must bear must be shouldered."

"A few days ago, Secretary Wang came to Haishan Shi to inspect work and also delivered an important speech."

"Secretary Wang explicitly instructed: we must firmly hold onto this hard-won anti-corruption achievement, and eradicate the bad practices of laziness, dereliction of duty, and malfeasance at the root……"

Yu Huacheng's speech was very down-to-earth, without much formal phrasing.

It's just that there's a bit too much nonsense.

After setting the tone at the outset, he spoke for over ten minutes before officially moving into the 'joint apprehension deployment' segment; by the time the deployment meeting ended, it was already 9 a. m.

What does 9 a. m. signify?

This means the comrades have perfectly missed the prime opportunity to stake out the highway exit; from now on they can only search for a needle in the ocean.

Wu Changsheng got off the highway around 8 a. m. and drove into the Haishan urban area.

As a seasoned officialdom veteran,

Wu Changsheng seemed to have long anticipated that the Haishan police would assist the Provincial Anti-Corruption Bureau in launching a manhunt, and he did not return to his hometown to walk into the net.

Even though he had a seventy-year-old mother at home,

he still did not go back to take a look.

He drove the police car, kicking up dust all the way, straight for the familiar old dock. Upon arriving at the dock, Wu Changsheng took off that police uniform and changed into his usual administrative jacket.

Today Haishan Shi had no rain; upon reaching the old dock one could see the sunrise over the sea. That fiery red sun on the horizon was Wu Changsheng's hope.

Two large ocean-going fishing vessels were moored at the shore.

One was the 'Elegant Maiden No. 1' that Lin Dongfan gave to Chen Xiaoyu; the other was the 'Elegant Maiden No. 2' that Lin Dongfan gave to the big sister Lin Zhuniang.

Both of these large ocean-going fishing vessels belong to the Oceanic Fishery Company under Zhengtong Capital.

Currently, Chen Xiaoyu and Lin Zhuniang are undergoing training at the company; they have not yet formally commenced oceanic operations, only occasionally taking the boat out to sea for a trial run.

Seeing the boats docked ashore, the last trace of Wu Changsheng's worry vanished—having the boats ashore was perfect!

The next step would be to control Lin Dongfan's woman—Chen Xiaoyu.

Hijack the boat and escape!

Wu Changsheng was not at all flustered.

After getting out of the car, he even ate a bowl of the locally famous noodle soup at the dock; only after eating and drinking his fill did he stride steadily toward the Elegant Maiden No. 1.

A big ship is a big ship—impressive! The brand-new hull gleamed with a gilded sheen in the morning sun.

Wu Changsheng assumed the posture of a leader inspecting, and walked straight up the gangway.

Chen Dingchao (Chen Xiaoyu's paternal uncle), who was working aboard the ship, seeing Wu Changsheng look somewhat familiar, said: 'You are… uh… who was it again? That guy from Yutou Village…'

"I am the Provincial Committee Secretary—Wu Changsheng."

Saying this, Wu Changsheng flashed his work ID.

Chen Dingchao laughed in sudden realization: 'Right, right, right, I remember now. One New Year I went to Yutou Village to visit relatives and saw you. Leader, how do you have time to come here today?'

"Inspecting work."

Wu Changsheng strolled onto the ship with his hands behind his back, maintaining the whole time the airs of a senior leader coming down to inspect, his eyes darting quickly to size up the ship's environment.

His main aim was to verify just how many people were aboard.

So he could make his move!

But this ship is truly huge to an absurd degree, with several decks above and below; aside from the two crew members on the deck busy hauling in the anchor chain, no one else was visible within his line of sight.

Wu Changsheng probed: 'Hauling the anchor chain—are you preparing to go to sea?'

Chen Dingchao is a straightforward sort, not afraid of internal regulations, and he genuinely took Wu Changsheng to be here on an inspection.

Even if Wu Changsheng boards the ship alone, he has no official accompanying him.

Chen Dingchao also had no suspicion.

Chen Dingchao accompanied Wu Changsheng all the way forward, saying: "It's not an ocean voyage; today we're just going out to test the waters, and incidentally we'll assess part of the crew's operational ability."

"How many people are on the ship now?" Wu Changsheng asked.

Chen Dingchao replied: "Currently, there are only me, my niece Chen Xiaoyu, and six crew members on board. In a moment, 50 seamen will come aboard to participate in training and assessment; they won't arrive until nine o'clock."

Hearing Chen Dingchao say that, Wu Changsheng felt secretly delighted.

Right now there are only eight people on the ship!

What a heaven-sent opportunity!

With a gun in hand, controlling the situation on the ship shouldn't be difficult; as long as we capture the key person, Chen Xiaoyu, won't the others have to obediently submit?

Wu Changsheng said: "Where is Chen Xiaoyu? Take me to see her."

"She's in the wheelhouse learning navigation skills, sir, this way please." Chen Dingchao waved and led the way, guiding Wu Changsheng all the way to the wheelhouse.

There were two people in the wheelhouse; the experienced old captain had just finished imparting operational experience to Chen Xiaoyu.

The nineteen-year-old Chen Xiaoyu, young and with an excellent memory, learns anything quickly. More importantly, she is ambitious; she not only cares about deep-sea fisheries, but also follows political developments.

Because her beloved is a prominent figure in politics.

Everything that her uncle Chen Dingchao knows, she knows; everything that her uncle Chen Dingchao doesn't know, she also knows.

When she saw her uncle bringing Wu Changsheng into the wheelhouse, Chen Xiaoyu frowned in surprise, wondering what was going on. Isn't this Mr. Wu an A‑class wanted criminal? How did he end up here?

Good heavens, could it be that God knows I've been short of cash lately and wants to send me a reward?

What kind of damn luck have I run into?

Thinking and thinking, Chen Xiaoyu wasn't afraid at all; instead she felt excited, her heart racing a bit, as if she saw a walking "bounty prize" coming toward her.

A reward of a hundred thousand — not bad; once ashore she could buy a scooter.