CHAPTER 508: CHAPTER 356: WIN PEOPLE OVER WITH VIRTUE

As Commissioner Ding said, Jiang Meimei was feeling extremely guilty and scared at this moment.

She was supposed to be assigned to the Transportation Bureau, but ended up at the Police Bureau. It’s impossible for her not to find it strange, not to inquire about it, and not to find anything out.

After all, Linghai is not big, and the transport system is even smaller.

She is the child of someone from the shipping company, which is a subsidiary of the Transportation Bureau. The beautiful pregnant woman pouring tea is her wife, who also works in the transport system and is a Port Supervisor at the Ministry of Transport, it’s too easy for her to figure out what’s going on.

They must know.

Will they scold me, will they hit me?

Jiang Meimei was beside herself with worry, sitting at the conference table, unable to raise her head.

From the first glance at Jiang Meimei, Han Xiangning felt there was something off about this girl. It’s normal for a girl to be introverted, but her introversion should at most make her hesitant to speak, not to the extent of not even daring to raise her head. Moreover, she’s not just any girl; she’s a cadre at the Transportation Bureau.

"Xiao Jiang, are you feeling unwell?"

"No... I’m not feeling unwell."

"Have some tea."

"Oh, thank you."

Director Chu, who was transferred to the Transportation Bureau from a town last year and wasn’t familiar with the situation, also felt it strange and turned back to ask: "Xiao Jiang, are you really okay?"

"I’m fine, really fine, thank you Director Chu." Jiang Meimei subconsciously looked towards the door, afraid that Han Yu would suddenly return.

She was restless and her complexion looked off.

Han Xiangning straightforwardly thought she might be having her period and smiled, "Xiao Jiang, my dorm room is just next door, why not go there and sit for a while?"

"No trouble, thank you Director Han."

"Director Han, it’s almost mealtime, shall we go to the restaurant first?"

"Commissioner Ding wants to fish for a while longer, and besides, Director Jin hasn’t come back from patrolling the river yet."

Sitting with two young and beautiful female comrades made Director Chu a bit embarrassed, he simply stood up and said with a laugh, "Xiao Jiang, you sit here for a while, I’ll go check on Commissioner Ding."

"Oh..."

Left alone with someone’s wife, Jiang Meimei became even more nervous, looking down and feeling like sitting on pins and needles.

Han Xiangning had never seen such a strange girl before. When Director Chu left, she hurriedly tried to find a topic: "Xiao Jiang, Jiang Bin works in your unit, right?"

"Ah..."

"You’re from the Transportation Bureau’s Port Supervision department, and his father is the manager of your Linghai Shipping Company."

What I feared most has come!

Jiang Meimei’s heart skipped a beat and she spoke with a voice as thin as a mosquito’s, "I know him."

You’re colleagues in the same department, how could you not know each other? But that’s not what I’m asking...

Han Xiangning felt that the girl in front of her had a problematic personality, thought for a moment, and then smiled and asked: "Who is the current station chief at your Transportation Bureau Port Supervision Station?"

"..."

Jiang Meimei was terrified to the extreme, she was so mortified that she wished she could find a crack in the ground to squeeze into, her mind went blank.

Han Xiangning gave up completely and said to herself: "River traffic is under our control, while on-water traffic safety within the lock gates is managed by your Transportation Bureau Port Supervision Station. Your colleagues even came to inspect and enforce laws at Bailong Port a few years ago, I wonder if it’s because there are fewer ships entering and exiting the Yangtze River from Bailong Port that you’ve hardly come these past few years."

Jiang Meimei gathered her wits and nervously said: "Maybe."

Talking is good, staying silent would be too awkward.

Han Xiangning couldn’t help but smile and said: "Speaking of which, we aren’t strangers, we all belong to the transport system, my spouse is with Changhang navigation police, also part of the transport system. My in-laws are all old employees of your Linghai Shipping Company, also part of the transport system."

"Oh."

"By the way, how old are you this year?"

"Twenty-four."

"I’m older than you by a year, you should call me ’sister.’" Han Xiangning giggled, then asked: "Xiao Jiang, are you married?"

Could it be she really doesn’t know, or does she know it was I who took her spouse’s position...

Jiang Meimei stole a glance at Han Xiangning and said nervously, "No."

"Are you not married or not dating?"

"Not dating."

"Not dating at 24! Xiao Jiang, I’m not criticizing you, but it’s different for us women compared to men, you can’t keep delaying, or you’ll end up an old maid."

"..."

Jiang Meimei ran out of words, and lowered her head again.

She’s quite pretty and has a nice figure, not having dated at 24 either means there’s something wrong with her health or her personality, maybe even her mental state!

Han Xiangning didn’t want to hurt the self-esteem of the girl before her, she quickly changed the topic: "Which school did you graduate from?"

Here it comes.

It finally comes!

If it’s not a blessing, it’s a curse that cannot be avoided.

Jiang Meimei, asked about her cheeks burning hot, took a couple of deep breaths and stammered with tears in her voice: "Gaoru Normal School."

"You attended a normal junior college?"

"Hmm."

"Then you should have become a teacher. Being a teacher is so good, respected by everyone, and you get summer and winter breaks every year. Though, indeed, the pay isn’t as good as at the Transportation Bureau. Actually, it’s quite normal for normal school graduates to enter government departments, Chen, the instructor at Bailong Port Police Station, was also from a normal school."

Dare not speak, dare not raise her head.

Someone like her can’t be a teacher. If she really were to educate children, she’d be bullied to death by naughty kids.

Looking for topics to keep her company ends up with her either responding with "oh" or "hmm," Han Xiangning found it boring and was about to make an excuse to go find San’er when San’er suddenly came back.

"Ningning, help me find something."

"What are you looking for?"

"My paper from last night is missing, could it be on vessel 001?"

"Didn’t you just start it? Besides, you weren’t writing it on 001, how could it possibly be left on 001?"

"I was there this morning!"

Han Yu couldn’t help but look at Jiang Meimei again and quickly gave her senior sister a signal with her eyes.

Han Xiangning suddenly realized and smiled: "Let’s go, I have the keys to the command cabin, let’s go look for it together."

The two went downstairs, crossed the spacious waterside platform, climbed onto Dunship 001 with the help of the mooring piles, and opened the door to enter the command cabin.

Han Xiangning asked anxiously, "What happened? What’s the matter?"

Looking around the second floor of the Dunship, Han Yu said with a smile, "During those years I spent on the Marine Bureau’s ship, whenever the end of the year came, my master would call you to collect New Year goods, and every time you ended up with several portions. Do you know where those New Year goods came from?"

"Where did they come from?"

"One portion came from that little girl’s family just now."

"Jiang Meimei’s family!"

"Yes, those were issued to her dad by his workplace."

"Do you know her, or do you know her dad?"

"Neither."

"Then why would her family give you New Year goods?"

Han Xiangning was completely baffled.

Han Yu chuckled and explained the entire story in detail.

Han Xiangning suddenly realized and exclaimed, "That’s why you were assigned to the police back then, because her family took your spot at the Transportation Bureau. No wonder she couldn’t look at me or speak; she must be feeling guilty!"

"She was young back then, her dad orchestrated everything. It’s been so many years, and my master has dealt with all those people from back then. The Transportation Bureau even gave us a residential building. Besides, if not for her, could we have reunited at Bailong Port? Could I have become the Deputy Division Commander now?"

"Hahaha, so should we actually thank her?"

"Thanking might be a stretch, but there’s no need to give her a hard time either."

"I didn’t give her a hard time."

"Commissioner Ding mentioned that she can’t get over it herself; she’s already 24 and hasn’t dated anyone."

"She couldn’t be feeling too guilty to face you, hoping to redeem herself through marriage?"

"How could that be? She just knew of me, we never met before."

Han Xiangning felt this matter needed attention and immediately stretched out his hand, "Give me your phone."

Han Yu subconsciously asked, "What do you need the phone for?"

"To make a call!"

"Who are you calling?"

"Hurry up, I need to understand the situation first."

"What situation is there to understand? Although Han Yu said this, he honestly handed over the phone.

Han Xiangning took the phone, went back to the duty room on the first floor of the Dunship, found the phone book, returned to 001, and dialed a number.

It turns out the senior contacted Liu Xiaomei; Han Yu couldn’t help but laugh.

"Did your Jiang Bin used to pursue her?"

"What’s so strange about that? Your Salted Fish used to pursue Lin Xiaohui!"

What does this have to do with Lin Xiaohui? Han Yu couldn’t laugh anymore and really wanted to escape outside.

Han Xiangning grabbed him tightly, glared at him fiercely, and demanded with the phone in hand, "Your Jiang Bin is quite a catch, good looking and educated, his dad is a shipping company manager, why didn’t it work out? Does Jiang Meimei have too high standards, not seeing him as a good match?"

"That’s not the case."

"Then why?"

"She just doesn’t share common interests with him. I’ve seen her; despite being young, she always looks like a worried old lady, never seen her smiling."

"Why does she always look so worried?"

"Because she did something wrong; you should know about this!"

"I don’t know, what exactly happened?"

"How could you not know? It was supposed to be Salted Fish assigned to the Transportation Bureau, but Jiang Meimei took his spot, and he ended up at the police instead. Normally, that would have been the end of it, but Salted Fish is not an ordinary person; his master is Xu Sanye..."

Now the situation was becoming clearer.

Jiang’s family indeed did wrong by Salted Fish, but they had paid a huge price.

It was Jiang Meimei’s father who initiated everything. Under the threat from Xu Sanye, not only did he give up three years of New Year goods, but he also paid out of his own pocket to compensate friends who had helped him, as they were also threatened.

Under the threat from Xu Sanye, the Transportation Bureau had to give up a hard-earned residential building, which was originally meant for the county’s government staff.

Funds had been collected from people during the construction, and when the building couldn’t be delivered, the then Transportation Bureau chief, Old Ge, couldn’t settle it and had to allocate the originally intended residential units for the transportation staff to the county government staff, returning the collected funds to the transportation staff.

Such a move definitely caused discontent among the bureau staff.

Han Xiangning could imagine Jiang Meimei’s situation at the Transportation Bureau, put down the phone and laughed, "Why go through all this hassle."

"That’s why one should be honest and upright, not resort to underhanded methods."

"Your master is really ruthless."

"My master isn’t ruthless, he just wanted to stand up for me."

"San’er, what’s the purpose of telling me all this? Is it because you feel pity for her, want to make peace and let bygones be bygones?"

"Not at all, I wouldn’t have even remembered it if Commissioner Ding hadn’t mentioned it."

"What does Commissioner Ding mean by that?"

What does this have to do with me, I’m just the "victim" here...

Han Yu bitterly smiled and said, "Commissioner Ding said that Jiang Meimei has been unable to hold her head up all these years, facing a lot of pressure at work, hasn’t dated anyone and probably has developed a psychological complex. If she can’t overcome this, she might live under its shadow for the rest of her life."

Han Xiangning muttered, "She brought this on herself, don’t say she was young back then; she graduated from normal school, she should know the basic concepts of right and wrong. Would all this have happened if she hadn’t wanted to stay in the county?"

"Good point, she doesn’t deserve sympathy!"

Watching the slight changes in his senior’s expression, Han Yu clenched his fists and fiercely said, "Even if we forgive her, it doesn’t mean much to her. How people viewed her in the past, they will continue to do so."

The junior can hold his ground when it comes to matters of principle.

Han Xiangning was pleased, pointed at Han Yu and scolded with a smile, "How can you have no sympathy at all? Although she made mistakes back then, she has paid the price. More importantly, it didn’t cause you any harm, and even turned out to your advantage."

"That’s true, without her, how could I have had the chance to marry you."

"Forget it, go about your business, I’ll talk to her and help her get past this. One should be generous; we Han family are to lead by morality and want her to be truly convinced."

"Fang Shiyu?"

"What Fang Shiyu, that’s Tiger Lei’s saying."

Having said that, Han Xiangning suddenly regretted it, and instinctively grabbed Han Yu’s ear, and said through gritted teeth with a laugh, "You salted fish, how dare you call me a tigress!"

Han Yu gently held her arm and grinned, "Lead by morality, that’s what you said, and Tiger Lei too, it’s none of my business."