Sand mining is indispensable; without sand mining, how can money be made? Everybody wasn't scared into existence.

During the training session, sand mining bosses and crew members were busy devising strategies. That's when Sanhe Town's civil affairs assistant brought someone to the Dunship, forcing Han Yu, who had planned to get more sleep, to crawl out of cabin 001 of the crew's quarters and invite them into the Port Supervision Dunship's police duty room.

"Director Han, I know you enforce the law impartially, but some things... How should I put this?"

One must treat old comrades with courtesy, even if one knows they've come to intercede, they still have to be polite. After all, who doesn't have relatives and friends? When people come to him for help, he can't refuse.

Coming to him once, even if he couldn't help, they wouldn't blame him.

If they didn't come, they would surely curse him behind his back.

In any case, one should empathize with others.

Han Yu poured him a glass of water and smiled, "Assistant Jiang, I'm not quite clear on the matter."

Assistant Jiang, seeing that Han Yu did not turn hostile, felt hopeful about the situation and said while holding a teacup, "Director Han, you're a leader in our development zone, so I'll speak frankly with you. Don't take every decree from the superiors too seriously. Sometimes we really shouldn't take them too literally."

"Not take them too literally?"

"Director Han, you're aware of the situation in our town. I'm not only responsible for civil affairs, but I also help with family planning. Recently, I encountered something that really made an impression on me."

"What happened?" Han Yu asked with a smile.

Assistant Jiang took a sip of water and said, "In the second team of the farm, there's a young couple. The husband is from Sanhe, and the wife is from Nanhe. They met while working in East Sea. They got married this Spring Festival. They held a wedding banquet but didn't obtain a marriage certificate due to their age, and without a marriage certificate, they couldn't possibly apply for a birth permit. Recently, they had a child. Although it's their first child, according to the regulations, they must pay a fine."

"Is the work difficult?"

"It's not just difficult; you wouldn't believe it if I told you."

"How so?"

"We went with the village officials to their home, explaining the policies to them. If they didn't pay the fine and complete the procedures, their child would not be able to get a hukou, let alone go to school in the future."

"Then what?"

"The couple took their child to Nanhe the next day, to the child's grandmother's home. The day before yesterday, they returned, and upon coming back, they took their marriage certificate and hukou to your branch office, inquiring how to transfer the mother and child's hukou over."

Han Yu asked in a low voice, "The couple went back to Nanhe to obtain a marriage certificate and also registered the child's hukou along the way?"

Assistant Jiang put down his teacup and tapped the table with a bitter smile, "They just paid for the handling fees for obtaining a marriage certificate and registering the child's hukou in Nanhe, with no need for any birth procedure completion, let alone payment of any fine. Now they have a marriage certificate, and the child has a hukou that meets the requirements for the transfer. Your branch office's police clerk readily issued them a migration permit."

"They are a couple, and they don't have a non-agricultural hukou. By the rules, they are eligible to transfer."

"But with this move, we who do the actual work are put in an awkward position. People laugh at us for only knowing how to impose fines. No matter how much we fine, we don't get a cent. Why should we offend people for nothing?"

Assistant Jiang took a deep breath and continued, "I used to think that other places were like Jiangnan Province, all enforcing the family planning policy since it's a national policy. Only through this incident, I found out that only we in Jiangnan are enthusiastic about it, and within Jiangnan Province, Binjiang is the most active. Nanhe, Beihai, Hui'an, including Dongshan and other neighboring provinces, who doesn't have two or three kids?

Now look at our area; since 1976, we haven't been allowed to have two children, those born after '76 are almost all only children. We're the only ones not having more children, others are still giving birth. What's the point of this work, does it solve the overpopulation problem?"

It sounded somewhat reasonable.

Han Yu hadn't been to the north much but had been to the south; at least in East Guang, the family planning was not strictly enforced. Faced with the examples Assistant Jiang gave, he was momentarily unable to refute.

"Some leaders, to suck up to higher officials, whatever the higher-ups say goes, and they treat any chicken feather as a directive arrow. In the end, they just need to give orders, and we're the ones running around until our legs break, and also getting cursed by the public."

"It's not easy to work at the grassroots level."

"Director Han, if other leaders were as understanding as you, that would be great."

Assistant Jiang offered a compliment, then got down to business, "Sand mining is also similar. If we in Linghai don't allow it, other places still mine. Director Han, I think it's unnecessary to make such a big deal out of it. Besides, our development zone is currently under construction. If we don't use nearby sand, we'll have to buy from other regions, and for sure, the price will be higher than local sand."

Han Yu looked up and said, "Assistant Jiang, it's not that I don't want to help, nor that I'm disrespecting you. It's just that this matter is different from the situation you just described."

"What's the difference?"

"Sand mining doesn't just affect water traffic safety; it can also cause soil erosion and even lead to river embankment collapse."

"The river is so wide; you can't even see the opposite bank. If they mine in the middle of the river, wouldn't that solve the problem?"

Assistant Jiang took a thick wad of money wrapped in a black plastic bag from Qiu Zhiming's hand, and while trying to shove it into Han Yu's hands, he said very sincerely and hopefully, "Director Han, Zhiming is my nephew, not an outsider. Wang Xingchang and Zhang Zhenglong are decent guys, both very loyal."

Han Yu thought he was only coming to talk, but to his surprise, he was actually offering a bribe in person. Han Yu immediately stood up, "Assistant Jiang, what are you doing?"

"Just a little token, to make friends."

"Jiang Weixin Comrade, listen clearly, I address you as comrade! Immediately take the money back where you brought it from; I'll pretend this never happened. If you keep doing this, or if you go to other law enforcement personnel, whether it's Port Supervision, police or Water Administration, as long as I find out, I will immediately report to Mayor Shen and suggest the Disciplinary Inspection Committee has a talk with you!"

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