Binjiang Police Affairs

Chapter 1451 - 240: A Meeting Across Half the Globe

The storm finally subsided, and Zhang Xiaojun felt like he had narrowly escaped death.But now was not the time to thank Ma Zu, because the ship sustained severe damage while battling the storm, and the Captain, after confirming via satellite phone that there wouldn’t be another storm, led everyone to make repairs urgently.

Since the fishing boat is designed for trawling, its freeboard is relatively low, making its center of gravity high. In other words, the fishing boat is inherently unstable, and combined with its short length, it resembles a water bottle floating aimlessly in the vast sea, particularly insignificant.

Despite the storm being over, the fishing boat remained perpetually swaying.

Precisely because of the heavy swaying, an Old Brother was shaken into the sea while going to the toilet at night, and nobody knew. Even if they knew, in the pitch-black darkness, there was no way to save him. The Old Brother called out hopelessly, but no help came, and ultimately, he was mercilessly swallowed by the ocean.

Zhang Xiaojun didn’t want to earn money only to lose his life spending it, so he carefully skirted around the trawl being lowered into the sea after repairing the crane, fearing being accidentally ensnared and dragged to the seabed.

"Master Chen, where are we?"

"The Captain says over there is South Africa!"

"Our supplies are running low on the ship; should we dock to stock up?"

"Dock for what, you don’t want to go home?"

Master Chen opened his small portable radio, adjusting the frequency to see if he could receive a broadcast signal while saying resentfully, "Yesterday’s wind was so strong we didn’t dare dock, let alone today. The South African Navy is unreasonable; we’re clearly fishing on the high seas, but if they see us, they’ll come to seize us, insisting we’re illegally exploiting their marine resources."

Everyone knows the work on a fishing vessel is, after all, monotonous, but few know what this monotony specifically entails.

First of all, it’s far from home; departing from a domestic port, it takes over a month of sailing to reach the South Pacific Ocean.

Zhang Xiaojun, like all new crew members, got seasick, feeling as if he was drunk even in mild waves, constantly dizzy, and threw up for half a month before starting to adapt to life at sea.

Finally reaching the fishing grounds, they docked to resupply with the assistance of a partner, replenished all kinds of life necessities, and then went back to sea, working there for nearly a month, sometimes not seeing an island for twenty consecutive days.

Two Old Brothers who made money bought mobile phones, but there’s no signal at sea. Fishing in deep seas is practically akin to being isolated from the world; there’s simply no way to contact the outside world.

The common method of communication is using high-frequency radio; the sole satellite phone is kept by the Captain and is not used unless in emergencies, as the cost of calls is overwhelmingly high for these fishermen.

Moreover, the fishing boat is not a cargo ship.

On a cargo ship, which is much larger, you can kill time by strolling on the deck; its living quarters even have a gym and library. The fishing boat is smaller, with no entertainment facilities, and no room to walk around, the deck being cluttered with nets, sometimes leaving no space to stand.

Plus, deep-sea fishing boats like Min Yu 2696 go out for nearly a year or sometimes even longer; this inner anguish is akin to being imprisoned.

Every day is spent either eating or working; initially, they would chat with the brothers on board, but over time, with less to talk about, they could only pass each day in a daze.

Master Chen always carried a radio to listen when they approached an island or came nearer to the shore.

If lucky, he could receive radio broadcasts, even if the language was foreign and incomprehensible; hearing the sound itself was comforting...

Zhang Xiaojun, as a new crew member, had the lowest wages on the ship.

He had never seen South African Navy warships, only two small patrol boats from the partner’s country, wondering why the South African Navy would arrest them on the high seas when the Chief Officer suddenly shouted from the bow, "Captain, warship!"

"Where?" The Captain emerged from the cabin, gripping the doorframe eagerly.

The Chief Officer pointed northeast with alarm, "Over there, just surfaced."

The Captain immediately raised his binoculars and looked in the direction pointed by the Chief Officer.

After adjusting the focus continuously, he finally discovered a warship emerging on the horizon—a high-masted large warship, not the small patrol boats of African navies.

Nearby the large warship was a cargo ship with similar camouflage, estimated at twenty to thirty thousand tons, likely responsible for replenishing the warship.

The Captain finally let out a sigh of relief, saying, "Don’t be afraid, it’s not the South African Navy, but... but judging by their course, they’re headed toward us. If the net we just set gets caught, that’ll be a problem!"

"What should we do?"

"The net’s already set, what can we do!"

The Captain turned to look at the other two fishing boats that came fishing, returned to the cabin to put down the binoculars, turned on the high-frequency radio, picked up the microphone, and with awkward English shouted, "Attention forward warship, attention forward warship, my ship is engaged in trawling operations, please steer fully to port to avoid..."

Since English entered China, it was like an unprecedented language revolution erupted.

The translator on duty at the bridge heard the call, but simply didn’t understand.

Vice Captain Li immediately picked up the walkie-talkie and shouted, "Captain Wang, Captain Wang, there’s a ship calling on the high frequency; did you hear it?"

"I heard it; sounds like Korean, with a bit of a Philippine, Malaysian accent. No idea what they’re saying."

"Is Captain Qian there?"

"Yes, Captain Qian can’t understand it either."

Vice Captain Li leaned down to glance at the radar display, put down the walkie-talkie, and activated the internal communicator: "Engine room, bridge calling, over."

"Engine room here, bridge go ahead."

"Please have Han come over."

"Roger."

...

Han Yu received the notification, hurriedly washed his hands, and rushed to the bridge, barely having time to chat with the engineering officers.

The person was still calling on high frequency, sounding very urgent.

If a ship is encountering a malfunction or about to sink at sea, whether it’s a military ship or a merchant ship, it must respond to a distress signal immediately.

As Han Yu was about to carefully listen to what the person on the high frequency was saying after understanding the situation, a Captain urgently said, "Deputy Captain Han, Captain, that small boat suddenly changed course!"

Vice Captain Li instinctively raised the binoculars to observe the small boat that had appeared on the radar.

Seeing it was shocking.

A small boat unexpectedly appeared on the fleet’s navigation line, crossing back and forth right in front of the fleet! Not far from that small boat, two additional small boats could be seen, also positioned directly ahead of the fleet.

"What are they doing, are they trying to block us?"

"Could they be pirates?"

"We are a warship, have you ever seen pirates daring to rob a warship?"

Just as Vice Captain Li finished speaking, Han Yu looked at the radar display and laughed, "Snatch the bow of a big ship and you’ll never want for food or clothing! Everyone, it seems we’ve met fellow countrymen."

Chief of Staff Zheng, who rushed to the bridge after receiving the news, instinctively asked, "Meeting fellow countrymen, what do you mean?"

"Those small boats up ahead should be Chinese fishing boats. Their English sounds so familiar; I should have recognized it earlier," Han Yu laughed, then sighed deeply, "Every year people scramble for the ship’s bow; some even end up dining with the king of hell."

"How could our Chinese fishing boats be fishing here?"

"There are many boats engaged in offshore fishing, and South Africa is one of the countries with the richest fishery resources in the world. As far as I know, at least a hundred Chinese fishing boats have been fishing in South Africa’s waters in recent years. It’s safe to say our Chinese fishermen have cast their nets all over the world."

"Why do they scramble for the ship’s bow?" asked the puzzled Lieutenant translator.

"Some fishermen are superstitious about luck, but this sort of scrambling for the ship’s bow likely means the two fishing boats behind them have already cast their nets. It’s not cost-effective or timely to retrieve them now, so they let the boats without nets cross back and forth in front of us, hoping we’ll change course to avoid them."

Han Yu touched the corner of his mouth, fixing his gaze on those dark spots on the sea, and continued, "Whether they’re fellow countrymen can be figured out by asking in Mandarin."

"All right, I’ll ask them first."

Vice Captain Li realized now wasn’t the time for small talk and immediately raised the high-frequency radio communicator, saying, "Attention, ships ahead, attention, ships ahead, we are Chinese Navy Ship 167, we are Chinese Navy Ship 167, are you Chinese fishing boats?"

The captain of Min Yu 2731 was trying various ways to help Min Yu 2696 "drive away foreign military ships" and was stunned, unable to believe his ears.

Bear in mind this is the South Atlantic Ocean, rarely seen by Chinese merchant ships, much less China’s Navy.

At this moment, Captain Wang of the supply ship promptly shouted in Mandarin, "Attention, ships ahead, I am Chinese Navy Ship 885, are you Chinese fishing boats? Are you Chinese fishing boats?"

Min Yu 2696’s ship captain heard clearly, and before his brother helping to "drive away" the big warship could speak, he shouted delightedly, "Chinese Navy Ship 167, we are Chinese fishing boats. I am Captain Lin Fusheng of Min Yu 2696. I am Captain Lin Fusheng of Min Yu 2696. How did you come here?"

To encounter Chinese fishing boats after crossing half of the globe was equally exciting for Vice Captain Li, who tightly gripped the communicator and said, "Hello, Captain Lin, we are the second fleet from the Chinese Navy on a friendly visit to perform assignments in Cape Town, South Africa. Meeting you here is delightful; do you have any difficulties, do you require assistance?"

Chinese Navy!

It truly was Chinese Navy vessels!

The captain of Min Yu 2731 finally regained his composure, overwhelmed with tears of joy, and raised his high-frequency radio communicator, choking up, "Chinese Navy Ship 167, seeing you—seeing you makes us very happy. I’ve been fishing here since 1992, encountered many countries’ warships, driven away, caught, fined by many foreign navies, yet never seen our Chinese warships. You finally came; it feels like a dream..."

It was the first time the Chinese Navy arrived in the South Atlantic, so it was normal for compatriots engaged in offshore fishing away from home not to have seen Chinese Navy warships here. Chief of Staff Zheng felt uncomfortable hearing this.

Vice Captain Li shared the sentiment, asking, "Captain Lin, have you cast your nets, do you need us to change course?"

"Yes, sorry for the inconvenience."

"No problem, we’ll change course right away."

"Thank you, thank you to the liberation army."

"No thanks necessary, may your fishing operations go smoothly and may you return full-handed!"

"Comrade liberation army, wait, I am Captain Lin Guofu of Min Yu 2731. We haven’t cast nets; we have fish on board. I’ll come over and offer you some fish to taste."

"Captain Lin, you are too kind; we appreciate your offer, but we have everything on board and will soon enter South Africa’s waters, soon docking."

"It’s okay, we have plenty of fish, and nothing but fish."

"Truly unnecessary, but thank you again."

The "Shenzhen" ship was nearing the foremost fishing boat, and the fishermen could clearly be seen busy, some hoisting the national flag, others frantically waving and greeting. They were all excited, shouting, but due to distance, what they were shouting couldn’t be heard.

Crossing half of the globe on a boundless ocean, the prevailing feeling was solitude and bitterness.

Meeting compatriots in a foreign land indeed is a cause for celebration, especially when those encountered are not ordinary compatriots.

The crew of the three fishing boats, looking at their country’s big warship, were filled with pride, truly feeling that wherever they are, a powerful nation stands behind them. Unable to contain their joyful feelings, even more so when seeing the Navy officers on the deck waving in return, many crew members burst into tears of joy.

...

PS: Several relatives have come to visit at home, all bringing kids.

I’ll cook tomorrow and entertain the kids, so no time to write during the day. I’ll stay up late to draft a Chapter first and update.