Despite hurrying, he was still late by over ten minutes.

The farewell banquet had already begun, and Secretary Lu had just made a round of toasts to the officers about to attend the commendation ceremony in the Capital. Since there were other engagements that evening, he was accompanied by Commander Wang, Political Commissioner Chen, Captain Xia from the Binjiang Reserve Group, and Political Commissioner Jiao as he descended the stairs, preparing to leave for the next event.

"Hello, Secretary Lu, hello, leaders!" Han Yu quickly stood at attention and saluted.

Political Commissioner Chen teased, "Salted Fish, didn't you say you weren't coming? Why are you here now?"

As Han Yu was about to speak, Secretary Lu smiled and asked, "Salted Fish, are you here to see me?"

"Secretary Lu, I'd like to report on work and my thoughts to you!"

"Get in the car."

"Yes!"

The city leaders are very busy.

Han Yu hastily saluted Commander Wang, Political Commissioner Chen, and others again, then opened the car door, inviting Secretary Lu to get in first.

"Salted Fish, it's not easy to get you to open the car door for me."

"Secretary Lu..."

"Hurry up and get in. We'll talk in the car."

"Yes."

"That's Xiao Liu's seat; sit in the back, quickly."

"Oh."

Han Yu quickly went around the front of the car, opened the right side door, got into the Binjiang City Committee's first car, and sat next to Secretary Lu.

Secretary Lu knew well why Han Yu had come, and before Han Yu could speak, he said with a comforting smile, "The fellows from the Police Bureau called this afternoon to report to me. Your old classmate's matter isn't related to you; I'm aware of the situation, so there's no need to explain."

Han Yu chuckled bitterly, "Thank you, Secretary Lu, for your concern."

It was clear this came from the heart.

Secretary Lu, feeling pleased, smiled at him and asked, "Salted Fish, I'm curious, how did you think to send your old classmate to the detention center at the time?"

"Not only did he lack an ID card, but he also didn't have a dime on him. I could barely take care of myself, so I couldn't support him! Besides, the things he was doing were unreliable, letting him wander outside would be a disaster; after thinking it over, the only way was to send him to the detention center and have the folks there send him back to his hometown to trouble his family instead."

"If you didn't send him to the detention center, would you have to feed him?"

"He borrowed money from me in school and hasn't returned it till now, but since he found us, I couldn't just ignore him. After all, no matter how you look at it, we were classmates for two years. I know sending him to the detention center doesn't look good, and could even seem like abuse of power, but there was no better solution than to send him to the center."

"Hahahaha."

"Secretary Lu, why are you laughing?"

"Good thing you didn't have money. If you did, and if your sympathy went overboard, not only would the Police Bureau's National Security Team be looking for you, but perhaps the Organization Department would too."

"Is it that serious?"

"What do you think? But now there's nothing to worry about. Not only are you not in trouble, but you've made a great contribution and brought great honor to Binjiang!"

"Brought great honor?" Han Yu was puzzled.

Upon thinking it over, the situation was indeed a bit amusing.

Secretary Lu patted his shoulder and chuckled, "The City Committee received notice from the superior four days ago. Binjiang is not like other places; we don't have many people like your old classmate here. We hadn't even heard of the cultivation technique your classmate practiced before, and when we saw the urgent notice from the superior, we were baffled.

Now the situation is clear. Our Binjiang not only takes these socially destabilizing elements seriously, but we are also highly vigilant as we had already detained one two months ago.

Political and Legal Committee W and the Police Bureau reported to the working group sent by the Provincial Committee this afternoon. The working group didn't believe it until we took them to the detention center to see your old classmate. Only then did they believe it was true."

Han Yu listened, dumbfounded, and asked in disbelief, "So, by accident, I helped the city preemptively detain someone?"

"You could say that, which is why you made a great contribution."

Secretary Lu grew more pleased as he smiled and added, "Actually, our City Committee and Municipal Government have been paying attention to such issues for the past two years, and the Provincial Committee is very satisfied with our work in Binjiang. During this afternoon's teleconference, the provincial leaders even praised Binjiang."

Without realizing it, Han Yu helped the city gain considerable recognition — truly a blessing in disguise.

Feeling dazed and finding everything surreal, Han Yu cautiously said, "Secretary Lu, since I haven't made a mistake, I'd like to get off at the next intersection."

"You've already gotten in the car, why get off?"

"Secretary Lu, you're busy with work; I don't want to interfere with that."

"There's no work tonight, even if there is, it's just dinner. Come with me."

"Where to?"

"Didn't I just say? The Provincial Committee's working group is here, I need to greet the group leaders. You come with me, and you can use this chance to report on your old classmate's situation to the group leaders."

"I don't have the qualifications to report, I..."

"You're the case officer; your report is most convincing!"

To Secretary Lu, it felt like a windfall, and with a half-smile, he asked, "By the way, I assume I don't need to teach you how to report later?"

Han Yu was momentarily stunned, then quickly said, "Secretary Lu, rest assured, I know how to report. Actually, the City Committee and the Municipal Government issued a document on this two years ago, I followed the spirit of that document to send Xu Chenhui to the detention center."

"Do you remember what the document said?"

"I remember some, but not in detail."

Before Secretary Lu could respond, Secretary Liu in the front seat opened his briefcase, took out a document prepared for Secretary Lu, stifled a laugh, and handed it to Han Yu: "Director Han, take a look while you can."

Doing the work in advance is very different from doing it afterward.

Secretary Lu was genuinely delighted, patting Han Yu on the shoulder and laughing heartily: "Hurry and read it, because later it's your turn to speak. And don't mention the part about not having enough money to support your old classmate, just report on the work itself; distinguish between public and private matters, and only report on the work."