50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 288 The Good President
Captain Huo took a sip of rum and began to explain the route to Sun Zhiwei.

"Generally speaking, there are two routes to take. One is to go north, resupply in San Francisco, then cross the North Pacific Ocean to Yokohama for another resupply, and finally sail directly to Hong Kong Island."

"The northbound route is 12,200 kilometers long. The downside is that you are likely to encounter ice floes in the North Pacific during winter. Hitting an iceberg is extremely dangerous."

Generally speaking, a merchant ship's route is its wealth, and Captain Huo would not elaborate on this if it were a fellow merchant.

But Sun Zhiwei is not a competitor at all, and he is one of the clan leaders' own people, so it's not a problem to talk about him as conversation material.

"Another route is to go west to Honolulu for supplies, and then cross the central Pacific Ocean directly to Hong Kong Island."

"The westward route is 13,200 kilometers long, but the downside is that it is prone to storms in the summer and autumn."

“There are very few islands in the central Pacific, so they are quite dangerous when there is a storm. There is nowhere to hide, so you can only tough it out.”

Having understood Captain Huo's meaning, Sun Zhiwei knew that their next stop should be San Francisco.

Because it is autumn now, and the western Pacific is experiencing a period of severe storms, the northern route is currently the safest.

"Everyone says that ocean voyages are dangerous, and it seems that weather plays a big part in that."

"Yes, in the past, going out to sea really depended on luck," Captain Huo remarked.

He looked to be over 50 years old, but considering that sailors spend a long time at sea, they tend to look older.

Captain Huo's actual age is estimated to be around 50, which is considered young for a captain.

However, his actual sailing experience is certainly over 20 years, which means he is very experienced.

He must have experienced the days when there were no weather forecasts and people had to sail blindly, as he mentioned.

"It's much better now, especially in recent years, with the Russian weather ship 'Tide' constantly monitoring storms in the Pacific Ocean east of the Philippines."

"Whenever a storm forms, they will announce it on the radio. Thanks to this storm warning system, we have avoided danger many times."

I see. There aren't many weather satellites now. It will only be when major countries have more satellites that they can provide maritime weather and communication services.

And now, the most reliable, life-saving storm warning for captains is still just a radio.

"What if the radio doesn't receive the warning?" Sun Zhiwei couldn't help but ask.

Captain Huo smiled slightly upon hearing this, and then downed the rum in his hand in one gulp.

“We used to be able to carry it by small boat, and now we’re not afraid of a 10,000-ton ship.”

Sun Zhiwei was speechless; wasn't this just resigning himself to fate?

It seems that sailing is still too dangerous in this day and age. He doesn't plan to take ocean-going ships anymore, at least not until oceanographic and meteorological satellites are available.

On October 30, the Eastern Angel docked at the Port of Redwood, San Francisco, for resupply.

This supply process also broadened Sun Zhiwei's horizons. It turned out that different wharves were managed by different organizations, and various suppliers provided the wharves with all kinds of supplies such as vegetables, fresh water, and alcohol.

Before docking, the Oriental Angel had already contacted acquaintances in the area to confirm the docking location.

If you have local acquaintances, you can save a lot of money; otherwise, you can only buy at market price, which can be quite costly.

Starting the next day, suppliers kept loading all kinds of fruits, vegetables, meats, and drinks onto the ship.

The Oriental Angel had a cold storage facility that could preserve a lot of fresh food, and with the wisdom of our ancestors, the crew could even sprout beans on board. As a result, scurvy was rare on Chinese ships during long voyages.

Sun Zhiwei advised Professor Meng to stay inside the cabin as much as possible, since no one knew if any of the delivery people were FBI informants.

In this era, the FBI's infiltration efforts within the United States were very strong.

In particular, during the 48 years that former FBI Director Hu Fu was in office, the FBI's power reached its peak, to the point that even the top brass had to defer to Hu Fu.

Hu Fu has only been dead for a few years, and his successor has a large number of informants in his hands.

It seems that within an organization that can control dock supplies, there are almost certainly FBI informants.

Professor Meng is currently wanted by the police; it would be troublesome if he were discovered by FBI informants.

Sun Zhiwei has been staying on the ship for the past few days, monitoring all the strangers who board. Professor Meng's safety is absolutely paramount.

During this time, he noticed that several deliverymen were casually inquiring about the situation on the ship.

Fortunately, the sailors on the Oriental Angel were all carefully selected from among their own people, and they all had some connection with the Huo family.

They had previously experienced some clandestine auxiliary missions and were relatively vigilant in terms of intelligence secrecy, not revealing information that several non-crew members had boarded the ship midway.

It is estimated that the Eastern Angel was not a primary target; after probing a few times without finding any useful information, it left.

Sun Zhiwei finally felt relieved after the resupply ended three days later.

On the last day, Captain Huo even came over to ask Sun Zhiwei if he wanted to attend a banquet organized by the local Chinese community.

Sun Zhiwei was eager to see it for himself, but he was currently on a mission and couldn't afford to cause any trouble, so he declined.

However, San Francisco is one of the main settlements for Chinese Americans, and he believes he will return.

That evening, Captain Huo returned from the banquet with breaking news: the Bald Eagle's new chief executive officer had been appointed.

Sun Zhiwei was startled to realize that this crucial year was about to end.

The newly appointed General Manager Jimmy is an anomaly among the dozens of General Managers at Bald Eagle. In Sun Zhiwei's words, his personality can be summed up in two words: he's a "good person."

Jimmy is a truly good person, not an insult.

Even his political opponents did not morally attack him; one could say he was a moral benchmark within the Bald Eagle leadership.

If he had done what he did in China, he would be considered a public servant. Upright, loyal, and morally upright, everyone would want to be his friend.

Sun Zhiwei found it strange that an anomaly like Jimmy would emerge from American soil.

By this time, resupply had ended, all crew members had returned, and the ship was making preparations for departure.

With half a day left before departure, Sun Zhiwei quickly disembarked after communicating with Captain Huo. He needed to go into the city to find some documents to take back.

This is not difficult. In the past few months, due to the election, the information of each candidate has been thoroughly investigated by various media outlets.

Jimmy, as one of the candidates, was not a popular candidate, but his information was still exposed to the public by the media.

(End of this chapter)