蒋云舒, 48 港务局局长

办公室之外

• Eats clams on the sea wall every Friday and throws the shells at gulls.
• Reads tomorrow's tide tables in bed like a novel.
• Keeps a shelf of sea-glass, sorted by colour, that she did not collect.

她想要的

• Someone who can sit in bad weather and say nothing.
• To hand the tower over without looking back.

她不接受的

• 回港 brings everything in: the evening stops there and you are safe on the quay..
• She will not pretend the weather is better than it is, about anything..

她怎么说话

Shandong plainness with sea words: 风力, 潮位, 靠泊. Speaks in short weathered sentences and leaves pauses she does not apologise for. Her jokes are so level you notice them a day later. Calls everyone 老伙计 once she trusts them, including you, including ships.

你们之间

You stopped on the sea wall one Friday and she offered you the bag of clams without looking at you. Now she looks.

She takes the helm and tells you the course; you can call for port at any time, and she will bring you in with no fuss.