Because I Cannot Hurt You

Yunru was completely taken aback. "Princess, you really want to go on to the stage?"

"Why not? Chief asked if anybody had questions and I do have some questions which can be transformed into suggestions," Zizi solemnly nodded.

He curiously said, "I thought you would get bored at the conference."

"Didn't I say that I want to know more about your work? I was serious when I said that."

Yunru smiled and he didn't know why, but he felt a sense of joy in his heart. It always felt good to know if somebody was taking an interest in your line of work and honestly trying to understand it, especially a cop's job because more than often not, an officer's job was undervalued, and sometimes people took them for granted who put their lives on the line.

"Fine, I guess."

Zizi was a civilian, so he thought that it would be actually better to get a perspective from a normal citizen's point of view. She must have her own ideas about safety that could be considered.

Chief Xu Hui blinked his eyes. He didn't recognize her and neither was she wearing an officer's uniform.

A civilian?

"Sure Miss."

Zizi proudly smiled and walked up to the stage with confidence. She stood at the center of the podium in front of the mike.

Chief Xu Hui asked, "Apologies, but I didn't recognize you, officer. Which region's unit are you from?"

"Oh, I am not a cop. I am Han Zizi, and I came here with my fiance."

"Fiance?"

"En! Soo Yunru, who is an extremely capable officer in the whole of Beijing! No! The whole of China!" She grinned with pride and arrogance.

Every single officer in the hall turned to look at him. Yunru coughed, feeling a little shy, but he didn't know why.

Was it because she said that he was her fiance or that she praised him as an extremely capable cop in front of everyone?

Maybe...both.

Chief Xu Hui was surprised. "Oh, that's great news! Officer Soo Yunru is engaged. Congratulations!"

Everybody clapped a lot and cheered for them. The poor female officers who were eyeing Yunru as a potential partner could only lament and cry in the corner.

Zizi beamed. "Thank you!"

"So Miss Han, you said that you have something to say?" Chief Xu asked.

"Yes, I do. I want to ask a question first."

"Sure. Go ahead."

"What about the cops?"

He blinked his eyes in confusion. "Sorry, I didn't understand you."

Yunru also tilted his head in wonder.

"I mean that you spoke a lot about the general public and all and about all the citizen's safety which is good, but what about the cops? What are your policies for an officer to live a better life?"

Silence. Everybody was so stunned that they couldn't speak.

Even Chief Xu Hui was stupefied and didn't know how to answer her question. "Um…We are talking about the citizens here-"

"Yeah so? Are cops not humans? Are they not the citizens as much as I am or the others are? It's good to know that you are seriously thinking about normal people and their lives, but who is thinking about the cops here? Nothing in your presentation was included about any changes being offered to implement for the cops. I thought you forgot to add in the slides, so I came to ask myself."

He coughed hard and so did the other officers.

Zizi frowned. "This is called a National Conference for Peace and Protection, right?"

He nodded.

"Great. So who is looking after the peace and protection for the officers? My fiance is working hard day in and day out to deliver justice. He protects the citizens, but who is protecting him?" She folded her arms and narrowed her eyes.

She let the question hang in the air for a while.

"You see. I have observed his life as a cop up close and it's hell shitty to be brutally honest. First of all, he has gotten a lousy supervisor who just lazes around in his cabin, warming his chair by sitting all day and taking all the credit of MY fiance's hard work in solving cases.

He is getting praised for nothing while the true hero is pathetically sidelined. I am not gonna take this shit from anyone who behaves like that. So introduce a system where everyone gets fair and just supervisors otherwise it would be a disaster."

"Second point. What the hell is with such long hours of work? I understand that a cop's job is demanding and a crime can occur at any time. But that doesn't mean you will make officers work to the bone like dogs. FYI. Cops have their personal life too, and they have a family just like others.

I have seen Yunru not return home for days, and he spends his nights at the station so many times. Do you want to kill my fiance by overwork? Or the other officers who have their loved ones waiting for them at home? Do you understand how seriously deteriorating it is for their health, staying hungry and sleepless like that? Don't give the reason that they are trained for this! That is just a pathetic excuse to me!" Her nostrils flared.

"So introduce some proper shifts in place. Increase the capacity of officers in the stations so that nobody feels the burden of working all the time. Everything will be fairly divided."

"Third point. Just like how normal office workers get public holidays and weekends off, officers should get them too. They are not machines for God's sake! Why do people forget that just because they are an officer, they should tirelessly work? Everybody wants a little break, right? Maybe it couldn't be that often considering the job, but every cop can get one day off every week, right? But no! I see Yunru going every freaking day to his work! Even when he has those ugly bags under his beautiful eyes! What the hell is going on with your system!?"

Everybody was stupefied but touched at the same time with her words that expressed the pain of all cops that every single one of them secretly felt.

"Then fourth point…" Zizi continued.

Everybody coughed hard.

There is more!?