Because I Cannot Hurt You

Zizi continued. "I also took the liberty of seeing Yunru's salary slip. The compensation is so low that it doesn't match how much effort he puts in at all! I mean, the officers are working like dogs, and they don't even get decently paid for it. Even a clerk in my brother's company has a high salary! This is utterly preposterous! The citizens are safe because officers like my fiance are risking their lives and this is the return they get? How can anybody give their family a good life with such a low salary? Are cops supposed to compromise for the rest of their lives?"

Once again, not a single person dared to speak. 

"If anybody here says that they are just satisfied by seeing the country happy and safe and less money isn't an issue, so let me open your eyes. Let's be realistic and practical. It's good to have patriotic feelings in your heart for your country, but they are not going to fill your stomach when you are hungry. You cannot pay for your son's or daughter's education with your feelings. My brother always says that appropriate work should get an appropriate reward or the society crumbles. Isn't it exactly why corruption happens? Because people are not satisfied with their salaries. Sometimes corruption is out of pure greediness I admit. But not always."

Zizi shot a stare at Chief Xu Hui and said, "That's why I want to see revised compensation for the whole police force! All the things I said are the basic facilities any person should get in his job, especially more for all the hard-working cops. An officer should live with dignity, but these poor conditions are as if everybody treats them as a slave."

She glared. "Like hell is my awesome fiance a slave! He is the most handsome, dedicated, hard-working and the kindest person in the whole wide world. I won't let anybody treat him like shit! I won't let this go until I see all my suggestions are implemented. I won't let Yunru suffer anymore. Mind you, if these policies are not taken care of as soon as possible, you will make the Han family your enemy which nobody wants to mess with. That's all!"

Chief Xu Hui had his jaw dropped wide open. He was... utterly impressed with her.

Nobody had so openly criticized the system before. These were the loopholes that all officers knew, but they couldn't do much about it. They were too stunned to say anything, but their hearts had incredibly warmed, thinking that somebody cared for their well-being.

A cop's job is often undervalued which actually shouldn't be the case. The officers and soldiers are the true heroes of any country. But they are the ones who are treated the most badly.

Zizi flicked her hair back and walked back towards her seat. She grinned. "Hehe, now you don't have to worry, Yunru. I will make sure that your life as a cop would be super-duper better than before!"

Yunru unblinkingly stared at her so hard that his eyes started to ache, but he still didn't blink. As her every word reached his ear, the emotions within him grew and grew until they overwhelmed to the point that it made his gaze misty.

She was mad for him. She was angry for his sake. He never really thought of these things before. But when she clearly and harshly pointed them out, it made him realize how he was indeed affected by all this.

Long hours of tiring work…

Many times, he wished to return home early because he knew that his father waited for him. Zizi made him remember that he had a family. Soo Enlai's wife passed away early on and Xinyi married Zhiyuan when she was just twenty. Since then, it was the two of them.

But when Yunru started his job, he became more and more busy with cases. Soo Enlai was retired now, so Yunru wanted to be there for him as much as possible. He didn't want him to feel lonely. Soo Enlai never said it, but Yunru often saw him sleeping on the couch the next morning when he returned. And he would realize that his father was secretly waiting for him the previous night.

But Soo Enlai never expressed his desire to spend time with him because he didn't want to make Yunru feel guilty. Yunru couldn't even spend a decent holiday with his father.

Low salary…

That was something that ached his heart too. Soo Enlai had once owned a car. But he sold it for the sake of his children's education when his job's salary wasn't enough. Since that day, he always dreamed of gifting his father a car and paying back with his gratitude for being such a good father to them.

It wasn't impossible now because Xinyi was married to a rich family. Zhiyuan could buy a car at a snap of his finger. But the siblings knew that their father would never accept it that way. That's why Xinyi never brought this topic up or insisted on it. She silently knew that Yunru would do it for sure.

Yunru had been saving a lot for this, but he still had more ways to go to buy him the best car. He could buy an average or cheap car with his savings, but he didn't want to compromise. So he had been working hard on his promise to himself.

Soo Enlai had been nothing but a good father, but Yunru felt that he had been nothing but a bad son.

He couldn't give his time to his father who was slowly getting old now, and he had yet to fulfill his dream. He felt he was useless and somewhere along the way, he forced himself not to think about it.

The safety of the citizens was a daunting task, and he felt ashamed that in front of his duty, he couldn't become a filial son.

But Zizi opened up every one of his feelings that finally broke through all the barriers. She spoke his heart.

Yunru loved his country. But he loved his father just as much. Yet, he couldn't give him equal treatment.

As a tear slid down his cheek, he tremblingly got up on his feet and without saying anything, he just silently hugged Zizi hard.