Film and Television World Life Record

As Li Mu watched Xia Jie walk away and into the residential building, he turned the car around and saw a cell phone lying quietly on the passenger seat.

Li Mu picked it up and looked at it. As expected, it belonged to Xia Jie.

After stopping the car and turning off the engine, Li Mu took his phone and walked towards the residential building.

……

On the other side, I finally got home, turned the key to open the door, and as soon as I went in, I saw my mother sitting on the sofa with a stern face.

Xia Jie said, "Why aren't you resting so late? What's wrong this time?"

Xia's mother snorted: "What do you mean, what's wrong? What exactly did Wang Shouyi promise me? He clearly said he wouldn't let me work overtime, but he still comes home so late every day. Look at the time!"

Xia Jie said, "Mom, this is my job. The station solved a big case today, and everyone is working overtime. Why can't I?"

Xia's mother said, "Since so many people are working overtime, one more or one less won't make a difference, so why should we make you work overtime? I think it's because people forget about us now that we're gone. Your father sacrificed himself for nothing back then, and when we ask them to take care of us, they make excuses and bully us, mother and son, who have no one to rely on."

He snorted again, "I could tolerate having Cheng Hao as your mentor, but why is Wang Shouyi getting more and more demanding? Now it's overtime, will he send you on dangerous missions later?"

Xia Jie said helplessly, "Mom, why are you saying that? I'm a police officer, this is my duty. They've already protected me enough, I can't take it anymore, can you please stop making things worse?"

Xia's mother said innocently, "How have I caused trouble? Do you despise me? Oh, so now that my husband is gone, even my daughter despises me..."

Xia Jie said, "Mom, what nonsense are you talking about? Who dislikes you?"

"Also, let's not talk about the past, okay?"

Xia's mother said, "How can we not mention it? Your father sacrificed his life, they should take care of us."

Xia Jie said helplessly, "Mom, I told you, I don't want any special treatment... You haven't been working all these years, and the bureau has given you plenty of subsidies and pensions, which is enough to take care of you."

“Besides, police officers die every year, and my dad isn’t the only one. It’s been ten years, and we can’t keep letting them take care of us like this forever.”

Xia's mother sighed, "You don't understand. It's like the saying goes, once someone leaves, they're forgotten... If your father hadn't rushed to save Xiao Song back then, would he be alive now? Would he have become the bureau chief?"

"And Wang Shouyi, Cheng Hao, the police in Balihe—who hasn't received help from your father? It's only right that they take care of us!"

Xia Jie felt physically and mentally exhausted: "Mom, can we stop talking about this? I'm tired after a long day and want to take a shower. Can we rest?"

Xia's mother continued nagging, "When your father was alive, he doted on both of us... Now we're all alone, and people are even gossiping..."

Xia Jie said, "Mom, no one is gossiping. They've all been very kind to me. It's just that I don't want to be treated specially. How can a police officer be so delicate?"

"Okay, that's enough. I'm going to take a shower and rest."

……

Li Mu arrived at Xia Jie's house and knocked on the door. Half a minute later, a sound came from inside.

"Who?"

Li Mu said, "I'm Xia Jie's colleague. She left her phone behind, so I brought it to her."

The door creaked open, and Xia's mother looked at Li Mu with a puzzled expression.

"Are you Xiaojie's colleague?"

Li Mu said, "Yes! Auntie, you must be Xia Jie's mother!"

Xia's mother nodded, then suddenly remembered something and asked warily, "How did Xiaojie's phone end up with you? You guys..."

Li Mu said, "Auntie, don't misunderstand. I got off work a little late today, didn't I? I brought Xiaojie back. She left in a hurry and left her phone in the car, so I brought it back to her."

He then handed Xia Jie's phone over.

Xia's mother took the phone and looked at it. It was indeed her daughter's phone, and her doubts lessened considerably. She looked at Li Mu again and suddenly found him quite pleasing to the eye.

Thinking about her daughter's age, and taking a closer look at Li Mu in front of her, she found that he was good-looking and had a good temperament.

Suddenly, he asked, "Are you an intern assigned to Balihe this year, just like Xiaojie?"

Li Mu said, "No, Auntie, I'm a police officer, and I've been a police officer for several years."

Xia's mother nodded and said, "Oh! Not an intern. Then you'd better work hard, being a police officer isn't easy these days."

Li Mu said, "Auntie is right! It's getting late, and the phone has been returned, so I'll take my leave now."

Xia's mother said, "Alright, I won't see you off."

After Li Mu took his leave, Xia's mother locked the door, sat down on the sofa in the living room, and felt a little melancholy thinking about her daughter's age.

Xia Jie came out of the shower wrapped in a bath towel and glanced at her mother, who was sitting there in a daze.

"Mom, why aren't you resting yet? Who were you talking to just now?"

Xia's mother asked, "Did your colleague bring you home today?"

Xia Jie paused for a moment, then nodded: "Yes! Mom, how did you know?"

Xia's mother waved her phone in her hand: "You left your phone in someone's car, and they just brought it to you."

Xia Jie then noticed her phone, slapped her forehead, and said, "It really is! No wonder I didn't see my phone earlier!"

Xia's mother said, "Xiao Jie, he brought you home so late, don't you think he has feelings for you?"

Xia Jie said, both amused and exasperated, "Mom, what are you saying? He's our boss. He just wanted to show some concern for me, so he brought me back. Don't overthink it."

Xia's mother was taken aback: "Your boss! Hasn't he only been a policeman for a few years? He looks about your age, how could he be your boss?"

Xia Jie said, "It's true, Mom. He's the deputy director of our institute. He's on secondment from the Municipal Bureau."

Xia's mother's previously nonchalant expression suddenly turned serious: "That's quite promising for his age. He shouldn't be much older than you!"

Xia Jie said helplessly, "Four years old! Mom, please don't ask anymore."

Xia's mother muttered to herself, "I won't ask anymore! But four years old isn't old, and the conditions are good, so it's suitable."

Xia Jie didn't hear clearly: "What's suitable?"

Xia's mother said, "It's nothing. Didn't you want to rest? Go and rest!"

"Take better care of yourself in the future. You have such a good foundation, inheriting the excellent genes from me and your father. Don't waste it."

Xia Jie blushed slightly: "Mom, what are you saying!" She turned and went into the bedroom.

……

The next day, when they arrived at the police station, Xia Jie was also there. She saw Li Mu and felt a little embarrassed.

"Li Suohao!"

Li Mu smiled and said, "No need to be so polite. We're about the same age. In private, we can just call each other by our first names, and in public, we can use our titles."

Xia Jie smiled shyly, her face slightly flushed: "Okay...okay!"

He said goodbye to Li Mu and left in a hurry.

Li Mu arrived at the office, and a short while later, Zhao Jiwei came over to clean. Seeing his dark circles, Li Mu asked with concern, "Jiwei, haven't you been resting well? Have you found a place to stay?"

Zhao Jiwei stammered, "I...I've found someone. I'll stay at my relative's house. I'll definitely recover and not let it interfere with my work."

Li Mu didn't ask any more questions. He suddenly remembered that in the drama, as the pillar of the family and the only one who worked outside to earn money, Zhao Jiwei was extremely frugal and couldn't even bear to rent a house.

He claimed he was staying at a relative's house, but this wasn't shown on TV. Instead, he was working overtime every night and resting in the office's break room at night.

In the end, Li Dawei took care of him by lowering the rent and setting up a cot in a corner of the living room with a curtain, so that Zhao Jiwei finally had a stable place to live.

Right now, I guess he's still making do in the lounge every day.

Since he had decided to take on this apprentice, he should help him solve some of the difficulties. Li Mu tapped the table, pondered for a moment, and decided to talk to the director when he had time.

At noon, I had just returned from a field mission when I heard a shout coming from the director's office.

"No matter how urgent the situation, you still have to be methodical! Your master told you to call for help first when things happen, that's to protect you. When capturing someone, it's best to have four against one. At the very least, it should be two against one! You just rushed in one by one? Do you even know who the other person is?"

"That's a repeat offender! What wouldn't he do? If he stabbed you, and you weren't afraid of dying, what would the police station do? They'd have to worry about you so much!"

Then came Li Dawei's voice, filled with righteous indignation: "If I die, I will not trouble the institute."

Wang Shouyi was clearly even angrier: "Nonsense! Is your life your own? What will your parents do if you die?"

Li Dawei was extremely stubborn: "Chief, if I were afraid of dying, I wouldn't have become a policeman! Besides, nothing's happened to me!"

Wang Shouyi retorted angrily, "Why are you wrapping your hands if nothing's happened? Besides, have you thought about Sun Qiancheng? What if his adversary also has a knife? He's just an auxiliary police officer, earning only a little over two thousand a month. Do you want him to risk his life for you, to play the hero?"

……

The roaring continued for a while. Li Dawei and Yang Shu left the director's office dejectedly, while Li Mu shook his head and went inside.

"Chief, what's wrong?"

Wang Shouyi sighed, "These kids these days are such a handful. Sigh!"

Li Mu said, "Just joined the police force? Everyone's like this, you'll get used to it over time."

Wang Shouyi: "That's all we can do, grow slowly!"

Then, looking at Li Mu, he asked, "What do you want from me?"

Li Mu said, "Chief, I just heard you say that auxiliary police officers only earn a little over two thousand yuan a month, and the benefits are also few. The treatment is so poor!"

Wang Shou nodded and said, "Auxiliary police officers are just as busy as us, but their salaries are only a fraction of ours. It's not easy for them! We should treat them better."

Li Mu said, "What the director said makes sense. Can't we raise their benefits a little?"

Wang Shouyi frowned and thought for a moment, then finally shook his head: "No, the salaries and benefits of auxiliary police officers are all set by the branch office. Apart from receiving more benefits during holidays, we don't have the authority to raise salaries!"

Li Mu said, "Improving benefits doesn't necessarily mean raising wages."