How many people go by the old cliché, "Don't get mad, Get even?- Well in Mr. Chiu's case he got mad and got even. The next question someone might want to ask is what kind of person is Mr. Chiu. Mr. Chui is not the kind of person to "get even-, he was just looking for justice. Taking the justice in his own hands it what makes this story ironic. The short story Saboteur written by Ha Jin was based on irony.
On one of the final days of the newlywed's honeymoon in Muji City Mr. and Mrs. Chui were sitting down to have a nice lunch together. Mr. Chui was exhausted and was trying to forget about his liver, because months previous he suffered from acute hepatitis. He was worried that he would have a relapse. Then Mr. Chui noticed to his right at another table that two railroad police men were laughing and having a good time but also from time to time both of the policemen took a glance at the table which Mr. Chui and his wife were sitting. Mr. Chui says nothing about the looks that they are given, this shows that Mr. Chui isn't looking for confrontation. .
As the newlyweds carried on their conversation one of the policemen out of nowhere stood up and threw a bowl of tea in their general direction. The officers accuse Mr. Chui of wetting their shoes. As one of the policemen put him under arrest and slapped handcuffs on Mr. Chui. He still doesn't fight back, he just tells the officers that what they were doing was wrong and unjust. As they were dragging him away the younger police officer replied, "You're a saboteur, you know that?- .
After being manhandled and thrown in a cell the mentality of Mr. Chui is that if he stayed cool headed and reasoned with then, no one at the station would harm him. When taken to the interrogation room the thing that caught Mr. Chui's eye is that just in a couple of hours the officers have gathered a pile of writing on Mr. Chui as they already knew who he was since this being his first time in this city.
