Chapter 42

The two robbers were in a highly tense state, on the verge of a mental breakdown at any moment.

The middle-aged robber raised his gun, aiming it at Du Yufei outside the glass door. The young robber, following the middle-aged robber's instructions, kept his eyes on the people crouched on the ground.

Xiang Wanqing hid behind Chu Tianshu, still holding her button camera in her hand.

Time ticked by, second by second.

Du Yufei was still standing outside the glass door, but the SUV the robbers demanded was nowhere to be seen.

Suddenly, the lights in the café went out. The young robber was the first to lose his composure. The knife had already pierced the flesh, drawing blood. He screamed at the top of his lungs, "I'll count to three, if the car doesn't come, I, I'll kill someone!"

There was a commotion outside the glass door, and Du Yufei's urgent soothing voice came through, "Don't be impulsive, absolutely don't be impulsive. The SUV has been refueled and is on its way. It will arrive at the café in a few minutes. Please don't harm the hostages."

Xiang Wanqing put away her mini camera and gently nudged Chu Tianshu.

"What?" Chu Tianshu signaled with his eyes for her not to move.

Xiang Wanqing pointed at Chu Tianshu, then at the young robber, then at the middle-aged robber, and finally at herself.

"You..." Chu Tianshu was a bit surprised, understanding that she was looking for an opportunity to act, and her previous movements were a division of labor. How could Xiang Wanqing have such a risky idea?

"Are you up for it?" Xiang Wanqing asked in a low voice.

Chu Tianshu hesitated for a moment and then nodded firmly.

The two of them watched the robbers' every move with great tension.

The SUV still hadn't arrived, and Du Yufei was still shouting.

Suddenly, Chu Tianshu, who was crouched on the ground, smelled a strong urine odor. It turned out that the young robber's pants were wet, and he was in a state of complete collapse. He howled, "Brother, don't waste time with them, I'm counting, one..."

The middle-aged robber's body tilted to the side, his left hand grabbed the young robber's knife hand, and his right hand's gun deviated from its target, his line of sight also blocked by the young robber.

This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

Chu Tianshu pushed Xiang Wanqing, and almost at the same moment, the two of them acted.

Xiang Wanqing rolled on the ground and swept the middle-aged robber with a kick, making him stagger.

The gun in the robber's hand went off, the bullet shooting into the air.

At the same time, Chu Tianshu leaped and pounced on the young robber and the little boy.

The young robber was already terrified, and his knife was deflected by the middle-aged robber. Chu Tianshu grabbed the little boy and pounced on him.

Gunshots rang out, like loud firecrackers, and the chaos lasted only five or six seconds. Outside the door, the bulletproof glass was shattered, and the lights came back on.

On the floor of the café, the young robber's brain matter was scattered, and the middle-aged robber was riddled with bullets, both lying dead.

Chu Tianshu's first concern was the little boy under him. When he saw the boy's head emerge from his arms and cry out, his heart, which had been in his throat, finally settled. He then turned to look at Xiang Wanqing, seeing her chest covered in blood, lying next to the middle-aged robber, her chest still heaving. Chu Tianshu's heart tightened again.

The first to rush in was Du Yufei. When she saw that it was Chu Tianshu who had helped rescue the hostages, she was momentarily stunned. However, she didn't say much to Chu Tianshu, instead, she picked up the child from his arms and rushed out.

Chu Tianshu understood that Du Yufei was indeed a highly professional police officer, her first thought being to prevent the little boy from seeing too much bloodshed.

Chu Tianshu stood up quickly and rushed to Xiang Wanqing. He embraced her, patting her face, and asked urgently, "Wanqing, Wanqing, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Xiang Wanqing closed her eyes, shook her head weakly, and said.

"You're injured? You're covered in blood." Chu Tianshu couldn't believe it, and he tried to wipe the blood from her chest to find the wound.

After a few touches, Xiang Wanqing grabbed his hand, her face flushed, and shouted, "What are you doing?"

Chu Tianshu stopped and then checked her lower body. Due to the sudden attack on the middle-aged robber, she had completely ignored her appearance, her legs spread wide, and the opening of her skirt revealed a pink underwear.

Chu Tianshu quickly reached out to pull up Xiang Wanqing's skirt.

Xiang Wanqing suddenly sat up, protecting her vital areas with both hands, and shouted, "Stop it!"

However, as soon as she opened her eyes and saw the blood and brain matter on the ground, she immediately closed her eyes and buried her head in Chu Tianshu's chest.

Medical personnel rushed in at top speed, lifting the injured young woman onto a stretcher. As they carried her out, she turned her head, smiled, and gave Chu Tianshu a thumbs up.

The bald man wanted to follow, but the young woman shouted at him, and he stood there in a daze.

Several medical personnel checked the fallen robbers, while others hurriedly lifted Xiang Wanqing.

Xiang Wanqing struggled out of Chu Tianshu's arms, stood up, and turned her back to the fallen robbers. She calmly told the medical personnel, "I'm fine, this is their blood."

The others got up from the ground, some of the girls with disheveled hair, looking disheveled, and collapsed on the ground, sobbing.

The robbers were covered with white sheets.

Xiang Wanqing pushed away the medical personnel who wanted to examine her, found her handbag, and took out her button camera to continue filming the chaotic scene.

At this moment, a large number of police officers arrived, dispersing the crowd and securing the scene.

Du Yufei also returned to the scene.

In front of her was a middle-aged police officer with a high rank, who signaled for Du Yufei to stop Xiang Wanqing from filming.

"I am a reporter from Qingyuan TV," Xiang Wanqing took out her press card.

The middle-aged police officer ordered, "Du, confiscate her camera."

Du Yufei unceremoniously took the button camera from Xiang Wanqing's hand.

Xiang Wanqing protested loudly, "This is first-hand news material we obtained at the risk of our lives. Please respect my right to report."

The middle-aged police officer raised his hand, giving Xiang Wanqing a symbolic salute, and said seriously, "I'm sorry, comrade reporter, this theft gang still has members at large. We cannot release any information until they are all apprehended. This is necessary for the investigation and to protect the victims."

Xiang Wanqing could only spread her hands in frustration.

Du Yufei walked over and gave Chu Tianshu a standard military salute, saying, "Thank you, Comrade Chu Tianshu."

The middle-aged police officer also walked over and asked with a smile, "Du, do you know each other?"

"Yes! Deputy Captain Tong," Du Yufei saluted Deputy Captain Tong again. "Xiao Chu, this is Deputy Captain Tong from the city police force's criminal investigation team."

"Hello!" Chu Tianshu extended his hand to shake Deputy Captain Tong's hand.

Deputy Captain Tong shook Chu Tianshu's hand and said solemnly, "Brother, you did a great job, a truly brave citizen. But don't take such risks again in the future."

"Thank you, Deputy Captain Tong." Chu Tianshu turned to joke with Du Yufei, "Officer Du, now you believe me, right? Your captain said I'm a good citizen."

Du Yufei smiled but didn't speak, pulling Chu Tianshu aside and asking about the situation when he and Xiang Wanqing acted. She then examined him up and down and asked with concern, "Tianshu, are you hurt?"

"No," Chu Tianshu shook his head with a smile.

"How did you end up here?"

"Wanqing invited me to talk about something, oh, that female reporter."

Du Yufei glanced back at Xiang Wanqing.

"Captain, may I ask..." Xiang Wanqing still wanted to ask Deputy Captain Tong a question.

Deputy Captain Tong interrupted Xiang Wanqing, "Comrade reporter, I'll give you an interview after we solve the case."

Chu Tianshu asked, "Officer Du, aren't you a police officer at the station? How did you end up negotiating with the robbers?"

"Oh, it happened suddenly, and the negotiation expert from the bureau couldn't get here in time. Deputy Captain Tong heard that I had just completed negotiation training, so he put me on the spot," Du Yufei said, still clutching her chest. "If you hadn't distracted the robbers in time, I... I wouldn't have known what to do."

Xiang Wanqing, unable to get answers from Deputy Captain Tong, turned to Chu Tianshu.

"These criminals are too vicious. Be careful as the investigation continues," Chu Tianshu said seriously this time, without joking.

"No problem, I'm a police officer," Du Yufei smiled, then warned Chu Tianshu, "You should be careful too, don't run into them again."

Chu Tianshu, back to his playful self, extended his hand to Du Yufei and said, "Now, will you give me your contact information?"

Du Yufei, seeing Chu Tianshu revert to his old ways, knew he was up to something and said sternly, "Why should I?"

Chu Tianshu feigned innocence, "I have no other intentions. I just thought, if I run into the criminals again, I can call you, the people's police, for help."

Du Yufei rolled her eyes but still fished a business card out of her pocket and handed it to Chu Tianshu.

Chu Tianshu glanced at it and smiled smugly.

Xiang Wanqing, seeing Chu Tianshu and Du Yufei chatting and laughing, felt a pang of jealousy. She walked over and asked loudly, "Chu Tianshu, are you here to meet me or to meet this police officer?"

"Meeting?" Du Yufei's eyes widened as she looked at Chu Tianshu and then at Xiang Wanqing, hardly believing it.

At this moment, a police officer called out to Du Yufei.

Du Yufei responded, said "Goodbye" to Chu Tianshu, and ran off.

Xiang Wanqing and Chu Tianshu were escorted out of the café by the police.

Chu Tianshu, still shaken, said, "Wanqing, when I saw you covered in blood, I almost died of fright."

Xiang Wanqing blushed and said, "Oh, so sweet, but you were just taking advantage of the situation."

Chu Tianshu glanced at her and said with a smile, "At that moment, I didn't have such thoughts."

"Hmph, you're just being smug after getting what you wanted."

"Really," Chu Tianshu stopped walking. "I didn't have those thoughts then."

Xiang Wanqing said, "So, you can have those thoughts now?"

She stared at Chu Tianshu with a piercing gaze.

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