Chen Shi and Lin Dongxue arrived at the neighborhood yesterday and brought up the property’s surveillance footage. At about 3:00 PM, police cars came in one by one, and then two hours later, the police cars left. Chen Shi said, "The incident happened between 3:00 to 5:00. The paparazzi should have come in during this time. "

He replayed the video. There were five cars leaving and three cars entering during this period. None of them went both in and out.

Chen Shi was puzzled and rewound the footage back a bit. He suddenly pointed at the screen. "This red car’s timing for when they entered and left is the closest match!"

"But we weren't there yet. Let's see if there are any others."

Chen Shi looked at the previous hours’ worth of footage. There was nothing else suspicious except for the red car. He said, "It seems that the paparazzi are well-informed and were in place before the police came. By the time the incident was resolved, they had already finished shooting."

"Did they really tap the police radio channel?"

"Let’s go and ask them!"

They were barely able to make out the license plate number from the footage. Lin Dongxue called the vehicle management office. The car belonged to an information media company named "Yicheng". Lin Dongxue felt that she seemed to have heard of this name somewhere. Chen Shi said, "Haven’t we been to this paparazzi firm before?"

"So it turns out it’s them. But isn’t that a coincidence? Don’t they specialize in celebrity scandals?"

"After the loss last time, I did some researching. Although they’ve got ‘media’ in their name, they don’t actually have any decent publications. In fact, they specialize in collecting news and selling them to other media outlets. I don’t think they’d let go of such a big piece of news. I just don’t know where their sources came from.”

"Do you think they have a list on hand?"

"Ji Xingyao bribed them before, but we checked her accounts. She didn't give the company money, so she probably provided a heavy news clue... If Ji Xingyao was the perpetrator behind the pistol case this time, it’s entirely possible that she gave the list to the paparazzi. Killing two birds with one stone!"

Lin Dongxue was excited. "If this is the case, Ji Xingyao may have escaped last time, but she can be justifiably arrested now."

"But we have to figure it out first. You also know that the paparazzi are very sly. If there’s no evidence, they’ll refuse to speak."

"How can there be evidence?"

"Of course there isn’t any, but we can verify--"

At this time, Lin Dongxue's cell phone rang, Lin Qiupu asked her where she was. He said that there was another hostage case where a gun was involved. This time, it was more troublesome as the gunman had hijacked a whole bus.

After asking for the address clearly, Chen Shi said, "Hurry. That place is close by."

The hijacked bus stopped at the intersection of Dashun Road and Yihuan Road, which had caused severe traffic congestion. The two drove there quickly. Seeing that there was already a lot of traffic from far away, he parked the car to the side and ran through the traffic with Lin Dongxue.

While running over, Chen Shi looked as though he was searching for something. Lin Dongxue asked him what he was looking for and he responded, "I’m trying to see if the paparazzi came."

Lin Dongxue saw a green bus at the intersection and vaguely saw a person standing inside through the window. They were holding something that looked like a pistol while talking.

Lin Qiupu and the others hadn't arrived yet. The two of them rushing over alone would be too dangerous, so she also helped to find the red car.

They checked the area they were in together and then separated at the intersection. Chen Shi's sharp gaze flicked back and forth in search when he suddenly saw a man with a camera around his neck and a man holding a video camera come down from a red car. They aimed at the bus and then continued recording from another angle.

He walked straight over to the paparazzi squatting by the road that was taking photos passionately. Chen Shi poked his shoulder. The other party turned around, startled. He saw the badge in Chen Shi's hand.

"What are you doing?!" Chen Shi yelled.

The paparazzi said with a grin, "Officer, why are you here looking for us instead of dealing with the bad guys? Is it illegal to take photos?”

"Who allowed you to take them?"

"Look, this is my reporter's card." The paparazzi showed a card worn on his chest. The words “TV station” was clearly written on it.

"Don’t give me that. Who doesn't know that people in your industry have several fake documents on you at all times? Are you from Yicheng media?"

"So you know... It doesn't matter if I take a few photos. So many others are taking them anyway!"

This company was truly suspicious and arrived at the scene so quickly. It was better not to hit the grass and startle the snakes[1] just yet. Chen Shi said, "You can take the photos, but don't show the faces of the parties involved and the police."

"I understand that. Thank you!" The paparazzi continued to take pictures after saying their thanks.

At this time, Lin Qiupu had arrived. "You two came really fast."

"There were still people faster." Chen Shi gestured to the paparazzi with his mouth.

"Paparazzi? We don't have time to deal with that right now... Let me tell you the situation. This bus was contracted by a company to go out for a group tour. The person who called this in was the driver. He said that the man wasn't from the company. The man shot the car suddenly, blocked the car, and got on.”

"Will you or I go?"

"I-"

Chen Shi interrupted him. "I'll go! You stay here and command."

"Don't play any odd tricks this time. Negotiate properly."

"Understood!"

"Put on your bulletproof vest."

After getting ready, Lin Qiupu summoned the others to surround the bus. The police officers who came were basically all wearing police uniforms. Of course, they wouldn’t really take the offense until the SWAT police came. This was just to put a little psychological pressure on the criminal.

Chen Shi walked to the bus and knocked a few times by the door. "I’m a police negotiator. Can I get on the bus?"

The man in the car shouted, "If you come up, I’ll kill you!"

"Brother, calm down. I'm here to help you..." Chen Shi glanced at the man. He was very thin and looked like an honest guy. He was wearing a white button-up shirt. Although the car had air conditioning, the shirt was already soaked in sweat.

Chen Shi gestured to the police officer behind him for a bottle of water. The police "borrowed" a bottle of unopened iced mineral water from a driver next to them and handed it to Chen Shi.

Chen Shi reached in with the water. "Look at you sweating so much. You should be thirsty right? Do you want to drink some water?"

"Smokes. I want to smoke!" The man shouted.

"Okay, I'll get you a packet."

Chen Shi gestured again. Old Zhang threw a bag of Zhongnanhai over and a lighter. Chen Shi took the three things in his hands and lifted them into the car to show the man. "I don't have any weapons on me. Can I come in now?"

"Come up!"

Chen Shi got in the car slowly. He took each step slowly. Dozens of eyes in the bus looked at him. Eighty percent of the passengers were young guys wearing shirts printed with the logo of a certain IT company. Their expressions were very tense.

Chen Shi slowly walked over and handed over the cigarettes. When he reached one meter away from the man, the man pointed at him with a gun and shouted, "Stop!"

Upon looking closely, the gun in his hand looked like the same model as the ones they seized before. It should be the real thing this time!

1. Alert them.