First, then, love.

On the television, a female news anchor was delivering the news in a clear and articulate voice.

"Now, we'll have a joint report that we just received."

"Early this morning, a vicious armed resistance to arrest occurred at an abandoned chemical plant in Jilin Province."

"The two main perpetrators of the 'September 14' major cross-provincial serial armored truck robbery case were completely surrounded by the police in this area."

Shu Yao's hand, which was holding the bow, suddenly paused.

Jilin Province.

Cross-province.

A series of robberies.

These words, like a few cold steel needles, pierced directly into her nerves.

She suddenly turned her head and stared intently at the television screen.

On the screen, the footage switched to aerial shots of the scene and shaky footage from law enforcement recorders.

It was dark, and a long yellow police tape was set up at the scene.

The red and blue police lights flashed wildly, piercing the darkness.

The screen shook violently, accompanied by the piercing sound of gunfire.

"Bang! Bang bang!"

In the video, a group of special police officers wearing heavy black bulletproof vests and tactical helmets are seen carrying submachine guns and taking turns providing cover as they storm into the factory.

The screen was too dark, and the figures were swaying, making it impossible to tell who was who.

"According to reports from our reporters on the ground, the suspect was armed with military-grade weapons and homemade explosives and put up a stubborn resistance."

"In the fierce firefight, the special police assault team from our province, as the main force, forcibly broke down the factory gate."

"Currently, both suspects have been shot dead at the scene, and several police officers sustained injuries of varying degrees and have been rushed to local hospitals for treatment. Further details regarding casualties are still being compiled..."

The female host's voice remained steady.

But Shu Yao's mind had already exploded with a "buzz".

Several police officers were injured.

They were rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment.

Shu Yao felt as if all the blood in her body had been drained instantly, her hands and feet were ice cold, and a chill ran down her spine to the back of her head.

He loosened his right hand.

"Clatter".

An expensive sappanwood bow fell onto the carpet.

In his panic, his left hand touched the cello string, producing a sharp, piercing noise, like a fingernail scraping a blackboard, painfully screeching the eardrums.

She suddenly stood up.

The movement was too forceful, and her knee struck the side of the cello, causing it to wobble and almost fall over, but she didn't even have time to steady it.

He scrambled and crawled onto the sofa.

I picked up the phone that was lying on top of it.

My fingers were shaking so badly that I entered the wrong screen unlock password twice.

After finally unlocking the code, I opened my contacts and found He Zheng's number.

Dial it.

The phone was held to the ear.

A beeping connection sound came from the receiver.

Every second felt like it was being stretched out infinitely, slowly torturing her nerves.

"Sorry, the number you dialed is currently switched off."

A cold, emotionless, mechanical female voice.

Shu Yao's heart sank to the bottom in an instant.

Shut down.

He never turns off his phone; special police officers' phones must be kept on 24/7.

Unless, the mission is not over yet.

Or, if someone is in an accident, they might not even have time to think about their phone.

Shu Yao was unwilling to give up, so she hung up and dialed again.

It's still switched off.

She opened WeChat and sent a voice call.

No one heard.

Send a text message.

【Where are you.】

[Reply to the message.]

[He Zheng, answer the phone!]

One green dialog box after another was sent out, but they disappeared without a trace, like stones sinking into the sea.

Shu Yao slumped onto the sofa.

His face was deathly pale, devoid of any color.

My stomach started churning violently.

She bent over, clutching her stomach tightly with both hands, gasping for breath.

The television screen was still playing footage from the scene on a loop.

A stretcher carrying a person covered in blood was quickly pushed into an ambulance, the red and blue police lights standing out starkly in the night.

Could it be him?

When he left, he was wearing that black combat uniform.

He said he was going to another province to meet armed bandits.

All of them are correct.

Shu Yao felt like she was going crazy.

She had known He Zheng for so long, and all she knew was that he was a policeman, that he was busy, and that he trained hard.

But she had never directly faced the fact that his job involved constantly battling death.

Just then.

The phone I was holding suddenly started vibrating violently.

The screen lights up.

Shu Yao, as if grasping at a lifeline, suddenly held her phone up to her eyes.

The moment I saw the caller ID, the light in my eyes dimmed instantly.

It's Lin Shufen.

Shu Yao took two deep breaths, forced herself to swallow the dryness in her throat, and swiped to answer the call.

"Hello, Mom." Her voice was so hoarse that even she was startled.

"Yaoyao, what are you doing? Why does your voice sound so hoarse? Are you still recovering from your cold?" Lin Shufen's loud voice came through the receiver, carrying her usual nagging.

"Yeah, it's nothing, I just woke up." Shu Yao gritted her teeth, trying her best to make her voice sound normal.

"Hey, autumn is dry. Tell Xiao He to make you some more pear soup. He's a big, rough man, you'll have to order him around yourself."

"He's not home, he's on a business trip," Shu Yao said softly.

"On a business trip? Oh right, police officers are busy, they can leave whenever they want."

Lin Shufen sighed on the other end of the phone, then suddenly changed the subject.

"Hey, did you see the local news just now?"

Shu Yao's breath hitched, and her heart leaped into her throat.

"I saw it," she managed to utter.

"My God, that gunfight in Lin Province was terrifying." Lin Shufen patted her chest; you could feel her lingering fear even through the phone.

"The gunfire was like a movie, and the TV said that several special police officers were shot and rushed to the hospital for treatment."

Lin Shufen kept talking.

"I was just playing mahjong with your Aunt Li and we were talking about this. It's a good thing that our Xiao He is a captain, so he doesn't have to be at the forefront taking the bullets. He just leads the team and does training in the city."

Shu Yao's knuckles turned white as she gripped her phone.

She wanted to say that he went, he was the main attacker, and he was always the one at the forefront.

But she couldn't utter a single word; her throat felt like it was blocked by a wad of tattered cotton.

Lin Shufen, unaware of her daughter's unusual behavior, continued to sigh.

"But then again, being a police officer's family member is really not easy."

"Not only do you not make much money, but you're always on edge, constantly worried that someone might disappear the moment they step out the door."

"It's only because Xiao He's family is wealthy that I can't bear to see you marry someone who's risking his life on the front lines. If something were to happen to you, you'd be a widow at such a young age."

widow.

These two words struck Shu Yao's temple like a heavy hammer.

It hit her so hard she saw stars and felt dizzy.

"Mom, I have something to do, I'll hang up now."

She interrupted Lin Shufen's rambling and pressed the hang-up button directly.

The phone was left on the sofa.

Shu Yao hugged her knees with both hands, curling herself into a small ball.

The room was very cold, and she was shivering uncontrollably.

Lin Shufen's words inadvertently tore away the fig leaf that she had been unwilling to think about deeply.

She used to think that as long as she kept to her boundaries, didn't cross them, and didn't open up to anyone, the marriage would just be a transaction where each party got what they wanted.

As long as she doesn't fall for him, he can't hurt her.

But now.

Her mental defenses had long since crumbled completely during those seventy-two hours of anxious waiting.

She is afraid.

I'm terrified.

She looked at the God of War, who was lying by the door, emitting mournful sobs.

Tears finally fell without warning.

It was scalding hot and hit the back of my hand.

Until this moment, she watched the bloodshed and sacrifice on television and heard her mother say the word "widow".

Shu Yao was truly, thoroughly.

I have come to deeply understand the vulnerabilities of being a "police officer's wife".