Zhang Yong took out a cell phone from his pocket.
"Didn’t you ask me to find a phone for you? I brought one. If you’re gonna make a call, do it now. I have to return it to someone after dinner. It can make international calls, but the cost is ridiculously high, you gotta pay for it yourself."
Yang Yi took the phone and dialed Danny.
Danny picked up quickly, and Yang Yi whispered, "Captain, it’s me."
"Oh, little Danny, how’s it going inside? Have you managed to keep your cherry or what, hahaha."
Yang Yi inwardly cursed Danny’s twisted sense of humor and taste and responded helplessly, "Thanks to you, I’m fine!"
"Oh, so what made you think to call me, huh? You should be calling your girlfriend. She’s asked me about you a bunch of times. You’re so cruel, not even a call to her for so long, hahaha."
Yang Yi exhaled and said, "Captain, can we be serious for a moment? I need to talk to you about something."
"Well, go on then, what is it?"
"I need you to transfer a hundred thousand US dollars to an account for me. Also, can you find someone reliable in the United States to sneak a phone to me? Having a phone will make it easier for me to contact the outside world."
"Sure, but who do you need to pay? Can you even use that much money in prison?"
"I’ve paid off a guard, makes things easier inside. Alright, I’ll wait for your call. Please hurry, oh, and don’t forget a phone card."
He handed the phone back to Zhang Yong, who glanced at Yang Yi and asked, "Only making this one call?"
"Is this phone safe?"
Zhang Yong replied disdainfully, "This phone’s for prisoners to use inside. Do you think they’d investigate you? As long as it’s not a particularly critical call, you can dial away."
Yang Yi hesitated for a moment before finally calling Kate.
No sooner had he dialed the number than it was answered, and Kate’s voice came on, anxious, "Hello, who is this?"
"It’s me, are you okay?"
"Are you okay? I guessed it was you calling. Are you okay?"
Kate’s voice sounded very concerned. Yang Yi let out a breath and said, "I’m okay, doing pretty well, actually. Getting enough to eat, sleeping well. What about you?"
As if Kate could be fine. While Yang Yi could at least get some fresh air, Kate was confined to that building, not able to go anywhere else. Going out could get her killed by the Destroyer’s people, so Kate was effectively incarcerated too. Apart from watching TV and being able to make calls whenever, her range of movement was even more limited than Yang Yi’s.
Not knowing what else to say, Yang Yi listened as Kate whispered, "Have you been harassed inside? I’ve heard that people in prison can be very dangerous."
Yang Yi chuckled and replied, "It’s all good. Now, it’s better if I don’t bother them. No one dares to mess with me because I’ve started learning martial arts. What about you, what have you been up to?"
"There’s not much for me to do. Just work out a bit, put on some makeup, that sort of thing. But I’m okay."
Yang Yi let out a sigh and said, "Stay safe."
"I will. You stay safe too."
Yang Yi didn’t know what to say next when Kate whispered softly, "I’ve sold all the inheritance left by Mom and Dad, so there’s some more money now. You... you’ll come back, won’t you?"
"I’ll definitely come back, but don’t rush out, got it?"
"I won’t do anything stupid, I can’t do anything by myself, so I’ll wait for you to come back. Also, if you haven’t come back in a year, I’ll continue to pay the captain to protect me. I’ve spoken with the captain already; he’s a good guy and has agreed to help me."
"That’s good, I’m glad you’ve taken care of that. Okay, I won’t talk anymore now, I’ll have my own phone in the future, and I’ll contact you then. That’s it, goodbye."
Yang Yi hung up the phone, and Zhang Yong curiously asked, "Girlfriend?"
"Your facial expression has betrayed you, and your tone of voice, it’s definitely a woman."
"Does a woman have to be a girlfriend? I told you, no. She’s just a friend, no, can’t even count as a friend, just someone... I can’t even describe what our relationship is."
Zhang Yong still looked unconvinced, then he pocketed his phone and said, "So, got plans after going out?"
"Yeah, there’s this Assassin Organization called Destroyer waiting to take me down. And the woman that just called, that’s a deadlock. It won’t end unless one side is dead. I can hide, but I can’t hide forever. If I still want to do my own thing, then I must resolve this trouble."
"Assassin Organization, which one?"
"Never heard of it, must not be famous, otherwise I would’ve heard of it. Newcomer?"
Zhang Yong shrugged and said, "Dealing with an assassin organization is the most troublesome because they don’t wear ’assassin’ on their faces. You don’t know where they’re hiding, ready to deliver a fatal blow at any moment. It’s really troublesome."
"Do you have any solutions?"
"What can I do? When have assassins ever vanished from this world? That’s the trouble, you have to be on guard all day and night against possible assassins. Gradually, you become paranoid, seeing every person as a potential assassin, driving yourself crazy."
"So what am I supposed to do?"
Zhang Yong looked at Yang Yi and said, "The only way is to become more of an assassin than the assassins. Hide deeper than they do. Strike hard and fast when you make a move, then be strong enough to kill them before they kill you. What else can you do?"
After saying that, Zhang Yong patted Yang Yi’s shoulder and said, "I was planning to teach you more later on, but now, I guess I’ll start teaching you how to be a qualified assassin. It’s a completely different system from kung fu, but your kung fu will be useful and very effective."
Yang Yi was somewhat excited, "Great, start teaching me now."
Zhang Yong shook his head and said, "Before I teach you, I need you to make it clear to me, something feels off. You said your high-level methods you taught me are not useless, but I feel the improvement is limited compared to before. However, I see that you’re really good at playing cards, so you shouldn’t be bluffing. Don’t tell me you’ve been playing me, holding back on purpose?"
Yang Yi scratched his face, hesitated for a long time, and finally said in a low voice, "Well, Brother Yong, I’m going to tell you something, don’t be mad, okay?"
Yang Yi shifted uncomfortably and then said quietly, "I have a photographic memory."
"I said I have a photographic memory. I can remember everything I see once."
"No way, what do you mean?"
"It means that when you play cards, you should pay attention to observing other people’s expressions, reactions, and such, that’s indeed crucial. But, but, what’s more important is having a good memory. It’s easiest if there are marks, but even without marks, you need to remember what cards have been dealt, who holds which cards, then calculate probabilities and so on..."
Zhang Yong was stunned for a moment, then he suddenly exclaimed, "Damn! You’ve been cheating from the start!"