Xiao Ran’s mockery was so obvious a fool could see it, Yang Yi finally couldn’t help himself and said, "What’s the issue, any problem?"
Xiao Ran waved her hands repeatedly, saying, "No problem, no issue. I just can’t help but want to watch you shoot. Whatever gun you want to use, you can borrow any of them from me except for my main gun."
Yang Yi looked at his arm and said helplessly, "Let’s wait, I can’t even lift my arm right now. I definitely have to wait for my injury to heal a bit before I can start training. Plus, I want to go to Las Vegas to find someone first, um, we’ll talk about it when I’m better."
Xiao Ran casually picked up a handgun, a simple one without many accessories, and handed it to Yang Yi, saying, "Don’t wait, now just hold this gun up for five minutes to start."
Yang Yi said helplessly, "Please, I’m really, really hungry right now, and also really, really weak. Did you forget I just woke up not long ago?"
Xiao Ran raised a hand and said, "Your injury doesn’t affect eating, and mainly it’s severe blood loss. If you want to recover, it won’t take too long. Forget it, I won’t rush to see you make a fool of yourself. I can wait, wait a few days to see how you’ll cry. Go out, I’ll get you something to eat."
Yang Yi frowned and asked, "Is it that difficult?"
"You’ll find out soon enough."
Xiao Ran pushed Yang Yi back out, dumped him in the dining room, then casually took out a box of cereal and a carton of milk from the fridge, planning to make Yang Yi some cereal with milk.
At that moment, Yang Yi whispered, "Sorry, but could you bring me my satellite phone first? I need to make some calls."
"Wait a bit, eat something first, then make your calls."
"No, this call is very important to me."
Xiao Ran put down the milk and said, "You really are a hassle. Fine, seeing as you’re injured, and considering I’ll have to mix with you in the future, I’ll let you have your way for now."
She went into the living room, took Yang Yi’s satellite phone out of her bag, turned it on, and placed it in Yang Yi’s hands, then casually said, "This phone is a ’cleaner’s’, it looks rather familiar."
With a puzzled face, Yang Yi asked, "What do you mean? What’s this about a cleaner’s?"
Xiao Ran shrugged casually, "You don’t know? Well, the phone is provided by ’cleaners’. They can protect these numbers and prevent eavesdropping on calls. ’Cleaners’ don’t have their own satellites, but they can apply the highest level of encryption to satellite phones. So, I suspect ’cleaners’ might be controlling the communications companies."
Yang Yi was astounded, "Is that even possible?"
"Of course, you just don’t know the extent of ’cleaners’ capabilities. In fact, it’s quite common."
Yang Yi wanted to contact Brian, but finding out that the satellite phone was encrypted and protected by the ’cleaners’, he started to hesitate.
Xiao Ran said indifferently, "Go ahead, let ’cleaners’ listen to your call. It’s much better than being monitored by someone you don’t know. You have to understand that right now, you and ’cleaners’ are collaborators. If you switch phones, you might end up being intercepted by the CIA and NSA, or possibly by the Grey-cloaked People."
"No wonder they never dare to discuss anything important over the phone."
After muttering a moment of realization, Yang Yi whispered, "Uh, sorry, could you move me a little farther away?"
Xiao Ran looked at Yang Yi and was about to push him away when she suddenly asked, "Are you going to call a woman?"
Yang Yi paused, then said, "Uh, yes, I need to make a call."
"No, not a girlfriend, she’s my... partner, right, my partner."
Xiao Ran pushed Yang Yi into the living room and said, "To think you’ve survived this long without even a girlfriend, ha, pitiful. Hey, let me ask you something, did you manage to protect your ’chrysanthemum’ in prison?"
Yang Yi was very angry and shouted loudly, "What are you talking about! With my high IQ and EQ, how could my ’chrysanthemum’ not be protected? Let me tell you, the first person I killed in prison was... Anyway, I’m perfectly fine!"
Xiao Ran gave Yang Yi a smile, a squeeze of his eyebrows, and then went back to preparing the food.
Yang Yi was a bit angry because he really had managed to protect his ’chrysanthemum’ and it was quite difficult, not to mention legendary, but he didn’t feel like explaining any of this to Xiao Ran right now, nor could he.
"Hey, are you jealous?"
Wanting to strike back, Yang Yi blurted out this sentence as if possessed by a ghost, but immediately regretted it.
With a look of astonishment, Xiao Ran said, "Jealous? Jealous of you? Ha, haha, you?"
Spreading his hands in disbelief, Xiao Ran shook his head at Yang Yi, saying with a smirk, "Forget it, I can’t even be bothered to make fun of you."
Xiao Ran, with utter disdain, returned to the kitchen, added cereal to the milk, put the milk in the microwave, and then started to heat up the slices of bread.
Yang Yi still made the call to Brian.
As soon as Brian answered, he said in a deep voice, "What’s going on, I couldn’t reach you these past few days."
Yang Yi sighed and said, "Don’t even mention it, I almost died. Hawkeye targeted me when he couldn’t find you guys, and the worst part is they actually found me."
"What’s your situation, we can come back immediately to rescue you."
"No need, the situation is complicated and can’t be explained in just a line or two. Let’s talk when we meet. Don’t tell me where you are; I can’t come to you right now, I need to recover. When I’m able to, I’ll contact you. I’m safe now, don’t worry about me."
Brian was by no means a fussy person. He spoke in a low voice, "As long as you’re sure you’re safe, that’s good. If there’s any danger, notify us immediately."
The call ended quickly, as Yang Yi had just wanted to reassure him, and then he called Kate.
Waiting for Kate to answer, Yang Yi spoke in a low voice, "Hey, Kate, how’s everything on your end?"
In a soft voice, Kate said, "I’m fine. What about you, did something happen?"
Yang Yi replied with a smile, "No, I’m doing well."
"No, something must have happened to you. Tell me what’s wrong? Don’t hide it now, being honest is the best comfort you can give me. Tell me!"
Yang Yi hadn’t told anyone he was in trouble, and Brian and the others certainly wouldn’t have informed Kate, so he said in surprise, "I really was close to dying, but I’m fine now, I’m safe. But how did you know?"
"Intuition, a woman’s sixth sense, and also, you would not speak to me in that tone if nothing was wrong."
"There’s something wrong with my tone? Impossible! I think my tone is just fine."
Kate said softly, "I feel there’s something off about your tone. Are you really safe?"
Yang Yi let out a breath and said, "I really am safe, trust me, otherwise I wouldn’t be calling you, right? I just wanted to let you know I’m okay because I really was close to death. Kate, I’m good now, wait for me to come back, I’ll be back soon."
Kate sighed softly, "I’ll wait for you to come back, Yang Yi. Be careful and take care of yourself, I’m waiting for you."