Chapter 178 - The Call Pt.4

"Do you understand what's going on? I feel like 90% of this conversation is me yelling at you and you not offering any signs of remorse or understanding. If I could break into your mind and just clarify how it works it would explain a lot things right now. All I'm asking is to have a conversation instead of this one-sided thing we have going on."

Adding on to all of the thoughts going on his mind, Zhuang Wei just kept silent adding to the fuel. He had no way to go about this unless the other offered some commentary. It wasn't a conversation as much as it was him yelling at him or "aggressively" getting his point across. The last time he trusted his best friend after a so-called conversation, he had gone behind his back and tried searching up Ying Ying. 

Last night he truly thought that he had understood, they had a couple open-talks about her before. Last night was a mix of him admonishing him and trying to explain his perspective. The alcohol was just the 'punishment' for the stupid prank or test as he called it was. No matter what. he could not let the gun thing go completely. Especially, after Zhuang Wei has provided another reason for him to doubt him so soon.

The gun thing could have gone wrong purely from the danger of it. There were weapons involved and with how fast guns could shoot, Zhuang Wei could have been easily hurt. Their guns were even modified to shoot faster. The time period between cl.i.c.k.i.n.g the gun and it shooting out the bullet was reduced in comparison to average market versions. They had it down to science and on their last test the numbers were shooting at a 5 sec average. That was the amount of time between Zhuang Wei and a fatal injury if he took it seriously. 

In addition, just having that stressful situation and knowing their history it was poor choice in all aspects. It made no sense that this was an trick to showcase her skills or test her when there were so many other variables. Now with this code thing, he was again pushed into a place of doubting his friend. Intentions aside, it was clear that everything was done for him and his benefit. He didn't doubt that one bit and understood the core reasoning. That reasoning is what kept him from lashing out completely against Zhuang Wei. 

How angry could you get at someone who was doing it for you? However, every man had a limit. Zhuang Wei had managed to get two strikes against Ying Ying within a span of twenty-four hours. As his best friend, he offered no benefits and only dug pits for him to fall into. At least, if he had gained some information and gotten some results from it the situation wouldn't be as pitiful. To do all this, create such a scene and end up with nothing in the end was both embarrassing and frustrating. 

He really didn't want to take sides between Zhuang Wei and Ying Ying but his feelings were wavering. From a purely neutral perspective, setting aside personal ties, he sided more with Ying Ying. The extent of what could have happened to her each time, if Zhuang Wei was successful, was quite dangerous. It was easier for him to understand and imagine since they came from similar walks of life. Not to say that no one has tried this on her before or him, it was just a very sticky situation to be in. 

From his memory, no one had tried the code option on him because there was nothing to gain from it. Yes, he had things to hide and things he wanted to keep away from other people's eyes. However, identity wise who he was, is and was clear. Most events could be linked back to him if someone looked hard enough. There was no point in hiding that since it served as a warning as well to people. 

He was very low-key in nature and preferred it that way both professionally and personally. That did not mean he maintained a low-key image in all aspects of his life. It was very beneficial to have his name linked to things as it displayed his power. Which to an extent, kept the bottom feeders and weaker forces from looking for him. So in general, his identity was quite known. 

Other than a couple smaller aliases, his original identity was loud and displayed everywhere. That sort of presence was directly opposite of what Ying Ying was trying to accomplish. The way the code would not affect him, was not the same for her. From his estimations, she had multiple identities and they were kept hidden for a reason.

The instant she had given out her name to him and Zhuang Wei, he knew she was good at switching identities. Her face didn't glitch at all nor did she stutter before answering them. Which could be easy to regular people, just lie and let it go. Yet, with her there was a high chance the name was not used lightly. The name once given, came with a backstory and was eliminated from future use. At least, that's how he would have done it and he expected that of her as well. 

Her real name was something that could not be given out easily and he respected that boundary. A name was just a title and she could give it to him when comfortable. He was quite confident that she would open up to him as time went along. With how things went in the last hour, that belief was a little shaky. 

"Zhuang Wei, I'm speaking to you. Are you going to say anything or are you going to leave that base any time soon? Because I'm stuck talking to you on this phone and it isn't really a conversation if you let me speak alone."

"Are you giving me any space to talk? You're going on and on, where was I supposed to interject?"

There was a slight raise in voice near the end and inadvertently exposed how Zhuang Wei was feeling. He had maintained a calm voice this entire time but finally had responded with some emotion

".....are you yelling at me now? Go ahead and yell. I'd love to see you yell if that meant you would be speaking back to me. Where did I not give you space to talk? This entire time I have been asking you repeatedly to respond and tried to urge a response out of you. So where is it that you didn't get ample time, you are always very quick to respond. Then why in this situation are you staying mum and being so slow on the uptake. The best friend I know would have shot back at me already if he thought I was misjudging him. Which you didn't so can I take this as acceptance?"

"Well the best friend I know, would have understood my reasoning. It was for the good of both of us, we can't risk anything right now. Why can't you just accept that what I did was the best for in the moment?! How is doing this code so wrong?! We know nothing about her, name, number, address, is that even her real face?? She's a good choice otherwise yes, I like seeing you happy yes, she can be good for you, yes. But what is the pay off?? Am I not supposed to be concerned and look into more. Just a little bit of information would calm me down so we can prepare for later. The code was the most efficient way of doing this, gather as much as I can within the time period. Then search further within what was pulled and see what actually belonged to her. Its not like it had her name attached to it, it was just a vague search regardless of her parameters. How many people fit the bill of her?"

"How MANY PEOPLE FIT THE BILL??? Are you kidding me right now, are you speaking so lightly knowing how dangerous that is. Parameters are very very dangerous and you know that. The parts were vague yes, I don't have the details of what you did in front of me. What you were doing was laying a trap or a time bomb for her later. If she's giving us another alias, do you think she wants you to connect her other ones? They are separate for a reason."

"Are you saying there aren't many woman with her skill set?? The only thing specific to her, is her build and ethnicity. We still don't know if that is all true, what prosthetics or whatever changes have been done to her face. Is she Chinese? We are assuming she is but she could be another minority, another mix of ethnicities. I understand the dangers of this but the parameters were so vague, she only knew it was about her cause she was looking for it. How do you expect her enemies to find it?? And what life is she living that this is such a big stressor."