It Might Be Enough

Bai Ge's marksmanship was pretty good, but it had indeed been a long time since he had last touched a gun.

When he was at school, he hadn't taken shooting as an elective. He only got ten bullets a semester, so in terms of the number of times he had fired, he really couldn't compare to his younger sister.

He had played with his father's guns since he was young, while his father had never let his younger sister touch them.

This had led Bai Ye to develop an unusual obsession with firearms. After coming to the United States, she had indeed gone wild with them.

Bai Ge didn't mind, though. Learning to shoot would do his younger sister no harm. On the contrary, it was a good thing.

Just like Shirley's brother, who had been willing to let Shirley carry a concealable handgun into all kinds of public places to protect her. It was obviously illegal, yet as a police officer, her brother had done it without hesitation.

Bai Ge had come to see Bai Ye this time precisely because he had planned to provide her with some security.

That wasn't to say he intended to give his younger sister some kind of protective trait.

After all, doing that directly would be equivalent to pulling his younger sister into the containment circle. For the time being, Bai Ge wasn't willing to let her face those things.

Bai Ye's current life was quite stable. Even if she needed protection, all she needed was the ability to deal with basic dangers.

As for supernatural matters, Bai Ge had decided to cleanse San Francisco, and even the entire state of California.

As long as no supernatural matters got involved, Bai Ye's life would basically be no different from before.

Bai Ge was still thinking when, before long, the three of them arrived at Bai Ye's residence.

It was a detached house where only Shirley and Bai Ye lived. In fact, it was Shirley's own house, which she had simply rented to Bai Ye at a very low price.

Shirley's grandfather lived next door, while her older brother lived across the street.

The entire community was practically full of Chinese people. Many homeowners rented rooms to international students at low prices. Bai Ye just happened to be Shirley's classmate, so the two of them ended up living together.

After sitting inside for a while, Bai Ge planned to chat a little before leaving.

Bai Ye showed Bai Ge around her bedroom, while Shirley sat on the living-room sofa and played with her phone.

Suddenly, Bai Ye said, "Bro, you came to see me without preparing a gift?"

Bai Ge laughed. "Of course I did."

As he spoke, he took out a gift box. The box was tiny and very light.

Unexpectedly, after Bai Ye took it, she immediately said, "Shirley, this is for you."

She turned around and stuffed the gift box into Shirley's hands.

Shirley was stunned, then smiled. "No, thank you."

Bai Ge said, "No. It's our first time meeting, so I should give you a gift. After all, my younger sister is doing much better than I expected, and you've helped her a lot."

Then he turned back to Bai Ye. "But, Xiao Ye... this box was for you. I'll prepare another one for her separately."

Bai Ye waved it off. "No need. You coming to see me is already a gift!"

"Uh..." Bai Ge hesitated.

Seeing this, Bai Ye hurriedly said, "Hey! You're not giving me another keychain, are you?"

As she spoke, she leaned against Shirley and said, "Open it quickly. I want to see what my brother prepared."

Shirley smiled and opened the gift box.

A flash of blood-red immediately entered their vision, and both girls froze.

Inside the gift box was an astonishing gemstone pendant, its blood-colored radiance dazzling and brilliant.

It was simply too beautiful. Neither woman could resist something so glittering.

Bai Ye asked in astonishment, "Bro, what is this?"

"A rock." Bai Ge was speechless.

This was a flawless, 9.9-carat blood-red spinel pendant that he had carefully polished in his imagination.

It wasn't that Bai Ge was unwilling to give her something bigger. The spinel he had given Xiao Lan to sell was large enough, but its quality was far inferior to this one.

Besides, when it came to wearing jewelry, bigger wasn't always better. Wearing something weighing dozens of carats around one's neck would look terribly ugly.

The fist-sized piece Xiao Lan had taken away would ultimately be cut into several pieces unless it was sold to a foreign royal family.

"This is a gemstone, isn't it? How much would something this big cost?" Shirley didn't seem to know much about it either.

Bai Ge smiled. "It's not a gemstone, just spinel. It's very cheap, just a little trinket. Maybe a thousand or so... In U.S. dollars, less than two hundred..."

Because of the master-level perfect craftsmanship of Bai Ge and Bell, this thing would probably sell for around ten million yuan if it were put up for auction. Bai Ge had left out a ten-thousand multiplier.

Bai Ye grinned. "Bro, you finally agreed to buy a gift worth more than a thousand yuan!"

"Don't worry, you have one too. I'll give it to you tomorrow." Bai Ge had only prepared one, but he could make as many as he wanted, so of course he wouldn't leave his younger sister without one.

Shirley was delighted to receive a two-hundred-dollar gift.

The pendant was especially beautiful and exquisitely crafted, and she loved it. If she wore it out and said it was a real gemstone, people would definitely believe her.

"I love it so much! Did you buy this in China? Something this beautiful for only two hundred dollars—what a bargain!" Shirley was overjoyed.

She eagerly put it on. Although she was currently dressed casually, that dazzling splash of red would draw attention wherever she went.

Bai Ye loved it too. She anxiously said to Bai Ge, "You have another one, right? You have to bring it tomorrow and give it to me!"

"All right, all right." Bai Ge laughed.

He watched as the two women rushed into the bedroom to look in the mirror. After a while, he planned to say goodbye.

Unexpectedly, Shirley said, "Come with me! I'll give you a gift too!"

With that, she pulled Bai Ge into the bedroom.

Shirley opened an enormous wardrobe, immediately revealing the firearms inside.

There were all kinds of long guns and short guns, more than twenty in total, and every one of them was new.

"Hm? How do you have so many guns?" Bai Ge asked in surprise.

Shirley smiled. "I bought them! Handguns are more strictly regulated, but these big guns aren't a problem. Lots of people in our community have piles of guns at home for self-defense and collecting."

Bai Ge asked, "Are you planning to give me a gun?"

"I really want to, but sorry. If you get caught with it, you'll be in trouble, and so will I. All these guns are registered... But I can give you this."

After speaking, Shirley took a bulletproof vest from a drawer.

"This is a lightweight bulletproof vest. If you wear it secretly, no one will know. Take it for protection!"

Bai Ge didn't know whether to laugh or cry. This woman was actually giving him a bulletproof vest!

"Hey, aren't you considering whether I can get through customs with it?"

Shirley froze. "Oh, right. Then what should we do? These are the only things I have. Should I give you some cosmetics instead?"

Bai Ge laughed. "Forget it. You don't need to return the favor. Keep it for yourself, or give it to my sister if you want."

"How could I do that? I have lots more. How about this? Tomorrow, we'll go practice shooting. You can use my gun as much as you like!" Shirley said.

"All right."

Just then, someone suddenly knocked on the front door.

Shirley hurriedly tidied the room and ran to open it.

"Bro, you're off work?"

Standing outside was Shirley's older brother, a police officer with the local Anti-Drug Bureau.

He looked solemn and was just about to say something when he suddenly saw Bai Ge.

"Who is this?"

Shirley hurriedly introduced the two of them to each other. Her brother's name was Mike.

Mike was also Chinese, of course. After shaking Bai Ge's hand, he said, "Shirley, be careful these next few days. It's best not to go out unnecessarily."

Shirley asked, "What happened?"

Mike said worriedly, "We carried out an operation tonight. I shot and killed one armed criminal, but several others escaped. I'm worried someone might seek revenge. Shirley, if you're going out to have fun, you must tell me."

Shirley said, "We're going shooting tomorrow. That's not dangerous, is it?"

Mike smiled. "Shooting is fine. I'll take you there. That'll be the safest option."

"I know. Every time you come back from an operation, you're so jumpy. When have I ever actually encountered anyone seeking revenge?" Shirley said dismissively.

Mike said seriously, "It's best if nothing happens, of course. But if it happens even once, I won't be able to bear it. Do you understand, Shirley?"

At this point, Bai Ge asked, "Who did you shoot and kill tonight?"

"Gracie, a drug dealer. You'll know when you watch the news tomorrow," Mike said.

"Oh. Where might the people who escaped be hiding?" Bai Ge asked.

"I don't know, but they definitely haven't left the city yet. I'll catch them. I won't be at ease until I do," Mike said harshly.

Bai Ge fell silent. If they really intended to seek revenge, Bai Ye would inevitably be caught up in it too.

Seeing how anxious Mike was about his younger sister's safety, Bai Ge actually felt the same way.

However, Bai Ge wasn't going to passively wait for others to seek revenge. Whether they truly intended to seek revenge or not, he could simply eliminate them all.

Perhaps those people didn't even know his younger sister. Perhaps they had never planned to seek revenge in the first place.

But that had nothing to do with Bai Ge.

Who could blame him? The roommate of the younger sister of their enemy... was his own younger sister.

P.S. Now you know why I apologized yesterday, right?