Spy-x-War Showdown
Chapter 224 - 223 Janitor

Chapter 224: Chapter 223 Janitor

Xiao Ran’s mood seemed a bit down, probably because she was lamenting that she was only a half-finished product.

Yang Yi, somewhat puzzled, said, "Why do you consider yourself a half-finished product?"

Xiao Ran let out a sigh, bit her lip, and then whispered, "The cleaners once had a plan..."

Yang Yi was too busy admiring Xiao Ran’s lips to pay attention to her words because he thought her lips were really quite attractive, especially when she bit them.

To say they were nice wasn’t quite right; accurate would be to say they were tempting, captivating.

Having spent nearly three years in prison, Yang Yi had gotten to a point where he found even sows could be as attractive as Diaochan, although he had been out for a while now. Xiao Ran was the first woman he had gotten to know since his release, or more precisely, the first stunning beauty.

Consequently, Yang Yi got distracted, just watching her lips move until Xiao Ran, irritated, raised her voice and said, "Hey, hey! Are you listening?"

Yang Yi started, then loudly responded, "Huh, oh, what did you just say? Sorry, I couldn’t help myself."

Xiao Ran appeared very annoyed, so Yang Yi apologetically said, "It’s because you’re too beautiful."

Xiao Ran rolled her eyes at Yang Yi but forgave him nonetheless.

"Sure, you have a way with words," she said.

Taking a deep breath, Xiao Ran continued, "The cleaners had a plan, which was to infiltrate Huaxia in order to expand their operations there. My foster mother was one of the collaborators with the cleaners and was an executor of this plan."

Yang Yi immediately asked, "Sorry, could you explain what kinds of businesses the cleaners are involved in? Intelligence?"

Xiao Ran shook her head and said, "Not intelligence; intelligence gathering isn’t the main direction of the cleaners’ business. As the name implies, the cleaners are about cleaning up, like, for instance, when a big shot gets into trouble. If the matter were to be exposed, it would ruin everything for him. That’s when the cleaners would come in and help eliminate all evidence of his wrongdoing, allowing his life to remain completely unaffected and undisturbed. Basically, the cleaners only serve the super-rich and, of course, the very powerful."

Yang Yi had an epiphany and said, "So it’s about clearing evidence."

Xiao Ran nodded and smiled, "Exactly, that’s it."

Yang Yi spoke seriously, "Does doing that kind of work rake in a lot of money?"

Xiao Ran sighed and said, "Could it not be profitable? Do you still want to hear what I’m saying or not?"

"Please, go on, I’ll try not to interrupt."

"Since entering the new century, Huaxia’s national strength has been growing daily, its influence increasing. Consequently, the cleaners also want to get into Huaxia to expand their operations. There’s a joke, I don’t know if you’ve heard it."

"Why are you telling a joke all of a sudden? What’s the joke?"

"The CIA once trained a perfect spy to infiltrate the Soviet Union. This spy spoke Russian extremely well, was familiar with almost all the dialects of the Soviet Union, drank like a Soviet, and acted like a Soviet. But as soon as he entered the Soviet Union, he was immediately caught and quickly had his identity exposed. Why?"

Yang Yi asked curiously, "Yeah, why?"

"Because he was Black."

Yang Yi laughed and said, "Come on, what kind of joke is that? How could a Soviet be Black? Even if there were actually Black people in the Soviet Union, for a Black person to carry out espionage activities as a Soviet would be too conspicuous. How could the CIA make such a mistake? Oh, I get it now!"

Xiao Ran smiled and said, "You’re at last not too dim-witted."

Yang Yi sighed and said, "So the cleaners need to train Huaxia people to carry out work, or else sending a bunch of foreigners into Huaxia would be too easily exposed."

Xiao Ran nodded and said, "Yes, I’m one of those who were trained to enter Huaxia for preliminary work."

"So why was the plan halted later on?"

Xiao Ran spoke softly, "Because it was too difficult. It would have been easy to send a few spies into Huaxia, but the cleaners didn’t just want intelligence; they wanted a system, a vast, complex, and efficient system. This required an extensive network, one that absolutely couldn’t be discovered by the government and the public. Only with such a network could a truly meaningful cleaners’ network be established. But that was impossible to achieve, the cleaners weren’t that powerful yet, so the plan was scrapped."

Yang Yi nodded and said, "Yes, it really isn’t easy."

Xiao Ran exhaled and said, "I was adopted."

"Ah! You were adopted?"

"Don’t focus on these irrelevant issues. Your focus shouldn’t be here. I was adopted from a young age, my adoptive mother trained me from childhood. She taught me shooting, she taught me languages, and made me familiar with everything about Huaxia, because the underworld needed agents who could enter Huaxia, and a Huaxia person was certainly the most suitable."

Yang Yi spoke quietly, "You’re absolutely right."

Xiao Ran said calmly, "My adoptive mother was a collaborator with the cleaners. When the cleaners set the goal of entering Huaxia, she stopped my training and began to train me to be familiar with everything about Huaxia instead, and I gained a Huaxia family background."

"Why learn all these?"

"Because in Huaxia, there’s no need for a sharpshooter nor an outstanding killer. The cleaners need someone with a high education, someone with extremely outstanding social skills, someone who can build a network and use it at crucial moments. Using beauty to entertain people is the most foolish act, it’s what my mother despised the most. So, I need to become a truly insightful and capable... beauty!"

Yang Yi clapped his hands, admiring, "You make a lot of sense."

"My mother began to transform me from an action-oriented agent into a thinker rather than a doer, into a person who gave orders instead of carrying them out, because activities in Huaxia did not require a sharpshooter."

Yang Yi, looking puzzled, said, "Are you saying that for an agent, using brains is a bit more advanced than using brawn?"

"Obviously!"

Yang Yi couldn’t help but say joyfully, "Then I’m top shelf!"

Xiao Ran was again frustrated, then she took a deep breath and said, "But after my transformation, the cleaners stopped their plan. My transformation was pointless, and I wasted four years for it. What’s worse, my adoptive mother also passed away. I became worthless to the cleaners because they don’t need a half-finished product, especially since they had ended the plan to enter Huaxia, and they certainly didn’t need a sharpshooter. They have sharpshooters, the best sharpshooters."

As she spoke, Xiao Ran spread her arms, proudly saying, "Luckily, I managed to get into Trinity College with my own effort. I got in on my own!"

Yang Yi, looking nonchalant, said, "Is that so hard? After all, it’s just Trinity College."

Xiao Ran was taken aback, then indignantly said, "You speak as if you could just walk in if you wanted."

"Exactly. Oxford, Cambridge, Yale, Harvard, many universities sent me invites wanting me to attend, full scholarships were no problem at all, it’s just that I never went. Uh, don’t you know I’m a genius?"

Watching Yang Yi with a matter-of-fact expression, Xiao Ran opened her mouth, then waved her hand and said, "Let’s forget it, we’re not discussing this."