97: Chapter 96: Love Rival 97: Chapter 96: Love Rival Glolov’s wife actually had quite good cooking skills, but Gao Yang could hardly savor the distinctly Russian flavors of the large rye bread loaf and the borscht, especially when Yelena kept passing him pieces of bread she had torn off by hand, and refilled the soup in Gao Yang’s dish just as he had managed to drink it all up, making Gao Yang feel even more uncomfortable.
Cui Bo and Li Jinfang also looked like they were having a hard time, while only Glolov and his family of three seemed genuinely happy.
Finally, after Gao Yang gave Li Jinfang and Cui Bo a look, the three of them left the dining table together.
At that point, they couldn’t care less about whether it was impolite; however, their excuse was pretty good, for not wanting to disturb the rare family reunion of the Glolovs.
The house that Gao Yang had found for Natalia and her daughter was quite big, with six bedrooms, and each of them could have their own room, which were all ready to be used.
Upon entering one of the prepared rooms at random, Gao Yang sat down on the bed with a gloomy face, then curled up with his legs, hugged his head with his hands, and didn’t move at all.
Having known Gao Yang for many years, Cui Bo had never seen him so dejected.
Worried, he said, “Brother Yang, what’s wrong with you?
Is it because of that young girl?
It shouldn’t be like this, right?
It’s not like you’re seducing her; it’s she who is seducing you.”
Gao Yang said painfully, “No, it has nothing to do with Yelena.
No, maybe a little, but it’s mainly because of Catherine.
You remember, right?
I’ve told you about her.”
Cui Bo and Li Jinfang both nodded.
Gao Yang finally raised his head, looking shell-shocked, and said in a heavy tone, “Man, you can’t just say anything that comes to mind, or you’ll suffer the consequences.
I told Yelena that you two are gay partners, real gay partners, and now, now, I’m the one facing the backlash.
Heaven, spare me!”
Cui Bo and Li Jinfang’s faces changed instantly, with Cui Bo looking furious as he said, “Brother Yang, give us an explanation.
What do you mean we’re gay partners?
Real gay partners!”
Li Jinfang sneered with a cold face, his fists cracking as he clenched them, and said, “Brother Yang, how about an explanation?”
Gao Yang waved his hand feebly and said, “I don’t have time to mess with you guys, can’t you see I’m in pain?
Sigh, you just had to bathe together, whose fault is that?”
Li Jinfang’s face went pale, then he suddenly grabbed Cui Bo by the neck and said in a mix of sorrow and anger, “I told you to get out, I told you to get out, dammit, you dead Rabbit, you just had to bathe with me.”
Gao Yang waved his hand feebly again and said, “Let’s talk about something serious; stop messing around.
Sigh, just remember Catherine; that’s enough.
I find Yelena is not easy to mess with, and I can’t outright say anything, so I thought I’d take a roundabout approach, telling her I already have a girlfriend to get her to give up on the idea.
Then, I thought, Catherine is actually quite good, right?”
Gao Yang managed to steer the conversation away, and finally, Li Jinfang let go of Cui Bo.
Then Li Jinfang and Cui Bo both nodded repeatedly, signaling Gao Yang to continue.
Gao Yang sighed and said, “While you guys were bathing, I contacted Catherine and told her I was in South Africa.
Then she said she wanted to visit South Africa, which was about two months away, and I cheerfully told her to give me a heads-up before she came.
But then I thought, what if she has a boyfriend?
It’s better to ask.”
Cui Bo looked expectant and asked, “And then?
Did she tell you she’s actually a man?”
Gao Yang snapped, “Get lost, you dead Rabbit, you’re seriously a dead Rabbit, let me finish!
I asked Catherine if she had a boyfriend.
She asked why, and I said if she did, then he could come along for a visit too.
Then, then…”
Gao Yang couldn’t go on, and frustrated, he pounded the bed until it banged loudly.
Li Jinfang, curious, said, “She wants to bring her boyfriend along?
What’s there to fear?
Let her come; if you don’t entertain her, it’s over.
Plus, you’ve got Yelena as a backup, right?
What’s got you so worked up?”
Gao Yang said mournfully, “If it were as you say, it would be fine.
Catherine told me she doesn’t have a boyfriend, but she has a girlfriend!
She asked if she could bring her girlfriend along!
She’s a lesbian!
Aaah!”
Cui Bo’s eyes suddenly lit up, but Li Jinfang looked puzzled and asked, “What’s a lesbian?”
Cui Bo said impatiently, “It means gay, but for women.
Brother Yang, keep talking.
Give us the details; what exactly did she mean?”
Gao Yang said helplessly, “When I asked Catherine if she had a boyfriend, she asked if I was trying to pursue her.
I thought, since I’m a man, what do I have to be afraid of?
Of course, I just said I was.
Then she said she’s unsure of her sexual orientation.
My god, she actually said she doesn’t know her sexual orientation.
What kind of situation is this?
What is this!”
Cui Bo was still impatient, “Get to the point.
Americans are very open-minded, for all we know, she might be bisexual.
It’s nothing, keep going.”
“Alright, the point is, Catherine said she had never dated a guy until she went to university.
There, she met an exchange student from England, a woman, who also had never dated a man before.
Can you believe it?
They found common ground because of this!
I shit you not, is this normal in America?
This is so not normal!”
“Get to the point!”
“The point is, that British woman figured herself out after meeting Catherine; she realized she was a lesbian.
Then she went all out pursuing Catherine, wanting to snag your ideal sister-in-law for herself, and Catherine, shit, she was actually moved by her advances.
She’s actually asking me what to do!”
Li Jinfang and Cui Bo both gasped, exclaiming in unison, “Damn!
What is this mess!
Does this even need to be asked?”
“I shit you not, I was hesitant at first, but can I afford to hesitate now?
I immediately told her it should be me, of course, but then Catherine decided—she actually decided to bring that English girl to meet me to help her choose whether she wants a man or a woman!
And she asked me to keep it a secret.
Shit, what kind of situation is this?
I could have tolerated having a rival, but my rival turns out to be a woman, I have to compete with a woman over another woman, how the hell can I tolerate this!”
Watching the devastated Gao Yang, Li Jinfang sighed heavily, “Brother Yang, American women are too fierce.
Let it go, man.
I think Yelena is quite nice.
You could just wait a few more years.”
Cui Bo scornfully said, “You don’t know squat.
Brother Yang, don’t listen to Toad, let me tell you, how could you let go of a girl like Catherine?
She’s innocent, man.
She doesn’t even know whether she likes guys or girls, what does that tell you?
It shows she’s pure!
An American woman, a great beauty at that, who is not only not promiscuous but also pure?
That’s incredibly rare, you must take her down!”
Gao Yang replied weakly, “We’ll see.
I need to take a break, haven’t recovered from the shock yet, and with another two months to go, there’s no rush.
Worse comes to worst, I’ll keep my distance from those two women.
I’m not playing their game.
And what about Yelena?
How am I going to explain it to Old Russian?
The little girl doesn’t get it, and why the hell doesn’t he?
Doesn’t he tell her off?
What am I supposed to do with Old Russian in the future?
Sigh, I just don’t understand.
Toad seems pretty fierce too, why does Yelena have to seek security from me?”
Li Jinfang sighed and said, “Actually, I’ve been puzzled about this as well.”
After Li Jinfang finished speaking, the three fell silent again.
After a long while, seeing Gao Yang curl up again, Li Jinfang let out a sigh, “Brother Yang, don’t lose heart, this is nothing, really nothing.
Cheer up.
Didn’t you say you wanted to train in combat with me?
How about we start right now?”
“Stop joking, I’m not in the mood right now.
Let’s do it tomorrow, bright and early.
The important thing is Rabbit; there are shooting ranges in Johannesburg.
Let’s go look for a range tomorrow, so Rabbit has a place to practice shooting.”
As soon as shooting practice was mentioned, Cui Bo immediately perked up, “Brother Yang, I forgot to tell you, we should’ve asked Uriyangko to get us a reloading kit for ammunition on our way here.
You can trust bullets you load yourself, and they’re more precise.
We’ve got time now, why don’t you hurry up and reload some?
Hey, hey, I’ve saved quite a few of the cartridge cases you’ve used.
You can thank me.”
Gao Yang thought what Cui Bo said made sense.
The hand-loaded cartridges Bob left him had all been used up.
Near the end in Misrata, Gao Yang could only use regular bullets.
If he’d had hand-loaded hollow-point bullets during the rescue of Ali, he wouldn’t have been so bothered by the shifting wind at a distance of a little over four hundred meters; at least things would have been much better than using regular bullets.
Reloading and hand-loading were pretty much the same thing, with the only difference being that reloading uses spent cases, while hand-loading uses new ones.
When it comes to precision, though, reloaded bullets using cases fired once already are actually more accurate.
Reloading bullets is quite a hassle: you have to collect the spent cases, and you can only use cases fired from your own gun in that same gun; using cases from another weapon is completely pointless.
You have to meticulously clean the cases, precisely measure the propellant, and place the primer and the bullet itself—all without any deviation.
When reloading bullets, you even have to pick the brand of propellant, since different brands and types burn at different speeds.
You also have to carefully select the bullets, choosing different weights from light to heavy, because the heavier the bullet, the more stable the flight, the greater the lethality, and the less it’s affected by wind.
However, heavy bullets also lose velocity faster; the trajectory is more curved, affecting precision.
If the bullet is too light, then the power is a bit weaker, but the trajectory is straighter, although it’s more affected by the wind.
If Gao Yang had to figure out reloading on his own, testing which combination of propellant and bullet weight was the best, he would rather just buy high-precision sniper bullets, even if the accuracy was a bit off.
But, all the preliminary work for reloading had already been done by Bob, so all Gao Yang needed to do was to call Bob to get the details, then follow the instructions to the letter.
Realizing he could just call Bob to get started on reloading his own bullets, Gao Yang immediately couldn’t sit still.
He bounced off the bed and said, “Wait for me, I’m going to charge the phone and then give Bob a call.”
Watching Gao Yang hustle to find the satellite phone, Cui Bo let out a slight smile and nudged Li Jinfang with his elbow, “See?
Just divert his attention, and with one sentence, Brother Yang immediately tossed women aside.”
Li Jinfang nodded, flexing his hand, “That’s right, had you not mentioned it, I would’ve forgotten.
You’ve really screwed me over this time, getting people to think I’m your boyfriend.
Don’t think you can divert attention this time, Rabbit.
Your time is up!”