Beauty and the Bodyguard

Chapter 143 - At Our Doorstep

Tang Yin made her way to class five once more during lunch. She didn't dare approach Chen Yushu about the matter again, opting instead to ask a nerdy-looking girl for help…

The girl was clearly the type that minded her own business, studying without listening to gossip or anything of the sort- she didn't know if Lin Yi was even in the room. She took a look inside class five before making sure Lin Yi wasn't there.

Tang Yin was both disappointed and frustrated- was Lin Yi doing this to piss her off on purpose? What was he even doing, hadn't he told her mother that he'd bring the recipe today?

It was half past one in the afternoon when Lin Yi barely made it in time for the bell, and Yushu poked at Mengyao upon seeing his entrance. "Shield Bro's here, Yao Yao."

"Oh……" Mengyao raised her head, lowering it back down immediately upon seeing that Lin Yi was looking her way. She was still struggling to figure out what this guy's relationship with Tang Yin was.

"You don't look very happy, Yao Yao." Yushu asked, noticing that her friend seemed rather disspirited.

"No, I'm just feeling a bit tired……" Mengyao said as she massaged her shoulder a little. She phrased her question carefully as she turned to Yushu. "Shu, what d'you think Lin Yi was absent for?"

"I dunno. Maybe I can ask for you?" Yushu asked. Yao Yao's definitely looking at Lin Yi differently..?

"Ah… I guess you could……" Mengyao agreed after some hesitation.

"Oh. Should I ask him why Tang Yin's looking for him too?" Yushu said as she typed on a phone, preparing a text to be sent to Lin Yi. She had to resort to paper balls before Lin Yi had gotten a handphone, but they were past those primitive ways now that he did have one.

"Ask him that..?" Mengyao was about to ask 'what for?' when her mouth shut up on her own. "Do what you want, I guess……"

"Heh……" Yushu grinned as she tapped at her phone before sending the text to Lin Yi.

"There was a lady fair and kind, a village girl they call Fang……"

A phone started ringing… It was a pleasant melody, albeit a very old-fashioned one…

Class was moments away, and class was dead silent as a result… The ringtone was explosively loud because of that, and everyone turned their heads to where the sound was coming from…

Lin Yi couldn't help but feel awkward as everyone looked at him- he was afraid that Huaijun wouldn't be able to reach him through a call, and decided to set the whole phone to 'ringtone mode' in case he wanted to text him.

He clicked on his phone- thank god it was just a text.

His classmates were already turning their heads away- they just wanted to see where the sound was coming from. Mengyao, on the other hand, had a soft grin on her face while Yushu had her tongue out. Not my fault your phone's not on vibrate.

Lin Yi saw that the text was from Yushu. "Yao Yao wanted me to ask where you were this morning."

Lin Yi smiled with a shake of his head- so the Miss was curious after all.This Yushu, too, throwing Mengyao's name out like that when she probably wanted her curiosity secret.

From what Lin Yi could see, the Miss belonged to the mensao (basically tsundere) type, cold on the outside but passionate inside…… Her face made it look like Lin Yi owed her a couple million kuai or something, but there were times when she expressed concern for him… She wasn't that bad of an employer.

She was probably wondering why Lin Yi was absent, but was too shy to ask him herself and asked Yushu to help do that instead. Yushu had completely exposed Mengyao's intentions.

Lin Yi's decided to mess with her a little. "Went to the police station caz of the Heibao thing." (Lin Yi calls him little Hei here)

But the text wasn't for Yushu- it was sent to Mengyao.

Mengyao had been eyeing Yushu's phone the whole time after she'd texted Lin Yi- she didn't expect it to be her phone to be vibrating.

Curious, she pulled her phone out, assuming that it was a text from an advertising company or one of those irritating con artists- her face darkened upon seeing who the sender was.

Lin Yi?! The guy was even telling her of what he'd been up to this morning…

Would Lin Yi be so obedient as to report his business to her like that? Mengyao knew that this wasn't the type of person Lin Yi was, and that only meant one thing: Yushu had done something with the text- why would Lin Yi have replied to her instead of Yushu elsewise?

"Shu!" Mengyao held the phone up for Yushu to see. "What's going on?"

"Ugh…… I don't know?" Yushu blinked, acting completely oblivious like some innocent loli girl.

"Show me your phone!" Mengyao didn't bother interrogating Yushu anymore- the two of them grew up together, and she knew best what kind of personality the girl had… She was a real pro at acting innocent.

"My… phone? What's so interesting about my phone..?" Yushu said as she continued the act. "Didn't we buy the same one together… Did you forget? You know, that time where we saw that event with that Pure and Pleasant Intimacies poster, by that Fishman the Second guy, right? The free mobile plan event..?"

"Shu!!" Mengyao stopped her with a glare before her bullshit got too ridiculous. "Stop changing the subject- show me your phone!"

"Kay……" Yushu was actually still afraid of the girl- she didn't want Mengyao getting pissed off for real. She handed her phone to her friend obediently…

Mengyao snatched it over and went to the text Yushu had sent to Lin Yi- her eyes widened as she read what this girl had decided to write. "Shu… Why'd you put my name in here?"

"But you're the one who told me to ask him……" Yushu said innocently still.

"You……" Mengyao didn't know what to say- that was true, but she didn't have to phrase the text like that, did she? And Mengyao was pretty sure she said 'do what you want', too?

"Shu, I never said anything like that! I told you to do what you want!" Mengyao said, pissed. "You're just using me as a shield!"

"Oh, then I'll explain this whole thing to Shield Bro then. It was my shitty idea, had nothing to do with you……" Yushu said.

"Fine, I'd rather do it myself at this point……" Mengyao said with a roll of her eyes before unlocking her phone on for a reply: 'You don't need to report anything to me, but slow down with the amount of girls you're messing around with! They're at our doorstep already!'

Chapter 144 - The Tailing Spy

Lin Yi stared at the text Mengyao had sent him. The first part was something he'd expected- it was a Chu Mengyao-styled sentence, after all, exactly something the Miss would say to him.

But the part about messing around with girls, and that thing about doorsteps? Lin Yi didn't know what this girl was saying- when was he messing around with girls, and what was this bit about them being at the doorstep?

       

Lin Yi sent a text back to Mengyao, curious. "Has someone been looking for me?"

Mengyao frowned at the text- was the guy playing dumb? It was a pretty big deal for the school beauty to be asking for him; it didn't seem very likely that it had happened without prior arrangement.

Yet, looking at it from a different perspective… Lin Yi would've told her that he wasn't at school if the two had made an appointment with each other. That couldn't be the case.

Mengyao decided to just tell him directly. "Tang Yin! She's come for you quite a couple times, did you know that? Who's little Hei?"

Mengyao realized midway that there was a weird 'little Hei' in Lin Yi's text- who was that? It sounded more like a dog's name than a person's.

Tang Yin? Lin Yi wasn't expecting Tang Yin to be asking for him- she looked pissed enough to ignore him for the rest of her life earlier this morning, so what was she doing looking for him on her own?

Lin Yi tried to figure out what Tang Yin could be looking for him for as he replied to Mengyao with a frown on his forehead. "Little Hei's Heibao. What did Tang Yin wanna see me for?"

Mengyao's mood turned pleasant instantly at Lin Yi's text. Why was he calling Heibao little Hei? She'd heard a little bit about this Heibao character, this big bad gangster Zhong Pinliang was bragging about. He'd claimed that the guy was such a big shot that he could take on ten men if need be, but Lin Yi had sent the guy's face into the ground, disfiguring him and everything…

Heh…… Mengyao grinned softly at Lin Yi calling Heibao little Hei when his 'what did Tang Yin wanna see me for' pissed her off again. Did the guy not even know himself?

"How am I supposed to know? It's your trouble; you handle it yourself." Mengyao finished, putting her phone inside her bag as she prepared for class.

"So Yao Yao, what did Shield Bro say?" Yushu asked- she'd been waiting for Mengyao to finish.

"You were looking the whole time, you think I didn't notice?" Mengyao said, a little speechless. What was this girl doing, asking questions she already knew the answers to?

"Hehe……" Yushu grinned, a little embarrassed. "I thought you'd be able to decipher all this……"

"What? Decipher? You think I'm a fortune-teller or something?" Mengyao hmphed. "And what would I even be deciphering his stuff for?"

"Alright!" Yushu concluded- Mengyao didn't look very friendly at the moment. She turned to the front as class started.

Lin Yi got up from his chair when class finished, making his way to class nine. Tang Yin didn't have a cellphone, after all- he had to go there personally.

Mengyao knew for certain that Lin Yi was meeting up with Tang Yin as she eyed him leaving the classroom. It annoyed her for some reason.

"Wanna tail him, Mengyao?" Yushu asked with another shitty idea.

"Come on..!" Mengyao said, speechless. "Tail him? Don't you know how good that dude is? How're you gonna tail him? He'll think I sent you if he catches you again."

"Oh. I'll just follow him openly then, tell him it's me who's curious." Yushu said nonchalantly.

"......" Mengyao didn't know what to say. "Fine, go yourself then. Remember not to say anything about me."

"Kay, I'm off then! I won't sell you out, so don't worry!" Yushu said solemnly.

"That's more like i- wait, what?" Mengyao blinked, realizing that Yushu was trolling her again. "Sell me out? You're the one who wanted to go in the first place! You-!"

Mengyao wanted to grab Yushu for some punishment when Yushu slipped away with a chuckle.

Lin Yi was only two steps out of the classroom when he sensed someone following him. It was quite a mysterious sensation, this thing people referred to as the 'sixth sense'.

It was something you'd feel when being followed or looked at from behind, even if you couldn't see anything. Your body would even emit an aura to fend the gaze off should it be hostile- something known as killing intent.

Whatever the case, you'd feel discomfort when being tailed or peeked on, and many individuals possessed that sensitivity- Lin Yi was but one of them.

Lin Yi didn't think much of it, since this person had no killing intent coming from him or her- it meant that the follower wasn't a hostile entity. The jade wasn't sending Lin Yi any warnings, as well.

Lin Yi glanced at the window on the open door of class nine to see who this person was- he grinned when he saw Chen Yushu in the reflection. What a curious mind this girl had. He decided to leave her be.

He walked forwards and stopped beside a window- Tang Yin should be sitting right on the other side of the wall. The curtains were down and the window was closed shut, but Lin Yi knocked on it all the same. He'd went to her class right after class ended, and she couldn't have left yet.

Tang Yin heard the knock right beside her, and lifted the curtain up curiously only to see Lin Yi on the other side. She panicked, letting go and dropping the curtain back down instinctively.

She then realized that Lin Yi might've heard about her asking for him earlier. She pulled the curtain up and pushed open the window.

"You… came?" Tang Yin said, a little annoyed that the guy had let her make so many trips to his class for nothing.

"Ah, had something to take care of in the morning. I left after we split up at the school gate." Lin Yi said with a smile.

"You don't have to tell me what you were doing……" Tang Yin said with a blush as she tried to make the line between them clear- Lin Yi's words were sounding a little too intimate, as if they had a daily routine where they went to school together…

"Okay, so I heard you've been looking for me? What's up?" Lin Yi said straight to the point.

'What's up'? Tang Yin really wanted to bite this guy- what was he looking so innocent for? Wasn't he the one who offered her mom a recipe? Was he regretting that offer already? Did he not want to give it to her anymore? Was he trying to toy with her again?