Beauty and the Bodyguard

Chapter 163 - Lin Yi's Golden Finger

Mengyao wasn't stupid- the conversation Lin Yi had on the phone was more than enough for her to understand that situation. These people were coming straight at her.

"Miss Chu, I need to be responsible for your safety." Lin Yi said, his face completely solemn now. "I'll be worried if it isn't Uncle Fu sending you home safely."

"But……" Mengyao didn't think Lin Yi would reject her so coldly after she went and apologized to him, with her head lowered and everything… but Lin Yi…

She was frustrated, but also understood that Lin Yi was doing this for their safeties. She stomped her foot lightly as she held back from throwing a retort at Lin Yi.

She'd have openly voiced her displeasure in any other circumstance, asking Lin Yi what more he wanted even after she'd went and lowered her head for him. She wouldn't have asked for a gigolo if Lin Yi hadn't flirted with an aunty in the first place!!

Without anyone realizing, Jingyi had become an aunty in Mengyao's eyes.

Lin Yi dialed Li Fu, and told him where they were before hanging up.

Yushu stuck her tongue out lightly. "Shield Bro, it's actually me and Yao Yao's first time at a bar……"

"Ah- something's up with this bar. Go to another one next time." Lin Yi nodded, not minding Mengyao and Yushu's interest in bars. It was rare enough as it was for it to be the first time, especially for rich girls like them. As for the gigolo… Lin Yi wasn't quite sure how to respond to that.

In actuality, both Mengyao and Yushu had good hearts- Miss Chu was a little prideful, cold on the outside and passionate on the inside. Little Miss Chen, on the other hand, was a complete troublemaker, but also very easygoing as well.

Lin Yi treated their relationship as more than employee and employer at this point- they'd hung out long enough, after all.

Yushu blinked in surprise at Lin Yi's words telling them that they could go to a bar again. He didn't seem angry about what they've done at all! "Shield Bro, aren't you mad?"

"Why would I be mad?" Lin Yi laughed. "You two rest earlier when you get home- I still have stuff to do here. Don't wait up."

"Kay. Be careful." Yushu said with a nod.

The casual conversation Lin Yi and Yushu were having was painful to Mengyao- why was it that he and Shu got along so well, and why did there seem to be something separating Lin Yi and her?

Why did she even care whether they got along well in the first place? He was just a follower her father hired, and he had to listen to her commands even if they didn't get along… What was she hurting for?

Li Fu reached the bar quickly, with a couple men following behind him. Lin Yi could tell that they were fighters, albeit ones who only practiced physical kungfu, not too strong. They were enough for handling regular people, but practitioners like that exquisite guy from earlier was not yet someone people of their level could take on.

"Mister Lin. I apologize for the trouble." Li Fu said with a nod. "Aren't you returning with us?"

"I still have something to take care of here." Lin Yi said. "Get them home first, Uncle Fu- I'll talk to Uncle Chu about this whole thing when I can."

"Alright." Li Fu left it at that, and left with Mengyao and Yushu. He understood the gravity of the situation- Lin Yi wouldn't have requested for him to get the girls home unless he absolutely had to.

Lin Yi obviously had something pressing to deal with, and Li Fu wasn't in a very good position to be asking too many questions about that.

Lin Yi watched as they left before standing up. He walked in the direction the exquisite man had left in, and saw a common-looking man waiting for him with the exquisite man past the bar.

"Mister Lin, I'm Su Jiaonang, the manager of this bar. I'm extremely sorry for everything earlier……" The normal looking man said as he walked to Lin Yi.

"Cut the crap. Where is Li Cihua?" Lin Yi interrupted, absolutely uninterested in the man's bullshit.

Jiaonang's face reddened slightly at Lin Yi's interruption, but regained his composure an instant later. "Please follow me, Mister Lin."

After all, this person was someone the boss wanted to talk to, and even Li Yao, the exquisite man, had said that Lin Yi wasn't below him in terms of ability. It'd wise to tread lightly with people like that.

Jiaonang opened the door and gestured. "Please enter, Mister Lin. The boss is waiting for you inside."

Lin Yi walked into the room directly to see a man with a belly inside. There was a skinny man behind him, with looks so common that no one would pay any attention to him. He was the type that become virtually invisible in a crowd.

Lin Yi's face tensed as he sensed the energy flow within this skinny man… it was slightly above his own…… From the looks of it, he was at the peak late phase of the golden class……

"Elder Jiao, I can feel their energy flows, but can they feel mine?" Lin Yi asked internally, suddenly thinking of a very important question: did this go both ways?

"Doesn't sound possible." Elder Jiao said faintly. "They absorb energy differently than you do, theirs is called pure qi. Different types of training results in different pure qi's, and it could only be used by the practitioner his or herself. It can't be transferred to other people, while the energy inside of you is universal……"

"I see. So in other words, the energy inside me can be transferred into the pure qi they need, right?" Lin Yi asked.

"In theory." Elder Jiao said, pleased that Lin Yi learned quickly. "It's also why they can't feel your flow while you can feel theirs."

Lin Yi was both pleased and surprised at the answer- it seemed that he could be a wolf in sheep's clothing all he wanted from now on… This must be his golden finger! He'd be able to judge his opponent's strength beforehand, and escape if he deemed the enemy too much for him to handle!

(golden finger in chinese novels usually means like a cheat for the MC, or something you have that gives u a big advantage. Something like that.)

Lin Yi only laid his eyes on the skinny man for an instant, and the skinny man smiled at him faintly. As far as he was concerned, Lin Yi was at the peak early phase of the golden class. He'd also concealed his presence, and Lin Yi shouldn't have been able to sense how powerful he was at all.

The skinny man assumed that Lin Yi had just looked at him out of curiosity, as a result.

Chapter 164 - Who's Naive And Stupid?

"Sit." The fat-bellied man said after one look at Lin Yi, evidently thinking of himself as superior to Lin Yi.

This man was none other than Li Cihua, and Lin Yi's first impression of him was how dominant the man was. He had an air of pride and confidence about him, an aura of superiority- it was an image very effective on the masses.

It was known as the Conqueror's Aura, and anyone with a weaker aura would probably be very cautious when standing before a man like Li Cihua.

Yet Lin Yi had seen his share of conqueror's aura, and there weren't too many still living… The hostile entities towards him were basically all in the afterlife now.

Lin Yi decided to ignore Cihua as he walked around the office. He turned his head to the skinny man. "Is this supposed to be your secretary?"

(there's like a sexual connotation the word he uses for secretary)

"......" Cihua's eyes widened as he refrained from cursing- this Lin Yi wasn't following the conventional script! What was he doing, bouncing all over the place? He was like that in the phone call, too.

Cihua had originally planned to persuade and force Lin Yi into aiding them after he had seated himself, if possible- he'd off him otherwise.

Yet Lin Yi didn't even bother with that, instead blurting out a ridiculous question to piss him off. Was something wrong with his eyes?

He cleared his throat. "I see you don't have very good eyes, Mister Lin. He's my secretary, a male secretary."

"Ooh. So Cihua Bro's into that stuff, huh?" Lin Yi nodded, as if understanding something. "I say, fatty- you're not planning to do anything to me, are you? I don't swing that way……"

"Fuck!!" Cihua couldn't take it anymore- he was even thinking that Lin Yi understood his situation well, adding a 'Bro' to his name and everything… He was just feeling pleased with himself when Lin Yi blurted something outrageous! 'Into that stuff'?!!

Lin Yi calling him a fatty crossed the final line, and a curse escaped his lips.

"I'm joking, haha. Don't get angry." Lin Yi smiled as he seated himself on Cihua's sofa, cutting the bullshit. After all, his earlier words served the purpose of pissing him off, and testing where his bottom line was at. The discussion would be more advantageous for Lin Yi if Cihua wasn't in his best mental state, and it'd be easier for Cihua to expose his intentions by accident.

"......" Cihua frowned. "Mister Lin, let's just speak our minds with each other, now that we're at this point already."

"Yes, let's." Lin Yi said. Pissing Cihua off was also to prevent him from spewing any bullshit at him, after all, by showing him that Lin Yi himself was even more capable at bullshiting than he was.

"Excellent!" Cihua said. "Let's get to the point- that robbery case from before: you were the one who ruined it, yes?"

"I wasn't even needed for that." Lin Yi answered, nonchalant. "They were pretty trash at their job- what, were they your men?"

Lin Yi wasn't expecting Cihua to nod in agreement. "Indeed, I hadn't taken your presence into consideration, Mister Lin. It was a mistake on my part to send them."

"Oh? So you're telling me that the mastermind behind the bank robbery.. Is you?" Lin Yi didn't understand why Cihua was admitting to the crime just like that.

"I'm but one of the profiteers." Cihua explained. "I'm sure you'd want to leave the details alone… After all, the more you know, the faster you die."

"Hah.. Is that a threat?" Lin Yi said, completely uncaring as he received the threat. "Aren't you scared I'll report you to the police?"

"Hahaha!" Cihua looked at Lin Yi like he was an idiot. "Naturally, yes. Why would I be telling you all this if I were?"

"Is that so?" Lin Yi said, looking at the fat man.

"Don't believe me? You're welcome to try." Cihua said with a wave of his hand. "Proof! Evidence! You have no evidence, and I won't ever be leaving behind any evidence! I must say, Lin Yi- you're naive and quite stupid. People at our level are exempt from commonplace laws, you know why? Because there's no proof! The only people that'll ever get in trouble are the pawns! You think the police have no idea what's going on here? You think they don't know what I'm doing? They know alright, they know better than you do!! But they can't touch me, do you know why that is? Because the characters backing me up are way above what they're capable of dealing with- they need solid evidence before they could even start touching me!!"

"So you're saying the same goes for me if I kill you right now without leaving any evidence for the police?" Lin Yi asked.

"It's an amusing example, but let me provide an answer for you- if you do kill me while being smart enough to erase all traces of evidence or clues, then yes- as long as you have Chu Pengzhan standing behind you. No one would dare do anything to you." Cihua explained. "This is how it works here in the upper class, this is the rule we all fight under, and no one would actively disrupt that rule."

"Ah, I understand." Lin Yi nodded while cursing internally. Fuck, how're you smiling so happily? I can kill you as easily as pulling a doll apart! Yet Lin Yi wasn't about to do anything to the man- there was someone powerful backing him up, after all, and there'd be dire consequences.

Lin Yi was considering the bigger picture- he couldn't do anything that reckless yet, not until Chu Pengzhan launched a full scale war on them. It wasn't too big a deal to punish an important character on the other side of the war, beating him up a little… Killing him, however, was way too premature.

"I'm glad you understand the concept. I'll stop bullshitting then!" Cihua continued. "They say that dire times forge wise men- I'm sure that's the position you're in, Mister Lin. It's no difficult task to have you killed, rest assured… While you have value for Chu Pengzhan's protection alive, the same can't be said for when you're dead. How far do you think Chu Pengzhan would go for a bodyguard, or even his daughter?? He'd probably want you dead himself if he ever found out about your relationship with his Chu Mengyao."

Lin Yi blinked at the spit Cihua was spitting at him- what the hell was he saying? Was his mind so perverted that he just assumed that Lin Yi had some sort of dirty relationship with Chu Mengyao….? Did he even look like that kind of person?

Lin Yi looked at the Li Cihua who thought himself to be in full control, and couldn't help but feel sorry for his stupidity. He pitied him.

After all, the ones who thought they knew everything when they didn't were the dumbest ones of all.

"What are you trying to say?" Lin Yi didn't bother denying the man's accusations, deciding to just let him continue misunderstanding what was going on between him and Mengyao. That was even better, actually- he'd have a reason to lay his hands on him next time, giving him a one liner like 'you mess with my woman, I mess with your family'.

"Cooperate with us." Cihua said confidently.

"Cooperate with you?" Lin Yi was a little taken aback- what was this guy saying?