Beauty and the Bodyguard

Chapter 185 - Buying Loyalty

"It's true that seven hundred thousand is a fortune to an average family." Zhong Fabai said with a nod. The sum, however, wasn't anything substantial for him. "What are your thoughts?"

"I'm thinking if the money's worth it or not." Zhong Pinliang said.

"Son- honor is an important thing." Fabai smiled as he educated his son. "This Zhang Naipao, he's your follower, so it's only natural for you, the leader, to take care of him when help is needed! But the point to think about here is what kind of person this follower of yours is- will he put himself on the line for you? Will he show up for you when you need his services?"

"That I can guarantee, dad! Zhang Naipao's a bit of a goof, but he's definitely an honorable man. He won't turn me down if I ever need him in the future, I know that. He even said he'll kill himself if I asked him to!!"

"Haha, see?" Fabai laughed. "I was in a similar situation once, when I was younger- I helped a follower of mine out, but he didn't have anything to offer me at the time. It wasn't until many years later, when something went wrong with the engineering plans of this project I was in charge of, that he stood up and willingly shouldered the responsibility for me…… That's how it is, Pinliang, you need to have a good eye for men. If you think this Zhang Naipao of yours a useful friend, then I'll gladly pay up!"

"But dad, I'm not gonna do any engineer work… and I don't need anyone taking the blame for me or anything……" Pinliang said, still not letting go- it was seven hundred thousand kuai!

"What are you saying, you do! I took care of the Heibao incident for you this time around, but you'd be in there with him if he pulls your name out! With Zhang Naipao, you'll be able to pin everything on him, say he's the mastermind, that you were just an accomplice, and there wouldn't be any problems!" Fabai said. "Naturally, there's also other things, like when you need to off someone without doing it yourself, for example. You'll always have him to carry tasks like that out for you if need be. Seven hundred thousand- it's a good deal."

"I understand, dad. I'll talk to him about this later." Pinliang said, agreeing with what his father was saying- he'd be much better off if he had services like that Naipao could provide him with. It'd be like a hidden card!

"You've grown up now, Pinliang- it's time to start gathering men and cronies of your own!!" Fabai said. "This is crucial for when you enter society, remember that!"

Pinliang responded with a string of yes' before hanging up and calling Naipao.

Naipao couldn't just answer the call in the classroom, but one look at who was calling and he got out of the room immediately. He looked around and spotted Pinliang waving to him at the bathroom door and hurriedly made his way there. "Liang Bro… You called?"

"So, Pao… I talked to my dad…" Pinliang said, pausing on purpose.

"And, Liang Bro? What did Uncle Zhong say?" Naipao said, his expression changing as he fluctuated from excitement and anxiety.

"My dad said you're my bro- he's willing to give me that money!" Pinliang said, patting Naipao on the shoulder. "Come with me to my dad's company after school- we'll get you that money!"

"Really? Liang Bro?" Naipao said, clearly in disbelief. "Liang Bro! Are you really gonna lend me seven hundred thousand?!"

"Not lend, Pao- we're giving it to you!" Pinliang said, having known that Naipao wouldn't be able to get himself a sum like that. Seven hundred thousand wasn't a significant amount to the Zhong family, too, and Pinliang thought of it as buying Naipao's loyalty, like what his father had suggested. "You're my man, my follower- I'd never just let you die."

"Liang Bro!! You really are my boss!!" Naipao exclaimed upon hearing Pinliang's words, overwhelming him to the point where he kneeled down to him once more. "Liang Bro, I am not an ungrateful man- rest assured!! Liang Bro tells me to kill myself by hanging, I'll never kill myself by drowning!! You tell me to go East, and I'll get East even if I had to chop my head off and bring it there- I'll never go West!!!"

"Hahaha!!" Pinliang laughed as he got Naipao back on his knees. "No need for that just yet, Nai Pao- I know what kind of a person you are. We'll have to see when the time comes!"

"Liang Bro, I swear!! I'll honestly ram my head into the ground if you don't believe me!!" Naipao said, panicking.

"That's not what I meant, alright? I believe you, I see your resolve- let's get back to class. Just make sure you deliver on your promise when I need you!" Pinliang said with a satisfactory nod- Naipao's loyalty was pretty much set in stone at this point, and he now had a failsafe should he ever get himself in trouble…

Kang Xiaobo simply couldn't fall asleep last night- the barbeque at Tang Yin's place was all he could think about.

After all, it was only natural in the age of youthful relationships and sunkissed love that Xiaobo would long for a fated encounter with a young lady, a fine girl to start a relationship with…

He knew logically that Tang Yin wouldn't be interested in him, but Xiaobo was excited regardless- just going to the school beauty's house for a meal was enough of a blessing on its own.

"Boss, are we going on Saturday or Sunday?" Xiaobo asked excitedly.

"I dunno." Lin Yi shrugged. "Why are you so excited?"

"Heh…… You're the only one who doesn't get worked up over something as big as this- the school beauty's treating us to dinner at her house!" Xiaobo explained. "How many guys you think are just waiting for a chance like this, to have an encounter with the school beauty? Everything starts from the encounter! Aren't you looking forward to this at all?"

Lin Yi wasn't sure what to say. Looking forward my ass- I'm still living with two school beauties…… "A bit, I guess. I feel like she hates me."

"Come on, boss, don't get greedy- any other guy would feel blessed if Tang Yin hated him. She doesn't interact with other people too much." Xiaobo said.

"Ha…. I guess we can go ask for details during break." Lin Yi said, remembering that CD Mengyao and Yushu wanted him to buy. It'd be nice to have Xiaobo accompany him there.

"Sure, sure!" Xiaobo nodded. "We'll go together, maybe get some barbeque…"

"Maybe not barbeque, Tang Yin's mom isn't gonna accept our money if we pay right now." Lin Yi said. "Can't let her treat us twice, right?"

"Good point." Xiaobo said, also aware of the Tang family's situation- this meal was probably going to cost them thirty to forty kuai, after all. "But… I still wanna have some barbeque…"

Chapter 186 - Sold Out and Closing

"Then do you wanna have barbeque at Tang Yin's house or do you wanna have it now?" Lin Yi asked.

"Okay… Tang Yin's house……" Xiaobo muttered.

Twelfth graders went through exams almost every day, and just the mornings alone were half-filled with quizzes. Lin Yi may have entered this world as a bodyguard on a mission, the casual, laid back attitude he approached everything with had engulfed him- he was now a part of the school, the class, and most importantly, he was now his age…

He felt a lot younger now, and had started to use the perspective typical of a student his age. He grew to like chatting and bullshiting with his newly made bro, joking around with pretty girls…

He grew to like the school, the class, and… Tang Yin- the cute, prideful girl who got mad easily… But how long would all of that last?

Was it a few days, or a few months before he returned to his original life, losing everything he had right now?

Having experienced the joys and pleasantries of life, Lin Yi found himself looking back at his old life in disdain and exhaustion… There was nothing but anxiety and killing there, no passion, joys, or pleasantries whatsoever, just numbness whenever he confronted an enemy.

Perhaps it was time to have a talk with his old man? Perhaps this was the life his direction should be headed in?

Lin Yi and Xiaobo left the classroom at noon, having been kept in with the other students of class five because of the quiz they just had. Most of the other students had left the building already.

Mengyao and Yushu went to the second floor of the cafeteria, as usual, not minding the late release too much- they didn't need to queue upstairs anyway.

The food street, on the other hand, was bustling with tenth and eleventh graders, who had much more leisure time than the twelfth graders under constant stress.

The food here wasn't particularly clean, nor was it particularly tasty, but it was much better than what the school canteen had in both quality and price.

Mrs. Tang's barbeque stand was extraordinarily packed today, completely surrounded by customers. That was how things were in this school- both good and bad news spread like wildfire, as could be seen from the whole love letter incident with Tang YIn.

It was the same thing with the barbeque stand- the first students falling in love with the food and aroma only attracted more customers, resulting in a very filled stand. After all, more customers meant better food.

As excited as Mrs. Tang was, she found the popularity a bit too much for her to handle- the ingredients would run out before noon. She probably had to go back home for more.

"Still wanna go?" Lin Yi said with a bitter smile at Xiaobo. "It's so packed- we can't really go and ask Tang Yin about going to her house anymore. You think Tang Yin's gonna be able to answer?"

Xiaobo understood what Lin Yi was saying- Tang Yin was afraid of people suspecting her relationship with Lin Yi in the first place, and it wasn't hard to imagine what sort of scenario would take place if they went up and asked something like that. The worst case scenario would be Tang Yin getting pissed off at the situation they pushed her in and call off the entire weekend plan.

"Then…… Should we wait for a while?" Xiaobo asked after a pause.

"Let's go to the bookstore a bit- I wanna buy something." Lin Yi nodded. "We'll come back later, when there's less people."

Xiaobo didn't know what Lin Yi wanted to buy, but his admiration towards Lin Yi was pretty much at its peak already- it was only natural that he'd agree to anything the guy said without thinking about it.

Lin Yi picked up a Xu Shihan concert CD and paid for it at the counter, much to Xiaobo's surprise. "Boss, you like Xu Shihan too?"

"Oh… Uh……" Lin Yi wasn't sure how he should answer the question. "A little, I guess……"

"A little?" Xiaobo blinked- the guy had come all this way for the official CD!

"It's actually for a friend." Lin Yi explained, not much of a choice left.

Fortunately for him, Xiaobo had moved on from the topic to Shihan already. "Boss, I like Xu Shihan too! They say that she's one of the few maidens in the entertainment industry……"

Maiden? Lin Yi curled his lips, remembering the amount of maidens being proven otherwise? This superficial side of things simply couldn't be trusted.

The two got themselves some beef noodles near the bookstore before walking back to school.

They were quite surprised to see Mrs. Tang's stand gone already. The other stands were still running, however, meaning that there hadn't been any officials getting rid of them or anything, which shouldn't be the case in the first place- the stand owners most likely all had permits.

Lin Yi was troubled. "Xiaobo, was that the spot?" Lin Yi asked, pointing at where Mrs. Tang's stand should've been.

"Yeah, but how come it's not here anymore? Wait for me boss, I'll go ask around." Xiaobo said before running to the closest barbeque stand. "Mister, where did the Tang Barbeque stand go? Wasn't it here just a while ago?"

The owner of the stand looked at Xiaobo coldly, seemingly a little salty. "Sold out and closed! It's the same barbeque at my stand!"

"Nevermind then. Yours don't taste good." Xiaobo said swiftly before turning back to leave.

"Fuck!!" The owner cursed, very pissed off indeed- The Tang Barbeque stand had robbed him of almost all his customers! He had lost two thirds of his usual supply of students, and it was something that infuriated him.

He'd never paid the Tang stand much attention before when it wasn't that successful, but couldn't help but hate them in jealousy at this point. After all, he was a full fledged veteran in this food street- it was also why he had the frontmost spot on the street!

The veteran losing to a newbie like Mrs. Tang, naturally, put a very sour taste in Zhang Biaogan's mouth. Some student even came to his stand looking for Tang's, on top of that! He even said that his barbeque didn't taste good!!

The point here was that this was the first day- who knew what sort of chaos it'd develop into in another couple of days, when news spread even further? Biaogan felt that it was time for action.

After all, his barbeque had been the best selling one when all of a sudden Mrs. Tang pulled out a new recipe out of nowhere!

With a solemn, pissed off expression on his face, Biaogan made his way to another barbeque stand. "Yo, Old Wang. How's business today?"