Beauty and the Bodyguard

Chapter 197 - Tragic Past

Tang Yin curled her lips, wondering if she should talk about Fen's stuff behind her back- it didn't seem right.

"Can't you see Kang Xiaobo's intentions, Tang Yin? Come on, tell him." Lin Yi said, having noticed the interaction between the two in addition to Tang Yin's hesitation as he drove.

"But……" Tang Yin was still hesitating- she knew what Xiaobo was getting at- Fen would be able to recover if Xiaobo stuck by her side, but Fen's story was a little tragic… She wasn't sure if Xiaobo could take the truth.

"Xiaobo's pretty anxious over there." Lin Yi said with a chuckle.

Tang Yin sighed. "Fen, Liu Xinwen, and I grew up together in the slums- we were really good friends. We were in ninth grade when a boy barged into Fen's life……"

"Kang Zhaoming?" Xiaobo's face changed slightly as he tightened his fists.

Tang Yin was sitting at the front, and hadn't caught Xiaobo's change in expression. "Yeah, Kang Zhaoming. I didn't think you'd remember that name……"

The name had only been spoken once by Xinwen, after all- Xiaobo must've had something for Fen if he remembered it that well.

From the standpoint as Fen's soulmate, Tang Yin wanted her to be able to recover as soon as possible- it was extremely unhealthy to be holed up at home with emotional problems all day. They consulted a doctor about it before, too- it was a mental illness that couldn't be cured with medicine, and one of the best solutions would be for her to start a brand new relationship altogether…

Tang Yin wasn't a big fan of getting into a relationship so young, but this was a special circumstance they were talking about here. She'd be willing to let Xiaobo and Fen get together, but Xiaobo might change his mind if he found out about the details of the tragedy…

Lin Yi noticed Xiaobo's furious expression from the rear-view mirror- something felt off.

"Kang Zhaoming was really passionate about making Fen his girlfriend……" Tang Yin couldn't help but glare at Lin Yi. "He's from a rich family, and he was one of those big shot young masters at school… Fen was young, and she fell for him…"

Lin Yi smiled bitterly as he felt Tang Yin's glare. What're you glaring at me for… I'm no big shot young master, okay? I'm not even trying to chase you yet… everything was a misunderstanding…"

"And so they got together…" Tang Yin continued. "Everything went pretty well at the start, but then Kang Zhaoming started drifting away from Fen, and when Fen asked him what was going on, he said that he wanted to break up with her…"

"Fen, of course, didn't agree to that- she had completely fallen for him at that point… And the two of them… were in that… kind of relationship already……" Tang Yin's face reddened- she was eighteen, but still a young girl… It was only natural that she'd get embarrassed at topics like that. "So she went to Kang Zhaoming to talk about it, but saw him get on a taxi with another pretty girl… She chased after them, calling out for Kang Zhaoming all the while, but the guy only looked back at her coldly without stopping the car…"

"Xinwen and I tried to stop her, but she didn't listen, and kept chasing the taxi… when a truck came by and hit her…… Even that didn't stop Kang Zhaoming- he just left. He transferred schools a few days later, and we've never seen him since. Fen's leg was hurt from the accident, and now she has a limp when she walks… she can't walk on her own for long periods of time, and she usually needs a wheelchair to move around……"

"Fen dropped out from school after the whole thing, too, spending her days at home… still not giving up on Kang Zhaoming, after what he'd done to her, always thinking and fantasizing that he'd come back to her one day…… I've tried talking to her with Wen Wen so many times, but she never listens……"

Fuck!" Xiaobo slammed a fist at the roof, his face red with anger and his chest puffed up. "This Kang Zhaoming, bastard!!!"

"T-The car… the car isn't mine….. I borrowed it……" Lin Yi sweated as he stared at the dent Xiaobo'd made in the roof- Miss Chen wasn't going to kill him for this, was she? What the hell man…

Tang Yin, on the other hand, stared at Lin Yi in disdain. Dude, look at how pissed off your friend is, why do you still care about the car?? You don't even care about that bit of repair fees, come on.

Xiaobo must have missed what Lin Yi said, for he was sending even more punches at the roof. Lin Yi wanted to cry- this dude was pretty strong when he got violent……

It seemed that he had to get the car repaired when he got back, maybe get Uncle Fu to do it for him… He'd be dead if the Chen Miss saw her car like that, she probably wouldn't lend her car to him anymore…

But how was he supposed to tell Li Fu about it? Hmm… He decided that he'd tell Li Fu how he was attacked by Chu Pengzhan's enemies, since the guy had been there when he told Pengzhan about the golden class masters that day… He'll just say it was Cihua's men again! Haha, I'm pretty smart. Lin Yi thought.

Xiaobo's rage was so violent that he started seeing things- he could see a fragile, young girl, trying her best to keep up with a taxi as she stared at the cold man and pretty woman within…

She cried out at the top of the lungs, desperate to reach him……

And in her weakest moments, a truck came and hit her……

And the man in the taxi, the cold, heartless man, left without one shred of concern for her as Fen lay down in her puddle of blood, still waiting for the asshole to come back to her…

KANG ZHAOMING!!! Xiaobo's eyes widened wrathfully- he wouldn't have been this pissed off if it were someone else, but this fucker was his second cousin… The same second cousin who always looked down on him, always mocking his family…

"Fuu……" Xiaobo let out a long breath as he looked at the dented roof, feeling bad for what he had done. "Sorry boss, I got too agitated…"

"It's nothing, don't worry." Lin Yi smiled- he had a solution prepared already. "Xiaobo, what are your thoughts?"

Lin Yi had spoken Tang Yin's mind with that question- she'd explained Fen's situation to Xiaobo, and now all that was left was his response! Fen was no longer a complete woman, and that was a very important factor- it was something she could expect Xiaobo looking past, but her disabled leg was the heart of the issue. Would Kang Xiaobo be willing to accept a disabled girlfriend?

Chapter 198 - What's On Tang Yin's Mind

"Boss… I wanna try meeting Fen……" Xiaobo said after some hesitation. It was the first girl he'd ever been so genuine and passionate about- it'd only been a couple of hours, but Fen's image had been etched and burned into his heart.

His feelings for Tang Yin, Chu Mengyao, and Chen Yushu, after all, were nothing but simple admiration- something he fascinated about due to their impossibility.

Yet Lan Fen was different- he didn't know if it were love at first sight or not, but he was sure of the spark that had happened the moment he saw Lan Fen in the picture. Especially seeing the fragile form of the girl fall from the third floor was enough to break his heart.

There was a slight bit of pity mixed in after hearing Tang Yin's reveal of Fen's past, but it only invigorated his passion for her.

It was the sort of passion that ignored all consequences- he might have different thoughts after calming down.

Lin Yi understood where Xiaobo was coming from, and nodded his head without adding anything. "Let's get to the hospital first."

Tang Yin had noticed Xiaobo's hesitation as well, sighing without adding anything else. Yet she did turn to glare at Lin Yi again. "You young masters, all you do is mess girls up!!"

"Me??" Lin Yi blinked. "I'm not a young master, am I?"

"......" Tang Yin curled her lips before turning away from Lin Yi.

Xiaobo, on the other hand, was especially quiet after his rage- his head was lowered at the floor.

Lin Yi parked the car in the hospital's parking lot, and the three of them went for the emeregency room right away.

They found a doctor, but Xiaobo was the one who got the question out first. "Doctor, how's Lan Fen??"

"Lan Fen? The girl who jumped off a roof earlier?" The doctor said as he went though the records on the table. "She's fine, but she's passed out from the shock and fatigue. She's in emergency room number six, and she'll probably have to spend a couple days at the hospital. What's your relationship with the patient?"

"We're her friends. Thanks, doctor!" Xiaobo said before going off for to Lan Fen.

"Wait, you guys need to pay for the medical fees and do the procedures first, Lan Fen's parent only paid a three hundred kuai deposit earlier, it's not enough." The doctor said, stopping Xiaobo.

"Ah? Okay, we'll go do that now!" Xiaobo answered without even thinking about it. "Where do we go for that?"

"The patient needs to stay in for a while, her body's very weak. Let's say one week, first- I'll be in charge of the procedures." The doctor explained.

"Okay." Xiaobo said, nodding immediately.

Lin Yi smiled bitterly at how Xiaobo was acting- had he completely fallen for Lan Fen already? It was pretty dramatic, but this was an age for dramatics!! Boys and girls of this age lived for that reckless passion, that purity of young love!

Lin Yi reckoned that it was probably Xiaobo's first love- it was a time when men were most reckless, most passionate, a time when men didn't use their brains… Would Xiaobo continue his relationship with Fen after calming down?

He looked at Tang Yin- the angry girl was still staring at him.

"What's wrong?" Lin Yi said, wondering what was up with Tang Yin's attitude today. She'd been pretty cold and unresponsive with him earlier, but she seemed to have regained her usual angry attitude towards him.

She looked at Xiaobo, who was walking away to pay the fees. She then turned back to Lin Yi. "I wanna ask you something."

"Yeah?" Lin Yi blinked, confused.

"What're you thinking?" Tang Yin said, lowering her head embarrassedly as she bit on her lip.

"What am I thinking?" Lin Yi didn't understand what the girl was talking about. "About Fen and Xiaobo? Well, that depends on Xiaobo-"

"Not him, you!!" Tang Yin raised her head to look Lin Yi in the eyes. "That thing I asked you about the other night! You were thinking of becoming my boyfriend, right?"

Lin Yi wasn't expecting Tang Yin to still be struggling with that, but he nodded- he'd sorted things out with the old man, and had decided to stay here long-term. He didn't need to be that reserved anymore.

"Then are you just playing or are you gonna be with me forever?" Tang Yin frowned, throwing another question at him. "Lin Yi, if you're only playing around, then please, leave me and my mother alone, leave our entire family alone, okay? I'm not Fen, she was young when she fell for this, but I'm eighteen! I won't fall for your tricks!!"

"Ugh……" Lin Yi was speechless- what was this girl throwing at him? "Playing? What's there to play? Do I look that free to you? Do I look like I'm playing around?"

"Then good! If you're serious about being with me, then please don't bother me right now, alright? Let me go to college peacefully, I don't want to spend time on this yet!" Tang Yin said strongly. "If… by that time you're still interested in me… Then I'll say yes!"

What Tang Yin had announced to Lin Yi today had actually been the fruit of a few days of serious thinking- she didn't know what Lin Yi's feelings for her for, but she did know that he'd helped her and her family too much- she was deeply in debt.

Yet Tang Yin wouldn't do something like getting with Lin Yi for the sake of repayment. She had to admit- she'd started gradually accepting this man who had barged into her life. She'd only put on a cold front to conceal her terror of the whole situation.

She was scared, scared that she'd go in too deep. She didn't want to admit the symptoms, but her hatred and disdain for Lin Yi was slowly thinning, replaced with a sort of gratitude and unknown fluttering……

She'd never been at peace ever since Xinwen asked her about her relationship with Lin Yi, too, always thinking of him to the point where she even dreamed of him… What pissed her off the most was how she had kissed Lin Yi in her dreams…

It was a weird, unreal dream- Lin Yi's face was cloudy, but Tang Yin knew for sure it was Lin Yi by the time she had woken up…

She couldn't believe she had had a wet dream, and it was with Lin Yi, of all people!! Tang Yin knew that it wasn't uncommon for teenagers to have wet dreams, where the person one had the best feelings for would appear… It was something she'd picked up from a textbook in class.

But that was exactly why she was afraid- scared that she might develop feelings for Lin Yi, and even ending up with him…

Her rationality told her that it was a dangerous thing- she had to watch her step… She'd end up like Fen otherwise.