Beauty and the Bodyguard

 Chapter 299 - Maybe We Should Eat Instant Noodles?

Xuemin's youngest son was doing pretty well after the individual guided him a little, but Xuemin couldn't help but sigh at how there were no doctors coming from the Guan family! His granddaughter had a soft personality as well. She wasn't fit for the job of a doctor, but a nurse instead.

Xuemin had constantly looked out for any potential inheritors to his take on his mantle because of that- it was why he'd seemed so happy that time he spotted Lin Yi at the bookstore. He had wanted to take the kid in as a pupil.

He didn't want that anymore. After all, his own medical capabilities weren't more than a third of Lin Yi's! How was he supposed to teach Lin Yi when he wasn't even as good as him?

Yet Xuemin had hope, in spite of it all.

The doorbell rang- Lin Yi had parked in front of Xuemin's villa and was ringing the doorbell.

Xuemin excitedly moved to the door, waving Aunt Liu away as she reached for it as well- he wanted to greet Lin Yi personally! He didn't want to put on any airs in the slightest. Lin Yi was a kid when compared to his age, but he was better than him, and that was a concrete fact he wouldn't deny.

"Yi, you're here!" Xuemin greeted happily.

"Ah, Grandpa Guan, hello! I came over right after school ended, so I didn't bring any gifts or anything, I hope you don't mind." Lin Yi smiled- everyone else brought heavy gifts when visiting Guan Xuemin, after all, yet here he was, empty-handed.

"No need for gifts!" Xuemin replied happily. "I'm happy enough that you could come! It was hard enough for me to get thick-skinned and call you over for a drink- stop with the formalities or I won't be able to bring myself to call you next time!"

"Ahaha, okay, I'll come over to hang out when I'm free!" Lin Yi laughed.

"That's more like it." Xuemin nodded in response.

Guan Xin was walking out with the mustard eel when she heard Lin Yi announce that he'd come and hang out when he was free- she didn't like the sound of that at all. Who did this guy think he was? Come and hang out? Did he think they were close friends or family??

Guan Xin decided that she'd give this young man a nice experience tonight, see if he'd still come over for some mustard eel next time!

But this voice sounded a little familiar… Had this person visited before? Guan Xin frowned as she moved to put the eel on the table. She raised her head and froze, the plate almost slipping out of her hands!

"L-Lin Yi….?" Guan Xin's eyes were wide open as she looked at the person entering through her doorstep.

"Guan Xin?" Lin Yi paused as well- why was Guan Xin here? He remembered Xuemin talking about her granddaughter- could Guan Xin be that granddaughter? The two did have the same surname. "You're Grandpa Guan's granddaughter?"

"You're that… remarkable young man grandpa was talking about…?" Guan Xin's face reddened- why was her grandpa introducing Lin Yi to her when the guy had a girlfriend already??

Guan Xin's eyes were blank at that point, unsure what she should do as she lowered her head shyly- she'd accidentally revealed her affection…

"Remarkable young man..?" Lin Yi blinked at the title, a bitter smile on his face. "Maybe not remarkable… I'm a young talent, I guess? Haha." 

"What a bragger……" Guan Xin laughed softly- this guy sure wasn't a humble one. There wasn't much of a difference between the two words, was there?

"Yi, you and Xin Xin know each other?" Xuemin had worried that Guan Xin would feel some resistance towards Lin Yi, but apparently the two knew each other already! He'd been worried for nothing.

"Yeah, we just met today." Lin Yi nodded.

"Oh? It seems you two are quite close already, then!" Xuemin said. "Then I don't need to introduce the two of you anymore! Well, let's skip all that and get to dinner! I usually have dinner way earlier than this, I've been hungry waiting for you!"

"Ah- alright, I'll make sure to help myself, then!" Lin Yi smiled, turning to Guan Xin. "Haha, looks like it's your cooking I'm gonna try today……"

"Ah!" Guan Xin just realized as she held her plate of mustard eel in her hands- how was she supposed to know that the remarkable young man would turn out to be Lin Yi?! She wouldn't have cooked weird stuff like this if she'd known! She'd have poured her essence into preparing this dinner if she'd known……

An immense regret filled Guan Xin up- Lin Yi might really not visit anymore if he tried this 'food' she'd prepared for him… What should she do at this point? Guan Xin wanted to redo all the dishes she'd displayed on the table……

"What's wrong, Xin Xin? Why're you taking the eel away? It's grandpa's favorite, come on, bring that sweet and sour and eel over here!" Xuemin called out to the retreating Guan Xin.

"I… I'm taking them back to the kitchen, they're… yeah, they're cold already, so I'm gonna heat them up……" Guan Xin tried to get the dishes together as she spoke, to have them replaced with proper cooking… There were still ingredients left, she'd be able to still make something……

 "Heat them up..? Why? They're still steaming! Stop messing around, Xin Xin, put it down!" What was Guan Xin blabbering about???

"Ah…… Okay……" At her wit's end, Guan Xin unwillingly put the dishes back…

"Alright, come sit down, Xin Xin! Let's eat." Xuemin opened a bottle of Maotai beer, pouring a cup for Lin Yi before pouring a cup for himself.

"I…. Okay." There wasn't much Guan Xin could do anymore- she didn't look very happy as she seated herself at the table.

"Ah…… I heard from Grandpa Guan that your cooking's really good- let's give it a taste?" Lin Yi picked up a pair of chopsticks, a smile on his face.

"Ah…. Uh…… I have an idea, grandpa! Why don't we eat instant noodles? It'll be really nice to combo that with beer! What do you think?" Guan Xin stood up all of a sudden. "It's been a long time since I've had instant noodles, too- let's throw all this food away, okay? Instant noodles are really good."

"Xin Xin!!" Xuemin was starting to get a little angry- what was with his granddaughter today? She'd been acting weird after seeing Lin Yi… Could he have misunderstood their relationship? Perhaps he was wrong to think that Guan Xin had a good impression of Lin Yi? It might actually be the other way around… Why would she ruin everything with this talk of throwing the food away for instant noodles all of a sudden otherwise??

Chapter 300 - Horrible

"Xin Xin, what're you up to?? Why are we having cup noodles with so much good food on the table??" Xuemin was getting a little angry- Lin Yi was their guest! Even if they didn't get along with each other that was no reason for her to act like this!

"N-No, I……" Guan Xin gulped, a little embarrassed. "Lin Yi, do you wanna eat instant noodles?"

"Me? I could……" Lin Yi was a bit troubled- why was this girl so intent on making him eat instant noodles? He didn't want to reject her to her face, however.

"That's great! I like instant noodles too- I'll go make some right now?" Gua Xin said a little happily. "I'll go right now……"

"Guan Xin, sit down!" Xuemin didn't even call her Xin Xin anymore- he was furious.

"Okay……" Guan Xin replied, upset. Unable to tell them the truth, she sat there silently, regretting how she'd sabotaged the food… She could've prepared them normally and not put too much effort, that would've been so much better……

"Ah…… It's been a while since I've had instant noodles, I kinda miss it too." Lin Yi smiled. "Grandpa Guan, she's just a bit too passionate, don't get angry……"

Guan Xin looked at Lin Yi gratefully- the guy was speaking up for her even when she was about to 'poison' him…… What a nice guy! Yes, he wouldn't have tanked a bullet for her if he weren't a nice guy.

Girls at Guan Yin's age liked to fantasize about romantic situations- they wanted a prince charming to protect them, watch over them… Lin Yi wasn't that good a person as Guan Yin imagined him to be, but she decided on her own that Lin Yi was a prince charming anyway…

Lin Yi took the bullet without thinking about the person behind him was- he just didn't want someone innocent to get hurt. Saving Guan Yin today at the hospital was the same as well: he would've saved any other person he knew in the same situation…… 

Would Guan Xin still think the same of Lin Yi if she found out that he'd saved her as fast as he could so that he'd get a kiss from Tang Yin..?

Xuemin was confused as she looked at that gratitude in Guan Xins' eyes as she looked at Lin Yi- the two didn't seem to have a problem with each other at all..? Exactly what kind of relationship were they in, how come Lin Yi was cooperating with her like this?

"Alright, let's leave it at that- I'll start us off!" Xuemin put a piece of eel in his mouth, much to Guan Xin's dismay… She had a bitter expression on her face as she waited for her grandpa to scold her……

"Hmm, such tender meat… Not ba- pffft-!!" Xuemin's eyes widened as he spat the eel out, fanning at his open mouth as he looked at the eel. "What did you put in this? Oh my……"

Xuemin was enjoying the eel's texture when a sudden burst of hotness rushed up his nose, tearing up his eyes.

"Sorry grandpa……" Guan Xin quickly handed a bottle of water to Xuemin. "I accidentally spilled the mustard on it earlier……"

"Mustard?" Xuemin took a mouthful of water. "Why'd you serve the dish then?"

"I was trying to bring it back to the kitchen… But grandpa, you wouldn't let me……" Guan Xin said carefully.

"It's alright, forget it- we'll skip the eel…… Here, we'll let Aunt Liu take care of that. Let's continue!" Xuemin waved his hand helplessly. "Sorry you had to see that, Yi! Xin Xin isn't usually like this- she might've gotten a bit clumsy when she heard that you were coming over. She's a really good cook- have a try."

Lin Yi looked at the eel Aunt Liu was taking away, curious. Spilled mustard..?

He reached for the plate of bamboo shoot fried meat with his chopsticks, and moved it to his mouth when Guan Xin spoke up. "Wait!"

"?" Lin Yi turned to Guan Xin.

"Maybe we really should… just have some instant noodles……" Guan Xin said weakly.

"Ah……" Lin Yi had a pretty good idea what was going on at that point… He put the meat into his mouth. Yes, it was very salty… He tried some of the other dishes, all of which were either too sweet, too spicy, or too sour. None of them were any good.

"Well? Not bad, right?" Xuemin, on the other hand, was waiting for Lin Yi's praise. Lin Yi would be visiting for medical discussions with him often if they had food to appeal to his appetite.

"It's… okay……" Lin Yi smiled bitterly.

"Hm?" Xuemin wasn't expecting that- wasn't this Lin Yi's standard way too high? 'It's okay'? No one said that to food his granddaughter made, it just never happened! All of his friends would shower her with praise upon tasting her cooking, and even their sons and children would shamelessly visit for more…

His granddaughter was the renowned Godly Miss Universe of the Kitchen!!

Yet he couldn't really argue against that- Lin Yi had spoken. He was still Xuemin's mentor figure, after all.

"Haha, you've quite high standards, Yi. This old man thinks they're pretty good already!" Xuemin then put a piece of bamboo shoot fried meat into his mouth.

High standards..? Lin Yi smiled bitterly- he'd betrayed himself enough just by saying it was okay already…

"Pfft-!!!" Xuemin spat the meat out instantly and reached for his water. "Did you kill the salt guy, Xin Xin?!"

Guan Xin only lowered her head, too ashamed and humiliated to look at Xuemin and Lin Yi.

Xuemin quickly tested the other dishes, and after spitting them out he finally understood what Lin Yi meant by 'okay'.

Labeling this food as 'okay' was a grade it absolutely didn't deserve…

The food today could only be described as horrible. Absolutely horrible!

"Xin Xin… what..?" Xuemin's eyes were wide open. "This isn't like what you usually make?"

"Ah…… Grandpa Guan, maybe it's because of today-" Lin Yi was about to speak up for Guan Xin when she interrupted him.

She couldn't let her grandpa know what had happened today- he'd worry. She decided to come clean. "Sorry, grandpa….. I actually did it on purpose……"

"On purpose? You're saying you made bad food on purpose? What's the meaning of this?" Xuemin wasn't expecting that answer.

"You told me that some young man was coming over, that you wanted me and him to get to know each other…… I didn't want to, so I made the food taste bad on purpose……" Guan Xin said carefully.