Beauty and the Bodyguard

Chapter 317 - I Don't Understand

Xiaobo was quite curious who the text was from. "Boss, was that sis-in-law's text?"

"Tang Yin? She doesn't even have a phone!" Lin Yi eyed Xiaobo. "It's a weather forecast."

"Oh……" Xiaobo remembered that Lin Yi was going to buy Tang Yin a phone- he wanted to get one for Fen as well.

Lin Yi, Tang Yin, Xiaobo, and Xinwen all walked out the school together that lunch break. They didn't need a taxi anymore now that Lin Yi had a van. It wasn't the best, but it was better than nothing.

"Tang Yin, Kang Xiaobo wants to buy Fen a phone so they could get in touch- what about you?" Lin Yi asked Tang Yin, who was sitting next to him at the front.

Xiaobo had left that spot for Tang Yin, seating himself with Xinwen at the back.

"Me? I'm fine… I don't really need a phone……" Tang Yin shook her head- there was no way she could buy a phone with the condition her family was in.

Handphones weren't expensive, but a phone needed a sim card, and that sim card needed to be paid for monthly… It all added up to a significant amount.

"Boss is buying!" Xiaobo mentioned. "Fen's phone's a gift from boss too, so sis-in-law, Fen won't accept her phone if you don't want one! Please help out!"

"Pft-" Tang Yin couldn't help but smile at that- it sure was weird to see someone begging to gift her a phone… She remembered that time Lin Yi bought her a dress, only to ask her for the fifty kuai afterwards…

Life was full of surprises, Tang Yin thought… She used to hate Lin Yi, loathe him… And here she was, sitting next to him in his car…

She hated him so much that she never put on that dress ever since she'd thrown it into her wardrobe… It was still in there waiting for her…

Tang Yin smiled at the thought- would she have accepted that dress if it were a gift? It would've been an unhesitant no. 

But now Lin Yi was offering to buy her a phone, and there was Xiaobo trying to persuade her too- she decided to accept it without saying anything.

Lin Yi parked in front of a phone store, and the four got out together.

The salesperson could see the school uniform the four were wearing- he recommended a couple of the cheapest phones for them.

Xiaobo was looking for a cheap phone as well- he didn't want to let Lin Yi dish out a couple thousand for a smartphone.

"What's the price range you're looking for?" The salesman asked.

Xiaobo wanted to say two to three hundred, but it wasn't his decision to make. He turned to Lin Yi.

Lin Yi knew that Xiaobo was looking for a cheaper phone- from what he'd heard yesterday the guy wanted a phone around two or three hundred kuai. Lin Yi didn't want to get Tang Yin a phone too cheap, but he couldn't get her a good one if he only bought Fen a three hundred one… It'd look pretty bad.

"Somewhere around one thousand." Lin Yi said after some thought. Tang Yin wouldn't accept a phone too expensive, after all- one thousand sounded about right.

"What about the Nokia 5233? It's really popular among students nowadays, a very packed phone with a cheap price. It doesn't have that GPS function the Nokia 5230 has, but you students probably won't need that anyway." The salesman introduced. "But it is cheaper. Just 833 kuai."

"What do you think?" Lin Yi handed the phone the salesman gave him to Tang Yin.

"It's nice, but… isn't that a bit too expensive..?" Tang Yin still couldn't come to terms with Lin Yi buying her a phone- she still felt like she shouldn't accept it…

"Ah…" Lin Yi smiled and turned to the salesman. "Give me three of these, then."

"Uh… Why don't you get that three hundred kuai one?" Tang Yin pointed at one of the cheaper phones after some hesitation- Lin Yi looked like he was set on buying a phone already.

"Come on… Kang Xiaobo wants to give it to Fen as a gift- it can't be too cheap, right?" Lin Yi whispered.

"Oh……" Tang Yin only nodded after hearing that, still pressured. Her debt towards Lin Yi had grown once again… How was she supposed to pay it off?

He'd given them a barbeque recipe, kicked her mother's competitors and bullies away, paid for Fen's hospital fees… Xiaobo was involved as well, but it really was mostly Lin Yi… Tang Yin couldn't just let all of that pass.

He'd saved her, too- and now he was buying a phone for her. Tang Yin wondered if their relationship would get even cloudier if this went on… Did he really even like her in the first place?

Xinwen then chose two sim cards for Lin Yi, one of them for Fen's birthday and the other for Tang Yin's.

Lin Yi swiped his card and handed the phones out, one for Tang Yin and one for Xiaobo. Xinwen had an older phone already, so the last one was for Lin Yi to use himself.

That luxury phone he had had broken down, so Lin Yi decided to just go with a cheaper phone… An expensive phone would still die after getting soaked in water, after all, and his job was dangerous in nature as well. Might as well use a cheaper one.

He wouldn't have needed one if Yushu's phone wasn't this feminine… it was a bit embarrassing for him to take out.

Tang Yin, on the other hand, sighed to herself. She decided to just continue owing Lin Yi this debt, since it was big enough already without the phone. She still thanked him after getting in the car, making sure to keep her voice as silent as possible. "Thanks…"

"Ah……" Lin Yi smiled and turned to her. "How're you gonna thank me?"

"W-What..?" Tang Yin blushed as she remembered that promise she made at the hospital the other day- her heart started to thump faster.

"Don't you still owe me that kiss……" Lin Yi whispered.

Tang Yin lowered her head- so he was talking about that! "W… What? I don't understand, what're you saying..?"

"Ah……" Lin Yi turned away and started the car- he couldn't tease her anymore, she was just too cute! He thought that it sure had been hard to get a wary porcupine like her to open up to him...

Chapter 318 - Spark

Lin Yi drove Tang Yin, Xiaobo, and Xinwen to the hospital.

"I'll… be going then?" Tang Yin was a bit unsettled with the new phone in her hands- it was the first time she'd received a gift this expensive, and it was a gift from a boy, no less… It was something sure to trouble her for a while.

"Yeah. I might not get to use my phone these couple of days, so just text me if anything comes up. I'll check them later." Lin Yi said. "Take a taxi back home later- remember to make Xiaobo pay for the fare!"

"Haha… yeah." Tang Yin laughed softly, lighting a spark between Lin Yi and her- Lin Yi responded by grabbing her hand and stopping her…

"W-What are you……" Tang Yin froze, turning to see if Xiaobo and Xinwen had noticed.

"Aren't you gonna do something for our parting?" Lin Yi pointed at his face.

"M... Maybe next time……" There was no way Tang Yin could handle this heat- she struggled as hard as she could and ran out, exhaling only after she was some distance away as her heart thumped. She turned back to eye Lin Yi, her lips curling as she walked away.

She might've ran away crying if it had been someone else, but she had only shyness towards Lin Yi at this point… She blinked at that realization, wondering if it was a good thing that she was stepping deeper and deeper into this relationship with Lin Yi…

"Yin Yin, what's wrong? You don't look so good?" Xinwen was just talking with Xiaobo when she noticed a flustered Tang Yin running up to them.

"I-It's nothing……" Tang Yin shook her head. "Let's go……"

Xinwen shook her head as well, wondering what was up with her. She turned back to look at Lin Yi's car, already a far distance away- she decided to keep her questions to herself.

Lin Yi had to deal with Liu Zhenhu's illness before he left for the mission- he still had to make some preparations for the medicine company with the money he'd extorted from the Lius.

Lin Yi understood what it meant to be at the right place and at the right time, instead of just working hard and early for something- fortunately for him a hundred million yuan opportunity hit him just when he needed it the most.

He gave Xuemin a call, asking him to have Zhenhu over and that'd he be there soon.

"Alright, Liu Tianyi's already here, waiting for you. He'll bring Elder Liu over right now." Xuemin said. "Have you had lunch yet?"

"Not yet, but it's no rush." Lin Yi said.

"I see, I'll let Xin Xin make something, then." Xuemin said, making the decision for Lin Yi.

"Ah… alright." Lin Yi said.

Zhenhu was already waiting in the living room by the time Lin Yi arrived- Zhenhu himself came over to greet him with Tianyi supporting him. "I'll be in your care then, young miracle doctor!"

Zhenhu's attitude was actually making Lin Yi feel bad- he was taking a lot of money from them, after all, and Zhenhu was being really respectful. 

But it was money he needed- this was no time to go soft.

It wasn't really even his fault in the first place, too. They should blame that selfish daughter-in-law and the retarded nephew, if anything.

"No need for formalities, Elder Liu!" Lin Yi waved his hand. "Here, let's get in an empty room."

"Alright. Miracle Doctor Lin, regarding the payment…" Tianyi was no idiot- he had to be the one to bring it up if Lin Yi wasn't going to. He'd be a child if he'd just left it hanging there like that.

"Grandpa Guan, do you have a bank account? We'll just have it transferred there." Lin Yi turned to Xuemin.

"To my account?" Xuemin paused, understanding the next instant that Lin Yi wanted him to take care of the preparations and procedure of the company with the funds. He nodded in response. "That's fine- just send it to mine, then. Mister Liu, you have my account number, don't you?"

"I do." Tianyi nodded. He'd prepared two million to pay Xuemin for his services, after all- he had his contact information. He called an underling and told him to send the hundred million to Xuemin, who checked his phone for the confirmation.

Lin Yi nodded, satisfied after confirming that everything was in order. Tianyi wasn't that bad- he was a man who kept his promise. It was that wife of his who was the problem.

Lin Yi had Zhenhu lie down as he asked Xuemin for a box of needles. He then inspected Zhenhu quietly, the needles still undrawn.

He'd checked Zhenhu's situation before, so there was no need for inspection in that regard- what he was thinking about was how he would go about curing him. What was fastest, most effective route here?

A complete cure, naturally, wasn't possible- not now, at least. Some of Old Lin's best elixirs were kept in hiding since it was something he saw as treasure… Lin Yi had no access to that.

Making sure Zhenhu's illness wouldn't act up within ten years, on the other hand, was doable, but… It feel like he'd be scamming him a bit.

He sighed, and decided that for now, he would just contain the sickness for a decade. It wouldn't be too late to find another solution if Zhenhu really did have that much life in him.

With that, he started inserting the needles in certain points of Zhenhus' body, the speed and accuracy with which he operated stunning even Xuemin himself.

Two minutes later, Lin Yi started twisting the needles…

"Neiguan, Xiemen, Yinxie, Juque, Shanzhong, input your energy here……" Elder Jiao said.

(Sorry, I don't know acupuncture...)

Lin Yi was pleasantly surprised by Elder Jiao's participation- he didn't know what kind of a person he was, but it was evident that he'd get this done better and faster with his help!

The needles with energy sent into them started vibrating all of a sudden- the vibrations didn't stop even after he'd let go of the needles…

Xuemin's eyes were wide open in disbelief as he stared at the needles- what sort of acupuncture technique was this?! He'd neither seen nor heard of such a thing!! How were these needles 'dancing' on the patient's body even after he had let go of them?