Beauty and the Bodyguard

Lin Yi made sure to wait until Tang Yin was out of sight before calling Huaijun.

“Yo, Old Yang. Where are you?” Lin Yi asked after the call connected.

“I’m at Wang Alley behind Songshan’s First…… Wait, Lin Yi, what did you say? Old Yang? Why’re you calling me that?” Huaijun asked in response. “You can call me Jun or even Hound, just no Old Yang, okay? I’m not that old.”

“Alright, Jun Bro then- you’re older than me out here, can’t really call you Jun.” Lin Yi said. “I’m here at the bus station, right in front of the school gates.”

(the Jun Huaijun suggested here is kinda like Junny, so it’d sound a bit disrespectful and nickname-ish)

“I’ll be right there.” Huaijun said.

A police car stopped in front of Lin Yi not long after, and Huaijun poked his head out the car window. “Lin Yi! Get in!”

Lin Yi nodded as he seated himself in the co-driver’s seat before Huaijun started moving the car. “I say, that stuff you gave me- the effects are insane! I’ve just used it for one day and my body doesn’t hurt anymore when I sleep!”

“One day? You think it’s a miracle medicine or something? I’m not a god, dude…” Lin Yi said with a bitter smile. “It’s probably just a psychological effect.”

“Well, maybe a little, but I do feel a lot lighter. I don’t even need the sedatives you gave me to fall asleep now.” Huaijun continued. “Though it does hurt a bit.”

“That’s more like it……” Lin Yi said, expecting some effect to have taken place- curing the pain in just one day was pure bullshit, and even Lin Yi himself didn’t believe that. “Why aren’t you using the sedatives, though?”

“I wanted to tough it out. I thought continuous use of sedatives is bad for you, right?” Huaijun explained.

“Who told you that……” Lin Yi asked, speechless. “There’s no side effects, it’s just to help support you…… I mean, it’s fine too if you wanna tough it out.”

“Shit, why didn’t you say that sooner……” Huaijun said, regretting what he’d decided to do last night. The pain was lessened, but it was still a little hellish to endure it as he went to sleep.”

“Heh.” Lin Yi shrugged. “I didn’t expect Hound to be retarded.”

“You-!” Huaijun only shook his head. “Oh, that’s right- did Song talk to you yet?”

“Song? Song Lingshan?” Lin Yi guessed. “Why would she?”

“It’s the bank robbery case- she can’t seem to find the suspects, and she’d told the director that she’d crack the case in fifteen days……” Huaijun said with a bitter smile. “She asked me for help, but I directed her to you since I don’t have too many ideas. Hope you don’t mind.”

“No, but you’re asking me to help her find the suspects right?” Lin Yi said, squinting his eyes a little. He was planning on sorting this thing out sooner or later even if Huaijun hadn’t mentioned it to him. After all, it was made clear by Chu Pengzhan that Chu Mengyao was a central part of the mission. There’d be no mission left if something were to happen to Mengyao, and he wanted to eliminate all possible threats as soon as possible.

The robbers were the least of his problems- the police were enough to handle them. What Lin Yi was concerned about, on the other hand, was that Cihua Bro backing the robbers up. What kind of character was he?

“Well, you’re Eagle, after all- everyone in the team knows that no target of yours ever gets away.” Huaijun said with a smile. “Song actually has it rough- she wants to prove herself after getting transferred into the force, but out of nowhere comes this complicated case to screw her up.”

“Ha, aren’t you compassionate.” Lin Yi said with a laugh.

“Be a cop long enough and that happens, I guess.” Huaijun said with a nod. “I don’t know what stage the two of you are at, but I thought I’d tell you about this. You decide if you wanna help out or not.”

“Then I’ll wait for her to ask me, I suppose. She still hasn’t contacted me yet.” Lin Yi said.

Huaijun drove the car into Songshan’s University of Medicine, and headed directly into the villa area.

“Your doctor teaches here?” Lin Yi asked, remembering this guy he’d met at the bookstore once, who’d given him a card… Guan Xuemin, the dean of some medical university.

“Yep, a really good old guy, famous throughout the world. He got so excited after looking at your recipe, especially so when I told him how effective your stuff was on me. He’s cancelled all his appointments and stuff for the morning just to meet you……”

“Jeez, he’s making me look like a big shot or something.” Lin Yi laughed in response. “Let’s hurry up then, don’t wanna keep the old man waiting.”

Lin Yi was someone who treated the elderly with respect- the old man’s medical abilities weren’t as good as his was, but that was really because of a lack of an appropriate mentor. Old Lin back home was the ideal kind of teacher, a real master of Eastern medicine. He’d heard that Old Lin had spent half his life in Miaojiang, Yunnan merging the fields of witchcraft, Eastern medicine, and bacteriology together. It was also that period that he had met his master……

That history was left untouched by Old Lin most of the time, save for a couple instances of drunk storytelling… Yet Lin Yi could tell that the bond between his master and Old Lin ran very deep indeed.

Lin Yi’s strength in both medicine and kungfu were due solely to his luck- he’d be a normal guy if he hadn’t met that old man and his powerful mentor.

They went through a proper registration before the car drove on, parking itself in front of a villa.

“We’re here.” Huaijun announced as he got off the car. He pressed on the doorbell after walking up the door.

Lin Yi took in the view as he followed behind- you’d probably have to be quite a somebody to be an inhabitant here.

There was a remote that could’ve been used, but the owner had wanted to greet his guests personally. The door was opened shortly after, a solemn and respectful expression on the owner’s face as he greeted Huaijun and Lin Yi.

“Eh?” Both Lin Yi and the owner watched each other in disbelief and surprise as their gazes met.

“You… You’re……” Xuemin couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

“Heh…… Elder Guan, it’s me- we met at the bookstore before!” Lin Yi smiled politely as he greeted him. “Nice to see you again, Elder Guan. I apologize that you had to come receive me personally……”

“So it was you…… I say……” Xuemin said, completely stunned as he looked at Lin Yi. “This old man’s really underestimated you, it seems. I apologize… Seems like you don’t need that school recommendation I suggested to you……”

“Grandpa Guan, you…… and Lin Yi?” Huaijun was stunned as well- the two looked like they knew each other already!