Beauty and the Bodyguard

“Haha, what’re you talking about, Lin Yi!” Pinliang said with a laugh as he seated his butt on the chair beside Lin Yi.

“What the hell? Speak quickly and scram.” Lin Yi wasn’t very keen on talking to this guy- what the hell was up with him?

“Come on, Lin Yi! Don’t be like that. We’ve had a couple of misunderstandings in the past, but it’s nothing we can’t put behind us!” Pinliang’s words froze Lin Yi in place instantly.

Misunderstandings? Lin Yi was starting to get interested in what was going on here, with the smiles and everything… The guy just brushed everything off as ‘misunderstandings’! Did he hit his head, or was he planning something?

“Misunderstandings? Zhong Pinliang, what happened between us weren’t misunderstandings. You know it better than I do, how’re we supposed to put things behind us with Heibao in jail?” Lin Yi said with a confused smile as he looked at Pinliang. “Ah, that’s right, I almost forgot- Heibao broke out, so be careful! He might go after you!”

“Hahaha, you’re such a joker, Lin Yi you! I’ve nothing to do with Heibao, hahaha, what’re you talking about.” Pinliang said with a dry laugh.

“Okay, okay, just tell me what you want, stop wasting my time.” Lin Yi frowned at how weird this guy was being.

“Well, actually… I’ve something important to tell you.” Pinliang said as he lowered his voice. “This is a really big deal, it’s about someone close to you……”

“What is it?” Lin Yi was starting to get impatient- what the hell did this guy want to say? Regardless, he understood their conversation earlier as meaningless bullshit just for Pinliang to get to the point.

“I can’t tell you now… How about this, I’ll treat you to dinner tonight- I’ll tell you in detail then!” Pinliang said. “Of course, you don’t have to come if you really don’t wanna know, but I’m telling you, I’m honestly doing this out of kindness!”

Kindness? Lin Yi was no idiot- there was clearly something wrong with this guy, something was up.

But what? He was even offering to buy him dinner… What information could he possible have?

“Kindness? You’d tell me now if it were kindness.” Lin Yi said faintly.

“Lin Yi, you need to understand that I’m risking a lot just to tell you this. I’m doing this behind someone’s back, I’m snitching on him! I’ve thought about this long and hard before deciding to be on your side!” Pinliang said with a sincere look on his face. “He wouldn’t forgive me if he finds out what I’m doing here!”

“Snitching?” Lin Yi squinted his eyes a bit as he looked at Pinliang- he could tell something was up, but the guy did still have that fearful look on his face.

Pinliang had made sure to prepare himself for the act before confronting Lin Yi- he’d rehearsed outside the classroom earlier, so as to not get found out that easily.

Yet Lin Yi had determined long ago that Pinliang was planning something- it was clear that something was up, and that was a certainty.

“I’ll tell you then- that guy, he’s planning to do something to someone close to you! I don’t wanna be involved in this thing after it happens, so that’s why I came to you after hearing about it! I don’t wanna get sued or anything!” Pinliang whispered. “To tell you the truth, there were legal problems because of the whole Heibao thing last time, and my old man went to great lengths to cover up for me. I don’t want anything like that happening to me right before graduation, I still wanna hit on Chu Mengyao in college! I can’t be wasting my youth away in prison.”

Planning to do something? Lin Yi frowned as he pondered who that person close to him might be- Chu Mengyao? Pinliang shouldn’t know about his relationship with her… That being said, it couldn’t be Chen Yushu either.

Who could it be, then? Kang Xiaobo? Tang Yin?

“Alright, let’s stop here- class is starting. Think about if you wanna come or not! Bye.” Pinliang said as he stood up and walked away. “I’m being really sincere here- don’t blame me if anything happens. I’ve warned you beforehand!”

The homeroom teacher had walked in the classroom, and Pinliang walked back to his seat with Lin Yi staring at him, certain that the guy wouldn’t just help him out for nothing.

Yet Lin Yi grew suspicious at those last words of his……

He wasn’t afraid of anything happening to him, but if Zhong Pinliang was targeting the people he knew… Lin Yi would make sure to rain hell on him.

After some hesitation, he decided to send a text to Mengyao. “Zhong Pinliang’s treating me to dinner tonight, said there was something important about someone close to me.”

Lin Yi clicked ‘send’ and lifted his head to look at Mengyao, who lowered her head after a bit. Lin Yi’s phone vibrated the next instant. “Did he find out about you and me?”

“Not sure, but probably not.” Lin Yi replied.

“Kay, then just go meet him, see what he wants.” Mengyao replied.

Lin Yi decided that he’d go see what Zhong Pinliang was playing at, since Mengyao had said so.

Class ended, and Pinliang ran out the classroom without asking Lin Yi if he’d decided on going.

Lin Yi smiled faintly as he walked out after him, Xiaobo following right behind. “Zhong Pinliang asked you to dinner, boss?”

Xiaobo had heard the conversation, and was about to ask Lin Yi about it when the teacher walked in.

“Yeah, but I don’t know what for. He said there’s something important he needs to tell me, something about someone close to me.” Lin Yi answered. “Only people I can think of is you and Tang Yin, so I’ve no idea.”

“People close to you?” Xiaobo blinked. “Boss, Zhong PInliang’s going down the stairs! Should we follow him?’

“Nah.” Lin Yi said as he reached the window at the end of the corridor. He looked out to the field. “He said someone’s planning to do something to someone close to me, and that he’s snitching on that guy. Said he’ll give me details if I accept his dinner invitation.”

“Oh…” Xiaobo paused before speaking with a bit of disdain in his voice. “Really? He’s the kind of person who’d watch and laugh from the side if someone really was planning to do something to me or Tang Yin, why would he ever snitch on him?”

“Ha……” Lin Yi chuckled- it was a given that he knew what Xiaobo knew- he’d only decided to accept because he wanted to see what he was playing at.