Beauty and the Bodyguard

“No!!” Lin Yi wanted to start yelling- what the hell was the matter with this person, calling for some thief this early in the morning? _Hm?_ Grand Thief Lin? Wasn’t his surname Lin..?

“Who are you looking for, exactly?” Lin Yi asked.

“I’m looking for Mister Lin Yi, the Grand Thief……” Jingyi didn’t understand why Lin Yi was being so stubborn.

“You are..?” Lin Yi sweated- this phone call really was for him.. But when did he become a Grand Thief..?

“I’m Sun Jingyi, don’t you remember? From the Solid Cloud Bar……” Jingyi said quickly, scared that Lin Yi might hang up on her again.

“Oh, it’s you……” Lin Yi said as he recalled Sun Jingyi’s familiar figure. “So what do you need?”

“I wanted to hire you for your services……” Jingyi said carefully.

“Hire me? You’re not asking me to pretend I’m your boyfriend again, are you?” Lin Yi said after a pause. This Sun Jingyi was pretty interesting, using words like ‘hire’ and ‘services’ like that. She wasn’t too bright, was she, believing him just because he told her he was some Grand Thief?

“It’s not that… I have something else I need your help with.” Jingyi said. “I wanted you to help steal a document from a company.”

“You want me to… steal for you?” Lin Yi couldn’t believe it- this girl really did think he was a thief!

“Yes. Lin Yi, can’t you help? I’m willing to compensate you handsomely!” Jingyi said.

“Oh?” Lin Yi was about to reject her when the girl said she was paying. “What kind of document? How much are you paying?”

As it was, Lin Yi was lacking money. Chu Pengzhan did give him a credit card, but it felt like he was eating soft rice... (remember what I told you?) There were also times where it’d be rather troublesome to move that money around.

Like paying for Fen’s medical fees, for example- using Lin Yi’s own money was fine, but using the credit card… It’d be pretty troublesome to explain things should Uncle Fu ask him about them. It’d be better for him to have his own cash.

There was that business plan he had been thinking about, too- he needed funds to get everything started, after all- it was the only thing left, since he had the recipes and Guan Xuemin’s name ready… Building factories and starting a company took more than just a bit of money.

“One’s about an employee in my company. It’s footage of him handling rebates for another company.” Jingyi said. “As you know, my company specializes in trading- rebates aren’t a secret in the industry, but the competitor has footage that it’s planning to release to the media……”

“Oh.. And?” Lin Yi was catching on pretty nicely- it wasn’t anything too complicated, after all.

“It’ll be a pretty big blow to our company’s reputation, plus punishments……” Jingyi explained.

“Then they’ve gotta have made some sort of demands, right? You not complying to their terms, and going out of your way to have me steal stuff from them… That doesn’t make too much sense.” Lin Yi said, leaving the last part out. _You didn’t think the price for my services would be lower than their terms, did you?_

After all, hiring Master Lin Yi for his services was very costly- Sun Jingyi didn’t think it’d be a thousand kuai like last time, did she?

“Their demands……” Jingyi bit her lip- she’d made contact with the opposing party before, but their chairman had spoken: he’d let the whole thing blow over if Jingyi spent a night with him, and he’d even give her the footage… But there was simply no way she’d agree to that.

“Here, how ‘bout this- I’ll ask for half of what their demands are. I’m a very reasonable man, it’s a pretty good price!” Lin Yi said. “Alright, I still have stuff to do- call me after you’ve decided!”

With that, Lin Yi hung the phone up in the middle of Jingyi’s hesitation. They’d only met once, did the girl think he’d just do her favors? His services required payment..!

Zhong Pinliang limped into class, his eyes bloodshot with rage as he looked in Lin Yi’s direction.

Yet he dared not reveal his rage to Lin Yi, for the guy had sent Heibao back into prison!! He’d even disabled him!

He’d learned of this yesterday- after all, it was only natural for a man like Zhong Fabai to have connections in the police.

He didn’t know how Lin Yi had managed it, but he did know what kind of a monster Heibao had become after his power up into the golden class end phase… Him losing to Lin Yi again was only a concrete testament to Lin Yi’s more terrifying monstrosity. Just how powerful was that fucker?

He would never forget- he’d never just let his humiliation from yesterday slide!! Lin Yi… It was Lin Yi who did everything!!!

_LIN YI……_ Pinliang gritted his teeth and made fists with his hands as he swore to have his revenge as soon as he got the chance.

“Boss, really sorry for yesterday… I couldn’t look after sis-in-law Tang Yin……” Xiaobo said guiltily.

“I don’t blame you- there was probably something up with the cab you got in!” Lin Yi said. “Ah, right- you okay? Did anything happen to you?”

“I’m fine, they weren’t after me I think.” Xiaobo said. “By the way, boss, what happened after you had dinner with Zhong Pinliang? Why’s he limping today? Hemorrhoids or something?”

“Pfft-” Lin Yi’s eyes widened in surprise- could Zou Ruoming… really have thought Pinliang was Tang Yin? Was he that blind, to have forced himself on a man..? Lin Yi started making conjectures.

“Who knows? He sent Heibao after me again, but I got him back to the police.” Lin Yi explained as he told Xiaobo of what had happened, making sure to be as undetailed as possible when he got to Tang Yin’s part.

Xiaobo noticed that Lin Yi didn’t really want to talk about it, and stopped himself from asking. The important thing was that Tang Yin was safe.

“Right, boss… What do you think about me and Fen… You think we’re good for each other..?” It was a question Xiaobo had been thinking about the last couple days- it’d been quite troubling.

If it were love at first sight, then it could also be said that Xiaobo had fallen in love with Fen’s looks… She wasn’t as pretty as Tang Yin, but was heavenly to Xiaobo all the same.

After knowing about her situation, Xiaobo started feeling compassionate towards the girl, pitying the tragedy she’d been through! It was especially so when he looked into Fen’s helpless and fragile eyes… It gave Xiaobo an urge to protect her!

It was why Xiaobo had been so passionate the last couple days- he was eighteen, and it was an age of youth and love! Yet Xiaobo couldn’t help but consider the things that would take place after his initial impulsiveness…

Even if Fen’s leg could be healed, would he be able to provide the costly medical bills? Would he continue to love and protect Fen as he did now?