Beauty and the Bodyguard

“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.

the big 300......

..and it's Christmas, too. I've told you guys about the quadruple month patreon goal, but I've made some changes there- instead of 3k i set it to 2.5k, meaning that if 100 ppl pledge 10 dollars that's one month of 4 chaps daily O.O also for the 5k, 7.5k, and 10k goals as well :D