Beauty and the Bodyguard

“Ah??” Xinyan paused. “You’re… You’re an orphan?”

“You could say that. Though, I do have someone looking after me, more or less my adopted parent. But he _is_ at an awkward age……” Lin Yi scratched his head. “I call him old man.”

“Ah……” Xinyan found herself cheered up by Lin Yi. “You don’t have to console me or anything, I’m really fine. It’s just that… I feel pretty uncomfortable that my uncles are fighting over the inheritance when my grandpa’s corpse is just lying in the hospital… It’s my parents who even bothered getting him a funeral at all…”

“......” Lin Yi didn’t quite know what to say to that- what were these uncles doing, leaving their father’s funeral to just his broken-up with daughter while they busied themselves fighting for the inheritance?

“But it’s alright… My family isn’t doing this for anything special. He’s a rich grandpa, a bit richer and more powerful than my grandpa on my father’s side, but my parents have managed to earn themselves a big piece of land over the years……” Xinyan hadn’t been able to share this with anyone- there were nobody to complain to. Lin Yi was someone she got along quite well, and they were in a pretty good setting for something like this. “It’s just that… My uncles are saying that my mom’s going back _now_ for the inheritance…”

“......” Lin Yi only listened, not quite sure what to say. This was her family business, after all, not something he could just butt into.

“Ah…… I’m just complaining a little, sorry.” Xinyan shook her head with a bitter smile.

“It’s alright- like I said, everyone has their own family problems, right. It’ll always be complicated, so the best thing to do is to just try your best.” Lin Yi said.

“Yeah- to just try your best.” Xinyan nodded…

Xinyan seemed to have gotten tired after they’d talked for a while- she leaned back on her chair and drifted into a sleep after a while. Lin Yi lowered the AC and closed his eyes himself.

The plane was starting its descent by the time he’d woken up- Xinyan had gotten up before he had, and was listening to her MP3, a cup of juice on her table along with some bags of chips.

She took her earphones off after seeing Lin Yi was awake, handing him a bag of chips. “Here- they were giving these out. I got you one.”

“You eat it- I don’t like that kinda stuff.” Lin Yi said after a look- it was some sort of low-fat vegetable chips, not something he was interested in.

“Oh, thanks…” Xinyan seemed to like this particular junk food a lot- she’d finished her portion already.

The plane landed in Yanjing airport not long after, and they parted ways, Xinyan walking to the arrivals gate while Lin Yi made his way to the international transit one.

His chance meeting with Xinyan was a nice bonus, Lin Yi thought as he walked up the plane. There wasn’t anyone he knew here, and so he closed his eyes and drifted into sleep.

He was in a foreign land by the time he’d woken up- a city with a romantic setting, but not Blue Town. He was still a couple of kilometers away from where the airport was..

He hailed a taxi and used English to tell him to get to Blue Town.

English was an international language- people in this small European town used it as well. There were many tourists here, and the driver had gotten used to it- the place had been bustling with activity after the Bluewater mafia had taken control, filling it with prostitution, casinos, red light districts, drug trading……

There were always famed tourists visiting Blue Town every day, too, and the driver just assumed Lin Yi was one such tourist. “Kid, it’s alright if you go there for a bit of fun, but remember not to get addicted there…… It’ll get really bad otherwise.”

“Haha, thanks- I’ll keep that in mind.” Lin Yi liked the driver- he even knew to warn him of stuff like that.

The driver stopped there with the warnings, and started introducing Blue Town as a tourism spot- Lin Yi was obviously Asian, and obviously a tourist. “Remember not to cross the people with blue baseball bats in Bluetown- they’re members of the Bluewater mafia, the gang that controls everything here, from the casinos to strip clubs. It’s the only mafia group here, and they’re very strong. You piss them off and you might not make it back out!”

“I’ve heard of that!” Lin Yi nodded. “Oh, by the way- can I know where the Bluewater mafia HQ is?”

“HQ? Why’re you asking that for?” The driver tensed up.

“I wanna live somewhere farther away from there- it sounds too scary. I’m here alone, after all, I don’t wanna get into trouble.” Lin Yi explained with a smile.

“Ah, I see!” The driver exhaled in relief before answering with a smile. “They’re located in an old castle to the west, but that’s not actually where the core of the Waterblue resides, since it stands out so much! The members in that castle are just normal members.”

“I see!” Lin Yi said. Was the information Guangbo had given him wrong? It listed the blue castle as the Waterblue’s main headquarters! Did Guangbo not investigate properly something even a driver here knew about?

“Haha, that’s right. A cousin of mine is a Waterblue member, so I know a bit more! Their real HQ is in a car repair factory in the northern district. This is something only a small number of people know, but it should be fine since you’re not from around here. Just remember not to go near the northern district if you can!”

“I understand. I won’t go there.” Lin Yi replied. So that was what it was- it wasn’t a big secret, but Songshan was simply too far away. Guangbo had only managed to get hands on more superficial info.

Just using the internet didn’t get you detailed information- you needed a hands-on investigation for that.

Lin Yi asked the driver to get him inside the city before switching to another taxi. He found a hotel room in the northern district and moved in.

Tourists like Lin Yi weren’t rare- no one paid him much attention in the hotel. He put on his sunglasses and walked out of the hotel after taking a look at the room, strolling about in the northern district.

Naturally, Lin Yi wouldn’t go asking around for the repair factory- that might get him into unnecessary trouble. Who knew if the people he’d ask were connected to the mafia? He was here to get Xie Jinbiao back, not start a war with the Waterblue.

rank 2, fifty votes to go!

so i was actually late caz i wanted to make it 30 early chapters and announce it, but i just did one extra one today so... 29 early chapters now... stay tuned. remember how i always updated u guys on the early chaps? good times.