Beauty and the Bodyguard

“You’re right. You have to treat me to a meal then! Or I’ll go to Yao Yao and tell on you.” Yushu said as she looked around.

“Sure. What do want to eat?” Lin Yi asked.

“I wanna eat shark meat. When will you bring me shark hunting again?” Yushu still hadn’t forgotten about that shark meat.

“Uh… When we get the chance, I guess…” Lin Yi sweated- shark meat wasn’t even good, why was this girl so obsessed with it?

There were no classes the next day- the entire graduating class was participating in the tree-planting event.

Other than big group activities like the spring field trip and Art Day, the students didn’t have a lot of extra-curricular activities anymore after starting the twelfth grade. Most students were actually quite looking forward to this event because of that.

Naturally, Lin Yi couldn’t be seen too close with Mengyao and Yushu. He handed the willow tree saplings to them and reminded them of a couple of things to look out for before going to Tang Yin.

Tang Yin’s was an elm tree sapling, one of the easiest trees to raise and grow, much like Lin Yi’s willow tree.

Tang Yin was rather happy when she saw Lin Yi walk over, but felt hesitant at the same time- she’d accepted Lin Yi, but being seen with him by so many students at school still embarrassed her.

“Let’s… Let’s go there, it’s less crowded…” Lin Yi pointed at a less populated space.

“Alright.” Lin Yi nodded and went for Tang Yin’s hand.

Tang Yin jerked a little, as if to escape like a rabbit as she moved her body- but she was also worried that it’d upset Lin Yi. She moved her body back and looked around carefully, making sure no one was looking before offering her small hand to Lin Yi.

“Ah…” Lin Yi couldn’t help but feel a little amused at how shy Tang Yin looked, but it made him want to protect her. She was a cute girl, after all.

“Let me hold that for you.” Lin Yi took Tang Yin’s shovel and sapling from her and held them. They weren’t very heavy to him, but they were considerable burdens to Tang Yin.

They went to a less crowded place, and Lin Yi put the saplings down on the ground as he prepared to start digging.

“Wait… I think this place is Zou Ruoming’s territory, he always planted his trees here and kept other people away…” Tang Yin said to Lin Yi after looking around.

“I was wondering why no one was coming here. Alright, let’s do it here then.” Lin Yi thought that it was perfect if it was Ruoming’s territory.

Tang Yin couldn’t help but start laughing at that- she muffled her laughter with her hand as she remembered how afraid she’d been of Ruoming, barely managing to escape him, let alone get near him… And here she was, intruding on his planting area!

“Ming Bro, isn’t that your territory? How come someone’s using it?” Sapling in hand, Yun Lingxi raised his head to see their land being conquered.

“What the hell? What do they think they’re doing, that’s my territory! We’ll dig their saplings out.” Ruoming was very pissed off after hearing Lingxi’s words. He started running over, but stopped abruptly after running half the distance. “Wha?? It’s Lin Yi?”

“Ugh… Do we still get them to leave..?” Lingxi asked carefully.

“Leave my fucking ass! We’re going over to help!” Ruoming, naturally, was long past the point of pissing Lin Yi off. He put on a smile instantly and waddled over. “Boss Lin Yi! Planting trees with sis-in-law?”

“I heard that I’m intruding on your place? I could go somewhere else.” Lin Yi said faintly after looking at Ruoming.

“Boss Lin Yi, come on! What’re you saying? This is school territory, why would it be mine? I did plant a couple trees nearby, but it isn’t mine as well… Plus I’ll plant more trees next year, and the year after that! I’ll encircle your tree with sis-in-law’s, and protect them!” Ruoming said, trying to please Lin Yi.

“Oh, you’ve planted quite a lot of trees- You’ve been studying here for so many years!” Lin Yi said with some mockery.

“Ha, that’s right! Look at that view, I’m the one who planted many of those trees!” Ruoming said proudly. “I’m planning on planting a fruit tree this year, and there’ll be fruits to eat next year! Will you come back with sis-in-law for some, Boss Lin?”

“Maybe one day.” Lin Yi was quite speechless- exactly how long was this Ruoming planning on being in high school? Was he even planning on graduating anymore?

Tang Yin, on the other hand, was shivering with laughter- it went well with her small, stunning face, quite captivating to look at.

Ruoming caught himself staring as well- he quickly pulled his gaze back in, aware that today’s Tang Yin was no longer the same as the old Tang Yin he used to tease. He couldn't’ even imagine the consequences if he still lusted after Tang Yin now.

“Lingxi, come! We’re helping Boss Lin Yi dig the holes!” Ruoming took out his shovel and started preparing for work, work that he’d always get some workers to do for him.

But today was different- he had to do this personally!

What he wanted now was to ease Lin Yi’s anger as quickly as possible- it’d be a shitfest for his family if Lin Yi decided to just go up to their doorstep one day.

Even Uncle Yan wasn’t an opponent to Lin Yi- Ruoming understood that he was just shit in Lin Yi’s eyes.

“Alright, you don’t need to do that- go somewhere else.” Lin Yi couldn’t help but frown at Ruoming’s clumsy movements. “Just stay away from me and Tang Yin from now on and everything’ll be fine! Don’t worry, I don’t usually bother with small fry.”

“Yes, yes… I’ll be going then…” Ruoming was absolutely delighted to hear that- he now had a safety guarantee! Lin Yi saw him as small fry, true, but even if it’d take being treated like an ant for Lin Yi to leave him alone Ruoming would still gladly accept and admit it.

After Ruoming had left, Lin Yi swiftly dug out two holes in a couple of movements- this was a task as easy as it got for Lin Yi, much easier than it was for someone like Ruoming.

Tang Yin’s eyes reflected her surprise as well- she’d understood at this point that Lin Yi was no young master. He was the same as her, someone who’d been through tough times… The success he had today was all a result of his own efforts!

But that was precisely why Tang Yin felt insecure- Lin Yi was too excellent, too perfect. It didn’t make her feel safe at all! It made her worry that Lin Yi would one day dump her, and pursue some other love.

The only thing Tang Yin had some confidence about was her good looks, but what use was that? Wasn’t Guan Xin pretty, all the same? Her grandfather’s Guan Xuemin, too, a huge contribution to Lin Yi’s career… Lin Yi being with Guan Xin was obviously the choice that’d make most sense…

Tang Yin sighed and shook her head slightly, shaking away the thoughts. Lin Yi wouldn’t grow tired of her or anything, right…

A girl’s mind was delicate, and filled with worries and emotions… She’d wanted LIn Yi to stay away from her before, to stop troubling her, but that had now turned into a fear that Lin Yi would leave her...