Beauty and the Bodyguard

“It’s nothing. Glad you’re okay.” Lin Yi nodded, very troubled. Why was this girl even more of a rarity than Yushu, and why did he always bump into them? He’d thought that his war days were terrifying, but there were some rather scary things in real life as well.

“Here, it’s for you! I had one earlier. It’s really good, so I bought one for you.” Xiaoxiao put the drink in front of Lin Yi.

“Thanks,” Lin Yi said helplessly. What else could he say? If Xiaoxiao had come at him like usual, scolding and yelling, then he could handle that. It was normal and expected. He could just ignore her and that’d be it.

He couldn’t just pretend he couldn’t hear when someone was being nice and talking to him all politely, could he?

Lin Yi even wondered if this girl was a twin of Xiaoxiao, the gentle sister after the violent one got blasted home yesterday.

Lin Yi was actually getting a little thirsty. He opened the drink. It was sealed, so there shouldn’t be a problem. He took a sip just in case and only continued drinking after deeming it safe, though he still had reservations.

“Drink up!” Xiaoxiao shook her head. “If you like it I can buy it for you every day.”

“Pfft!” Lin Yi instantly spat everything out after what Xiaoxiao said that. He was in the middle of drinking!

The liquid he spat out landed on Xiaobo’s back.

Xiaobo had been eavesdropping on the conversation behind him, getting all envious when he got sprayed all of a sudden. He turned around with a bitter look on his face. “Boss, I’m so envious already, okay? Why’d you spray me?”

“Sorry.” Lin Yi sweated before looking at Xiaoxiao oddly. “Feng Xiaoxiao, just be honest, what do you want?”

“What do you mean?” Xiaoxiao looked at Lin Yi with wide eyes, as if she didn’t understand what Lin Yi was talking about.

“Were you the one who got blasted by those firecrackers yesterday?” Lin Yi asked.

“Come on, don’t bring that up. It’s so embarrassing,” Xiaoxiao whispered, pouting her lips as she blushed.

Lin Yi couldn’t believe this. “Did you lose your mind after the blast?”

“You’re the crazy one, okay! The me now is the original me,” Xiaoxiao said tenderly. “I wanted you to teach me street racing, remember? I just realized that my methods were a little wrong, so I’m changing them.”1

“I’ll never teach you that! It’s illegal!” Lin Yi said.

“It’s alright, you can teach me normal racing or drifting,” Xiaoxiao said seriously.

“No time.” Lin Yi frowned.

“Fine, I won’t learn it then,” Xiaoxiao said with a nonchalant smile.

Lin Yi looked at Xiaoxiao in disbelief. What the hell was going on? Xiaoxiao’s face still looked a little pissed off when he’d left at noon, so what was with her?

Night study hall today was physics, and the teacher entered rather soon. Lin Yi couldn’t really ask questions now, so he turned his head away to focus on his studies, not heeding Xiaoxiao anymore.

A smile stretched across Xiaoxiao’s lips as she refrained from cheering. So it was true! Lin Yi had a weak spot for softness! As long as she kept this up then it was only a matter of time before she claimed Lin Yi’s heart! She’d abandon him right after that, and show him what happened to people who pissed her off! _Haha!

_

Xiaoxiao kept fantasizing about the next plan during the entire class, while Lin Yi troubled himself thinking about why Xiaoxiao had become like this.

From his past experience, Xiaoxiao should be coming up with some sort of grand scheme. From the first time she’d offered him a drink, there’d been only bad intentions, all for the sake of getting him to the toilet so she could take a pic.

It was unlikely she’d use the same low-class tactic again, so the drink should be safe. It was just a move for Xiaoxiao to get on his good side.

***

Pinliang was rather happy right now. He’d reached out to a business partner of his father’s and booked the entire VIP area for a high-end seaside beach. It was something he could show off when he invited Mengyao!

He’d talked to the dean and Mr. Liu already. He’d announce this good news right after school.

Night study hall finally ended, and Mr Liu walked in as Pinliang excitedly moved to the podium himself.

“Everybody quiet down, and put down your bags. I have good news!” Mr. Liu was quite supportive of Pinliang sponsoring a spring event. There wasn’t much time left for the twelfth graders to mess around with each other, and the tree-planting event hadn’t been anything too special. Pinliang offering to sponsor the class like this actually gave the teacher a good impression. He thought that the kid was more than just a rich kiddo.

Everyone quieted down upon hearing that there’d be good news. They all stopped what they were doing and looked up at Mr. Liu.

“This weekend, our class will take a spring field trip. We’ll be going to Fun City’s natural beach!” Mr. Liu had barely finished the sentence when applause burst forth from everyone present.

Going to the beach was, naturally, much more interesting than planting trees. Excitement that’d been long suppressed rose as the students cheered.

“This trip is sponsored by Zhong Pinliang, so you won’t need to pay a cent! Just buy some snacks for yourself!” Mr. Kiu said. “Let’s give Zhong Pinliang a round of applause for his contribution to the class!”

Mr. Liu had wanted to hold a class meeting and scold Pinliang a little. The guy was too ballsy, lighting fireworks on a tree! Wasn’t he scared of starting a fire?

But he couldn’t really say anything about that now.

“Whooooooo!” The students only got more excited now that they were told it was a free trip. After all, there weren’t too many rich kids in the class. Their allowances were limited.

“Alright, that’s it. We’ll wait for a more detailed plan from Zhong Pinliang. I’ll announce it,” Mr. Liu said. “Dismissed!”

The students that had treated Pinliang with hostility now looked at him with much more amiability. Many of them even said goodbye to him as they left.

Pinliang was feeling rather pleased himself. He should’ve done this a long time ago if he knew this would happen! He would’ve established a great image, and he’d have pleased Mengyao and Yushu too! What was there not to be happy about?

He ran over as Mengyao and Yushu prepared to leave the classroom. “Yao Yao, Shu, are you guys satisfied with this event I planned?”

“It’s not bad. Yao Yao says it’s alright,” Yushu said after looking at Mengyao.

* * *

1. So I misunderstood the original word… It means high-speed racing, the illegal type. I found a translation called street racing, not sure if that’s accurate.