Beauty and the Bodyguard

Zhaolong paused the instant the disgust in Xinyan’s eyes came to life. He understood the situation immediately. As things stood, this was a girl with class, not a gold-digger who excitedly threw herself on rich young masters the minute they saw them.

But this only moved Zhaolong. He liked it.

He wouldn’t have said anything if he had to take a gold-digger home, but there was no denying that it would be rather annoying.

Xinyan’s behavior was just his cup of tea. The lust in his eyes faded quickly, clarity returning and replacing the longing. He was a conscientious man, the extent of his will evident from his years of hard study.

“Hello, Wang Xinyan. I’m Kang Zhaolong! I hope we get along.” Zhaolong extended his hand generously, his tone passionate as he spoke.

Xinyan wouldn’t have found him repulsive if Zhaolong had come to her like this right from the start. After all, he was a sacrificial lamb for his family’s benefit, not different from her. She wouldn't hate him even if she didn’t like him.

But that lust in his eyes was more than enough to show the impurity he was restraining. It was nothing less of revolting, and she just looked at he hand in front of her. She spoke coolly, “I’m sorry, but my family’s locked me up for a couple days. I haven’t had the chance to wash my hands.”

“Ah?” Zhaolong froze, his face darkening for an instant before he regained his composure. As furious as he was at how insulting Xinyan was being by announcing how she’d been forced into the marriage by her family, he didn’t want to break up with her right away. It was humiliating, but Xinyan was a girl he was falling with. It wouldn’t hurt for him to try and chase a girl like this. There was also the fact that this marriage was a potential bond between the two families. As a minor of his house, it wasn’t his position to publicly displease the Xiaos.

“It seems like Xinyan isn’t very willing to marry into the Kang house?” Miracle Doctor Kang said, infuriated after what Xinyan said. Zhaolong may not have the right to speak up, but not him.

The Kangs weren’t a top-tier family, but this marriage would benefit both parties. The Xiaos understood perfectly well that the Xiao elder had passed, leaving two juniors behind. Miracle Doctor Kang was very much qualified to act the elder in this environment.

“Um…” Xiao Ji was getting furious himself. He didn’t expect for Xinyan to just insult the Kang family publicly! He was about to give her a light scolding when he saw Xiao Ben looking at him. He swallowed the words back.

Xiao Ji may be the older Xiao, but Xiao Ben was the wise and resourceful one. Xiao Ji had realized at this point that the two brothers had to work together to save the family business. It was why he stopped caring about his position as the elder brother and listened to everything Xiao Ben said.

“Elder Kang, she _is_ a young girl, after all; they’re not as generous. Of course she wouldn’t seem all that willing right from the first meeting!” Xiao Ben laughed. “They’re young, they’ll work it out themselves, make their own decisions. We’ve done our part introducing them to each other, but we can’t go much further than that. I’m sure they’ll be able to take the next step after some interaction!”

Xiao Ben’s words were very smooth and quite different from what he’d originally said, but Miracle Doctor Kang found it acceptable, at least. He could see that Xinyan was clearly resistant towards the whole marriage, meaning that the Xiaos had given a lot of effort on their part for things to progress to this point. Him giving any demands now would only worsen things, and that wasn’t what he wanted to see. The only thing he could do was agree with Xiao Ben and let the two young ones spend some time with each other.

“Now that the two of them have met, it’ll be easier for them to spend some time with each other in the future! I heard Xinyan’s going to school in Songshan? Zhaolong could go visit her during the weekends.” Miracle Doctor Kang nodded.

“Xinyan, you won’t say no when I come visit you, right?” Zhaolong said with a smile.

“I’m a twelfth grader, and it gets quite busy and I might not have time…” Xinyan said quietly.

Xinyan’s statement might have been a refusal, but there was nothing inappropriate with what she said. It pissed Zhaolong off, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. “There’s time for a meal, isn’t there? I just want to treat you to dinner so we can get to know each other.”

“I-I’ll see if I have time.” Xinyan frowned. She couldn’t do much either after what Zhaolong said. That eager look her father was giving her was rather troubling too.

Xinyan thought that she was still young, and that she could probably get out of this marriage by dragging it out and not giving an answer. Who knew what might happen during that stalling. The thought comforted her a little.

Miracle Doctor Kang’s face softened as well now that Xinyan’s passionate resistance ceased. “Guifeng’s booked a table and room at a restaurant. Should we go have a meal together?”

***

Tang Yin didn’t know how she’d managed to get through the first day. Dazed and stumbling, she made her way home and saw her mother, a huge smile on her face as she discussed where they should buy the storefront with her husband.

“You’re back, Yin?” Mrs. Tang turned happily to Tang Yin, failing to notice her unstable emotions. “Your dad and I are doing some research. We’re getting a bigger storefront, ideally one with two floors. It’ll be enough space for us to live there, and it won’t be that expensive! Five hundred thousand should be more than enough.”

“Okay…” Tang Yin said quietly, the words she’d planned on saying swallowed down. She’d wanted to get the five hundred thousand back from her mom, but that wasn’t something she could do in a situation like this. Troubled, she went back into her room and shut the door immediately, laying flat on the bed before crying.

Exhausted and upset, she fell asleep as she sobbed.

Tang Yin would always read books and study in her room after coming home, so Mrs. Tang didn’t see anything wrong at all.

She didn’t know how long it’d been, but Tang Yin woke up from a noise outside. She climbed out of her bed groggily, thinking of washing her face and going to study when she saw her cousin Wang Luwei and her girlfriend Dan. They were sitting on the sofa with hesitant faces when she opened the door.

“Yin? You’re awake? I didn’t call for you when I saw you sleeping!” Mrs. Tang said, suddenly happy when she saw her. “You’re tired from school all the time, so I didn’t want to wake you up, but good timing! Wei needs your help again!”

Tang Yin blinked. “What happened to Wei this time?”

“Sis, you gotta help me!” Wei begged, his face downcast. “You gotta help save Dan!”

“What? What trouble did you get into this time?” Tang Yin was in a foul mood to begin with. Hearing Wei mess up again only made her even more unhappy.

Wei could sense the displeasure from Tang Yin as well. He didn’t dare say any more, having been scared in the first place.

Mrs. Tang sensed it as much as Wei did. She glared at Tang Yin. “What, now that you’re rich you won’t help your brother anymore?”

“How am I rich?!” Tang Yin frowned. “I didn’t even say anything about not helping him!”