Beauty and the Bodyguard

Mrs. Tang didn’t quite understand what these boys were talking about at first, but everything made complete sense the moment they started calling Tang Yin Mrs. Zou.

Her heart dropped a bit- did her daughter really get a boyfriend at her age? One look at Tang Yin’s pale face, however, and Mrs. Tang realized otherwise: Zou Ruoming was probably forcing her into a relationship with him. That, or Ruoming revealing their relationship to her was not something Tang Yin had wanted.

Yet there wasn’t much Mrs. Tang could do no matter what the scenario was- she was in no position to be pissing someone like Zou Ruoming off! She understood also that her words would do next to nothing- Ruoming wouldn’t give two shits.

Mrs. Tang had seen her share of cruelty in her years… Her strength was miniscule- a drop in the bucket. Her lover’s hip injury from work was but one example. The guy was paralyzed, lying in bed all day after losing the ability to take care of himself! The company never intended to provide any sort of compensation whatsoever!

It was a small private electronics company, and the owner ignored all of her requests and pleas. Even the contract from the very start was tweaked, resulting in Mrs. Tang and her lover’s inabilitY to press any charges.

The factory owner had even threatened to send men to burn her house down and have their way with her daughter, just because Mrs. Tang went up to him asking for medical compensation a couple of times! She gave up after that- it was what she got for being the weak minority, she supposed.

As such, the entirety of the family dropped onto Mrs. Tang’s shoulders to support. Yet things weren’t all bad- at the very least, her daughter was a good girl, getting first place in her grade and even a scholarship. It was a huge lift off the family’s burdens.

She was stunned when she’d learned of Tang Yin getting herself a boyfriend, frustrated at her daughter until she considered the possibility of Ruoming forcing the whole thing. It’d be fine if the kid was serious about her- he had a good family background, after all, and Tang Yin would live quite a life of comfort if she did end up with him. What Mrs. Tang was worried about, however, was Zou Ruoming throwing her daughter aside after having had his fun.

Mrs. Tang wasn’t an expert on the behaviorology of rich princey kids, but she had a general idea as to what their tendencies were.

Tang Yin was about to protest as her face reddened when she remembered what kind of a person Zou Ruoming was. She’d heard that the guy dragged one of the female students off into a bathroom to have his way with her, only to pay her a large amount of money so that she could transfer to another school without any problems.

It was only a rumor, but the girl did indeed change schools. Her family got a big compensation from the whole thing, after all… The fact held Tang Yin back from angering Ruoming, as a result. There was no telling what a guy like him would do to her if that happened!

She wouldn’t keep quiet if she was in that girl’s shoes, even if she did get compensation for what had been done to her… She’d try to hold her dignity, or some sort of statement for her to lean back on… Though, what good would that do?

Tang Yin’s eyes were tearing up as she held the frustration in and kept her mouth shut. She was starting to hate her mother for not shooing Zou Ruoming away, but remembered her mother’s meek nature… She was probably feeling even more helpless than Tang Yin was herself.

School beauty? What good was that?!! Why was she so unfortunate, she’d been laying so low, too- never putting on any makeup and only wearing the school uniform- catching the attention of people was the last thing she wanted!

Chu Mengyao and Chen Yushu were school beauties as well, but Zou Ruoming would never employ this sort of thing against them!

“They’re such scum!” Kang Xiaobo commented as he watched Tang Yin getting bullied. He’d been feeling manly the last two days, and a sudden passionate rage took over, propelling him onwards as he charged out with his fist raised.

Lin Yi wasn’t expecting something like this from Xiaobo- even a cowardly guy like him would go so far when the goddess of his dreams was involved, it seemed.

“Gaah… Why is everyone so active today!” Lin Yi had wanted to lay low for a couple of days, but stuff seemed to always be happening around him! Xiaobo had thrown himself out already- Lin Yi couldn’t just leave him be! He’d get beat up by Zou Ruoming and his friends!

“Zou Ruoming! You call yourself a man? Doing something as shameless as this after getting rejected?!” Kang Xiaobo said as he stood in front of Tang Yin.

Zou Ruoming was, at the time, waiting happily for Tang Yin to make her choice- this was the kind of result he wanted, a scenario where Tang Yin had to make a decision! His presence at Mrs. Tang’s barbeque stand today was for that reason alone- he wanted to make a statement to the girl: reject me again, and it doesn’t matter if it was you or your mother- none of you would be living happy lives from that point on!

It was a fifty-fifty chance for Zou Ruoming. He thought it was a good gamble to force Tang Yin into a relationship with him.

The issue was at the highest priority on Tang Yin’s list as she looked over her options, her head lowered and her voice silent. She was worried of her own safety, but also concerned for her mother’s barbeque stand, as well! She understood perfectly well that it’d be the end for the stand if she were to reject Zou Ruoming today- all Zou Ruoming had to do was send a couple of his lackeys to the stand every day to obliterate the business.

She was helplessly panicking over what her course of action should be when Kang Xiaobo jumped out all of a sudden- Neither Tang Yin or even Zou Ruoming expected this development. Tang Yin only tried pondering why this guy would step up for her like this, she didn’t even know him?

“Who the fucking shit are you?” Zou Ruoming snapped angrily as he pointed at Xiaobo, his voice laced with rage- Tang Yin was just about to make her decision, what the fuck was this guy doing springing out and ruining everything?

“I… I….” Xiaobo’s courage left him instantly as he watched Zou Ruoming growl at him. He was acting on impulse! He wasn’t like Lin Yi, who could back up outbursts like that- he was no match for Zou Ruoming, he knew that… But he also knew that his boss was right behind him, and he couldn’t waver at such critical a moment as now. He puffed his chest up. “I’m a lackey of the Big Four’s Third!”

“Big Four? Third? Lackey?” Zou Ruoming was a little taken aback from the claim. “The fuck are you on about, are you telling me you’re Zhong Pinliang’s man? That fucking Zhong Pinliang, fucking my stuff up after he got fucked up himself?”

“You can go fuck off- your boss wouldn’t butt in on Ming Bro’s business, who the hell are you?” Fatty said as he gave Xiaobo a shove. “Go back home to your boss and tell him this: I’m fucking his mom tonight!”

Fatty was obviously mistaking Xiaobo as Zhong Pinliang’s lackey, very cocky as he barked the ridiculous words out. Everyone had heard of Zhong Pinliang getting messed up by some transfer student, and of Heibao Bro getting caught by the police- the guy would probably be serving a couple of years in jail. Zhong Pinliang had practically lost all of his standing because of that. Zou Ruoming’s lackeys had no reason to respect the guy at this point.

“Whose mom are you fucking tonight?” A calm but cold voice sounded beside Fatty’s ear.

*[Long Taos]: side characters in Chinese operas who perform acrobatics and fight scenes

*[12.47 to 13.07]: don't ask me about the tree sap