Chapter 147 - News Spreads Especially Fast at School
"Did you guys know? That new Big Four, Lin Yi- he went to Tang Yin"s cla.s.s to hand her a note! Wonder what was on it?"
"Did you guys know? That new Big Four, Lin Yi- he gave Tang Yin a love letter!"
"Did you guys know? That new Big Four, Lin Yi- he"s chasing Tang Yin!"
"Did you guys know? That new Big Four, Lin Yi- he"s in a relationship with Tang Yin!"
"Did you guys know? That new Big Four, Lin Yi- he beat a fellow Big Four up- that Zou Ruoming- for hara.s.sing his girlfriend!"
Young Master Lin Yi and School Beauty Tang Yin didn"t know it yet, but they were currently the main characters of the biggest rumor at school…
Mengyao and Yushu could only wonder what Lin Yi had given to Tang Yin- the guy had left the cla.s.sroom empty-handed and had come back empty-handed, after all.
Mengyao was a little too shy to ask Lin Yi directly. She glanced at Yushu, and decided that she couldn"t rely on her- the girl would probably sell her out again, and she"d rather do it herself if the credit was all going to her anyway.
Last period ended, and it was break time before the study hall at night.
Tang Yin was holding hands with a girl in specs as they took a walk on the field. She was Mengyao"s equivalent of Yushu- a best friend from cla.s.s ten, Liu Xinwen. The two of them lived really close together, and Xinwen knew about Fen and her tragedy as well.
Xinwen, however, wasn"t very pretty- she was neither the type of girl to be targeted by young masters and delinquents, nor the type who had admirers. She was quite free because of that.
"Tang Yin… Did you and Lin Yi really……" Xinwen asked, her voice soft.
"No!" Tang Yin blushed, not expecting even her best friend to be saying that. "What"re you talking about?! How does that even sound remotely possible?"
"Seriously? Tang Yin, there"s no way you don"t know, right? Everyone"s talking about it in cla.s.s- they say Lin Yi gave you a love letter, and you even accepted it shyly! You were so panicked you almost b.u.mped into Ms. Song, too!" Xinwen said.
"Ah?" Tang Yin didn"t think that Lin Yi handing her a recipe would turn out to be such a ma.s.sive mess!!
"So you really didn"t know?"" Xinwen asked, curious if Tang Yin was serious.
"Wen Wen, tell me- what"s going on?" Tang Yin was starting to panic as she cupped her hands around Xinwen"s.
"So a couple of people saw Lin Yi giving
you a love letter just this afternoon- he then confessed to you, and you accepted his feelings shyly before running back to cla.s.s……" Xinwen said as she told Tang Yin the most reliable version of the story.
"Hah?!!" Tang Yin"s eyes shot themselves wide open. "Love letter? Confess??"
"Yeah, that"s what everyone else is saying……" Xinwen said. There"s a version that"s even more amazing… wait until I tell you about it.
"Wen Wen, you believe me, don"t you? I would never get a boyfriend so early!" Tang Yin said helplessly.
"Heh, who knows? You"re eighteen already, so maybe you"re starting to discover your romantic feelings?" Xinwen said with a smile. "We"re graduating soon, too- maybe you couldn"t wait until college and decided to let yourself loose?"
"I"ll hammer you!" Tang Yin said as she attacked Xinwen, her face completely flushed by then. Xinwen only dodged the fist as she chuckled.
"Tell me honestly, Tang Yin- do you like Lin Yi or not?" Xinwen said solemnly after having had her laugh.
"L-Like him? He"s just bothering me all the time, that"s all." Tang Yin pouted.
"Are you sure?" Xinwen asked. "Lemme tell you something, Tang Yin- you have to be careful with stuff like this, don"t be playing yourself into his hands! Fen"s the best example and lesson! You"re born with a prettier face, but that"s the only capital you have! Don"t make the wrong choice, or you"ll regret it for the rest of your life!"
"Wen Wen… How are you still doubting me? I"m telling you, it"s that Lin Yi a.s.shole who keeps bothering me, I"d never accept his confession!" Tang Yin said. "Who did you… hear this from, anyway?"
"Oh, that"s good then." Xinwen said with a nod. "As for who I heard it from… Well, everyone"s talking about it, you know? I"m not too sure who started the rumor in the first place, but everyone basically thinks you and Lin Yi are together now……"
"Argh!" Tang Yin stomped her foot, frustrated. "What should I do, Wen Wen? What should I do??"
"Maybe we can go talk to him about this? To get him to stop hara.s.sing you? You"re scared of him, but I"m not!" Xinwen was known for her toughness, something she"d inherited from her mother. She"d been able to scare delinquents and gangsters away with a butcher"s knife ever since she"d started helping her mom out at their vegetable stand when she was just twelve...
"Forget it…… You don"t know this, but he"s really strong. He"s an absolute tyrant, and he even beat both Zhong Pinliang and Zou Ruoming up, who just took it without saying anything! Don"t do anything stupid, Wen Wen." Tang Yin didn"t want her friend getting into any trouble she couldn"t handle- this wasn"t the kind of thing mere toughness alone could take care of.
"Ah……" Xinwen had heard of Lin Yi"s legends and feats before- Young Master Lin had more than a strong background going for him. The guy was at the point where he could do whatever he wanted at school! Beating up two Big Four members after just transferring in for a few days? That was no ordinary feat…
Xinwen recognized that she was no opponent of Lin Yi. "Hmph, I think it"s probably Lin Yi who started the rumor in the first place!"
"Huh?" Tang Yin blinked as she looked at Xinwen curiously.
"Don"t you get it? He couldn"t get you to be his girlfriend, so he"s making it a fact to everyone else! There"s not much you could do when everyone thinks you"re his girlfriend already, right?" Xinwen a.n.a.lysed.
"No way, right…… He… He isn"t that kind of guy, right?" Tang Yin frowned- a.s.shole he may be, Lin Yi wasn"t one to be spreading rumors behind other people"s backs! From what she"d seen, Lin Yi wouldn"t resort to lowly methods like that even if he did decide to drop his gentleman act. It"d only make Tang Yin hate him more, after all.
"No way? Huh? I say, Yin Yin… Why"re you speaking up for him now, what"s with this "he isn"t that kind of guy" thing? Could it be that you actually like him?" Wen Wen asked- it didn"t seem right… it was like Tang Yin was on Lin Yi"s side and trying to protect him?
Was it true? Was Tang Yin in love with Lin Yi? Xinwen"s face grew more solemn still, and a bad feeling started to form…
Chapter 148 - Off The Table
"Yin Yin- did Lin Yi actually talk to you? Did he give you a love letter?" An important thought crossed Xinwen"s mind- there had to be something substantial for the rumors to be based off of, even if Lin Yi was responsible for starting the rumors.
"No, he just gave me this barbeque recipe!" Tang Yin explained as she pulled the piece of paper out of her pocket. "See? Take a look."
"This?" Xinwen took over the recipe curiously, flipping the piece of paper open for a look. "What did he give this to you for?"
"It"s all because of my mom- I don"t know how Lin Yi poisoned her, but he told her that business would be a lot better if she used the recipe." Tang Yin explained. "So my mom"s completely persuaded by him, and she asked me to go get the recipe from Lin Yi……"
"Just like that?" Xinwen"s eyes were wide open- this didn"t seem like something a young master would do at all… Rich kids simply didn"t hit on girls that way. This Lin Yi was quite novel, it seemed, and quite strategic as well, to start from the mother… Although, this didn"t feel like something a teenager would be able to do.
"Yeah, so there wasn"t much I could do about it." Tang Yin continued helplessly. "Well, that"s all there is between me and Lin Yi- I"m not gonna say yes to him just because he"s chasing me. Who knows if he"s even serious about it?"
"From what I can see, Tang Yin… You"re talking as if you actually like him..?" Xinwen squinted her eyes at Tang Yin, as if trying to read her face. "So you"ll say yes if he"s serious, you mean?"
"What? Wen Wen, what"re you saying?!" Tang Yin blushed as she realized the mistake in her wording once more. "I"m saying that guys like him only play around with girls- you think I"ll accept feelings like that?"
"Alright, alright, whether you like him or not doesn"t matter- just remember, don"t say yes!" Xinwen said. "Us three sisters have to stay together, and you"ve always been the best out of us- good grades, good looks… Don"t waste that! Fen and I will be relying on you in the future!"
"Yeah……" Tang Yin nodded as she thought about how the rumor had started in the first place- did the a.s.shole turn into an even bigger a.s.shole to spread stuff like that around?
She"d have to talk to him about it if that were the case- he may not care, but Tang Yin did! Who did the guy think he was?
Yet it was but a thought- it"d be like a lamb trying to argue with a tiger.
Lin Yi spent the rest of his afternoon in peace after he"d handed the recipe to Tang Yin. It wasn"t until school ended that he realized that people were pointing at him and whispering to each other as he walked out the building with Xiaobo.
He didn"t think much of it at first, but it seemed that there were people paying attention to him everywhere… He didn"t recall being this famous even after the Heibao incident?
"Boss, what"s with these people?" Xiaobo asked, perplexed.
"I dunno. Maybe you can go ask?" Lin Yi said, perplexed as well.
"Hey, you! Come here!" Xiaobo was starting to get pretty confident now that he was a Big Four"s follower. He wasn"t just a n.o.body anymore, and he was brave enough to even bark at Zou Ruoming, after all- he had no problem doing that to the other students.
The guy was chatting with his buddies happily when Xiaobo barked at him, startling him with a jump. He didn"t know who Xiaobo was, but the guy was standing next to Lin Yi… He had to be a beast as well. The guy decided that he"d mind his mouth next time- he didn"t want to get into trouble with a Big Four…
"Bro…… Are you talking to me?" The guy asked carefully. (the way he says bro is respectful)
"What do you think? Get over here!" Xiaobo said mercilessly. "What were you talking about over there, hm? Pointing at my boss and everything, you think you"re hosting a show?!"
"Um…… Bro… what did I do…" The guy said as he walked over carefully.
"I"m asking you what you were talking about! Do you speak human?!" Xiaobo was starting to get a little frustrated- the guy had been running his mouth earlier, so what was he doing all stuttery all of a sudden?
"It"s… It"s nothing……" The guy said with a shake of his head, terrified.
"You wanna get beat up?!" Xiaobo glared. "Listen well- talking behind another"s back is something very rude to do. You tell me the truth now and I"ll let you go. Otherwise… I"ll go ask those friends of yours and see what you were saying to them?"
"Ah..?" Xiaobo actually had a way with words- the guy could deny it all he wanted, but the same couldn"t be said for the people with him… His face whitened at the realization. "I"m sorry, I"m sorry…… It"s just something I heard other people talking about……"
"What"s that?" Xiaobo was p.i.s.sed enough as it is- could the guy start saying useful stuff already?
"I heard that Lin Yi Bro and Tang Yin were in a relationship……" The guy whispered. "Lin Yi Bro confessed to Tang Yin earlier today, even giving her a love letter that Tang Yin shyly accepted……"
Lin Yi"s eyes shot themselves wide open!! What the?!! When the h.e.l.l did that happen? Who would even spread something like that? Lin Yi couldn"t believe it- the people that started that rumor must"ve been really bored or something.
He had to acknowledge the imagination at work here… When did his barbeque recipe turn into a love letter?
Lin Yi didn"t mind too much, but Tang Yin… f.u.c.k. Lin Yi wondered who"d be so much of an a.s.shole that he"d do something like this- Tang Yin would probably avoid him from now on. So much for his plans for a nice, young relationship…
There was the Miss to worry about, too- what would she think of the whole thing? Lin Yi cursed at how unlucky he was today.
"L-Look, Lin Yi Bro, and this other bro…… It"s just something I heard from someone else……" The guy apologized, having noticed the change in Lin Yi"s face- he did not want to p.i.s.s this guy off.
"Alright, you can go now……" Lin Yi wanted to cry and laugh at the same time. There wasn"t anything he could do with this guy, needless to say- he had just been spreading the rumors he"d heard about for fun… It was next to impossible to find the people who"d started the rumors in the first place.
"Thank you, Lin Yi Bro, thank you……" The guy said as he made a hasty retreat.
"You know, boss… This is actually a good thing?" Xiaobo said as he narrowed his eyes. "You have a nice chance now that everyone knows Tang Yin"s your girlfriend."
"Chance my a.s.s, you don"t know what Tang Yin"s like!" Lin Yi replied with a bitter smile. "She"s pretty much off the table at this point."