Chapter 84 - Go For Her
I"m a bit of an a.s.shole for posting late even when the chapters are ready, but Elder Scrolls you know?
Lin Yi didn"t think much about Zhong Pinliang"s movements. He was a bit of a pain in the a.s.s in school, but he"d never do anything too off the top. There was the mischief fairy with Mengyao, and Mengyao"s family backing her, after all. She wasn"t someone Pinliang could just mess with without consequence- even his uncle on the board of directors wouldn"t save him from Chu Pengzhan should he decide to get rough with her.
As a result, Lin Yi never planned on following after the two girls; Mengyao"s personality guaranteed rejection to that even if he did want to. He"d rather spend the time on doing his own stuff.
"Boss, wanna go for some barbeque at the school gates later?" Xiaobo asked, thinking of bonding a little with Lin Yi; they didn"t get to do so yesterday, after all.
He"d been alive for eighteen years, going to high school for three… He"d only started feeling like a real man the last couple days.
"Sure, why not." Lin Yi said- he didn"t get to eat lunch earlier, too. He stuffed the books he"d bought earlier into his desk before leaving.
Almost everyone had left the cla.s.sroom by the time Lin Yi and Xiaobo got up; there were only a couple nerds left, their faces still buried in books. n.o.body expected students like them to go out for fun, anyway- their waking hours were all spent on books.
They were pa.s.sing by twelfth grade"s cla.s.s nine when Xiaobo slowed down, puzzling Lin Yi. He was just about to bring it up when a surge of excitement hit Xiaobo, who pulled Lin Yi as he exclaimed softly. "Tang Yin! It"s Tang Yin!"
Lin Yi paused, looking in the direction Xiaobo was pointing- a girl was walking out of cla.s.s nine"s doors, heading towards the school"s stairs. Lin Yi only managed to catch a glimpse of a side view and ponytail before the girl disappeared downstairs.
The girl was tall and wore her school uniform. The uniform was a little wide, hiding most of her figure; Lin Yi guessed that it had to be a pretty nice one, being a school beauty and all.
It was only a glimpse, but Lin Yi could sense that the girl"s beauty was very youthful, like the pretty girl you"d crush on in cla.s.s. The commoner beauty was quite something.
"Well? Well?!" Xiaobo danced about, his excitement peaking as he looked at Lin Yi. He looked like he"s just hit a lottery.
"Didn"t see her face- what"d you expect me to see from her back?" Lin Yi said, hitting Xiaobo. "Dude, can you calm down, she"s not even your girlfriend, what"re you getting so excited for?"
"Heh, that may be true, but just b.u.mping into her like this is really rare! Just a glimpse is exciting enough already! Boss, don"t you think it"s fate?" Xiaobo said, still not calming down.
"You get to see Chen Yushu and Chu Mengyao every day, I don"t see you getting excited over that." Lin Yi was a little amused- the guy was way too excited.
"Come on, that"s different! Chu Mengyao and Chen Yushu… That"s a lost cause for me, they"re never gonna look at me. I"m not talented or rich, why would misses like that wanna pay me any attention? Tang Yin, though! She"s way closer to us, just a normal girl from a normal home! There"s still a chance there!" Xiaobo explained.
"Ha…" Lin Yi chuckled. Though, Xiaobo wasn"t wrong- Yushu and Mengyao were living in different worlds, going around in luxury cars and living in villas. One had to have quite the background before even thinking of going after those two.
"Boss, maybe you can go for her? You"re hot stuff right now, the whole school knows you- including Tang Yin, I"d bet!" Xiaobo suggested suddenly.
"Huh?" Lin Yi was stunned. "Isn"t she your crush?"
"Heh, not just mine- there"s plenty of boys crushing after her!" Xiaobo said with a laugh. "She"s too hard to get, though. I know my place, okay? You think someone like me can get 5 million from a lottery ticket?"
"It"s possible!" Lin Yi said with a nod. Lin Yi"s jade probably could help Xiaobo get that 5 million kuai- it really was possible with the jade involved.
"f.u.c.k!" Xiaobo rolled his eyes, speechless. "You know what I think? The chance of Tang Yin liking me is even lower than me getting five million! Get it? I"m just fantasizing a bit over here, but you- you have a chance!"
"Stop, okay? Why don"t you ask Zhong Pinliang to do that? I didn"t see him getting any school beauties even when he was a Big Four, it"s the same now, alright?" Lin Yi shook his head, not wanting to cause any rumors- he"d just get in trouble with Mengyao.
"You know where I"m taking you?" Xiaobo asked mysteriously.
"Where? Barbeque, right?" Lin Yi asked in return.
"Yes, but do you know who sells them?" Xiaobo squinted his eyes.
"You"re not gonna tell me that it"s Tang Yin, are you?" Lin Yi didn"t know how to respond to how mysterious Xiaobo was trying to be.
"Bingo!" Xiaobo clapped. "Tang Yin"s mom!"
"Tang Yin"s mom?" Lin Yi looked at his friend. (The way Xiaobo says it in Chinese makes it sound like he"s cursing.)
"Uh... not that mom, what I mean is, it"s her mother who sells the barbeque…" Xiaobo coughed, realizing how vulgar that may have sounded. "It"s her mother"s barbeque stand!"
"......" Lin Yi didn"t know what to say.
"Boss, lemme tell you this- Tang Yin usually helps her mom out during sports cla.s.s! We might very well get to see her if we go for some barbeque!" Xiaobo said as he quickened his steps, pulling Lin Yi along. "Come on, let"s go meet Tang Yin!"
Xiaobo"s att.i.tude made Lin Yi"s hardened heart feel a lot younger, a lot more energized with youthful energy- he"d been a.s.sa.s.sinating and going on very dangerous missions for the past few years, spending his time in war zones and primal jungles… It"d been a long time since he last felt like this.
It was only then did Lin Yi realize: This was the kind of thing a guy his age should"ve been doing, not killing people! An excitement blossomed in Lin Yi"s heart as he followed Xiaobo- they were going to stalk the school beauty!
Stalking the school beauty, naturally, was something many youths around their age did.
Tang Yin was indeed making her way to the street food area. There were duos and trios of students walking around, and it was hard to tell that the two of them were stalking her. Although, Lin Yi did spot three or four people doing the same thing they were.
Chapter 85 - Establish as Boyfriend
Zou Ruoming, naturally, knew the same things that Kang Xiaobo did- he"d brought a couple of his lackeys to the street food area long ago, ordering some skewers and beer at Tang Yin"s mother"s stand. They were waiting for Tang Yin to come.
Tang Yin"s mother knew who Ruoming was- the guy was an infamous tyrant in the school. She was trying to figure out why he"d bring so many people to eat here today. He didn"t usually eat here at all.
Mrs. Tang would be lying if she said she wasn"t scared of Zou Ruoming. He"d gotten a stomachache a while back after eating at one of the seafood stands here, returning the next day to smash the place apart, even going as far as to beat the vendor up. The wounds were so bad that he wasn"t seen until a couple of days later.
She wasn"t the only one selling skewers here- there were a lot other skewer stands, and Zou Ruoming always ate at one of the other stands. Mrs Tang saw that as a blessing: businesses like hers didn"t earn much money in the first place, she"d rather have less customers than to expose herself to trouble- she didn"t want to end up like the seafood guy.
"Here"s your food- Ah!" Mrs Tang was serving Zou Ruoming"s table with some freshly barbequed chicken wings when her hand slipped a little, causing some of the sauce from the chicken wings to fling onto a fatty"s leg. The lackey looked down at the splotch of oil as Mrs Tang panicked.
"I"m sorry, I"m sorry!" Mrs Tang apologized immediately. Young masters like these terrified her- there was little stopping them from thrashing her entire stand. "I… I can wipe it for you? I can wash it for you, even, if you"d like…"
This barbeque stand was Mrs Tang"s sole source of income after being laid off. Her lover was bedridden after having injured his leg, and the factory didn"t seem very willing to pay a compensation. She"d went up to the factory a couple of times, only to be sent back out by a rough factory chief.
Mrs. Tang was the cla.s.sic example of a housewife from the lowest social tier: weak and soft, but still holding the family together through her two hands, earning money for her daughter"s school fees and her lover"s medical bill.
"Ha, it"s okay!" The fatty said, not one trace of anger in his voice as he wiped the oil stain away. "I"d never ask aunty to wash my pants for me- Ming Bro would kill me! You"ll be our elder soon!"
"You little-!" Zou Ruoming pressed at fatty"s forehead. "Kissing a.s.s already?"
"Heehee…." Fatty started laughing, followed by the other"s lackeys" laughter- none of them had a care in the world.
Mrs. Tang, on the other hand, looked at fatty blankly, not sure of what the words meant, not did she understand what everyone was laughing about. One thing was clear: the fatty seemed to have let things go.
Mrs Tang let out a breath of relief as she voiced her words carefully. "Then… This one"s my treat, if you don"t mind."
"That can"t do, aunty- our Ming Bro isn"t that kind of guy, he won"t just eat without paying!" Fatty said with a wave of his hand. "You"re the last person he"d do that kind of thing to. After all, the two of you will be family soon!"
Zou Ruoming couldn"t help but grin gleefully at fatty"s words. The guy was saying all the right things- he didn"t raise him up for nothing.
Mrs. Tang was confused- family? What was this fatty trying to say?
Tang Yin appeared some distance away, and fatty started wobbling his fat body around as he danced in greeting, whistling along with Ruoming"s other lackeys.
"Ms. Zou"s here! Ms. Zou"s here!" Fatty cried out loudly. (What fatty actually calls Tang Yin is something Chinese people do: it"s like you calling your close friend"s gf saozi (literal translation sis-in-law), but I changed it to Ms. Zou for adaptability purposes)
Tang Yin"s face paled instantly upon seeing Zou Ruoming and his lackeys- she never expected them to show up at her mother"s stand! The fatty over there was spouting some ridiculous nonsense in front of her mother, as well!
Ruoming had written her a love letter before, but Tang Yin didn"t hold back in rejecting him… But the guy didn"t seem to care at all! He only smiled stupidly as he followed her around, running back to his cla.s.sroom after the ball rang.
She hadn"t heard from the guy for two days after that, and a.s.sumed that Ruoming had decided to give up on her… Something like this happening was completely unexpected- how saddened would her mother be if she thought Tang Yin got herself a boyfriend at this age?
"Boss, Zou Ruoming and his lackeys are there!" Xiaobo said to Lin Yi after spotting Ruoming, evidently a little p.i.s.sed off. "These b.a.s.t.a.r.ds are bullying her!"
"Oh, so that guy"s called Zou Ruoming?" Lin Yi took a closer look at Ruoming, remembering him as the guy he"d sent flying with a basketball a few days ago.
"You know him?" Xiaobo asked as he turned to Lin Yi. "He"s the Second of the Big Four! It"s like I said, you"ll be able to replace him as Second if you defeat him!"
"......" Lin Yi shook his head in response. He smiled a bitter smile- didn"t he just destroy him a couple of days ago?
"I"d heard long ago that Tang Yin rejected him, but I didn"t expect him to do something this shameless! Making things up in front of her mother like that!" Xiaobo waved his fist angrily as he heard what fatty was shouting.
Lin Yi didn"t particularly care about what Ruoming did- the guy was a jerk, but Lin Yi had better things to do than trouble himself with his antics, unless it involved Lin Yi himself.
"Sit, Sis! Ming Bro"s ordered the food already, we were only waiting for you!" Fatty said very enthusiastically.
"Come, Yin Yin! Don"t be shy- we have to tell your mother sooner or later anyway!" Zou Ruoming waved as his shamelessness pumped him up. He was pretty displeased at Tang Yin"s rejection, and was trying to think of something when one of his lackeys proposed this tactic- he"d decided to go all in with that, establishing himself as Tang Yin"s boyfriend right in front of her mother. He understood Mrs. Tang as a housewife, and that his fame wasn"t a very positive one… He had, however, youth and riches- there wasn"t much Tang Yin could do if even her own mother agreed to the relationship…...