Chapter 123 - Father and Son of House Zhong

It didn't hurt, but Lin Yi smiled bitterly all the same- It didn't seem like Tang Yin liked him very much! He was just thinking of starting an innocent relations.h.i.+p earlier, too……

Tang Yin was probably an unlikely candidate, and Yushu was the only one left…… That didn't seem very possible either…..

"Boss, how come Tang Yin's so p.i.s.sed at you?" Xiaobo still couldn't quite wrap his head around it- why would Tang Yin dislike Lin Yi this much from their first meeting if the two of them hadn't even met before?

"I'd have solved the problem if I knew why…" Lin Yi explained, a little speechless.

"That's true. Hm? Wait, boss- do you think it's maybe because Tang Yin likes you?" Xiaobo suggested suddenly.

"Hah? Because she likes me? What do you mean?" Lin Yi asked, stunned as he stared at Xiaobo.

"It's something I've heard about. There's this guy from last year, and there's this girl in his cla.s.s who's part of the student committee, who'd always go causing trouble for him. You know? Like when he skips cla.s.s or something, she'd always go cause trouble for him……" Xiaobo explained. "You think maybe Tang Yin's the same?"

Lin Yi only rolled his eyes- they weren't even in that kind of a situation in the first place!

"It's possible, but Tang Yin's only known me for two and a half days! You think it's possible for her to have fallen in love with me during those two days?" Lin Yi said, shaking his head. According to this guy's logic, the Miss was probably in love with him as well? Always causing trouble for him because she didn't find Lin Yi likeable?

"That's true……" Xiaobo chuckled as they started walking to school.

They were almost at the gate when Xiaobo pointed some distance away. "Boss, look, it's Chu Mengyao and Chen Yushu……"

"Oh……" Lin Yi said faintly- he'd been paying attention to the two from the corner of his eye since he'd noticed them, after all.

"Hm? Boss, look at that car they're getting out of- it's the same car you were in!" Xiaobo was quite observant, it seemed.

"Is it? Doesn't look that alike, does it?" Lin Yi yawned. "Stop looking at them, let's go."

"Yeah, they're too out of reach anyway. It's not realistic." Xiaobo said with a sigh. "Rich people at the top of the pyramid, man- I know that feeling so well……"

Lin Yi didn't know where that statement was coming from, but Xiaobo's didn't seem to have come from an especially rich family, from what Lin Yi had seen. It wasn't too poor, too- the guy was around middle cla.s.s, so what did he mean by that..?

Lin Yi, however, didn't want Xiaobo focusing on the car for too long, and decided to quicken their pace without asking anything.

A Mercedes-Benz S600I stopped not too far away from the school, parking some distance away from Li Fu's Bentley.

"That d.a.m.ned Li Fu's car's right there- I'll just drop you off here. Do you remember what I told you?" Zhong Fabai glared at his son beside him as he spoke scoldingly.

"Yes…… dad." Zhong Pinliang responded carefully. "I'll mind my own business from now on……"

The two were, naturally, referring to the whole incident with Lin Yi! Pinliang didn't dare let his father know that it was him going at Lin Yi for trouble, pinning it on Zhang Naipao instead, saying that he'd only went after Lin Yi because he'd stepped on his follower's shoe…… He didn't have to bear as much responsibility that way, at least.

Zhong Fabai was a man who walked both legal and criminal paths- as a result, he was someone who valued brotherhood. Pinliang standing up for his follower was not an unreasonable justification for his actions, and he'd decided to just let his son off with a scolding.

"Do you have any idea how close you were to messing things up for me? Getting my right-hand man Heibao jailed, he's gonna be in there for at least a couple years. It's a good thing he doesn't know too much, or else……" Zhong Fabai hmphed. "Remember, your top priority is to get Chu Mengyao to be your girl, ignore everything else! Understand?"

(i just remembered- didn't Xiaobo say Pinliang's dad's Zhong Sanguo? shrugs)

"I got it, dad! I'll try my best!" Zhong Pinliang promised immediately.

"Mm. If you manage to get your hands on Chu Mengyao…… i won't have to deal with your uncle's bulls.h.i.+t again!" Fabai said with a pat on Pinliang's shoulder. "Alright, go. Time's ticking, son- hit the iron while it's hot, do it before that old fox Chu Pengzhan comes to his senses!"

Zhong Fabai was no idiot- he had power in Songshan, but he was many levels below Chu Pengzhan's tier. Pengzhan would never consider Zhong Pinliang as a candidate for his daughter, but if Fabai were to let his son make the first move……

Zhong Pinliang was still very hateful towards Lin Yi, but there really wasn't much he could do if his father didn't support that hate. He'd be able to send an entire nightclub's security detail at Lin Yi with his father's full support- so what if Lin Yi was a good fighter? He'd send four guys at him if he could handle one, and he'd send twenty at him if he could handle four! There was no way Lin Yi could overpower those numbers!

Lin Yi..! I'll let you live a bit longer, but you're good as f.u.c.ked when I get my dad on you!! Just you wait, you're so f.u.c.ked when I get my hands on Chu Mengyao……

He wasn't very happy about postponing his revenge, but there wasn't much he could do. He'd decided to look for a couple of ways of messing with Lin Yi a little- it should be fine if he avoided direct confrontations and made sure Lin Yi wouldn't be suspecting him.

"Yao Yao……" Zhong Pinliang said as he went up to the two girls.

"See, Yao Yao? The fly's here again…… That's why I told you to get with s.h.i.+eld Guy as soon as possible!!" Yushu grinned as she pointed at Zhong Pinliang.

Mengyao only rolled her eyes as she turned around the face Pinliang. "Zhong Pinliang, are you deaf?"

Pinliang blinked as he processed the question- why was Mengyao asking if he was deaf all of a sudden? Wasn't it he who called out to her?

"Yao Yao, what do you mean, deaf..?" Zhong Pinliang asked, not sure where this was coming from.

"Didn't I tell you not to call me Yao Yao back when you first called me that? I told you to use my full name, right…… I can only a.s.sume that you either have something wrong with your IQ, your Chinese, or your ears!!" Mengyao said.

Chapter 124 - Visit

Zhong Pinliang held a fist, sighing deeply as he watched Mengyao and Yushu walk away. Just what part of him didn't Mengyao like..?

"What're you thinking about over there, Liang?" Zhong Pinliang was wondering what flaws he might've had for Mengyao to be that uninterested in him when someone tapped on his shoulder- it was Zou Ruoming.

"Oh, Ming Bro. Nah, it's nothing……" Pinliang said, not intending to embarra.s.s himself in front of Ruoming.

"Oh……" Ruoming said, not very interested as well- There was something else he wanted to talk about. "Liang, wanna ask you something… That Lin Yi guy in your cla.s.s, what's his deal?"

Zou Ruoming had almost equal hate towards Lin Yi as Zhong Pinliang did- the guy had ruined his plans for Tang Yin that friday night, and it p.i.s.sed Ruoming off quite hard.

Yet he'd made sure not to act recklessly, even when Lin Yi had slapped him across the face. He'd seen what the guy was capable of when he destroyed Heibao Bro the other day.

He'd decided to wait and see what someone of Zhong Pinliang's background would do to handle the matter. Ruoming's own family may be pretty well off, but it was nowhere near the scale of success Zhong Fabai's business boasted- All he really had backing him up was his brother Zou Ruoguang, a merciless gangster in the northern district.

But Pinliang didn't seem to be planning anything even days after Heibao Bro had gotten arrested- Ruoming could only wonder what kind of person Lin Yi was.

"Lin Yi..? He's just a farmer, that's what." Pinliang said indifferently, not stopping to remember that his father was a farmer himself at the start……

"Farmer?" Ruoming wasn't sure if he was hearing Pinliang right- how could Lin Yi be a farmer? Why would a farmer be attending this school as a high school student? Was Pinliang trying to make an international joke?

"He just transferred in, I heard he's from the mountains. He looked pretty much like a farmer his first day at school, with dirty clothes and everything." Pinliang explained as a thought crossed his mind- why would Ruoming be asking about Lin Yi from him, was he planning something? He hadn't heard anything about Ruoming having beef with Lin Yi!

"Is that so…… Why aren't you doing anything after what he did to you the last couple days?" Ruoming asked, doubtful of Pinliang's explanation. There'd be no way Pinliang would just let him off the hook if Lin Yi really were just a farmer.

"Let's not talk about that……" Pinliang said, shaking his head with a bitter smile on his lips. "I even got a scolding from my old man for calling Heibao Bro out on my own, and you know how my dad doesn't like me messing around in school. I'm not a match for Lin Yi, too- the guy's from the farms, and he's really strong! There isn't much I can do to him."

Zhong Pinliang had more or less figured it out by now: there was a little something between Zou Ruoming and Lin Yi. He wasn't about to stop Ruoming from teaching Lin Yi a lesson, that was for sure.

"So that's how it is…… In other words, Lin Yi doesn't have much of a background backing him up?" Ruoming's concern was Lin Yi's ident.i.ty- he didn't want to be messing with the wrong guy, since it'd be pointless if there were consequences out of his league after he'd dealt with Lin Yi.

"Well, not that I know of…… I say, Ming Bro- why're you so interested in that guy all of a sudden?" Pinliang asked, as if not understanding Ruoming's intentions.

"Ah, it's nothing. Just curious, you know?" Ruoming answered. "Well, I'll be going then, my friends are waiting at the court."

Pinliang curled his lips as he watched Ruoming leave. Curious? Curious my a.s.s. It seemed that Ruoming, however, was about to go after Lin Yi, and that was good enough news to Pinliang.

Lin Yi and Xiaobo were walking out of the cla.s.sroom for exercise break when they saw w.a.n.g Zhifeng rus.h.i.+ng over, his face rather composed upon spotting Lin Yi. "Lin Yi, come with me for a bit."

"Oh, sure." Lin Yi understood- Zhifeng had to act like a dean with Xiaobo around- his relations.h.i.+p with Lin Yi wasn't something that could be revealed, after all. Lin Yi patted Xiaobo on the shoulder as he spoke. "You go on ahead first, the dean needs to speak with me."

"Okay……" Xiaobo was a little worried, but decided to leave the two be as he got going- it wasn't very appropriate for him to be asking questions in front of the dean like that.

Lin Yi only turned to the dean after Xiaobo had left. "Is something the matter, Mr. w.a.n.g?"

"Well, Captain Yang from the criminal police force is here… He wants to see you……" w.a.n.g Zhifeng smiled bitterly. "Probably because of the incident last week. Be careful of what you say, just tell him you don't know anything when he asks you the questions. I'll handle this matter officially as a representative of the school later."

Zhifeng was quite committed to looking out for Lin Yi, it seemed. Lin Yi finding out about his secret was but one factor- it was also because of Chu Pengzhan, as well.

"Ah…… Okay." Lin Yi knew instantly that it couldn't be because of the incident if it was Yang Huaijun asking for him- it had to have something to do with the prescription he'd given him.

It was pretty nice timing- in normal circ.u.mstances, anyone would be either suspicious or curious if a criminal police captain just showed up at school asking for a student. The incident from last week was a good coverup for that.

The two made their way to the room Huaijun was in. Zhifeng pushed the door open before stepping in. "Captain Yang, I've brought Lin Yi. Let me say this in advance, however…… It's fine if you just want to ask him questions, but I'd need to inform the princ.i.p.al if you intend to take him with you……"

"I'm just here to ask some questions!" Huaijun smiled. "Rest a.s.sured, Mr. w.a.n.g- I won't be causing any inconvenience for you….. Could you leave us?"

"I'll leave you two alone, then." Zhifeng nodded, closing the door shut as he left the room.

"Well? How's the prescription?" Lin Yi asked, seating himself on a couch casually.

"Eagle, you're really too amazing. The prescription's better than the painkillers!" Huaijun punched at Lin Yi excitedly as Lin Yi evaded the attack completely.

"Call me Lin Yi." Lin Yi corrected.

"Alright, your call, boss." Huaijun didn't mind either way- it was just a code-name anyway. "Lin Yi, there's something I need to confess- I showed the prescription you gave me to my doctor…… But he gave me a guarantee that he wouldn't tell anyone else about it."

"Haha, it's fine, he'll be able to save more people, right." Lin Yi said with a laugh, evidently not minding what Huaijun had done at all. "What did he say?"