Chapter 129 - Block Me and Die

"Heh heh, nice going there boss. Tang Yin's mom seems to like you a lot!" Xiaobo commented. "Heh, one New Orleans recipe and you got her to like you!"

"Well, I thought it'd be nice if I improved the food here a bit, since you like it so much. I don't find it particularly tasty as it is." Lin Yi said as he sent a smack at the back of Xiaobo's head. "What're you thinking about?"

"Heh heh, nothing, nothing." Xiaobo shook his head.

Lin Yi only smiled, shaking his head as well. The guy was probably thinking that he liked Tang Yin, didn't he? Lin Yi decided not to explain himself anymore- he did announce his 'intentions' to Tang Yin earlier, despite it all.

The twelfth graders were always a lot quieter during lunch compared to the tenth and eleventh graders.

Lin Yi and Xiaobo were standing at the end of the hallway, basking in the March sun coming through the window. It wasn't too hot- it was actually a pleasant warmth the sun was sending them.

This weird-a.s.s bulls.h.i.+t mission the old man threw at Lin Yi…… It'd really set him on a different track in life. His world was, at the moment, a peaceful and mellow one. No danger, no tension…… It was nice.

"Boss, it's Zou Ruoming and Zhong Pinliang." Xiaobo said, pointing at a spot under a basketball hoop outside on the field.

Lin Yi looked in the direction Xiaobo was pointing- the two were talking to each other sideways from Lin Yi's perspective, and he couldn't quite make out what they were saying from just one side of their lips. Although, Lin Yi himself didn't possess any sight techniques- he'd probably be unable to tell what they were saying even if he could see them.

"What does Zou Ruoming's family do?" Lin Yi reckoned that he'd probably have future conflict with Ruoming because of Tang Yin and everything. Last Friday was merely the beginning.

"Zou Ruoming's dad… He does real estate development, but he's not a very honest businessman. He always owes his employees their salaries." Xiaobo answered. "His brother is a thug in the northern district, Zou Ruoguang. He'd always go beat his dad's workers up with his men if they cause any trouble. He's the guy keeping them in line……"

"Oh? You seem to know a lot?" Lin Yi asked curiously. Zou Ruoming wasn't even in their cla.s.s.

"Well that's caz Zou Ruoming always brings that stuff up to show off. It's why he's living such a nice life at school." Xiaobo explained. "Almost everyone at this school knows about his history!"

"Doesn't he worry that people will go causing his family trouble because of that." Lin Yi asked with a curl of his lips. Gangster, huh? Maybe I should get Huaijun to teach his brother a lesson someday.

Zou Ruoming and Zhong Pinliang stopped talking at that moment- Ruoming was walking towards the exit, while Pinliang seemed to be making his way back to cla.s.s.

Ruoming simply wanted to have an idea of Lin Yi's background from Zhong Pinliang. That Friday night was just too humiliating- he couldn't just let something like that go without doing anything.

He'd decided to consult his elder brother about the matter.

Lin Yi made his way back to the cla.s.sroom with Xiaobo, and saw that Mengyao was watching cartoons on her MP4 with Yushu again. Zhong Pinliang, on the other hand, moved his chair beside Mengyao, chuckling like an idiot as he watched the cartoon with the girls. Could someone of his IQ even understand the plot in the show?

Yushu pointed at Zhong Pinliang sneakily upon seeing Lin Yi enter the room.

Lin Yi noticed that he'd been getting along with Yushu really well recently- there was a nice little bond between them at that point. He'd have really considered getting closer to her if she weren't Mengyao's best friend… He wanted to experience what young love was like, but that dream seemed so far away…

Yushu was probably complaining about how annoying Pinliang was being, thinking that Lin Yi could help them out a bit as she saw him come in.

Lin Yi smiled faintly, giving Yushu a nod as he walked to where Pinliang was quickly. Pinliang seemed to have sensed Lin Yi's malice, as well, but couldn't quite figure out why Lin Yi was coming at him for- he hadn't done anything to p.i.s.s him off the last couple days, after all.

Lin Yi, on the other hand, didn't give a s.h.i.+t what Pinliang was thinking! He walked over and kicked at his chair, sending Pinliang flipping and falling onto the ground with a loud flop.

"Don't block my way." Lin Yi said, stepping over Pinliang's body without so much as one look at him.

Silence!

Absolute, complete silence!

It was already quiet to begin with, but even the soft murmurs between friends ceased as they raised their heads to behold the insane scene that had just taken place!

After all, Zhong Pinliang was the big shot, the big bully in the cla.s.s no one dared stand up to! Lin Yi's existence rewrote all of that, and this scene fortified everyone's fear and respect towards the man. Lin Yi had made his place known, loud and clear.

After all, the guy sent Pinliang sprawling onto the ground just because he was in the way! That was no justifiable reason for something like that- no one in the cla.s.s would ever do something like that!

No one in the school would do something that insane!

Even a fellow Big Four like Zou Ruoming wouldn't be as c.o.c.ky to go that far..!!

"Lin Yi……" A toxic rage flashed through Pinliang's eyes. He couldn't just let Lin Yi do this to him!! He wanted to spring up, he wanted to throw his life on the line and drag Lin Yi down with him!!! An indescribable sensation of humiliation and helplessness overtook Pinliang as he held his fists in tight rage.

Lin Yi…… You f.u.c.king wait!! Zou Ruoming'll be taking care of you soon enough, you'd better enjoy your c.o.c.kiness the few days it's gonna last!!

Zhong Pinliang silently picked himself up from the ground, and put his chair back at his seat before sitting down.

Mengyao only watched in complete shock as Lin Yi's figure walked away- the guy was a natural-born monster! That kick may have been ruthless, but it had style… A man like Lin Yi was incredibly reliable.

"Yao Yao, you have to admit- s.h.i.+eld Bro's really cool……" Yushu said with a thumbs up, a tinge of admiration in her eyes.

"He's stolen your heart, hasn't he, Shu?" Mengyao commented, a little uncomfortable with that romantic look on Yushu's face.

"Hehe, maybe a little, but don't worry, Yao Yao. I won't fight you for him." Yushu said with a grin. "Your choice is my choice."

"You-!" Mengyao couldn't take it anymore- she tapped her knuckle at Yushu's head, wondering what was inside the girl's head. Why was she so pa.s.sionate about that promise they'd made as kids? Was it because of Lin Yi, or was it because of her?

Mengyao still couldn't comprehend the sensations she was feeling.

"Was it you who gestured to Lin Yi? You told him to do that, didn't you?" Mengyao whispered.

"Ah? You noticed..?" Yushu blinked. "Well, I mean come on- I did it for you, you know…… You don't wanna listen to him chuckle like an idiot right beside us right?"

"Fine, you win, but Shu, you have to take Lin Yi's image into consideration… He keeps this up and the school will probably have him expelled sooner or later! You think he has the background to prevent that from happening like the others?" Mengyao said with a bitter smile.

"Didn't Uncle Fu put him into the school? That's enough of a background, right?" Yushu said, evidently knowing what was going on. "It's Uncle Chu who arranged him a place at the school, you know. It should be fine."

Chapter 30 - Kang Xiaobo's Background

Bad news spread faster than good news, and news of Lin Yi's feat reached cla.s.s nine in no time at all.

Tang Yin was thinking of taking a nap during lunch break, but Lin Yi's d.a.m.ned smile kept popping up in her head! She ma.s.saged her aching temple a little before rubbing her eyes, red from crying. She was about to start studying a bit when she heard someone mention Lin Yi's name.

Her heart tensed up subconsciously, to her surprise, unsure why she'd even care about the name. Was it because she didn't want people finding out he was chasing after her?

"Did you know? I was going to the toilet earlier when I saw that transfer student kicking Zhong Pinliang's chair and flipping him onto the ground!" A boy said dramatically as he told the story to a couple of his friends. "Do you know why he did that?"

"Why?" The others asked, clearly curious and excited- twelfth grade was a rather dry period in high school, after all. A little excitement here and there was enough to get people happy for a while.

"Because he was blocking the way! That transfer student said he was blocking his way! He'll do it again if he dares do it again!!" The boy said proudly, as if he were Lin Yi. "Tell me, tell me- isn't that insane?!"

"That transfer student's called Lin Yi, right? He's really hot!" A girl who was a bit of a s.l.u.t added. "You guys all saw what he did last week, at the exercise break- he put that gangster on the ground with his teeth knocked out, all by himself! Men like him really are so reliable!"

"Pfft, you think the guy'd even look at a h.o.r.n.y s.l.u.t like you…… You look like you've been in bed with more men than you've eaten breakfast." Another girl hmphed coldy. "If it's me though……"

"F off!" The s.l.u.t cursed, clearly p.i.s.sed off. "Why don't you look at that face of yours in the mirror, you're worse off than me! Here's what I say- the only one here who has a chance with him has to be Tang Yin……"

Tang Yin was eavesdropping on the gossip with a book over her face- she couldn't help but curl her lips at what Lin Yi had done to Zhong Pinliang. As expected, the guy was a monster, no different from Zou Ruoming…… It wasn't even two days until he showed his violent colors again!!

It was also the reason why she couldn't bear hearing what people were saying about her and Lin Yi- the two of them as a couple? Yet, as p.i.s.sed off as Tang Yin may be, she had no choice but to keep her head lowered: After all, this sort of thing only got worse when explained. Lin Yi had caused her enough trouble as it was.

Lin Yi, on the other hand, had no idea that his act of valor was being spread far and wide throughout the school at that very moment. He sat down on his chair, and saw Xiaobo's thumbs up at him. "Go study, don't you wanna get into college?"

"Heh heh, I'll study right now!" Xiaobo smiled bitterly. "Man, if only my family's the same as my second grandpa's family… I wouldn't have to work so hard. I'd be able to be a nice little young master, too."

"Hm?" It was the first time Xiaobo brought up his family. "Your second grandpa? What kind of guy is he? Is he famous?"

"Famous?" A slight smile formed on Xiaobo's lips. "Yeah, just some a.s.shole who stole something that wasn't his, making money off of that. He doesn't really connect with my family anymore."

"Oh?" Lin Yi reckoned it was probably some drama with a relative.

"You know Miracle Doctor Kang?" Xiaobo asked.

"Miracle Doctor Kang?" Lin Yi frowned- he'd heard the name before… He suddenly remembered what the pharmacy a.s.sistant said to him that day. "The miracle doctor who sells Golden Creation Medicine?"

"Yep, that's him." Xiaobo nodded. "He's my second grandpa."

(just to clarify, Chinese ppl don't just use 'aunt' for all their aunts and 'uncle' for all their uncles. There's a lot of terms we use for the appropriate relative, and 'second grandpa' means Xiaobo's grandpa's younger brother)

"Uh…… So that makes you the second generation? No, the third..?" Lin Yi said, a little stunned at Xiaobo's reveal.

"Second generation, third generation, what?" Xiaobo smiled bitterly. "My grandpa's my grandpa, my second grandpa's my second grandpa. We're two families- my side's pretty poor."

"Family feud?" Lin Yi asked.

"Something like that. My grandpa and second grandpa worked on Golden Creation together, and my grandpa disagreed when my second grandpa talked about building a factory for the medicine. That's where it all started……" Xiaobo explained. "I think my second grandpa then stole the recipe and built his own factory, and the two families have been fighting ever since……"

"Ha, your grandpa's gotta be pretty stubborn then. You can't really blame your second grandpa for going after riches." Lin Yi said with a nod. "I'd probably do what your second grandpa did, if it were me!"

This story, however, reminded Lin Yi of an important fact: medicine recipes were extremely valuable! That recipe he'd used for Huaijun's painkiller subst.i.tute, for example…… He'd be earning quite the number if he ma.s.s-produced that for sale.

"Yeah, I actually agree." Xiaobo said. "I asked my grandpa if he remembered what the ingredients on the recipe were after my second grandpa took it, but he said he didn't remember anymore…… Oh well. Guess I'll just have to work hard then."

"You're quite optimistic." Lin Yi commented.

"What else can I do? Whine about it? It's better to let it go." Xiaobo said helplessly. "It's that kind of thing where you just sigh at once in a while. Alright boss, I'll go study now."

Miracle Doctor Kang…… Recipe…….

Lin Yi frowned as he thought about it- there had to be some other stuff Xiaobo didn't mention. Maybe he wasn't too familiar with the whole incident, but there had to be more to it; it just couldn't be that simple.

Song Lingshan couldn't take it anymore- the criminals were hidden well! They were in a mountain area, too, and the search team wasn't a big one… It was causing Lingshan a lot of trouble. They'd been able to find the A74110 SUV, but the licence plate had been ripped off already.

Helpless, Song Lingshan decided to give Huaijun a call again.

"Captain……" Lingshan said, a little embarra.s.sed to be calling for help again.

"Song, calling about the robber case?" Huaijun guessed.

"Yeah…… Huaijun, I'm lost……" Lingshan said awkwardly after Huaijun had exposed her.

"You know, Song- I'm no detective prodigy or anything- I just pay more attention to the details. This particular case is a bit different from your typical one, and it involves Chu Pengzhan as well… Them kidnapping Chu Mengyao proves that the kidnapping was their primary objective from the start, not the robbery." Huaijun said. "These guys have to be part of some organization, and it's not gonna end well if we rush trying to capture them. Their superiors would've told them to lay low, especially with the police force sending so many resources after them right now……"

"Ah…" Lingshan wasn't expecting Huaijun to not have an answer as well.

"I'm just putting the facts out. Remember that jewelry robbery case last year?" Huaijun continued. "That case was unsolved for months, and it was because of that that the suspect lowered his guard and came out of hiding, remember? You were even the one who kicked the suspect down."