Chapter 193 - Picture

Lin Yi knocked on the door, and some footsteps sounded a while later, followed by Tang Yin's voice. "Who is it?"

"It's me……" Lin Yi said.

A clear silence ensued for a while before the door opened with a creak. Tang Yin poked her pretty face out, a cold face with no smile on it. "Please enter."

Lin Yi blinked at the response- Tang Yin had never had a good att.i.tude towards him, but there was at least a directness to her, a headstrongness. She was also pa.s.sionately p.i.s.sed enough to step on his shoes and stuff, but there was only coldness in her eyes today…

Xiaobo, on the other hand, hadn't picked up that little detail. He followed Lin Yi into the yard and looked at all the messy stuff there, surprised when he saw a peach tree. "Boss, look! There's a peach tree here?"

Flat-houses usually included small yards, where the inhabitants planted stuff. It was a practice Lin Yi's old neighbours did- it wasn't anything surprising for him.

But Xiaobo grew up in the city, and it was only natural for him to get curious and excited at stuff like that.

"Are your friends here, Yin?" Mrs. Tang's voice sounded from inside the house, an old-looking brick structure made of red bricks. There wasn't cement in the building, and the windows were made out of old, rusted boards.

A beaten-up environment, where the radiant school beauty lived.

"Yeah…" Tang Yin replied faintly, her tone no longer angry or frustrated towards Lin Yi- it was like the two of them were strangers…

"Lin Yi's here! Please, come in!" Mrs. Tang said happily, spotting Lin Yi and Xiaobo as he walked out the house.

"Aunty." Lin Yi greeted before walking in with Xiaobo. The place was a cla.s.sic, old-fas.h.i.+oned room, with a small walled-off kitchen and other rooms. There was a small one in the kitchen, most likely Tang Yin's.

"Here, sit, sit!" Mrs. Tang said pa.s.sionately as she led the boys inside. "Yin, you chat with your cla.s.smates a bit first, I'll go prepare some barbeque!"

"Oh……" Tang Yin nodded, seating herself in the chair opposite to Lin Yi. There wasn't much s.p.a.ce on the sofa, and Tang Yin didn't want to be squeezed up with Lin Yi.

Mrs. Tang left the room, and Tang Yin put her chin on her hands as she looked at the ground, not uttering a word.

Lin Yi, on the other hand, wondered what was up with Tang Yin today- she had been acting odd ever since he first came in, as if they didn't know each other or something. Just sitting around awkwardly wasn't a good plan, however, and Lin Yi tried to start a conversation. "Is uncle at home?"

Lin Yi had heard some noises coming from inside the house. The door was closed, but Lin Yi had sensitive ears.

"My dad's injured from work. He can't get down from bed." Tang Yin explained.

"Injury? Is it serious?" Lin Yi said. He'd considered the possible situations the family was in, but he never expected her father to be bedridden from an injury.

"We're saving up, planning to get him a surgery sometime around the second half of this year. He'll be able to recover if the surgery works." Tang Yin explained faintly, as if talking to a stranger.

"Why aren't you getting compensated then, if it's an injury from work?" Xiaobo asked.

"The factory owner's not taking the responsibility- what can we do?" Tang Yin said, having accepted their fate alraedy. Her rage had long been replaced by helplessness regarding the matter.

"I'll pay Uncle Tang a visit?" Lin Yi said, standing up before Tang Yin stopped him.

"My dad's resting, you shouldn't." Tang Yin didn't want any other things happening between her and Lin Yi- she wouldn't know what to do if she owed Lin Yi yet another favor again.

Tang Yin knew how the world worked- she'd seen enough of cold reality after what had happened to his father.

After all, what was Lin Yi incentive for helping her family out? To Lin Yi, what was there of value in the Tang family, other than her? It could only end one way if the debts stacked up to the point where they couldn't repay him back anymore- Tang Yin would have to use her body to repay them.

Lin Yi had only wanted to take a look at the kind of injury Mr. Tang had, see if there were simpler methods than surgery… Tang Yin had stopped him, but Lin Yi didn't see the need to rush.

Xiaobo didn't want to be the lightbulb around these two, and he walked to a side as he looked at the decorations in the house, his eyes stopping at a picture frame on a bookcase.

There were three girls in the picture. There were two other girls other than Tang Yin, one of them being her soulmate, who Xiaobo remembered as Liu Xinwen, from the same school, and another girl who Xiaobo's eyes lit up at…

It was without a doubt that Tang Yin was the prettiest out of the three, but the last girl wasn't too far off from Tang Yin in terms of looks- she had that 'fragile' look to her, too, the soft, cute, likeable type…

Who was this girl? Xiaobo's heart started working up as he thought about his chances with the girl- he'd utterly given up on Tang Yin, and he'd be satisfied if just Lin Yi managed to get with her… This other girl, however…

"This… picture?" Xiaobo asked, unable to hold himself back.

Tang Yin followed Xiaobo's gaze, and saw the picture he was referring to. "Those are my two good friends."

"I know Liu Xinwen, she's from our school… But her……" Xiaobo asked after some hesitation- it was a little rude, but he didn't want to give up on this chance.

"She's Lan Fen, a close friend I grew up with……" Tang Yin answered, evidently not very keen on talking about her, leaving it at that with just a simple introduction.

Xiaobo replied with an 'oh' as he memorized the name. Lan Fen… Nice name… Xiaobo wondered which school this girl went to- it couldn't have been Songshan's First, Xiaobo would've known about her if that were the case.

Lan Fen wouldn't be able to stand side by side with the three school beauties, but she'd definitely be a popular character in the school, somewhere in the top ten prettiest students, most likely.

He wanted to know more about Lan Fen, but Tang Yin didn't seem willing to talk about her. Xiaobo only shrugged internally.

At the same time, Mrs. Tang walked in with freshly-made chicken wings, with an aroma filling the entire room… Tang Yin helped her mother set the table up before speaking to Lin Yi coldly. "Let's eat……"

Chapter 194 - Girl Who Jumped Off A Roof

"Lin Yi, you guys eat first- there's still more in the kitchen!" Mrs. Tang said before going back into the kitchen again.

"Mom, I'll help you." Tang Yin said, trying to get out of the awkwardness and pressure.

"Yin, you have fun with your cla.s.smates, get some drinks and talk with them, I can handle the food myself!" Mrs. Tang said with a smile. "We only have so many people today, you know. We're not in the food street."

"Oh……" Tang Yin said, curling her lips unhappily. She had to eat, drink, and talk with them..?

Xiaobo had been looking forward to the barbeque for a long time, but he had other concerns currently occupying his mind as he glanced at the picture on the bookcase, not paying much attention to the delicious-looking food on the table. "Tang Yin, maybe we can invite Liu Xinwen and Lan Fen over to eat?"

He put Xinwen's name first, but it was something to conceal his true intentions. While he did know Xinwen because they were in the same school, Lan Fen was the focus here.

His blood boiled pa.s.sionately the moment he had laid eyes on Lan Fen! He knew that Tang Yin was out of his league, but Lan Fen…… Xiaobo was starting to get pretty serious about her.

Tang Yin frowned, not understanding why Xiaobo was so invested in the people in the picture. "I'll eat with them alone sometime. You can come eat now if you want, or you could just sit back."

Xiaobo chuckled dryly at the obstacle. "Of course I'm eating- it smells amazing."

Lin Yi, on the other hand, had a good idea what Xiaobo was planning- he'd glanced at the picture too. Lan Fen was indeed a beauty, but while she wasn't as pretty as Tang Yin, it wasn't a surprise that Xiaobo would be interested in her.

He turned his attention to the food in front of him- he had to say, Mrs. Tang was pretty good at controlling the strength of the fire. That, coupled with the recipe he'd given her, and it'd be pretty difficult for her business to fail.

He was about to try some when someone pushed the door open. A girl came running in, yelling as she did. "Tang Yin!! Fen's committing suicide! She's gonna jump off a roof, you gotta come help me!!"

It was Liu Xinwen, Tang Yin's best friend. She hadn't paid attention to Lin Yi and Xiaobo the moment she'd come in, but came to realize that there were two boys as she finished speaking. Her expression changed, turning a bit ugly especially when she saw Lin Yi… Didn't Tang Yin promise her just two days ago that she had nothing to do with Lin Yi? What was the man doing in her own house?!!

Xinwen sighed- the girl had hit her head!! She didn't believe the explanation Tang Yin gave her before anymore, the one about getting on Lin Yi's car.

"What? Fen's committing suicide? Where?" Tang Yin's heart jumped after hearing Xinwen's words, standing up and charging out the house.

"On the third floor, their house at the harbor!" Xinwen said urgently. "We gotta go stop her!"

Mrs. Tang came running out the kitchen aswell, wondering what had happened, only hearing the news as she reached the door. She was as stunned as Tang Yin herself was- after all, Lan Fen was a girl Tang Yin had grown up playing with! The two of them were very close friends, even after the horrible thing that had happened…

Yet it was something from the past- the news was too abrupt!

"Mom, I'll go take a look with Wen Wen!!" Tang Yin said, running out with Xinwen's hand in hers.

"Ah… Be careful……" Mrs. Tang said quickly.

"Aunty, what's wrong?" Lin Yi asked, confused at the whole suicide thing.

"It's Yin's good friend, Lan Fen… She got hurt some years ago, but I didn't think she'd do something like that for it now... " Mrs. Tang sighed as she spoke, worried. "I can't stay here, I need to go help!"

Mrs. Tang hadn't even finished her sentence when Xiaobo shot himself out the house upon hearing 'Lan Fen', chasing after Xinwen and Tang Yin.

Lin Yi shook her head, not surprised at Xiaobo's actions. Lan Fen, huh…

"Eh? Lin Yi, your friend……" Mrs. Tang said, not understanding what was up with Xiaobo.

Lin Yi didn't explain anything as he turned to Mrs. Tang. "Let's go take a look too, aunty…"

There were already plenty of people in front of the building by the time Xinwen and Tang Yin got there, unable to push their way into the crowd and not quite sure what to do. Xiaobo caught up as well, a s.h.i.+ver running down his spine as he raised his head up.

There was a girl in a white s.h.i.+rt on the windowsill, windows completely open- it was Lan Fen from the picture! She looked very pale, but still had a soft, gentle beauty about her. Xiaobo's heart jumped as he stared at her.

"Fen!! It's me, Wen Wen!! Can you hear me?!" Xinwen yelled with her hands around her mouth.

Fen, however, didn't seem to hear Xinwen at all, looking off to the distance with empty eyes as she squatted on the third floor windowsill.

"Fen, go back down! It's really dangerous!!" Tang Yin said, panicking as well.

The citizens from the crowd lived in the slums, and most of them all knew about the soulmate relations.h.i.+p between the three girls, making an opening for Tang Yin and Xinwen to pa.s.s through.

They made their way to Lan Fen, b.u.mping into her mother Song Huiping, who had tears in her eyes as she looked at her daughter, trying her best to call out to Lan Fen to no avail.

"Aunty Song…… what happened……" Tang Yin asked.

"Ah, Tang Yin, Liu Xinwen, you came! Please talk to Fen, I don't know what's gotten into her, she just locked herself up! Her father couldn't get the door open, and he's calling a lockpicker……" Huiping said worriedly, pinning her last hopes on Tang Yin and Xinwen.

Lin Yi and Xiaobo squeezed their way through as well. Xiaobo had beads of sweat coming down his forehead at that point, seemingly more worried than even Tang Yin and Xinwen were. "Boss, what do we do? What do we do?!"

Lin Yi didn't answer Xiaobo- he had his eyes on Lan Fen. He had absolute confidence that he'd be able to climb up and retrieve her at that height, but it'd expose his abilities to everyone watching...