Beauty and the Bodyguard

Tang Yin followed her mother to the supermarket on their way home, getting themselves some ingredients for testing first.

Mrs. Tang then rushed to make some chicken wings and meat skewers based on Lin Yi’s recipe, even humming all the while as her hopes for the future grew. After all, better business only meant a better environment for the family- they might even be able to save up for her lover to go through a surgery.

Tang Jucheng, on the other hand, wondered why his wife was so happy as he laid on his sickbed.

“Honey, what’s up? Did something good happen?” Jucheng asked, also bored from lying in bed all day, unable to help his wife even if he wanted to. There wasn’t much he could do other than sleep and eat.

“Yin’s classmate gave me a barbeque recipe- our business will get really good if we do this well!” Mrs. Tang said as she placed the pickled chicken wings and meat skewers in the fridge to freeze up.

“For real? That’s great news!!” Jucheng said, delighted as well from the news. “We’ll really have to thank that classmate if everything goes well!”

“Your precious daughter was actually acting pretty high and mighty the whole time- that boy has a good impression of her, but she always gives him the cold shoulder!” Mrs. Tang said. She always got irritated whenever she thought of Tang Yin’s attitude towards Lin Yi. “We’ll see how well she does if she marries someone like you!”

Mrs. Tang’s words were hurtful, but Jucheng was far from angry at that… Lying in bed for half a year did things to a person, and he thought about things differently now. After all, it was true that his ineptitude dragged both his wife and daughter down with him. They would’ve been a little better off if he had any savings, too.

In the midst of his guilt, and the devotion his wife had towards him, Jucheng realized that he couldn’t have his daughter living a life like this when she grew up. It was no life for a normal human being!

Yet his wife’s words raised some concerns. “Is he one of those young masters? Be careful things don’t end up like Fen and that boyfriend she used to have, only toying with her and everything…”

“Don’t think that’s possible.” Mrs. Tang explained. “The kid doesn’t look spoiled at all, quite the gentleman, too- I think he’ll treat our daughter quite nicely……”

It was a small house, and Tang Yin heard everything. Why was her mother so pleased with Lin Yi? The guy wasn’t a good person! Gentleman? Wait until she heard about what the kid did to Zhong Pinliang, kicking him off a chair because his way was blocked.

Just thinking about Lin Yi ruined her mood, and she couldn’t even study properly anymore with how troubled she was feeling. She walked out her room to see her mother preparing to test-taste the skewers.

“Need some help, mom?” Tang Yin asked, trying to preoccupy herself now that studying wasn’t working out.

“Help me skewer some of those chicken wings then- I’ll start the fire.” Mrs. Tang said as she put the bamboo sticks aside to get the fire started.

“Oh……” Tang Yin said as she started pushing the skewers through the meat. She didn’t know what it would taste like, but it did smell pretty good.

She then put the skewers to the fire after Mrs. Tang finished her preparations, fanning the fire as the wings cooked.

It wasn’t long before an alluring aroma spread from the chicken wings, and even Tang Yin started salivating. Looks like that Lin Yi wasn’t lying…

Jucheng smelled the scent as well. “That smells good, honey.”

“It does, doesn’t it?” Mrs. Tang hadn’t tried the wings, but the aroma was proof enough of its taste. Quite a number of customers would come to her stand from just the smell alone. “It’s almost done, I’ll let you try it first!”

Jucheng couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed- his wife and daughter were giving the best food to him first before eating any themselves, while he lay in bed all day! He’d have ended his own life long ago if he didn’t know the pain it’d cause his wife…

While his wife did nag on and on about making the wrong choice, she always supported the whole family and house with sheer effort- that was proof enough of their bond.

“Yin, give this chicken wing to your dad.” Mrs. Tang said as she handed the first skewer to Tang Yin.

Tang Yin couldn’t help but swallow her saliva as she stared at the crispy, rich color on the chicken wing… yet she couldn’t bring herself to bite into it- her father was waiting, after all. With that, she ran to Jucheng’s bed and handed it to him.

“You eat it, Yin.” Jucheng, naturally, saw that face Tang Yin was making. The girl was a teenager, and her body was still developing, after all. While Jucheng himself ate the worse skewers of the leftovers, that was out of consideration for Tang Yin’s health- none of them wanted the girl to take a sick leave from school the next day. This particular chicken wing, on the other hand, was freshly cooked, and Jucheng wanted his daughter to get the first taste…

“I’m not hungry, dad- I’ll get fat if I eat too much.” Tang Yin shook her head.

“Alright, the two of you stop fighting- Old Tang, just eat it! I’m almost done with the skewers here, Yin and I will eat these.” Mrs. Tang said with a smile.

“Alright then……” Jucheng nodded, taking the chicken wings after hearing what his wife had said. He bit into it and showed her a thumbs up. “Really- it’s a pretty unique taste! It’ll sell big for sure.”

The next batch of skewers were done as well, and Mrs. Tang handed a skewer to Tang Yin before taking one herself.

Tang Yin would rather not admit it, but the chicken wings this time around were far, far, tastier than the ones her mom used to make. It wasn’t any different from the ones she had in that big restaurant Fen’s ex-boyfriend treated Xinwen and her to!

“How is it, Yin?” Mrs. Tang hadn’t eaten hers, but had a pretty good guess of how successful it’d be just from the look on Tang Yin’s face.

“It’s okay I guess……” Tang Yin lied, not wanting Lin Yi to get too pleased with himself, even if he wasn’t here.

Mrs. Tang took a bite herself, and her eyes widened. “You- Yin, this is ‘okay’?? Is something wrong with your taste buds? This is practically no different from the trademark ones in barbeque restaurants! This is it- I’ll cook it this way from now on! I’ll get more supplies from the supermarket tomorrow.”

“It’ll probably sell better than the old ones……” Tang Yin had to admit- the aroma was a very alluring one, even if the customers there were looking to fill their empty stomachs up and weren’t too picky about what to eat. Most of them only wanted food tastier than the ones they could find in the canteen, after all, and Tang Yin was sure these chicken wings qualified.

“Yin, invite Lin Yi and that friend of his over to our house this weekend- we’ll treat them to some barbeque as thanks!” Mrs. Tang said happily, evidently very grateful.

“Wha-?” Tang Yin froze, almost letting the skewer slip out from her hand. Invite Lin Yi over? Was her mother out of her mind?? How could she just invite the man to her house?!!

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pretty busy recently, hard just to do two a day..