Beauty and the Bodyguard

“Oh?” Pengzhan blinked, not expecting Lin Yi to speak up for Mengyao and Yushu like that.

Even Mengyao herself raised her head curiously at Lin Yi. Her impression of Lin Yi, after all, wasn’t a good one- the guy might not kick them while they were down, but speaking up for her was not something she’d expect from him. She had been treating him very, very poorly today, too.

“There’s something up, Uncle Chu. Perhaps we could talk about this in my room?” Lin Yi didn’t want Mengyao and Yushu too know too much about what was going on- it’d only get them worried.

Pengzhan nodded before turning to Mengyao and Yushu. “Yao Yao, Shu- you two go upstairs and rest- we’re done for today. I have something to discuss with Yi.”

“Okay……” Mengyao wasn’t someone who couldn’t read the mood- Lin Yi’s tone suggested that he’d discovered something important in the bar, probably something regarding her father’s enemies. The way Lin Yi acted back in the bar, too- Mengyao had understood by now that the people from earlier had Yushu and her in their sights since the very start.

Mengyao grabbed Yushu’s hand and went upstairs, and Lin Yi seated himself in the sofa the girls were sitting on.

“Speak your mind, Yi.” Pengzhan said with a gesture.

“Uncle Chu- have you ever heard the name Li Cihua?” Lin Yi said directly- there was no need for him to hide anything from this man.

“Li Cihua……” Pengzhan frowned. “I know him. Redflower Estates, one of the main competitors of Pengzhan Industries in Songshan.”

“Ah. Well, he’s the guy behind the bank robbery.” Lin Yi said.

“Him?” A shocked expression appeared on Pengzhan’s face. “Our companies are competitors, but we’ve always had a half-to-half relationship, in terms of the plans we get our hands on and the like. What does he have to get from the kidnapping?”

“According to him, there’s someone supporting him from the shadows. He’s just one of the profiteers, and there’s probably more people cooperating with him.” Lin Yi explained.

Pengzhan had heard of the person behind Li Cihua, but had no clear idea on who that person might be. A man fresh out of prison, rising to fame and power in just a little more than ten years, building Redflower Estates out of nothing with even multiple bars, hotels, and other entertainment outlets under him… This wasn’t the result of sheer effort and will alone.

It’d make more sense if they were in the eighties, riding the tsunami of that age- it wouldn’t be far fetched at all for success of that calibre. It wouldn’t have been very possible otherwise, since the guy had only started his business in real estate in the year of 2000, years after he had been released from prison. It couldn’t have been done without powerful support.

“How did you find out about all this?” Pengzhan asked, deep in thought and quite taken aback at Lin Yi’s information. He’d originally thought of the kidnapping as something perpetrated by one of his stockholders, and had established suspects already. From what Lin Yi had said, there was more to the picture than just the stockholders.

“Cihua told me himself.” Lin Yi said.

“He told you himself?” Pengzhan asked in disbelief.

“He wanted to get me to his side, even see if I’d be willing to play undercover beside Mengyao for him.” Lin Yi said.

Pengzhan nodded, not bothering to ask if Lin Yi had taken up the offer or not- it was clear as day that he hadn’t if he was even telling him about it.

“I wasn’t expecting him to have his sights on Pengzhan Industries……” Pengzhan sighed deeply. “I’d only seen it as a conflict from within the company, and I hadn’t done anything to drastic to the company in consideration of my father’s reputation…… I didn’t think that the outsiders these insiders brought in would have complicated the issue to this degree……”

Lin Yi could sense the helplessness and sorrow in Pengzhan’s tone as he spoke.

He understood how he felt- the man had said so before: the majority of the stockholders had descendants of the people who had worked with Old Chu back in the day.

“What do you need me to do?” Lin Yi asked, raising his head at Pengzhan.

“This man, Cihua- he has a very complicated background, and he operates on both the legal and illegal planes. I’d prefer not to make him a public enemy.” Pengzhan said a little helplessly. “We’ll have to do this starting from the inside circle of the company, the way things are. Yi, you just focus on protecting Yao Yao and Shu- leave these affairs to me.”

“Actually, Uncle Chu- I’ll be able to help shoulder your problems.” Lin Yi said with a smile. “Li Cihua will still cause us trouble even if we leave him alone- he sent two masters to kill me right after I declined his offer.”

“What?!! Li Cihua sent men after your life?” Pengzhan said, stunned and shocked as he looked at Lin Yi, clearly not expecting Cihua to go that far at all. Cihua’s image was that of a tyrant, but Pengzhan had only minimal contact with the man. After all, he was a proper businessman with almost zero involvement with the other side of the law.

“Yes, two golden class masters.” Lin Yi wasn’t sure if Pengzhan knew about the division classes, but that didn’t seem to be the case judging by the expression on his face. Yet there was a slight movement on Pengzhan’s face that lasted for an instant, and anyone would’ve missed it if he or her hadn’t been paying attention.

Lin Yi was able to capture that only because he paid additional attention to Pengzhan’s expressions after he’d spoken- the man had to have had some idea of the division classes, but Lin Yi decided not to ask any questions about that.

“And you shook them off?” Pengzhan asked, a little worried.

“I lured them to the road outside the city, planned a trap, and they slipped up and fell for it. The car fell straight down the cliff.” Lin Yi said with a shrug. “They deserved that bad luck, I suppose.”

“Are they dead?” Pengzhan said, his eyes wide at this point. Pengzhan himself had experience in using illegal methods in the past before, due to the intensity of the fighting in the upper society, but Lin Yi’s intents of killing the two masters with a trap came as a surprise regardless.

“Don’t think they’ll be getting out of that alive.” Lin Yi said with a bitter smile. “Uncle Chu- I hope I haven’t caused you any trouble.”

“Trouble? No, not that.” Pengzhan said as he regained his composure. After all, Lin Yi was being targeted because of his problems in the first place, not to mention that the two masters had been going at Lin Yi with the intention of murdering him. It couldn’t be helped, then, that Lin Yi lured them to their deaths in self-defense. Although, he’d still have ways to get Lin Yi out of the legal mess even if Lin Yi were the one who took the initiative in murdering them. “There’s no proof- no one will be able to lay a finger on you. We’re in Songshan, Yi- you’re under Chu Pengzhan’s protection.”

Pengzhan’s badassery finally escaped him that moment, a side of him he’d never shown to Mengyao or Lin Yi before. After all, Pengzhan always had an air of kindness and gentleness about him- it was a first for his anger to surface like that.

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