Chapter 145 - Best Friend

"What did you say to my mom yesterday?" Tang Yin asked as she glared angrily at Lin Yi.

"Yesterday… to your mom?" Lin Yi blinked as he remembered the New Orleans recipe he'd promised- he'd been so busy with Guan Xuemin in the morning that he'd forgotten about the whole thing completely! His face reddened a little at his slip-up.

So that was why Tang Yin was looking for him- it was for the recipe! Lin Yi's tone turned a little apologetic as he spoke. "About the recipe, right?"

Tang Yin only glared even harder than Lin Yi.

"Ah, my bad… Too many things on my mind this morning- I forgot." Lin Yi smiled guiltily. "Here, I'll come by later and give you the recipe when the next cla.s.s ends, alright?"

"Okay." Tang Yin didn't see any point in continuing the conversation after Lin Yi put it like that. With a nod, she closed the window shut and dropped the curtains.

Lin Yi then spun around abruptly. "How close are you gonna get? Maybe you'd like something to help hear better?"

"Ugh……" Lin Yi turning around suddenly gave her a fright- he must've been talking about her eavesdropping. But Chen Yushu was no ordinary woman, and a smile replaced her embarra.s.sment an instant later. "What, you have stuff you don't want people knowing? I was just pa.s.sing by!"

Lin Yi had been leaning against Tang Yin's window, and Yushu was obscured from Tang Yin's sight because of that. She wouldn't have talked to Lin Yi for that long if she'd noticed Lin Yi being tailed.

"Haha.." Lin Yi smiled as well- he was pretty helpless when it involved this Chen Yushu, after all. "Well, ask away."

"Um…… Lemme just first clarify that Yao Yao didn't send me or anything." Yushu said with a roll of her eyes.

(i dont think the eye rolls meant to be b.i.t.c.hy)

"Ah……" Lin Yi made sure not to pay her words too much heed- most of the stuff she said was probably bulls.h.i.+t. She might very well have come because of her own curiosity even if she did hold Mengyao responsible.

"What did Tang Yin wanna see you for?" Yushu asked.

"It's nothing- I promised to give her something and I forgot, so I'll give it to her next cla.s.s." Lin Yi said, leaving the recipe out of his explanation. It'd sound like he was donating something to the girl, and he didn't want to take credit for every little thing he did.

"Oh……" Yushu said, wondering what this 'something' could be… She had only herself to blame for her bad eavesdropping techniques- the hallway was too noisy, as well.

"Well, I'm going back. You were just pa.s.sing by, right? Move along……" Lin Yi said with a nod.

"Tissues tissues tissues!!!" Yushu said, her face red and p.i.s.sed off at Lin Yi's d.i.c.k move as she stomped on the ground.

What Yushu didn't expect, however, was for every single student in the hallway to have their eyes turned on her!!

Tissues? The school beauty Chen Yushu, asking for tissues in the hallway? Perhaps she couldn't hold it in anymore, and had to get to the bathroom this instant?

Everyone worried about the damage Yushu was doing to her own image, but a number of admirers all started pulling tissues out of their pockets, lining up to answer to Yushu's call… "Here……"

Yushu froze- her face blushed a complete red as everyone misunderstood her. She glared at Lin Yi walking away as she started scheming what she'd do to the guy when they got home… Heh heh.

Yushu had a high level of adaptability, and her bulls.h.i.+t skills were quite refined from her days with Mengyao. "I was talking about my finger, not tissues, okay? I hit my finger earlier, and it hurts."

(finger sounds like tissues in Chinese)

With that, Yushu started waving her little finger in the air.

"Oh……" The pack of wolves uttered, disappointed that they'd misunderstood the girl. She was saying 'finger', not 'tissues'...

The boys then put their tissues back into their pockets helplessly- they'd hoped to have a nice encounter with Chen Yushu, too…

Yushu patted at her chest in relief as she made her way back to her cla.s.sroom- she'd almost humiliated herself in public if it weren't for her quick thinking back there. Her image would've been ruined if she were one second slower!

"Shu, what's wrong? You're pale and panting." Mengyao asked curiously as she looked at Yushu. "Did you get spotted by him?"

"Oh, no, I'm fine." Yushu said, thinking that there was no way she'd ever tell Mengyao about her episode earlier- it was simply too embarra.s.sing. It might've very well been the most embarra.s.sing moment of her life!

"So was the tailing a success?" Mengyao asked.

"Yep, it was." Yushu said with a nod. "Seems like he has something he wants to give to Tang Yin, and Tang Yin was looking for him because of that. He said he'll give it to her next cla.s.s!"

"What's the thing he's giving?" Mengyao asked.

"How am I supposed to know? He didn't give it yet." Yushu shook her head.

"Then go tail him again next cla.s.s!" Mengyao said.

"Hah? You want me to go again?" Yushu was curious, but Lin Yi catching her was a little more embarra.s.sing that she'd expected it to be. There was that whole thing with the tissues, too…

"Yeah, I thought you wanted to?" Mengyao asked, confused at the way Yushu was acting.

"W-well, um…… he almost caught me, so maybe you should go……" Yushu said with a little stutter.

"He didn't see you already, did he?" Mengyao was no stranger to Yushu's ways- that look on her face allowed Mengyao a pretty good guess.

"Ugh… yeah……." Yushu only nodded in admittance.

"See……" Mengyao said with a shake of her head. "What did I tell you- you know how skilled he is, of course he'll see you! Great, now he thinks it's me again!"

"He doesn't……" Yushu said, shaking her head as well. "I made sure to clarify that you were uninvolved after he caught me."

"......" Mengyao wanted to beat this girl up, but decided otherwise upon further thought. Lin Yi probably didn't believe the stuff Yushu said, anyway.

"You must be pretty relieved, and happy, too, aren't you, Yao Yao? I didn't sell you out!" Yushu said gleefully.

"#$%......&" Mengyao was speechless- having an energetic best friend like Yushu was both a blessing and a curse……

She'd cheer you up when you felt down, but make you sad when you felt happy… She'd make you angry when in a good mood, make you angrier still when in a bad mood, only to p.i.s.s you off so much you got into a good mood again……

Lin Yi ripped a piece of paper off his notebook after getting back to cla.s.s, and started writing the recipe down. After all, recipes like "New Orleans Barbeque Sauce", "Honey Fried Barbeque Sauce", and "Black Pepper Barbeque Sauce" weren't anything too special that required too much skill… Lin Yi had been making stuff like that back home himself, for one.

Deliveries weren't really available back atat the village, and they'd had to go to the city just for a package… Lin Yi had had decided to just do things himself because of that, gathering local materials instead and avoiding online deliveries as much as possible.

He'd written down quite a couple of recipes on the paper before folding it up for Tang Yin.

Chapter 146 - "Love Letter"

Lin Yi rushed to cla.s.s nine right after cla.s.s ended, and knocked on the window beside Tang Yin's seat.

No response whatsoever came from the other side, however, and Lin Yi wondered if Tang Yin had left already- he'd made sure to get to her as soon as possible, too. Didn't the two of them agree on meeting after cla.s.s?

With that in mind, Lin Yi knocked on the window with a little more strength again- Tang Yin might've missed his first knock.

A corner of the curtain was raised, and Tang Yin's blus.h.i.+ng face peeked at Lin Yi from underneath it without opening the windows. She put a finger to her lips, forming a shush sign before waving her hand in dismissal.

What the? Lin Yi was troubled- couldn't the girl just speak? He'd be able to understand her by reading her lips… How was he supposed to get what she was saying through vague gestures like that?

Cla.s.s nine's door opened right at that moment, and a middle-aged woman came walking out. She looked at Lin Yi standing beside the window before barking at him. "Who's knocking on the window over there? Which cla.s.s are you from?"

Lin Yi froze- what was a teacher still doing here? Did she not end her cla.s.s yet?

Lin Yi started sweating as he considered the possibility- his knocking might've disrupted the cla.s.s, and now the teacher was out to get him…

"Ugh… I'm sorry, I thought cla.s.s was over……" Lin Yi said as he scratched at his head.

"You……" Ms. Song was cla.s.s nine's homeroom teacher. She paused as she took a clear look at Lin Yi's face, realizing that he was the guy involved in the whole Heibao incident a couple of days ago… She'd heard her students calling him the new member of the Big Four. He had to have quite a background to have gotten out of that incident unscathed.

Ms. Song frowned- she'd rather not involve herself with students like that; there was no point. It wasn't like the kid would listen to anything she had to say anyway. She decided to get straight to the point. "What're you knocking on the window for?"

"I'm looking for Tang Yin." Lin Yi said with a bitter smile.

"For Tang Yin?" Ms. Song frowned again- she didn't know what the Big Four wanted with her model student, and was just about to reject him when she remembered what the dean had said to her earlier, something about treating Tang Yin nicer and allowing her more freedom… Ms. Song decided to ask for Tang Yin's opinion first instead of turning Lin Yi away, something she'd have done without hesitation under normal circ.u.mstances. "Your name..?"

"I'm Lin Yi."

"Alright, wait here for a bit!" Ms. Song said before walking back into the cla.s.sroom to speak to Tang Yin. "Tang Yin, there's someone looking for you outside, he said his name was Lin Yi. Do you wanna meet him?"

Tang Yin couldn't believe her ears- what did that Lin Yi think he was doing?! He just had to come looking for her right in front of her teacher, did he?! Knocking on the window and everything, what the h.e.l.l?

Almost any other timing would've been far better than this one! She'd rather let Lin Yi feel her up again on the bus before handing the recipe to her- that'd still be more preferable than the situation she was in right now!

Tang Yin sighed internally, depressed. She'd been so unlucky ever since Lin Yi b.u.t.ted into her life… d.a.m.n Big Four!

Would Lin Yi continue knocking on the door if she decided not to go to him? Or would he just get p.i.s.sed off instead, deciding that he didn't want to give her the recipe after all? She didn't really care about the recipe, but her mother needed it… She'd be in a situation more difficult than this one if her mother came to school herself…

Tang Yin had little choice but to leave her seat. She turned her head to Ms. Song. "Excuse me then, Ms. Song……"

Ms. Song was surprised- she knew how Tang Yin was: she'd always pay her horde of admirers no mind, even if they were young masters from wealthy houses. She'd also avoid b.u.mping into any of those admirers every time she stepped outside the cla.s.sroom, too… Her behavior was very atypical of her.

But Tang Yin had voiced her intention, and Ms. Song only nodded in response. She did, however, follow Tang Yin outside to observe the two from a distance, so as to see what they were up to. She was prepared to even stop Lin Yi if he started hara.s.sing her.

"Why now?!" Tang Yin said unhappily as she curled her lips at Lin Yi. "Cla.s.s isn't over yet, didn't you see my hand signals?"

"You shushed and waved your hand, how was I supposed to know what you wanted?" Lin Yi shrugged innocently. "And didn't we decide on doing this right now..?"

Tang Yin sighed softly and helplessly. "Just give it to me, then!"

"Here!" Lin Yi said, handing the recipe to Tang Yin.

Tang Yin put the piece of paper into her pocket directly without looking at it. "Well, I'm going back. Be careful with your knocking next time!"

"Next time?" Lin Yi blinked.

Tang Yin paused as she realized the problem with her wording- wasn't she implying that she wanted Lin Yi to be hara.s.sing her again? She clarified herself immediately. "There's no next time!"

With that, she turned and left without looking at Lin Yi, scared that the young master would get mad at her or something. Her lower head almost b.u.mped into Ms. Song, who was standing outside the door.

"Ah… S-sorry, Ms. Song……" Tang Yin said, her face red.

"Go back to cla.s.s. Be careful next time." Ms. Song said, a frown still on her face. She didn't really mind Tang Yin b.u.mping into her, but what was that thing Lin Yi gave to Tang Yin? It seemed like a piece of paper?

A piece of paper that sent Tang Yin running back with a blush all over her face?

With that, Ms. Song misunderstood Tang Yin's guilty blush as a shy one…

Could it possibly be a love letter? Ms. Song shook her head as the possibility crossed her mind- what was Tang Yin doing, she was sure the girl wasn't one to accept love letters, so what was going on here? Not only did she agree to see Lin Yi, she even went as far as to receive his love letter with a shy blush on her face… Was there something between the two after all?

Ms. Song wasn't the only one who had witnessed the scene… It took only a slight pull at the curtains to get a nice view of what was happening in the hallway, after all…

They couldn't hear what the two were saying, but that ambiguous expression and movement coupled with a fl.u.s.tered blush was more than enough for their imaginations to piece the puzzle together…

It was quite the sight indeed.

What was most likely to be spread far and wide in the dry lands known as school?

There were so many aspects to it- boys and girls in love with each other, love letters, a boy rejecting a girl's confession, a girl accepting a boy's confession…...