Chapter 233 - Getting Closer

The wail of a police siren sounded in the far distance, and Lin Yi could see red and blue lights heading their way. It should be Song Lingshan and her men.

"You wait in the car, I'll be back soon." Lin Yi said to Tang Yin.

"Kay." Tang Yin said, complying nicely.

Lin Yi went to the back of the van and dragged Heibao out with him.

Lingshan had come in a big police vehicle, unlike the SUV she'd been driving last time. It was evidently a car for containing criminals.

Spotting Lin Yi right away, Lingshan parked in front of him.

Lin Yi had mentioned that he'd disabled Heibao, but seeing the criminal in Lin Yi's hand put a surprised 'O' on her lips.

"You came alone, right?" Lin Yi said after one look inside the car, relaxing himself after seeing that no one else was there. Lingshan knew some things about him, and Lin Yi didn't want any more people knowing about him than necessary.

"You caught him just like that?" Lingshan nodded as she got out the car, still surprised at Lin Yi just manhandling Heibao like that.

"How else?" Lin Yi threw Heibao on the ground. "Alright, there you go. I'm going then."

With that, Lin Yi started making his way back to the van.

"Wait, you still need to come with me for a testimony……" Lingshan called out.

"Make one up yourself." Lin Yi said without even turning back. "I'm giving you all the credit, just say you caught him yourself. I've got nothing to do with this!"

"You……" Lingshan was irritated, but the credit…

She was aware of how much of a feat capturing Heibao was- with this and the robbers from last time, she now had two big contributions under her belt, and her reputation at the police department was at its best. It was a fine opening for her upcoming promotions.

"You want me to continue helping you, don't you? Stop talking so much." Lin Yi said as he got back in the van, driving away without paying more attention to Lingshan.

Lingshan stomped her feet on the ground in irritation before pulling Heibao off the ground and into her car, driving off in the opposite direction from Lin Yi…

"Ah, right, how'd they get you here? Where's Kang Xiaobo?" Lin Yi said, remembering Heibao's kidnapping of her.

"Kang Xiaobo… I don't know…… I walked out the school with him, and he said we're taking a taxi to the hospital, then he got in the taxi…" Tang Yin said. "I don't know what happened after that, and when I woke up I was… I……"

Tang Yin started lowering her head again.

Lin Yi frowned, pulling out his phone to give Xiaobo a call.

It was quite a while before Xiaobo picked up, his voice hazy. "..Hm? h.e.l.lo? Who is this?"

"Xiaobo? It's me, where are you?" Lin Yi calmed down- Xiaobo seemed to have just woken up. It seemed that Heibao was only after him, and not Tang Yin or Xiaobo. He wouldn't have left him his phone if he'd been one of his targets.

"I… Huh? Where am I? How come I'm sleeping in the middle of the street?" Xiaobo jumped up suddenly. "s.h.i.+t, boss! Tang Yin, Tang Yin's gone! Boss, I lost Tang Yin……"

"It's fine, Tang Yin's fine. She's with me right now. Where are you? Want me to come get you?" Lin Yi asked.

"I'm at… I don't know where this is, it's a small street. Wait a sec, lemme get on a main road…" Xiaobo mumbled as he walked around. "I was in a taxi with Tang Yin, we were headed to the hospital, and I think I fell asleep… Or something. I just woke up."

"......" Lin Yi didn't know what to say. "Okay then. You get on a taxi and go home first, we'll talk about this tomorrow."

"Alright, I'm still a bit confused, but Tang Yin's okay, right? I'll see you tomorrow." Xiaobo said, still half-awake.

Lin Yi hung the phone up, a bitter smile on his lips as he looked at Tang Yin. "You guys got drugged to sleep, probably. Xiaobo was tossed on some roadside and you were brought here."

"Who……" Tang Yin wasn't sure who'd been responsible for this, going as far as to drug her with that type of drug… Just thinking about it scared her- what would have happened to her today if Lin Yi hadn't showed up?

"It was Zou Ruoming." Lin Yi said. "I'll leave that guy alone for now."

Lingshan should probably learn something from Heibao during interrogation, and Lin Yi couldn't just kill Ruoming off… Not yet, at least. He could kill him anytime he wanted to after everything blew over.

"Zou Ruoming……" Tang Yin repeated the name blankly before lowering her head and started crying……

"Tang… Tang Yin, what's wrong?" Lin Yi jumped at the abruptness of Tang Yin's tears- there was no warning at all!

"It's nothing… It's not you… I just wanna cry, that's all……" Tang Yin said, choking a bit. "Why do they keep bullying me? Why? Because I'm poor? Why……"

Lin Yi sighed softly as she listened to Tang Yin speak- these feelings must've been building up for a long time, finally released under the night sky tonight.

It was the same for her family as well- both Mrs. Tang and Tang Yin were even bullied at their barbeque stand… And that wasn't even the worst of it.

Why did Zou Ruoming go after Tang Yin, without so much as laying a hand on Chu Mengyao or Chen Yushu? Because he knew that bullying Tang Yin held no consequences- bullying either Chu Mengyao or Chen Yushu, however……

"It won't happen again……" Lin Yi said, patting Tang Yin on the shoulder, hesitant whether he should pull her over for a hug.

In his hesitance, Tang Yin leaned into Lin Yi's embrace herself, and continued sobbing…

Ah…… Lin Yi didn't stop her this time around. Holding Tang Yin's shoulder in his hands, he waited for the girl to finish crying her heart out in his arms… Maybe she just wanted a shoulder to lean on, that might be all there is to it…

It was true that Tang Yin wasn't thinking about anything else at all- she just wanted to feel safer in Lin Yi's embrace.

"I'll drive you home?" Lin Yi said after Tang Yin had calmed down a bit.

Tang Yin's eyes widened as she pulled herself out of Lin Yi's arms all of a sudden, shyly turning her head away before giving a soft 'yeah' in response.

With a smile, Lin Yi started the car and headed to the slums.

The hearts of these two youths had gotten closer to each other that night…...

Chapter 234 - Mrs. Tang's Misunderstanding

Lin Yi parked the car in his usual spot in the slums.

"Well… I'm going, then?" Tang Yin still couldn't look Lin Yi in the eyes- she was still feeling pretty shameful over her crazed actions from earlier.

"I'll walk you back." Lin Yi said as he got off the car with Tang Yin.

He looked at the tattered clothes Tang Yin was wearing, and took off his own uniform for Tang Yin. "Here, wear mine?"

Tang Yin hesitated before accepting the offer. It hadn't been that bad in the car, but there was no telling what the people in the slums would think if they saw her like this.

She took off her ruined s.h.i.+rt, handed it to Lin Yi, and quickly put on the uniform Lin Yi was handing to her.

That instant revealed the tight camisole Tang Yin was wearing, and Lin Yi gulped a bit. The eighteen year old girl had a perfectly developed body already! He didn't expect a beauty as stunning as her to have come from a place like the slums.

In comparison to Mengyao's thinner body and Yushu's overly luscious one, Tang Yin's figure had the best balance and proportions. Lin Yi wondered how she got herself a body like that.

Tang Yin slipped into Lin Yi's clothes- boys and girls had different uniforms, but it wasn't too obvious at night. It'd just look a bit loose, but that was it. Having finished changing, she turned back to Lin Yi to see him half naked from the upper half. "Uh……"

"It's summer soon, don't worry about it." Lin Yi said with a smile.

"Then… you can wear mine..?" Tang Yin was both touched and embarra.s.sed.

"Yours?" Lin Yi blinked. He didn't know if he'd be able to fit in, but he did know that getting in direct contact with the scent of a young girl would get to him.

"Then just drape it over your shoulders. Don't catch a cold." Tang Yin suggested, realizing that her clothes might not fit on Lin Yi. Although, there were plenty of half naked men in the slums during summer, and Tang Yin had gotten used to it already.

But it was still spring- the air was getting warmer, but this wasn't a time for people to be going around half naked like that.

Lin Yi threw on Tang Yin's s.h.i.+rt a little enthusiastically as the scent hit him. For some reason, his hand went over and grabbed onto Tang Yin's in the heat of the moment……

"Ah….." Tang Yin tensed up instantly as Lin Yi held her hand- she wanted to pull away, but felt like it'd be a bit of a pity… Her palm started sweating a little as her breathing grew ragged.

It was the first time she'd held hands with a boy… It was technically the second time, since Lin Yi had done so already that time he pulled her into his car, but she didn't really think about it at all then, with Li Erlan there and everything…

Yet now her heart was beating fast- it was like she'd gotten surged with electricity.

Was this… what first love felt like? Amidst the confusion, Tang Yin's mind went blank as Lin Yi walked along with her.

Their shoulders were touching, and neither of them said anything as they walked, as if they were a couple going home together…

She'd almost reached her house when Tang Yin snapped awake, pulling her hand out of Lin Yi's as she raised her head. "W-We're here, uh… You should probably get going…"

"It's just a couple steps- I've walked you all this way already." Lin Yi smiled as he continued walking forward.

"Oh……" Just a couple steps? What if her mother saw them, she'd definitely misunderstand!

But would that even be a… misunderstanding anymore..?

As they neared the place, Tang Yin noticed the lights in her house all lit up- even the porch was lit. They've always been a thrifty family, so why were the porch lights on for no reason?

She walked closer and spotted her mother, looking around all worried. "Mom-"

The words had just slipped out, and Tang Yin regretted it immediately. Lin Yi was still standing beside her! They weren't holding hands anymore, but they were still walking together, this late at night… She'd planned on getting Lin Yi to leave after they get to the front door so her mom wouldn't see, but…….

"Yin, you're back!!" Mrs. Tang exclaimed, overjoyed upon seeing Tang Yin. "You're finally back! I was so worried……"

"Ah? Mom, what…" Tang Yin didn't understand the excitement coming from her mother.

"You didn't go to the hospital, you didn't come home… I asked Liu Xinwen and she said she didn't know where you are, so I went and called the police, but they said you haven't been missing long enough for me to make a report… I could only wait here for you! But now you're back!" Mrs. Tang explained, suddenly noticing Lin Yi who was standing beside Tang Yin. She paused, a little awkward. "Ah, you've been out playing with Lin Yi…… Everything's okay now, it's okay now. But do remember to give mom a call next time you go out… I've been really worried…"

"Mom… I wasn't… We weren't playing……" Tang Yin started explaining subconsciously.

Lin Yi sighed- it was too late to stop her now. He'd wanted Tang Yin to go along with her mother's a.s.sumptions at first, since the truth would probably choke her with shock, but that wasn't possible anymore…

"Okay, okay, you were studying with him then…" Mrs. Tang seemed to be very delighted at her daughter being with Lin Yi.

"Mom, I……" Tang Yin didn't know what to say- what was with her mom…

"Eh? Yin, your clothes?" Mrs. Tang noticed the boy's uniform Tang Yin was wearing- it definitely wasn't a girl's, she'd seen her daughter wear hers to school every day! It was also one size bigger than her daughter's uniform!

Whose uniform was Tang Yin wearing? She turned to look at the tattered s.h.i.+rt Lin Yi had over her shoulders… Wasn't that… her daughter's s.h.i.+rt?

Mrs. Tang's eyes widened in shock. "Yin, you… and Lin Yi… You……"

Her daughter was wearing Lin Yi's clothes, and Lin Yi was wearing her daughter's… Could they have……? Mrs. Tang was starting to panic as she thought of what this entailed.

She wanted Tang Yin to get into a relations.h.i.+p with Lin Yi, but that didn't mean she'd agree to that kind of relations.h.i.+p so prematurely… After all, she hadn't forgotten what had happened to Fen……

"Mom, calm down, it's not like that……" Tang Yin knew instantly what her mother was thinking about with one look at her face. She turned to glare at Lin Yi. "Aren't you leaving yet?"

"Ah, I'm going then. Bye aunty." It might be hard for Tang Yin to approach certain topics with her mom with Lin Yi just standing here… He started walking away.