âWhatâre you following me for?â Lin Yi frowned at Xiaoxiao as she walked beside him.
âThey say you become who youâre always with, right?â Xiaoxiao said with a smile. âItâs fine if you donât want to teach me how to race. Iâll just be by your side and youâll rub off on me. Iâll become like you and weâll both be racers!â
Lin Yi was so overcome with shock at Xiaoxiaoâs logic that he couldnât even say anything. âDo whatever you want then. Iâm going home.â
With that, Lin Yi turned and went to the food street behind the school where his car was parked. Xiaoxiao kept pace with him.
Lin Yi frowned, worried that Mrs. Tang and Tang Yin might misunderstand things. âCan you at least follow me tomorrow?â
âIsnât it nice if you let me go home with you?â Xiaoxiao had made up her mind to follow Lin Yi, so no matter what he said sheâd maintain a soft tone and gentle attitude.
âYou donât want your car anymore?â Lin Yi didnât know how to react to Xiaoxiaoâs attitude. He couldnât get angry the way he could have if Xiaoxiao was like before. One kick and he could end it all.
Kicking a girl trying to be sweet with him, however, was something Lin Yi couldnât bring himself to do.
âIâll go home with you and take the bus back for my car!â Xiaoxaio said.
âFeng Xiaoxiao, can you please be a little bit more normal?â Lin Yi couldnât take this anymore. âIf you keep up this insanity, Iâm not coming to school tomorrow!â
âI wonât follow you home then. Please donât skip class! I still wanna be with you every day.â Xiaoxiao quickly shook her head in response. âIâll leave, alright? Bye.â
Lin Yi breathed a sigh of relief as he watched Xiaoxiao leave, finally rid of her. What the hell was wrong with her, anyway? That twisted logic of becoming who she was with too. Lin Yi didnât buy that excuse one bit. She must be planning something shady.
But what Lin Yi didnât expect was that it was the start of a nightmareâ¦
âWho was that girl?â Lin Yi got Xiaoxiao to leave, but Tang Yin saw him with her all the same as she helped her mother out.
Tang Yin had seen him the moment Lin Yi arrived at the food street, but she refrained from calling out to him after seeing a girl beside him, acting as if she didnât see anything, her heart thumping all the while.
She couldnât prevent herself from asking that question now that the girl was gone.
âShe sits next to me in class. Transfer student,â Lin Yi said.
âWhyâs she following you though?â Tang Yin felt that itâd seem petty for her to be asking Lin Yi stuff like this, but she decided it was fine. The more perfect Lin Yi was, the more afraid and insecure about losing him Tang Yin got.
âSheâs new here. Didnât know where her car was parked,â Lin Yi said offhandedly.
âI see. She drives to school too? Her family has to be rich, right?â Tang Yin paused, thinking that she probably wouldnât stand a chance against Xiaoxiao if they were to contend for Lin Yi.
âWho knows. She did see me drive on the street once, and now she wants me to teach her because she thinks Iâm good. I donât really have time to bother with her,â Lin Yi said.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
âOh, I see.â Tang Yin started getting nervous again. So Feng Xiaoxiao was here aiming straight for Lin Yi? Tang Yin felt a slight sense of danger at the thought.
âLetâs not talk about her. Howâs Auntyâs business been recently?â Lin Yi didnât want to dwell on Xiaoxiao any longer in front of Tang YIn.
âItâs alright, around three or four times the old income. If this goes on, itâll be ten thousand plus per month!â Tang Yin was evidently really happy that her family was able to earn this much now.
âNice. Save up and get a place. You guys can open a barbecue shop. Thingsâll be much easier from that point on.â Lin Yi nodded. He could always give Tang Yinâs family a little more funding to help them open a restaurant, but knowing Tang Yin she probably wouldnât accept it if he offered.
âI was thinking that too. I donât want Mom to be under the sun all the time, but she said that itâs a huge risk to open a shop. She said she doesnât want to lose any money there.â Tang Yinâs face reddened a little. âShe said, she said she wanted to save the money up for a dowry.â
âA dowry?â Lin Yi blinked before he started laughing oddly. âIâll go talk with Aunty. Itâs not like I need that anyway, so thereâs no point for her to save up for it.â
âYou?â Tang Yin paused before her face reddened in realization. She started to lightly hit Lin Yi. âWhatâre you talking about! Who said anything about marrying you?!â
âHahaha!â Lin Yi stopped Tang Yinâs attacks. âAuntyâs agreed to it already.â
He helped out Tang Yin and Mrs. Tang for a bit until the students buying from the place started to lessen. He helped push the barbecue cart into the nearby storage area before driving the two back home to the slums.
âYi, theyâre relocating the slums district soon. Do you think we should take the money compensation or a new place?â Mrs. Tang had been troubled these past few days. From what sheâd heard, the compensation money was a couple hundred thousand, but taking the other compensation got them a nice apartment place. It was a good deal.
âA new place is good. Iâm not too sure about stuff like this, but Iâll ask someone for you.â Lin Yi was thinking about Fatty Lai. Wasnât that guy a real estate veteran? Heâd get a good answer from him.
Although, knowing Fatty Lai, heâd probably gift Tang Yin an entire villa the next day if he learned she was Lin Yiâs girlfriend. Lin Yi didnât think Tang Yin would accept it though.
âAlright. These are just rumors, so weâre not sure if a relocationâs really happening.â Mrs. Tang sighed. âPeople were talking about it earlier, but nothingâs been settled yet because the compensation we were offered didnât match what the community wanted.â
âItâs fine. Just remember to tell me if you need anything. I have a friend in real estate, so heâll be able to help,â Lin Yi said.
Lin Yi didnât get out of the car after taking Mrs. Tang and Tang Yin home. He drove back to Mengyaoâs villa right away.
Mengyao had gotten used to Lin Yi leaving early and returning late at this point, so she did nothing more than eye him icily before continuing to watch TV with Yushu.
***
The next day, it took until noon for Lin Yi to finally escape from Xiaoxiaoâs torture. He asked Tang Yin out for a meal at the cafeteria, but Xiaoxiao actually started following him out the classroom, much to his surprise.
âWhatâre you following me for? Iâm going to lunch with Tang Yin.â Lin Yi didnât think Xiaoxiao would be coming with him again. She was like his shadow.
âIâm going for lunch too!â Xiaoxiao blinked. âI want to get to know your girlfriend, too, since weâll be seeing each other pretty often in the future.â
âWhat do you mean? Youâre not saying youâll be there every time Iâm on a date with her, are you?â Lin Yiâs face went green.
âYeah!â Xiaoxiao nodded very seriously.