Beauty and the Bodyguard

Chapter 174 - Sister and Sis-In-Law

“Scared?!! Of course not!!!” Lingshan announced, taking the bait even when she knew Lin Yi said it for the sake of goading her, simply because of how irritating his words were!

Lingshan had been a special ops instructor, and it was only natural that she was unafraid. After all, she’d be able to get herself out of a tight spot no matter how bad it was. As for Lin Yi…… Heh heh… if you insist!

As far as Lingshan was concerned, Lin Yi still had quite some distance to go before he reached her level- the guy had some good moves, but he’d never been through professional training, nor had he had any life-or-death experiences in the past! It went without saying that Lin Yi should be the one worrying instead of Lingshan.

“Kay. Let’s go then.” Lin Yi said, ignoring Lingshan’s violent reaction to his taunt.

Lingshan, on the other hand, wasn’t expecting the lack of reaction from Lin Yi, feeling her words weren’t really getting to him at all. Couldn’t the guy have at least acknowledged her proclamation or something? Couldn’t he have praised her courage a little bit?

“According to the footage we got from central city management, we’ve enough grounds to confirm that the suspects have hidden themselves in that mountain forest.” Lingshan explained as she pressed her anger down. “We’ve also located their vehicle nearby, and discovered the corpses of Baldy and Ma Laoliu in that abandoned warehouse over there… the suspects have a large amount of cash with them, meaning that they’ll get discovered by the inspection stops if they attempt to leave the area. We came to a conclusion that they’d remain in their hiding spots if the money is of great importance to them.”

“Okay, so you’re saying they’ll be able to get away if they throw the money away?” Lin Yi asked with a nod.

“...... Yes, you can put it that way.” Lingshan said. “Although, if we do manage to retrieve the cash they leave behind, the case would be more or less half-solved, and it’d be easier on the burdens my side is shouldering.”

“I can look for the people if they’re still here, but the cash…… You’re not expecting me to find it for you, are you? You think I’m a police hound?” Lin Yi said, rolling his eyes. “Ah, your captain calls himself a hound right? You can ask him to give that a try-”

The car screeched into a violent stop on the roadside, and both Lin Yi and Lingshan’s body lunged forward from the sudden stop.

“What’s wrong with you?” Lin Yi frowned, not expecting Lingshan to react that violently.

“Do not insult the captain!! Do it again, and I’ll have to ask you to get off!!” Lingshan ordered, her eyes burning as she glared right at Lin Yi as if she wanted to pounce on him for lunch. Quite fitting for the ‘lioness’ description Lin Yi had had for her.

That’s what this is? Lin Yi wasn’t sure what to say- he hadn’t expected her to be this protective of Huaijun! Could she perhaps be in love with him?

“Do you like Yang Huaijun?” Lin Yi asked.

“Please don’t taint the purity of our relationship- we think of each other as brother and sister!!” Lingshan corrected solemnly. “Don’t use your filthy imagination on this- I’m protective because of my respect and admiration towards him, alright? He’s like my mentor, he cared for me, supported me, taught me… he watched me grow……”

“Ah……” Lin Yi smiled faintly. “Then would you get mad if Huaijun called you a hound?”

“Ah? Me?” Lingshan blinked in surprise, not expecting that question out of nowhere. She shook her head in response, answering honestly. “Why would I? Huaijun’s practically my teacher- it’s perfectly natural for him to joke with me like that.”

“Ah……” Lin Yi left it at that- it’d been the same when Huaijun first joined his special ops team, too: their relationship had that same purity Lingshan was talking about. He’d watched the guy grow, and his bond with Huaijun went far deeper than even the one Lingshan had formed with him. The type of friendship formed in a setting like that was irreplaceable.

As a result, Huaijun would take Lin Yi’s scolding with a smile even if he pointed at his nose while doing so. While Lin Yi stood up for his teammates in front of outsiders, he hadn’t been one to go easy on them when lecturing or scolding. He even remembered the badass Yang Huaijun getting scolded into crying by his new captain, a boy younger than he was…

Naturally, this wasn’t something Lin Yi could reveal to Lingshan.

“Alright, I get it- I won’t say something like that again.” Lin Yi nodded. “But you can ask Huaijun later if you want… He doesn’t...mind.”

“?” Lingshan blinked, not quite understanding what Lin Yi was trying to say. Her profession had made her more sensitive, and had long had suspicions regarding the relationship between Huaijun and Lin Yi… It seemed that there was some sort of unspeakable secret bonding the two, but she didn’t think it was her place to investigate or ask about that- after all, Huaijun was the man she respected the most. She also had absolute faith in Huaijun’s character- he’d never associate himself with bad people.

Yet it seemed to her that there really was something between Lin Yi and the captain, something she didn’t understand. It intrigued her, and while she couldn’t just ask the captain, it’d be fine if she asked Lin Yi about it… She was quite confident that she’d be able to get something out of Lin Yi…

“I might’ve overreacted.” Lingshan said as she started the car again, her face warming up from the coldness she’d displayed earlier. “So Lin Yi… Do you and the captain know each other?” Lingshan prodded.

“I guess, but it’s been so long… I don’t really remember it anymore. I probably wouldn’t have recognized him if he hadn’t called me out that day.” Lin Yi was explaining the situation really calmly, but it was an explanation Lingshan would never believe.

‘Don’t remember’? Lingshan remembered the captain to be happier than when breaking a tough case the moment he’d recognized Lin Yi!! Lin Yi’s explanation simply made no sense- the captain’s joy came directly from his heart, and it was evidently intense enough for incoherent sentences to be coming out from his mouth!

“Is that so? How did the two of you meet?” Lingshan asked, continuing her questioning.

“Didn’t your superiors teach you not to ask questions you shouldn’t be asking? I heard you used to be a special ops instructor- where are your manners, you know?” Lin Yi said, sealing off all of Lingshan’s questions instantly. “Confidentiality, right?”

“......” Lingshan was speechless- what confidentiality? The guy wasn’t even part of the police force, nor was he part of the army! What was there to keep confidential about? It wasn’t that serious to just talk about how he’d met Huaijun, even if he did turn out to be a police force captain, was it?

“Fine, if you don’t wanna talk about it!!” Lingshan said, playing into Lin Yi’s hands again. “It’s not even an operation or anything, I don’t know what you’re being so secretive over.”

“Well, I’ll tell you if you become my sis-in-law, or Huaijun’s sister.” Lin Yi said, smiling as he looked at Lingshan.

(in case u dont remember the chinese call the wife or gf of their bros (close-friends) sis-in-law)

“???” Lingshan didn’t know what was going on anymore. Sis-in-law? Sister?? What the hell was Lin Yi saying, who was he even talking about?!