Chapter 26: The Commoner School Beauty

Lin Yi nodded. So, he was an entertainment tycoon!

People who made their fortunes through nightclubs and KTVs—while not all of them—often had some degree of shady connections in their backgrounds.

However, this was understandable. Such entertainment venues were a melting pot of all sorts of people, and there were plenty of troublemakers; without a powerful background, one simply couldn't keep such a business running.

"It looks like his family has quite a strong foothold in this city."

Lin Yi, however, felt no fear toward Zhong Pinliang because of this.

In his eyes, whether it was a social underworld boss or a corporate CEO, none were as terrifying as his own old man.

If he truly provoked Old Man Lin, the old man would beat him to death, and he wouldn't have the slightest chance of defending himself.

"What's his family even worth?"

Kang Xiaobo curled his lip in disdain. It was clear he had no respect for Zhong Pinliang, and was even somewhat annoyed by him. "If we're talking about wealth, Chu Mengyao's family is the one that's truly rich. Zhong Pinliang's family just owns a few entertainment businesses in this city, whereas the Chu family is a genuine industrial conglomerate with many branches across the country."

Lin Yi had a general understanding of Chu Pengzhan's strength. If the Pengzhan Group was an aircraft carrier, then the Zhong family's industries could only be described as small sampan boats.

It was only natural that Chu Mengyao would look down on a nouveau riche like Zhong Pinliang.

"You seem to know quite a bit!" Lin Yi smiled.

Kang Xiaobo's face flushed slightly, and he said somewhat awkwardly, "How many boys in our school don't know Chu Mengyao's profile and background? However, Chen Yushu is relatively more mysterious."

"In what way?" Lin Yi asked curiously. He had never met Chen Yushu's family.

However, he had noticed that Chen Yushu was picked up and dropped off by Chu Mengyao's family cars every day, and she even ate at the Chu residence after school. It gave Lin Yi the impression that she was riding on Chu Mengyao's coattails, but hearing Kang Xiaobo say this, it seemed that wasn't the case.

"I heard Chen Yushu's brother is a special forces king—the kind you see in novels, incredibly badass! Back in the first year of high school, there was a guy who, relying on his family's background, tried to pursue Chen Yushu. When he failed, he tried to play dirty, but Chen Yushu's brother found out. He beat the kid so badly he was hospitalized for half a year. The kid's family didn't dare say a single word, and they even went to the Chen family afterward to apologize."

Kang Xiaobo spoke mysteriously, "This shows just how powerful Chen Yushu's background is! Yet, she never goes looking for trouble. On the other hand, many people have secret crushes on her; they just don't dare to confess."

Lin Yi thought to himself: *And you call her someone who doesn't cause trouble? She doesn't cause trouble, but she causes trouble for me every single day!*

Not only did he have leverage in her hands, but just now, she had even seen... *that* part of him. What a mess!

Thinking about it gave him a headache. Lin Yi wasn't afraid of Chen Yushu's supposed brother coming after him; he knew a bit about Chen Yushu's character. This girl seemed much more open than Chu Mengyao and wouldn't obsess over such things. But Chu Mengyao...

She would probably hate him even more, wouldn't she? Sometimes, Lin Yi would rather be Chen Yushu's study companion than Chu Mengyao's; that young lady was truly difficult to serve.

"Lin Yi, don't tell me you've fallen for them?" Seeing that Lin Yi was silent, Kang Xiaobo patted him on the shoulder and asked.

Lin Yi shook his head with a bitter smile. "How could that be? I haven't even thought about such things."

Wasn't that like asking him to go and steal a lady? It gave Lin Yi an inexplicable sense of guilt, as if he were an ancient servant trying to elope with a mistress...

"Haha, but buddy, if you really want to pursue someone, there's one more option!" Kang Xiaobo whispered mysteriously.

"What option?" Lin Yi asked casually. It wasn't that he was interested, but he wanted to use Kang Xiaobo to learn more about school affairs.

"Tang Yun from Class 9, Senior Year."

Kang Xiaobo cleared his throat and said, "Our school's 'commoner school beauty.' Although she's very beautiful, like us, her family background isn't great. She wears her school uniform every day and doesn't dress up, but her beauty still can't be hidden."

"Tang Yun?" Lin Yi was stunned for a moment. It was a nice name, but he wondered if she was truly as beautiful as Kang Xiaobo claimed.

"Of course, compared to the two little princesses, Chu Mengyao and Chen Yushu, Tang Yun isn't as conspicuous." Kang Xiaobo's tone became noticeably hurried and excited when speaking of Tang Yun. "But in comparison, she is much closer to our level."

In a school like No. 1 High School, there were children of the wealthy and students from impoverished backgrounds. Unknowingly, they had split into two factions. Some wealthy playboys hung out together, chasing beauties and playing through life. After graduation, they could rely on their vast wealth and family connections to get into ideal universities or even study abroad.

Meanwhile, the impoverished students studied relentlessly every day, working hard just to get into a decent university.

Most of the poor students looked down on those idle rich kids, while the rich kids looked down on the bookworms who did nothing but study. However, this wasn't absolute; there were hardworking students among the rich, and there were those from poor backgrounds who got into fights and hung out with gangs.

But like attracts like. The followers around Zhong Pinliang were all rich or well-connected second-generation kids, similar to his own family.

Therefore, in Kang Xiaobo's view, pursuing Chu Mengyao or Chen Yushu was nothing more than an unreachable dream. But the commoner school beauty, Tang Yun, was someone they could actually reach out and touch.

Looking at Kang Xiaobo's expectant smile, Lin Yi sighed softly.

School was not as pure as he had imagined; it was full of interests and entanglements.

"Do you like her?" Lin Yi asked with a smile.

"There's nothing shameful about it! I guarantee you, Tang Yun is the object of many boys' wet dreams in this school," Kang Xiaobo said with certainty. "Buddy, once you see her, you'll know I'm not lying."

Pursue a commoner school beauty? That suggestion was quite tempting... but Lin Yi ultimately shook his head. His current identity was that of a study companion; was he supposed to abandon the young lady to go dating?

Even if Chu Pengzhan said nothing, Old Man Lin wouldn't let him off that easily.

One shouldn't be too reckless; it was better to keep a low profile.

Besides, the current situation was still unclear. He hadn't figured out what Chu Pengzhan's intentions were. Was the man trying to use his position to have him "steal" the lady?

Hmm... thinking about it now, that was quite possible... He and the young lady were neither relatives nor close friends; the only way he could show her affection was through this... So, if he went to flirt with some commoner school beauty and Chu Pengzhan found out, what if he got fired?

That would be a massive loss of a thirty-thousand-yuan-a-month "high-level underworld" lifestyle!