Peerless Bodyguard of a Stunning Beauty

Chapter 147: Chapter 121: Feelings Beyond Friendship

Lili walked forward with her bowl, grumbling internally. This Zhao Rong... how could he not eat with us? Unbelievable.

Yu Lan suddenly voiced her suspicion. ”Do you think Zhao Rong has found a new girl? Is that why he’s not eating with us?”

Xuelian stated confidently, ”No way. Zhao Rong is our bodyguard. Besides, he’s not the type to cheat. He would never date another girl behind our backs.”

Just as the three of them sat down, eating their noodles and discussing Zhao Rong, they noticed two security guards and a female university student at the adjacent table. The guard sitting opposite the student was thin and dark with the brim of his cap pulled low, and he looked remarkably like Zhao Rong.

Lili stared at the guard and whispered to her friends, ”Look at that guard... could that be Zhao Rong?”

Yu Lan shook her head. ”Impossible. Why would Zhao Rong eat with some other girl instead of us three?”

Suddenly, Xuelian leaned forward, getting a better look at the man with his head bowed low. It was him. She shot to her feet, snatched the cap off his head, and demanded, ”Zhao Rong! What are you doing here in Section A?”

When Lili saw that it really was their bodyguard disguised as a security guard, she jumped up as well. Her eyes darted from Zhao Rong to the female student across from him. ”Zhao Rong,” Lili demanded, ”who is this girl?”

Seeing that the jig was up, Zhao Rong scrambled to his feet, feigning surprise. ”Oh... uh... um...”

While Zhao Rong was stammering incoherently, Yu Lan turned on Wang Meili. ”Hey, you! Why are you trying to seduce our Zhao Rong?”

Startled, Wang Meili replied innocently, ”Ladies, he saved my life once. He’s my benefactor, I’m not trying to seduce him...”

But women are creatures of emotion, and Wang Meili’s perfectly reasonable explanation fell on deaf ears.

Lili was the first to lunge forward, shoving Wang Meili. ”Zhao Rong is mine, not yours!”

Xuelian, meanwhile, tried to break up the fight. ”Lili, don’t! Let’s not blame her until we know what’s going on!”

Just as Zhao Rong was about to intervene, Wang Chao, a doctoral student who had been hiding nearby and secretly watching Wang Meili, suddenly charged forward. He blocked Zhao Rong’s path. ”You’re just a lowly security guard,” he sneered. ”What gives you the right to seduce my girlfriend, Wang Meili?”

Zhao Rong responded calmly, ”Young man, don’t make false accusations or look down on people. What’s wrong with being a guard? We’re people too, and we contribute to society. For the record, I didn’t seduce Wang Meili. Besides, she isn’t your girlfriend, so don’t get ahead of yourself.”

Zhao Rong’s education might not have been as advanced as Wang Chao’s, but his eloquence was top-notch. In just a few sentences, he had left the man speechless.

Unable to win the argument, Wang Chao lunged forward and grabbed Zhao Rong by the collar. ”You damn guard! Give me back my girlfriend!”

In an instant, the once-calm cafeteria erupted into chaos. Lili and Wang Meili were shoving each other, with Xuelian trying to pull them apart. Yu Lan joined in, grabbing Wang Meili from behind. Nearby, Zhao Rong and Wang Chao were scuffling, while the security captain desperately tried to separate everyone.

Seeing the chaos caused by the mutual misunderstanding, Zhao Rong thought, I have to make a move now, or this will get out of control.

He warned Wang Chao, ”Four-eyes, I’ll say it one more time. I did not seduce Wang Meili. I just saved her life once. You should also stop shamelessly pestering her. She doesn’t like you.”

Hearing this, Wang Chao’s face contorted with rage. He lunged, scratching at Zhao Rong with his long fingernails. ”Who says she doesn’t like me? I have a PhD, and she’s in a combined bachelor’s-master’s-PhD program! We’re academic equals! We’re both brilliant minds who love to learn!

”Unlike you! You’re nothing but a pathetic, useless, trashy security guard!

”You should take a good long look at yourself in a puddle of piss! What makes you think you have any right to pursue a girl like her? Are you even worthy?”

Listening to Wang Chao’s condescending words, Zhao Rong thought, That’s it. I’ve had enough. You can insult me, but you don’t get to insult my profession.

Zhao Rong gave Wang Chao one final warning. ”I’m warning you one last time. You have a doctorate; you should have the decency that comes with it. Clean up your language and stop spouting nonsense...”

Before Zhao Rong could finish, Wang Chao started swearing, ”So what if I’m a doctor? I’ll curse you all I want! You son of a bitch! You son of a bitch! You son of a bitch...!”

Hearing the curses, Zhao Rong no longer cared that the man was a doctoral student. He drove a single, fierce punch straight into Wang Chao’s stomach.

The punch landed squarely. Wang Chao froze for a second, then his expression contorted violently—first with pain, then bizarrely with pleasure, then with pain again—before he finally collapsed in extreme agony.

After felling Wang Chao, Zhao Rong stepped forward and separated the women. ”Everyone, listen to me. Let me explain,” he said. ”My colleague, the security captain, dragged me here for a blind date. I never expected to run into Wang Meili, a girl from my village whose life I once saved.”

After hearing Zhao Rong’s explanation, which was confirmed by the security captain, the three women finally understood the situation. Zhao Rong had not been flirting with Wang Meili, and she certainly had not been seducing him. Most importantly, he had even tactfully declined a marriage proposal from her mother.

After clearing things up with the three of them, Zhao Rong turned to Wang Meili. ”Meili, these three are my clients,” he explained. ”I’m just their bodyguard. But after spending so much time together, it’s natural for feelings beyond mere friendship to develop...”

Listening to him, Wang Meili understood. Zhao Rong was their bodyguard. While the three women clearly had crushes on him and wanted to marry him, he was not ready to get married or accept any of their advances just yet. Understanding washed over her, and she nodded.

With the explanations finally over, Zhao Rong let out a long sigh of relief. Women... they’re so prone to jealousy and misunderstandings. Explaining things to them is exhausting and a complete waste of breath. Why do women have to make things so hard for other women?

At this point, everyone understood.

”Meili, I’m so sorry,” Lili said to Wang Meili. ”I completely misunderstood. Since Zhao Rong saved your life, you two should definitely eat together more often.”

Then, Lili turned to Zhao Rong. ”Zhao Rong, I misunderstood you, too. I promise, I’ll never doubt you again. You really are a man who is completely and utterly devoted to us three.”

Yu Lan added, ”Zhao Rong, since you saved her, you two should eat together whenever you want. You share a special bond, so we won’t misunderstand again.”

Xuelian also chimed in, ”Zhao Rong, now I understand why you didn’t tell us you were eating in Section A. You were trying to protect us and prevent a fight between women.”

Hearing this, Zhao Rong gave Xuelian a thumbs-up. ”Xuelian, that’s a great excuse. Thanks for coming up with it for me.”

Finally, Wang Meili looked at Zhao Rong. ”I understand, Zhao Rong. If a man were protecting me for a long time, I would also grow attached and develop feelings for him. So, when you are with those three, I won’t be jealous, I won’t complain, and I certainly won’t misunderstand. I know women need companionship, and a bodyguard has to serve his clients.”

With that, the group that had just been at each other’s throats embraced in harmony.

But just as everyone made peace, letting bygones be bygones, Wang Chao, who had been felled by Zhao Rong’s punch, stealthily slipped away.

As he ran, he muttered, ”Just you wait, you lowly guard. I’m going to find my brother, the postdoctoral fellow Yu Hong! He’s not just brilliant and highly educated; he’s a martial arts master and a cultivation expert! Zhao Rong, you just wait! See what my brother does to you!”