Blazing fire is hard to extinguish chapter 10
Novelty
Lin Chi was styling his hair in front of the mirror, with his phone set aside. He could hear his friend’s chatter from the phone, asking if he would join them at the bar that evening.
“It’s at 172 Kanghai Road, at Boss Liang’s place. Xiao Zhao and Tan Shuo will be there too. Xiao Zhao mentioned she has a friend she wants to introduce to you.”
The man on the phone was Xi Ziwen, the friend Lin Chi had known the longest in City C, apart from Huo Yuning. They had initially met during a magazine shoot, but Xi Ziwen had better luck and switched to acting. He got a bit famous from a web series and even introduced some resources to Lin Chi.
They shared similar tastes, both being charming playboys who didn’t quite fancy each other’s type, which made their relationship remarkably stable. They often hung out together.
Lin Chi had a shoot only in the morning that day and was free in the evening. Normally, he would have readily accepted Xi Ziwen’s invitation. But today, he had to regretfully reply, “I have plans tonight.”
Xi Ziwen frowned, puzzled. “What’s up with you? Last week I called you out and you didn’t come. Now you’re not coming again. What’s going on? Have you turned over a new leaf?”
Lin Chi laughed, “You’re the one who needs to turn over a new leaf.”
He grabbed his facial cleanser, worked up a lather, and amidst the gurgling water, mumbled, “Are you dumb? I said I have plans, obviously, I’m meeting someone else.”
“Huh?”
Xi Ziwen, with his legs propped up on the table, still hungover and groggy, was slower than usual to react.
“Damn, no wonder.”
He finally realized that Lin Chi had ended his single phase and had a new steady partner.
Knowing Lin Chi’s taste, this new person must be quite attractive.
Xi Ziwen laughed, teasing, “Who is it that has you so hooked you won’t come to gatherings anymore? Are they super hot? Or just really good in bed?”
For over two months, he’d only met Lin Chi once. Every other time, Lin Chi said he was busy, which was probably due to being entangled with this “new flame.”
He ran through the list of possible suspects in his mind and asked Lin Chi, “Is it that persistent college student or the barista?”
“Neither.”
Lin Chi cleaned up the sink, dried his face with a towel, and looked at himself in the mirror.
Wearing a white cotton-linen shirt with a loose mustard yellow sweater and black-rimmed glasses, the usual dashing Lin Chi looked more like an excessively handsome honor student.
He casually answered Xi Ziwen’s question, “You don’t know him. He’s not from our circle; you’ve never seen him. His figure? Of course, it’s great, and he’s handsome too.”
Lin Chi placed the phone to his ear and laughed.
Recently, who else could he be with? Naturally, it was Li Tingyan.
They had been sleeping together on and off for almost two months and were very familiar with each other.
Xi Ziwen laughed knowingly. He twirled his car keys and suggested, “Why don’t you bring him along then? The more, the merrier, and I’d like to see him.”
But Lin Chi refused outright.
“No way.”
He finished getting ready, grabbed a bottle of mineral water from the fridge, and drank a few gulps.
“He doesn’t like these kinds of places.”
He lied effortlessly about Li Tingyan, “He’s a proper working professional, very refined and a bit shy, doesn’t like socializing. If he hung out with you guys, you’d tear him apart.”
“Huh?”
Xi Ziwen pictured a silent man in a suit and tie with a briefcase. He couldn’t imagine what appeal such a person could have, no matter how handsome.
“When did you start liking this type?” he ridiculed, “You used to hate these straight-laced types, calling them boring and uptight. What’s gotten into you?”
Lin Chi packed his bag, raised an eyebrow subtly at Xi Ziwen’s comment.
He thought of Li Tingyan’s skills in bed and smiled, who said proper people can’t let loose?
But he didn’t plan to share these details with Xi Ziwen.
“Just forget what I said,” he cheerfully contradicted himself, “I’ve found that reserved types have their own charm.”
Humming, he headed out, “Alright, I’m not talking anymore. I have a shoot in the morning and a class in the afternoon. Busy day.”
Xi Ziwen rolled his eyes.
He could guess that Lin Chi had found a new toy and was engrossed with it. Even if they were handing out money tonight, Lin Chi might not show up.
“Fine, fine, get lost then. I’ll find someone else,” he said, feeling a bit indignant, and cursed, “You ungrateful jerk.”
Lin Chi laughed heartily, not denying it.
What’s wrong with prioritizing romance over friendship?
If Xi Ziwen could find someone like Li Tingyan, he might run even faster.
…..
Leaving home, Lin Chi rode his motorcycle to the shooting location. That day’s shoot was a private job from a familiar photographer and didn’t take long.
After the shoot, he waved goodbye to the photographer, bought a sandwich, and hurried to class with it in his mouth.
He was in his senior year of college and hardly came to school anymore, practically ready to graduate. But since he had been busy with work outside, he was short one elective credit and had no choice but to take this class amidst juniors and sophomores.
Luckily, his graduation thesis was nearly done, and he wasn’t worried about work. This elective was short and would be over by midterm, making up the credit he needed without affecting his graduation.
In the classroom, Lin Chi quietly made his way to the back row, stuffed his bag in the cabinet, and tore open a milk carton, drinking from it.
The teacher of this elective course had a very good temper. As long as you didn’t disrupt the class, you could do anything.
Lin Chi took out his iPad and continued working on his graduation thesis. He looked quite serious as he buried his head in his work.
It was thanks to his agent, Ms. Huo, that he could sit in a university class now. He had dropped out of high school to work, but Huo Yuning saw his potential and signed him. However, in the first year or two, he didn’t get much work and could barely support himself.
Huo Yuning ran around to find him a place in a high school class, where he caught up for six months and managed to get into college. As Ms. Huo said, in any industry, not having an education makes it easy to be deceived.
Lin Chi agreed wholeheartedly.
Now, he was about to graduate. He twirled his phone in his hand and thought about inviting Ms. Huo to dinner that evening.
Just as he was thinking about it, his phone vibrated. He checked and found a message from Li Tingyan.
The message was simple and direct, just a time.
“See you at eight.”
If he weren’t in class, Lin Chi would have whistled.
He let his fingers hover over the screen for a few seconds and then replied with “Okay.”
For the next hour, he looked at his thesis, which had been giving him a headache, in a much better mood.
For the past two months, he had been hanging out with Li Tingyan. Almost every week, they met at a hotel where Li Tingyan had booked a suite as their “love nest.”
Initially, Li Tingyan would send a driver to pick him up, but later, Lin Chi got used to it and drove there on his scooter. A few times, the hotel bellboy gave him a puzzled look when he parked, but still politely opened the door for him.
Lin Chi guessed the bellboy was probably thinking, “Which big shot’s kept lover is this, looking so down and out that he can’t even afford a cab fare?”
Thinking of this, Lin Chi laughed again and had complained about it to Li Tingyan, who had looked rather helpless.
After they had slept together a few times, Li Tingyan had thoughtfully bought him expensive gifts, but Lin Chi eventually refused them.
He had made it clear, “We’re just in a consensual relationship, fulfilling each other’s needs. You don’t owe me anything, and there’s no need to take care of me.”
After saying it a few times, Li Tingyan understood he was serious and stopped.
However, Lin Chi didn’t bother calculating the hotel expenses with Li Tingyan. Given his financial situation, if he insisted on paying, they would have to stay in budget hotels or go home.
Lin Chi smiled at the thought, recalling how Li Tingyan looked while tying his tie in front of the mirror in the hotel. He lost focus on the class even more.
The teacher was analyzing Cui Yingying and Zhang Sheng on the podium, the naive and passionate prime minister’s daughter falling in love with the scholar who stole her heart.
Meanwhile, Lin Chi wasn’t behaving himself. He picked a photo on his phone and sent it to his new lover, Li.
When Li Tingyan responded with a silent question mark, Lin Chi actually laughed out loud.
The laugh was especially noticeable in the classroom.
The teacher didn’t notice, but several classmates nearby looked over.
Lin Chi immediately closed his mouth and made an apologetic gesture.
But looking at the WeChat screen, he couldn’t help but smile again.
….
Li Tingyan was at the company, listening to a report from the department manager when his phone rang. He instinctively looked at it.
Seeing the snow-white back in the photo, he almost couldn’t keep a straight face.
The meeting had only been going on for half an hour, but the president’s expression changed, making the person reporting nervous, frantically wondering if he had said something wrong.
Fortunately, Li Tingyan just glanced at it and put the phone down.
But for the next two hours, even though he was diligently attending the meeting and reviewing reports, whenever he paused to rest, that snowy white back flashed through his mind.
Lin Chi had sent a photo taken by a photographer that morning.
He had been shooting a jewelry promotion, but the photographer, who was a friend, couldn’t help but take a few more shots and sent them all to him.
“You’re really beautiful, Lin Chi,” the photographer had praised, admiringly, “Lying in the water, you look like an elf that emerged from it.”
Lin Chi himself admired the photo for a few seconds.
It was an outdoor shoot.
In the stream, he was bare-chested, with wet hair clinging to his face, his pale face devoid of color but with ink-black eyebrows and bright red lips. Water droplets rolled down his brows and nose, sparkling like beads in the sunlight.
He lay on a rock, back to the camera, but with his face turned.
His face showed no expression, his eyes indifferent, as if devoid of human emotion, beautiful like a lifeless porcelain.
But his satin-like skin gleamed white in the sunlight, with perfect back, shoulders, and waistline, though any further view was blocked by the stream.
The camera peeked through the leaves, making the photo feel like a voyeur’s glimpse of a forest god’s secret treasure.
At least, that’s how Li Tingyan felt.
As he looked down at his documents, Lin Chi’s eyes, red lips, and the water droplets on his back floated before his eyes.
He rubbed his temples, glanced at his phone, and felt a bit distracted.