Blazing fire is hard to extinguish chapter 14
Elder Brother
The performance ended, and Lin Chi took a bow along with all the other actors.
Their performance was very successful within the school; the applause and cheers from the audience were enthusiastic. Besides Lin Chi, the leading actress also had considerable popularity. When not smiling, she had a cold charm. Many girls shouted loudly to her, “Cheng jie! You were amazing today!!”
“Cheng jie, you must continue acting in dramas after graduation!”
Li Tingyan was among the enthusiastic young crowd, though he was just clapping along.
He had experienced such moments during his university days too.
Indeed, university was truly an ivory tower.
Everything was unrestrained and carefree; one could freely indulge in passion, along with the youthful recklessness and impulsiveness that could be forgiven.
But once you stepped out of the university’s gates, you had to learn to be calm and composed, appearing confident no matter the circumstance.
The theater was starting to clear out, but many people lingered, either chatting with friends or waiting for a chance to speak more with their favorite actors.
Li Tingyan stood up from his seat and sent a message to Lin Chi, saying he would wait for him outside the theater.
Lin Chi’s reply came quickly, “Why wait outside? Just come backstage.”
Li Tingyan raised an eyebrow.
After a few seconds of thought, he ultimately followed Lin Chi’s suggestion.
Inside the dressing room, Lin Chi was removing his makeup. With everyone offstage, the room suddenly felt crowded, filled with lively chatter. Crew members were still tidying up props, actors were changing clothes, and others were wandering around, distributing souvenirs from the performance.
Lin Chi received his own: a ticket holder, a stamp, and a red silk bracelet.
“Chi Ge, you looked great tonight,” a junior who was giving him the souvenir smiled. “My entire dorm came, all for you.”
Lin Chi chuckled. “Such support. I’ll treat you all to dinner when I have the chance.”
“Really?” The junior bounced excitedly. “You better keep your word. They’ll be ecstatic.”
“I promise.”
Lin Chi extended his hand for a high-five.
It was then that Li Tingyan entered the backstage area. Amidst the bustling university students, his presence as a professional stood out, attracting some curious glances.
The stage manager at the door recognized him as there to see Lin Chi, so he was quickly allowed through. However, others didn’t know and stared at him, wondering if he was some actor’s brother.
After exchanging high-fives with the junior, Lin Chi turned and spotted Li Tingyan.
He raised a hand. “Over here.”
Li Tingyan walked over.
Lin Chi hadn’t completely removed his makeup; there were traces of eyeshadow and eyebrow makeup still visible. With slightly lowered eyes, the lingering fine powder on his eyelids resembled shimmering waves. He said to Li Tingyan, “Wait for me a moment. I still need some time to change.”
“No rush.”
Li Tingyan sat down beside him. He was aware of the gazes around him, but he paid them no mind.
“I thought you might not come,” Lin Chi wiped his eyelids with a makeup remover wipe, his voice slightly muffled. “Didn’t see you at the beginning, but you showed up right after the performance, startled me.”
Li Tingyan chuckled.
“I happened to finish a meeting early this afternoon, so I came over.”
He had actually ended the meeting a bit early on purpose. If it weren’t for the traffic, he wouldn’t have been five minutes late. Even so, it was just a university drama; if it were a formal theater performance, he might not have been allowed in.
Lin Chi didn’t think much of it.
He looked at Li Tingyan somewhat proudly through the mirror. “Did I perform well?”
“Very well.”
Li Tingyan sincerely replied, “As soon as you stepped on stage, all the students were awed by you.”
He paused for a moment and added, “I was too. You made me forget the faces of the other two young masters from the Jiang family.”
Lin Chi burst into laughter.
After removing his makeup, his face was clean and clear, yet sharply defined, with high cheekbones and a straight nose. A typical handsome face, full of charm.
“You really know how to flatter.” He lazily commented, but kept glancing at Li Tingyan through the mirror.
People were coming and going in the dressing room.
Lin Chi’s classmates were everywhere, the noise was incessant, almost like a market.
Even if Lin Chi was unconventional, he couldn’t do anything outrageous in public.
But the more he resisted, the more it made him itch.
He stared at Li Tingyan in the mirror, seeming intentional yet unintentional, as he lightly scratched Li Tingyan’s palm with his finger.
Almost at the same time, a curious classmate who was removing makeup next to him couldn’t help but ask a question.
“Lin Chi, is this your friend? Did he come specifically to watch your performance?”
Just now, Lin Chi didn’t introduce Li Tingyan to anyone, but as soon as Li Tingyan sat down, Lin Chi started chatting quietly with him, their relationship clearly intimate.
Lin Chi glanced at the boy next to him and then turned his gaze back to Li Tingyan.
He took out a makeup remover wipe and gently wiped off the last bit of lipstick from his lips, speaking leisurely.
“This is my elder brother.”
As he said this, there was a mischievous gleam in his eyes, looking quite pleased with himself.
Li Tingyan suddenly felt a sense of seniority.
He looked at Lin Chi, feeling amused yet somewhat absurd.
Brother.
Which brother would mess with his younger brother in bed? But precisely because they wouldn’t, when Lin Chi called him this way, it evoked a sense of illicit intimacy.
Li Tingyan lowered his eyes slightly, not objecting, tacitly accepting the title. Seeing several curious students around them, he nodded politely.
No one else seemed suspicious.
Instead, they began discussing Lin Chi’s family genetics.
“Wow, no wonder he’s so good-looking. Lin Chi, does your family only have good looking people?”
“Look closely, they do look alike.”
The more classmates discussed, the more unabashedly Lin Chi laughed.
Seeing Li Tingyan’s calm demeanor, Lin Chi leaned closer to him and whispered.
“Ge, did I look good today?”
His voice, amidst the noisy dressing room, was as soft as a drop of water.
No one heard it except Li Tingyan.
But Li Tingyan heard it clearly, his eyelashes trembling lightly.
“You looked really good.”
After changing his own clothes, Lin Chi declined the drama club’s invitation to dinner.
“Maybe next time,” he waved to everyone, “we still have some time before graduation. We’ll hang out another time.”
The drama club members wanted to keep him a bit longer, but seeing Lin Chi already holding Li Tingyan’s hand as they walked away, they knew it was hopeless and reluctantly gave up.
However, those left behind looked at their departing figures and muttered to themselves.
In this day and age, can brothers really be so close and affectionate, even holding hands?
Lin Chi and Li Tingyan arrived at the parking lot. As soon as Lin Chi opened the car door, he noticed a small bouquet sitting on the passenger seat.
Not too extravagant.
It reminded him of the bouquet he received at Zhao Anzhen’s wedding.
“What’s this?”
He picked up the bouquet and sniffed it gently, “Is it for me?”
“Yes.”
Li Tingyan also got into the car, “You said today was your last performance at school, so it should be formal. I initially wanted to bring it backstage, but it would have attracted too much attention, so I left it in the car.”
He fastened his seatbelt, looked at Lin Chi, and softly said, “Congratulations on a successful performance today.”
Lin Chi grinned, “What, were you afraid I’d mess up?”
But he looked genuinely happy as he held the bouquet.
“I remember the first time I walked the runway, my agent also gave me a bouquet, saying it marked a new chapter in my career.”
He wrinkled his nose, “But after she gave me the bouquet, both our careers plummeted. We were practically homeless for a while.”
He recalled the scene of him and Huo Yunqing sitting face to face, gloomy and desolate. Huo Yunqing bitterly asked if she was a jinx, and he almost wanted to laugh.
Li Tingyan drove and glanced over at the mention, recalling how Lin Chi had captured everyone’s attention on stage just moments ago.
A fleeting thought crossed his mind, but he didn’t say anything.
Author’s note:
Lin Chi, do you know you can’t just casually call someone ‘Ge’? Once you call someone ‘Ge’, you have to take responsibility, you know?
(Starts making wild guesses.jpg)