Blazing fire is hard to extinguish chapter 20
Happy Birthday
Li Tingyan hadn’t spoken for a long time, not until the movie ended, the ending credits played, and the lights in the theater brightened.
Several students in the front row and a couple started chatting and laughing as if a ban had been lifted. The once empty theater suddenly became lively. He even heard the sound of ice cubes clinking in cola cups.
At the same time, he saw Lin Chi’s face clearly.
A face he had seen countless times.
Graceful and vivid, with bright eyes, like a cunning yet innocent fox, proudly showing off its fluffy tail.
Lovely and smug.
…..
After leaving the theater, because Lin Chi didn’t want to go home yet, Li Tingyan accompanied him for a slow walk on the street.
Many shops along the roadside were still open, their brightly lit windows dazzling and mysterious.
Lin Chi bent down to look at a pearl bracelet in a display case. He liked these gorgeous and beautiful things, but with the light reflecting on his well-defined face, his eyes were even more radiant than the gemstones inside.
He said to Li Tingyan, “When I was in high school, I saw a ring in a jewelry store in our mall, it was wide and gold. Maybe I’ve always liked shiny things. Every time I passed by, I would glance at it from afar. But back then, I never believed I would own it one day.”
“And what happened later?”
Li Tingyan asked.
Lin Chi raised an eyebrow, a hint of pride on his face, and raised his hand towards Li Tingyan.
His hands were adorned with various rings—gold, black, diamond-studded, and skull-shaped.
“I’m wearing it now, aren’t I?”
He turned his head to look at Li Tingyan and shook his hand, “Look, the one on my ring finger.”
Li Tingyan smiled in response.
Li Tingyan glanced at the bracelet in the window, “Do you like this one?”
Lin Chi straightened up, his smile teasing, “Oh? Are you thinking of buying it for me?”
Li Tingyan nodded, “Today is your birthday. You can have anything you want.”
Lin Chi laughed heartily, “You’re quite generous.”
“But I don’t need this bracelet. I already have a similar one at home,” he glanced around, then pointed ahead with his chin, “I actually want the one over there.”
Following his gaze, Li Tingyan realized it was a trendy ice cream shop, selling ice cream flavors infused with scents like perfume.
Despite nearing winter, the shop remained open until midnight, bustling with customers almost spilling onto the street.
Li Tingyan chuckled, “Don’t you want to watch your weight at this hour?”
Lin Chi shrugged, “It’s my birthday today. Can’t the birthday boy indulge in some dessert? Huo Yuning won’t come to strangle me.”
“In that case, wait here for me.”
Li Tingyan walked across the street. By the time he reached the shop, the crowd inside had eased a bit, though there was still a line.
Lin Chi sat on a bench across the road, adjusting the scarf around his neck—a gift from Li Tingyan earlier, to keep him warm.
He sat there with a smile on his face, feeling unexpectedly good.
When he was with others before, he had never queued up for a lover like this. Apart from occasionally eating and drinking together, there was no intimacy outside bed.
Once he had a “lover” who complained that he had the face of a gentle lover but was indifferent once out of bed, like a born playboy, and didn’t take anyone’s heart seriously, let alone patience with anyone.
He didn’t care about that evaluation and thought the other person was right.
That’s who he was.
So he didn’t have double standards.
Thinking about it, Lin Chi tilted his head, seriously recalling, carefully thinking about it, he seems to have really made a lot of random requests to Li Tingyan.
He made Li Tingyan buy him limited edition cakes and had Li Tingyan help him book a membership restaurant. Once, he couldn’t find clothes but needed them urgently, so he had to call Li Tingyan shamelessly.
Li Tingyan had never shown impatience towards him, sometimes even leaving a meeting early for him.
In this regard, Li Tingyan was completely different from his past self.
Lin Chi’s gaze fell on the ice cream shop across the street, its warm lights glowing like a candy house from a fairy tale on this early winter night.
Symbolizing everything beautiful.
A moment later, Li Tingyan emerged from the shop with ice cream in hand, also carrying a small bag.
There were few people on the street now, and the road looked desolate under the cold light of street lamps, somewhat bleak and empty.
Li Tingyan, in his fitted black coat, with broad shoulders and long legs, looked almost like a model on a runway, yet he was holding an ice cream as though it were a delicate experiment in a laboratory.
Approaching Lin Chi, Li Tingyan handed him the ice cream.
“You wanted the wood honey flavor,” he pulled out a paper cup from the bag, “and also a hot cocoa to balance the coldness.”
Lin Chi’s smile widened.
“How thoughtful.”
He praised, taking the ice cream from Li Tingyan’s hand and gently scooping out a spoonful, causing his eyes to squint from the cold.
Eating ice cream in winter was like this—cold rushing to your head, yet strangely refreshing.
As he ate his ice cream, they walked towards the parking lot.
In the end, he didn’t finish it all, leaving a small portion in the cup, melting into sweet syrup.
The car was quiet, with Li Tingyan not playing any music.
Lin Chi hummed a song to himself.
“Devils roll the dice, angels roll their eyes
What doesn’t kill me makes me want you more……”
His singing wasn’t particularly pleasant, slightly off-key, struggling to reach the climax, but he seemed genuinely happy.
….
The car arrived at Lin Chi’s building. He unbuckled his seatbelt, ready to say goodbye to Li Tingyan, but as he turned, he saw Li Tingyan stepping out of the car with him.
Raising an eyebrow, Lin Chi was puzzled. “Are you coming up with me?”
Although getting into bed was indeed their usual routine.
But today, he just wanted to spend a simple birthday.
But… if Li Tingyan really wanted to, he wouldn’t mind.
Thinking this, Lin Chi’s tongue subconsciously licked his teeth.
However, Li Tingyan shook his head.
He took out a small black velvet box from his pocket, heart-shaped and petite in his hand.
He said, “I just wanted to give you a birthday present.”
Lin Chi glanced down and was startled. He almost took two steps back.
It wasn’t that he was overreacting. It was just that the box looked too much like a ring box.
And he vaguely remembered, a long time ago, when he was with a certain lover, their relationship was just right. In his mind, he rated their figure and skills an eight out of ten, thinking it wouldn’t hurt to spend more time together. Then suddenly, the lover pulled out a blue ring box and asked him affectionately if he wanted to settle down…
It was like a ghost story!
Lin Chi stared at the jewelry box in shock, then looked at Li Tingyan, clearly showing on his face what he was thinking.
Li Tingyan couldn’t help but laugh.
He knew the box’s appearance could be misleading, so he opened it himself.
Inside was, of course, not a ring but an asymmetrical pair of emerald earrings.
He said, “I saw these earrings in a shop window recently and thought they would suit you well, so I bought them. They just happened to make a good birthday present for you, no other meaning.”
The emerald earrings sparkled in the box. The studs were square-shaped, like mist over a mountain, green as if condensed from an entire summer. They seemed to shimmer with the promise of water flowing within the gems.
Lin Chi was a bit at a loss.
He wasn’t ignorant of their value, of course. He even saw his initials engraved discreetly at the end of the earrings, an L and a C, meaning they couldn’t be given to anyone else.
But for him, tonight’s movie, candlelit dinner, and just the ice cream earlier were already enough, like a casual relationship between friends with benefits, and he was quite content.
Such a gift meant little to Li Tingyan but was too significant for him.
“I…”
He wanted to say something.
But Li Tingyan had already taken the earrings out of the box and politely asked, “Can I put them on for you?”
Lin Chi bit his lip and didn’t say anything.
Li Tingyan took it as consent.
His slender fingers picked up the delicate earrings and clumsily fastened them onto Lin Chi’s fair ears.
The emeralds indeed complemented him well.
He usually favored fiery reds, but this splendid green suited him just as much.
With a gentle movement, the green gems sparkled with delicate light, the earrings swaying lively and spirited.
“They’re very beautiful,” Li Tingyan praised sincerely.
Lin Chi pursed his lips. “Thank you.”
He looked at Li Tingyan, fingers brushing against his own ear, the cool chain of the earrings looping around his hand, strangely itching and unsettling.
He had received many beautiful and expensive gifts before, with many people vying for his attention.
But those gifts often came with hidden intentions; most people wanted something from him.
Either his body.
Or his affection.
So he politely declined most gifts, only engaging with those he truly liked, with no love to give away.
But what about Li Tingyan?
They were intimately close, but he knew Li Tingyan didn’t want anything from him.
With Li Tingyan’s wealth, he could easily attract the most beautiful and lively boys and girls, willing to throw themselves into his arms.
Power and money were the best lures in the world.
As for love, Li Tingyan didn’t need it; he had someone he loved.
Lin Chi struggled inwardly, unsure if he should, out of politeness, invite Li Tingyan up to his place.
They were just friends with benefits; Li Tingyan had even taken time out to celebrate his birthday and had put so much thought into this evening. Wouldn’t it be the logical conclusion to end the night in bed?
“I…”
He was about to speak when Li Tingyan took a step back.
“It’s getting late. I should go. You should get some rest too,” Li Tingyan said to him.
“Huh?”
Lin Chi hadn’t reacted yet when he saw Li Tingyan walking towards his car.
But in the moment he opened the car door, Li Tingyan stopped and turned back, the night breeze brushing his face, his eyes calm and gentle.
“Happy birthday, Lin Chi,” he said.
Happy birthday, Lin Chi.
Those words melted into the air like smoke.
Lin Chi stood at the intersection for a long time before slowly turning to walk upstairs.
He rode the elevator up, thinking in his heart that Li Tingyan was indeed a strange person, unlike anyone he had met before.
But when he got back to his room and turned on the lights, illuminating the room instantly, his gaze met the dressing mirror, where he saw the dangling earrings.
He couldn’t help but smile again.
Indeed, a strange person.
But also a very good person.