Blazing fire is hard to extinguish chapter 57
He Can’t Fly Away
After Li Tingyan returned to the country, even though he was far away in Thailand, Lin Chi saw two explosive news stories.
One was about Li Zhengtao’s eldest son, Li Jiang, who, due to health reasons, temporarily stepped down from Changhe Group, suspending all his affairs, and retreated to New Zealand for recuperation. All external affairs of Changhe Group fell to the third generation of the Li family, Li Tingyan.
For a while, there were all sorts of rumors, with gossip tabloids and scandal WeChat accounts reporting wildly, portraying him as ruthless and cold-hearted, like a “Jade-faced King of Hell,” who showed no mercy even to close relatives.
Even families closely connected with the Li family pretended to criticize him for being arrogant, reckless, and defying elders, all for the sake of love, which they deemed to be troublesome.
But when they turned their backs and looked at their own ineffective descendants, they couldn’t help but sigh and grudgingly admit that Li Zhengtao’s grandson was indeed enviably well-raised.
After Li Tingyan took over, the Changhe Group proceeded as usual, and the transfer of power was smooth and silent.
But soon after, Li Tingyan made another explosive news.
This time, it was about his private scandal.
At a Sotheby’s auction, Li Tingyan purchased a pink diamond worth 160 million, weighing 12.6 carats, so dazzling that it could blind a host of high society elites.
This wasn’t a big deal.
For someone like Li Tingyan, buying such items for collection was quite normal.
However, later, during an interview with a magazine, when the host mentioned the expensive pink diamond and praised his discerning eye, Li Tingyan smiled and casually said, “That’s for my partner. These beautiful, shiny things appeal to my partner’s eyes.”
Everyone at the scene was astonished, as no one had ever heard of Li Tingyan being engaged.
The host wanted to ask more, but Li Tingyan shook his head and said with a smile, “My partner prefers to stay low-key and doesn’t like too much discussion.”
The interview, after consulting Li Tingyan’s team, was broadcast without edits, causing another wave of media frenzy.
Everyone eagerly speculated about who this “partner” might be.
But although Li Tingyan openly mentioned his partner, he seemed to deliberately protect his “low-key partner,” keeping everything tightly sealed, with no photo evidence of the rumored relationship.
Many paparazzi were left empty-handed.
The identity of Li Tingyan’s “wife” remained a mystery for now.
When Lin Chi saw the report in Thailand, his face twitched.
While the outside world speculated endlessly, everyone around him knew about his involvement with Li Tingyan.
He received many “concerned inquiries.”
Even Gu Yiyuan, that old fox, seemed to have guessed something and looked at him with a teasing smile, saying, “When I invited you to act in the film, I didn’t expect to get such a big shot.”
Lin Chi almost rolled his eyes.
On the night the news broke, he received a cross-ocean call from Huo Yuning, who scolded him thoroughly.
Huo Yuning had long known about Li Tingyan’s additional investment in Gu Yiyuan’s film.
But recently, she had been too busy to deal with Lin Chi.
Seeing the gossip news, old and new grievances surged together.
Huo Yuning scolded loudly, “You fool, I knew you never told the truth. You even forgot how you cried at the airport. I still have your photos on my phone. You swore you’d forget Li Tingyan, that you’d only focus on work and retire at fifty to live in a California mansion with a young lover. And now, behind my back, you’re involved with him again. I’ve never seen such a forgetful person.”
Lin Chi’s head buzzed from the scolding.
He knew he had acted improperly.
As an agent and model are essentially two sides of the same coin, he should have reported immediately if there was any trouble, so Huo Yuning could respond promptly.
Instead, he had been entangled with Li Tingyan in a complex love-hate relationship for half a year, hiding it from Huo Yuning all the while.
By the time Huo Yuning found out, everything was already settled.
No wonder Huo Yuning was furious.
“Calm down, Ms. Huo. I didn’t cause any real trouble,” Lin Chi reassured, lounging on a chair, wearing a linen robe and holding a fan, speaking slowly, “Wasn’t it you who said I should find a sweet, rich second-generation to rely on in the circle? Maybe it would be easier.”
“That was drunken talk!” Huo Yuning shouted angrily, “Who told you to take it seriously! I’ve never seen you take my words seriously before!”
Lin Chi chuckled.
Huo Yuning took a deep breath, her chest rising and falling a few times before calming down.
She was all thunder and no rain.
Lin Chi continued with a self-reflection and a promise not to repeat his mistakes.
She eventually calmed down.
She twitched her face a few times, feeling both angry and amused. She calmed down a bit and thought about the report she had just seen. Reluctantly, she praised him a little, “Well, Li Tingyan does have some responsibility. He didn’t drag you into his family’s mess. He said he’d clean up and come to marry you. Even though he’s not a naive fool, he does seem to care about you.”
Lin Chi chuckled again.
He teased Huo Yuning, “So why are you still upset? My career is going smoothly, and now I have support. Isn’t your California mansion just around the corner?”
Huo Yuning thought about it and agreed.
She snorted again, her temper cooling down. Thinking about Lin Chi and Li Tingyan’s marriage, she felt like an old-fashioned patriarch, but she was quite satisfied.
After all, the pink diamond was real money, and once transferred, it would at least count as Lin Chi’s personal asset.
She immediately started planning for Lin Chi.
After dealing with Huo Yuning, Yu Nian also called.
Yu Nian was vacationing with his boyfriend Qi Wang at the foot of the Alps, supposedly for inspiration.
He asked just one question about the sensational gossip.
“That partner Li Tingyan mentioned is you, right?”
Lin Chi didn’t hesitate to confirm.
“Yes, it’s me.”
Yu Nian laughed and said, “Impressive.”
He joked, “Qi Wang didn’t make such a fuss when he pursued me.”
But as he looked at the distant Alps, he seemed to remember something and softly said, “But you’re luckier than me; you only had to wait half a year.”
Lin Chi was puzzled by this statement, but when he tried to inquire further, Yu Nian wouldn’t say more as he was busy shopping with his boyfriend.
Xi Ziwen’s message of consolation was the last to arrive, quite delayed compared to Huo Yuning and Yu Nian’s. It was very simple and direct.
He sent Lin Chi a middle finger.
Lin Chi couldn’t help but laugh.
During these six months, he had often bothered Xi Ziwen, leveraging Xi Ziwen’s close ties with the Li family to secretly gather information.
Now that he and Li Tingyan had finally gotten together, Xi Ziwen probably felt relieved.
He lay on the rocking chair, with the moon shining and the evening breeze gently tousling his hair.
He thought Li Tingyan’s move was quite shameless.
As a commitment-phobic gay, despite not having committed to Li Tingyan in any way, everyone around him seemed to have assumed that he and Li Tingyan were to get married.
Really… shameless.
No wonder he’s in business; his heart is really black.
But Lin Chi thought this while leisurely fanning himself, with a smile that never left his face.
……
A week later, the filming in Thailand wrapped up, and Gu Yiyuan’s crew moved to Australia.
Lin Chi didn’t return to China until the end of August.
On the day he returned, it was Li Tingyan who picked him up, taking him to a private club in the suburbs for dinner. The courtyard was just for the two of them, with summer rain drizzling and the night air cool.
Li Tingyan slipped the pink diamond ring he had won at the auction onto Lin Chi’s finger.
That night, Lin Chi took Li Tingyan’s car back to the long-absent Li family villa.
It seemed the place hadn’t changed much since he left, except for the roses in the garden, which were still carefully tended by the gardener and quietly blooming in the summer night.
The villa’s staff were still the same, and Yan Li and the housekeeper greeted him with smiles, saying, “Welcome back.”
Lin Chi felt a bit embarrassed but smiled and greeted them warmly, “Long time no see.”
The bedroom he used to stay in was exactly the same, not a single thing had been moved, and his favorite tea cup was still by the bedside.
However, Li Tingyan didn’t let him stay there that night but carried him into his own bedroom.
In the bedroom, Lin Chi saw a new photo frame on Li Tingyan’s bedside table.
Instead of a photo, there was a postcard with a green floral pattern on the back, accompanied by an orange blossom scented sachet. Even though it was sealed in glass, the scent seemed to faintly seep out.
On the blank space of the postcard, in elegant handwriting, were two big words.
“I’m willing.”
Signed, Lin Chi, 7.21.
That was the day after Li Tingyan and he met in Chiang Mai.
“I thought this would be sent a bit slower,” Lin Chi said, holding the frame and smiling lightly.
Li Tingyan sat beside him, looking up at him.
“This arrived at my office the day before yesterday,” Li Tingyan said softly. “Luckily, my assistant was sharp enough; it almost got thrown away as unimportant.”
He even gave his assistant a bonus for this.
He held Lin Chi’s hand, with the subtle orange blossom scent from the glass frame lingering between them.
He had always wanted Lin Chi’s approval.
But it turned out that Lin Chi had given him the answer the moment they reunited.
His fingers caressed Lin Chi’s, and the pink diamond, cut brilliantly and dazzlingly, still couldn’t overshadow Lin Chi’s radiance.
Looking at the ring, Li Tingyan suddenly said in a cheerful tone, “Lin Chi, actually, I don’t want to date you anymore.”
Lin Chi was stunned.
What the heck?
You were just holding my hand with such tenderness, as if you loved me to death.
He almost wanted to hit Li Tingyan with the photo frame in his hand.
But soon, he saw Li Tingyan smiling. The smile was unexpectedly youthful, stripping away his usual seriousness and appearing pure.
“Let’s just get married,” Li Tingyan said.