Blazing fire is hard to extinguish chapter 60
Extra – Daily Life of the Couple
Lin Chi’s first film appearance was set to be released in October, just in time for the National Day holiday.
This film, which took over a year to shoot, bore the prestigious name of Gu Yiyuan, and the released trailer had certainly piqued interest. Although the male and female leads were relatively new to the industry, they were highly anticipated.
Lin Chi’s scenes also appeared in the trailer.
He was another highlight of the film. Even though he only played a supporting role, his fame far exceeded that of the leads. That year, he held endorsements for two top luxury brands and even accompanied the film crew to Cannes.
Wearing a black suit with a tailored waist, he looked tall and straight. Normally, his image was laid-back and sexy, but this time, he exuded rare seriousness and formality, like an ascetic gentleman. The only accessory was a black bracelet on his wrist, and his aloof expression as he faced the camera even came across as a bit stiff and proper.
A striking contrast.
This set of photos quickly made it to the top headlines of various entertainment news outlets.
Media reactions to Lin Chi’s involvement in the film were mixed.
Lin Chi’s main profession was modeling, and he didn’t come from an acting background. Even though he had appeared in a few TV dramas before, those were merely small, insignificant roles. Now, he had been cast in a significant supporting role in Gu Yiyuan’s new film, with substantial screen time, which many people were skeptical about.
Some critics even bluntly called it the downfall of the film industry: “Actors with formal training can’t get opportunities, yet a model, just because of their fame, can easily cross over to film—even without any acting classes. This is fundamentally unfair. Gu Yiyuan is clearly just trying to create buzz for the movie.”
Such comments were plentiful.
But others pushed back.
“As if trained actors are all that good these days. It’s been more than a decade, and the ones holding up the industry are still the veterans. Talented young actors are rare. Who are they to complain about others stealing their opportunities? Even if they had the chance, they wouldn’t make it.”
Lin Chi saw all these comments but remained unfazed.
He was a model at heart, and the only reason he accepted Gu Yiyuan’s invitation was because he was genuinely interested in the film. His main career would still be modeling.
Whether people mocked or laughed at him, it didn’t matter. If he couldn’t handle this much, he wouldn’t survive in the industry.
Li Tingyan, however, wasn’t as calm about the rumors.
He had been in the spotlight for years, and when he had conflicts with his family, the gossip tabloids were just as merciless, harshly criticizing him and painting him as a villain.
He didn’t mind and calmly read through the news while sipping his morning coffee.
But when it came to Lin Chi, he couldn’t stand it and immediately wanted to call Ye Fengshan.
This entertainment company boss was skilled at managing publicity, particularly adept at handling black-and-white marketing and shutting down rumors.
It was obvious that the widespread attacks on Lin Chi weren’t all coming from random people.
But before he could dial, Lin Chi stopped him.
“What are you doing?” Lin Chi teased. “You can’t handle such a minor situation? What will you do when worse things are said—force me to quit tomorrow?”
This was just a small storm, business as usual in the entertainment industry.
Seeing Li Tingyan still looking upset, as if ready to tear down the competition, Lin Chi smiled, clearly in a good mood.
He sat on Li Tingyan’s lap. Since he no longer had to lose weight for his role, his well-toned muscles had returned. Dressed in a loose light blue shirt, it revealed his beautiful collarbone and a small glimpse of his chest.
Li Tingyan placed his hand on Lin Chi’s waist, the waistline was firm and slender, full of strength and beauty.
“Alright, no need to get angry,” Lin Chi said with good humor, kissing Li Tingyan. “Do you think Huo Yuning and Gu Yiyuan are pushovers? Let Gu Yiyuan worry about his own movie. You, as an investor, have already put in the money, and now you need to exert effort as well? It’s not going to kill him.”
He really didn’t care about the online uproar.
Even though there was a lot of low-quality stuff nowadays and public opinion was often skewed, strong works still earned respect.
The audience is not blind.
Everyone likes good things.
As an actor in this film, Lin Chi was quite confident about “Dark Waters.”
He was more concerned with other matters now.
He had just returned from working abroad, and last night Li Tingyan was on a business trip and only got home late. The two only met today in Li Tingyan’s office.
He rarely visited Li Tingyan’s company.
Now, sitting in front of Li Tingyan’s desk with the curtains half-closed, it was impossible to see inside from outside, and other staff members wouldn’t dare to intrude at this time.
He played with Li Tingyan’s tie, feeling a bit restless.
He unbuttoned one of his shirt buttons, revealing his fair and smooth skin.
“I’ve been working hard on my fitness lately,” he said, grabbing Li Tingyan’s hand and placing it on his body suggestively. “Do you want to feel the results?”
The two spent nearly the entire afternoon fooling around in the office. The office door was tightly closed, and since Li Tingyan had instructed earlier, no one dared to step in.
Lin Chi lay in the black leather chair, draped in his shirt, his long legs propped up on the desk, so white they seemed to reflect light.
The bruise on his shoulder was even more conspicuous.
He lay back with a satisfied expression, his gaze unconsciously fixed on the ceiling of the office, feeling like the entire office was yellow.
He stuck out his tongue and licked a small wound on his mouth, which was a bit painful, making him squint.
He glanced at Li Tingyan, who was making tea for him, and scolded.
“Pervert.”
Li Tingyan took it in stride, walked over, picked him up, and moved him to the sofa. He then carefully cleaned up the mess.
Lin Chi had been too vigorous earlier and had crumpled some documents on his desk, but fortunately, it wasn’t anything important.
He tossed the crumpled document into the trash can. After cleaning up, he looked back and saw that the water cup had been placed aside by Lin Chi, who was now sleeping, hugging his suit jacket.
The suit jacket was black, oversized, and crisp, fitting Lin Chi perfectly.
The office was air-conditioned, and Lin Chi unconsciously curled up, his sleeping face so peaceful it resembled an innocent angel.
But over the past two years, in the competitive world of fame and fortune, he had been honed into a more dazzling diamond.
He had developed a mature, sexy charm and confidence, and although he was well past his teenage years, recently he gave off a sense of having “grown into” his appearance.
He seemed to be slowly growing into a towering tree, both internally and externally.
Li Tingyan watched him for a while, stroking Lin Chi’s hair.
He knew that in the places he couldn’t see, Lin Chi was gradually becoming more capable and no longer needed his concern.
But looking at his peaceful sleeping face, he sometimes couldn’t help but feel that he was still that unfortunate model he first met, needing to be cherished and treasured.
Li Tingyan smiled silently.
He increased the temperature of the air conditioner and carried Lin Chi into the office’s rest area.
After a simple wash-up, he could have let Lin Chi stay in the room to sleep, but seeing that Lin Chi was still groggy and couldn’t open his eyes, instinctively curling up in his arms, and frowning if he left, he changed his mind and sat back down in the large leather chair with him.
Wrapped in a black bathrobe, Lin Chi was held in one arm while Li Tingyan worked with the other. The room occasionally echoed with the sound of typing.
At one point, Lin Chi woke up, saw Li Tingyan’s face vaguely, mumbled something, and then fell back asleep. His jet lag had not adjusted yet, and he had barely slept the night before.
That day, Lin Chi stayed in Li Tingyan’s office until late into the night.
He didn’t sleep much either.
He woke up after just an hour, but Li Tingyan hadn’t finished his work, so he kept him company indoors.
In the meantime, the secretary came in once with dinner delivery. Lin Chi was dressed neatly in a slightly ill-fitting, oversized shirt and trousers, and greeted the secretary politely.
No one could tell that just a few hours ago, he and Li Tingyan had been doing something in the office.
…………..
Half a month later, Gu Yiyuan’s film Dark Waters was released.
The film ran for a total of twenty-seven days, earning 2.1 billion at the box office. Given the investment in the film, this was undoubtedly a successful investment.
However, the film’s reviews were mixed. Some praised it as Gu Yiyuan’s peak work, while others felt he had lost his touch.
But from Lin Chi’s observation, it seemed Gu Yiyuan didn’t care much about these reviews.
The male and female leads, however, gained a lot from this film. Not only did their star power soar, but they also received more scripts and had the opportunity to be selective, no longer passively waiting as newcomers.
This led to the two of them hugging Gu Yiyuan and crying loudly at the celebration banquet, unafraid of Gu Yiyuan’s stern face and harsh words. They tearfully expressed their gratitude to the director.
Lin Chi found it very amusing.
He took photos of the entire scene with his phone.
However, he quickly realized that the scene wasn’t as entertaining as he thought, as the lead actors came over to hug each other, and everyone was squeezed into a big pile.
After the celebration banquet, Lin Chi posted on Weibo. In the photo, everyone was huddled together. Gu Yiyuan still looked aloof, as if owed eight hundred billion, but his shirt had lost a button.
The male and female leads looked like two blushing little lambs, obediently huddled together, looking at the camera.
The crew members were also leaning in different directions, making peace signs for the camera.
Another photo was from their shoot in Chiang Mai. Under the blazing sun, he and a few actors from the film were squatting by the roadside, drinking iced Americanos, with everyone smiling at the camera.
On the edge of the photo, a tall man’s silhouette was faintly visible, but only a corner of his back was captured, and a distinctly knuckled hand was handing Lin Chi some coconut cake.
Li Tingyan liked this Weibo post.
This was soon noticed by some sharp-eyed onlookers.
However, since Li Tingyan was one of the investors in the film, apart from a few trivial discussions, it did not spark any heated debate.
Everyone was busy analyzing the Easter eggs in Dark Waters and enthusiastically discussing whether Lin Chi’s character had any faint feelings for the female lead.
Li Tingyan found their heated discussions quite slow-witted.
Author note:
The after-marriage extras for the two characters are nearly complete, and there might be only one more (or none) left.
After that, there should be an “if” storyline.
It’s a bit like the childhood friends becoming lovers trope.
At that time, they weren’t quite like their current selves—perhaps there will be some different chemistry.