Chapter 46
On the tenth day of the first lunar month, Lin Ting returned to Jinshi.
When Lin Ting got off the train and arrived at the station, she saw Chen Zhiyi standing at the exit waiting for her. His tall and handsome figure could be seen from afar. It seemed that no matter when you saw him, he was always an outstanding and dazzling presence in the crowd.
If it weren't for the staff at the station entrance, Chen Zhiyi would have jumped over the wall and run to his side.
After finally getting her ticket checked and exiting the station, before Lin Ting could even react, Chen Zhiyi rushed up to her and gave her a big hug.
The joy of a brief reunion is palpable.
The two took a taxi. As soon as they got in, Chen Zhiyi held Lin Ting's hands in his arms.
"When I was helping you with your suitcase, I touched the back of your hand. It was ice cold. Let me warm it for you."
"good!"
As their relationship grew closer, intimate contact such as holding hands, hugging, and patting heads naturally occurred, something Lin Ting could never have imagined in the past.
Clearly, her dependence on him has deepened.
Chen Zhiyi's hands were large and warm, and it felt quite comfortable to have them held by his.
He saw Lin Ting yawn while leaning against the car seat, and patted his shoulder, "Here."
Lin Ting glanced at him sideways, puzzled.
Chen Zhiyi immediately put his hand on her shoulder and let her head rest on his shoulder; "Sleep for a while, I'll wake you up when we get to school."
Lin Ting was both amused and exasperated. She lifted her eyelids to look at him and saw the lines of his profile and his high, straight nose.
"Thankfully, I'm not sleepy."
Chen Zhiyi noticed her gaze. "What's wrong?"
"Isn't the art exam coming up soon? Are you nervous?" Lin Ting asked him.
Chen Zhiyi, his thoughts exposed, lowered his head and said, "Yes, the preliminary exam is next week."
"How are the preparations going?"
"good."
Lin Ting straightened up and looked at him. "Are you regretting only applying to one school back then? I see that other art students applied to several."
"I don't regret it. That's how I've always done things. I don't leave myself any backup plans or way out. I just had high expectations for it and was afraid that the final result wouldn't be what I wanted and would disappoint you."
"Nonsense, I won't be disappointed. If it doesn't work this year, there's always next year. Many popular actors took the exam several times before they were accepted. Human potential is limitless, so never lose hope in yourself." Lin Ting cupped his face in her hands. "With your handsome face, you might have been accepted on the spot. There's no need for a second or final exam."
Chen Zhiyi curled his lips smugly, "Of course, I am the most famous heartthrob in our school."
Lin Ting pursed her lips, "Yeah, just a weed on campus."
"What do you mean?" Chen Zhiyi pretended to be angry and tickled Lin Ting, and the two started fooling around.
The driver quietly adjusted the rearview mirror, which Lin Ting noticed. She immediately pushed Chen Zhiyi aside, sat up straight, and pointed to the driver in front.
The driver noticed their awkwardness and said with a smile, "You two continue, I didn't see anything. Besides, young people are full of energy, I can understand."
These lewd words made Lin Ting blush with embarrassment, and she just wanted to crawl under the car.
Chen Zhiyi didn't take it seriously and loudly replied to the driver, "Okay, sir. My girlfriend and I haven't seen each other in a long time. We were just joking around."
Lin Ting pinched Chen Zhiyi's thigh and whispered through gritted teeth, "Who's your girlfriend?"
Chen Zhiyi, with a sly look on his face, whispered in her ear, "Even if it's not now, it definitely will be in the future. Anyone with eyes can see that."
"Who?" Lin Ting pressed for an answer.
"Yes, I see." The timing was perfect, and the driver responded just in time.
Chen Zhiyi raised his eyebrows, curled his lips, and looked at Lin Ting with a smug expression. "The eyes of the masses are discerning, don't you understand?"
Lin Ting really didn't understand. After the high-and-mighty flower was brought down from her pedestal, was she kept in an oil drum? She even missed that arrogant face when they first met.
"The entrance exam process for the Beijing Film Academy has changed this time; the final exam will be held at their main campus," Chen Zhiyi said.
Lin Ting thought for a moment, "So that means you're going to northern Beijing next month?"
"Uh-huh."
Lin asked, "Who will go with you? Uncle Chen? Or your mother?"
After a moment of thought, Chen Zhiyi finally spoke up, "Are you free next month? If not, could you come with me? It would probably take about three days round trip."
"Just the two of us?"
"Um."
Lin Ting hesitated.
Chen Zhiyi noticed her hesitation and realized that it was a bit abrupt. Anyone would see that the two of them were very close. He wasn't afraid of people finding out, but he also considered that the timing wasn't right.
As she said, the period after the college entrance examination is a good time, and the other layer of identity relationship that surrounds the relationship between the two people will automatically disintegrate.
"I think I'll have Uncle Chen come with me. I don't think I'll have time to play with you. I'll leave you alone at your place the whole time, and I'll feel a little reluctant to do that."
Lin Ting nodded with some guilt.
When they arrived at the school gate, the two lingered in a secluded corner for a while before Lin Ting went inside.
In the dormitory.
Yun Shu and Ren Jingjing have returned. It's the beginning of the second semester of senior year, and the college is organizing a mid-term defense of graduation theses to check the progress of students' graduation theses. Everyone is required to return to school.
Lin Ting put down his luggage and asked, "Where's Xiaoman?"
Ren Jingjing: "She'll arrive tomorrow."
Yun Shu looked Lin Ting up and down with a half-smile, "I saw it all just now."
Lin Ting knew what he meant, but dodged the question, asking vaguely, "What did you see?"
Yun Shu: "I saw a boy and a girl."
Lin Ting: "Yeah, it's like that all the way."
Yun Shu: "Come on, I've only been gone a short while, and things are already progressing so fast? Have you found an antidote for your 'Weaning and Heartbreak Pill'?" She always speaks bluntly.
Lin Ting still tried to bluff her way out: "What antidote? I haven't been poisoned."
Yun Shu smiled and said, "Of course, this is to detoxify you. Don't you feel refreshed and invigorated by love right now?"
The more they talk, the more irrelevant it becomes.
Ren Jingjing calmly said, "I'm not surprised at all."
Yun Shu countered, "What's so surprising?"
Ren Jingjing: "Unexpectedly, Chen Zhiyi won over the famously icy beauty of our fashion design department."
Lin Ting asked curiously, "Why?"
Ren Jingjing recounted, "He prepared lipstick as a gift for us the first time we met, and he got our contact information in just one meal. He always asked us about your preferences, and he was more anxious than anyone else when he heard that you were drunk."
Yun Shu smacked her lips, "During the New Year, they not only sent us blessings but also gave us red envelopes. They're so good at dealing with people."
Have they become so close in private that they need red envelopes? Lin Ting thought to herself, "They're greedy for money."
Yun Shu held up an index finger and shook it. "No, no, no, this is called loving the house because of its inhabitants."
Ren Jingjing pressed Lin Ting into a seat, wanting to have a serious talk with her.
"Tell me, how far have things progressed between you two?"
Lin Ting did not hide anything and told the truth.
Yun Shu was taken aback. "Wait until he finishes his college entrance exam? Are you guys playing the 'raising a child' game?"
Lin Ting: "His college entrance exam is his top priority now."
Ren Jingjing: "Besides us, is there anyone else who knows about you two?"
Lin Ting guessed the meaning behind Ren Jingjing's question: "The others are referring to Chen Zhiyi's family. Their housekeeper should already know."
Ren Jingjing: "Did you figure it out? Or did Chen Zhiyi tell the housekeeper?"
Lin Ting: "Yes, we have both."
Ren Jingjing: "What about his parents?"
Lin Ting: "They probably don't know yet. I told him not to say it, and now is not the right time to say it."
Ren Jingjing agreed, "That's true."
When Lin Ting returned home for the Chinese New Year, she learned about her mother's opinion on the matter, and she also wanted to know what her best friend and confidante would think.
She asked nervously, "Do you think he and I are a good match? Should we not take our relationship any further?"
Yun Shu disagreed. In her eyes, liking someone had no principles or conditions, only whether or not one dared to do it. "What do you mean by 'suitable'? Do you like him?"
Lin Ting was a little embarrassed to say the word "like" out loud, but she nodded solemnly.
"That settles it then. If two people are in love, what's there to be anxious or doubtful about?" Yun Shu shrugged.
Ren Jingjing: "What are you worried about? Is it the constraint of the teacher-student relationship? Are you worried that his family won't approve? Or is it something else?"
Lin Ting lowered her eyes, looking worried: "Both. I am indeed his teacher, and I was with him behind his family's back. I feel that I have violated morality and betrayed the trust of his family."
Yun Shu rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Are you from ancient times? What era are we living in? You still have to consider violating morality when you're in a relationship? As long as you don't cross the line of love, things like cheating and mistresses should be respected in any form of love."
Although the words were rough, the point was valid. Ren Jingjing agreed with Yun Shu's point of view. "Besides, your teacher is only temporary. Temporary teachers aren't even official. Besides, has his academic performance declined? I asked him during the Spring Festival, and he said he made it into the top 100 in the whole school. He has made significant progress and has not disappointed his parents at all."
Lin Ting was still uneasy. "But I always feel that we might not be on the same path in the future. His dreams and his family background are very different from mine."
Ren Jingjing comforted her, "Whether you're on the same path or not, whether you're far apart or not, none of that matters. What matters is that your hearts are firmly bound together, and then all the differences can be bridged."
Ren Jingjing's words were like the first ray of sunlight before dawn, instantly piercing through the thick fog and making Lin Ting suddenly realize that only pure love can last. Thinking too much will only add too many cages to the relationship, making the two people in love hesitant, less and less confident, and more and more off course.
The steadfastness of each other's hearts is the sharpest blade, capable of cutting through the thorns along the way.
Soon, the time for the art exams arrived. Unsurprisingly, Chen Zhiyi passed both the preliminary and final exams smoothly; his face was the decisive factor.
Lin Ting didn't accompany him to the first test, but she went to the second test.
Every year, the art exam site becomes a battlefield for the media to report on, as everyone wants to capture the youthful image of future movie stars and leave them with topics for conversation.
Lin Ting still remembers that as soon as Chen Zhiyi came out of the examination room, the entertainment reporters immediately abandoned their interviewees and looked at him. Luckily, he had long legs and ran fast, otherwise they would definitely have been asked about his ancestors.
Lin Ting mocked him, "Other candidates practically wanted to have a reporter's microphone right next to their mouths, but you just ran away like you'd seen a ghost."
Chen Zhiyi, panting, said, "You have no idea how sharp-tongued these reporters are; they're practically like ghosts."
"If you really become an actor in the future, you'll still have to deal with them."
"We'll talk about it later."
Lin Ting opened a bottle of water for Chen Zhiyi to help him calm down.
The LCD screen in the shopping mall across the street is playing news about the upcoming mayoral election in Jinshi.
Lin Ting wasn't particularly interested in this kind of political news, but she was deeply impressed by a poll organized by the school a few days ago.
She pointed to the LCD screen and said to Chen Zhiyi, "Our school just finished voting a few days ago, and many people chose candidate number 1."
Chen Zhiyi glanced at it, then immediately looked away, as if trying to avoid something, but Lin Ting, watching the video, didn't notice. "Why?"
Lin Ting explained, "Because we looked into the backgrounds of these three candidates, we found that No. 1 is truly remarkable. He graduated with a doctorate in public administration from a university of political science and law, and he climbed his way up from the grassroots level. He even served in remote mountainous areas, where he visited every family to understand their circumstances. He then implemented many policies tailored to local conditions to benefit the people and helped them develop their local economy, striving to alleviate poverty. I think this is a great thing, and it's what an excellent leader should do. Most importantly, when he served as the Party Secretary of Jinshi, he processed tens of thousands of emails and messages from citizens, and he responded to them all. This shows that he is very approachable, which is a very important quality."
Chen Zhiyi was surprised: "You seem to know quite a bit about this?"
Lin Ting: "These are all facts; you can find them on Baidu." Then she turned to Chen Zhiyi, her eyes somewhat playful, "But I've also heard some gossip."
Chen Zhiyi asked, puzzled, "For example?"
"I heard he's a third-generation Red Army descendant. His grandfather was a founding general, and his father was once a commander of a military region. So, his success today must be due to the glory of his family. Of course, the fact that he worked his way up from the bottom shows that he's not the kind of 'third-generation Red Army descendant' that people talk about, who relies on connections. Otherwise, why would he have to work so hard? He could have skipped many steps or even reached the top in one go, but he didn't. This shows that he still has his own ideals and ambitions, and he deserves respect and trust."
"In addition, he has a soft power. It is said that his wife is very powerful. She is the daughter of a listed group and also a senior executive there. This is much more powerful than the other two. Having a good wife is worth more than a thousand taels of gold."
Chen Zhiyi looked at Lin Ting incredulously, "Pretty impressive, huh? You even dug up someone's wife?"
Lin Ting nudged his elbow. "I heard it from someone else too."
"Who is that person's child? Have you found out?" Chen Zhiyi asked nervously.
"How could we know? These high-ranking officials are very protective of their children. Some even don't use their real names at school for privacy reasons."
Chen Zhiyi was a little embarrassed, "You know so much."
Lin Ting laughed sheepishly. When did she become so gossipy? She only occasionally showed her girlish side in front of him.
"However, as a descendant of such a powerful family, one will certainly have everything one desires, but one will also be under great pressure, bearing the family's honor and expectations. This means that one is destined to miss out on some things, such as what one likes or wants. Therefore, being born into a powerful family brings both joy and sorrow."
Hearing this, Chen Zhiyi remained silent, because he felt the same way.
But he also took a deep look at Lin Ting's profile. He could give up some things, but he would never let go of what he wanted most and what he liked most.
Lin Ting crossed her arms and turned to look at Chen Zhiyi. "It seems you're much luckier. You're able to stick to your dreams and also have your family's approval."
Chen Zhiyi's heart skipped a beat. He put his arm around Lin Ting's shoulder and said affectionately, "Yes, my greatest luck is meeting you. That's why I have all of this."
Lin hissed and rubbed his arms, unable to bear it any longer. "I'm covered in goosebumps!"
Chen Zhiyi hugged her tighter, "These are all the truths."
As soon as she finished speaking, a smile appeared on Lin Ting's face.
She looked at the screen opposite her again, which was playing several photos of the number one candidate, including ID photos and photos of him at work.
"I always feel like I've seen him somewhere before, like I'm familiar with him?"
Chen Zhiyi frowned, released Lin Ting's hand, and looked somewhat stiff. "Did you see him in the news before?"
Lin Ting didn't look at him; her gaze was still on the video, somewhat confused. "Really? But I hardly ever watch the news."
Chen Zhiyi didn't want to continue this topic, so he grabbed her hand and turned her body around. "Okay, let's stop discussing this. We're not people's representatives, and we're not running for office, so it has nothing to do with us. I'm hungry, let's go eat."
"good."
The two left hand in hand.
A camera peeked out from behind them and took several photos.
This kind of filming seems to have been going on for a while now.
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