It was already late at night when the award ceremony ended. Lin Xian calmly accepted interviews from reporters. As long as the questions were not too excessive, he would answer them with a smile.
By the time Lin Xian got home, he was so tired that he didn't even want to talk. Looking at He Yan, who was drinking water beside him, he said slowly, "Xiaoyan, you should go back and rest early. If you don't want to leave, you can stay here tonight."
"No, thank you, Brother Lin." He Yan finished the last sip of water in the glass. "I still have to go back. You don't have any announcements in the next two days. I also want to relax for a couple of days."
Lin Xian was almost always on the go with announcements. It was just that the production company was having some disagreements and was still in discussion, so the shooting was suspended for two days. This was a rare break for He Yan.
Seeing that she was determined to go back, Lin Xian didn't try to persuade her further. "Then be careful on your way. Go to bed early after you get home."
After He Yan left, Lin Xian somehow lost his drowsiness. He picked up his phone and started surfing the Internet. Taking a glance, he thought to himself that, as expected, the hot searches were once again dominated by his handsome self.
After scrolling for a while, he was about to log off when he suddenly noticed a trending topic rising at an extremely fast speed. In no time, it had reached the third place on the list.
Remembering what A Kuan had said about the so - called secret of this suit being revealed at night, Lin Xian clicked on the topic named "Lin Xian's Suit" out of curiosity.
It all started when a well - known domestic designer posted a Weibo, "Congratulations to Mr. Lin Xian for winning the award. Besides, I'm quite curious about the origin of this suit. Its design style and embroidery treatment are very similar to those of Master L. Could it be that Lin Xian's suit is the first order after EL returned to China? I have to say that the master's design is truly something we can only look up to."
Then a bunch of designers, big and small, started posting related Weibo posts. Coupled with the hot news about EL's return to China, this topic quickly became a trending one.
Sure enough, the comments and private messages on Lin Xian's side started to explode again. Although Lin Xian didn't know much about EL, he had been following the hot news these days. Hearing the respectful attitude of these people, he went to Baidu to check who EL was.
To his surprise, he found out that this brand only served European royalties. Even with Yu Nian's wealth, it was unlikely that she could invite that master to design a suit for her.
If the suit he was wearing was really designed by that master, it would be really explosive, at least as hot as the award he had just won.
Both the fans of the EL brand and Lin Xian's own fans started to ask him about his relationship with Master L in private messages. Lin Xian himself was also very confused. If they asked him what his relationship with L was, he really didn't know...
Before Lin Xian could react, the official Weibo of EL posted a message, "Congratulations to Mr. Lin Xian for winning another laureate. The clothing Mr. Lin wore this time was designed by Master L, the chief designer of EL. It is the first product after Master L's return to China. Next, we will show you a series of new products. Please stay tuned."
Lin Xian thought the official Weibo was quite interesting. Except for the first sentence that properly congratulated him, the rest was all about promoting their own brand. However, the price of EL was beyond the reach of ordinary people. He supposed he was just lucky this time.
Thinking about it, he retweeted this Weibo, "Thank you, Master L, for your design. Everyone can follow the new products of EL. They are all extremely beautiful."
After he retweeted the Weibo, his fans went crazy again. Many people were speculating whether their Brother Lin Xian knew the mysterious designer, Master L.
Lin Xian naturally noticed all these. Without knowing why, he got carried away and called Yu Nian to ask about the situation.
The call was quickly answered. "What's up, A Xian?"
"Sister Nian, I want to ask about the suit..."
Yu Nian paused for a moment and then continued, "The suit was indeed designed by L."
Hearing this, Lin Xian was shocked. It was really designed by that master. No wonder the suit fit so well and looked so good. Collecting his thoughts, he continued, "It's really rare that a master like L would design a suit for me."
"I'm an old acquaintance of his. Now that he's back in China, most of your clothes will probably be designed by EL in the future." Not many people knew about Yu Nian's acquaintance with Ye Erlan. Since Lin Xian was not in that circle, she had never mentioned it.
"Will it be like this in the future? I'd like to have a chat with him in person and express my gratitude." After talking for so long, Lin Xian finally revealed the real reason for his call.
Yes, from the very beginning, he had wanted Ye Erlan's contact information.
"I'll ask for his opinion first and then give you an answer. You should also go to bed early." Yu Nian didn't directly refuse. Considering Ye Erlan's personality, she decided to ask for his opinion first.
Hearing her say this, Lin Xian knew there was a glimmer of hope. He said good night and hung up the phone.
When Ye Erlan received Yu Nian's call, his emotions were still not completely calm. "Hello, Sister Nian."
"Erlan, did my call disturb your rest?"
"No, I just finished my work. What's up, Sister Nian?"
Yu Nian didn't beat around the bush. She got straight to the point. "You should have seen that the suit was prepared for Lin Xian. He didn't let us down and successfully won the trophy. This is also a good start for EL."
"Yeah, he looks good in it." Ye Erlan's tone was rather ambiguous, and it was hard to tell what he was feeling.
"He wants your contact information. I thought it was your business, so I didn't give it to him directly. Now I'm asking for your opinion."
There was a sound on Ye Erlan's side, as if something had fallen. Just as Yu Nian was about to ask, Ye Erlan spoke up, "Give it to him. It's not a big deal."
Since he had returned to China, they were bound to meet sooner or later. It was just that the meeting came earlier than expected, and their fateful encounter seemed deeper than he had thought. He didn't expect that guy to become a national idol and happened to be the most popular artist under Yu Nian's management.
He was afraid that when they met again, that guy would find him disgusting. But he had to face it. From the moment he saw the news, he had known that they were bound to meet. He just didn't expect it to come so soon. Well, he'd just take things as they came.
Not long after the call ended, the phone rang again, pulling Ye Erlan back from his thoughts. Turning to look, it was still that familiar number. He didn't expect that after all these years, that guy still hadn't changed his number. Didn't he worry that people he had had grudges with before would call to harass him?
Picking up the phone, he heard that familiar voice. It seemed that nothing had changed over the years. "Hello, Master L. I'm Lin Xian."
Ye Erlan was a little dazed. After a few seconds, when Lin Xian said "Hello" again, Ye Erlan came back to his senses a bit. He said slowly, "Hello, Mr. Lin. You can call me by my Chinese name, Ye Erlan."
This shocked Lin Xian too. That familiar voice and that name. It was him. It was really him...
"Y - You... Are you Ye... Ye Erlan?"
Ye Erlan closed his eyes. "Yes, the Ye Erlan who was your high - school deskmate."
As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Xian suddenly hung up the phone. Ye Erlan smiled self - deprecatingly. Sure enough, he still found gays disgusting. He didn't even want to say another word. If they had known each other's identities from the beginning, it was probably impossible for Lin Xian to even wear that suit.
After what happened back then, he shouldn't have appeared in front of Lin Xian again. They had lived in peace for so many years in Ireland. As soon as he returned to China, he met Lin Xian again. He was just making others uncomfortable.
The phone rang again. Ye Erlan didn't expect it to be Lin Xian. He didn't even look at the number. After all, people often called him at this time. For example, Ning Qian would remind him to go to bed early, otherwise staying up late would hurt his eyes.
"Yezi, I finally found you."
Instead of the expected disgust, Lin Xian's slightly excited voice made Ye Erlan tremble slightly. What did this guy mean? Was he happy about their reunion?
"I... I hung up the phone accidentally just now because I was too excited. I..." Lin Xian's voice was still very excited, and he stammered a bit.
"Yeah, it's been a long time. I didn't expect you to become a big star." Ye Erlan's tone was obviously not very good. He was as cold as ever.
Since they were destined to be from two different worlds, why did he give himself such an illusion, as if they were really the same kind of people? Since Lin Xian was no longer as heartless and decisive as he was back then, let him be the calm one this time.
It was a pity that they couldn't be each other's special ones.
"Do you know? After you left, I looked for you for a long time, but I couldn't find any news about you." Lin Xian's tone gradually calmed down, and he spoke more smoothly.
He had looked for him? At that time, shouldn't he have been thinking about how to get into the same university with his girlfriend and how to plan their future? He actually had the heart to think about him. Well, after all, they were deskmates.
A good deskmate suddenly stopped coming to school. Even after what had happened before, Lin Xian would have wanted to know what had happened to this suddenly missing deskmate. At least they had been good friends at the beginning.
Ye Erlan paused for a moment and then said, "There was something wrong with my family, so I went abroad. Then I stayed in Ireland for all these years."
"Back then... I..."
As soon as Ye Erlan heard this tone, he knew that Lin Xian might be about to mention that past event. This was like rubbing salt into his wound. He quickly interrupted him, "I was just being childish back then. I made the relationship between good brothers so awkward. Since it's in the past, let's just forget about it. There's no need to mention it again."
Lin Xian was about to say something else when Ye Erlan interrupted him again. "We may have some work - related cooperation in the future. Other than that, there's no need to talk about anything else. It's getting late. I need to rest. Goodbye." Before Lin Xian could say anything, Ye Erlan hung up the phone.
The night wind was cold. The window screen fluttered in the wind, and the fragmented moonlight shone on the back of the boy sitting on the ground. There was little light in his eyes, and they were dim. The gentle wind seemed to be whispering the sorrow in his heart, lingering on and on.