Let Me Meet You chapter 3

I Am You

Pain. A tightness in his chest made it hard to breathe.

Li Xuan’s eyelids felt heavy, unable to open. He felt as if he were submerged in water.

In water?

Impossible, the university town was the highest point in C City. No matter how heavy the rain, it shouldn’t flood. Had he died or not? Was it possible that the underworld was flooded?

Li Xuan sat up abruptly in a bathtub. He coughed from the water that filled his nose and mouth, the echo making it feel like his lungs might burst. He felt dizzy, as if he hadn’t eaten in days. Glancing around, he realized he was in a bathroom. The wall opposite was covered in blood, resembling a crime scene at first glance.

Hadn’t he been hit by a car? Was he dreaming?

“What is this place?” Li Xuan glanced down at the water he was soaking in, mixed with blood; the whole tub was red.

He froze for a moment, slowly lifting his hand to see a long gash on his wrist. The blood had coagulated, and the wound was white from soaking in the water, the edges curling. But that wasn’t the point. Li Xuan stared at the small mole on his wrist.

When did he get a mole on his wrist?

Li Xuan stood up suddenly. He stood up too quickly and felt dizzy again. Before he could stabilize himself, he slipped and fell back down, hitting the edge of the bathtub with a loud smack.

“Fuck.” He rubbed his numbed spine with one hand, struggling to pull himself up by the edge of the tub. He hobbled to the mirror above the sink.

The bathroom light was dim. Li Xuan’s head throbbed, but the moment he saw the figure in the mirror, all the hairs on his body stood on end. He didn’t know who the person in the mirror was, but without a doubt, it wasn’t him.

Li Xuan pinched his arm hard; this wasn’t a dream. He gritted his teeth, turned on the faucet, and filled a cup with cold water to splash on his face. The cooling effect was minimal, but he needed this process as a ritual to remind himself to calm down.

He took a deep breath. Not enough. He inhaled again. He wrote a series of numbers on the wall beside him, stained with dry blood, which was the license plate number of the car that had hit him.

There was a cellphone on the sink. Li Xuan picked it up, and the fingerprint sensor unlocked easily, sending a sinking feeling through him. It was twelve fifteen, and the date was correct.

Even though it felt absurd, the only explanations he could think of were two. Either he wasn’t Li Xuan, and all past memories were a dream, which felt too real; or he had been killed in the car accident and was now in someone else’s body…

As he thought of this, he turned back to the mirror. In his moment of panic, he hadn’t realized, but now he found that this face seemed somewhat familiar.

He furrowed his brows; the person in the mirror mirrored him. In a flash, he suddenly remembered; it was that idol star, Sheng Min.

Li Xuan pursed his lips, staring at the somewhat unfamiliar figure in the mirror.

His mind was still in chaos, but regardless of the situation, he needed to head back to the bus station to check. If his entire past life had been a dream, then fine, but if it wasn’t, did he take over this Sheng Min’s body, and did Sheng Min take over his? Or was his corpse still lying in the street?

The thought of this scene sent chills down Li Xuan’s spine. He grabbed his hair, took the phone, and dashed out the door.

At this point, the rain had stopped. The community was nicely landscaped but a bit too large. He looked around, but he couldn’t see any road that led directly to the community gate, nor did he spot any signs. He didn’t want to search anymore, so he walked to the nearby wall and climbed over the flower bed to get out.

Once outside, Li Xuan recognized this street as being two subway stations ahead of the university town. This area wasn’t very bustling, just had a digital mall; he had been here last month when he replaced his computer.

Last month, Li Xuan squinted his eyes and looked down at the wound and the mole on his wrist, realizing that according to this development, it could be counted as a past life.

He frowned and took out his phone, preparing to call for a ride. Sheng Min’s phone interface was very chaotic, completely different from his own style. He hadn’t even found where WeChat was when he suddenly heard a child scream not far away. Li Xuan impatiently looked over, but the child was also looking at him in fear; when their eyes met, the child turned and ran away.

“What the hell?” Li Xuan was stunned for a moment, and his peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of the clothes on him. They were soaked, with large patches of blood.

“Shit, this is bad.” He finally couldn’t help but mutter a curse in annoyance, realizing why several people passing by had glanced at him. Fortunately, the lighting here was dim, so it wasn’t very clear; otherwise, he might have been arrested.

He raised his hand and took off his shirt. Underneath was a short-sleeved shirt, which was also stained with a lot of blood, but at least it wasn’t as obvious.

It seemed like there was no need to call for a ride now. Li Xuan tugged at the clothes, not realizing how uncomfortable they felt until he discovered that the wet fabric clinging to him was worse than a shroud.

He hesitated for a moment about whether to go back to the crime scene to change clothes, but felt it was more important to find out where his body was. Luckily, it wasn’t far. Li Xuan steeled himself and went to grab a shared bicycle ahead…

…….

“Need help?” A car stopped in front of Sheng Min, and the driver leaned over from the driver’s seat.

“You can see me?” Sheng Min was a bit dazed. In fact, he hadn’t understood what was going on since he opened his eyes.

He clearly remembered committing suicide in his bathtub at home. He didn’t know why he was here. At first, he thought it was a dream and slapped himself hard, almost shedding tears from the pain. But he didn’t know if ghosts could feel pain; now that the driver could see him, he must still be alive.

The driver didn’t understand: “What?”

“Nothing.”

“Do you really not need help?”

Sheng Min dully shook his head when he heard the driver say, “Is that bicycle in front of you yours? Move it, it’s blocking the road.”

Sheng Min looked and initially thought to say that it wasn’t his, but then he became confused again. He didn’t even know if it was his. He wasn’t sure who he was anymore.

He felt very tired and didn’t want to move, but the driver was still waiting with a sincere expression. After hesitating for a moment, he supported himself to stand up. Just as he got up from the ground, he coughed up blood and felt a bit of pain. Now, moving felt like his whole body was being disassembled and reassembled.

He slowly walked over to lift the bicycle off the ground and leaned against the roadside.

“Thanks,” the driver said, turning the steering wheel, preparing to leave.

“Sorry, could you wait a moment?” Sheng Min called out to him, and facing the driver’s surprised gaze, he leaned closer to check himself in the rearview mirror.

His brows and eyes were relaxed, his features deep, with a subtle hump on the bridge of his nose and sharp angles on his jawline…

He looked good, Sheng Min thought. But the problem was, this didn’t seem to be his face… at least not how he remembered himself.

“Young man? Are you really okay?” The driver asked kindly, seeing his strange and dazed expression.

Sheng Min nodded and sat back down by the roadside, saying thank you again. The driver looked at him a few times and drove away.

The avenue was straight; the car drove far away, and he could still see the taillights. Sheng Min curled his legs and rested his head on his knees. He was sure he didn’t know this face, but for some reason, it felt a bit familiar.

Had he seen it before? He raised his hand to touch his face but couldn’t remember. He sighed and didn’t want to think about it anymore. The only thing he was certain of was that he had not died.

He would have to die again… Sheng Min felt a bit melancholic. He looked around but didn’t see any convenient tools. Instead, he noticed someone riding a bicycle coming from a distance.

He didn’t pay much attention and planned to move slightly so as not to block the way again. Before he could stand up, that person suddenly braked sharply and stopped right in front of him.

The sound of the bicycle tires screeching against the pavement was very jarring. Sheng Min instinctively looked up and saw a person in front of him, drenched as if they had just been pulled out of water, and he couldn’t help but widen his eyes.

Li Xuan had come all the way, fearing there would be no one here. Now seeing “himself” sitting here, with expressions and breathing, it was, after all, a stroke of luck in misfortune.

But facing “himself” in this situation was indeed a hard-to-describe experience for anyone. They just stared at each other in a strange way for a while. Li Xuan felt he should say something. Before he could speak, Sheng Min spoke first, his voice very light: “Who are you?”

Li Xuan was taken aback, his mind short-circuiting for a moment: “I am you.”