Let Me Meet You chapter 9

New Assistant (Part 2)

The window shook a few times before settling down.

“Does your manager come by often? Don’t the neighbors mind?” Li Xuan raised a hand to his temple.

Sheng Min sighed softly; he had been trying to stop Li Xuan earlier, but he wouldn’t listen. “I usually never talk to him like this.”

“Well, he needs to get used to it now.” Li Xuan cracked his neck, having nearly lost his voice dealing with Zhang Zhihua. Just as he was about to pour another glass of water, he suddenly felt dizzy and sat back down.

“What’s wrong with you?” Sheng Min quickly supported his arm.

Li Xuan rested for a while, waving his hand dismissively. “Nothing, just hungry and a little dizzy. Do you have low blood sugar?”

“A bit anemic.” Sheng Min took out a jar of locust flower honey from the fridge, made a cup of honey water, tested the temperature, and handed it to him. “It’s a bit hot, but you can drink it. Just take it slow. I’ll order takeout; what do you want to eat?”

Li Xuan glanced at his phone screen. Whatever it was they ordered would take over half an hour to arrive. He frowned. “Don’t you have anything to eat at home?”

Sheng Min shook his head apologetically. “I’ve been filming for a while, so I haven’t been home much, and the fridge is empty. I just checked; there are only a few eggs left.”

Li Xuan thought for a moment. “I have some.” He pointed to a bag on the sofa. “There are three packets of instant noodles. Do you have a bowl?”

There were indeed bowls; the kitchenware and seasonings were all well stocked.

Sheng Min’s apartment faced south. Looking out from the kitchen window, the endless green mountains stretched on for miles. The sun had risen, but the moon hadn’t yet set, shrouded in a faint halo, faintly hanging at the edge of the sky.

Sheng Min used only the noodle wrappers, mixed in the seasoning, and took out a frying pan to scramble the remaining eggs into an omelet, slicing it into strips to lay on top of the noodles

Not wanting to go to the dining room again, the two sat by the counter and managed to have breakfast.

“Zhang Zhihua is like that; his temper isn’t great. You’ll understand after a while. There’s no need to argue with him.” Sheng Min picked up a bunch of noodles. “It won’t be easy to get along with him if it becomes awkward. He’s probably just confused today and hasn’t reacted yet. When he comes back to his senses, you never know…”

Li Xuan sneered: “Can he still make things difficult for you? I checked; in your company, apart from a few established artists, you’re the most well-known. Your manager used to have four artists under him at the most, but with contracts ending and withdrawals, now he only has you. His ability isn’t that great; your success is basically unrelated to him. So now he’s relying on you to make money. It doesn’t make sense for someone collecting a salary to bully someone making money.”

At this point, Li Xuan glanced at him. “But I find it strange; I saw that your fan circle has a lot of issues with him. Has your company never thought about switching your manager?”

Sheng Min didn’t expect him to find so much information in such a short time and remember it all. After a moment, he replied: “He’s the relative of the big boss.”

“The boss’s relative?” Li Xuan interrupted him.

Sheng Min frowned. Li Xuan was picking out the green onions from his noodles, the dehydrated vegetables having a strange taste: “Not a direct relative, right? I remember the chairman’s last name is Zeng… Is his wife’s last name Zhang? In-laws? Brother-in-law?”

“More or less,” Sheng Min said quietly.

“That still shouldn’t matter.” Li Xuan put down his chopsticks and took a sip of water. “Even if he’s a relative and needs a favor, just giving him money would be easier. If you were still unknown, it’d be different, but you’re now a cash cow for the company. As long as the boss isn’t an idiot, there’s no reason to give you a hard time over this… Have you ever brought it up?”

“Brought what up?”

“Changing managers.”

Sheng Min was silent for a moment before shaking his head. Li Xuan looked at him and suddenly smiled, but it wasn’t a pleasant smile: “Actually, you know very well that if you insisted on it, if you fought for it, you could get him replaced.”

“It’s too troublesome.” Sheng Min frowned. Seeing Li Xuan still looking at him, he thought for a moment and added, “If I just endure it, it’ll pass. Even if I fight for it and succeed, the result might not necessarily be better. Keeping things as they are is simpler.”

Li Xuan was unimpressed: “That’s not exactly a good habit. If you could endure it, you wouldn’t have called him first thing in the morning to ‘deal with your remains’.”

Sheng Min lowered his eyes, seeing an unfamiliar face reflected on the marble countertop: “I called him because I didn’t know who else to call. He’s also more convenient for handling things. But if I want to end my life, it’s got nothing to do with anyone else. I’m sorry for dragging you into this. Until we switch back, I’ll make an effort to stay alive so I don’t cause you trouble.”

“That’s not the point I’m making right now.” Li Xuan rubbed his nose bridge. “But I guess that’s for the best. Still, I can’t stand him… By the way, does your manager have hyperthyroidism? His physical condition doesn’t seem right.”

He asked with genuine curiosity. Sheng Min pulled a faint smile but didn’t respond: “You’ve already postponed the interview. Can you make it to the ad shoot on Thursday?”

“You really want me to go?” Li Xuan raised an eyebrow, his tone unreadable. “I don’t understand you—given your situation, why take things so seriously?”

Sheng Min picked up some noodles without eating them: “If I don’t show up, the company, the brand, and a lot of people will have to rearrange everything. A lot of their work would need to be redone.”

“And that’s your problem why?”

“It’s about not causing trouble for others,” Sheng Min said sincerely. This was the second time he’d mentioned this today. Li Xuan’s brow twitched. “If you died, you still wouldn’t make it to the shoot.”

“I didn’t know about the ad shoot yesterday,” Sheng Min said. “The interview is different; if I died, they could just cut together some old footage and put together a tribute video.”

Li Xuan was at a loss for words: “So what you’re saying is, if you had known, you wouldn’t have died?”

Sheng Min smiled faintly: “Didn’t die, so I might as well go shoot it. You said last night that we need to keep up appearances. If you work with me, I’ll work with you… By the way, I still don’t know what’s going on with your life. Is there anything you need me to do?”

“I…” Li Xuan frowned, hesitated, then didn’t continue. “Nothing for now. I’ll let you know when the time comes.”

His tone was indifferent, but his expression was tinged with discomfort, even a hint of annoyance, as though he didn’t want to discuss his own situation. Sheng Min didn’t understand why, but didn’t press further.

“Let’s just eat for now,” Li Xuan changed the topic after a moment of silence. “I’ll do the dishes while you get changed. Let’s head to the hospital.”