Let Me Meet You chapter 12

Orphan

“Ah!” Zhao Yi screamed in pain. Sheng Min raised his hand to wipe away some blood that had splattered on his cheek, turning to look at Li Xuan: “Is that enough?”

Li Xuan stared at Sheng Min without speaking. Generally, when someone asks this question, it carries some provocative meaning, but Sheng Min didn’t mean it that way. He was genuinely asking, and if he had to show any expression, it would probably just be helplessness. Li Xuan suspected that if he didn’t say it was enough, Sheng Min might actually stab again, even though the previous blow had already drained half the color from his face.

Li Xuan’s expression darkened as he glanced at the trembling little girl beside him and ultimately said nothing.

Seeing that he didn’t respond, Sheng Min then grabbed Zhao Yi’s hand, pressed it into a bloody handprint, and took off his coat to cover it. “Hurry to the hospital.”

Zhao Yi was stunned by the sudden turn of events, holding his hand without daring to cry, only whimpering in pain.

Sheng Min let out a light breath, propped himself up to stand, and realized his legs were weak and nearly gave way. Li Xuan instinctively supported his arm but impatiently let go. Finally, he glanced at the messy living room and stormed out with a darkened expression.

“Don’t be mad.” Sheng Min picked up the documents on the floor and rushed out after him, managing to catch up at the parking lot.

Li Xuan turned around and rudely shook off his hand. He could see clearly that while Sheng Min’s stab seemed severe, it had actually avoided vital areas; at most, Zhao Yi would need to rest for half a month, and the scar wouldn’t be too deep. He couldn’t explain why he let it go back inside, but at that moment, seeing Sheng Min reignited his anger: “What right do you have to make decisions for me?”

“Sorry.” Sheng Min chased him, catching his breath before speaking, “Just to give him a bit more time. He truly can’t come up with that kind of money; we should at least give him a way out.”

“He’s already sent me to my death. Why should I give him a way out? What’s the reason?”

“Let’s talk in the car.” There were passersby looking over, and Sheng Min gently nudged him. Li Xuan frowned, opened the car door, and sat in the passenger seat.

As soon as he got in, he turned his face away and stopped talking. Sheng Min took off his mask, signaled a left turn, and started driving: “I know you want to teach him a lesson. Let him pay slowly; he’ll remember this incident, and it won’t feel good for him…”

Li Xuan scoffed: “Is that your reason for letting him pay slowly?”

Sheng Min pressed his lips together as Li Xuan’s throat moved: “What do you know? Am I his father or mother, spending time to educate him? Am I crazy?”

Seeing his extremely ugly expression, Sheng Min gently tugged at his hair, lowering his voice: “You’ve said it yourself; even if you report it, he won’t get a heavy sentence. Seven years is just to scare him; he’ll only have to pay money at most. You shouldn’t be short of cash at the moment.”

As he spoke, Sheng Min glanced at the watch on Li Xuan’s hand. He didn’t know what kind of person Li Xuan was, but he recognized the watch as a fairly well-known brand. He concluded his family background must be decent.

Li Xuan rudely interrupted him: “Who said I’m not short of cash?”

“Then let me give you some.” Sheng Min tentatively said, “If you’re short on cash, I can lend it to you, and you won’t have to pay it back. The money he pays in the future, I’ll collect it gradually.”

Li Xuan frowned, nearly stunned with anger: “Sheng Min, are you a Bodhisattva? I’m not falling for this. Just because you think I’m not short on cash doesn’t mean I’ll let him pay slowly. Yes, I’m not short right now, but that has nothing to do with him. Do you still think he’s innocent?”

Sheng Min slowed the car: “I didn’t say he was innocent…”

“But that’s how you’re acting.” Li Xuan was unyielding, “I was minding my own business on the road, and he got drunk, hit me, and ran off. If it weren’t for some twist of fate, I’d already be at the funeral home for cremation. Now what you’re talking about—me being alive and what he should pay—is completely unrelated. You’re right, I’m not short on money. But I not only want to teach him a lesson; I want to ruin him.”

After he finished speaking, both of them fell silent. Ahead was a tunnel, and the car darkened, making it impossible to see each other’s expressions. Only occasionally did the emergency lights flash red and yellow, illuminating the darkness.

Sheng Min wanted to say something else, like you’re not a bad person; don’t speak of yourself like that. If you truly thought that way, you wouldn’t have left just now. But looking at Li Xuan’s angry face, he couldn’t find the words. In the end, all he could do was futilely apologize.

Li Xuan turned his head to the window, closed his eyes, and ignored him.

Sheng Min could only drive back in silence. Not long after exiting the tunnel, the relentless rain began to fall again, heavier than before. Approaching the intersection before the neighborhood, they encountered a red light.

“Zhao Yi is guilty. It’s just that the child is too pitiful…” He stopped the car and deliberated for a long time. He didn’t want to say it, but he finally did: “When I was young, my family borrowed from loan sharks, and people often came to collect debts… I know you’re angry, and I apologize. But I really can’t bear it; I know you can’t either.”

Li Xuan remained silent. Sheng Min thought he wouldn’t respond, but Li Xuan suddenly turned his head and opened his eyes. They were Sheng Min’s own eyes, but the emotions within them were something he would never possess, so he couldn’t describe them.

“I can’t bear it?” Li Xuan spoke with disdain, “Maybe, but I won’t sympathize with her. Her dad hit me and fled; I almost died because of it, so I want his hand so he doesn’t continue to harm others, and I feel justified. As for what happens to her later, what impact it has, that’s none of my business. It’s not my fault she wasn’t born in a better situation. Sheng Min, this world isn’t about who’s weak and who’s right. There are plenty of people worse off than her. If she wants to escape her fate, she has to fight for it herself; she can’t wait for someone to give it to her.”

He gave a small, not very pleasant smile. “Since I was young, everything I’ve had, everything I’ve gotten, I paid a price for. I’ve always had to own up to every choice I’ve made. So why shouldn’t others?”

As Li Xuan spoke, he looked at Sheng Min, his gaze piercing like a needle, as if it would stab into Sheng Min’s heart. “You’re the same; The only difference is that when you feel the price is too high, you choose to escape through death. I’m not like you. I just want to live, to tie up every loose end, to live fully for myself. But then the accident happened. All I want is for him to pay the price he should. That doesn’t even feel like fairness to me, yet here you are, pretending generosity on his behalf.”

The sound of rain and wind outside seemed to seep in. Sheng Min didn’t entirely grasp every word Li Xuan said, but for some reason, he felt a chill. He wanted to adjust the temperature, but in the end, he didn’t move.

Li Xuan continued to look at him, his eyes deep and unreadable. In that instant, Sheng Min found a fitting comparison: like autumn rain, his gaze was like cold autumn rain, unyielding to any color or warmth.

Sheng Min opened his mouth but said nothing.

“What else do you want to say?” Li Xuan pulled a slight smile, his voice soft.  “What you’re telling me—That I can’t understand it, nor do I relate? That I’ve never had loan sharks come to my door? But I can give you a story in return: years ago, a couple was coming home late from work, when a driver like Zhao Yi, drunk, hit them off a mountain road. They died on the spot. Their three-year-old son became an orphan, with no family.”

After he finished, he didn’t wait for Sheng Min’s shocked expression, directly opened the car door, and walked into the rain without looking back.