Let Me Meet You chapter 1

Li Xuan

“Xuan Ge. It’s that guy at the door again,” Zhu Zhou nudged him. Li Xuan typed out a line of code and looked up impatiently.

“That yellow-haired guy?”

“Y- yeah, that’s him.”

“Y- yeah… are you stuttering?” Li Xuan rolled up a ledger and knocked him on the head. “You’re scared by some wannabe thug from the outskirts and didn’t tell me he’s been leeching off our services this long? What am I paying you for, a free meal?”

“He looks intimidating,” Zhu Zhou muttered, rubbing his head. “He’s got a big scar on his face. Maybe we should call the police?”

“Oh no, a scar! So tough.” Li Xuan gave him a sideways glance. “Want me to give you one to match?”

At that moment, the yellow-haired guy walked up to the counter, a chain dangling from his chest. He slapped his ID on the table. “Open a 100-yuan tab.”

Zhu Zhou glanced at Li Xuan, who, relaxed, leaned on his hand, observing. Between the two threats, Zhu Zhou made his choice and looked away, focusing on the yellow-haired guy. “No.”

“What do you mean, no?” The guy’s face scrunched like an angry monkey, banging on the counter. “Why are you even open?”

“Uh…”

“Hurry it up! Why are you wasting my time?” The guy slapped the counter, starting to shout.

“Alright,” Li Xuan cleared his throat, picked up the ID, and twirled it between his fingers. “A hundred, right? Deposit’s two hundred, that’s three hundred total. Pay up.”

“Put it on credit,” the guy said impatiently, reaching for his ID.

Li Xuan stood up and slapped his hand away. “One day late is credit. A month late is freeloading! And you keep coming back? You may not have much of a face, but it’s thick, huh?”

The slap was loud enough to draw attention, even in the chaotic internet café. Some customers looked over. Zhu Zhou, suddenly alert, rushed to smooth things over — though it might have also been to avoid getting caught up himself.

The yellow-haired guy seemed stunned, but then snapped back, cursing and reaching for his back pocket, even rolling up his sleeve for effect.

Considering he was wearing a sleeveless tank top, Li Xuan figured this move was to flaunt an unsightly tattoo on his arm.

Li Xuan clicked his tongue, then jumped over the counter, kicked him in the back, then twisted the guy’s arm and pressed the knife against his lower back.

“Walk.” Li Xuan dragged the blade lightly across his side, leaving a small cut. “Let’s settle this outside.”

The street, near the back of the university, was quiet after 10 p.m.

Li Xuan held the knife on him, escorting him to the street corner. “Three thousand one hundred and forty-two yuan and fifty cents.”

Yellow-haired guy: “What?”

“One hundred yuan internet tab for 28 days, that’s two thousand eight hundred. Thirty-seven instant noodles at five yuan each, that’s one eighty-five, and forty-five bottles of soda at three fifty each, one fifty-seven fifty. You’re as skinny as a stick but eat like a horse.” Li Xuan shook his head. “Going by the market’s three percent interest rate, I’ll skip the interest. Total: three thousand one hundred and forty-two fifty.”

The yellow-haired guy kept trying to look over his shoulder as Li Xuan spoke. Li Xuan chopped the back of his neck, pushing him forward. “Not getting it? No problem. You’ve got two options: either pay up by tomorrow, or stay off this street.”

“You own this street or something?” The guy, who had frozen at the knife, quickly regained his nerve after being pushed.

“The street belongs to the state. Land isn’t private property, you know. Breaking the law and still ignorant of the law?” Li Xuan tossed his ID back to him. “Get lost.”

He stuffed his hands in his pockets, about to head back, when he heard footsteps rushing toward him.

The glass doors of the barbershop in front reflected the guy charging at him with a knife. Jumping high, it looked like he was aiming to land on his shoulders.

As soon as the guy got close, Li Xuan spun, yanked his arm, and swung him against the wall.

“People should know their limits.” Li Xuan picked up the knife from the ground and drew another shallow line on the guy’s other side. “Now it matches. Maybe this’ll help you remember.”

The guy glared, touching his back in frustration.

“No broken bones. Don’t bother checking. And you think you’re tough enough to pull this act here? You should thank whatever luck let you freeload for a month. Today I’m in a good mood, so I’m giving you one last chance. If there’s a next time,” Li Xuan tapped the flat of the knife against the guy’s face, “I’ll help you with that tattooing hobby of yours.”

As he spoke, Li Xuan suddenly noticed that the tattoo on the guy’s arm was missing half of it. Startled, he quickly looked down at his own hand.

What in the world—it was just a stick-on.

He was speechless. Decisively, he snapped the knife in half and threw the pieces at the guy’s feet. “Enough talk. You have three seconds to get lost. One, two…”

The guy got up, and Li Xuan grabbed his tank top, adding, “Take your trash with you.”

The guy shot him a resentful glare, grabbed the broken knife, and ran off quickly, even leaving behind his ID.

Li Xuan strolled over and kicked the ID into the nearby sewer grate.

“All settled?” Zhu Zhou ran over.

“Nope,” Li Xuan said. “I didn’t get the money back. You go get it.”

“Oh, no way, didn’t you say to forget it?” Zhu Zhou chuckled, trying to please him.

“Oh, so you’ve got good hearing, huh?” Li Xuan yanked his ear. “I still can’t believe you let someone with a stick-on tattoo dodge payment for a month.”

He wasn’t really pulling hard, so Zhu Zhou managed to wriggle free. “Well, he looked scary and had a knife. Last time I called the police, they just scolded him for such a small amount, and he came back the next day. I figured if even the police didn’t care… Uh, Xuan Ge, did you actually give him back his knife?”

“That junk? Bargain down at a two-yuan store and you get three of those for five. What, should I frame it as a trophy? Here!”

Li Xuan slapped his chest, transferring half of the stick-on tattoo that had stuck to his hand onto Zhu Zhou’s sleeve. “Take this as a keepsake and brag about it.”

Zhu Zhou immediately pulled out some wet wipes and handed them to Li Xuan to clean his hand. “He just looked intimidating.”

“Anyone who brings a real ID to an internet café can’t be that scary. What kind of excuse is that?” Li Xuan wiped his hand, scrunched up the wet wipe, and tossed it into the trash can at the entrance.

The neighboring fruit store’s assistant had been watching the counter for Zhu Zhou, who thanked her, saw her out, and came back with two apples in hand.

“I really have to ask,” Li Xuan said, biting into an apple and typing on the keyboard, “Are you sure you quit your last job and weren’t fired?”

“It wasn’t an internet café,” Zhu Zhou explained. “It was more of a repair shop with a few computers for customers, and it was in a mall, all very proper. I never ran into…”

Without looking up, Li Xuan pointed at the business license. “So this place is shady, huh?”

“No, no!” Zhu Zhou shook his head quickly, then added, “Xuan Ge, you know, I’m the only child in my family. My grandma’s a Buddhist and always told me not to fight. I’ve never even been in a fight.”

“Couldn’t have guessed,” Li Xuan said coldly. “So, are you quitting?”

“No, I’m staying,” Zhu Zhou replied instantly. “The pay’s good. Besides, now that I’ve seen how you handled it, I get it. These people are all just bluffers. I’m not scared anymore.”

“Forget about next time. Go get that money back now.”

Zhu Zhou shook his head like a drum.

“Ugh,” Li Xuan massaged his temples, “Stop shaking your head like that. You’ll rattle your brains out, not that you have much to spare.”

Li Xuan was actually quite satisfied with Zhu Zhou. A college graduate, decent with computer repairs, hardworking, he could handle the café operations well, and he was good with finances. He was just a bit timid, but that wasn’t a major flaw. This area was close to a school, so security was generally okay, and troublemakers were rare.

Li Xuan sighed. “Just hang in there for two months. The boss will be back by then, and he can handle these types of situations.”

Ever since Zhu Zhou started working here, Li Xuan had told him he wasn’t the owner, but since Li Xuan handled all the big and small issues, and no one else had ever shown up, Zhu Zhou couldn’t help but ask, “Xuan Ge, who exactly is our boss?”

“A person,” Li Xuan yawned, covering his mouth. “Even if I told you, you wouldn’t know him. Relax, he’ll be here in two months.”

“Oh,” Zhu Zhou replied, somewhat disappointed.

Li Xuan waved him off, telling him to move away, and buried himself in his coding again. The screen light was beginning to strain his eyes. Once he finished tweaking the search feature, he packaged it up and sent it off to Qi Boyuan.

Qi Boyuan quickly replied, mentioning that the company’s registration was almost done.

Li Xuan replied with a quick “good,” then checked the time—it was 11 p.m.

“I’m heading back to campus.” He closed his laptop, yawning again.

Zhu Zhou, smelling like instant noodle seasoning after delivering a bowl to a customer, offered, “I’ll walk you back, Xuan Ge.”

“No need.” Li Xuan caught a whiff of the noodles, realizing he was a bit hungry himself, and motioned for Zhu Zhou to grab two packs from under the counter and toss them into his backpack. “If you weren’t letting people freeload, I wouldn’t have to keep coming in.”

Zhu Zhou chuckled sheepishly and stuffed another pack into Li Xuan’s bag.

“That’s enough. I paid for this stock; no need to give me my own stuff.” Li Xuan unlocked his bike by the door. “Go back inside. If anything comes up, give me a call.”

“Got it,” Zhu Zhou nodded.

Li Xuan got on his bike and left.

The weather had been unusual that year; it was supposed to be summer already, but the nights were still damp and cold, with relentless rain for the past half month. That night, it had finally cleared up, but it started drizzling again, luckily just a light rain. He pedaled faster, rounding a corner when his phone suddenly rang.

“Hello?” He pulled it out of his pocket without checking the caller ID, keeping one hand on the handlebars. “Who’s this?”

“It’s me,” Li Mingge’s voice came through the line.

Li Xuan’s brow furrowed involuntarily, but his voice remained steady. “What do you need?”

“Where are you?”

“Outside.”

“When are you coming home?” Li Mingge’s tone was commanding. “Your mother misses you.”

Li Xuan’s brows knitted tighter, a wave of discomfort in his stomach. After a brief silence, he replied, “Next week. I’m busy right now.”

He wasn’t really that busy; he just didn’t want to go back to that so-called home. But he had promised Li Mingge he’d go back at least twice a month. Li Mingge knew this and didn’t expose him but spoke in a cold tone, “Then, next Monday.”

“Okay.” Li Xuan replied, and the other end quickly hung up.

The buzzing of the disconnected call was irritating, though he knew that wasn’t the reason he felt so annoyed. He raked a hand through his hair, stopped his bike by the roadside, and took out a lighter and a cigarette from his pocket.

He didn’t smoke often and didn’t have a craving, but he needed one now. However, the air was so damp that the lighter wouldn’t catch despite several flicks.

Frustrating.

This part of the university district was relatively new. Apart from the streets near the school, the rest were almost deserted. The streets were empty except for the occasional car passing by, so he couldn’t even borrow a light from anyone. Half of the streetlights on both sides were broken and had yet to be repaired.

Li Xuan just stood there, zoning out as the night wind brushed over him. Suddenly, a thunderclap boomed in the sky, and rain started pouring down out of nowhere.

Just his luck.

Snapping back to reality, Li Xuan couldn’t help but laugh to himself.

He recalled there was a bus stop across the intersection up ahead and decided to head over to shelter from the rain. If it didn’t stop, he’d call a cab back to campus.

Resolute, he wiped his face quickly, tossed the lighter into a nearby trash can, shoved the cigarette pack back into his pocket, and kept pedaling forward, the unlit cigarette still hanging from his mouth.

After pedaling for two or three minutes, he reached the intersection, with the bus stop just across the way.

Li Xuan exhaled in relief, turned his handlebar, and was about to cross when he suddenly heard the roaring engine of a vehicle. A taxi shot out from an alley to his right, not only going against traffic but without headlights, heading straight toward him.

The screech of tires had never sounded so piercing. Startled, Li Xuan tried to dodge to the side. But the car showed no sign of slowing down as it closed in on him. With no time to escape, in an instant, the vehicle hit him.

The collision was so intense it felt like time stopped for a moment. In the next second, Li Xuan was thrown from his bike, crashing hard against the bus stop sign across the street.

His vision went dark as waves of pain slowly registered throughout his body. It felt like his insides had shifted. He could exhale but not inhale.

Time stretched indefinitely. After what seemed like forever, someone hurried over, reeking of alcohol – presumably the taxi driver.

The man shakily checked if Li Xuan was breathing.

“He’s dead! He’s dead!” The driver yelled, backing away, shaking all over. After glancing around, seeing that the bus stop was new with no nearby surveillance and no one around, he looked at Li Xuan one last time before jumping back into the taxi and speeding off.

“I’m not dead…” Li Xuan struggled to make a sound but was powerless. The driver wasn’t wrong; he really was dying.

Somewhere, a clock struck midnight. His eyelids felt increasingly heavy. Li Xuan kept reminding himself not to fall asleep – if he closed his eyes, he’d never open them again. But the overwhelming pain consumed him.

He forced his eyes open but couldn’t move his neck. His gaze fixed on the bus stop sign, where an advertisement for an orange juice drink hung.

The ad featured a young male celebrity, likely around his age, with a bright smile. His name was printed in the bottom right corner.

Sheng Min.

That was Li Xuan’s last impression before he lost consciousness.

—

Author’s Note:

New story has begun! Thank you for the support! This time, it’s purely a sweet story!