Let Me Meet You chapter 11
Threats (Part 2)
Li Xuan’s voice was calm, but it was like thunder in Sheng Min’s ears. He turned, astonished, to see if Li Xuan was serious. But Li Xuan’s expression was calm, as if he were casually ordering a fish to be cut at a market.
“Hurry up,” Li Xuan kicked the knife toward Zhao Yi. “Don’t waste time.”
Zhao Yi instinctively moved back, but Li Xuan grabbed him by the collar, dragging him forward. “If you can’t do it, I’ll cut it for you.”
“No, no!” Zhao Yi struggled frantically. “I… I can’t…”
“Not this, not that. Do you think this is a vegetable market where you can haggle? Either pay up or lose a hand–make up your mind. I’m not here to negotiate with you.”
Zhao Yi, consumed by fear, kept shaking his head.
“Since you’re refusing both options, it’s off to prison with you. With your situation, you’re looking at at least seven years.” Li Xuan started to drag him toward the door. Zhao Yi, shocked by the threat of seven years, mustered all his strength to break free and, crawling, flung himself toward Sheng Min, dropping to his knees.
“Please, save me! He’s going to kill me! I know I was wrong, really…”
“Stand up first.” Sheng Min furrowed his brow and reached out to help him up, but couldn’t move him. Inside, the child had been scared and started crying loudly. Li Xuan walked over in two strides, grabbed the man by the collar, and dragged him up off the floor.
“You killed someone, and I didn’t make you pay with your life—I even gave you options. I should give myself a prize for kindness. Don’t act like I’m the one bullying you here. If you’d really felt guilty, you’d have turned yourself in right away. Thought there were no cameras, no witnesses, so you’d get away with it, didn’t you? And now you’re pretending to regret it?”
“I was drunk, I didn’t mean it. I was scared, so I didn’t go to the police… And I have no money—I really don’t have that kind of money,” Zhao Yi reached out, trying to grab Sheng Min again.
Li Xuan grew furious. “That’s why I’m giving you a choice—don’t play games with me.”
The little girl, seeing them struggling outside, began crying harder and tugged on Li Xuan’s clothes, saying, “Don’t bully my dad.”
The living room fell into chaos for a moment. Li Xuan frowned deeply, but he controlled his temper with the girl, gently pushing her into Sheng Min’s arms. Then he flipped a nearby table to the floor with a loud bang, causing everyone to fall silent for a moment.
“Enough!” He pointed at Zhao Yi. “I’m here to collect a debt, not to listen to your sob story. If you don’t like the options I’m giving, then go to jail…”
“I can’t go to jail! I have a child—I have to take care of her,” Zhao Yi said, looking panicked. Hearing his daughter crying nearby seemed to remind him, “My kid is so young—right, my kid is still young. I did this for her. I have to take care of her; I can’t go anywhere…”
Li Xuan was dumbfounded by his logic. “So you’re saying you didn’t flee because of her, huh? Like hell. You were just too drunk and reckless to get away. You weren’t thinking about her when you were drinking, or when you hit someone. Now, suddenly, you’re using her as a shield. Do you have no shame?”
“But I really don’t have the money,” Zhao Yi cried miserably.
“Then sell your house. It’s in a decent area.”
“But where would I live…?”
“Do I look like I care about that? Do you think I’m running a charity?” Li Xuan scoffed, “You didn’t give a second thought about my situation when you fled the scene.”
Zhao Yi was dazed and didn’t pick up on any implications in Li Xuan’s tone, only repeating that he couldn’t pay.
Sheng Min knelt down slightly, gently comforting the little girl by holding her and covering her eyes. Amidst the chaos, his phone buzzed—a message from Yang Xu.
Meanwhile, Zhao Yi kept saying he couldn’t afford it, and the situation was at a stalemate. The little girl was crying so hard her eyes were swollen, her breathing heavy. Sheng Min looked at her tear-streaked face, feeling a pang of familiarity. He remembered his own childhood, clutching his younger brother’s hand, hiding behind doors as loan sharks came calling. He had to be quiet and reassure his brother not to cry, though it was never the end. When the loan sharks left, his mother would turn her anger on him…
Lost in thought for a moment, he felt the girl’s cold tears wetting his fingers. She sniffled, clutching his sleeve, saying, “Gege, don’t bully my dad.”
In the living room, no matter what Li Xuan said, Zhao Yi kept insisting he couldn’t pay that much. Frustrated, Li Xuan gave Sheng Min a look, signaling him to get the girl out of the room.
Sheng Min looked at the little girl in his arms, then at Li Xuan’s grim expression. After a brief hesitation, he quietly asked Zhao Yi, “How much can you pay now?”
“Not a penny…”
Sheng Min sighed softly. He knew that Li Xuan was pushing hard and wouldn’t let up just for the money. Yet, looking at the little girl, he still calmly said, “You know that answer won’t work.”
“Five thousand…” Zhao Yi mumbled.
Sheng Min gently sighed again. “If you’re going to keep giving answers like that, then I’ll let him handle it.”
“Ten thousand—at most twenty thousand, that’s all I can afford!” Zhao Yi shouted, his voice frantic. “You’re asking for my life here!”
“Fine, give the twenty thousand first,” Li Xuan replied, giving him a sharp look to make him stop talking. Sheng Min wiped the girl’s tears and calmly continued, “You can pay the rest in installments. If it takes a year, ten years, even twenty, that’s fine.”
“But…”
“No more ‘buts.’” Sheng Min briefly flashed his phone screen at Zhao Yi. “We have your parents’ and brothers’ addresses and contact numbers, so don’t even think about running. If you do, then the police will handle you.”
“The police…they won’t come to arrest me, right?” Zhao Yi asked fearfully..
Sheng Min’s face was impassive. “If you don’t believe it, then don’t pay.”
“Okay, I’ll get the money.” Zhao Yi swallowed, glancing fearfully at Li Xuan, then got up and went into the bedroom. The little girl followed him inside.
“Is that alright?” Sheng Min glanced at Li Xuan, who said nothing, which Sheng Min took as agreement. He looked around the living room, found paper and pen, drafting an IOU.
This time, Zhao Yi moved quickly, apparently wanting to get rid of Li Xuan as soon as possible. He soon returned with a bank card, avoiding Li Xuan’s gaze, and handed it to Sheng Min. “There’s a little over ten thousand in here; the password is six eights.”
“Sign this.” Sheng Min handed him the IOU.
“But I already gave you money…”
Zhao Yi hesitated, not wanting to sign. Finally, Li Xuan let out a chilling laugh.
“You think it’s a done deal? Making decisions on your own now, huh?” Li Xuan’s face darkened, and he turned to Zhao Yi. “I’ve changed my mind—I don’t want the money anymore. Cutting off your hand sounds better. At least it’ll stop you from getting drunk and hitting someone again.”
Saying this, he bent down, picked up the knife on the ground, and grabbed Zhao Yi by the collar, lifting his arm as if to bring the knife down on his wrist.
“Dad!” The little girl cried out in fear. Zhao Yi instinctively closed his eyes tightly, but the blade didn’t fall. When he opened them, he saw Sheng Min restraining Li Xuan’s arm.
“Let go.” Li Xuan frowned.
Sheng Min shook his head, feeling a bit helpless: “Does it have to be like this?”
Li Xuan narrowed his eyes: “I’ll count to three… one, two…”
Before he finished speaking, Sheng Min seemed to sigh. In the next second, without knowing where the strength came from, he suddenly snatched the knife from Li Xuan’s hand.
“You…” Li Xuan was taken aback and caught off guard. He saw Sheng Min turn sideways to block the little girl’s line of sight, pressing down on Zhao Yi’s hand. Gritting his teeth, he suddenly stabbed down.