Let Me Meet You chapter 34

Promise Me  

Sheng Min didn’t look back at Li Mingge’s reaction after speaking. He opened the front door and walked out without anyone stopping him this time.  

The midday sun blazed fiercely, and the wide tree-lined paths of the neighborhood were nearly empty, except for the relentless chirping of cicadas. The scorching heat seemed to seep from the air into his body, leaving him in a daze. Holding his breath, he left the neighborhood gates and aimlessly walked two blocks before collapsing beside a trash can, vomiting.  

Disgust.  

He thought of the dark, oppressive Li family villa, Li Mingge’s condescending demeanor, and the housekeeper’s overly cautious attitude. A wave of nausea hit him again for no apparent reason.  

He hadn’t had much of an appetite that morning—barely managing to drink half a cup of milk with his medication—and hadn’t eaten anything at noon. His stomach churned painfully, but there was nothing to throw up except a little water. When even that was gone, he could only dry heave for a long time before finally stopping.  

Sheng Min leaned against a tree trunk, slowly stood up, and wiped the cold sweat from his face. Feeling a bit better, he went to a nearby convenience store to buy a bottle of water.  

“Are you alright?” the store clerk asked, noticing his pale face. “Did you get heatstroke? Do you need some medicine?”  

“I’m fine, thank you,” Sheng Min replied, shaking his head.  

This street, near the foothills, had been designated as part of a scenic area. The transplanted trees were tall and lush, and every ten meters or so, there were white benches for pedestrians to rest on.  

Sheng Min rinsed his mouth with the water and sat wearily on one of the benches. Pressing the cold bottle against his forehead, he let his thoughts settle as the chill seeped into his skin. After some hesitation, he pulled out his phone and sent Li Xuan a message. He spent a long time editing it, but in the end, he kept it simple, saying only that he had gone to the Li family home. Anything else was hard to explain in a text.  

The message was quickly marked as sent. Rubbing his temples to ease the throbbing pain, Sheng Min leaned back against the bench with a sigh. Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, and he unconsciously reached out to touch the specks of light.  

No matter what, he thought, he would never let Li Xuan return to the Li family.  

“Where are you?”  

The moment Li Xuan saw the message, he snapped out of his drowsiness. Without thinking, he immediately called Sheng Min.  

The wait for the call to connect had felt brief, but in those few seconds, countless emotions swept through him—some of them anger, though he couldn’t say exactly at whom. As a result, his tone wasn’t particularly kind when he finally spoke.  

Sheng Min glanced at the nearby street sign. “Ningde Road No. 97… There’s a convenience store on the left after you exit the neighborhood gate.”  

Even through the phone, Li Xuan could tell something was off in Sheng Min’s voice. Whatever he had planned to say was forgotten. “What happened to you?”

“Huh?” Sheng Min seemed oblivious.

“I asked if you’re alright,” Li Xuan said, frowning.  

“I’m..fine…”  

That’s a lie. Li Xuan could tell from Sheng Min’s obviously weak voice. Muttering a low curse, he stood up as he spoke, “Stay right where you are. I’m coming to you.”  

“Don’t come,” Sheng Min replied. He had been silently calculating his assets when the call connected, and Li Xuan’s barrage of questions had only made his headache worse. Now, finally regaining his composure, he said, “I’m fine. Let’s meet directly at N University’s main gate. My car is parked at the gym.”  

The software park entrance was lined with taxis waiting for passengers, but nearing lunchtime, most drivers were eating or on break. Li Xuan found an occupied one, opened the door, and got in.  

The driver, still holding his lunchbox, looked startled. “I’m not driving right now, kid.”  

“N University’s new campus south gate,” Li Xuan said, already fastening his seatbelt. Adjusting his mask, he added, “Run the meter; I’ll pay double. I’m in a hurry. Please.”  

From the software park in the city center to the university town near the outer ring road was no small journey, especially with the usual city traffic. Even at top speed, it took nearly an hour.  

From the villa district, Sheng Min had a shorter trip to N University. Logically, he should have arrived first. However, when Li Xuan reached the gymnasium, he found Sheng Min’s black Audi parked there, but the man himself was nowhere to be seen.  

“Hey, I’m here. You…?”  

Hearing the background noise on the other end of the call, identical to his surroundings, Li Xuan turned around. There, across the street, Sheng Min emerged from a print shop, holding a black plastic bag.  

“I’m here too,” Sheng Min said. Seeing Li Xuan, he hung up and crossed the street during the green light, stopping ten meters away.  

They hadn’t seen each other in a few days—the longest they had been apart since they met. Their last parting hadn’t been on good terms, making this reunion somewhat awkward.  

But no matter what, seeing Sheng Min standing there safely made the tension in Li Xuan’s chest finally ease.  

Still holding his phone, Li Xuan felt his heart pound in sync with the lingering dial tone. Putting the phone away, he called out, “Come over here!”  

Yet he was the one who walked forward first, taking the bag from Sheng Min without waiting for permission. The bag was heavy with papers, its contents a mystery.  

“I can carry it,” Sheng Min protested.  

Li Xuan ignored him and headed for the car. “Keys.”  

The roads around the university town were wide and empty. After driving a few hundred meters from the gymnasium, there were no other cars in sight. It felt as though the two of them were isolated in a small world of their own.  

Li Xuan drove silently, his face set in a stern expression, lips pressed into a thin line. Sitting in the passenger seat, Sheng Min stole glances at him.  

“What are you looking at?” Li Xuan asked suddenly.  

“Nothing,” Sheng Min replied softly.  

“Not looking at me?”  

Sheng Min said nothing. Li Xuan noticed his pale face and realized his tone had been too harsh. Clearing his throat, he asked, “Why do you look so pale?” 

“Have you been okay these past few days?” 

They spoke simultaneously, then fell silent together.  

“I’m fine,” Li Xuan said.  

Sheng Min softly remarked, “Your eyes are full of bloodshot veins.”  

“Just didn’t sleep well,” Li Xuan replied casually, then shifted the topic. “Don’t change the subject. Now it’s your turn. Don’t tell me you’re fine—your face is as pale as a ghost.”  

“You’re exaggerating,” Sheng Min chuckled slightly. He didn’t want to admit that he vomited after leaving the Li family home, so he brushed it off. “Maybe I have a bit of heatstroke.”  

Li Xuan glanced at him without saying anything. After driving a short distance, he suddenly turned right and parked the car by the roadside. Undoing his seatbelt, he leaned over and touched Sheng Min’s forehead.  

“Wait here a moment,” he said quickly, pulling back his hand. He opened the car door and disappeared behind the roadside trees.  

He returned in just two or three minutes, still carrying the heat of the outdoors.  

“You don’t have a fever, so it shouldn’t be too serious. Take this medicine first.” As he spoke, he skillfully opened a bottle of glucose solution and a bottle of herbal heat-relief drink, handing them over together.  

“Thank you.” Sheng Min hesitated briefly before obediently drinking it. The herbal drink tasted awful, and after finishing it, he looked up to see Li Xuan holding out a piece of soft candy in his palm.  

Sheng Min’s eyes softened with a smile, and his cool fingertips brushed against Li Xuan’s warm palm as he took the candy.  

“I think it’s not just heatstroke but also a bit of low blood sugar,” Li Xuan said, watching him slowly eat the candy. He started the car again. “I’m not usually this frail… Did you skip lunch?” He paused briefly before adding with a sarcastic smile, “Of course, you probably couldn’t eat after going there.”

“It wasn’t that bad,” Sheng Min replied softly.

Li Xuan didn’t comment. “Let’s find a place to eat. What do you feel like having?”  

“I don’t have much of an appetite… really. But if you’re hungry, we can eat now… Did you skip lunch too?”  

“Let’s wait a bit then.” Li Xuan didn’t answer directly, instead turning onto a nearby road.

He wasn’t using navigation, but as they passed the toll station and headed toward the outer ring overpass, it was clear they weren’t heading back to the apartment.  

“Are you going to pick something up?” Sheng Min guessed, pausing for a moment. “Where have you been staying these past few days?”  

This question inevitably brought them back to the argument from the other night, which wasn’t a pleasant memory. Sheng Min’s tone softened. “I asked at the hotel, and they said you didn’t go there…”  

“Under a bridge,” Li Xuan interrupted, clearly not wanting to dwell on the topic.  

He said it casually, but Sheng Min immediately fell silent, turning his head away. At first, Li Xuan thought he was angry, but at a red light, he noticed something else in Sheng Min’s expression.  

“What’s wrong? That look… Don’t tell me you believed me. I was joking.”  

“I know. I didn’t believe you.” Sheng Min replied, still looking down. “Really… The light’s green now. The cars behind are honking.”  

He tried to make his tone light, but his sadness was still evident. Li Xuan quickly pieced things together and, as he started driving again, asked, “What exactly did they say to you?”  

Sheng Min didn’t answer immediately, and Li Xuan didn’t push.  

“Were you scared today?” Li Xuan asked with a hint of helplessness in his tone. “Normally, you’re not this naive. Why did you just go when they asked? It’s not like they could’ve tied you up. You couldn’t even secretly call me?”  

“If I had told you, you wouldn’t have let me go.”  

“Did you really want to go?”  

“No… I just didn’t want you to go. I didn’t want you to handle everything on your own.”  

He blurted it out, then hesitated, realizing how it might sound. “What I mean is, we’re in this together now. We can’t just separate everything. I’ve said this before—you…”  

“You get mad when I intervene in your affairs, but you’re fine meddling in mine,” Li Xuan interrupted.  

“…It’s different,” Sheng Min said, taken aback.  

“How is it different?”  

“I’m not mad,” Sheng Min evaded. “You’re the one who’s mad.”  

“Of course I’m mad. Shouldn’t I be? Not everyone can play saint like you,” Li Xuan said, glancing at Sheng Min. Seeing that he seemed about to apologize, he cut him off. “Alright, let’s drop it.”  

He waved his hand irritably but softened his tone. “Still, this is partly my fault. I should’ve told you in advance. I didn’t expect them to show up at the school so soon. I thought it would at least be next week… They didn’t do anything to you, did they?”  

“Would they hurt you?” Sheng Min asked sharply, recalling the scars on Li Xuan’s body. “…Did they ever hit you?”  

“No, nothing like that.” Li Xuan shook his head reassuringly. “What I mean is that Shu Xin might lose control during her episodes… But really, they never hit me. They’re civilized people; they wouldn’t resort to violence. And by the time I joined their family, I was already grown up, so it wasn’t possible.”  

“So they are your adoptive parents?”  

“More or less.”  

It was an obvious answer, yet Sheng Min couldn’t help frowning after hearing it confirmed.  

“Don’t frown,” Li Xuan said, disliking the sight of it. “I told you, it’s fine.”  

Sheng Min sipped his water. “Got it… Nothing much happened today. I wasn’t there long… But I might’ve offended him.”  

He briefly recounted the conversation in the study, deliberately omitting the parts that made him uncomfortable. But Li Mingge’s attitude was always predictable, and even without Sheng Min’s specifics, Li Xuan could guess. His expression remained calm.

“That’s all?”  

“Yeah.”  

Li Xuan nodded, pressing his lips together. Then he asked, “You knew about Zhao Jizhe before?”  

“When I went to get your books last time, a letter fell out. But I didn’t open it.”  

“Even if you had, it doesn’t matter,” Li Xuan said indifferently.  

“When exactly is he getting out? If we haven’t switched back by then, should I go pick him up?”

“We’ll talk about it when the time comes.”

Sheng Min responded with a quiet hum. This wasn’t what he was truly concerned about, so he didn’t press further.

“You don’t need to worry about anything else. It’s fine.” Li Xuan saw through his thoughts. “If Li Mingge were that easy to offend, I would’ve driven him to his grave eight hundred times by now. He wouldn’t even have the chance to make your life difficult… So even if he does decide to come after me, it has nothing to do with what you did today. You don’t need to feel responsible.”  

“Will he really do that?”  

“Maybe.”  

“Aren’t you worried at all?”  

Sheng Min pursed his lips, the worry in his eyes still lingering. Li Xuan glanced at him, paused for a moment, and then said, “After my parents passed away, since I didn’t have any relatives to take me in, I ended up in an orphanage. Not one in N City, though.” He mentioned a place in a neighboring province, a city Sheng Min had visited once as a child for filming.  

“Later, something happened, and I ran away. I was about eleven years old. At the time, child labor laws weren’t as strict, so I just did odd jobs and eventually drifted into N City. That’s when I met Li Mingge, and they adopted me… I didn’t think I’d stay with their family for so long, maybe just a year or two… They originally had a son, but he’s no longer around. You must’ve figured that out when you visited their house today, right?” Li Xuan suddenly asked.  

“I kind of guessed,” Sheng Min replied cautiously. “Were you adopted after he passed away?”  

“No.” Li Xuan shook his head. “Before he died, I had already been living with their family for over a year. His health wasn’t great. The night before he died, he even talked to me and asked if I could keep his mom company if he passed away. I didn’t take him seriously at the time, but he really died the next day… Li Mingge thinks I stayed with their family all these years because I wanted their wealth or because I was afraid of him. He can think whatever he wants. I just didn’t see the need to break a promise to the dead.”  

They had arrived at the software park. Li Xuan slowed down and turned into the gate. “Originally, I planned to confront Li Mingge once Zhao Jizhe got out. That was the agreed time. But now that the kid’s gone, I’ll still honor his wishes. But since his father is so impatient, there’s no helping it. As far as I’m concerned, I have a clear conscience. Even if I meet him in the afterlife someday, I won’t owe him anything. As for Li Mingge…” He smiled faintly. “You asked if I wasn’t worried. Honestly, I find it a bit troublesome. But I’ve known all along he wouldn’t let me go easily. Since we’re bound to tear things apart, the sooner the better. I’m kind of looking forward to it… Satisfied now?”

Sheng Min’s expression clearly showed he wasn’t. Li Xuan sighed with a smile. “Fine, ask whatever you want. Stop frowning, and don’t look at me like that.”  

Of course, Sheng Min had many questions. Li Xuan’s story left out so much… Why did he run away? Why did Li Mingge adopt him? When did Shu Xin lose her sanity, and how did she end up mistaking him for her son? What role did Zhao Jizhe play in all this? And what about the scar on Li Xuan’s waist?  

All these mysteries still lingered, and Sheng Min realized this might be the closest he’d ever get to the truth. But uncovering someone’s scars was always too painful a thing to do. Even though Li Xuan seemed indifferent and unbothered, Sheng Min couldn’t bear the thought of causing him any pain.  

“I have nothing to ask.” Sheng Min spoke lightly but with conviction. “I just hope you’ll be okay.”  

“Don’t get sentimental on me. That doesn’t work on me…” Li Xuan was briefly stunned before laughing.  

“Li Xuan.” Sheng Min cut him off softly. “If he really gives you a hard time—if, and I mean if—you can’t handle it, don’t try to face it alone. You said you have a clear conscience, so you don’t need to go back to the Li family anymore.”  

Li Xuan parked the car downstairs and, in a playful tone, said, “Why are you so afraid of me going back? Looks like I left a huge psychological scar on you today, huh? And you said it was nothing.”  

Because you’re too good, and no one should belittle you. Sheng Min thought to himself but didn’t say aloud. Instead, he replied, “But you must tell me.”  

“Why?”  

“I’ll help you.” Sheng Min said softly. “I know nothing about computers, but if you need money or anything else, I’ve been in the industry for so many years—I have at least something to offer…”  

“I don’t need it.” Li Xuan casually tapped the steering wheel, then asked, “Why are you so eager to help me?”  

“Didn’t you call me a clay Bodhisattva?”  

Li Xuan froze, then shook his head with a low chuckle.  

“Promise me.” Sheng Min didn’t smile, his eyes fixed solely on Li Xuan. In his gaze, there was a gentle light, like the melting snow of early spring, dissolving all of Li Xuan’s casual indifference. “Say you will.”

In the end, Li Xuan didn’t answer—neither a yes nor a no.

“Don’t worry about me,” he told Sheng Min, opening the car door. “Now, get out of the car.”