Let Me Meet You chapter 43
Pick Your Moon
“‘Riding on dreams, providing a stage for youth to grow. Showcasing trainees’ hard work and perseverance, delivering youthful energy to the masses.’… This slogan’s even cheesier than the one for your season,” Yang Xu flipped through the proposal with dramatic flair, then said with a pout, “Shouting slogans every day—what good does that do? The trainees this season aren’t even that great. Hey, did you see the profile pictures they released the other day? The best-looking one’s actually a returnee from your season—top thirty or twenty, I can’t remember… Hey, Ge, why are you ignoring me?”
Li Xuan was engrossed in editing a map. When he worked, he was intensely focused and rarely distracted. Finally, irritated by Yang Xu’s chatter, he lifted his head from the laptop. “Are you delivering a stand-up routine? Do you need me to play along? And get off the table—why not just stand on it while you’re at it? What are you even here for today?”
“I’m here to deliver the contract and the proposal for Pick Your Moon! They’re making things way more complicated this year than during your season,” Yang Xu complained. Then he leaned over, trying to peek at Li Xuan’s screen. “What are you doing? Gaming or chatting? You weren’t even listening to me.”
Messages from Chu Tianheng were flooding the screen. The art director had been selected—Li Xuan had no objections since Chu Tianheng’s technical skills were top-notch, capable of handling both 2D and 3D work, from concept art to UI design.
Noticing Yang Xu trying to peek, Li Xuan quickly closed the laptop.
“Delivered everything. What now?” Li Xuan rested his head on one hand. “You waiting for me to pay for delivery?”
“I’m waiting for you to pick a plan!” Yang Xu shouted. “The proposal includes initial styling concepts from the production team. There are several options—you have to choose one! If you don’t like them, we can use our own stylist. Hurry up and decide! You weren’t listening earlier, were you?”
Li Xuan felt his temple throbbing. He pointed to the clock on the wall. “I did listen. And I told you 20 minutes ago to take the styling plans to ‘Li Xuan’ and let him decide. Where is he?”
After a moment of thought, he remembered: Sheng Min was probably studying again.
“In the bedroom, I think. Looked like he was reading? The book was huge, like a brick.” Yang Xu said and then eagerly offered, “Ge, I’ll go check for you.”
Glad to have some peace, Li Xuan let out a sigh. “Take the designs and let him choose. And shut the door. Don’t come back in until I say so.”
“No way,” Yang Xu rushed back from the door. “Ge, why do you listen to him so much? Even if you’re dating, you can’t lose yourself—letting him control everything, big or small? That’s not okay.”
Yang Xu’s serious tone and pained expression were so over-the-top that Li Xuan didn’t even bother reminding him, yet again, that their relationship wasn’t what he thought it was. Instead, he gave up trying to explain.
“And you’ve only known him for how long? I don’t trust him at all. Sure, he looks good, but so what? And what’s with the guava he gave me today? How did he know I like that? Did you tell him? Anyway, it doesn’t matter.” Yang Xu waved his hand dismissively, nearly knocking over a cactus on the desk. “He’s not a good guy—just look at that time he kicked you out at night and took over your room!”
“For the last time, I left on my own,” Li Xuan said, clearly exasperated. “Now, be quiet. It’s just styling options—no need to overanalyze.”
Yang Xu dramatically flipped to the styling section of the proposal. “Overanalyze? This is your big moment! We need to make sure your entrance stuns everyone!”
“Stuns? Do I look like a female idol to you?”
“Male idols need it even more! Styling choices are limited—if you don’t make the most of them, you’ll get overshadowed. Remember that red carpet event? Someone issued a press release to try and bring you down, even though you were actually sick that day. They were so smug about it.”
“Stop, enough,” Li Xuan cut him off, uninterested in listening to all this drama. He couldn’t understand why Yang Xu suddenly developed such a strong sense of professionalism. Half-distracted, he ran a test of the program he had just written, only to encounter an error.
“I’m not choosing because I’m lazy.” Li Xuan frowned, pulled up the program, and quickly located the bug. “Take it to him to pick. If he really doesn’t want to, you can choose yourself… If you keep talking, I’ll just pick randomly.”
Yang Xu protested, “Ge, why are you like this?”
“That’s just how I am.” Li Xuan replied bluntly. “Fine, I’m just busy gaming. Keep it up, and if I lose, I might throw hands.”
“You wouldn’t dare hit me,” Yang Xu retorted, though seeing that Li Xuan’s gaze had returned to the screen and he wasn’t lifting his head anymore, Yang Xu finally gave up. Mumbling about how online games ruin lives, he left with the proposal.
As the door was closing, Li Xuan suddenly recalled catching a glimpse earlier of a design with a few rhinestones at the corner of the eye. Yang Xu had marked it with a heart, clearly satisfied with it. Li Xuan quickly called out, “Not the one with rhinestones under the eyes!”
“Got it!” Yang Xu replied back loudly, “I heard you!”
…..
“Mr. Sheng, don’t move. Almost done.” The makeup artist carefully applied the last two rhinestones to the corner of Li Xuan’s left eye with tweezers. After checking the look from both sides, she was satisfied and began cleaning up the tools. “All done!”
Quickly packing up her kit, the makeup artist said, “I’ll head out now.”
“Mm. Thank you.” Li Xuan opened his eyes and stared at the mirror for a solid ten seconds. Pointing at the rhinestones at the corner of his eye, he tilted his head and asked Sheng Min, “Didn’t Yang Xu tell you I said no to this?”
It was 9 a.m., two hours before the first episode of Pick Your Moon was set to record. Li Xuan had stayed up finishing the final map design last night, sleeping only after dawn. He’d caught up on some rest during the ride to the venue and felt awake when he entered the dressing room. However, the makeup design turned out to be one he had explicitly ruled out.
Since the styling was a package deal and the costume was already prepared, there wasn’t enough time for significant changes. Adjusting a celebrity’s makeup last minute could cause issues—some might even blow it up into accusations of diva behavior. Although unhappy, Li Xuan had no choice but to let the makeup artist proceed.
Sheng Min pressed his lips together. “He did tell me. I just thought this looked better.”
“Really?” Li Xuan was skeptical.
Speak of the devil—The phone began ringing, with Yang Xu’s name lighting up the screen.
“Was the rhinestone design your pick?” Li Xuan answered directly.
“Yeah. Didn’t you say this was the one you wanted? I even told Li Xuan that you thought it looked good, and he agreed!” For some reason, Yang Xu sounded flustered, blurting this out before hastily adding, “Ge, forget about that for now! I have to tell you something…”
Accompanied by the mechanical sound of an elevator’s voice announcing “ascending,” Yang Xu’s words became increasingly difficult to make out.
“What was that… He’s always in such a rush,” Li Xuan muttered, hanging up. He turned back to Sheng Min. “You’re even covering for him. Maybe we should buy him a hearing aid since he’s so bad at listening.”
Sheng Min smiled faintly and said, “My fault—I should have double-checked with you.”
But how could it be Sheng Min’s fault? Li Xuan had been cooped up in his study for days, barely sleeping five hours a night. Sheng Min probably didn’t want to trouble him with trivial matters.
“This makeup is fine,” Sheng Min reassured, resting his elbow on the dressing table and tilting his head slightly. “The other designs had heavier eyeliner. My eyes are a bit sensitive, and poorly removed makeup can easily cause inflammation. I was worried you’d feel uncomfortable, especially with how long you’ll be staring at screens. This one’s better—really. Stage makeup is meant to be bold.”
As noon approached, sunlight streamed into the east-facing dressing room. Rays of light filtered through the gaps in the trees, through the windows, and onto Li Xuan’s profile. The rhinestones, though only about a dozen in number, were all uniform and clear, avoiding any flashy colors. They added a subtle sparkle that, after a few glances, didn’t seem out of place.
“It really looks good,” Sheng Min said, blinking. “You should have more confidence in yourself.”
“This is your face,” Li Xuan reminded him. Sheng Min belatedly let out an “ah.” Li Xuan smirked slightly. “So should I have confidence in you instead?”
“Ge!” Before Sheng Min could reply, Yang Xu suddenly burst into the room, practically tripping over himself in his rush. Sweat covered his forehead. He had gone downstairs to get coffee, but now the coffee was nowhere to be seen, and he was holding only an empty bag. “Do you know who I just saw?”
Before he could finish, Li Xuan sighed impatiently. “Even if you saw a ghost, at least get your words straight first.”
“Worse than a ghost.” Yang Xu, out of breath, clung to the armrest of Li Xuan’s chair, panting heavily. After guzzling half the water Sheng Min handed him—spilling some on Li Xuan’s pants—he finally managed to finish his sentence: “Qin Zhengchen, that bastard, is here!”
Author’s Note:
Qin Zhengchen appeared earlier in Chapter 6.