Let Me Meet You chapter 44
Former Teammate
Qin Zhengchen? The name sounded vaguely familiar. Li Xuan felt like he’d heard it before but couldn’t place it. Meanwhile, Yang Xu was so busy cursing and ranting that it was impossible for Li Xuan to think.
“How dare he show his face in front of you? I distinctly remember his name wasn’t on the show’s guest list. That shameless jerk!” Yang Xu paced back and forth in the dressing room, his agitation so intense that he seemed about to leave afterimages behind.
Li Xuan’s judgment of Yang Xu had always been consistent: emotionally unintelligent, slow to react, and often so scatterbrained that he seemed to be joking. By Li Xuan’s standards, Yang Xu would’ve been fired 800 times already. His only redeeming quality was his unwavering concern for Sheng Min. Whenever it came to Sheng Min, Yang Xu would immediately spring into action. For example, he was perpetually suspicious of “Li Xuan’s” character and resented him for daring to argue with Sheng Min or take up space in Sheng Min’s life.
Even so, it was rare to see Yang Xu this riled up. The last time… who was it about? Li Xuan suddenly remembered. It was about that “ex-boyfriend” Yang Xu had mentioned multiple times, though Sheng Min had always denied it.
The thought popped into his head out of nowhere. And for some reason, the moment the word ex-boyfriend crossed his mind, Li Xuan instinctively avoided looking at Sheng Min.
“Stop pacing. You’re making my eyes hurt.” Li Xuan took a deep breath and called out to Yang Xu. “Weren’t you going to buy coffee?”
“I left it at the coffee shop!” Yang Xu looked at him in shock. “Why care about coffee? Aren’t you angry?”
“I’ll die of thirst before I even get the chance to be angry. If you left it, go buy another one. Stop staring at me—go!”
Yang Xu still seemed dissatisfied. He stared at Li Xuan for two seconds, stomped his foot, and, just as abruptly as he had barged in, rushed out again.
The dressing room door swung back and forth several times before closing with a loud bang. Now, it was just the two of them again.
“Who is Qin Zhengchen?” Li Xuan asked, speaking quickly.
Sheng Min seemed to hesitate for a moment—or perhaps it was Li Xuan’s imagination. He wondered if he had spoken too fast for Sheng Min to hear clearly. Uncertain whether to repeat the question, he found himself in rare indecision.
Finally, Sheng Min spoke: “He’s a former teammate of mine.”
Whenever Sheng Min mentioned people he disliked, he was always calm, whether it was Zhang Zhihua or Wang Ran. He never seemed particularly angry. But now, his demeanor was less calm and more indifferent, his expression and tone equally detached.
Teammate.
Li Xuan remembered now—he hadn’t just heard of Qin Zhengchen; he’d seen him.
On the first night he met Sheng Min, he had randomly clicked on a video showing Sheng Min performing a duet dance. The partner was someone named Qin Zhengchen. At the time, Li Xuan had been too distracted by the chaotic on-screen comments and Sheng Min’s striking presence to pay attention to anyone else in the video.
“That’s it?” Li Xuan asked, irritated.
“That’s it,” Sheng Min nodded. After a visible moment of hesitation, he added, “Yang Xu and the others have some misunderstandings. To me, he’s just a former teammate.”
“Misunderstandings?” Li Xuan frowned. “What kind of misunderstandings? Why misunderstand?”
Sheng Min didn’t answer right away. Instead, he lowered his gaze to a zircon crystal lying on the makeup table, one that had somehow been left behind.
The ticking of the clock on the wall, unnoticed until now, suddenly grew unbearably loud, each tick feeling like an urgent reminder. But who was it urging?
Li Xuan knew his emotions were out of line. He shouldn’t be pressing Sheng Min like this. Whether or not Qin Zhengchen was that so-called ex-boyfriend didn’t matter.
“He…” Sheng Min seemed to steel himself before speaking, but Li Xuan interrupted him almost immediately.
“Forget it,” he said. “I’m not curious. You don’t have to say anything.”
With that, Li Xuan stood up abruptly, his departure hurried, almost as if he were fleeing from some monster Sheng Min was about to unleash. “It’s almost time to start recording. I’m heading over first.”
The recording session was still over half an hour away. In the studio, the lighting and stage design teams were making final adjustments. Li Xuan found a seat in the back corner of the audience section. The noisy room allowed him a brief moment of anonymity. His thoughts were a jumbled mess—he was thinking about everything and nothing at the same time.
Finally focusing, he realized his phone screen now displayed information about Qin Zhengchen.
Indeed, Qin Zhengchen had been Sheng Min’s teammate. Their group debuted with nine members; Sheng Min was the runner-up, and Qin Zhengchen had ranked ninth. Unlike Sheng Min, who quickly gained fame with a string of acting roles, Qin Zhengchen’s career had been underwhelming. His peak was debuting with the group, and after their disbandment, he didn’t land any breakout roles. The few he had were mostly supported by niche fandoms. Still, compared to many struggling entertainers, he was relatively fortunate. He had steady work and frequently bought trending topics.
Skimming through Qin Zhengchen’s history, Li Xuan came across some gossip and rumors, likely exaggerated or fabricated. Late-night meetings with producers, hand-holding with mysterious individuals—both men and women—but most photos were blurry and unsubstantiated. It seemed like classic tabloid speculation.