Let Me Meet You chapter 45
Investigate
“Sheng Min? What are you doing here?” Zhang Zhihua suddenly appeared from the back door, interrupting Li Xuan’s focus.
“I’ve been looking for you everywhere. You weren’t picking up your phone,” Zhang Zhihua said, fanning himself impatiently. “You weren’t in the dressing room, and Li Xuan said you were here in the studio. I’ve searched everywhere for you.”
“What’s he doing?” Li Xuan casually put his phone away.
“Who? Li Xuan? No idea. He’s just sitting there. Who knows what he’s up to?”
Li Xuan hummed in acknowledgment. “Why were you looking for me?”
“Not much, really,” Zhang Zhihua said, glancing around before lowering his voice. “But… you found out, didn’t you?”
“Found out what?”
“The guest for this episode. They switched to Qin Zhengchen!”
Li Xuan frowned. Zhang Zhihua knew about Sheng Min’s orientation and was even the first to suggest the absurd theory that Sheng Min’s “new assistant” was actually a “new boyfriend.” If there was a “new” relationship, there had to have been an “old” one. Did this mean Zhang Zhihua also believed Qin Zhengchen was Sheng Min’s ex-boyfriend?
“Don’t look at me like that,” Zhang Zhihua said, growing defensive under Li Xuan’s gaze. “I wasn’t the one who made the switch. I just found out and came to tell you immediately.”
“Do many people know?” Li Xuan suddenly asked.
“Huh? Everyone will know soon enough. A guest swap like this is hard to miss…”
“I’m not talking about that.”
“Oh…” Zhang Zhihua seemed to catch on, suddenly becoming flustered enough to nearly jump from his seat. Li Xuan pushed him back down by the shoulders.
“Speak.”
“No one else knows.” Zhang Zhihua looked startled. “Only the two of them, plus you, me, Yang Xu, and President Zhang. Why? Did someone bring it up with you?”
“No.” Li Xuan had a gut feeling Zhang Zhihua wasn’t talking about the same thing he was. Keeping his expression neutral, he repeated, “The two of them?”
“Don’t do anything stupid,” Zhang Zhihua said nervously. “I know you’ve been emotional lately, but you need to stay calm. The guy’s already in jail, and Qin Zhengchen’s career is a mess despite all his scheming. He’s already paid for what he did. Just let it go. Even if you were the victim and innocent, making a fuss now won’t do you, the company, or anyone else any good. Besides, if you hadn’t gotten involved with that Qin Zhengchen guy back then, none of this would’ve happened, right?”
The more vague the explanation, the deeper Li Xuan’s frown became. He couldn’t piece together the full truth, but he had an uneasy feeling. However, it was obvious that Zhang Zhihua wasn’t a suitable person to ask.
“You really have a good sense of the bigger picture,” Li Xuan sneered.
“Anyway, what’s done is done,” Zhang Zhihua was now a bit scared of him. “Just focus on recording the show. Qin Zhengchen is only here for this episode. I asked the production team, and Feng Qin couldn’t come because he hurt his back during the concert rehearsal. That’s why they got Qin Zhengchen to fill in. He’s just a guest for this episode and won’t be back next time.”
Feng Qin was the original guest, a rising star in the music scene in recent years, and had won the Golden Melody Award for Best Newcomer.
“When did Feng Qin say he couldn’t come?” Li Xuan’s voice sounded a bit tired.
“Yesterday, I think?” Zhang Zhihua wasn’t sure. “It was probably yesterday.”
“He said he couldn’t come yesterday, and you only found out today and told me?”
“No,” Zhang Zhihua defended himself, “He just said he couldn’t come yesterday. The decision to replace him with Qin Zhengchen was made just now.”
“Feng Qin’s status is quite different from his,” Li Xuan, who wasn’t very concerned about the entertainment industry, had still heard of Feng Qin. He became famous with a song that won a Golden Melody Award, and Zhu Zhou often played it at the internet cafe front desk. Every time he went there, he could hear it.
“In one day, they couldn’t find a slightly more substantial guest? This incompetent? They only decided on someone an hour before filming. Does Qin Zhengchen live in this building? Can he just show up on demand?”
The barrage of questions left Zhang Zhihua dumbfounded. “Maybe there were other options, but they ultimately decided on him?”
“Why did they choose him? Isn’t Pick Your Moon getting a lot of attention? This is the first episode too. Even for a guest spot, it’s a decent opportunity. Why would it go to him?”
“I don’t know!” Zhang Zhihua exclaimed.
“I’m asking you, not so you can answer ‘I don’t know,'” Li Xuan’s eyes, like a wolf about to pounce, glared in the darkness. “If you don’t know anything, I have no reason to keep you as a manager.”
Li Xuan was usually impatient, but today his tone was especially harsh. Zhang Zhihua scratched his chin. “Do you think there’s something fishy? It’s not impossible with Qin Zhengchen…”
“This is something you should be telling me.”
“Fine,” Zhang Zhi Hua gritted his teeth, “I’ll inquire, alright?”
The watch showed that it was still a quarter to eleven. Li Xuan casually adjusted his tie and stood up. “Figure it out and let me know before the recording ends. And keep your mouth shut.”