Let Me Meet You chapter 52

I Don’t Know

Now convinced that this incident had nothing to do with Sheng Min, Zhang Zhihua quickly reverted to his usual self. He fanned himself with his shirt and said, “Don’t mind what I said earlier. I was just anxious… How does that saying go? Oh, yes, ‘concern leads to confusion’—exactly that.”

He sat down and put on an air of righteousness: “I was only thinking of you. Honestly, it’s obvious you couldn’t have done it. Even when the props team messes up with stray cats and dogs, you spend your own money to find a vet because you’re afraid they’ll die. How could you possibly do something like this? I’ll say it now: between you and me, people would be quick to believe it was me instead of you.”

“Then let’s say it was you,” Li Xuan said coldly.

“Hey,” Zhang Zhihua waved his hand dismissively, “Come on, it was just a joke.”

“No one is joking with you. Have you said everything you came to say?” Li Xuan’s face darkened, his expression emotionless. “If you’re done, you can leave now. Don’t go around prying into this. People might think you care too much. If you’re so curious, why not become his manager yourself and get firsthand information?”

Zhang Zhihua pretended not to hear the latter half of his sentence. He rushed out as quickly as he had come: “I’m done, I’m done. Alright, you eat first. I’ll have the preview plan delivered to you tonight…”

After hearing the door close, Li Xuan slowly took another sip of soup before setting down his chopsticks.

Sheng Min hadn’t returned yet. On the corner of the sofa, some documents lay scattered, the cap missing from a pen that appeared to have been hastily set down. A drop of ink on the tip had begun to dry. Li Xuan pulled out his phone to call Sheng Min again. Only then did he notice a missed call from him three minutes ago.

“Where are you?” Li Xuan called back, and Sheng Min’s first question startled him.

“In the lounge.” Li Xuan, hearing Sheng Min’s voice, instinctively stood up from his chair. “You…”

“I’ll come over,” Sheng Min interrupted.

“Okay.” Li Xuan nodded, then realized Sheng Min couldn’t see him and repeated, “I’ll wait for you.”

Outside the door, footsteps occasionally echoed. At that moment, Li Xuan’s hearing seemed particularly sensitive. The wait wasn’t long, but it made him feel suffocated. When dealing with Yang Xu and Zhang Zhihua earlier, he’d only felt impatient. Now, however, he was wrapped in a rare and almost foreign sense of nervousness.

Waiting was torturous. In a flash, Li Xuan was reminded of lying on an operating table seven years ago, waiting for the scalpel to cut into his skin. But that was seven years ago. Such emotions were unnecessary and should not exist in his current life.

He got up to get a glass of ice water and began cleaning the table, putting away the unfinished dishes. He ordered Sheng Min a sweet oyster rice with pear soup, even checked the materials Sheng Min had been reviewing, marking the wrong steps. During this process, he couldn’t help but recall Sheng Min’s tone on the phone.

Did he know? How much did he know? But no matter how he analyzed it, Sheng Min’s voice betrayed nothing, leaving him with no clues.

When Sheng Min finally entered, Li Xuan was smoking a cigarette. In just a few days, his smoking had multiplied, and the pack was almost empty. This wasn’t good, he thought. He couldn’t afford to depend on anything—tobacco or otherwise.

Neither spoke, but from the looks exchanged, they both understood.

A stray ash from his cigarette landed on the back of his hand, causing a barely perceptible burn. The ember was faint, almost harmless—more like the bite of an insect.

So he knows, Li Xuan thought. Strangely, he felt calm about it now. After all, he was Sheng Min—the real one—an idol at the height of his fame. Even though their bodies were swapped, the network and connections still belonged to Sheng Min. If he wanted to know, he’d naturally find out.

“Qin Zhengchen’s legs were broken, and his fingers were chopped off.” After a long pause, Sheng Min spoke first, dropping this sentence without context.

“Qin Zhengchen,” Li Xuan tilted his head slightly and even smiled, “your former teammate?”

That was how Sheng Min had defined their relationship the other day. Now Li Xuan returned the words.

Sheng Min bit his lip. “You did it.”

Three simple words, not even phrased as a question.

In that instant, Li Xuan recalled whether he had considered Sheng Min’s reaction when he decided Qin Zhengchen must pay. He realized he hadn’t. It was something he had to do, something inevitable. No one and nothing—not even Sheng Min—could change that.

“Yes,” Li Xuan admitted smoothly, nodding. “I did it.”

The air-conditioned room hummed steadily, sending out a gentle breeze that tousled Sheng Min’s hair. Hearing the admission, he looked at Li Xuan, his expression clean and confused, with a hint of guilt that shouldn’t have been there. His soft gaze resembled that of an innocent animal.

Why react like this? Wasn’t this what he’d already guessed?  Li Xuan found that look unbearable. He looked away, lowered his head, and took another long drag from his cigarette.

The white smoke rings appeared and vanished. Li Xuan lowered his eyes and saw Sheng Min’s white sneakers approaching step by step, stopping right in front of him. He always walked without making a sound, Li Xuan suddenly thought.

“You know everything.” Sheng Min seemed to sigh. “Who did you ask? Zhang Zhihua or Yang Xu? … You must have asked both. You’re so clever, it’s easy for you to get anyone to spill the beans.”

“Are you here to accuse me?” Li Xuan looked up at him, suddenly smirking maliciously. “Are you hurt?”

“Li Xuan!” Sheng Min furrowed his brows. “You know that’s not it.”

“I don’t know.” Li Xuan said bluntly.

“Alright. Fine.” Sheng Min paused for a moment, nodding. “You don’t know. So you went behind my back to ask others but wouldn’t ask me. When I bring it up, you always interrupt me. I really don’t want to talk about this, but if you want to know, there’s nothing I can’t tell you. Do you not want to hear it, or are you afraid to hear it? Did you ask them and get the answer you wanted? … No, right?”

His tone wasn’t harsh, still gentle and controlled in this situation.

Li Xuan stiffened, instinctively crushing the cigarette in his hand. His eyes turned sharp, and he stood up quickly. “I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

He tried to walk around Sheng Min, but Sheng Min gently grabbed his wrist.

“If you don’t understand, let me explain it to you, word by word, alright?” Sheng Min’s voice was still low, with a hint of fatigue if you listened closely. Li Xuan wanted to interrupt, but this time, he couldn’t bring himself to say the words to stop him.