Sheng Min sat back on the sofa only after the sound of high heels in the corridor had completely disappeared. Zhang Shan didn't drink the tea she poured for her, so Sheng Min took it and drank it all. He still felt thirsty, so thirsty that his heart felt blocked, perhaps because the two consecutive conversations were too exhausting.
He suddenly missed Li Xuan very much, but there was no message on his phone, and there was no response to the text message he sent. Waiting was his strength, but at this moment it made Sheng Min feel tortured, so he simply dialed the number. The ringing sounded for a long time, and finally became, Sorry, the number you dialed is temporarily unavailable.
It was not until after lunch that I had to prepare for recording again. The phone call was not connected. At this moment, worry prevailed rather than anxiety.
"You go to the studio first." He glanced at the watch and said to Yang Xu, "There are still five minutes. If the director asks, just say I'll be there soon."
He quickly walked into the security passage next to him. Fortunately, Qi Boyuan's business card was not lost. Sheng Min hesitated for a moment, called, and finally one of the calls was connected.
"Hello, who is this?"
“I’m Shengmin.”
"Ah... Oh." Qi Boyuan was obviously stunned, and asked cautiously and puzzledly, "Is there something wrong?"
"Is Li Xuan here?" Inexplicably, this question made Sheng Min feel a little embarrassed, but he still insisted on finishing his sentence, "No one answered his phone."
"He's not here... Let me check again for you." Qi Boyuan was obviously a little embarrassed, but he still replied. Soon, footsteps were heard from the other end, and a moment later he said to him, "He's not in the office. I haven't seen him all day today... Didn't you leave together yesterday?"
"After dinner, he went back to the company. Doesn't he live in the company now?"
"Then I'll ask for you again."
I don't know who he called, probably the administrator, to ask if he had seen Li Xuan.
"No." I vaguely heard a female voice answering from the other end, "I came late today and didn't see Brother Xuan... Brother Bo Yuan, here are some resumes I screened, take a look, I'm going to leave after I finish the work next week..."
"Okay. Give it to me, and you can call Li Xuan..."
There was silence on the other end for a while, and then the same female voice came back: "No answer."
"He's not here. He might have gone out." Qi Boyuan then said to him, "I just asked a colleague to call him but he didn't get through."
"Oh... Thank you, I'm fine."
"You're welcome." Perhaps because he could tell from his low voice, Qi Boyuan comforted him rather awkwardly, "Li Xuan might be busy with something. He often doesn't answer the phone when he's busy."
Sheng Min hesitated for a moment: "If he returns to the company later..."
"I'll remind him to call you back."
"Thanks."
"It's my duty. You're so polite." Qi Boyuan said, "Wait a little longer. Maybe we don't even have to wait for him to return to the company. He will get back to you when he sees it."
However, when the recording ended that day, he still didn't receive a call back from Li Xuan.
Sheng Min felt that he should not call again. Qi Boyuan was right. If Li Xuan saw it, there was no reason for him not to reply. But why didn't he see it? Sheng Min stared at the phone, and the screen reflected his frown.
I might as well call again, he thought, … but the voice he wanted to hear still didn’t come from the other end of the line.
"Alright, brother." Yang Xu couldn't bear it any longer and snatched his phone away. "Forget it if you can't get through. What's so great about him? He didn't even answer your call."
Sheng Min spread his hands: "Give it to me."
"I don't..." Yang Xu's voice gradually became weaker under his gaze, and she handed it over reluctantly. Coincidentally, the phone beeped, warning that the battery was about to run out.
"Look, it's almost out of battery..." Yang Xu said quickly, "I'll charge it for you first, and I'll give it to you when the phone rings. You're holding it and looking at it again and again, aren't you tired? If he wants to find you, he'll find you, and if he doesn't want to find you... it's not like a flower will grow if you look at it a few more times."
"Why are you suddenly so talkative?" Sheng Min's tone did not reveal much emotion. He lowered his eyes slightly, and it was unclear where his gaze was looking.
Yang Xu was unsure of his attitude: "You wouldn't go looking for him now... We're going to the airport soon."
In the distance, the driver had already driven the car over, and the white light left a gray shadow on the wall.
Even if he wanted to find him, where could he find him? Sheng Min glanced at the phone held by Yang Xu. He couldn't contact him and didn't know where he was.
"Let's go." Sheng Min didn't say anything else, opened the car door and got in.
On the way to the airport, Sheng Min was very silent. He just sat in the terminal, looking very bored.
"Brother, are you okay?" Yang Xu handed him a glass of green grape juice.
"Yeah." Sheng Min smiled and took the water but didn't drink it. "How long will it take to board the plane?"
"Twenty minutes."
Sheng Min pursed his lips: "Is your phone fully charged? Give it to me."
"You're going to fight again..." Yang Xu muttered softly, and reluctantly handed it to him, "There's nothing..."
Before he finished speaking, two missed calls popped up.
"I didn't turn off the mute." Yang Xu's eyes widened and he said quickly, but he was not sure, "I think I didn't turn it off..."
Yes. Sheng Min remembered that he had muted the sound before recording and never turned it back on.
He looked at the name on the screen and felt that his heart, which had been hanging for a long time, finally settled down.
He walked to a secluded place and dialed Li Xuan's number. It rang once and was immediately connected.
"Hello." Li Xuan's voice sounded a little anxious.
"What's the matter?"
"Are we boarding the plane?"
"Um."
For some reason, Li Xuan's voice sounded a little breathless: "I didn't see your call or message this morning."
"It's okay." Sheng Min said softly, "I forgot to turn on the sound on my phone just now."
He wanted to ask Li Xuan where he went that morning, but he couldn't explain why and he didn't want to ask. After a while, he just said, "Where are you now?"
Li Xuan was silent for a moment, and only a faint sound of electricity could be heard in the receiver.
Sheng Minxin brought it up again, almost blurting out, "Are you okay?"
Li Xuan hummed in surprise, wondering why he asked such a question. Sheng Min was relieved by his reaction and bit her lower lip. As long as he was okay, the rest of her worries were not that important. She whispered, "Nothing, I was just overthinking. You go ahead and do your work... I, I have to board the plane."
"Sheng Min." Li Xuan heard that he was about to hang up, and interrupted him in a panic, "I..."
Sheng Min didn't hear his next words clearly. A sudden female voice sounded on the other end of the phone. Passengers taking Air China flight CA1234 to Yunnan, please note that we regret to inform you that due to the temporary change of boarding position...
Sheng Min was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously looked at the broadcast that was playing the same notice: "Where are you?"
Li Xuan didn't say anything, Sheng Min was helpless: "I already heard it."
The other side seemed to sigh: "Share the location, I will come to find you."
It took a total of 372 seconds from the time he hung up the phone to the time Li Xuan appeared in front of him. Sheng Min counted silently in his mind, feeling that he had many questions to ask him and many things to say to him. But when they really met, they looked at each other for a moment, but just walked up to him and gently wiped the sweat off his forehead: "Why are you running so fast?"
"I'm afraid I'll be gone before I can catch up."
"I thought I would see you next time I come back..." Sheng Min lowered his voice unconsciously and smiled at Li Xuan again, "It's actually quite fast, only a week. I can stay for two days when I come back for promotion."
It was unclear whether these words were meant to comfort himself or the other person. Li Xuan raised his hand and gently touched his hair: "I didn't mean to ignore your call."
"I understand." Sheng Min said, his eyes always understanding and gentle.
Li Xuan's Adam's apple moved up and down: "I..."
"It doesn't matter."
"It does matter." Li Xuan pressed his eyebrows and looked at him, as if he had made a great decision and said with a little reluctance, "I never noticed before that during the recording of "Picking the Moon", the audience had to put away their phones."