Li Xuan was awakened by a knock on the door.
As autumn begins, the daylight comes later and later. At this time, the sky is still covered with a layer of light gray.
He had only slept for four or five hours from last night until now, and was so sleepy that he could not even open his eyes as he walked towards the door.
"Slow down." Sheng Min's wrists were still tied to him. She was pulled out of the bed in a half-asleep state, stumbling and almost bumping into the door frame.
The knocks on the door kept ringing like a death sentence. Li Xuan walked to the door with a bad temper. He looked through the peephole and found that it was a middle-aged man he didn't recognize. "Who is it?"
"Me." The person outside the door answered him impatiently.
"You? Who are you?" Li Xuan's tone was even more irritable than his. "Anonymous?"
The person outside the door paused for a second and raised his voice: "Sheng Min, what's wrong with you? You didn't even answer the phone. Hurry and open the door."
"Sheng Min..." Li Xuan suddenly realized that this was not his own home. He glanced at the people around him and asked, "Is your friend outside?"
"My manager." Sheng Min also sobered up and looked at Li Xuan, "Now it's yours."
"Hurry up! What are you doing?" Zhang Zhihua slammed the door hard.
Sheng Min frowned and reached out to open it, but Li Xuan stopped him.
"What are you arguing about? Wait!" He yelled back at Zhang Zhihua, pointed at the ropes on their hands, and signaled Sheng Min, "Untie them first."
The rope was tied too tight yesterday, and it was pulled and tugged all night, so now there are several knots on it. Zhang Zhihua was probably stunned by his shouting, and he stopped urging, and the outside of the door was temporarily quiet. Li Xuan didn't care anymore. After trying with Sheng Min for a while without success, he was about to find a knife when he heard the door lock click, and then the door was pushed open.
"Sheng Min, who the hell is this?!"
Sheng Min didn't expect Zhang Zhihua to come in directly. She was startled and was about to speak. Li Xuan frowned and shook his head, but he turned his back to block his sight, quickly lowered his head to bite off the rope, and put down his sleeve to block it. Then he turned around, looked Zhang Zhihua up and down for a few seconds without showing any expression, and said: "Since you have the key, why are you knocking on the door?"
"What a broken door and lock you have. I poked it several times but it won't open." Zhang Zhihua threw the key out with an unhappy look on his face, almost hitting Li Xuan. Li Xuan dodged sideways, his face gloomy. Sheng Min thought he was going to get angry, but the next second, Li Xuan just bent down, picked up the key and put it on the table beside him. He took Sheng Min's phone.
"Who is this person?" Zhang Zhihua pointed at Sheng Min and asked again.
Li Xuan frowned. Sheng Min was worried that he would say something bad, so he spoke before he did, "I'm his new assistant."
"Assistant?" Zhang Zhihua asked in surprise.
Li Xuan didn't say anything, but glanced at him without revealing his feelings. Sheng Min winked at him with a pleading look on his face. Li Xuan coughed and reluctantly agreed, "Yes, I found an assistant."
"Don't you already have Yang Xu and Liu Jia? Why are you looking for an assistant?" Zhang Zhihua said loudly, "You think you can act big now that you are famous, and two assistants are not enough? The company has not planned this expense for you..."
He talked non-stop, but Li Xuan just ignored him and leaned against the table in the restaurant, checking something on his phone. Sheng Min tilted his head and saw that it was Zhang Zhihua's information.
"Speak up." Sheng Min urged him quietly. Li Xuan ignored her and glanced at the information, then went to look at the chat history. He read things very quickly, almost to the point of reading ten lines at a glance. After flipping through the information, he put his phone on the table. Zhang Zhihua on the other end was saying, you wanted to find an assistant but you didn't tell me.
"Don't you know now?" Li Xuan frowned. Zhang Zhihua seemed not to have heard clearly and continued to yell. Li Xuan hadn't slept well to begin with, and his noise gave him a headache. He raised his hand and slapped the table: "What are you arguing about?! I've said it twice and you still can't hear me?"
Zhang Zhihua was stunned for a moment and looked at him with dissatisfaction: "Sheng Min, did you take the wrong medicine?"
"What disease do I have that requires medication?" Li Xuan narrowed his eyes, but his voice became steady and unhurried. "Is it serious? Is it contagious? I am still an artist of the company. You are my agent and you are throwing dirty water on me like this? Does the company know?"
He asked a long series of questions in one breath. Zhang Zhihua scratched his hair: "No... What happened to you today? And your, this assistant..." He pointed at Sheng Min and immediately became confident, "You didn't tell the company."
"I hired a personal assistant and paid for it myself, not using the company's account. What do you have to say about that?"
"Personal assistant?" Zhang Zhihua's eyes widened, as if he had thought of something. He subconsciously stepped forward to examine Sheng Min, then looked at Li Xuan, "He... Don't lie to me, you are not..."
"What can't you do?" Li Xuan pulled Sheng Min behind him to block him in a bad mood.
Zhang Zhihua looked a bit disdainful and unwilling to speak, and said impatiently: "You know the answer yourself."
"I counted, but you didn't." Li Xuan didn't want to pay attention to him at all. Sheng Min secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and then heard Li Xuan say, "What are you doing here so early in the morning?"
"I didn't know you had a job." Zhang Zhihua glanced at Sheng Min and sat down on the sofa nearby.
"Isn't it ten o'clock?" Li Xuan recalled the content of the chat record. There was an interview today. He raised his wrist to check his watch. It was not yet seven o'clock.
"Didn't you ask Yang Xu to call me here? Do you think I want to come? I can't get through to you on the phone, and I want to ask you something?" Zhang Zhihua yelled again.
"Turn down your volume!" Li Xuan raised his hand to cover half of his ear and mouthed to Sheng Min, "Did you ask him to come?"
Sheng Min pursed his lips.
"I really admire you." Li Xuan cursed him in a low voice, quickly sorted out his thoughts, and looked at Zhang Zhihua, "I called you here for two reasons. First, to inform you that I found a new assistant, and second, I will not attend today's interview."
"Not going? Why not?" Zhang Zhihua stood up suddenly, "No!"
"Whether it's okay or not, no one has discussed it with you." Sheng Min was also stunned when he heard it, and pulled at his clothes. Li Xuan slapped his hand away, "You shut up too."
"How can I explain if you don't go to the TV station?" Zhang Zhihua was very dissatisfied.
"That's your business." His voice was so loud that Li Xuan's voice became louder and his mouth became dry. He picked up the cup and filled it with half a cup of water. "You are my agent. How to handle these things? Do you need me to teach you? You can talk about it another day or cancel it... This is your responsibility. Do you want me to do it? The thief gets beaten for eating meat. You are only responsible for collecting money and not doing any work? I can't do such a good thing myself, so why do I need you?"
Zhang Zhihua was so stunned by his words that he choked up and said, "There must be a reason why you suddenly don't want to go?"
"I'm sick. Didn't you say it several times just now? I'm crazy and sick, how can I go?" Li Xuan pulled out a chair and sat down seriously.
"You don't usually have such a bad temper. You won't let go of a word you said." Zhang Zhihua softened a little, "Change your clothes. The driver is downstairs..."
"Are you sure?" Li Xuan interrupted him and smiled, his tone even a little teasing, "You can go, but I can't guarantee that I won't get sick on the spot."
Zhang Zhihua was stunned. He was actually stumped by the question. Sheng Min signed with the company at the age of fifteen, and he was the one who led her. From being unknown to becoming famous, she was always easy to control, and she never got angry even when yelled at or scolded. If Sheng Min had asked him this question yesterday, or even before he entered the door, he would not have hesitated...
No, that's not right. Zhang Zhihua thought, how could he have thought Sheng Min would say such a thing before? He couldn't help but look at "Sheng Min" again. He didn't know if it was a psychological effect, but he always felt that something was different. For a moment, he simply felt that this was not Sheng Min, but if this was not him, who else could it be
"Look, have you made up your mind?" Li Xuan propped up his head with one hand. "If I were you, I would go and discuss it with the TV station as soon as possible. If you delay any longer, the result will be the same. Or if you insist that I go today, then..."
He made a move to stand up.
"Okay, forget about going today." Zhang Zhihua was really unsure of him for a moment, and reluctantly said, "It's really hard to please when you're famous... You have to go to shoot the commercial in two days."
"Let's talk about it later." Li Xuan sat back leisurely, "If you have nothing else to do, you can leave. I still need to sleep for a while."
"Where is he?" Zhang Zhihua pointed at Sheng Min.
"I don't understand the word private. Why do you care? He is right here."
Zhang Zhihua's expression became more and more strange: "Here?"
"What else?" Li Xuan knocked on the table. "Why? The company wants to arrange a place for him to live. It would be best if they also pay him his salary. That way I can save money."
He said as he moved aside and made a gesture of invitation: "Take the person away."
"Where should I take the assistant you hired yourself?" Zhang Zhihua was startled and stared at him as if he had seen a ghost. Li Xuan smiled indifferently. Zhang Zhihua let out a long sigh and walked forward to take the key and leave. As soon as he touched him, Li Xuan snatched the key back.
"If you throw it away, don't take it. I don't like people coming in casually." He still had that half-smiley look on his face, and his tone was very kind. "Also." Li Xuan recalled the chat records he had just read. Sheng Min's usual work was basically notified one or two days in advance. "Get me a schedule."
"Didn't I just tell you that we were going to shoot a commercial on Thursday?"
"I need a month's time, place, and everything. Why are you glaring at me so unhappily?" Li Xuan looked at him in confusion. "You also said that I'm famous. How come I don't even have a schedule? Then why am I famous? In your mouth?"
"Sheng Min, are you fucking possessed?!" Zhang Zhihua looked at him, and every wrinkle on his face revealed disbelief.
"No matter which artist, this is a normal request. You actually think I'm possessed? Then you need to reflect on yourself." Li Xuan hooked the key in his hand and turned it twice. "I want it within today, is that okay?... What are you looking at me for? I'm asking you."
Zhang Zhihua was choked by him and couldn't speak. He pointed at him twice with shaking hands. He felt like he was dreaming since he entered the room. He glanced at Sheng Min next to him and slammed the door.