Chapter 5 Mind Adding Me on WeChat?

Chapter 5: Can I Add Your WeChat?

Perhaps because Guan Junshan's movement of standing up and walking toward him was too smooth, Lin Haoda, in turn, felt a bit guilty and averted his gaze, not daring to stare at him like before.

There weren't many people in the restaurant at this hour, and Guan Junshan, being tall with long legs, soon stopped in front of him.

But there was still a distance of two or three meters between them. Lin Haoda wanted to step forward, but Guan Junshan spoke first.

"What's the matter?" he asked directly, his tone making it hard to tell whether they were familiar with each other.

"Sorry," Lin Haoda said. There was no room for the opening line he had prepared, so he chose to apologize first. "I didn't mean to disturb you." Guan Junshan's lukewarm attitude was hard to read, and Lin Haoda nervously wondered if he was angry.

"Mm." Guan Junshan had one hand in his pocket, his gaze fixed on him, as if using the simplest syllable to indicate he had taken note.

—Or perhaps he simply didn't care.

Lin Haoda, however, grew even more uneasy because of this.

It had to be said that Guan Junshan handled things as cleanly and decisively as he looked. He didn't care when Lin Haoda started following him, how long he had been following, or why he had done so. Skipping over unnecessary pleasantries, Guan Junshan had always cared only about the result.

Since Lin Haoda had come to find him, he must have something to say.

Lin Haoda called out "Mr. Guan" again, reluctantly took a few steps closer to him to adapt to this directness: "I don't have any other intention; I just wanted to thank you in person."

Guan Junshan's eyes remained on his face. Hearing this, he nodded: "Got it."

Though it was hard carrying on a one-sided conversation, Lin Haoda's resilience was fortunately not bad. He continued, "I'm really sorry for staining your suit."

Guan Junshan lowered his eyes at this, lightly scanning the stain on his clothes. Lin Haoda followed his gaze and finally revealed the real purpose of following him here: "Could I take it? I'll figure out how to clean it."

Guan Junshan indeed said "No need," withdrawing his gaze with no particular expression, and said lightly, "It's nothing."

Lin Haoda showed an apologetic smile and tried again: "But I can't think of any other way to express my gratitude."

Guan Junshan looked at his cautious and earnest manner, furrowed his brow slightly, and finally said a bit more: "Is this very important to you?"

Just a stained piece of clothing—was it worth all this trouble?

Lin Haoda blinked behind his scratched lenses, looking as if he didn't understand.

For instance, if Lin Haoda spilled soy milk on someone's clothes while crammed on the subway, he'd offer to clean it. But Guan Junshan would never even be on the subway.

Therefore, Lin Haoda's one-sided apologies and gratitude would only make Guan Junshan more guarded and wary.

The two naturally could not empathize with each other.

After all, there was one thing Guan Junshan hadn't lied about: his help to Lin Haoda was truly just a casual gesture.

Anyone with a little conscience wouldn't stand by and do nothing.

So Guan Junshan slightly averted his eyes and added, "I don't really care about such things."

His patience was wearing thin; he somewhat wanted to end this conversation where they were talking at cross purposes.

"I know," Lin Haoda nodded immediately. Lifting his chin to look at Guan Junshan, his beautiful eyes held a hint of gentle supplication. He paused for a few seconds and then said softly, "But I do care."

The air went still; no one spoke for a long while.

After saying this, Lin Haoda felt a bit of regret. Guan Junshan's personality was rather cold, and they hadn't known each other for long; acting weak and pitiful might only annoy him further. But what he didn't know was that the expression on his face now, in Guan Junshan's eyes, oddly seemed a little more pleasing than the forced smile from earlier in the infirmary.

Guan Junshan was still frowning. The moment he realized what he was thinking, his thin lips pressed together even tighter—thus his expression looked colder, less happy.

In his life, he had indeed never encountered such a thing before. After all, plenty of people wanted to throw themselves at him, and those people were usually more straightforward and better at reading the room; they would never pester him here over a suit jacket, looking like they wouldn't leave unless he agreed.

Although he didn't quite understand this useless persistence, after standing in silence for half a minute, Guan Junshan finally raised his hand and began unbuttoning his vest from top to bottom.

Lin Haoda got what he wanted and finally let out a sigh of relief, his eyes following the movement of his fingers: "Thank you, Mr. Guan."

Guan Junshan didn't like wearing cologne. When Lin Haoda took Guan Junshan's vest, he could smell a faint scent of aftershave and a stronger hint of women's perfume. The two scents mingled together, which in theory should have been pleasant, but Lin Haoda had a sensitive nose. Suddenly surrounded by unfamiliar smells, he couldn't help but turn his face away slightly and sneeze.

When he turned his face back, sure enough, Guan Junshan's expression turned a bit colder.

—As if Lin Haoda was put off by his scent.

"Sorry," Lin Haoda quickly explained, "I have mild rhinitis."

Guan Junshan didn't make any comment on this. He reached out and handed him the vest he'd taken off, as if strictly going through the motions.

"Thank you." The back of the vest was lined with silk satin; Lin Haoda took it carefully, afraid of scratching the fabric. "I'll take care of it as soon as possible."

Guan Junshan nodded and was about to turn and leave, but Lin Haoda called out to him again, asking, "What about the jacket? Should I take that too?"

He remembered that Guan Junshan's suit jacket had also been stained by the coffee over a large area.

Guan Junshan paused in his steps.

For a second or two, he suddenly felt a bit of regret, realizing that Lin Haoda was actually quite a stubborn person. Of course, that was a polite way to put it; if he had to be blunt, "troublesome" might be more fitting.

But unfortunately, he himself had just agreed; one item or two made no difference. Guan Junshan didn't want to be someone who went back on his word, so without saying anything, he turned back to the table and briskly picked up the suit jacket that was draped over the back of the chair.

Draping the jacket over his arm, Guan Junshan naturally looked up, about to say something to Wu Sihan and his wife.

Song Yanxin met his gaze and nodded lightly, not asking anything, but she secretly pressed her palm down on Wu Sihan's hand. Guan Junshan glanced at Wu Sihan again—sure enough, the guy looked shocked, his eyes glued to Guan Junshan's face.

Guan Junshan knew at a glance the wild ideas running through his mind, but he couldn't be bothered to correct him. He forgot everything he was about to say, leaving just one sentence: "It won't take long," which he said to Song Yanxin.

The one o'clock afternoon sun spread across the floor tiles through the glass. When Lin Haoda took Guan Junshan's jacket, he was slightly dazzled by the vintage-style mother-of-pearl buttons on it.

Seeing him with his head lowered and pausing for a long time, as if still thinking something over, Guan Junshan felt a little displeased. He called out "Lin Haoda," paused for a moment, and said coldly, "Is this enough?"

Lin Haoda quickly pulled back his hands, holding Guan Junshan's jacket and vest together in his arms. He looked up at him with what seemed like gratitude. "That's enough, Mr. Guan. I really have disturbed you."

As he spoke, he took out his phone, unlocking it with facial recognition. "Can I add your WeChat? When it's cleaned, I'll—"

"No need," Guan Junshan interrupted, telling him, "I'll have my assistant contact you."

Before Lin Haoda could react, Guan Junshan had already handed his phone to him, the screen showing the dial interface. Lin Haoda was stunned for two seconds before realizing that Guan Junshan was asking him to enter his own number.

Lin Haoda looked down at the screen, hesitating to act.

"Lin Haoda," Guan Junshan's face showed slight displeasure, and he had to urge him, "Can you please respect other people's time?"

Lin Haoda looked up at him again, his eyes wavering, looking at a loss for words. "Mr. Guan," he pleaded in a gentle tone, "Can I... still add your WeChat?"

Guan Junshan went still, staring at him for a few seconds. His thin eyelids seemed to flutter slightly, a flicker of emotion in his eyes, but before it could become more distinct, it was quickly concealed.

Lin Haoda's lips and tongue were dry, holding his phone, looking helpless. Guan Junshan lowered his eyes to glance at his innocent and pure expression, and a vague anger smoldered in his chest; simply because he felt he had misjudged him and wasted his time.

He calmed down a little, then thought again, and he wasn't surprised to find—Lin Haoda was no different from those people; after all that circling, it was just to reach the same final goal.

"Sorry, we're not that close."

With that thought, Guan Junshan's expression turned cold, pocketed his phone, and turned to leave.

"Mr. Guan!" Lin Haoda limped up from behind, not daring to reach out and stop him. "I'm really sorry, but I really don't have any ulterior motives!"

Guan Junshan kept walking without stopping, unsure whether he was paying attention.

"Le-leaving a phone number is fine!" In his haste, Lin Haoda accidentally bit his tongue, the pain distorting his tone as he whined, "But I can't receive any calls here at all."

Guan Junshan suddenly stopped, turned to look at him. "What do you mean?"

Lin Haoda struggled internally for a moment, and though it was embarrassing, he had to tell the truth: "I came to Hong Kong without getting a local SIM card; I only bought a data package."

"So?" Guan Junshan raised an eyebrow, not understanding.

"...So I can't receive calls or text messages."

This is the price of being cheap.

Guan Junshan stared into his dark eyes, silent for a long time, as if trying to tell if he was telling the truth.

Lin Haoda simply unlocked his phone and dialed the emergency number "999" in front of him; the screen immediately popped up a "Call Failed" notification.

Although he had seen money-saving tips online, admitting it in front of Guan Junshan was another matter. Lin Haoda pursed his lips, too embarrassed to look up at his expression at that moment.

Fortunately, the silence didn't drag on too long; Guan Junshan finally agreed to exchange WeChat.

Lin Haoda gingerly opened his camera to scan the QR code. With one hand in his pocket, Guan Junshan's expensive watch face reflected the sunlight, flickering at the edge of Lin Haoda's vision.

The two of them were clearly close, but at this moment, Lin Haoda's disheveled appearance became even more vivid: there were still bits of grass on his coat that he hadn't had time to clean off, a waterproof bandage on his chin, his glasses with a broken arm hanging on the tip of his nose, making him look grubby and somewhat comical.

Even though they were standing in the same sunlight, they seemed like different kinds of people.

Lin Haoda came to agree with Guan Junshan's refusal; if their roles were reversed, he wouldn't be very willing to add a stranger of unknown background either.

But Guan Junshan's patience was still more than he had expected.

Perhaps realizing that his preconceived notions had unjustly treated Lin Haoda, Guan Junshan offered to tell Lin Haoda when they parted, "My assistant will contact you later. If you have any... difficulties, you can also tell him."

Guan Junshan paused unnaturally when he said the word "difficulties"; this was probably the most tactful phrasing he could come up with after hesitating for a long time.

A ray of golden light shifted slightly, illuminating Guan Junshan's pupils and lips. Lin Haoda stared at his face, forgetting to say thank you and goodbye.

He was dazed for a moment, then suddenly recalled that he and Guan Junshan had clearly met long ago.

—Of course, Guan Junshan had helped him more than once.