Chapter 6 Spring Light Misplaced

Chapter 6 Spring Love Misplaced

The road back was somewhat congested. Guan Junshan sat in the back seat, listening to Wu Sihan and Song Yanxin chatting up front, rarely joining in, seeming preoccupied.

Wu Sihan was still fixated on what had just happened, curiosity getting the better of him. Despite multiple inquiries, all he got from Guan Junshan were a few perfunctory, noncommittal responses.

To prevent Wu Sihan from pestering him further, Guan Junshan had to start a new topic. He called out, "Yanxin," and asked, "When you were in Singapore, did you happen to know a wealthy young woman named Sammy?"

"Sammy?" Song Yanxin turned around from the passenger seat. "The name sounds vaguely familiar, but I can't quite recall at the moment."

"I see." Guan Junshan nodded and didn't pursue it further.

"Is there something you need, Big Brother?" Song Yanxin asked with concern, careful not to overstep. "If necessary, I can ask my friends there to look into it."

Guan Junshan hummed in acknowledgment without a direct answer, simply saying, "I'll leave that to you, then."

Wu Sihan's eyes had already tracked them through the rearview mirror, but before he could speak, Guan Junshan's phone rang. Wu Sihan, thinking it might be the "ex-boyfriend" calling again, eagerly studied Guan Junshan's expression in the mirror. But Guan Junshan answered the phone, maintaining his usual poker face, hummed a couple of times, and then hung up.

"Big Brother," Wu Sihan teased. "Who was that?"

Guan Junshan's eyes dropped to the phone screen that had long gone dark, lost in thought, not speaking for a long time.

Wu Sihan finally sensed something was wrong. His tone turned serious as he asked what had happened.

Guan Junshan straightened up slightly in his seat. He was too tall, and the seat back was a few centimeters lower than his shoulders, making him look uncomfortable. Yet even so, his posture remained impeccable. "Dr. Fu called," he said, pausing briefly before continuing. "He wants to meet with me next week to talk."

Dr. Fu was Wu Manzhen's family doctor. He had been with her ever since she moved back to Hong Kong twenty years ago, and even before Wu Sihan reached adulthood, any minor ailment would have him called in first.

Wu Sihan immediately understood and studied Guan Junshan's expression warily. "Is it Auntie's health... something wrong?"

"Dr. Fu is still on a business trip in the U.S., so he didn't go into detail over the phone." Guan Junshan considered for a moment and then comforted him, "Probably nothing too serious."

Wu Sihan breathed a slight sigh of relief. On this trip back, he had heard from the household staff that Wu Manzhen had been suffering from frequent headaches in recent months, with no identifiable cause. Once, she even lost consciousness while bathing and was fortunately discovered in time.

Perhaps Dr. Fu specifically wanted to discuss Wu Manzhen's condition with Guan Junshan now that he was back.

Wu Sihan gripped the steering wheel, but his mind was on Wu Manzhen's illness. Distracted, he missed a traffic light and only stopped after the front wheels had crossed the line, startling Song Yanxin into shouting for him to stop.

Guan Junshan unbuckled his seatbelt, told Wu Sihan to pull over, and made him move to the passenger seat.

Once the car was moving again, Guan Junshan drove without a desire for conversation. The atmosphere grew heavy, and even Wu Sihan lost his playful mood.

When they arrived home, they happened to run into Wu Manzhen, who was heading out.

She had a small gathering that evening; the wife of the Financial Secretary had invited her to watch polo, so the driver had already brought the car to the garden gate.

Wu Manzhen had just had her hair done. As she walked out, she instructed the maid to keep an eye on the stove, where soup was simmering and required constant attention.

She wore a beige checked tweed suit. In the afternoon sunlight, her well-maintained face was subtly made up, as if she never aged—forever the gentle, beautiful figure in Wu Sihan's memory.

Wu Sihan felt as if he had been struck, and he couldn't help but step forward and embrace her. Wu Manzhen was startled, her carefully styled curls getting crushed. She struggled to break free but couldn't, so she kept pushing his shoulders, muttering, "What are you doing? Let me go!"

It was as if she still saw Wu Sihan as that troublesome kid always getting into scrapes. "What mistake did you make this time? Don't try this on me—it won't work!"

In her agitation, she even blurted out the Shanghainese she hadn't used in years.

When Wu Manzhen first married Guan Yongyue, they had spent a blissful time in Shanghai, renting a house with a garden on Huaihai Middle Road. They moved in early May when the French plane trees were in full bloom. Hong Kong was too hot and humid, but Shanghai was just right. Plus, the women in Shanghai were charming and lively, unafraid to scold and tease, which made Wu Manzhen fond of the city.

At the time, she thought it was simply for love of her husband. It wasn't until after the divorce, when she moved back to Hong Kong, that she realized it wasn't entirely that.

She often returned in her dreams to that house, the sunlight bright and direct, setting the plane tree leaves aglow like emeralds. The nanny would take the toddling Guan Junshan to play in the garden, and Guan Yongyue would often find time between board meetings to come home and spend a little while with them.

In a lifetime, no matter how much wealth or status one has, the moments worth cherishing are perhaps only a handful. So even later, when Wu Manzhen came to hate Guan Yongyue, she couldn't bring herself to erase those memories from her memory.

About five or six years ago, the owner of the house was about to sell it. By the time news reached Wu Manzhen, the asking price had already climbed to fifty million. She said nothing, booked a flight for the next day, and flew to Shanghai alone, returning to the Huaihai Middle Road lined with plane trees.

Decades had passed, yet nothing seemed to have changed. Wu Manzhen stood outside the garden as dusk fell, and the streetlights came on one by one.

Young men and women brushed past her. She heard the familiar, soft and charming Shanghainese accent. A young girl with a lip piercing stood on the roadside talking on the phone, apparently arguing with her boyfriend, unleashing a string of "shisan dian" (a Shanghainese insult meaning "crazy") at him.

When the girl hung up, Wu Manzhen asked her to take a few photos.

The next day, a real estate agent called. Wu Manzhen still kept a Shanghai number, though it was rarely used and mostly received spam.

The agent was overly enthusiastic, addressing her as "older sister" repeatedly, even though she was old enough to be his mother—yet he persisted in asking if she had any plans to buy property.

But by then, Wu Manzhen was already sitting in the departure lounge at Pudong Airport. She had come back empty-handed and left the same way.

Unlike Guan Yongyue, Wu Manzhen was always soft-hearted. She didn't shut the door completely, simply saying, "Maybe I'll consider it sometime."

This unplanned trip had only taken two days. When Wu Manzhen landed in Hong Kong, the humid evening breeze greeted her, creating a surreal feeling of being out of place.

By the time Guan Junshan found out, a month had passed. He never stopped Wu Manzhen from going anywhere, but he did express mild disapproval that she hadn't brought an assistant or her medication on this trip.

Wu Manzhen set down her coffee cup and told him over the phone, "I found a place I like."

Guan Junshan was quite surprised but voiced no objection. He simply asked for the address and said he would have someone handle the rest.

On the verge of making a decision, Wu Manzhen hesitated for a long time, then gave up at the last moment. She sighed and told Guan Junshan, "Forget it. Let me think it over again."

Later, no matter how Guan Junshan pressed or hinted, Wu Manzhen never relented.

Spending fifty million to buy a dream—but that dream had Guan Yongyue's shadow in it. Wu Manzhen felt it wasn't worth it.

Not long after, Wu Sihan brought home his girlfriend of three years. Wu Manzhen became busy again and completely forgot about the matter.

After all, apart from Guan Junshan, the person she cared about most was Wu Sihan. Wu Sihan's mother had passed away early, and Wu Manzhen's feelings for him began with pity and compassion, eventually even surpassing her feelings for Guan Junshan.

Over the years, she had lived a comfortable life, though not without its ups and downs. Still, her own spring light (her best years) had been split—half for Guan Junshan, half nourishing Wu Sihan.

So when the grown Wu Sihan, who rarely showed emotion, embraced her tightly and it hurt a little, Wu Manzhen, after trying and failing to gently push him away, stopped struggling to resist.

The slanting sunlight streamed through the entrance hall, casting intertwined shadows behind them.

The air carried a faint salty sea breeze—the ever-present scent of Hong Kong—but with a touch of bitterness. Perhaps influenced by the mood, it seemed hard to inhale, as if it couldn't make it to the lungs.

Everyone present fell silent.

Guan Junshan stood behind them, also silent, his gaze carefully tracing Wu Manzhen's beautiful face. And then, at a certain moment, he noticed the fine lines she had hidden under her makeup.