Chapter 11 I Just Want to Help You

Chapter 11: I Just Want to Help You

When Guan Junshan was five years old, Wu Manzhen made up her mind to divorce Guan Yongyue.

In his memory, the weather that day was beautiful. After kindergarten, Guan Junshan was picked up by Guan Yongyue, a rare occurrence.

Wu Manzhen usually kept a tight rein, forbidding Guan Junshan from eating too many sweets, so Guan Yongyue brought an entire slab of imported chocolate, unwrapping piece after piece and feeding them into his mouth.

Back then, Guan Junshan understood nothing—at an age where a piece of candy would make him say "Daddy is great." Guan Yongyue played with him on the lawn in the courtyard for a while, then asked, "Jun Shan, do you want to live with Daddy or Mommy?"

Little Guan Junshan struggled to swallow the chocolate, looking at his father, who hadn't been home in a long time, and hesitated: "Do I have to choose?"

Guan Yongyue told him, "You can only pick one," while wiping a smear of chocolate from his lips with his finger, offering a greater temptation: "If you come with Daddy, there will be endless chocolate."

Guan Junshan was delighted and, without a second thought, chose his father.

Just then, the family nanny rushed out, almost snatching Guan Junshan from his father's arms, and carried him upstairs.

On the stairs, Guan Junshan met Wu Manzhen. Still not understanding what was happening, he instinctively opened his mouth to call "Mommy," but received a slap from her instead.

It was the first time in Guan Junshan's memory that Wu Manzhen had hit him. The ring scraped across his cheek, leaving a red mark that almost immediately swelled. Guan Junshan was stunned for a moment, then burst into loud sobs.

The heart-wrenching cries lasted from afternoon until evening. Later, when Guan Junshan grew a bit older, he learned that it was that very afternoon when Wu Manzhen signed the divorce agreement drafted by Guan Yongyue's lawyer.

Unlike Guan Yongyue's flimsy promise of endless chocolate, Wu Manzhen genuinely gave up many compensation terms she could have fought for.

With the signed divorce agreement in hand, Guan Yongyue wasted no time in ordering his driver to remove every trace of himself from the house. Guan Junshan heard the commotion, crying and gasping in the next room, hoarsely calling for his father.

Even so, Guan Yongyue didn't linger—he didn't even come to look at him.

Shortly after Guan Yongyue left, the weather suddenly changed, and a heavy rain began to fall. That night, Guan Junshan developed a high fever. Wu Manzhen carried him to the hospital, where it was discovered that one of his baby teeth had decayed, and eating too much chocolate had triggered an acute inflammation.

Fortunately, after an IV drip and a long observation period, Guan Junshan's fever finally broke at dawn. Wu Manzhen stayed by his bedside all night, crying silently—but Guan Junshan knew, even with his eyes closed.

Because her tears dripped onto his lips, and he couldn't help but lick them. They were bitter and salty.

Expecting a five-year-old to immediately understand "divorce" might be difficult, but Guan Junshan later learned to infer the changes in his household from the items that disappeared from the cupboard, the missing halves of photos, and the permanently absent figure. He stopped pestering the nanny about when Guan Yongyue would come back to live with them, and rarely mentioned wanting to eat chocolate in front of Wu Manzhen. If she liked fruits and vegetables, then he would eat more of them too.

Because more than the joy of eating chocolate, he wished his mother would stop crying.

That was Guan Junshan's first lesson in "deception and exploitation." Later, when he moved back to Hong Kong with Wu Manzhen and learned from the unbridled Hong Kong media the truth about Guan Yongyue's infidelity, every time he recalled that afternoon when he was tricked by a piece of chocolate, he felt that Wu Manzhen's slap had been far too light and lenient.

And chocolate was completely banished from his life. He couldn't accept deception, exploitation, false affection, or hypocrisy—yet the essence of human nature often leaned that way. Thus, Guan Junshan became difficult to approach, even, in some rumors, the most aloof and unfeeling kind of person.

Lin Haoda's appearance only proved this once again.

But Guan Junshan was surprised that tonight he needed painkillers to forget him. So he changed his mind about not blocking Lin Haoda and vowed to break his habit of taking painkillers whenever he had a headache.

For Guan Junshan, blocking someone meant discarding a relationship. No one picks up unwanted things from the trash. But if there were a God's-eye view, he was still too confident at the time, too absolute in his words. In this world, there's no such thing as someone you'll never see again.

For Guan Junshan, today was destined to be an unpleasant day.

Because just an hour later, he saw Lin Haoda again.

It was 10:30 PM.

The ride-hailing app already had over fifty people in the queue. Due to the sudden downpour, city traffic had nearly ground to a halt.

Lin Haoda was squeezed in the crowd, one shoulder nearly soaked by the rain slanting in from the side. The ride-hailing platform was overloaded, so he had to join the scramble for taxis. A car came up the slope and before it had even stopped, everyone surged forward in a wave.

Lin Haoda was swept along, unable to move, frantically tapping the window to get the driver to open the door. But the driver just waved his hand from inside, stepped on the gas, and sped off. Lin Haoda got a faceful of exhaust, his eyes barely able to open.

The rain kept falling and thunder rumbled. Lin Haoda gave up on fighting for a taxi and decided to head back to the lobby seating area to wait. Even if the rain lasted all day, once the crowd thinned out in the early morning hours, he'd find a way back somehow.

Fortunately, the hotel service was pretty good, thoughtfully offered hot water and towels for drenched guests. Lin Haoda walked over, dripping wet, asked for a towel, and stood there drying his hair off.

By this hour, most guests had already gone to bed. The lobby was quiet, with only a few people sheltering from the rain in the seating area, talking quietly.

Suddenly, the elevator dinged, followed by footsteps. Lin Haoda instinctively stepped aside. Just as he reached the floor-to-ceiling window, he heard a familiar voice, low and serious, asking the front desk if they could arrange a car.

His body reacted faster than his mind. He turned his head and immediately saw Guan Junshan standing there.

Guan Junshan finished his request and was waiting for the front desk to contact the business department when he felt someone staring at him. He turned his head and met Lin Haoda's eyes.

"..." They stared at each other, both were silent for a moment.

Just as Lin Haoda was about to speak, Guan Junshan silently turned away, acting as if he wasn't there.

Though a little disappointed, Lin Haoda found it reasonable. Guan Junshan had serious misunderstandings about him; he wouldn't expect a warm reception. So he held his hot water and quietly looked away.

He wasn't far away, and he caught bits of the front desk conversation. Due to the heavy rain, all the ride services were swamped; the hotel couldn't immediately arrange a car to pick him up. Guan Junshan had to compromise, asking if they could call a driver to take him to his destination.

The front desk staff were also helpless, repeatedly explaining that there weren't enough cars or drivers available—neither a car nor a driver could be arranged right away. They tried to reassure him: "Mr. Guan, you can go back to your room and rest. If a car becomes available, we'll contact you immediately."

There was a long silence, with no reply from Guan Junshan.

Lin Haoda couldn't help but look up. Guan Junshan's head was slightly lowered, his face lowered, deep in thought. His left hand was pressed against the marble counter, his fingers tense and turning pale.

"Mr. Guan, are you alright?"

Lin Haoda waited a moment before seeing Guan Junshan lift his head, his expression as calm and composed as ever: "Alright, let's leave it for now."

He stepped back from the front desk, pulling out his phone as he turned, he dialed a number.

"I can't make it for now. The driver and the car are both stuck in traffic."

Guan Junshan moved behind a pillar, out of Lin Haoda's sight, but his voice came from nearby: "I've been drinking. I can't drive."

"Mm... yes."

"What does the doctor say now?"

"Alright, got it. I'll get there as soon as I can."

The call should have ended then, but Guan Junshan stayed in the shadow of the pillar, neither stepping out nor leaving.

The paper cup in Lin Haoda's hand had gone lukewarm. He should have walked away or gotten more hot water, but after a moment's hesitation, he stepped out from behind the pillar and came face-to-face with Guan Junshan: "Mr. Guan, I heard you need someone to drive you out."

This was probably the most direct he had ever been with Guan Junshan—no begging, no scheming, even a little abrupt and reckless. This time, Lin Haoda wasn't doing it for himself.

As expected, Guan Junshan frowned. His finger paused slightly as he was about to dial another number, and he raised his eyes to meet Lin Haoda's: "Yes."

Lin Haoda, expecting to be ignored again, let out a small sigh of relief and was about to continue when Guan Junshan brushed past him and walked straight to the elevator.

"Mr. Guan." Lin Haoda quickly followed, following close behind him. "I have an international driver's license."

At this, Guan Junshan suddenly stopped and turned back to look at him, his gaze was cold: "Lin Haoda."

"I don't have time to play cat-and-mouse with you anymore. If you're still trying to get something from me, now's not a good time."

He paused briefly, his gaze falling on Lin Haoda's face, still wet with raindrops, and finally showed a flicker of emotion—unfortunately, it was a tone of disdain: "I suggest you don't get any ideas."

Lin Haoda lowered his eyes, the eyelids that had just been rained on and rubbed with a towel slightly reddened, quivering with emotion.

Obviously, he had not expected that Guan Junshan's impression of him had sunk to such a low, and if he had a choice, he would rather turn back time to the moment before he decided to step out from behind the pillar.

"Sorry," Lin Haoda gasped briefly, his hair dripping water, "but I didn't mean it that way."

"I just want to help you," he said, lifting his face. His glasses were streaked with rain, not yet wiped dry, so Lin Haoda's view of Guan Junshan was blurred, even the impatience on his face seemed less sharp.

"I'm not what you think I am..."

Lin Haoda didn't finish after all. He couldn't find the right adjective; perhaps Guan Junshan thought him worse than the worst of villains.

But Guan Junshan had sworn never to give him another chance to put on an act. Without staying a second longer, he brushed past Lin Haoda and left before he could finish.

The dark violet sky outside the window flashed, clouds churning, and a bolt of lightning streaked across.

Lin Haoda still stood by the floor-to-ceiling window. After a moment, following a flash as bright as daylight, he saw Guan Junshan come back from the elevator.

Lin Haoda's fingers around the paper cup slowly tightened, and he blinked in surprise.

Just like their first meeting at the University of Hong Kong, Guan Junshan eventually came back and decided to give Lin Haoda one more chance, no matter what.

His patience was extremely limited, yet somehow when it came to Lin Haoda, he always found two extra measures of self-persuasion.

Perhaps it was because Guan Junshan had no other choice. Lin Haoda's luck in this regard was remarkably good, always catching him when he had no backup plan.

"What kind of driver's license do you have?" Guan Junshan confirmed from a distance of four or five meters.

"It's valid here." Lin Haoda paused for a moment, then quickly caught on.

The rain outside grew heavier. Guan Junshan held his gaze for a moment, tossed him the car keys, and finally said, "No questions, and stay put."