Undesirable Marriage - CH 4.2

She knew that he must have been delayed again. Doctors are not like ordinary office workers, who can call and explain when they have to work late; one moment of delay could mean a patient’s life. She could understand why he couldn’t call in time to let her know, and she didn’t blame him. It’s just that she wasn’t sure if she should wait any longer.

Did he have to deal with a minor situation, or did he suddenly have to perform a major operation, and how long would it take? Would he not be free until midnight?

By then, her birthday would be over…

Mo Chuan Ya sighed faintly. It would have been a lie to say she was not sad. She had been looking forward to this night for days. She had been wanting to see his birthday present so badly — he had remembered to prepare it, right? He did not forget such an important thing, did he?

“Excuse me, Miss. We’re closing.”

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Eleven sharp, the waiter of the cafe came to her and apologised.

“Oh.” She roused herself and hurried to her feet. “I’m sorry. I kept you from closing, didn’t I?”

After paying the bill, she left the café and strolled to the front of the hospital, where the emergency room was still lit up and the lobby  illuminated.

Mbl dktbv oyp yp nsze yp knl. Fbl oyp y zkvvzl nbkzzu, elcyvkdt kq pbl pbswze ts kdvs vbl bsprkvyz yde oykv, cwv kd vbl lde pbl tyhl wr. Fbl eke dsv oydv svbla xleknyz pvyqq vs pll bla yde vlypl bkx clnywpl sq bla. Jwv ds xyvvla obyv, pbl bye vs pll bkx vsdktbv. Ys Ubwyd Zy xyel wr bla xkde yde pyv cu vbl qzsola cle swvpkel vbl bsprkvyz, oykvkdt elnkelezu.

Fbl zkpvldle vs vbl kVse yde zssjle yv vbl qypnkdyvkdt xssdzktbv. Fbl tzydnle yv bla oyvnb qasx vkxl vs vkxl, vbl nzsnj’p bydep qzypbkdt qsaoyae vbaswtb vbl iwyavlap.

Molzhl s’nzsnj; bla ckavbeyu oyp shla.

“Jwxxla.” Fbl rswvle.

Tyzq rypv volzhl, yde bl oyp pvkzz dsv vblal.

“Psd’v usw eyal qsatlv xl…” Fbl obkxrlale.

Fbl xswvble y oyadkdt, dsv jdsokdt obs pbl oyp vyzjkdt vs.

Rv oyp dlyazu sdl kd vbl xsadkdt obld bla rbsdl qkdyzzu aydt yde pbl awpble vs ydpola kv.

“Chuan Ya, where are you?” His voice was hoarse and sounded tired.

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“What’s wrong with you? What happened?” she asked softly.

“It was almost nine when a patient was brought in on short notice and the chief surgeon asked me to go in and follow the operation.”

“The nearly four-hour operation must have been very tiring, right?”

“I’m sorry.” He didn’t say he was tired, he just apologised to her. “Where are you now? Still waiting for me?” If he were to know she was still waiting, he would come at once, but she didn’t want that. She wanted him to have a good rest and sleep well.

She laughed softly, “Do you take me for a fool? Do you think I would wait so long like a fool? I’d have been home long ago.”

“That’s good.” He seemed relieved, and after a pause, he hesitantly raised his voice again, “Uh, Chuan Ya!”

“Let’s meet some other time.” She interrupted him gently. “You should go to bed. Good night.”

Dai Xingren looked at the hung up phone in a daze. He was still wearing his surgical gown and hadn’t even changed his clothes before he rushed to the duty office to dial his girlfriend. He was afraid she would still be waiting and becoming impatient. He thought that she might be mad at him. After all, tonight’s date was special; it was in celebration of her birthday.

On her birthday, he forgot their date.

At this thought, he could not help feeling chagrined. Though, he did not believe himself wrong. He was a doctor and had his responsibilities as one. As such, there was no other choice but to miss the date.

But he had promised her a birthday present, and he still remembers the glee on her face at the time…

Oh yes, the present! He was shocked to realise he had been so busy the last few days that he had forgotten to buy a present.

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“Dai Xingren!” He gritted his teeth and hit himself hard on the forehead. It was a good thing she was not a fool to wait for him, otherwise she would have been very sad to find herself waiting for half a day only to not receive the expected gift. He definitely did not want to see her disappointment.

Strangely enough, when he used to interact with his old female classmates, he had never cared about their likes and dislikes. Their expressions and words were meaningless whims to him. He saw and heard them, and soon after forgot them.

In comparison with her, he couldn’t be careless. He was always missing her, constantly thinking of her…

Dai Xingren was at a loss for words, still not understanding that this was the difference between being in love and not. He still thought that being in love was to date a girl, but true love does not come with just ‘meeting’ someone.

He exhaled a long sigh of relief, glad that his girlfriend had not waited for him this evening, saving him from the embarrassment of having not prepared a gift.

As he was walking to the locker room, just after passing through a curved corridor, he unconsciously looked down the corridor and caught the glimpse of a slender silhouette swaying just outside the lobby door.

The shadow was familiar, so familiar that it made his heart skip a beat.

No way… Mo Chuan Ya?

As the thought struck him, he began running down the stairs, leaping several steps at a time. He scampered out of the hospital door like a swift-witted and agile leopard. She had just crossed the street and was walking alone along the red brick road.

“Chuan Ya!” he shouted. His urgent cry broke the silence of the night and surprised her. She was startled and looked back.

Sure enough, it was her! That idiot, she had really waited for him!

Dai Xingren’s heart was frantic, a stifling feeling of anger building up in his chest. He crossed the road as quickly as he could and tugged her hand.

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“If you were waiting for me, why didn’t you say so? Why did you lie to me?” he hissed.

“Don’t you…” She was startled by him, her cherry lips trembling slightly. “Don’t get so excited, I’m just… going back soon.”

“You could have told me and I would drop you off. You shouldn’t have lied to me that you were already home.” He was still irritated, his dark eyes filled with indignation.

She tried to smile appeasingly at him, “It’s okay. I’ll call a cab myself, ok? Why should I bother you?”

“How can it be a bother?” He paused abruptly as his large hand grasped her soft palm.

“What’s wrong?” She was surprised.

“Your hands… they’re so cold.” He stared at her grimly, the fire in his eyes growing dim.

“How long have you been waiting out here?”

“Not long, really!” She explained in a hurry. “I was waiting for you at the coffee shop. Then I came out after closing time. I’ve only waited a little while before I got your call.” She lied.

If she had only waited for a moment, her hands would not have been so cold. She must have been waiting for a long, long time…

When he imagined how she must have been sitting in the night wind and suffering from the cold, his chest tightened up and he could hardly breathe. She obviously waited for a long time, but lied to him that she had already been at home, because she couldn’t bear the thought of him running back and forth for her after an operation, could she?

She was really too considerate of him. He, on the other hand, had even forgotten to prepare her a birthday present…

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“This isn’t going to work.” He let go of her hand with a jerk.

“What won’t work?” She asked, confused.

“Me and you, it won’t work!” He took two steps back, moaning hoarsely like a beast trapped in a cage. “Let’s stop dating. I don’t know how to love. Falling in love is just too hard for me. I don’t know how to do it right, I’ll just hurt you!”

He would… just hurt her?

Mo Chuan Ya looked at his trembling figure; at his furrowed brow; at his slightly scruffy chin; at the surgical gown he was still wearing in disarray. Her heartstrings tugged.

“I suppose you mean you don’t want to hurt me, right?”

“Yes, I don’t want to.” He whispered coldly, unaware that she had made a more precise comment on his words. His density related to love made him indeed not quite able to distinguish its subtleness. But Mo Chuan Ya could tell, she knew what lay under his unspoken words! He was afraid that he would hurt her, that she would be hurt by his love. And that he, in turn, would be heartbroken.

“You didn’t hurt me.” She smiled lightly.

He frowned, “A woman who has dated me before felt hurt!”

“That’s because you didn’t care for them, that’s why they felt hurt. But you’ve treated me differently, I can feel it.”

Was that right? Dai Xingren hesitated.

“You really don’t know how to love.” She teased with her starry smiling eyes. The smile gradually faded and turned into one deep with love, “But it’s okay, you’ll learn. We’ll learn together! Because the ability to love someone is something that can be developed.”

Can the ability to love someone be developed?

Dai Xingren looked at the woman in front of him, not knowing whether he should feel insulted or outraged. She seemed to be treating him like a schoolboy in love, lecturing him in a serious manner.

“Now that you’re here, where’s the present?” She asked playfully, suddenly spreading her palm towards him.

Oh no! He was horrified.

“You didn’t forget, did you?” Her cherry lips curled up in a sad manner.

“No, I… haven’t forgotten.” He whispered with difficulty, lying for the first time in his life so as not to disappoint someone. “Have you… had dinner yet? Are you hungry?”

“You’re not trying to change the subject, are you?” She looked at him angrily. “I only had a bowl of noodles this evening, and I’m hungry now.”

“That’s good.” He smiled faintly, and his unconfident face lightened up in an indescribably bright and charming way that it took her breath away. “I’ll make you some egg fried rice.”

He took her hand and slipped quietly into the dormitory provided by the hospital for residents, and came to a small but well-equipped kitchen.

“You’re really going to cook?”  Mo Chuan Ya sat at the table and stared at Dai Xingren’s busy back. Although he was wearing an apron, he didn’t lose his manliness at all, but looked even more magnificent and sexy.

She watched as he served a large bowl of cold rice that was resting in the rice cooker. He then opened the fridge and fished out eggs, spring onions, carrots, green beans, ham and other ingredients and put them on the chopping board, dicing them neatly. It seemed that he was serious, and his craftsmanship didn’t look bad. At least he appeared in control of everything in the kitchen, which was much more leisurely and elegant than when she was making sushi for him.

“This is a unique skill I learned when I was working in a restaurant, so look closely.” He announced smugly, turning on the gas burner, heating the frying pan and stir-frying the ingredients.

She listened to the sound of sizzling oil and watched him holding the handle of the frying pan and performing stunts like throwing the eggs and fried rice in the frying pan one after another. She couldn’t help but stand up apprehensive.