One Hundred Ways to Knock Down the Doctor - Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Wang Xiaoxiao invited me to a hot pot dinner with the sole purpose of interrogating me about every detail of how I managed to land my dream guy.

I rejected her without mercy, informing her that I had a date with him tonight and didn’t have the time.

And it was true-I really didn’t have the time.

To show my gratitude for him taking me in last night, I specifically bought a salad, intending to add a side dish to Zhao Chunian’s dinner.

However, after rushing home from work, I squatted by the door and waited until nine o’clock in the evening.

Zhao Chunian still wasn’t back.

I eventually gave up on even closing my own door. I moved a small stool to the doorway and sat there, clutching my phone as I debated sending him a WeChat message.

I typed: “Hello.” Then I deleted it.

I typed: “Are you there?” Deleted that, too.

I typed: “How much was the medicine? I’ll transfer the money to you.” Still deleted it.

Bored out of my mind, I finally clicked into his Moments and scrolled all the way to the bottom to look through them from oldest to newest.

It was either medical forums, hospital promotions, or reposted medical science articles he’d liked.

The only outlier was a photo of him with his arm around a beautiful girl with fair skin, long legs, and a slender waist. He was beaming with a bright, sunny smile.

The location tag was at the local scenic spot, Qiuming Mountain.

Looking closer, the girl was that very kind nurse who had handed me tissues during my ultrasound.

Does my dream guy have a girlfriend?

Maybe she isn’t even a girlfriend; maybe she’s his wife.

That post was from a year ago.

So much happened between me and my dream guy in just one night. They work at the same hospital and have been together for at least a year. Forget marriage-at the rate things move, they could have a kid by now.

I sat there clutching my phone. A ding echoed in my ears-not the sound of the elevator arriving, but the sound of my maiden heart shattering into a million pieces.

“Why are you sitting at the door?”

Zhao Chunian was standing in front of me, leaning down to look at me.

I instinctively locked my phone and shook my head.

“Nothing, nothing. I just wanted to see if you were back yet. I haven’t transferred the money for yesterday’s medicine.”

Zhao Chunian glanced at my dark phone screen.

“It wasn’t much. How is the allergy?”

I gave an “oh” and proceeded to give him a live demonstration by patting both sides of my face.

“It’s fine now. The swelling is all gone.”

Zhao Chunian looked at my face again.

“It’s better to be careful. Come over to my place.”

Then he pointedly added, “Remember to bring your keys.”

I shook my head frantically, clutching my stool as I scrambled back into my apartment.

“No, no, no, no. It’s late. It wouldn’t look good if your girlfriend saw us. I’m not going.”

Chasing a dream guy is one thing, but I can’t bring myself to be a homewrecker.

Zhao Chunian grabbed my arm. “What girlfriend?”

I was as slippery as a loach, wriggling out of his grip in a flash and slamming the front door shut with a loud bang.

Zhao Chunian knocked on the door from the outside.

I played dead inside.

The scene felt exactly like a TV drama.

The female lead is diagnosed with a terminal illness and breaks up with the male lead; as soon as the security door closes, she collapses against it, weeping uncontrollably, while the male lead bangs his head against the wall outside.

Except I definitely wasn’t weeping, and my dream guy certainly wasn’t taking his frustrations out on the wall.

I sat on the floor, staring blankly at a golden ornament on the table.

It wasn’t that I wanted to stare at it, but the thing was just too conspicuous.

On the “gaudy gold” surface were four bright red characters: Award for Heroism.

The name of the local police substation was engraved at the bottom.

From an aesthetic standpoint, I didn’t really want to display it on the table.

However, the thing was heavy and stable; it made for a perfect paperweight.

The first time in my life I’d used my athletic nerves to perform a heroic deed, it wasn’t to catch a thief, but a human trafficker.

I hadn’t thought much of it while I was chasing them. When I kicked the trafficker to the ground, I even harbored a secret thought that I looked incredibly cool.

It wasn’t until Wang Xiaoxiao accompanied me to the police station to give my statement that I started to feel the lingering fear.

As a woman living alone, what if the trafficker had accomplices still out there who decided to target me?

So, I flatly refused the victim’s request to thank me in person and asked the police to keep my information confidential.

In the end, the victim had the police station deliver this solid, man-made crystal trophy.

Customized on Taobao, thirty-eight yuan with free shipping.

The knocking lasted for about ten minutes before it finally stopped.

The sound of the neighbor’s key sliding into the lock was incredibly distinct.

The door was opened, then closed.

I felt as if all the strength in my body had been drained away along with the sound of that closing door.