Sassy Doctor: Love Takes Time

Caroline Feng was drowned in a deep sleep. Even though her stomach was churning, she couldn't bring herself to wake up. After struggling for a long time, she finally snapped her eyes open. The sun which was peeking brightly through the pink curtains almost blinded her and she changed her mind about waking up. Turning over on her side, she continued to sleep.

'Wait a minute!' She suddenly bolted and sat up like someone poked with a naked live wire. 'Why are the curtains pink?'

She stared at the window with her eyes wide open. Her brain was on the verge of breaking down from the haziness. Her husband didn't like pink, so she had never had pink curtains in her house.

'Where am I?'

She looked around the room frantically and saw an anime calendar hanging on the wall. The object looked very familiar, yet strange. The room was small. It could only accommodate a single bed and a desk. Her memory slowly returned. This was the bedroom where she lived before she got married! Caroline jumped off her bed and checked the calendar. It was the year 2006!

How could it be 2006? She was a senior student in college that year!

Gathering herself, she trotted towards the bathroom and there, she saw her mother sitting on the toilet. Her mother was saying something but she ignored the woman and looked straight in the mirror. She was young again!

"Crazy girl, what are you doing?" She playfully patted Caroline on her butt.

"Oh, my God! Mom, did the world go back in time?"

She turned around with fear and uncertainty.

Caroline was normally a cheerful and optimistic girl. She was admitted to the PE-education major of A City Normal University. She had the qualification of the national second-class athlete. Tall, strong, and well built, she had strong muscles that made her skin attractive. Her short hair enhanced her athletic stature and her general outlook made her seem ready to take on anything.

Opposite the A City Normal University was the A City Medical University. It was one of the most famous and key universities in the country. A City Finance and Economics University was right next to it. Due to the proximity of the universities to one another, many students of the three schools dated each other.

In Caroline's previous life, when she was in her senior year, the three universities' student unions held a series of competitions together. One of them was a debate competition. On the last day of that particular contest, she met Edwin Han. He was a student of the president of the A City Medical University. Like Caroline, Edwin was also tall and he had short hair. His broad and strong shoulders joined with his perfectly crafted face to make him a rare specimen. He had a pair of bright piercing eyes, perfectly matching his straight nose. The best part of it all was that he had a remarkable temperament. Caroline was attracted to him like duck to water. From the time she met him, she couldn't stop thinking about him. He looked like the legendary knight in shining armor!

She later found that he was a Master degree candidate at the university and was two years older than she was. His father and uncle were into politics, and his mother was a principal. Edwin, however, didn't like politics. For a long time, he hid the fact that he was studying Medicine from his parents. It was truly his passion and he was determined to pursue it. After graduation, he didn't agree to work as a civil servant according to their arrangement. Instead, he chose to further his studies. His parents finally decided to let him be. They also cut off his allowances.

Fortunately, he was a bright student. He topped his class every year and so was able to gain scholarships that helped him pay for his schooling. As a freshman, he had joined in the student union for a year. The academic ability that he showed in his first year impressed his teachers and they began to think highly of him.

Caroline began to pursue him crazily since she met him for the first time. Even though her roommate said Edwin was a heartless person, Caroline refused to stop chasing him. To her, he could do no wrong. She pulled several strings just to participate in the badminton mixed doubles and soon, she got her way and became his teammate. Unfortunately, he didn't like her so much. He thought she was too rash.

But things usually went in the opposite direction that he planned.

Edwin attended a friend's birthday party, and Caroline was there too. He had a low alcohol tolerance, and even a bottle of beer would make him lose guard completely. After he accidentally splashed some wine on her white shirt, they drunkenly went to make out in an empty room close to their KTV private room.

Caroline would never forget how clumsy the 'perfect' Edwin was that evening. He wanted her so intensely, but he couldn't get his hardened part into her. She was just as clumsy as he was. Both of them spent almost half of the time figuring out how to go about it.

She didn't know how he was feeling about the whole situation. Other than the violent impact and the pain of tearing, she was not as intoxicating as the roles in those adult movies. The image of his look when everything was over was never going to leave Caroline. Forever, she would remember how cold his eyes were after he had spent his passion on her. He had stared at her strangely like she was a statue!

He had also blurted coldly, "I'm sorry."

Her reply was casual as the previously warm air in the room went suddenly cool. "It's okay. I wanted to do it."

He said, "I can't give you anything you need, either materially or emotionally."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

He sat up patiently. "I want to get a doctor's degree and my money is barely enough for me to survive. I don't have the money to handle a relationship now."

She smiled. "Well, I'm going to graduate soon. I'll get a job and make some money."

He sighed, sounding helpless. "No. I don't want to concern myself with anything but my studies now."

She understood what he meant but she still went on to press him. "Then... When are you ever going to consider starting a relationship?"

He replied, "Even if I were to think about it, I wouldn't choose someone like you."

"Well, okay." She forced a smile, not knowing what else to say.

"I'm sorry," he muttered.

"It doesn't matter. You don't need to say sorry. Hooking up like this is in vogue now. It's not so much of a big deal."

"I'm sorry still. I got drunk. I... I didn't know how this happened. I couldn't control myself. If you need any help in future, just come to me. As long as it's within my capacity to help, I will not refuse you." He was trying to make up for the mess as much as he could.

She started to put on her clothes. "I can ask for anything except for you to marry me, right?"

He smiled bitterly but said nothing.

That day marked the beginning of Edwin Han and Caroline Feng.

Since their one night stand, Caroline didn't contact him again. They went their separate ways. It was not until a month later that she discovered that there was a problem. Her period was a week late. She was pregnant! After hesitating for some time, she decided to call Edwin.

When he received the news, he was unusually quiet for a long time. Finally, he said, "I'll get some gifts tomorrow and I'll come see your parents. We need their consent to get married. I have a terrible relationship with my family. Your parents will have to help take care of you when you give birth."

Caroline had never been happier.

Her wedding was very simple. There was no wedding dress, wedding photo or formal ceremony. The family members simply had a meal together and that was it. In order to avoid his parents, Edwin went to a small town in another province to practice Medicine and settle down. This made his parents detest Caroline even more. To them, she was a drag on their son. They had better plans. Not only did his parents refuse to help his wife, they also phoned and taunted her regularly. She cried and told her mother about it but all the woman did was to add salt to her daughter's wounds. She said that Caroline was the one who first took an unreasonable step and so must put up with the consequences of her rash behavior.

When Caroline was eight months pregnant, a woman came to the house and claimed that she was Edwin's fiancee. She angrily informed them that she had been abroad and upon returning, heard that a whore had seduced her husband-to-be. Caroline's mother was also at home that day. They quarreled bitterly with the strange woman. Since Caroline had always been good at fighting, she slapped the woman hard and hit her a lot. She and her mother won in the end but Caroline suffered a heavy loss. Her baby was born prematurely and to make matters worse, her hemorrhage would not stop.

When Edwin arrived at Caroline's ward, she had already had a cesarean section. The baby was incredibly thin and small. She lay in her crib, only a little bigger than a small-sized doll. The exhausted and dejected mother lay on the bed, looking like she had just seen a ghost. As soon as the anesthetic wore out, her wound became increasingly painful. When she saw that Edwin had arrived, she longed for his comfort. But it was a big blow to her already battered mind to realize how frigid he was. Although he didn't scold or yell at her, her body trembled at his icy coldness.

Long after she had left the hospital, her health continued to deteriorate fast. She would have told Edwin about it but because she didn't want to disturb him from taking adequate rest at night, she slept alone with the child while he slept in their guest room. This continued for three years. A premature baby was often sick and needed extra care, and the stress involved was bound to take its toll on the child's caregiver sooner or later. Caroline did her best to cater to the child. The challenge tormented her physically and made her break down. Her once athletic figure soon got replaced with an ugly, bloated, and flabby one.

It was not until Edwin was transferred to a hospital in the city as a doctor that Caroline and her child followed him to the city. On the day they were moving, Caroline lost consciousness unexpectedly and had to be taken to the hospital. After careful examination, they found that she had a severe case of hypoglycemia. Because of her failing health, she began to speak more slowly. Her memories also began to fade as the days went by. She forgot a lot of things and could only remember them by writing them down.

Meanwhile, Edwin's medical skills had become widely recognized. His parents gradually accepted him back into their lives. At their request and his desire, he resumed his studies. He was finally able to bag his doctor's degree at the A City Medical University. It was good for his career but they still had money problems.

When Caroline went to enroll their daughter at the kindergarten, Edwin's allowance at the time was once again barely enough to take care of even himself alone. She resorted to working as a cleaner in her daughter's school so she could get some money. It was the only job that she did in her previous life.

After his graduation, Edwin was able to enter the Affiliated Hospital of A City Medical University Although Edwin's income greatly increased following that, Caroline was used to being frugal. Edwin asked his father to help Caroline find a job, but the man and his wife thought that Caroline was disgusting and they refused to help her. They had no intentions of telling their friends that they had a daughter-in-law like Caroline. Caroline stayed without a decent job because of this.

Later on, Edwin's mother demanded that Caroline got another child for the family. Six months after that, she became pregnant again. If only she knew that this was going to mark the beginning of her doom!

Realizing she was going to have another girl, Edwin's mother said that they already had a granddaughter and that they didn't need another one. She even proceeded to send abortion pills to her, saying that her pregnancy was useless to them. Caroline was alarmed at the turn of events. Not knowing who else to turn to, she quickly called Edwin for help. Her husband listened and kept quiet for some time before he gave his opinion. "Well, we are still quite young. I believe Mom has her reasons. If she says she wants a grandson instead, just listen to her and take the medicine." She had no choice but to succumb to the pressure. She took the pills with hot tears.

After that, she went on to get four more abortions! Three times, she was pregnant with a girl and was forced to take it out. Then she unknowingly had a miscarriage, and the baby was a boy. Many times in Edwin's presence, her mother-in-law accused her of being unable to get a reasonable job. She called her a parasite who just wanted to suck the life out of her young son. She couldn't even take care of a child. She fell ill at least once in three days. She couldn't even have a boy for the family. She was good for nothing! "She's completely useless to the Han family!" Edwin's mother had said. Caroline felt deeply wronged. No one bothered how she felt about anything as long as they had their ways. It was more difficult for her to deal with the injustice when she heard Edwin's indifferent response. "What did my mother say wrong?" Her world collapsed as it dawned on her that she was in serious trouble.

The once cheerful Caroline became gloomy and depressed. She cried over the smallest of things and spent a lot of time moping. Edwin couldn't comprehend how she got to that point in her life. He was unable to empathize with her suffering and instead of caring, he got repulsed by her. At first, he would see her crying and try to comfort her. But after a while, he began to ignore her. When Caroline realized how annoyed he got any time she cried, she decided to weep only when no one was there. She often switched to the more cheerful version of herself when he was around.

Because her husband starved her of love, she gave all of her attention to her daughter and became attached to the girl. Unfortunately, her daughter was more like Edwin. No matter how crazy Caroline got, the girl was indifferent and gave her mother a cold shoulder. She even preferred to be around her father more.

When Caroline finally had a son, she was thirty-six. That day, as she came out of the operating room, weak and in need of affection, she saw her parents surrounding her bed. Edwin sat on the edge of another bed with their newly-born son in his arms. Her daughter and mother-in-law circled him. That was when she heard that Edwin's mother wanted to take her grandson back with her to raise him "properly". Caroline's mother strongly disagreed with the arrangement and said it to Edwin's mother's face. Then the two women broke into a big fight.

Edwin's mother started to hurl hurtful words at them. "My grandson will not stay with a woman who slept with a man casually and got pregnant before marriage! I'm worried that he would grow up to become a hooligan and nonentity! I can't let that happen."

Caroline's mother had a heart attack when she heard those harsh words. She was lucky enough to be revived as she was right in the hospital. Edwin was on Caroline's side about not letting his mother take the child away but this did not stop Caroline from hating her mother-in-law's guts.

As her son grew up, Caroline was unenthusiastic. It was like she had lost interest in the hustle and bustle of life. She was sometimes lost in trances that made her unconscious of her environment. She often refused to lend a helping hand to her mother-in-law when she did chores and cared for the children. The more fatigued the woman got, the happier Caroline was. But there was not much time for her to be truly happy. Since her mother had a heart attack in the hospital, her health also grew worse. It was so terrible that she was often hospitalized. In the next few years, Caroline had had no desire, hope, or disappointment about all that had happened. She just kept surviving.

It wasn't until her mother died of a heart attack that she finally began to feel the sting of the hand that life had dealt her. Caroline felt like she was living another person's life. As she stared at her mother's cold body, she could not muster the strength to cry. 'Death isn't such a bad idea, actually. Everyone will die in the end anyway, ' she thought. A year after that, her father also died of depression. Caroline suddenly felt lonely in the world. There was no one to love her.

She became worse when she hit menopause. The deep longing to see her parents overwhelmed her and she went to the cemetery to visit them one day. On her way back, she got lost. It was getting dark and she still couldn't find her way so she called the police. They promptly sent her to Edwin's hospital. That was the only address she remembered. As Edwin received her from the police car, his eyes were filled with disdain. She was stunned at his unmasked expression.

The day after that, she decided to go buy some clothes. It was a decision she took suddenly. She also forced her daughter to ask for leave so that she could accompany her to the mall. The clothes she bought were in the sizes she used to wear before she became a mother. When she tried them on, Edwin snorted contemptuously, "They are so ugly!" "Well, I like them," she answered back.

They had grown apart over time and were sleeping in different rooms because she was dealing with insomnia as a result of the menopause. On the morning of the next day, she didn't come out of her room at the usual time. Even when Edwin rose to prepare for work, there was no sign of her. It was strange. She usually got up early to make breakfast for him. Edwin called her name several times but there was no answer. He could feel that something was wrong. Pushing the door of her room open, he saw her lying on the bed. She was facing the window.

"Caroline?" he called again, but she didn't move. He went over and tugged at her. She was still. Edwin realized the situation instantly. He reached out to feel her artery, but what he touched was cold and stiff skin.

It had been more than a month since Caroline was reborn. The student unions of the three universities were holding competitions again. Caroline was extremely cautious about getting involved in the debate competition.

But as careful as she was, she still slipped. Ted Sun and Caroline were mates in high school. He was studying in the A City Medical University now. In Caroline's previous life, it was Ted Sun who invited her to help him prepare for the debate competition at the beginning. Then she met Edwin. After her rebirth, he still asked Caroline to help him prepare for the competition. He even lured her with money to make it more difficult for her to refuse to participate.

At first, she had rejected it. She bragged that she could not be enticed with such a small sum of money. Finally, after a lot of persuasion, she agreed to become a part of the debate preparation committee at a high price of thirty thousand.

Because they had to choose the theme of the competition, send invites to the judges, arrange the schedule, and attend to many other things, she often worked with Ted and the others until midnight. She and Ted would then cuddle up and sleep on the shabby sofa in the student union building at night. Through it all, neither of them ever made the move to initiate sex of any form.

One evening, at about nine o'clock, Caroline was going back from the medical university. She had been staying with Ted for two days and was so tired that she almost fell asleep on her way back.

There was a huge stone at the gate of the normal university. Carved on it was a line that said, "Respect the absolute authority of the teachers." As soon as she got to the front of the stone, she raised her head and saw Edwin! The two of them were only a few steps away from each other.

This was the first time that she saw him since her rebirth. When their eyes met, her heart sank and she suddenly felt her fatigue drain away.

His eyes were just as cold as she remembered. Born with deep eye colors, he looked enchanting when he squinted. His frigid look made him appear very handsome. She could almost swear that he was the masterpiece of a sculptor. In her previous life, she had uncontrollably fallen for those eyes. But she also spent every one of her days futilely looking for love in them.

Now that she met him again, her heart still shook with intense longing. She found that she was still crazy about him. She lowered her head and smiled bitterly as she realized this. He had not changed one bit. His handsome features were still intact. But Caroline knew she couldn't repeat her past mistakes.

Edwin stood still on the other side of the big stone. His eyes swept over Caroline. Instinctively, she took to her heels.

She ran until she was sure that he couldn't see her anymore. The attraction she felt for him was so strong that even when she was away from him, she could still feel his peering eyes on the skin of her face. She desperately clenched her fists and took quick breaths. She should have already given up her love, shouldn't she? Why was she so vulnerable to him? Even after everything, she still felt affected by the man. Caroline tried to calm herself and slowly began to walk back to her dormitory, looking like nothing had happened.

She had no idea that the moment Edwin saw her, his normally calm eyes had become suddenly ignited, much like a wild flame, desperate and unruly. He had turned around stiffly and watched her run off without himself moving an inch.

Caroline's dormitory was on the third floor of the old building. The dormitory building was built in the 1970s with red bricks. It had five floors altogether. The green iron windows were not big, and there was no balcony. There were green poplar trees downstairs.

In the dormitory building, there were rooms on both sides. The corridor was not very bright, and there were bathrooms at the east and west ends where students washed and took their baths. Each room was only ten square meters in size. Each of them had four loft beds. Under each of the beds was a desk. And a small table was placed in a corner for the general use of the roommates.

Caroline was the only local in her dormitory.

Shelia Gu's bed was next to hers. As far as she was concerned, Shelia was a completely different person from her. Shelia was born to live for men and different men at that. She was good at pretending to be coquettish and cute to lure men. She didn't like the old-fashioned Caroline. Caroline in turn didn't like Shelia's flashy lifestyle. The two of them thus often kept their distances from each other.

When Caroline returned that day, Sheila was the only person around in the dormitory. She was applying a face mask. She ignored Caroline and continued to examine her face in the mirror.

At that time, mobile phones couldn't be connected to the internet and Caroline used an old phone model. After she entered the dormitory, the first thing she did was to turn on Kristi Qian's computer so she could watch the stock market news online.

Kristi Qian's family was not in this city. She was rich and very generous. She had never quarreled with her classmates because of material things that she counted as trivial. She had a lot of business acumen and often embarked on small-scaled businesses while in school.

As Caroline looked at the rising curve of the stock market on the screen, her heart, which had just taken a hit from Edwin, warmed up.

That was when the phone rang. Caroline sat still in her seat and didn't move. Shelia was closer to the phone so she expected her to pick it up. But Shelia just left the room with the mask still on her face. Caroline was surprised at her behavior. 'Is she deaf or something?' she wondered. The phone kept ringing. She stood up and picked it.

"Hello, this is Blake Li."

"Ah, Mae is not here. You can call her later," explained Caroline.

"No, thanks. Please just deliver a message for me. Tell her that I don't think we are right for each other. So I'm breaking up with her." He then hung up the phone.

It took Caroline a while to make sense of what just happened. Why did he ask someone else to convey his breakup? 'What should I do? Should I tell her about this?' she thought. Before she could decide, Shelia came back.

'I see, she just went out to avoid taking the message. Whatever. It doesn't matter why she went out, ' she thought.

In the evening, Mae came back in anger. As soon as she pushed the door open, she shouted at Caroline, "Caroline! What did you say to Blake?"

"He said he wanted to break up with you," Caroline responded impulsively, caught off guard by her yelling roommate.

"It's none of your business whether we break up or not! Who do you think you are to meddle in my affairs?" Mae shouted. "You make me feel sick!"

"Are you out of your freaking mind? He called to leave a message. What goes on between you two is none of my business. Should I have covered his mouth?" Caroline was not a coward. She fought back without hesitation. "Don't take your anger out on the whole world. Do you understand me?" she added.

Mae Zhou yelled back at her, "Shame on you! You must be so love-starved! You want to steal my boyfriend! Don't flatter yourself! He doesn't even like you!"

"No, you shut up! Shame on you and your small mind! Do you think everyone else has the kind of weird taste that you have? I couldn't be you, so save it!" Caroline shouted back.

The noise increased and soon, the girls were throwing curses at each other. Some girls in other rooms also came here to watch the drama. All the while, Shelia just calmly lay on her bed and looked at her face in the mirror. It was not until Kristi returned that she stopped the quarrel between Caroline and Mae.

That night, Caroline was very angry. She left the dormitory and went home. She didn't want to sleep in the same room with the crazy girl. She was afraid that she wouldn't be able to stand Mae and would hurl her out of the window in anger.

She also wanted to discuss business with her father.

She didn't return to school until the afternoon of the second day. As soon as she entered the school gate, she was stopped by Ted.

He looked very anxious. He was sweating all over and his gray T-shirt was soaked in sweat at the front and back. He held her hand. "Hey! The final is starting at 3 p.m. I called you, but your phone was switched off!"

It was at that moment that Caroline remembered that there was a debate competition that day.