Did That Doctor Successfully Remarry Today?
Chapter 154 - 152: Side Story (Jiang Chuan Episode) – First Meeting

Chapter 154: Chapter 152: Side Story (Jiang Chuan Episode) – First Meeting

Chapter 152 First Encounter

Just thinking of you, the world retreats in a bright halo, everything we deemed eternal, including time, crumbles. ——Yu Xiuhua

As evening approached, the office was shrouded in silence. Unbeknownst to him, a heavy rain had started outside. The man, who had been about to turn and leave, now gazed at the window as the wind lifted the sheets of rain, his dark eyes suddenly clouded over.

He stood silently beside the bed for a while, watching the rain, then slowly returned to his desk in his white coat, looking for a patient’s file that he had put away in the morning. Somehow, he touched a hard object that had rolled into the corner of the drawer and pulled it out with a puzzled expression.

A white cartoon pendant, in the shape of a doctor.

He held the key ring with its metal loop in his hand and examined it closely. In the quiet, his expression sharpened, reflecting briefly before gently tugging at the corners of his mouth.

A flood of memories surged towards him, though it was a long time ago, he remembered that day vividly.

About six years earlier, he had just graduated from university and started his internship at City Hospital. After half a year shadowing a teaching doctor, he finally got a chance to perform surgery himself. As a fledgling intern, he cherished this opportunity greatly.

However, fate played cruel tricks. The surgery to remove the tumor was smoothly done, and he had been dutifully monitoring the patient’s postoperative recovery. Yet, he hadn’t expected the pre-existing cancer cells in the patient to spread so aggressively, causing a severe rejection reaction that took the patient’s life without warning.

The surgery was undoubtedly successful, but the patient did not survive.

He was undeniably a failure.

Although people around him comforted him, insisting it wasn’t his fault, his male pride was inevitably bruised. On the surface, he kept up appearances, but deep down, he recoiled from another operation.

He probably needed some time to dissolve his terrible mood.

On a leisurely afternoon, the sun was mild and not scorching. With a rare break from work, Gao Chuan decided to visit the hospital’s garden alone to clear his mind. Taking advantage of the summer weather, which wasn’t too hot, he headed towards a secluded pavilion located at the very back.

Possibly because it was out of the way, the small garden usually wasn’t crowded. He thought he could finally have a quiet moment to think, but upon arriving, he discovered a girl already sitting in the pavilion.

Dressed in a blue and white striped hospital gown, she must be a patient out for some fresh air, engrossed in a book. The sunlight softly rustled through, casting a faint shadow over the pages. The girl had fair skin, bright eyes, and a somewhat youthful face, looking no more than in her teens.

Compelled by some inexplicable force, he didn’t walk away. Instead, he took a seat at the end of the bench opposite the girl. Maybe the sound of footsteps alerted her, as the girl slowly lifted her apricot eyes from the neatly shaped leaves and looked at him.

Tree shadows danced, the rustling of leaves in the wind was whispering around them, and the world seemed quiet. As their gazes met, he saw a pair of eyes as clear as water, calm and free of any impurity.

The girl slightly raised the book in her hand, allowing him to see the cover.

It was Marquez’s "One Hundred Years of Solitude."

Before he could look away, he heard the girl exclaim with surprise, "Is it Dr. Gao?"

Gao Chuan’s eyes flashed with amazement upon hearing her because the patients in the wards would call him that due to his young age.

But he had no recollection of this girl. He seemed never to have seen her before. Ripples appeared in his eyes as he asked softly, "Who are you?"

The girl, with a sweet smile and eyes curved as the clear moon at night, replied, "I’m Jiang An, from bed 2023. Don’t you remember? You once discussed my case at my bedside with a group of people."

The girl had already stated her identity unequivocally, but he still didn’t remember, as he wasn’t directly responsible for her, so his impression wasn’t deep.

The man listened to the girl’s voice, brimming with delight, but his expression remained unchanged.

"Who is your attending doctor?" he asked, finding himself inexplicably wanting to continue the conversation.

"Doctor Meng," she answered with a lilting voice, her youthful voice like a silver bell, touching his heart.

Gao Chuan nodded; the person indeed belonged to his department, and they had a good relationship.

The number "202" flashed in his mind, and Gao Chuan instinctively realized this was the bed number of the patient who had passed away. It was no wonder that the number sounded familiar.

Jiang An must have been moved there afterward. He hadn’t entered that room since then, which explained his lack of recollection.

After a brief introduction, the girl, seeming to recall something while looking at Gao Chuan, furrowed her brows and asked candidly, "Dr. Gao, are you feeling upset?"

Her slightly immature voice reached his ears, and he suddenly looked up, thinking, was it that obvious?

He thought he had masked it well.

"Why do you say that?" asked Gao Chuan.

Jiang An smiled and placed the thick book beside her, "Because Dr. Gao came to my secret base in the middle of the day."

Gao Chuan showed confusion at the mention of a secret base.

Before he could say anything, Jiang An explained that almost no one visited this pavilion, where she often read books alone, hence naming it her secret base.

Dr. Gao was one of the few who had intruded upon it.

Listening to the girl earnestly describe her "secret base," Gao Chuan pursed his lips, thinking such romantic notions probably belonged to carefree young girls.

"If there’s anything troubling Dr. Gao, you can talk to me about it. I’ve been the little sun of my family since I was a child. Maybe I can help dispel your worries," Jiang An continued, occasionally kicking her little feet as she spoke.

It was hard to imagine that this was a person who had been suffering from a severe illness and been hospitalized for three months.

Gao Chuan wasn’t about to burden a patient with his bad mood. Looking at her innocently joyful smile, he spoke gently, "There’s no need, thank you."

This was a very happy little girl, his first impression of Jiang An.

So many years had passed in a flash, and it seemed like that chance meeting had long been forgotten. However, the scene of their first encounter remained exceptionally clear in his mind.

Back then, he was surrounded by oppressive emotions, as if many things had reached a dead end.

But on that afternoon, the girl unexpectedly burst into his world.

Bringing light.