Chapter 02 - Pursuing Meng Gu

Chen Ruo Yu met Meng Gu because of her good friend Gao Yu Lan.  Meng Gu is the buddy of Gao Yu Lan's husband, Yin Ze.  On a certain day, Yin Ze and his friend were involved in a fight and went to the hospital where Meng Gu was working, to look for the outpatient doctor to tend to their wounds.  Chen Ruo Yu followed them and met this Dr. Meng Gu who regardless of his name or attitude, did not seem one bit like a doctor.

He said that his father's surname was Meng and his mother's surname was Gu and so his name was Meng Gu.

When Chen Ruo Yu heard this, she had wanted to laugh because a person with the name of Meng Gu could also be a doctor. 

Combining his name, he is called……Meng Gu Doctor. (In Chinese it means Mongolian Doctor).  A doctor with such a name, isn't this a tragedy?

(In Chinese history, Meng Gu was the wife of Nurhachi, the founding father of the Later Jin Dynasty.  She was born in 1575 and died tragically in 1603 at the young age of 28 years)

The first impression this Mongolian doctor gave Chen Ruo Yu was……he is handsome and humorous.

She likes males who are lively and humorous because she is the type that is bold and carefree, a bit on the rough side.  So she is not interested in the type of males who are gentle and sensitive.

But she had made a mistake.  She could not distinguish the difference between someone who is cheerful and humorous and…….someone who is thick-skinned and has an uncouth mouth.

At that time, she was in a critical period of a woman's life.  She was of marriageable age, she did not have a boyfriend, she was struggling alone working in a foreign city and she needed care and love.

Then when she looked back, she had to admit that sometimes women at this stage of life when she was eager to be satisfied emotionally, it was easy to make a mistake.  At that time, she was like this. 

She had made the mistake of acknowledging his uncouth mouth as humor and from then on, her life was molded by her mistake.

At that time, she had given herself two persons to choose from.  One was Yin Ze's good friend, Mr. Lei Feng, a policeman who was steady, generous, polite and sincere.  The other was the Mongolian doctor, Meng Gu.

Although it was said to be two choices, in fact, Chen Ruo Yu did not fall in love at first sight with either one.  It was only that she had met two men with good qualities at that time.  She only harbored a feeling of hunting in her heart and was indecisive.  It was only a problem of an ordinary woman.  She admitted that she had many problems and she was a very common woman.

In short, Chen Ruo Yu did not know who she should choose at that time.  So she made another mistake.  She asked her friend Gao Yu Lan to help ferret information from Yin Ze regarding the two men.  She just wanted to know whether they were single, their interests, hobbies, etc.  As a very practical modern woman, she thought this would be more secure and after getting the information, then she can decide who she will pursue.

Yes, she does not mind being the one to take the initiative.  She is not a feminist and neither is she a weak woman who obeys without questions.  She just wants to be an ordinary woman who can have a good relationship with a man, holds a good job and live peaceful good days.

She strived hard living a full life, worked hard at her job and she did not mind working hard at taking the initiative to look for a partner.

So after learning that Mr. Lei Feng already has a fiancée, Chen Ruo Yu naturally Meng Gu became her target.

This was the biggest mistake she made.

One mistake followed by another mistake.

She committed the mistake of believing in her first impression of Meng Gu.  She was totally unaware of the true nature of this wretched man which caused a series of exchanges in the future, resulting in misfortunes for her.

Since Yin Ze knew she was interested in two men at the same time then it would mean Meng Gu would also know. Therefore, Meng Gu had used this matter to ridicule her.

Her biggest mistake was that she had set the wrong target, ran in the wrong direction and later when she wanted to retreat, she found out it was already too late.

Chen Ruo Yu looked at the pile of scallions on the chopping board.  Then she realized that before she chopped up the scallions, she forgot to wash them.  She also remembered that when she bought them, she clearly saw mud sticking to the scallions.

What to do now?

How sure is it that after eating this dirty food, he will not be sick?  But this is for a patient, will it really not be a problem?

Chen Ruo Yu hesitated.  Throw away all the scallions?  But Meng Gu likes to eat scallions and meat porridge without scallions will not be fragrant. 

Her brows knotted and felt irritated.  This obviously is a minor problem, why did she hesitate?

Her head felt hot, she took a basin and fill it up with water, then put all the scallions into the basin.  At least it was considered she had washed the scallions.  The scallions floated in the water and the dirt sank to the bottom, then she used her hand to scoop up the scallions.

Silly!

She gave the basin a slap and regretted that she was so obedient.

She was still angry with him and had decided to ignore him but with just a phone call from him, she had come to him.

Actually, how did all this happen?  She leaned on the tabletop and stared at the pot of porridge on the stove and seriously reflected.

Initially, when she decided to pursue Meng Gu at that time, she had seriously planned for it. 

The first step, of course, was to create a coincidental encounter and then try to get close to improve mutual understanding.

The second step was to adapt to his preferences and seize his affection.

The third step was to stabilize the intrusion and consolidate their feelings.

If all goes well, the fourth step was to get a marriage license, get married and lead a happy life.

And if it goes a little smoother, the fifth step would be the birth of a child and she will not have to worry anymore for life's daily necessities.

Look, this is life.

But Chen Ruo Yu did not expect that when she made the first step in her plan for Meng Gu, she met with a defeat.

Meng Gu was on duty for a day a week in the outpatient clinic and at other times, he was on duty in the hospital wards.  In order to pursue him, Chen Ruo Yu calculated the timing, did everything possible, pretended to be sick and registered for treatment, then send him flowers and food to express her thanks.  She also used her friends Gao Yu Lan and Yin Ze's name as an excuse to date him.

She thought she has been very obvious and he must know her meaning.  But he did not accept nor refuse.  It seems as if he did not understand what was happening, he was innocent and harmless.

That time, Chen Ruo Yu was foolish and she was not a veteran in this kind of game.  In fact, this was the first time, she was going head-on in chasing after a man, so she did not know what was going on.  Maybe it was because she expressed herself in the wrong way, so he did not feel it at all.  Or perhaps they were separated by Gao Yu Lan and Yin Ze's friendship and he did not think of starting an emotional relationship with her.

In short, at that time, Chen Ruo Yu was foolish and was a bit embarrassed.  Although she was a bit shy, a bit reserved, and for a variety of reasons, she did not dare to express herself clearly to Meng Gu but the more frustrated she was, the braver she became.  Every day she would think of ways to express herself to Meng Gu until one day, she happened to overhear the nurses' conversation in the hospital.

"You say, how can that Chen Ruo Yu be so shameless?  Dr. Meng had made it clear that he is not interested in her and she still clings to him."

"Based on her qualities, it is not easy for her to find a boyfriend.  She is not beautiful, she sells insurance and mentioning this is already so shameful.  I think it is because she thought she is familiar with Dr. Meng's buddies and he is an easy target.  She should take a look at herself and see whether she can match up with him."

"That's right.  I think Dr. Meng likes Nurse Tian.  They often talk and laugh with each other.”

"It should be.  That day, Nurse Tian had also complained to me about Chen Ruo Yu.  Maybe Dr. Meng had told her something.  Well, I just don’t care about gossip, otherwise, I'm sure to talk to Chen Ruo Yu and tell her not to come anymore.  It's shameful for a woman to pursue a man and also forcing him to complain bitterly to another woman.  Where in the world, there is no grass?  Whatever lid must fit whatever pot*.  One must be able to understand the situation to save oneself from feeling shameful, don’t you think so?"

(Where in the world, there is no grass means everywhere there are plenty of men.)

(Whatever lid must fit whatever pot means a woman must match the man or vice versa.)

"True.  Whatever things that Chen Ruo Yu gave him, he did not keep and had given them away to others.  I think the bouquet flowers was given to Nurse Tian and those durian candies were all given to the other nurses.  If I were Chen Ruo Yu, I won't even dare to come again."

Chen Ruo Yu shrank into a corner and listened to their endless sympathy and disapproval for her.  She really does not have the face to walk past in front of them.  She reached into her bag and held on to the durian candies that she had brought this time.  This is her favorite candies and to her, they are very expensive. When Meng Gu accepted the candies from her, he had smiled and she thought he liked it too.  But the actual truth was he did not.

Actually, if he did not like it, he should have told her straight away.  Why didn't he say anything?  If he had wanted to give her face, he should have given her some indication and she would have understood.  But he had not said anything in front of her and had turned around to complain to other people.  What is this all about?

Chen Ruo Yu's mind was blank, felt embarrassed and so humiliated that she could not move.  Suddenly she realized the nurses' conversation had stopped and when she looked up, she saw they had walked around the corner of the corridor and was standing right in front of her.

The faces of the nurses were indecisive.  It was clear that they did not expect the leading lady they were talking about for a long time was actually standing nearby and listening to their conversation.  Chen Ruo Yu's big eyes met their small eyes for a moment and the nurses were about to say something when Chen Ruo Yu gathered her thoughts.  She knew her face did not look good but she still nodded at them and said.  "Thank you."  Then she turned around and left.

Thank you?!

In fact, she did not know why she said so.  Anyway, she had thought she will never see Meng Gu again.