A/N: This chapter contains a flashback
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18 hours ago…
"Have you heard it? Dr. Luo was exploding in anger again because one of the interns couldn't insert a line in the femoral vein." The woman wearing purple scrubs reported as she washed her hands.
"Was the intern punished?"
"Of course. Do you think Dr. Wicked will pass it up? She was banned from entering the ER for two weeks and was sent to the records room to study cases and write case reports."
"At least she wasn't berated in front of the patient's and wasn't given more than half of the resident's work assignments like she did to me on my first year."
"Yeah, that was so embarrassing."
"It was. When I showed up to do lumbar puncture the next day, his family refused to let me do it. They didn't believe I was a doctor."
"That was tough. I think my experience was the worst. I wasn't allowed to scrub in for three months. I was training to be a surgeon but all I was doing was taking history, and performing rectal examinations."
"I remember that. That's why I went to Psychiatry. Because—" The woman paused because one door opened and they saw Dr. Luo walking out the stall.
The two panicked because Dr. Luo was the topic of their gossip. And if she'd been there for a while, it meant she heard what they've said.
The woman in purple scrubs wanted to speak but couldn't utter any sound.
"You can continue." Luo Jingyi said after washing her hands and left the bathroom.
Another door opened and Dr. Xu came out. The other doctor shook her head in disbelief and simply walked past them.
They are dead.
Outside, Jingyi came out with her brows furrowed.
"Am I that terrible?" For the first time, she asked Xu Wei.
"Yes, you are. Is that the answer you wanted?" She wanted to annoy Jingyi first.
Jingyi ignored her and strode away. Xu Wei tried to match her steps.
"You can't really blame them. You are harsh on them and never let anyone see your soft side, of course, they'll be scared. If I didn't have a strong heart, I'd be skittish like them when you are around."
Jingyi's brows furrowed. "It's for their own good."
"I know. But the way you're doing it was terrifying. Why don't you try just for once? Huh? Be more gentle. Don't traumatize the people around you." Xu Wei prodded as she placed her arm on the silent woman's shoulders. Xu Wei had always been curious why Luo Jingyi was like this. What kind of story does she have? She's reclusive, cynical and as much as opportunity presents, Jingyi avoids entanglement with other people. In the hospital, she was civil to everyone. Like there was an impenetrable wall around her. When she met her three years ago, Jingyi avoided her friendship. But like a leech, she attached herself to the surgeon. Xu Wei was drawn to her seriousness and driven attitude. Later, she discovered Jingyi wasn't as wicked as everyone paints her to be. But if you cross her, her wickedness naturally comes out.
….
Back to the present, Xu Wei stood in the middle of her office like a mother scolding her child.
"Was it bad?"
Jingyi gave her signature alright expression which made Xu Wei smile more. That was Xu Wei's goal. To make Jingyi learn to trust people too.
"See? You didn't die after being more pleasant to your team. You made everyone's life easier. The mood at the ER this evening was much better. They weren't as jumpy as usual."
Whether Jingyi agreed to her statement or not, she was the only one who knew because she was quietly clearing her desk.
"Are you heading home?"
There was a short "En."
Xu Wei walked to the fridge and grabbed something inside. "I'm taking this whole box."
"That's a lot of calories." Jingyi reminded when she saw Xu Wei finished a slice of brownies in two bites then went for her second. Xu Wei was one of those people who easily gain weight.
"It's okay love. I decided I will never try any diet plans out there. They are all useless anyway. I'm curvy, so what?"
"That's what I told you a dozen times." On Jingyi's face was her I-told-you-so smirk.
"So, you should make more of this," she said with a wink.
"I can."
"Awesome!" Xu Wei clapped her hands like a child.
"But you need to pay."
Xu Wei was speechless. She opened her mouth to refute her but closed it again.
Oh well. At least there's a reaction. The psychiatrist thought. She's happy with the improvement in their interaction.
When they both came out of the office, her research assistant was still on her desk.
Jingyi would normally just passed by but taking into consideration what Xu Wei told her, she turned and reminded the woman, "You should go home too."
The young research assistant was startled but only smiled. "Okay, Dr. Luo."
"See you tomorrow. " Luo Jingyi waved.
The research assistant raised her hand but retracted when her boss was already ambling away.
.....
Xu Wei dropped Jingyi home. Noticing the dark circles under Jingyi's eyes, Xu Wei asked, "How many hours of sleep are you getting lately?"
"Not much," Jingyi admitted. Since coming to this body, she suffers from insomnia. She's lucky if she sleeps 2-3 hours at night before being awoken by dreams or any sound around her. Her ears had become sensitive to sounds.
"Why don't you come to my office tomorrow. Let's try hypnotherapy."
"I'll think about it. Bye!" Jingyi jumped out of the car and got into her apartment building.
This to Xu Wei, it translated no.
Shaking her head, she drove off.
Meanwhile, Luo Jingyi entered her code, got inside her apartment and removed her shoes. Then she puttered on the carpet, letting her feet be comforted by the fluffiness of it.
The first thing she did was head to the kitchen and prepped a simple dinner. The food that the nurse bought for her was given to a beggar who usually sleeps on the benches outside the hospital. She noticed the man frequenting the garbage bags for leftovers since she moved to this city three years ago. Ever since then, she had given him food.
After whipping a simple tuna sandwich, she carried the plate to the balcony, sat on the chair and ate her meal as she watched the city lights. Her apartment is on the 30th floor which gives an amazing view of the city.
Her quiet reverie was startled with a ringing phone. Before she could greet the person on the other line, her father's voice echoed in her ears. "What the heck are you doing? You are stirring trouble even if you are not in the capital."
"Well hello father, I hope you've been well." Jingyi greeted the original body's biological father.
The man on the other line was startled because his docile daughter didn't sound the same. Something was different in the manner she spoke. But he was still angry so he didn't give it much thought.
"Withdraw the case you filed against Dr. Chen!" There was a warning tone in his voice that sounded so familiar to her ears because she has the original's memory.
"Or what?"
Han Peng was taken aback.
"Do as I say if you don't want me to disown you! You are nothing but an embarrassment."
A simper came out of Jingyi's lips as she listened to him roaring on the phone.
"Father, aren't you tired of threatening me with the same lines over and over again? Go ahead and disown me." she taunted and turned off her phone.