At the age of 17, Carolline Ruiz failed her middle school exams due to enteritis.
With the high school dream slipped through her fingers, she chose nursing major in the affiliated junior college of the People's Medical School with her father's help.
Carolline had poor health since childhood and spent years being nursed back to health by her parents, resulting in her current lively and healthy appearance.
Carolline's mother, Emily Hill, had poor health and was not suitable for pregnancy. After much difficulty, she finally became pregnant with Carolline. She took bed rest to preserve the fetus and went through tremendous difficulty to save Carolline's life.
As a result, Carolline's grandfather disliked her mother, Emily Hill. In the eyes of the old man, especially those with strong traditional thinking, being unable to have children meant being unfilial.
Carolline was also disliked because she was the only child her mother could bear. Her father, Henry Ruiz, said that he and his wife wanted only one child, regardless of gender.
So, the grandfather had high expectations for a grandson, but they ended up having Carolline.
It was no wonder that he didn't like her.
With poor health and being unloved, Carolline was fortunate to have her father's unconditional care and protection. During holidays, her grandfather could only give her the cold shoulder and couldn't do anything more.
Also, because of her poor health, she started school later than her peers. At the age of 6, others started first grade, but she had to wait until she was 8. When they graduated at 12 years old, she graduated at 14.
At 14, her peers were already in their second year of junior high school. So, she took her middle school exams at 17, but she had enteritis on those two days and submitted blank papers for two subjects.
Because she was unliked in the Ruiz family, her two uncles and their families didn't like her and her mother. Only during holidays, they pretended to be relatives in front of her and Emily Hill for the sake of her father, Henry Ruiz.
On her first day of school, Henry received a patient from a car accident and had to perform emergency surgery. As a result, he, who was supposed to pick her up after the night shift, had to go prepare for the operation.
Emily had gone to a training session in another city ten days ago, with half a month's duration and five days left until her return.
As Henry couldn't send her, and she couldn't ask her uncles for help, Carolline dragged her suitcase and took her admission notice to school alone for enrollment and registration.
It was the beginning of the school term, and naturally there were many people. Despite this, Carolline never expected so many people and cars crammed on the road leading to the school.
The taxi driver looked at her and parked at the side of the road, "Miss, you should get off here and walk. It's just 200 meters away. We'll be stuck in the queue for a while, so it'd be faster for you to walk. I'll charge you 2 USD less."
G City's taxi fare was 2 USD per kilometer.
"No need for the discount, master. Your suggestion is great. Here." Carolline paid the fare according to the taxi meter, got out of the car, and went to the trunk to get her luggage.
The taxi driver saw the thin and weak girl acting so forthright, so he quickly got out of the car and helped her with her suitcase, "Well, miss, take your time walking."
"Thank you, master." Carolline nodded, dragging her suitcase forward.
She hadn't walked two steps when her phone rang. It was a call from Emily Hill.
Emily called Henry early in the morning to remind him not to forget to send their daughter to school, but the call didn't go through. Worried about her daughter, she immediately called Carolline.
"Don't worry, mom. I'm 17 now... Yes, I will take good care of myself... Alright, I got it. I'll call you if I need anything. You go ahead with what you're doing."
Carolline was so focused on the phone that she didn't notice what was ahead. When she hung up and looked forward, it was already too late.
She was hit by a tandem bicycle ridden by Bryan Hawkins and Matilda Ferguson. Her knee immediately hit the flower garden barrier, and she winced in pain and hissed.
Her casual pants were thin, and she could feel that the hard iron wire of the barrier had cut through her flesh. Although the wound wouldn't be deep, the pain didn't lessen at all.
Matilda, who was controlling the bicycle's directions, wasn't good at it, but insisted on riding in the front. Bryan had to let her have her way. That Sunday, he took a rare break to visit Matilda at her school.
On the day of the visit, Matilda had a dance rehearsal in the afternoon and was only available in the morning. They decided to spend their time together having lunch and renting a tandem bicycle to ride in a nearby park. Little did they know that they would crash into someone before even entering the park.
At first, Matilda wanted to apologize, but when she saw that Carolline didn't get up right away, she felt uncomfortable. Surely, Carolline wasn't trying to take advantage of them for compensation, was she?
After all, they were riding a bicycle, not driving a car, and they weren't going fast. Even if they knocked someone over, Carolline shouldn't have been unable to get up. Was she exaggerating her injuries?
Bryan, however, couldn't sit still and quickly got off the bike, almost causing Matilda to fall. Fortunately, his quick reflexes helped steady the bicycle and saved her from falling.
"How are you? Did you hit anything?" After making sure Matilda was alright, Bryan quickly crouched down beside Carolline and asked her.
Matilda wanted to stop Bryan, but he was too fast for her to catch up.
Carolline looked up and saw a pair of clear and bright eyes with a hint of golden color. They seemed to be emanating a soft and warm light.
For a moment, Carolline was so dazzled that she lost her bearings. His nose was straight, with a beautiful curve, and his black hair was soft, shiny, and gleaming.
Perhaps it was because the morning sun was behind her, casting its light into Bryan's eyes and making them glow gold that day.
Later, Carolline learned that Bryan actually had a pair of black, shiny eyes, especially his black pupils which resembled precious black pearls.
Wearing a light-colored sportswear set with a short-sleeve T-shirt and shorts, Bryan looked nothing like a 25-year-old adult. Instead, he looked more like a fresh college student, clean and refreshing.
"Tsk, you were just trying to take advantage of the accident, weren't you? What, you fell for this handsome man at first sight and now you're planning to confess your feelings?" Matilda sneered sarcastically, not holding back her unpleasant remarks.
"..." Carolline's face turned beet red instantly, showing a normal person's reaction to humiliation. However, in Matilda's eyes, this reaction undoubtedly meant that Carolline was embarrassed by her remarks and didn't know what to say.
Because she had completely forgotten what Bryan was asking her just now, she ended up lost in her thoughts.
Although it wasn't as intense as the love at first sight that Matilda described, Carolline was indeed mesmerized when she saw Bryan for the first time.