My Dearest General: It Has Always Been You

Xu Binchen insisted on following Doctor Chun up to Shi Nian's room. The doctor said helplessly. "She is currently in physiotherapy session."

He deadpanned. "Then, lead the way."

Doctor Chun: "…" What to do, really wanted to hack him to pieces. If he did it, it would count as violence toward police officers, right?

Xu Binchen didn't care about Doctor Chun's resentful gaze. His skin was thick enough that he could filter what he wanted to hear and what he wanted to treat as an annoying buzzing fly. His face remained firm and expressionless, and Doctor Chun had no choice but to walk with him there.

"You absolutely can't trigger her, okay?"

Xu Binchen: "Am I that kind of person?"

Doctor Chun nodded.

Xu Binchen: "…" He sighed. "Don't worry. I will abide by the doctor's words."

"That's good." Doctor Chun brought him to the eighth floor by elevator. There were only two nurses in the front station, both greeted Doctor Chun warmly and blushed when they saw Xu Binchen.

Doctor Chun inwardly palmed his forehead. Don't be fooled, oh little girls! Don't be fooled by this devil's outward appearance! Even though he looked like he had just come out of a movie, he was a thug thorough and thorough inside!

The physiotherapy room spanned almost half of the entire floor, it had a transparent sliding door. There were only six people inside the large room, each were both patients and their accompanied psychotherapist. Shi Nian sat beside the window, a table in front of her.

Her five fingers were tied in a weighted machine. The woman in front of her smiled encouragingly. "That's very good. Now, try to move two of your fingers."

Shi Nian's hands were shaking from the effort she put in, alas, she could only twitch her fingers and not make any subsequent movement. Sweat beaded on her forehead and her face was still a little pale, her lips were a bit swollen from being bitten too hard as she gritted her teeth.

"Very good." The therapist took notes of her stats. "It is already very good. Don't force yourself. We will continue tomorrow okay?"

Shi Nian smiled and nodded her head gently.

Xu Binchen observed her through the transparent door. Jet black waist length hair, petite face, large round light brown eyes, full lips. The sun shone through the window and painted her eyelashes golden. She lowered her head as the therapist took the machine off her hands.

Doctor Chun sent Xu Binchen a warning glare, but the man's attention was focused on the skinny and frail girl that was currently being pushed out in a wheelchair.

Doctor Chun harrumphed and slid the door open. When he turned to Shi Nian, his face returned back to an amicable and kindhearted old man. "Good morning, Shi Nian." The girl lifted her head up and her eyes flashed in recognition. She nodded gently in acknowledgement.

Doctor Chun took over her wheelchair and the therapist excused herself. "How are you feeling today? Anywhere uncomfortable?"

She couldn't speak, and her motoric muscle was still very stiff from the three months coma. Thus, she could only shake her head with a gentle smile.

Xu Binchen upheld his words, he only took a few glances and strode away before the both of them reached him. When Shi Nian noticed him, he had already turned to a corner with only a flash of his back was seen.

Doctor Chun chatted with her lightly along the way until they reached her room. There, she was helped into the bed by a nurse. Once she laid down, she let out a huge sigh of relief. Her back was aching slightly from all the exercise, even though she had only exercised her fingers.

Nurse Zhang chuckled and helped to arrange her pillows. "Are you thirsty?"

She nodded, her eyes shone in gratefulness. Nurse Zhang patiently fed the girl a few mouthfuls of water while the doctor took the notes on her bedside and went through it quickly. "Hmm, there's no problem with your body anymore, your wounds had healed quite nicely. Just make sure to exercise and sunbath regularly okay? If you are free, you can try to move your hands and legs a little bit, but don't do it excessively."

Shi Nian pursed her lips and nodded.

She too, felt a little frustrated by her immobilized body. Now that a lifetime had gone by, she finally regained the memory of her previous life. Her heart soared as she remembered the general.

In that life, she could do nothing but stay by his side.

Alive, she was his person and dead, she became his ghost.

She deliberately didn't drink Meng Po's soup on the Bridge of Forgetfulness so that she could one day remember him again. She could remember him again but in exchange, some of her memories of this life were blurry, but Doctor Chun comforted her and told her not to pressure herself because of it.

As she expected, it was still the memory of the general that was imprinted so deep in her mind.

She decided that in this lifetime, she wanted to search for him again.

***

When Xu Binchen walked out of the physiotherapy area, the two stationed nurses stole glances at him and one even put on courage and asked, "Um, are you a patient's family?" She was quite young but there's an air of maturity between her brows, her eyes were soft and tender. This kind of woman that was on the verge of ripening was usually the favorite of adult men, yet Xu Binchen directly strode out as if he didn't hear her.

The two nurses were left flabbergasted with their jaws slacked open.

With his long legs, it didn't even take five minutes for him to reach the parking lot. The car beeped and he fluidly slid into the driver's seat. Xu Binchen slammed the door shut and took out a pack of cigarettes, lit one and took a deep inhale. The smell of tobacco instantly filled the car and he stuck the key in. The car hummed gently and he rolled the window down, his arms propped up there nonchalantly.

The cherry blossom was blooming vigorously, the dense pink flowers creating such a dreamy scenery against the blue sky. One or two petals would fall gently to the ground, blown and floating along the wind. Xu Binchen took a deep breath, and the sweet scent of spring filled his nose.

The atmosphere was so peaceful that one couldn't believe that under this blue sky, there would be a mass serial killer rampaging around.

Not long after, little fatty Wang Chengbing got in. "Hey." he greeted.

Xu Binchen nodded.

Once he put on the seatbelt, the car darted out from the hospital parking lot to the main road. It was Wednesday morning and the road wasn't so congested like Mondays. The car ran smoothly and changed lanes a few times.

Xu Binchen took a few deep breaths and threw the cigarette away. He rolled the window up and asked, "What did you get?"

"Nothing in particular." Wang Chengbing scratched his head. "The girl really seems like she is shaken up quite a lot."

Xu Binchen remembered the girl's serene appearance and muttered, "Doesn't look like a victim of a mass killer."

"What did you say?"

"Nothing. Continue."

"Oh, I want to report something." Wang Chengbing shifted his large butt and cried out. "This girl Shi Nian is sooo pitiful!"

Xu Binchen jolted in shock by his loud voice, almost slamming into a nearby car. He swiveled the wheel skillfully and glared. "Speak properly."

Wang Chengbing sniffed. "But truly, don't you know? Her mother is a single parent and his father has passed away before she was born. They live in a single bedroom apartment and her mother often goes on business trips. This time too, she can't return and accompany her daughter."

Xu Binchen rolled his eyes. "Haven't we investigated it all already?"

"Binchen, you're a heartless bastard."

The heartless bastard who was cursed out of nowhere: "…"

"She even took on multiple part time jobs to help lighten the household's burden. And it was precisely because of that one late shift in the convenience store that she was kidnapped by the mass killer we are chasing after!"

Xu Binchen ignored little fatty's passionate storytelling and sighed. "Who knows when we will be able to catch him?"

Little fatty glared at his remark. "Serves you right to be single in all your twenty four years of life!"

Xu Binchen, who was once again cursed: "…do you have a grudge against me?"

He fell silent for a moment before realizing something. "Wait, isn't she only sixteen? Our government prohibited any underage teenager to partake in jobs—"

"Oh, why are there so many pitiful youngsters this month?!"

Xu Binchen: "…"

Little fatty acted like he hadn't heard Xu Binchen's remark. "I heard the nurses' gossip. Do you know Jiang Jinyan?" Xu Binchen didn't even need to answer, hell he didn't even need to exist because Wang Chengbing was enough to hold the conversation for two. "He is this year's high jump athlete finalist! He should be competing in the Olympics this August but he just got in a car accident and they couldn't keep one of his legs! Damn it, how can he be so unlucky?!"

Xu Binchen stayed silent and drove without a sound.

"Give me a comment, will ya?!"

Xu Binchen: "Oh."

Little fatty: "…" What to do, really wanted to hack him to pieces. Wait, if he did it, it didn't count as violence toward police officers because he was also one, right?