My Dearest General: It Has Always Been You

The sound of Shi Nian choking on her breath was especially conspicuous inside the silent and narrow elevator.

Two pairs of eyes instantly turned to her while Jiang Jinyan was motionless as if he didn't hear anything.

"You—" Wei Xiameng put on a wide and beautiful smile. "Are you a patient too?" The answer was evident by seeing Shi Nian's attire of the loose hospital gown. But to be polite, she still asked. "Do you also live on the fifth floor?"

Shi Nian nodded, still didn't recover from her shock.

General Jiang Jinyan…was betrothed?

No…in her past life, she didn't know any Wei Xiameng nor did she ever see her around the General. But thinking about it, the Imperial Family at that time was surnamed Wei…

Nurse Zhang patted on her back. Amused, she scolded. "What are you doing, choking on your own breath? How silly." She turned to Wei Xiameng and grimaced with a smile. "Please forgive this girl's rudeness. She didn't do it on purpose. She is Shi Nian and she stayed on the same floor as Mr. Jiang."

Jiang Jinyan's fingers twitched after hearing that familiar name.

"Oh, Miss Shi, right?" Like before, Wei Xiameng reached out a hand. "Nice to meet you. I am Wei Xiameng."

Shi Nian scrambled to open the cap of her pen and wrote on her board. [Nice to meet you too, Miss Wei! I am Shi Nian!]

Wei Xiameng didn't give her any special attention thus she was slightly taken aback when she saw her write. Awkwardness flashed through her face. "Sorry, I didn't know—"

[No, no, it's nothing at all!] She recovered swiftly from her shock and grinned as usual. Her golden eyes curved into a pair of crescent moons.

Wei Xiameng smiled politely and didn't say anything more. She just stared as the lift slid down to the second floor and brought in two more passengers. Thus, the four of them squeezed in deeper and by coincidence, Shi Nian stood right beside Jiang Jinyan's wheelchair. From her angle, she could even see his hair whorl and his distinct, pale fingers which rested on his knees.

There weren't any scars on it, unlike the General's.

Shi Nian's heart moved. Once again, she had to remind herself that the General wasn't the same as Jiang Jinyan, time had been different for all of them. What was she doing, searching for traces of the General in Mr. Jiang? She shouldn't be comparing the two of them anymore…

Thinking about that, her heart became heavy.

The elevator dinged open on the first floor and they exited. Wei Xiameng pushed on Jiang Jinyan's wheelchair and whispered in his ears, "Are you hungry? Have you eaten breakfast?"

"I have eaten. Don't worry, buy it if you're hungry."

See, even his voice was smoother, higher and gentler. It was totally different from the General, Shi Nian convinced herself with a heavier heart. The General had a deep, powerful and magnetic voice. Once he talked, thousands of people would instantly turn silent. Such was General Jiang Jinyan's charisma.

Wei Xiameng was indeed hungry, but she couldn't possibly leave Jiang Jinyan alone nor could she take him to the queue. In the end, Nurse Zhang came to the rescue. "How about I help you out, Miss Wei? We can accompany Mr. Jiang here for a while. Right, Shi Nian?"

Shi Nian nodded absentmindedly.

"Really?" She still looked doubtful.

But Jiang Jinyan patted her hand. "Don't worry about me. Buy first, don't get your stomach empty. I will accompany you to eat in the garden, okay?"

"Right. I will go, then." She was finally reassured by Jiang Jinyan's words and bowed slightly toward Nurse Zhang and Shi Nian. "Sorry to trouble you, Nurse Zhang, Miss Shi. I will be quick!" Then, she turned around and dashed into the cafeteria. Fortunately, it was quite empty so she could make her order fast.

The three of them stood in a row with Nurse Zhang in the middle. She started to skillfully open some small conversations with Jiang Jinyan, asking about his condition, praising his girlfriend's thoughtfulness and so on.

Meanwhile, Shi Nian fiddled with her board. On it was written. [Mr. Jiang Jinyan. I wish you speedy recovery! –Shi Nian] But she didn't know whether it would be weird if she just gave it to him? Afterall, they were complete strangers…

She tried to imagine a stranger suddenly coming out of nowhere and talked to her, acting like they were familiar with each other. She herself felt crept out by it.

In the end, her courage dwindled and she refrained herself from doing the suicide move.

Ten minutes later, Wei Xiameng returned with her food. She thanked them endlessly while pushing Jiang Jinyan to the direction of the garden. After that, the four of them separated into two. Jiang Jinyan and Wei Xiameng searched for a bench with shade and Nurse Zhang pulled Shi Nian to a place full of sunshine and told her to walk around.

She inadvertently saw the words on Shi Nian's board and laughed. "What? Are you a fan of his?" She teased. "Why didn't you give it to him before?"

Shi Nian hastily deleted the well wishes on her board and shook her head.

"Why?" Seeing her so downcasted, Nurse Zhang became worried. "Did something happen?"

[No.] She wrote and forced a smile. [Just didn't want to trouble him.]

He wasn't the General. He didn't remember her anymore. He even had a girlfriend. It was enough to see him from afar. It was enough to know that he lived his life well.

She tried to convince herself again and again.

Shi Nian shook Nurse Zhang off and walked away, joining the crowd of people who came out to enjoy fresh air. City A's hospital was truly a topnotch. There were even bungalows built around the garden with a small pool filled with koi fishes.

She played with the fat fishes for a while and strolled around aimlessly, unexpectedly bumped into Wei Xiameng and Jiang Jinyan again. Wei Xiameng had her head lowered as she ate her food but Jiang Jinyan, seeing a shadow closing in, lifted his head up.

Shi Nian was flustered to meet his eyes without any warning and the only thing she could do was to give him a smile and run away. She covered her face and screamed silently. What to do?! She met his eyes aaaaaa! How was her smile? Was it horrifying?! Did it look fake?!

What to do?! His eyes were so beautiful! He was so handsome without the scars on his face!

She half ran until quite a distance and knocked herself on the forehead, grumbling incessantly for her excessive reaction. Now, he must have taken her for a weirdo.

There were cherry blossom trees and trimmed bushes all over the garden, thus it wasn't unreasonable for one or two butterflies to swarm there, flapping their wings playfully and floating around, adding in to the beauty of the tranquil scenery.

Shi Nian was distracted and before she knew it, she had arrived in front of the bushes. The butterflies were startled by her sudden movement and flew in panic, one of them zoomed right in front of her face.

Nearby, the shrill voice of a crying baby rang out.

It overlapped with the flapping butterfly right in front of her eyes and Shi Nian found her head spinning all of a sudden. Her limbs turned cold and she was frozen in place.

Air dissipated around her and she wheezed. Her hold on her board loosened, causing it to fall to the ground with a clatter, but because of the loud voices of the baby and people comforting them, her abrupt movement didn't attract any attention at all.

Shi Nian clawed at her throat to no avail and her whole body began to tremble

Inside her mind, there was an indistinct voice echoing around.

"Isn't it beautiful? The butterfly…it suits you."

"Scream or I will cut his legs off. Which one do you choose?"

"Scream! Why don't you scream?!"

Multiple voices rang inside her ears, one was louder than the other. Accompanying it was a screeching cry, but instead of a baby, it had turned into one of an adult. Men and women, clashing together, forming a whirlpool which seized her of oxygen.

She coughed so hard that her chest hurt. Face turned blue, tears streamed down her face. Her knees buckled beneath her and she fell. The lack of oxygen made her brain shut down and she crashed onto the ground.

The voices exploded in her mind, forming together to become a soft whisper of the devil. "Little girl, she died because of you.. See, you've become my accomplice."