My Dearest General: It Has Always Been You

The girl named Shi Nian was such a weirdo, such was Jiang Jinyan's thought as he met her eyes only for the latter to bare her teeth at him and run away.

Only that…she had a pair of very unusual eyes. It was golden in color. When the sun shone on her, they turned into a dazzling gold like a sea of glittering stars as if a pair of sun was staring back at him. It made his impression on her grow stronger.

His eyes couldn't help but to follow her figure absentmindedly and only when Wei Xiameng finished her food and lifted her head, asking, "Jinyan? What are you looking at?" did he finally snap out of his stupor.

Wei Xiameng followed his line of sight and caught a familiar figure. "Miss Shi?" She raised one of her brows. "Do you know her?"

"No," He shook his head. "Just bumped into her a few times before."

"It couldn't be helped, you're on the same floor after all." She scooted closer and whispered. "Why do you think she's hospitalized? She doesn't seem to be sick…oh, except that she's mute—"

"Xiaxia." Jiang Jinyan interrupted her. "It's not good to talk about people behind their backs."

Wei Xiameng pouted her lips sullenly and ran off to throw her trash.

Jiang Jinyan saw her retreating back and sighed. Ever since the episode where he lost his cool—he didn't know whether it was just his imagination—it seemed like there was a barrier separating them, making his girlfriend seem more and more distant.

It was weird. They were talking just fine, but Jiang Jinyan couldn't get rid of these estranged and complicated feelings.

He tapped on his knees as he waited for her, his mind wandering. All of a sudden, a cry broke out near him and he jolted in surprise. His head snapped toward the direction of the voice and saw a small toddler fall on his knees, rolling on the ground as he grabbed his bleeding wound. He was crying so loud that it drew people's attention.

His parents hurriedly consoled him while the father bowed toward the crowd. "Sorry, sorry, forgive our child."

"Aiyah, baby, what's wrong?" The mother gently asked. "Does it hurt? Let mommy look."

However, the little toddler swatted her mother's hand and pointed at the cat which had run off into the distance. "Want. Want." He could only repeat those words as he wailed his heart out, his voice echoing miles away, very loud and powerful.

Jiang Jinyan's eyes were drawn toward that direction and he inadvertently saw the familiar skinny figure of a young girl.

His brows knitted instantly.

There…seemed to be something wrong?

His pupils dilated in shock as he caught sight of the girl hyperventilating yet no one noticed her. "Hey—" His mouth opened to call for help from nearby guards or nurses while his eyes darted back and forth to search for Nurse Zhang. "HELP HER!!!"

His voice successfully drew attention and in the next second, Shi Nian's knees buckled and she crashed down, her body twitching weakly.

Screams broke out and the scene turned into chaos.

"OH MY GOD!"

"Help! Someone fainted here!"

Jiang Jinyan himself jolted as he saw her falling down. Due to his instinct, he instinctively wanted to run and help only to be reminded that he was currently bound in a wheelchair with a useless leg…

A gust of harsh wind blew past his ears and a man ran off as fast as an arrow which was released from its bow. He roared in a loud voice. "WHERE IS THE MEDIC?!" Meanwhile, he checked on the unconscious girl, abruptly kneeled down, tipped the girl's head up and pressed onto her chest with his palms, performing a set of emergency CPR.

More and more people ran to see the scene and the medical personnel finally arrived carrying a stretcher, Nurse Zhang leading in front of them, her face pale in fright. "Move! Please move! Please give way for the emergency patient!"

After that, Jiang Jinyan's sight was obscured by a bunch of crowd and he lost sight of the girl whose hand hung weakly from the stretcher.

In that exact moment, Wei Xiameng ran back, her face flushed from the sudden exercise. "Was that you who shouted for help?"

Jiang Jinyan frowned. "Yes—"

"Oh God, it's so terrifying!" Wei Xiameng sat down and rubbed on the goosebumps on her arm. "One moment I said that she didn't look like a sick patient and the next moment, this thing happened!"

"Move. Move! Please give way!" The medic shouted as they carried Shi Nian in.

Jiang Jinyan moved his gaze and saw Shi Nian went past him with an oxygen mask covering her face, her figure so thin and face so pale that it looked like she was going to disappear soon. The crowd was still clamoring about, some were asking around of what was happening and more and more gossip circulated.

Jiang Jinyan's frown got deeper and he nearly scowled.

Surprisingly, the man who had given emergency rescue pulled out a police badge and hollered with a deep, powerful voice. "This is the police! Please don't breach the patient's privacy and obstruct the medical personnel, or else, you will be fined three thousand yuan!"

Hearing him talking about money, the hustle and bustle instantly died down and people scattered away, returning the hospital garden into the former tranquil atmosphere.

Beside him, Wei Xiameng gasped. "It's actually a police officer!" She whispered in a low voice, excited and curious. "Well, I didn't know that our city had such a charismatic police officer before!"

Jiang Jinyan for once didn't pay her any attention. He was drawn toward the police officer whose face turned darker and darker as he questioned Nurse Zhang, his voice travelled faintly toward his ears, evident on how enraged the officer was. His body exuded undeniable strength and pressure, but right now, veins popped up on his forehead and he looked like a debt collector in demand of money.

"What the hell happened?! I have just left for one day and she turned out like this?! Why did you leave her alone?!"

Nurse Zhang apologized profusely, her face distraught with worry. "I apologize, Detective Xu. It's my fault. I didn't expect—"

"Jinyan?"

Jiang Jinyan turned his head and gave Wei Xiameng a questioning look.

"Even the police came. Can you guess who Miss Shi actually is?!"

He sighed, "Let's go back."

"But—"

"Xiameng." Jiang Jinyan called her by her name and Wei Xiameng gave him a look of surprise. "Don't be such a busybody. It's other people's business."

"Humph! Am I not curious only?!" Sulking, she begrudgingly brought him back to the fifth floor. Their date was destroyed and the atmosphere wasn't pleasant at all. In the end, Wei Xiameng didn't stay, made up some excuses and left.

Jiang Jinyan saw her off with a perplexed look, the gloominess within his chest grew heavier.

For the next few days, Jiang Jinyan could hear the nurses' intermittent whispers and gossips of how the patient in room 505 had been rescued from the critical stage, but somehow she hadn't regained consciousness yet until now.

Police officers were often seen patrolling around the hospital grounds, or so Wei Xiameng said when she visited.

It wasn't until one more week did Jiang Jinyan finally meet Shi Nian again.