My Dearest General: It Has Always Been You

Jiang Jinyan was visited by a police officer by the name Tang Wei. He was a man with glasses who looked like a white collar worker, his hair looked like it hadn't been washed for a month. With a plain blue shirt and faded jeans, he politely asked what Jiang Jinyan planned to do with the trending topic in Weib8 as it affected one of his coworkers, the detective whom he had seen with Shi Nian, Xu Binchen.

Jiang Jinyan went silent for a moment.

Ever since he received his new phone, he hadn't downloaded all of his previous messaging applications and social media. So, currently, he finally downloaded Weib8 and scrolled through the hashtags which had been pulled down from the trending topics by another actress' scandal.

But the enthusiasm in two handsome men was still going strong, he doubted that it would ever subsided if they didn't delete it directly.

Tang Wei smiled bitterly as he replied. "We want to do it too, but we fear that it will be like covering shady deeds after a guilty conscience. So, to prevent it from blowing up more, we need to ask for Mr. Jiang's intention. How do you plan to deal with it?" Tang Wei didn't divulge anything about Shi Nian because it was confidential information, thus he only stressed on Xu Binchen's breach of privacy.

Jiang Jinyan nodded in understanding. "It's okay, you may delete it directly." He said calmly, which surprised Tang Wei.

"Are you sure?"

Jiang Jinyan hummed. Being an athlete and public figure, he had a manager who would manage his social account. The last picture that was posted on his Weib8 was the picture of him exercising with a white shirt and sleeves which was rolled up to show his slender arms. Under the light, his skin shone in a luminous luster because of sweat, and the camera's micro lens captured the droplets of sweat on the tip of his eyelashes. It had garnered more than 700.000 likes, dated right on the day of his car accident. The comments under that post were blowing up, nearly 500.000 which mainly asked about clarification about his wellness and the truth in that video.

After that…there was nothing.

Bitterness and unwillingness welled up within his chest. His heart was raging in fire. He didn't want to give up, but reality had slapped him so harsh that he could no longer stand back up anymore. His manager had abandoned him. His coach had abandoned him. His dreams had abandoned him…

"I will make a post of clarification." Jiang Jinyan closed his eyes and swallowed with difficulty. "Afterall, my condition can't be hidden any longer. The Olympics Games is coming soon and everyone will realize that I will not be competing."

As he said that, Jiang Jinyan lowered his eyes and typed on his phone.

It was just a short caption with the photo of the daffodils on his nightstand. With every word he typed out, it drilled a hole in his heart. After he sent this…everything would be over.

[The man in the wheelchair is indeed me, Jiang Jinyan. I sincerely apologized for disappointing all of you, my health has proved me unable to join the Olympics in the coming August. Lastly, please stop spreading the video because it is related to another person's privacy. Thank you for your understanding. Thank you for all of your continuous support.]

He handed the phone to Tang Wei. "Is this okay?"

"Yes." Tang Wei pushed up his glasses. "Thank you for your understanding, Mr. Jiang."

Tang Wei was finished with his business and bowed slightly. "I wish you speedy recovery. I will take my leave first."

Jiang Jinyan nodded in acknowledgement and he replied dryly. "Thank you." The door closed behind Tang Wei and he averted his gaze toward the withering daffodils. Come to think of it, someone had said the exact same words of well wishes to him. No, to be exact, she wrote it on the glass window.

He just didn't know how she was right now. It seemed like she had gotten in another accident judging by a young man's echoing screams.

Well, it wasn't his business though. They were just unfamiliar acquaintances.

He pressed the upload button and the new post popped up in the top interface of his account. Then, he turned his phone off and threw it inside the drawer.

***

Meanwhile, a certain unfamiliar acquaintance heard a soft ping on her phone. Shi Nian jolted in shock because instead of a communicating device, her phone was more like an accessory. There was no one who would call or message her, so hearing a sound notification shocked her that she jumped like a cat whose tail was being stepped on.

Xu Binchen who sat on the couch raised his brows at her jumpy behavior. He grumbled under his breath. "Scaredy cat."

After a domineering declaration of "I will protect you", Shi Nian had been filled with awe and admiration for him. But it was all washed away after Xu Binchen chided her with his trademark sneer, throwing all kinds of insults toward her cowardice. She was wrong, Xu Binchen was still the same old Xu Binchen!

Shi Nian puffed her cheeks and glared at the man. Then, she lifted her phone and saw a new notification from the Weib8 account which she had just created a few days ago. It had 0 followers and 1 following. [The account you're following has just created a new post.]

She was stunned for a few seconds and a surging exhilaration welled up within her chest. For the past few days, she had spent her time scrolling through Jiang Jinyan's posts, admiring his photos and every medal he had gotten through competitions. Shi Nian especially liked to read the comments of praise under it. Every single praise the man received seemed like it was said to Shi Nian herself and she felt so happy for him.

But now…

She clicked open the notification and saw Jiang Jinyan's new post. Her heart skipped a beat at the familiar daffodils in the photo. Before she could feel happy about it, she caught sight of the caption underneath.

[The man in the wheelchair is indeed me, Jiang Jinyan. I sincerely apologized for disappointing all of you, my health has proved me unable to join the Olympics in the coming August. Lastly, please stop spreading the video because it is related to another person's privacy. Thank you for your understanding. Thank you for all of your continuous support.]

With just three minutes within him posting, there had already been more than 100 likes.

She pressed her lips together and without obstruction, numerous comments entered her sight.

[Noooo! I don't believe it hubby!!!! QAQ how can you do this to me?!]

[WTF, Jiang Jinyan finally admit it himself?!]

[Why can't I find the video any longer? Damn it, it's been deleted so it must be true!]

[What about the Olympics then?! To think that I have waited for four years!]

[Upside commenter, don't you see Jinyan's caption? He said that he's not competing any longer!]

Someone then sent a screenshot of Jiang Jinyan in a wheelchair from the video and added a big, red circle around Jiang Jinyan's legs. [See what I've found.]

The picture finally blown everything up and #JiangJinyanWheelchair climbed up the trending topic again and at the same time, #JiangJinyanLegs #JiangJinyanDisabled and #JiangJinyanOlympics started to make their way to the top.

[His legs is disabled?!]

[My hubby, dear, what happened to you? Talk to noona[1]!]

[OMG, the news must be true then. I have a relative who visited the hospital and caught a glimpse of Jiang Jinyan. He said that one of Jiang Jinyan's legs had been amputated! But at that time, I punched him because I thought he's talking nonsense!]

[Upside commenter, which hospital is it?! I am going to visit him!]

[Me too, me too!]

[+1]

[+2]

[+10086]

.

.

[1] noona = older sister in korean