My Dearest General: It Has Always Been You

On 2.14 am in the morning, the entire fifth floor was being jolted awake. The nurses scrambled around Shi Nian in panic, asking. "Shi Nian, what's wrong?" "It's okay, don't cry." "Can you let go of him first?"

But Shi Nian didn't hear any of it, or to be exact she couldn't afford to. She had cried so much that she wheezed, her nose and throat blocked and she could only breathe through her mouth like fish out of water. Her head buzzed in pain and the voices seemed as if they came from a place far away. Her entire body was soft and weak, but only her grip on Jiang Jinyan's hand was so tight as if she was holding onto her sole savior.

To be honest, Jiang Jinyan felt very awkward.

He wasn't in a good mood to begin with and the circle of people with one talking after another caused him a headache. But when he lowered his head and saw Shi Nian's pale face and swollen eyes, all of the words stuck on his throat and he didn't know what to do.

When Xu Binchen arrived, this was the scene he saw.

The nurse had no choice. Shi Nian was too agitated and she could no longer recognize people. Every time someone got close to her, she would go crazy and scratch them, bare her teeth in fear and bury her head into Jiang Jinyan's trousers.

A nurse was holding an injection with sedative while the others were clamoring on how to grab her arms. It was very rowdy and chaotic.

Xu Binchen's heart sank and he roared. "What are you doing?!"

Shi Nian jolted in shock and she buried herself deeper into Jiang Jinyan, the blind dependence was palpable from her behavior. The nurses in the night shift stiffened in shock and fear.

It was Xu Binchen's underling who stepped forward with a pale face and described what happened in a concise manner, but still he was trapped in the toilet with stomachache. What he knew was no more than what Xu Binchen knew.

Xu Binchen's face instantly turned dark and the low ranked police officer could only gulp and wait for his sentence.

The man walked past him, his footsteps were powerful and heavy. The crowd gave way to him like Moses parting the Red Sea until Xu Binchen arrived in front of Shi Nian. But alas, the girl had already turned into an ostrich, her neck shrank in fear as she sensed another's presence.

"Shi Nian." Xu Binchen tried to calm his fury and soften his voice. "It's me, Xu Binchen." He reached out an arm but like a provoked feline, Shi Nian clawed him, leaving a three thin line wound on his arm. She just rejected everyone except Jiang Jinyan.

Xu Binchen froze. He pursed his lips and his frown grew deeper.

He lifted his head to see the pale and thin man. "You are…"

Jiang Jinyan's hand had become wet from Shi Nian's sweat and tears and she was still holding onto it tightly. He tried to smile but he knew how stiff his face was. "Jiang Jinyan."

The injured athlete, Xu Binchen recalled. He nodded and as he talked, he tried to inch closer and closer to Shi Nian. "Do you know what happened to her?"

"I am not so clear." Jiang Jinyan said. "It seems like she's running from something. She said…she said that she's scared."

Xu Binchen's face sank and in one movement, he chopped the back of Shi Nian's neck and the girl fell slack to the ground, unconscious.

Jiang Jinyan: "…"

The nurses: "…"

Xu Binchen barked. "What are you doing still standing there?! Bring her back to her room! Also, bring me the surveillance record of the hallway from 1 am to now!" He turned to Jiang Jinyan and nodded. "Mr. Jiang, if you don't mind, there's something I have to ask you."

The crowd dispersed and they brought Shi Nian away. Now, they didn't dare to slack off again. Xu Binchen's underling stood ramrod straight in front of Shi Nian's door as if trying to be a Door God.

Xu Binchen gestured for him and walked forward. Jiang Jinyan pressed on his temple and pushed his wheelchair toward the man who was standing in front of the floor to ceiling window where he stood a moment ago.

He looked very irritated and fished out a cigarette from his pocket but chewed on it, unlit. Xu Binchen waited until Jiang Jinyan came beside him and sat on the side bench so that they were face to face. "Mr. Jiang, I guess you know who I am."

Jiang Jinyan nodded. "Detective Xu."

"Great, so let's just go to the main topic. Mr. Jiang, I hope that you can elaborate how exactly you met her, her state and every single detail you could remember."

Jiang Jinyan looked out the glass window which was full of tiny, water droplets. The streetlamps outside were blurred, creating haphazard yellow blobs and he could see his reflection faintly as he started to talk.

"…I read her lips and she said that she was scared but what she was scared of, she didn't say. And then, I called for the nurses. That's it."

Xu Binchen fell silent, the air pressure around him was all time low. "Did you see anyone else?"

"Ah yes," Jiang Jinyan was reminded of the man in the hallway. "I saw someone, a man wearing a turtleneck, black trousers, shoulder length hair, mask and glasses. He was around 1.8 meters tall, but because he was covered wholly, I couldn't see his features. Moreover, he disappeared around the corner very fast."

"Describe his glasses please."

Jiang Jinyan frowned as he tried to recall. "In my impression, it's very ordinary, black rimmed glasses."

"How did he walk? Quick? Sneaky?"

"No…on the contrary, he was calm, too calm. Just like how people usually walk."

Xu Binchen nodded and pinched his brows. He really wanted to curse out loud. "I see."

"One more thing." Jiang Jinyan added as he pointed at the back side of his neck. "When he turned around, I saw a long mark here, it looks like a scar, but I can't be sure."

"A scar." Xu Binchen chewed on the words and nodded. He offered Jiang Jinyan his hand. "Thank you very much for your cooperation, Mr. Jiang. It really helps."

Jiang Jinyan shook his hand and let it go quickly. "Miss Shi…is she in danger?"

"I'm sorry but we can't tell you. It's confidential, but don't worry, we will try our best to solve it as soon as possible." Xu Binchen stood up and nodded slightly in acknowledgement. He had started to walk a few steps but ended up turning around again. Jiang Jinyan was looking at him too, the two gazes met in midair. "Mr. Jiang, do you have any idea why she rejected everyone but you?"

Jiang Jinyan was caught off guard by his question. That…he also wanted to know. Was the girl truly his huge fan to the point where she would rely on him more than a police officer? To the point where she would feel safe toward a disabled man in a wheelchair?

"I don't know either.." He shook his head.