My Dearest General: It Has Always Been You

Shi Nian's eyes were wide open in shock as she stared at Xu Binchen, petrified.

Xu Binchen pressed his lips together and a curse slipped out of his mouth. Clearly, he didn't have plans to say anything but the moment he saw the familiar name on the card in Shi Nian's hands, his mind turned blank and the only thing in his mind was to separate Shi Nian from that person as far as possible.

This was a mistake, Xu Binchen thought.

"But you don't need to be scared," Xu Binchen sighed with irritation on his face. "Afterall, he's just a possible suspect. I just want to warn you to be more careful okay?"

Shi Nian's face didn't improve, and she dumped all of the things in her hands to Xu Binchen as she went to get her board. [He…He…] Her palms were sweaty and it took her a moment to properly form the words she wanted to say.

On top of everything, she wrote hastily. [He came to visit Mr. Jiang!] Then, wasn't Jiang Jinyan in great danger right now?! Apart from her, he was the only one who saw the culprit that night. Was this…the so-called silencing witness?!

Shi Nian's head buzzed and her sight darkened as the thought flashed past her mind.

"Come here." Xu Binchen pulled her inside her room and pressed her to sit on the couch as he went to get her a cup of warm water. The man himself sat opposite her, his fingers reached deep into his pocket to drag out a cigarette. He bit down on it but didn't light it up. "Si Zhening is one of the possible suspects that the police have investigated before. But the search has come to naught and he was proven innocent."

Shi Nian tremblingly reached for her cup and chugged down all of the water there. Only then did she feel her head cooling down somewhat. Her sluggish brain started to work again. [So, he's not…?]

"So far, he's not." Xu Binchen's eyes were dark and deep as he said. "Every criminal is innocent until they're proven guilty. But I don't want to let go of any suspicion. Someone once said to me that there's no coincidence in this world, only premeditated action. However, it seems truly a coincidence that Mr. Jiang is hospitalized here, on the same floor with you and Mr. Si being his father's personal assistant. But what if it's not? Do you understand what I want to say, Shi Nian? I just want you to be more careful in the future."

Shi Nian swallowed her saliva and nodded. [Then, Mr.Jiang…?]

"Nothing will happen to him. His father isn't someone ordinary. They have to think twice if they want to touch him. So far, the culprit's victims are people from lower to middle economic class in society, so the possibility of him targeting Mr.Jiang is miniscule."

Shi Nian sighed in relief. It's good. If Jiang Jinyan was okay, then everything was good.

Xu Binchen raised a brow. "You seem to be extraordinarily concerned about him?" The end of his sentence contained a question mark but the tone itself seemed certain. Shi Nian just gave a casual excuse. [I am his fan.]

Xu Binchen's brows rose to his forehead, seemingly unconvinced but he didn't ask anything more except to warn her again and told her not to get close to any strangers.

***

For a few days after that, Si Zhening didn't come anymore and the name card was confiscated by Xu Binchen. The former's sincere wish for Shi Nian to contact him if anything happened to Jiang Jinyan came to naught.

In fact, she wanted to report to him, saying that Jiang Jinyan didn't seem right these days.

Despite looking the same as usual albeit a little bit dispirited, he never finished his food. Every tray that the nurse brought in would be brought out again with only a third missing. After that, Shi Nian often caught him staring out on the floor to ceiling window—sometimes outside the balcony—alone, no one knew what was on his mind.

Every time during those moments, Shi Nian would always stop two meters behind him. A distance not too close to be detected, and not too far to be unseen. If the man just turned around, then he would always be able to find Shi Nian there.

But never once did he ever look back. Thus, Shi Nian would always be shown with the sight of his back, sitting on a wheelchair, the strands of his hair moving along with the breeze as sunlight poured onto his fair nape. Tranquil and desolate. Seeing him like this, Shi Nian would be filled with sadness and concern.

Now that she thought about it, she had never seen his parents.

He had always been alone.

But she didn't have any right to ask him, nor did she have the right to show her concern to his face. What was she? She was only Shi Nian, one of the numerous passerby in his life.

Thus, Shi Nian did the thing that she had done before, giving him flowers. Ever since she discovered that Jiang Jinyan seemed to like daffodils, she had wanted to give it to him once again. Surely, the task of buying flowers was handed to Xu Binchen.

And finally, the man saw with his own eyes as Shi Nian received the flower bouquet and…tore it apart. She created a new, small bouquet and brought it to the receptionist on the first floor. Once again, the person who received her was the same as before.

[Hello, I want to send flowers to Mr. Jiang on the fifth floor please.]

The receptionist's mouth twitched as she glanced at Shi Nian's hopeful eyes and Xu Binchen, who was standing behind her with a face as black as the bottom of a pan. She curled up her lips in a professional way. "Sure, let me check it first….yes, Mr. Jiang Jinyan on the fifth floor. On whose name do you want to send it?"

[Anonymous.] Shi Nian beamed.

The procedure was handled quickly and her flowers were brought in. Shi Nian then turned around and happened to meet Xu Binchen's indecipherable eyes. "You…"

Shi Nian tilted her head, confused.

Xu Binchen was rendered speechless, he almost laughed in anger. "You gave the flowers…to Mr. Jiang?"

[Yes!] Shi Nian's face sported 'does it have to be asked?' expression. [What's wrong, uncle?]

All of a sudden, Xu Binchen felt ridiculous. The urge to smoke kicked in and he sighed as he signaled to one of his men who was wearing civilian clothes and pretended to read the newspaper on the waiting bench. The other man gave a nod and folded his newspaper. "I want to go out and smoke for a while. You can go up first."

Shi Nian didn't doubt his words and nodded.

Then, as she turned around, she was instantly met with Jiang Jinyan's figure in a wheelchair, his eyes staring in her direction. Shi Nian stood still, dumbstruck. In her mind, she had already died a thousand times. Thoughts of 'Did he see me send the flowers?' 'Now, he will know that I am the one who sent it, what will he think of me?' were constantly circling around.

It took her a moment to realize that Jiang Jinyan never looked at her even a bit. His gaze shot passed her, intense and burning.

Shi Nian had an ominous premonition in her heart. She followed the man's sight and turned her gaze toward the transparent wall which directly faced the parking lot. Her heart instantly sank.

There she was—Wei Xiameng, Jiang Jinyan's girlfriend, hugging another man she had seen once before. Her face suffused with an aura of shyness and happiness as the man ducked his head and kissed her cheek.

.

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