My Dearest General: It Has Always Been You

"Have you calmed down?"

Shi Nian received a cup of hot water from Xu Binchen and nodded. Her eyes were still a little shaken but she had managed to compose herself. She wanted to reach for her board, but the man stopped him.

"Drink first."

Hence, she had no choice but to comply. The water's temperature was just right, it wasn't too hot to scald her tongue, yet it was still warm enough to cease her trembling fingers.

She downed it with two gulps.

Xu Binchen leaned himself against the wall, his hand sneaking into his pocket and reaching for his cigarette, but then he recalled that it was a hospital and sullenly held himself back.

"Are you ready to talk?"

Shi Nian glanced at him and wrote. [Don't tell Doctor Chun.]

"Yeah, sure." He rolled his eyes in sarcasm. "Then the next time when people found you, you would have turned into a corpse."

Shi Nian: "…" Why is his mouth so annoying? [It's not that serious.]

Shi Nian was honestly speechless. She somehow understood why Nurse Zhang hated Xu Binchen so much and why Doctor Chun always looked like he was ready to fight whenever he talked with him.

[It's nothing, seriously. I just…saw a person I thought I knew.]

Xu Binchen raised his eyebrows. He dug into his memory and fuzzily recalled that there's some people who passed by them. But the reaction she showed was nothing in the level of 'someone you know'. Even now, her shoulder was still trembling incessantly.

Xu Binchen sneered. "Do you think I am an idiot?"

Shi Nian's eyes widened and she puffed up her cheeks in anger. If she could speak, maybe she would have screamed in front of his face and drowned him in spit. But then, before she could appeal for herself, he had waved his hand in dismissal.

"Forget it, I don't have any interest in your personal business. As long as it doesn't have anything to do with the case, don't tell me."

She took a deep, deep breath and gripped her pen tighter.

Coincidentally, a nurse passed through them and backtracked. "Shi Nian…?"

Shi Nian lifted her head, it was the nurse she occasionally saw, but she wasn't quite familiar with anyone except Doctor Chun and Nurse Zhang. The nurse looked at the two of them back and forth. The man was standing on all his heights, towering over the girl who was huddling in her seat in the corner, her face was flushed red, even the corner of her eyes reddened…

She stared warily at Xu Binchen and approached Shi Nian, whispering in her ears. "Do you want me to call Doctor Chun here?"

Unfortunately, it was a desolate corridor, and every single voice was magnified. Furthermore, Xu Binchen was standing too close, he could even hear the noise of a fly buzzing past. That's why, whether it was whispering or saying it right in front of his face, there's no difference.

The nurse was still staring at Shi Nian earnestly.

Xu Binchen's mouth twitched. Did she think he's dead? He huffed and pointed at Shi Nian. "She has shown some abnormal behavior just now. Take her to the doctor or wherever you want to get her checked up."

The nurse was shocked. "What happened? Where is abnormal? Your head? Your chest? Your wounds?"

Xu Binchen pointed at his temple. "Her brain."

Shi Nian: "!!!"

The innocent nurse was dazed before realizing that Xu Binchen was just playing with her. Both of them fumed in anger, the expression was bizarrely similar. Xu Binchen harrumphed in satisfaction and strode away, not before nagging. "I will be around the corner, don't walk off to another place as you please. What do you want to eat? I will tell someone to bring it to you."

Shi Nian's appetite had evaporated in that moment when she caught sight of a person very similar to Jiang Jinyan. She gloomily responded. [Whatever, as long as it's not porridge.]

Xu Binchen nodded and walked away, leaving Shi Nian alone with the nurse.

The nurse surnamed Li huffed a relief sigh but Shi Nian didn't take notice of it. She was too preoccupied with the thought of the man so similar to General Jiang.

"Are you okay?" Nurse Li asked. "Do you want me to bring you to your room?"

In the end, Shi Nian couldn't resist asking. [May I ask…]

"Yes, what?"

Shi Nian's fingertips trembled ever so slightly. [There's a patient with one of his legs amputated, male, quite young…]

She didn't even need to describe further and Nurse Li's eyes shone in realization. "Are you talking about Mr. Jiang Jinyan?"

Hearing that familiar name, Shi Nian's hand jerked and the pen slipped away from her palm and rolled down the floor. Nurse Li didn't think too much and bent down to help her get it. "Do you find him familiar? He should be, after all, he is kind of famous among females. He is the gold medalist—oh my God, Shi Nian, what's wrong with you?"

Shi Nian's face was ghastly pale, and her light color eyes dimmed noticeably.

Her shoulder trembled heavily and she fell in a daze that no matter how Nurse Li shook her, she didn't give any reaction at all.

General Jiang…General Jiang Jinyan…so it's really you…

I found you at last, but why? Why did you turn out like this?

Shi Nian buried her face into her palms, her body curled into the corner of the seat.

"Shi Nian? Shi Nian, what's wrong?" Nurse Li fell into panic and went to call for help, but Shi Nian didn't notice her action. Her heartbeat was pounding inside her chest, the sound so loud and dominated her whole focus.

The warmth of tears on her palm was similar to that time when she held him with his body full of blood.

She was submerged into the memory lane, the one that made the most impression on her in her past life.