My Dearest General: It Has Always Been You

Ke Shao grabbed the paper report and veins bulged out of his forehead. Beside him, Luo Xiu lifted his head from the midnight snack—a huge portion of pig trotters—chewing on it until his lips were all oily. "What\'s up?"

"This Yu Chuan…" Ke Shao gritted his teeth. "Not only is he infected with AIDS, but the blood test result also shows that he is addicted to drugs!"

Luo Xiu just gave an apathetic \'oh\'. "Isn\'t it expected from such a person?"

"But—" Ke Shao thought of his background check, his innocent and virtuous wife and two adorable children…why were they fated to have such a scummy man as father and husband? Ke Shao\'s eyes were red as he wailed. "We don\'t even have a girlfriend but why is someone like Yu Chuan able to get a wife and two cute children??!!"

The whole busy office froze with Ke Shao\'s loud complaint.

Luo Xiu threw him a disdained gaze. So, that was what he was fussing about.

Tang Wei pushed his glasses which had dropped to the edge of his nose. "Can you not attack me personally? Thank you very much."

"I am not attacking you!" Ke Shao thumped on his chest. "I am attacking myself! My own miserable life!"

"Shall I add to your misery?"

Ke Shao almost tumbled down his chair. He rapidly stood up, turned around and saluted. "Captain, you\'re back! This is Yu Chuan\'s blood test. We have placed the suspicious man in interrogation room 1 at this moment. Do you get any leads? Are you tired? Shall I order you some pig trotters?"

Everyone wished that they could whack Ke Shao\'s head. Such an ass kisser. Didn\'t he see that Captain had become Jin Yanluo?

Jin Renguang\'s face was heavy and somber, the air pressure around him was at an all time low. He grabbed the blood result and flipped it as his eyes danced along the words. "Leave them alone for two more hours. Give Yu Chuan some medicine."

When Jin Renguang was like this, the whole office didn\'t dare to breathe too loud, even Tang Wei softened his fingers so that the keyboard\'s clicking sound became a bit quieter.

"For now, we have a few leads; the person Ke Shao caught and Yu Chuan, Yu Chuan\'s phone, the phone number, and a few possible suspects that are in need of confirming. Ke Shao, you\'re responsible for the suspicious person. Tang Wei, dig whatever you can out from Yu Chuan\'s phone. The rest of you, follow up with their progress and I will take care of the rest. I am giving you five hours. Five hours later, we will gather in the meeting room to combine what we got." He emphasized each word and scowled. "If you haven\'t got anything after those hours, then don\'t even think of getting your salary this month!"

Jin Renguang stormed to his office and slammed on the door, leaving a room full of wailing souls full of woes behind.

The door closed behind Jin Renguang, separating him from the rowdy howls outside. He sank into his chair and closed his eyes for a moment. In his mind, the conversation between him and Granny Kong circled around which ended with the sentence she said when he was getting ready to leave.

"It will be the fifth year of her death anniversary soon. Although she\'s at fault, she has died in exchange for it. When will you decide to forgive her?"

***

Shi Nian\'s eyes snapped open amidst the dark and she sat up, gasping. Sweat dampened her hair and a few strands of it stuck to her cheek. She pulled up her knees and buried her head in it, her body shivering incessantly. It seemed like she could still hear the desperate screams which were getting weaker and weaker, the thick scent of blood permeating the air, and the blurry yet terrifying voice of that person.

"Let\'s play a game, shall we? If you can eat this plate, then maybe, I will be kind enough to let her go. If not…hehe, you shall know it soon."

It turned out that she still couldn\'t face it straight. She had forced herself to act natural, trying to remember how she liked to eat hotpot the most. But it all manifested into a nightmare.

She couldn\'t deceive herself anymore. In her dream, she tremblingly asked, "You…will really let her go?"

"You\'re not in the position to bargain with me, little one." He chuckled. "Let me count to three. One, two, three—"

"I will! I will eat it…" She scrambled to grab the plate of bloody meat. Tears gathered in her eyes as she forced herself to swallow. She choked and coughed, nausea churned her stomach. "Let her…go…"

Yet, in the next second, the thing she got in return was a woman\'s piercing scream and the man\'s laugh. "Did I ever promise you anything?"

When Shi Nian lifted her head, she was shocked to find that her hands were covered in blood. But when she blinked, it all disappeared. Choking, she staggered toward the bathroom and vomited all of the dinner out. The rims of her eyes reddened and her throat was so dry that it was painful, but she still heaved ceaselessly as if wanting to vomit her guts out.

The clock showed 2.11 am.

But sleep had left Shi Nian completely.

The house was dark with only the dim yellow light of streetlamps pouring in intermittently. Shi Nian huddled in the blanket, but her teeth kept on chattering in chill. The silence suffocated her, and a burst of fear rushed through her veins. It was like she had returned to that time, when she was alone, helpless and scared…

She wanted to find Qiang Fei, but she knew how precious this short holiday was for her. She had worked so hard and if she found her daughter frequently woke up from constant nightmares, clamoring that she had dreamed of the past again, that she hadn\'t walked out from beneath the shadow of the dark at all... How sad would she be?

Shi Nian could lie once, but how long could she keep on doing it? Sooner or later, Qiang Fei would find out. But Shi Nian would like to lie as long as she could to give Qiang Fei some hard earned peace.

She would carry this burden until she couldn\'t bear it anymore.

Her shoulders trembled and the back of her eyes stung. Her throat seemed like it had still retained the metallic rust of blood and the softness of raw meat. She took in a deep breath but the air was also suffused with the faint taste of blood.

Shi Nian bit the inside of her cheek and decided that she might as well try to stay up until dawn arrived.

She slipped out of the house and saw there wasn\'t any sign of activity from Xu Binchen\'s door. He must have still been busy pulling all nighters. Shi Nian went to the emergency stairs and started to climb. Yes, Xu Binchen\'s apartment building actually had a vacant roof.

It was just an empty space devoid of anything. Xu Binchen told Shi Nian that since someone tried to commit suicide by jumping down the roof, the door had always been locked since then.

Shi Nian dug into her pocket and found the key that the man had given her.

When she arrived at the door…

Eh? It wasn\'t locked?

The door that was usually restricted was currently ajar. Cold wind blew in from the gap, slightly dissipating the suffocation that pressed down on her chest.

Shi Nian didn\'t hesitate any longer to push open the door.

The lights from the high buildings and skyscrapers in the distance formed a perfect contrast with the dark sky, like a painting of a glimmering sea of stars among the void. Like the manifestation of hope amidst pain and despair.

The wind fluttered her hair and Shi Nian squeezed her eyes shut by reflex.

There was already someone else before him.

That person\'s back...was immensely familiar.

Jiang Jinyan was standing there, at the edge of the roof where he could directly fall down if he just took a step forward, the hem of his shirt blowing like clouds. A burning cigarette was pinched between his fingers, its tip gave off red sparks.

Shi Nian\'s eyes widened in fright and she rushed forward before her brain could think.