My Dearest General: It Has Always Been You

Shi Nian widened in surprise. "Xiao Chun!" She followed Nan Xukun's line of sight and saw her and Jiang Jinyan's intimately interlacing fingers. Blush colored her cheeks and she loosened her hold only for Jiang Jinyan to hold it tighter. Shi Nian looked up in shock to find Jiang Jinyan's questioning glance as if he didn't understand her predicament at all.

Nan Xukun raised a brow, a smile graced his lips. "Care to introduce us?"

"Ah, this is—"

"Jiang Jinyan." He cut her off, his words curt.

Shi Nian glanced at him, baffled but still continued. "Yes, this is Jiang Jinyan." What should she introduce him as? Friend? No, which friend would hold hands together in the middle of the street? Lovers? But she wasn't Jiang Jinyan's girlfriend at all…Shi Nian cleared her throat and decided to skip it once and for all. She turned to Jiang Jinyan, gesturing to Nan Xukun. "This is Nan Xukun, or Xiao Chun, my childhood friend."

Nan Xukun beamed, hand stretching out. "Hello, nice to meet you there. You're Shi Nian's boyfriend?"

"Xiao Chun!" Shi Nian blushed fiercely and glowered. "He—He's not my boyfriend!"

"No?" Nan Xukun gave their hands a glance.

If Jiang Jinyan wanted to shake Nan Xukun's hand, then he had to let go of Shi Nian. Nan Xukun waited for a few moments but didn't see any intention to part from him. He shrugged his shoulders and lowered his arm. "Really not?" He asked once again.

This time, it was Jiang Jinyan who answered. "No."

It was as if a sharp needle had just tweaked Shi Nian's heart. It was painful and uncomfortable. She lowered her head so that her dim expression couldn't be seen, but instead, her eyes fell upon their hands which he still held tight.

She pressed her lips together, trying to hold back the surging tremble. Suddenly, she felt that the glee and excitement she had felt prior to this had become ridiculous instead. Maybe, she thought that after they had kissed so fervently—even exchanging saliva with each other—there ought to be some changes between their relationships.

But it seemed that she was still too naïve.

What to do? The happiness from holding hands with him became suffocating instead.

Shameless Shi Nian! Why are you so greedy? Isn't it enough already that he was still willing to be dragged along with her everywhere?

Shi Nian swallowed painfully, lumps on her throat but she still stretched her lips upward to form a smile. "Yes, told you he's not—"

Jiang Jinyan tugged on her hand without any warning. Caught off guard, Shi Nian's body tilted toward him and he wrapped his arms around her shoulder, lips brushing briefly against her temple. His gaze toward Nan Xukun was dark and bottomless. "Not yet, I mean...I am still chasing after her."

Shi Nian's head snapped up in shock. The rims of her reddened eyes were plain to see, evidence that she almost cried due to his previous denial.

Jiang Jinyan scoffed lightly, thumb massaging her eyelids. "What's wrong with your expression?"

Shi Nian shook her head dumbly. Her heart, which had almost shattered to pieces, was suddenly revitalized. The feeling of being lifted from Hell to Heaven was so thrilling that she felt her whole body abruptly lighten as if she could fly anytime soon.

Nan Xukun looked at both of them, still with a smile but slowly it dissipated from his eyes, leaving an empty, cold smile. "Xiao Nian, come here for a second."

"Huh?" Shi Nian was too happy to register the undercurrent that was happening between the two men. "What's wrong?"

"Come here." Nan Xukun gestured. "There's something I want to ask you."

In response, Shi Nian looked at Jiang Jinyan for permission and the latter finally loosened her hold. "I will take a walk around."

Shi Nian's eyes trailed onto Jiang Jinyan's back until he was a few meters away, her eyes dazzlingly bright with an uncontrollable grin on her face. She turned to Nan Xukun with the same silly face, asking in an exuberant mood. "What do you want to talk about, Xiao Chun?"

"You…" Nan Xukun smiled wryly. "Do you really like him that much?"

"Of course!" Shi Nian didn't intend to hide her feelings at all. If she could, she even wished to shout it out loud so that the whole world would know that she liked such an amazing man.

Nan Xukun lowered his eyes to hide the sadness within them. And you said that you're going to stay with me forever… The hand inside his pocket clenched tightly, yet his tone remained casual. "What about Detective Xu?"

"Huh?" Shi Nian repeated instead, clueless. "What about Binchen gege?"

Nan Xukun looked at her innocent face which hardly changed at all since twelve years ago. The bitterness inside him intensified, it was almost gut wrenching. "No, nothing. I am just curious, do you still keep in touch with him?"

Shi Nian hummed in agreement. "He's my neighbor now. How about you? What are you doing here?"

In a timely manner, Nan Xukun's phone rang. He fished it out and waved it in front of Shi Nian. "Just hanging out with some friends. Then, I will not disturb your date anymore. Goodbye." Without waiting for her to answer, Nan Xukun turned and walked away.

Shi Nian stared at his back, bewildered. Why did it seem like something wasn't right with him? But no matter how she thought about it, she couldn't recall what could have gone wrong. Hence, she decided to put it to the back of her mind and turned to find Jiang Jinyan instead.

"Finished?" He asked, both hands settled into the pocket snugly. Even just by standing there, with his face covered by a mask, he could still manage to attract many peach blossoms. Shi Nian only had to look around once and she could already find two or three women sneakily glancing at him.

She puffed up her cheeks, stifled. "En."

"What's wrong again?" He pinched her nose gently and Shi Nian seized the opportunity to hold his pinky finger.

"Can we?" She asked, her eyes glittered with hope and nervousness.

Jiang Jinyan raised a brow and flicked her forehead in return. He didn't say anything but intertwined their ten fingers once again, making her so happy that she almost skipped in place. Shi Nian grinned foolishly and swung their hands as they proceeded to walk toward the cinema.

The shopping district was connected with the mall. They only had to walk across it then rode the elevator to reach the cinema. As the sun rose to its highest point, more and more people were seen along the way, both in groups or couples, some were even enjoying their time alone.

Shi Nian's eyes were constantly pulled to him like a magnet, so did some people, to her dismay. Jiang Jinyan was just too eyecatching. He had this aloof and slightly melancholic temperament that could make him stand out of the crowd, especially when he dressed in such a nice outfit.

Seeing how she kept on stealing glances, it amused him indeed, yet he couldn't help chiding softly. "Keep your eyes ahead when you walk."

"Oh…" Shi Nian pouted slightly. Her head didn't turn anymore but her eyes did. In the end, Shi Nian received her karma and bumped her shoulder against someone. She gasped in shock as the force was enough to knock her down, fortunately Jiang Jinyan quickly wrapped his arm around her waist and supported her.

"Sorry, sorry!" The girl who bumped into her grimaced in apology. "Are you hurt?"

Shi Nian recovered from her shock and shook her head. "I'm okay. Sorry, I didn't pay attention to the road either."

The girl glanced at her then toward Jiang Jinyan who was more than a head taller than her, face blushing slightly. After apologizing once more, she dashed away quickly with her friend in tow.

"What did I say just now?" His voice came above her head, tone severe.

"It's my fault…" Shi Nian stood properly with his help. She turned around to face him, but her eyes inadvertently caught sight of a slightly familiar figure. In an instant, her whole body froze in place, eyes widening in astonishment.

.

.

.

A/N: can anyone be sweeter than Jiang Jinyan? ༼ಢ_ಢ༽

[3/5]