My Dearest General: It Has Always Been You

The matter with Ruo Tingran quickly spread to the whole school. Xu Binchen and Ru Meiqi had been closely monitoring the case, thus as soon as they received Shi Nian\'s recording, action was immediately taken to inflict punishment for the culprit. Even Ruo Tingran\'s parents were informed.

Her crime was neither light nor insignificant. She had got into contact with the people from the mafia and it was expected that this wasn\'t their first cooperation. The police wanted to seize this opportunity to catch them in the act. Convicting Ruo Tingran was equal to holding one of the mafia\'s weaknesses in their hands. 

On the other hand, Ruo Family used all of their resources and network to resist vehemently. The Police Bureau\'s higher ups were alarmed by this matter. The tension between both sides was thick and tense, neither seemed to have any intention of backing down.

For a while, they remained at a deadlock. Although Ruo Tingran hadn\'t been apprehended yet, her dirty deeds had been aired in the public and discussed widely. As someone who cared about face and reputation the most, it was certain that she wouldn\'t be able to recover anymore. 

True to the fact, she didn\'t even come to school for the next few days. Some people even said that she was going to transfer schools, or so the hearsay. 

As one of the related parties, the messy situation didn\'t affect Shi Nian in the slightest. She was still waiting for a certain someone to rouse from his sweet slumber. Fortunately, God seemed to answer her prayer as Jiang Jinyan regained consciousness the night after. 

Shi Nian knew that her mother, Sister Meiqi or even Xu Binchen was aware that any changes in Jiang Jinyan\'s condition, no matter how small it was, could sway her mood like a colossal tsunami. That\'s why, they subconsciously wanted to keep Jiang Jinyan\'s news away from her and only notified her when the man had gotten slightly better.

Shi Nian was aware of it and due to that exact reason, she bribed Jiang Jinyan\'s nurse secretly before she was discharged. As soon as Jiang Jinyan regained consciousness, she ought to notify Shi Nian, no matter if it was at midnight or wee hours in the morning.

It was almost 10 pm when Shi Nian received the message. [Miss Shi Nian, this is Xia Yu. The patient in VVIP 04 has regained consciousness.]

As soon as she saw that, Shi Nian grabbed her coat, left a note to Qiang Fei and tiptoed out of the house. Under the cover of the dark sky, she hailed a cab and rushed to the hospital which was still brightly lit. The sight managed to loosen the heavy string in her heart, albeit only a tiny bit.

"Miss Shi!" Nurse Xia Yu was stationed on the night shift today. As soon as she caught sight of Shi Nian coming out of the elevator, she stood up from her seat with a clatter, shocked beyond wits. "You...Why are you coming this late?!" 

Informing the relatives or someone close to the patient about their condition was already the norm practice among the nurses and doctors. Nurse Xia didn\'t give it much thought when Shi Nian asked her to do so. Never had she expected that Shi Nian would come at such an hour!

Shi Nian breathed heavily, sweat dotted her forehead although the weather was chillingly cold. "He\'s already awake?" She asked nervously.

"Yes. He asked for you as soon as he woke up and I have already told him that you have been discharged." Xiao Yu saw that the girl\'s complexion didn\'t look too good and tried to persuade her. "It\'s already so late and maybe the patient has already gone back to sleep. Miss Shi, you should have come tomorrow morning during the visiting hours."

How could Shi Nian wait any longer? Even one minute seemed so long, too long that it was getting torturous. She was uncertain of the reason why, but she just really, really wanted to see him with her own eyes otherwise she wouldn\'t be able to sleep at all again like last night.

"I know. Sorry, Nurse Xia." Shi Nian forced out a smile. "I—I won\'t disturb him. I will only look at him, okay? Nurse Xia, please…" Shi Nian pleaded. "Just this one time."

The arrival of six people two days ago had created a commotion among the staff. Nurse Xia also knew that the patient inside VVIP 04 had sustained such great injuries in order to protect her. The man had to receive two operations whilst the girl only had light bruises. If it was Xia Yu who was in Shi Nian\'s position, she would also be anxious to death.

Aiyah, youthful love…

Nurse Xia\'s heart softened just like that and she whispered solemnly. "If the patient is asleep, don\'t disturb him, okay?"

Shi Nian smiled in relief. "Okay, I really won\'t disturb him."

After coming to a compromise, Xia Yu gave Shi Nian a pass. The entire floor was wholly reserved for VVIP patients and to enter the ward, they had to scan the pass to the electronic scanner. 

Shi Nian said her thanks and held the pass in her hand. It wasn\'t until she was walking down the corridor that she found out how fast her heartbeat was. Her palms were clammy with sweat and she was consumed by an unprecedented anxiety and nervousness which she had no idea where it sprouted out from.

The French window showcased the gloomy thick clouds up in the sky and the scattered lights from tall buildings. Bolts of lightning flashed and rain started to pour down gently. Tiny droplets of water lingered on the window pane, leaving trails akin to tears.

Warm air blasted from the heater, slightly warming her freezing body. Her footsteps made no sound and the atmosphere on the whole floor was absolutely tranquil. Only when the electronic scanner verified her pass did it give a soft beep. 

The police officers guarding outside had been summoned back by Officer Wen to chase down Sui Chenyou. And the other part of the reason was the hospital\'s tight security that reassured them. Anyway, because of this decision, Shi Nian\'s journey was clear and smooth.

She stopped in front of Jiang Jinyan\'s door and numbly reached out to slide the door open. However, she stopped when the door was only slightly ajar. Shi Nian recalled Nurse Xia\'s words and opted to see him from the glass panel instead.

Lightning flashed, illuminating the man on the bed. His back was supported by a stack of pillows with his head turned sideways as he gazed out of the window, rendering Shi Nian unable to see his face clearly. 

However, it was clear that the man was still awake.

Jiang Jinyan stayed in the same position for five minutes and Shi Nian didn\'t take her eyes off him for the whole time, greedily taking in his silhouette. At one time, Shi Nian wondered how many times she had only stood at a distance to stare at his back. She must have done it quite often in her past life to the point where it had almost become a habit to do so.

Longing, yet unable to get close. Yearning, yet oblivious as to how to cut the distance. 

Just like the name he bestowed her[1]. A yearning for something unattainable. She craved him in the same way.

They were clearly no longer restricted by age, status, social ethics and morals. But once in a while, Shi Nian would get the same feeling as if no matter how hard she tried to reach him, there would always be a thin layer of impenetrable barrier that hindered them from seeing each other clearly. 

It was so, so thin yet they needed a lifetime to cross it. Nevertheless, the barrier had never felt so thin like tonight.

As though she would be able to pierce it just with a single poke. 

.

.

[1] I don\'t know if I have mentioned it before. The pronunciation of Shi Nian\'s name is the same as Si Nian (yearning). Exactly what was our General thinking about when he gave her the name? Hehe...his POV is coming at the end of the story

.

.

A/N: It pained me to imagine the scene where Shi Nian stood behind General Jiang, not once but many times, staring at him with such yearning but the man had no idea of it at all.

Next chappie, my favorite after Shi Nian\'s confession as well as the scene which makes me start writing MDG. Prepare your heart, folks (´Д⊂ヽ