My Dearest General: It Has Always Been You

[Where are you?] Jiang Jinyan typed. [I have arrived at the location.]

He stood on an intersection, red lights above his head counting down for fifteen more seconds. Around him were passersby who were similarly waiting to cross the road. Jiang Jinyan pocketed his phone and looked around. He had made an appointment with that suspicious person and here he was, late in the evening when people were supposed to get off work. 

The crowds around him were getting larger and the air was filled with chatter and laughter. A few students in school uniform were animatedly chatting about where they should go on a trip for Christmas and winter break.

Jiang Jinyan pulled down his mask slightly and exhaled a puff of white mist from his mouth. 

So…Christmas was arriving soon. Time flew so fast that he didn't notice the flow. How should he spend his Christmas? He couldn't bring Shi Nian anywhere because it was a critical exam period for her, so maybe…they could just hang around in the vicinity then have dinner together with her mother? Or should he invite Jiang Huocheng altogether? He and Qiang Fei would be in-laws anyway, there's nothing wrong with meeting first.

Right, the Christmas gift. Jiang Jinyan shouldn't forget about it. 

Well, he still had more than a week to prepare anyway. A smile made its way to his face without him knowing. Just the thought of spending his future days with Shi Nian was enough to fill him with satisfaction and bliss.

But first, he had to deal with this bastard first.

Jiang Jinyan kept the plans for himself and focused on the matter in hand. The traffic light turned green and people passed by him. Jiang Jinyan was almost smothered by the crowd thus he opted to stand by the side and pulled up his phone again.

There was a new message. [The black sedan parked in front of the dessert shop.]

Jiang Jinyan looked around and spotted the car. He gave an incredulous laugh. Whoever it was, he had to give it to them for the courage of meeting up in this kind of crowded place. He had thought that they would meet privately in a desolate place but it turned out he had thought too much.

He approached the car slowly all the while keeping an eye toward any movement inside. The car's window was tinted black, preventing him from seeing anything. Sighing, Jiang Jinyan knocked on the driver's window.

There was no answer.

Frowning, he typed on his phone in irritation. [Where are you? If you don't show up right away, I will leave.]

Jiang Jinyan counted to three and was ready to turn away when the window slowly rolled down, revealing a face that was included in his list of suspects. Nonetheless, he was still a tad surprised. Then, a sneer formed on his lips.

"Sorry." The other person said. "I just want to confirm that there's nobody following you around. Get in."

Jiang Jinyan scoffed and went into the passenger's seat. "Say what you want. You also know the consequences if you lie to me, right?"

"Of course, Young Master Jiang. Everything I will say is the truth, I guarantee it." A shallow smile formed on the man's lips. He then turned on the engine and shifted the gear stick. "But first, let's go to a more private place."

"I thought you wanted to meet there?" Jiang Jinyan pointed toward the dessert shop.

The man jutted his chin toward the back seat. "I know you're not fond of sweets so I bought it for myself."

Jiang Jinyan was already too lazy to give any response. He looked calm and nonchalant on the outside but actually, the hand inside the pocket was holding his phone. As soon as the other person made any suspicious movement, he would directly send a message to Xu Binchen.

"Are you thirsty? There's mineral water in the dashboard if you'd like."

Jiang Jinyan kept mum, his eyes straight on the road.

The atmosphere in the car was strained and heavy, as expected. The other man seemed not to mind the suffocating silence and Jiang Jinyan wasn't willing to relent either. The car drove through the main road smoothly. The sign above pointed at 'Jianshan Intersection' to the left and 'National Highways' to the right.

All of a sudden, the man suddenly asked. "How is your relationship with Miss Shi—"

"Don't." Jiang Jinyan said quietly, fists clenching. The light in his eyes twisted darkly as if he was going to pounce as soon as the man said another word. "Don't ask about her. You don't have the right to say her name."

Silence. It was unknown what the man was thinking but his expression didn't change a bit. "...Alright."

The car made a turn to the left. Sensing no sign of stopping soon, Jiang Jinyan couldn't help asking in irritation. "Where are you taking me?" 

"A private place where we can talk alone." He said. "Aren't you hot? Why don't you take your coat off?" As a gesture of sincerity, the man adjusted the heater and the air that flowed out became slightly cooler. It blasted Jiang Jinyan's face, directly drying the sweat on his forehead. The sudden change of temperature caused a chill to quake his body.

"Turn down the air—" He suddenly froze. 

"Are you okay?" The man asked in a slightly worried tone.

Stiffness traveled from the tip of Jiang Jinyan's fingers to his whole body. Just in the span of two seconds, he realized that something was wrong with him. Very, very wrong. "What…did you do…?" He spat out the words with difficulty. Soon, he couldn't even move a limb anymore. 

How? He hadn't eaten or drank anything nor did he carelessly touch any part of the car… 

—The air conditioner!

Veins popped up in Jiang Jinyan's forehead and he growled angrily inside. He had been too careless! Yet it was as if his soul was locked inside a puppet's body. He was fully conscious yet unable to move a bit. His frustration quickly reached its peak and muffled words escaped his mouth. "...Bas…tard!"

The man slowly parked the car on the sideroad and studied him carefully. "They said that it's a paralysis gas that can take down a huge elephant in mere seconds. It's a wonder how you can keep your sanity up to now. Well, you're not going to last long anyway. Sleep tight, Young Master Jiang. Don't worry. I will not kill you. Not so soon." 

The man's visage slowly turned into a blur in Jiang Jinyan's eyes and the last thing that flashed through his mind was Shi Nian's face.

…How anxious would she be if she couldn't find him when she returned home later?

Jiang Jinyan bit the tip of his tongue, intending to use the pain to maintain his consciousness. Alas, even the strength to move his jaws was no more. Soon after, he couldn't resist the lure of darkness anymore and closed his eyes unwillingly. His grab around the phone came loose and it slipped out of his pocket, forming a dull thud that caught the man's attention.

He reached for Jiang Jinyan's phone and pressed the latter's fingers on the lock sensor. The screen instantly shifted toward the WeChat interface where a message had just been sent out less than a minute ago. The recipient was Xu Binchen.

[SOS! Display: location.]

"Hmm?" The man murmured under his breath. "Not bad, Young Master Jiang." He connected his own phone and Jiang Jinyan's with a cable then copied a file there. Fiddling with Jiang Jinyan's phone for a while, the message that was sent to Xu Binchen suddenly disappeared without a trace as if nothing was there from the start.

He had just put down the phone when it suddenly rang. 'Old Jiang' was written on it.

The man's movement paused and he hesitated for a while. In the end, he let the phone ring until it was naturally cut off. A message popped up. [What about Si Zhening?]

He pondered for a while and replied. [Nothing. I've got it already.] After that, he threw the phone out of the window and it was instantly run over by a truck and shattered into pieces of scrap metal. 

Shifting the gear stick, he made a U-turn and drove toward the highway.

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A/N: omg, Jinyan noo! Who do you think it is?!

oh and if you are wondering why he's unaffected by the paralysis gas, ofc he has taken precautions before

hehehe still working on the mass release. Soon!