My Dearest General: It Has Always Been You

After lunch break, there was English class and the last class of the day was PE. Their PE class was often mixed with other classes. It was the same this time, Class 1 would be mixed with Class 5 to play volleyball in the indoor gymnasium.

Originally, Mo Ling was sleeping with her saliva hanging on the corner of the mouth when the teacher read English text, but when PE came, she was injected with chicken blood. The whole changing locker was filled with her chatter. "Oh my, it's class 5, I will be able to see Zhang Jiancheng!"

The so-called Zhang Jiancheng was Sangzhe High's school grass which was said to rival Mo Qingshan in terms of look. It was just that Mo Qingshan was more charismatic, mature and gentle, making people swoon endlessly.

On the other hand, Zhang Jiancheng was truly like the male protagonist of a school idol drama.

He's the captain of the volleyball club. Tall, suave and kind of cold. Just like a typical high school male god. He often liked to play basketball during free class and when the time came, the entire court would be filled with the girls' screams and cheers.

Shi Nian's group walked to the gymnasium under Mo Ling's exaggerating praise of Zhang Jiancheng's character, something like how he didn't hesitate to jump into the middle of the street to help a limp dog that's almost ran down by a car, or how he was Teacher Yao's favorite student which meant that he was superb in his study and temperament.

"Aaaah, look, it's him!"

In fact, Mo Ling didn't have to point it out because there were just some people who, even when they were only standing there quietly, would be able to become the center of the crowd.

Zhang Jiancheng was one of them. And another example of it was Jin Renguang, the main investigator of the serial murder case whom she had only seen on TV.

Moreover, there was already the filthy rich Xu Binchen by her side who was almost perfect except for his stinky temperament and also Jiang Jinyan whose look could rival A-list actors if not for his strong sense of alienation and gloominess.

As a result, Shi Nian didn't really feel that Zhang Jiancheng was any kind of special.

But of course, it was different from all the girls around her. Their eyes would, deliberately or subconsciously, be attracted to the charming boy in sports clothes who was turning the volleyball on the tip of his fingers.

"He's very handsome, right?" Mo Ling whispered in her ear, excited.

Shi Nian nodded in agreement. Her eyes trailed to him again. However, it wasn't his look or temperament which attracted her attention. It was the familiarity as if she had seen him somewhere before.

But where was it? She couldn't recall. It just seemed like a recent case, but she couldn't remember it no matter how much she turned her brain upside down.

Then, Zhang Jiancheng lifted his head and his eyes parted through the crowded gymnasium and clashed with Shi Nian's! The man blinked once, but Shi Nian had already turned her head away, embarrassed that she was caught staring.

The PE teacher, Teacher Gu, blew the whistle and the class started.

They did warm up exercises for twenty minutes and Teacher Gu commanded in a booming voice. "The girls can form a two person group to pass the ball. The boys form teams for a match." Loud cheers followed Teacher Gu's words. The thing they were waiting for was exactly this match!

Boys crowded around Zhang Jiancheng, one even slung their arms around his shoulder as they joked around.

Mo Ling begrudgingly said under her breath. "Class 5 has Zhang Jiancheng, how can we win?"

The atmosphere in Class 1 wasn't dampened even with the oppression of the Captain of the volleyball club from the other class. The hot blooded boys excitedly started to discuss the formation of the team.

Shi Nian started to look around for a partner.

Their group had four people so it was very convenient. Li Qing smiled and asked. "Shi Nian, do you want to pair with me?"

Before she could agree, a boy came over, asking shyly. "Shi Nian, do you have a partner for the group? If not, do you want to consider me?"

Loud boos came from behind. This boy was exactly the one who asked whether she had a boyfriend when she first introduced herself. His name was Tian Wen.

"Shut up!" Tian Wen laughed at the booing. "I will not play in the team anyway!"

Shi Nian was caught off guard by the sudden invitation.

What Shi Nian didn't know was, the number of girls in Class 1 was odd. However, Teacher Gu especially liked to ask the girls to form a two person group. Anyway, they would give any kind of excuse to dodge team matches even if Teacher Gu asked for it.

In their class, the person who had always been isolated was Li Qing.

Chen Jiawei felt responsible as a class monitor and ditched Mo Ling to pair with Li Qing. As a social butterfly, Mo Ling would be able to find someone else just fine so Chen Jiawei was rest assured.

However, the boys weren't aware of it at all. They thought that Shi Nian would be left alone so Tian Wen took the initiative to ask.

Shi Nian took out her pocket size notebook and scribbled. [Sorry, I—]

She hadn't finished writing when Li Qing grumbled under her breath. "Well, good for you, huh?"

After that, she went to ask another person, leaving Shi Nian behind, dumbfounded.

Tian Wei looked at them back and forth. "Did I say something wrong?"

"Yes!" Mo Ling took a deep breath and playfully kicked Tian Wei away. "Scram! Shi Nian's partner is me!"

"Alright, alright!" Tian Wei was kicked back to the boys' group.

Shi Nian looked at Li Qing who had already teamed up with Chen Jiawei. Noticing her worried glance, Mo Ling pulled her to line up and grab the ball. "Don't worry, Li Qing is…" Mo Ling scratched her head awkwardly. "How do I say it? She's more sensitive than other people so don't take it to heart, okay?"

Shi Nian fell silent for a while and nodded.

The class continued with the gymnasium separated in two clear areas. The first area was used for the boys' team match while the other area was filled with girls passing balls back and forth.

Shi Nian's back was facing the boys when Mo Ling's eyes suddenly widened. "Look out!"

The girls screamed in surprise and Shi Nian wasn't given time to react when a surge of wind came from behind her head!

She instinctively ducked and wrapped her arms around her head but the pain she expected didn't come. Instead, the whole gymnasium suddenly quietened down as if someone had just pressed the pause button. Slowly, Shi Nian cracked her eyes open and saw Mo Ling's eyes staring behind her, jaws slacking to the ground.

A slightly harsh breathing was heard and Shi Nian turned around to find Zhang Jiancheng grabbing the volleyball which was supposed to ram onto her head. From such a close distance, Shi Nian had to crane her head to look up to him.

At the same time, the youth's eyes looked down at her. Droplets of sweat slid down the side of his cheeks. Instead of disgusting, he gave off a cool and refreshing aura. Seeing him up close, Shi Nian first thought that: he really looks familiar, where have I seen him before?

Surprise flashed through Zhang Jiancheng's eyes and he asked tentatively, "…You're Shi Nian, right?"

Mo Ling dropped the ball in her hands from shock and the loud thump snapped the students out of their reverie.

Like a fuse, the whole gymnasium instantly exploded into an uproar!

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A/N: ohh, a new character popped up. Will he be a friend or foe? hehehe you will know in the next chapter _(:3」∠)_