My Dearest General: It Has Always Been You

"Did she tell you what she needed the money for?"

"She…" Mother Li wiped her tears and choked out. "She only said that she wanted to buy makeup and accessories. The rest of the money has been kept in a secure place." Beside her, Father Li was cursing incessantly and Mother Li screamed in anger and pain. "Our daughter has already died so why are you still blaming her?!"

Father Li shut up, his chest heaving violently. It was evident how affected he was by this incident.

For the former Li Family whose wealth and glory was immeasurable, what did a villa cost? They wouldn't even bat an eyelid if someone gifted them ten. But today's Li Family wasn't the same anymore. The villa was one of Father Li's most expensive properties. It disappeared all of a sudden, who wouldn't be angry?

Qin Weizhe scribbled on his notebook. [Sold villa.. Trace the money.]

He asked again after waiting for both of them to calm down. "Then, do you know that Li Qing bought branded jewelry for her friend, Ruo Tingran?"

"W—What?!"

So, they didn't know. Qin Weizhe's pen moved quickly across the paper.

"Not only did she give it to her, she also paid for Ruo Tingran group's expenses." Qin Weizhe recalled Ruo Tingran's words and counted one by one. "Karaoke, facial spa, salon, shopping. I have counted the estimation she spent before her death. Around 10 million, all for her friends."

Mother Li and Father Li were so shocked that their jaws dropped open.

"Li Qing…why?" Mother Li covered her face and cried again.

Qin Weizhe shook his head in pity. "Let me ask two last questions. Before her death, did she act any differently?"

"Different? Was suddenly selling the villa different?" Father Li sneered cynically.

"What else?"

"She…" Mother Li recomposed herself to no avail. "She also started to hang out more often. But I thought that she was stressed out by school. Who knows, who knows that…" The hard earned money from the family's sweat, blood and tears was spent just like that for others. Mother Li was heartbroken, bitter and unable to understand why.

"Yes, you're right. She often stayed with Ruo Tingran and her group and played all night long." Qin Weizhe confirmed. "Anything else?"

Both shook their heads.

"Then," He licked his gums and leaned forward seriously. "The day before Li Qing's death, her interaction with you two, what she was saying, what she was doing, recount it to me one by one as complete as possible."

***

"Your mother has gone on a business trip and she asked me to check up on you." That was the first sentence Xu Binchen said as Shi Nian opened the door. The man looked at her face and frowned. "Why are you skinnier?"

Shi Nian rubbed her cheeks. [Stressed from exam.]

Xu Binchen sneered. "Well, who knows whether you will finish the exam or collapse due to lack of nutrition first. Don't you remember what Doctor Chun said?"

Of course Shi Nian did. Because of the three months imprisonment plus three months coma, when Shi Nian woke up, she was practically left with only skin and bones. So malnourished that she could scare people. Doctor Chun said that she had to look out for the nutrition balance in her every meal to strengthen her body. Straightforwardly speaking, she should eat as much as she wanted and fatten herself up.

Shi Nian knew that Xu Binchen was worried about her and thus ignored his sarcastic remarks. She gave him a smile. [I know, don't worry. I will not collapse.]

As she expected, Xu Binchen scoffed in disdain. "Who's worried about you? Did you bump your head because of your friend's death?"

The atmosphere instantly turned still.

Xu Binchen cleared his throat. "I am sorry for your loss."

Shi Nian shook her head.

"Don't worry. Even though he looks unreliable, Qin Weizhe has got real skills. He will be able to dig the truth out, no matter how hidden it is. Do you know what his codename was when we're still in the academy?"

It was rare for him to talk about his past. Shi Nian followed curiously. [What?]

"Dog Nose." Seeing Shi Nian burst into laughter, Xu Binchen's brows relaxed ever so slightly. "It's a compliment, you know. He's just like a police dog, able to sniff out a tiniest bit of crime."

Shi Nian asked. [Then, what is your codename?]

Xu Binchen instantly changed the topic. "If you're scared, I can stay with you for a while."

Shi Nian rolled her eyes inwardly. Could he be any more obvious? She didn't take Xu Binchen's words seriously at all. [No need. Have you forgotten? I have told you before that the thing I am least afraid of is death. I am sad, but not scared.]

Xu Binchen fell silent for a while. "Then, what are you most scared of?"

Until Xu Binchen finished nagging for half an hour and returned to his house, Shi Nian still couldn't get his question out of her mind. What was she most scared of? Shi Nian could think of many things; nightmares, her lost memory, the mysterious serial killer who hunted her, butterflies…she was also scared that she couldn't pass her exam, couldn't live up to Qiang Fei's expectation and made enough money for her to stop working.

But were they the things that scared her the most?

She laid on her bed in the empty house, listening to the rhythmic ticking of the clock. It was already 11 pm but she still couldn't fall asleep. So she just went on the search column and typed "Jiang Jinyan's high jump". Tons of videos popped up, all of them were already marked with grey after being seen.

No matter how many times she had seen them, Shi Nian didn't feel bored at all. Starting from the uppermost, she played numerous videos of his high jumping in automatic mode, from when he was still sixteen years old, year after year until he was nineteen, all the while imagining that she was there by his side as he grew up.

When she finished them, the hour hand had turned to one.

Instead of being sleepy, Shi Nian was wide awake.

She was stimulated by Li Qing's death, Jiang Jinyan's concern and Xu Binchen's last question. Who knew which ghost possessed her, but she ended up opening a new chatting interface with Jiang Jinyan. The default message was the only thing inside. [The user Jiang Jinyan is now your friend! Chat with him now~]

Shi Nian barely hesitated and sent a message. [Mr.Jiang, are you asleep?]

After waiting for fifteen minutes, Shi Nian almost became a salted fish but still no reply came out.

She thought for a while and decided to indulge in a momentary whim. Somehow, she got a feeling that Jiang Jinyan wasn't asleep yet. If he wasn't asleep and didn't look at his phone, then…could he possibly be in that place?

Wearing a thick jacket and stuffing her phone into the pocket, she climbed up the stairs to the roof. When she saw the slightly ajar door, there was an 'I guessed right' expression on her face. She pushed open the door. Cold wind blasting onto her face, blowing her hair up wildly and she stretched out a hand to hood her eyes.

And there he was. Sitting against the boundary wall, chilly breeze fluttered his shirt, blowing the strands of his hair, softly falling onto his forehead. Behind him were the myriad dots of lights from the high buildings, twinkling and spreading like a glimmering sea of stars.

The whole scene was like an oil painting, so dazzling that she stopped breathing.

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A/N: I posted next chappies spoiler in my instagram: delanasiwarka. Go and check it out if you want to see visuals and moodboards~