My Dearest General: It Has Always Been You

"What are you looking at?" Qing Si waved his hand in front of Wei Xiameng's face.

The woman blinked and gave him a soft smile. "No, that person there…do you think he looks a bit like Jiang Jinyan?"

Hearing that man's name coming out of Wei Xiameng's mouth once again, Qing Si's eyes darkened but he still followed her line of sight. "Where?"

"There." She pointed at the man who wore a long purple cashmere coat with his hair pulled up in a half bun. He was holding a girl in lilac dress in his arms, his tall figure covering her whole, so Wei Xiameng was unable to catch a clear sight of them. "Don't you think so?"

Qing Si raised a brow. He recognized Jiang Jinyan just in one glance. Who was he kidding? He had gazed at that particular silhouette countless times before; when the man was training, when he stood in line in front of him, when the light shone on him as the champion…it was impossible for Qing Si to erase it from memory.

However, he certainly had no intention of divulging it. He shook his head, sighing. "Must be your imagination. Why? Are you thinking of him again? Last time, you said you have moved on."

"Of course I have!" Wei Xiameng hugged his waist, cheeks rubbing against his shoulder to pacify him. Qing Si had to admit that it was very effective against him and knowing that, the woman unscrupulously made full use of it everytime. "Are you angry? Don't be angry at me okay? Darling? Hubby?"

Qing Si was weak toward her coquettish act and forgave her almost in an instant. "Who said I am angry? Let's go." He slid his arm around Wei Xiameng's waist, holding her intimately. "You're hungry, right? We should go now."

"Okay~" Wei Xiameng answered with a sweet smile. Together, they walked to the restaurant Qing Si recommended. However, in a spur of a moment, Wei Xiameng turned around sneakily and caught sight of the couple. After all, they were very eye-catching. The man was very tall with a perfect, proportional body and the only man Wei Xiameng knew who had the same physique was Jiang Jinyan.

Even though they had gone quite far, Wei Xiameng couldn't have mistaken it.

The girl in lilac dress whose hand was enveloped in the man's palm, was it not… "Miss Shi Nian?" she murmured in doubt.

***

Because Jiang Jinyan had to soothe Shi Nian for a while, they were late for the movie they were planning to watch. The next showing time was one more hour. Disheartened, Shi Nian's shoulders slumped, "Sorry, it's all my fault. I shouldn't have let my emotions get the better of me."

Jiang Jinyan's huge palm landed on her head and pressed down lightly in reproach. Shi Nian looked at him, aggrieved but didn't dare to protest because the blame was indeed on her. It was weird, although she wasn't that apathetic, Shi Nian still prided herself for being composed, calm and collected, even more than the peers around her age.

But why, only in front of Jiang Jinyan, she couldn't keep her emotions in check?

"Remember, the reason why I brought you out was for relaxing. If you keep on moping around and showing this kind of face, then I would have spared my time for naught."

Shi Nian bit the inside of her cheeks. She didn't want Jiang Jinyan to feel like he was wasting his time with her! However, the more he said it like that, the more nervous she became. Shi Nian racked her brain hard to think of a place. It was still too early for a picnic, the sun was too strong and it wouldn't be good for him.

"Then, then…where should we go?" This was her first date and she wanted it to be perfect. On the contrary, she kept messing up again and again. Shi Nian started to be afraid whether Jiang Jinyan was regretting to be with her on his free Sunday.

She glanced at him with a pair of pitiful eyes that reminded Jiang Jinyan so much of the stupid fella in his home when it pooped outside the litterbox.

Jiang Jinyan's heart only lasted for one more second before it softened in the end. He reached for the girl's hand. "Let's go."

"Where?"

"Anywhere. We will look around and see if there's anything that interests you, okay?"

Shi Nian's face lit up instantly and she nodded. "Okay!"

Jiang Jinyan's lips, which were hidden beneath the mask, tilted up into a smile. Today, he had smiled many times more than he did for the past two weeks, and it was all because of Shi Nian's silly antics and her rich expressions which always amused him to no end.

Shi Nian never knew that walking around without a destination would be so fun!

A smile was never absent from her face as they strolled around the mall slowly. Shi Nian would point at the cute and weird things which caught her interest; such as the 3 in 1 pan which could be used to make many dishes, or the cleaning robot that was shaped like a cute round mochi.

Jiang Jinyan noticed that she always gave more attention to household appliances and passed by the accessories or trinkets shops which teenagers would usually like.

When she did it for the third time, he held her back. "Wait."

Shi Nian turned around, puzzled. She followed his line of sight only to find him looking at a shop filled with pink dolls, pink earrings, pink rings, pink hairbands, pink nail polish…even the walls were painted in light pink. Shi Nian was almost dazzled by the myriad of pink that flooded her sight. "What…are you searching for?"

Jiang Jinyan pulled her along with him as he took a cute, little cat hairpin from the shelf. Before Shi Nian could react, he clipped it onto her hair and nodded in satisfaction. "We will take this one." He said to the smiling female shopkeeper.

"Sure, sir. Does your girlfriend want to wear it right now?"

"Yes, she does."

When Shi Nian regained her senses, Jiang Jinyan had paid and received the bill. Shoving it into his pocket, he proceeded to take her hand again.

"Wait—Wait a second!" Shi Nian grabbed his arm with both hands, eyes staring up at him in bewilderment. "This…"

"Don't like it?" he asked faintly, yet Shi Nian got chills down her spine, telling her that if she got the answer wrong, then she was going to get it from him.

"No, I like it! I like it very much!" With a burst of survival instinct, Shi Nian blurted out. "I love everything you gave me and will protect it at all cost!"

"What protect?" He squeezed her cheek lightly. "You should wear it instead."

"Yes, I will wear it—wait no, I mean…why did you buy it for me?" She probed tentatively. Her eyes kept glancing toward the mirror in front of the shop. There, the little pinkish cat hairpin snugly rested, its eyes curving with happiness, mirroring hers.

Sensing her smile, Jiang Jinyan's mood soared along. He reached out and brushed the messy strands of her hair, tucking it behind her ear. His movement was both gentle, oozing with affection and intimacy. "I just want to. Can't I?"

The man had even paid for it! If she said he couldn't, would it make any difference? Shi Nian harrumphed with her cheeks blushing, "Do I have a choice?"

"No." He smiled.

"Thank you." Her eyes curved happily as she hugged his arm. "I really, really like it!"

Jiang Jinyan's eyes darkened and seizing the chance when nobody paid attention to them, he leaned forward and pecked her lips. Without waiting for her to react, he dragged her toward the cinema. 

The rest of the day passed by smoothly. They watched a famous action superhero movie, then enjoyed the afternoon sun in the park.

Time flew so quickly, when they realized it, the sun had already begun to set. 

"We should go back." He said.

Shi Nian nodded reluctantly, her expression glum.

Jiang Jinyan squeezed the soft cheek he had gotten addicted to. "After your next exam, we will go out together again."

Shi Nian was invigorated in a split second. "I will do my best to reach a better score!"

Jiang Jinyan wanted to say that even if she scored badly, he would still take her out. Well, so be it. Shi Nian would be motivated to study this way. Maybe it was better to leave it like that.

When they reached the apartment building, it was already a little more than 6 pm. Qiang Fei had even messaged her, asking about her day and subtly reminding her to come home soon.

Shi Nian passed her mother's message to Jiang Jinyan. "My mother invites you to have dinner in our place."

Jiang Jinyan didn't refuse and offered his thanks.

Overall, Shi Nian was very satisfied with today's date. It was plenty of fun and…and she even got a kiss. Everytime she thought about it, her face would get hot and she needed no mirror to know that she must be blushing again right now. 

Using the dim interior of the car, she scrambled to open the door to no avail. "Eh? It's locked…?"

"Wait a moment." He reached to the passenger seat behind and pulled out a paper bag out of nowhere.

Shi Nian's eyes bulged out when he handed it to her. Coupled with the dim incandescent light shining down on him, his features looked more profound and bewitching. It was simply captivating. It was as if she could drown into those two pools of dark, bottomless eyes. Sometimes, Shi Nian even wondered whether he had hypnotic ability or else, how could she fall harder and harder for him every time they met?

The corner of Jiang Jinyan's lips curled up into an indistinct smile, the aloofness in his eyes thawed into a gentleness that belonged only to her. "I know I am a few days too early but…happy seventeenth birthday."

"On the day of your birthday, there's something I want to tell you."

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A/N: ooooh, what do you think he's gonna tell her on her 17th birthday?! (⊙ꇴ⊙) hehe, it will be very exciting indeed!

here it is, 5 chappie mass release! Drowned you in chapters full of fluff _(:3」∠)_  because we will soon return to serious business~