My Dearest General: It Has Always Been You

Lowering his eyes, Jiang Jinyan hummed quietly. "...Did you meet her on the way?"

"No, there's some deep creases on the couch which showed that someone was sitting–or lying there for a long time. Also," Xu Binchen looked at the man with an indecipherable gaze. "I can't imagine another person who would come here faster than I did." 

Silence reigned after Xu Binchen's last words fell. The atmosphere shifted subtly. 

Jiang Jinyan swept his gaze over and halted on Xu Binchen's exposed wrist. Peeking out in between the fold of his sleeve was a red string bracelet. 

And the same bracelet was now lying snugly atop of the nightstand by his bed.

He could still recall what Shi Nian said when she gave it to him. "It's a protective bracelet I bought in the temple a few months ago. It will bring you fortune and protect you from harm. You should keep it with you, okay? I...I don't want to see you get hurt anymore."

Jiang Jinyan pursed his lips, his fingers slowly grasping the edge of the blanket.

Did Shi Nian give it to Xu Binchen too?

If so, did she also say that it would bring him fortune and keep him from harm? That she didn't want him to get into any accident?

Jiang Jinyan's eyes sank and suddenly, everything fell into place. The gaze he directed toward Xu Binchen also changed.

Xu Binchen, who sensed the shift in Jiang Jinyan's mood: ???

"...Why are you looking at me like that?" He asked weirdly.

Jiang Jinyan shook his head and tore his mind away from the thoughts. He repeated his question again, "What did Detective Xu come here for?"

Xu Binchen took no notice of his sudden rigid and impassive tone, focusing on the matter in hand. "In case you have no idea, four men were transported to the hospital at the same time as you and Shi Nian. Based on Shi Nian's statement, there should be one more person in the gang but he slipped away. However, the police caught him last night. They will all be convicted with severe punishments for their crimes."

Jiang Jinyan's eyes darkened when he recalled the previous event. Nodding, he said, "That's good. Previously, I suspected that they weren't ordinary thugs."

Xu Binchen confirmed his suspicion. "They are mafia members. Small members."

Jiang Jinyan frowned. "Who is so vicious to have those people gang up on Shi Nian? Is it the...serial killer?"

"For now, no. There isn't any proof of relation between both cases." Jiang Jinyan still looked disturbed by his guesses, thus Xu Binchen added in a rare moment of generosity. "The culprit behind this matter has been locked on. I can guarantee that they will not be able to bother her again."

Jiang Jinyan nodded. Nevertheless, Xu Binchen's choice of words perturbed him, much to his dismay. It further confirmed his baseless doubt. For a split second, he wanted to ask the man directly but in the end, he refrained from it, knowing that no good would come out of his crazed suspicion and jealousy.

Wasn't it also this kind of jealousy that ended up ruining his mother, Guan Xiaoxiao?

He forced himself not to think of it and said, "I know that's not the thing you want to talk to me about, Detective Xu. You can tell me directly."

Quite a sharp dude, Xu Binchen commended inwardly. With Jiang Jinyan's permission, he didn't beat around the bush anymore and directly stated, "When you were just brought to the hospital two days ago and underwent operations, the hospital tried to call your family–that is, your father."

Speaking until now, there weren't any ripples in Jiang Jinyan's face. His eyes half lidded as he quietly listened.

"He didn't answer the phone even once."

After a stretch of silence, Jiang Jinyan sneered, his voice came out lower than before. "...He has always been like this."

Busy. Busy with work, meetings, business parties, contract dinners. Jiang Huocheng's life revolved around work and company. Come to think of it, the last time Jiang Jinyan saw him was when he was admitted to the hospital due to his car accident. 

How many days did Jiang Huocheng spare for him? Two days? Three days? It was so generous of him to do that.

Jiang Jinyan had been disappointed too many times that he could already accept the news without wavering. "If that's all you want to talk about, then I've got to say that there's no need for you to inform him in the future. No matter what happens, he will not care."

Xu Binchen quietly stared at him and added, "Which is strange, in my opinion."

Jiang Jinyan snapped his head up, bewildered.

"Mr. Jiang, I am sorry but due to some safety procedures, I have done a background check on you and I have a brief idea about the issue in your family. But I also know that CEO Jiang did come to visit you more than ten times during your stay in the hospital. We have even talked once."

"More than ten times…?" Jiang Jinyan was dumbfounded. He even wondered whether it was Jiang Huocheng whom Xu Binchen was talking about. "Didn't he only come when I regained consciousness?"

"No." Xu Binchen rebuked in an indifferent tone yet it was that exact tone that set off storms in Jiang Jinyan's heart. "Each time he comes, you're either in the middle of physical therapy or asleep late at night. He only stayed for around twenty minutes to half an hour then left before you could see him."

Jiang Jinyan's fingers twitched and only when the soreness travelled along his joints did he realize that he had been too stiff. Even his chest faintly ached. "...Have you mistaken about something?"

Were they still talking about Jiang Huocheng? The Jiang Huocheng whom he had known for nineteen years?

Xu Binchen didn't care about his self denial and continued. "That's why, I thought it was weird when he didn't even pick up his phone. I have asked some people to investigate it and we will get the result soon."

"What do you mean?" Jiang Jinyan laughed hoarsely. "Do you mean to say that...something has happened to him?"

Xu Binchen silently looked at him, "It's a possibility."

Jiang Jinyan clenched his fists. After a while, he slowly loosened up. Yet instead of relaxing, it almost looked like something was being hollowed out of him. He gazed at Xu Binchen blankly. "Why are you going out of your way to do this?"

Xu Binchen lowered his eyes and his sight, coincidentally or not, fell onto a tiny, delicately packaged box. "I am not sure." He mumbled. "Just take it as me being nosy."

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A/N: Xu Binchen's way of liking someone: love you, love your dog

No, I don't mean Jiang Jinyan is Shi Nian's dog *cry* it's a idiom I often see in Cnovels, meaning like if you love someone, you'll love the people around them too, you get what I mean but the way Xu Binchen interpret it is on another level (つд⊂) he's such a bae sometimes, only sometimes okay. Such a rare, rare sometimes haha

And what do you think is happening to Jiang Huocheng hmm...will they ever reconcile? *sigh* I swear Jiang Huocheng is such an awkward dad....