My Dearest General: It Has Always Been You

Xu Binchen took off his bulletproof vest and leaned on the car, his breath still came out uneven. He shivered intermittently due to the cold weather. The sweat caused his body to become sticky and his damp hair even wetter. Although he wasn't a mysophobic, he really wished to hop into a warm shower right at this moment. 

Alas, the day was still long, he sighed tiredly.

The junior high school wasn't the place. They had broken through every room that could be used for detainment yet found no trace of Jiang Jinyan or Si Zhening. Afterward, they had to go through the usual procedures and paid a visit to the local provincial government so that the act wouldn't go back and bite them in the ass one day.

Sucking on a nutrient bar, he pulled out his phone, disregarding the chaos around and let Ke Shao deal with the aftermath instead.

He tapped on WeChat and opened the contact that was pinned on top.

[Xu Binchen]: Everything is going well. We already got some crucial clues. On the way to rescue him.

[Ten Years]: !!!!!! cry.jpg cry.jpg cry.jpg

[Ten Years]: Thank you, Binchen Gege. Can you please…inform me as soon as you find him? 

[Xu Binchen]: Alright

That was the last of their conversation this morning when Xu Binchen was on the way here. He looked at the time on the corner of the screen. 5.10 pm. She should have left school by now, he calculated.

[Xu Binchen]: How is your day?

[Xu Binchen]: Let me know if you've arrived home.

[Xu Binchen]: I don't wish to see another brat get into an accident under my watch. 

He finished the nutrient bar and proceeded to pour mineral water over his head. The icy freshness replaced the gross stickiness, making him feel a tad better. Albeit a little too biting for his own good. Maybe that's why his stomach felt uncomfortable. 

Why was Ke Shao taking so long to finish this kind of meager task? He grumbled and went to search for him. Even from a distance, he could hear Ke Shao's frustrated howl as he argued with someone.

"I have said it twice before that this is an official, urgent matter! Did you not watch the news about CEO Jiang's son's disappearance? We are currently chasing after the perpetrator!" 

"What is going on here?" Xu Binchen approached in a foul mood.

As if finding a backing, Ke Shao complained ceaselessly. "This elder here said that we have made a mess out of the sacred ceremonial place of his God so he demands me to compensate him. I have told him again and again that we are an official team from the police." He shoved his police badge into the elderly man's face. "Do you see this? I am a police officer, for God's sake!"

The elderly man's hair and beard was white all over and his hunched back trembled as he spoke. Still, he argued recklessly. "God will be angry at you! God won't be merciful toward the ignorant! You'd better ask for forgiveness before disaster befalls you!"

"Hear that?" Ke Shao pointed at his temple with an incredulous expression. "He's insane…"

Xu Binchen winched lightly as a small, needle-like pain suddenly stabbed his stomach. "What do you want?" He asked the elderly man coldly.

"You should ask for forgiveness! Everything will be too late when God is furious with you!" 

Xu Binchen endured the discomfort and grabbed his wallet, pulling out a stack of hundred yuan notes. "Is this enough?"

The old man showed a flabbergasted expression, presumably hadn't seen this much amount of money before.

Running out of his patience, Xu Binchen pulled Ke Shao away. "Come on. We should go right now." 

"R—Right…" Ke Shao snapped out of his daze and stumbled along. "Damn, you gave him so much money, you rich bastard! You'd better treat me to dinner after this!"

The two men had long legs and their strides were wide. Thus in a blink of an eye, they had entered the police car, leaving the dumbfounded old man behind. Furious, he threw the money to the ground and stomped his foot, cursing even when the police car had driven away. 

"Young, ignorant fools! Disaster…Disaster will befall you!"

Ke Shao peeked at the rearview mirror and clicked his tongue. "Crazy old man. Who still believes in this kind of thing nowadays?" 

"Is that really okay?" Wang Chengbing asked nervously from the back seat. "You never know… Maybe what he said was real? Damn it, why do I have to hear this kind of thing today? It really left a bad taste in my mouth. Right, Binchen?"

"You're too religious" Ke Shao shook his head exasperatedly. Hearing no response from the other side, he glanced at Xu Binchen and was shocked to find his sweaty and pale face. "Hey, are you feeling unwell?!"

Xu Binchen didn't take his eyes off the phone and sent another message to Shi Nian. "What's wrong?"

"You…Don't you realize?" Ke Shao stopped at the road side. "You're sweating buckets, dude."

Xu Binchen grabbed the tissue and wiped his face. "It's only water."

Wang Chengbing popped his head forward and similarly had a surprised look. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah…" Xu Binchen pressed on his stomach and gritted his teeth. "It seems like I have eaten something not good yesterday. Anyway, you can drop me here."

"W—What's wrong?!" Wang Chengbing fumbled around in panic. "Are you very sick?! Do you need me to accompany you to the hospital?" 

"No." A frown appeared on his forehead as he looked at the unread messages. Maybe he was thinking too much. Maybe she just didn't look at his phone. Still…Xu Binchen couldn't sit still just like this. "I will go and check up on Shi Nian for a moment. The distance to her apartment isn't far. I can walk there in fifteen minutes."

"What's wrong with her?" Ke Shao asked, frustrated. "Something happened again?"

"She doesn't read my messages."

Receiving this kind of unexpected answer, the two others revealed a dumbfounded expression. Even Ke Shao almost laughed in disbelief. "Huh? Aren't you too overprotective? So what if she doesn't read it? Is she a three-years-old child?"

"Just because." Xu Binchen got out of the car and shooed them away. "You can go and report to Captain first. Tell him that I will catch up after making sure Shi Nian is okay." He leaned on the car hood and hesitated for a while. "Also…tell him that I think something doesn't add up in this case. That's all. I will report back as soon as possible." As soon as the sentence fell, he turned around and jogged in the opposite direction.

"Binchen, hey! Seriously?!" Wang Chengbing hollered.

Ke Shao stared at his diminishing back and sighed. "Come on. He knows what he's doing. We should go back first."

Xu Binchen covered almost all of his face with a scarf, leaving only a pair of eyes showing. He braced through the howling wind and strode in large steps toward the direction of the apartment building. 

Fifteen minutes...no, if he ran, he could reach there a few minutes faster.

The stabbing pain on his stomach was thrown to the back of his mind as he was wholly focused on the continuous dial tone in his ear.

Drrrr….Drrr….Drrr….

  "The number you're calling is out of service. Please leave a message after the beep–"

"The number you're calling is out of service. Please leave a message after the beep–"

"The number you're calling is out of service. Please leave a message after the beep–"

"Damn it!" Xu Binchen gritted his teeth and started to run. 

Why…? What aren't you answering the phone, Shi Nian?

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A/N: omg, did something really happen? 

Anyway, this is a real case but in my neighborhood where there's a lot of Chinese descendants, they would sometimes burn joss paper in front of their house. My mom has told me early on not to step on it but sometimes, other people has no idea about it. It's kind of a taboo QAQ said that something unhealthy will stick to you....