My Dearest General: It Has Always Been You

If not for Chen Jiawei being there, maybe Mo Ling would have gotten into a fight with Ruo Tingran right there and then.

The most infuriating thing was, she had lowered herself first to ask for Li Qing, but the latter turned away and ignored her! Mo Ling could even catch the contemptuous flash in her eyes!

"From now on, I declare that we have nothing to do with each other!" Mo Ling shoved food into her spoon hatefully.

"Yes, yes." Chen Jiawei sighed tiredly.

On the table in front of them, there came a burst of giggles. It was Li Qing and her new group. Shi Nian ate all the while stealing some glances worriedly. She tugged on Chen Jiawei's sleeve and asked. [Do you think that Li Qing has changed so much?]

Following Shi Nian's sight, Chen Jiawei saw Li Qing who was beaming so bright to the point where her eyes turned to slits.

Shi Nian was right. Li Qing had indeed changed so much. It wasn't her appearance. But the way she smiled, the way she looked at people, the way she carried herself. In the past, she was earnest and hard working. But these days, Chen Jiawei never saw her study. All day long, she hung out with Ruo Tingran's group, putting on makeup, curling her hair, shortening her skirt…

She looked much more sophisticated and brighter, but Chen Jiawei couldn't help but feel that she had lost sight of Li Qing whom she reached out to three years ago.

Chen Jiawei shook her head. "Let her be. It's her choice after all."

In the corner of the cafeteria, Zhang Jiancheng's eyes drifted elsewhere, making his good bro, Xuan Liyuan, crept closer to follow his line of sight. A meaningful smile appeared on his face as he slung his arms across Zhang Jiancheng's shoulders. "Is she that beautiful, huh?"

Zhang Jiancheng retracted his gaze silently.

"Say something ah." Xuan Liyuan urged exasperatedly. "Look, when the rumors about her popped up, you didn't say a single word to defend her. Now, it seems like even their friendship has sunk. Do you really have nothing to say?"

Zhang Jiancheng replied cooly. "What should I say?"

Xuan Liyuan was rendered speechless. "You—okay, now I know why you're still single until this day!"

Zhang Jiancheng's face darkened and he elbowed Xuan Liyuan's stomach, making the other boy groan in pain. "Fuck, you're ruthless…" He rubbed his aching stomach and sought death once again. "I am telling the truth ah, if you keep on being silent, how can you get her? Don't you see the forum said that she already has someone she likes?"

Xuan Liyuan really hated how iron couldn't become steel[1]. Zhang Jiancheng was obviously so excellent but he didn't know how to seize the opportunity to sweep the girl's feet off the ground. If he had just been a bit proactive, a bit sincere, who knows how long the transfer student would have fallen into his embrace?

Zhang Jiancheng's movement of receiving the tray from cafeteria auntie paused. "So what?" He said. "This is not the time yet."

Xuan Liyuan saw his friend's eyes and his jaws dropped to the ground. He couldn't resist cursing. "Fuck, man, you're serious—really?"

***

Finally, Shi Nian ushered in her first monthly exam. This exam was very important to her and she really wanted to do well so that she could show it off to Qiang Fei. She was so busy studying that she didn't have time to care about anything else.

The four people's WeChat group was silent from then on. However, a day before the exam, Li Qing took the initiative to leave the group.

Shi Nian sighed as she discovered it. It was night time and books were spread across her table. A series of knocks resounded through her door and Qiang Fei came in with a plate. "Eat fruits first, Niannian." Qiang Fei saw how hard she studied and felt heartache as well as a sliver of pride. She caressed her daughter's head and said. "Don't force yourself too much. It's okay to get bad grades. Mama will not blame you."

Shi Nian stuffed the cut apple into her mouth and nodded. But inwardly, she convinced herself that she couldn't get to the bottom of the rank.

Days passed in a blink of an eye. The season welcomed late autumn along with the gradually colder temperature. The long awaited exam day finally arrived. Shi Nian roused early and ate the breakfast Qiang Fei made, black circles below her eyes. In her hands were the important notes that she had gathered. Even when she rode on the subway station, her eyes still raked across the paper, wishing that she could imprint all of it into her memory.

Every third year student had a similar thought, that is: on the exam day, they could only be earlier and earliest! Even when it was still an hour away from the examination, Shi Nian found a huge crowd of students gathering at the gate.

She approached with her head lowered, mind still full of chemical formulas. Gradually, she realized that something didn't seem right. The students' faces were pale and their eyes filled with horror. Shi Nian found Mo Ling amidst the crowd, her body supported by Chen Jiawei.

Startled, Shi Nian ran to them. When she drew closer, she found that both of the girls' faces were soaked in tears.

An ominous premonition sent chills down her spine and her eyes inadvertently caught sight of a splatter of reddish stain on the clean courtyard, the color so glaring and familiar that her entire body was frozen in place.

Intermittent whispers filled her ears, but it still managed to clear Shi Nian's confusion.

A dead body was found in the school. It was estimated that the person had jumped from the rooftop of Moonlight Pavilion. From such a high altitude, the person's body was, without a doubt, squashed beyond recognition. The skull cracked open and white brain matters spilled out.

The initial investigation had just come out.

The corpse was suspected to belong to a female student in Class 1, Year 3 by the name of Li Qing.

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[1] hate how iron couldn't become steel = hated how Zhang Jiancheng couldn't meet his expectation aka he's such a disappointment

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A/N: oh, here it is. Did you see that coming?? The suspense is here at lasttt ୧☉□☉୨ 

Just a reminder that this is a case within case. So, this case will give Shi Nian more clues which led to her lost memory and the serial killer. Compared to Wu Wengen's death, this is more impactful (≧∀≦)