My Dearest General: It Has Always Been You

When he went to class the next day, he had a runny nose. Jiang Jinyan measured his temperature and downed two pills of medicine which he had just bought from the convenience store. The cold water running down his throat soothed the heat within him, but in exchange, he shivered minutely as if he was plunged into an ice cellar.

He seldom fell sick before due to his regular exercise and healthy diet as an athlete. Now that he did, it was worse than usual. 

Fortunately, today's class was just a seminar from some public figures that were invited by the university. This kind of event happened often and they only had to make summaries of the presentations to get credits. It was both easy and practical, that's why the auditorium was almost crammed with people by the time he arrived even though he was already twenty minutes earlier than the starting time.

Jiang Jinyan looked around and saw an empty seat at the corner of the middle row. Presumably, no one liked that seat because the angle made it difficult for them to see the stage, but for Jiang Jinyan, it was the perfect seat. With a mask covering his face, he sat down and pulled out his notebook.

A bunch of girls sat a few seats from him giggling, eyes glancing at him once in a while. Jiang Jinyan ignored them and having not received the reaction they expected, they got bored and started to gossip. 

"Aih, if not for that handsome hunk being the substitute guest today, I will not come so early to grab a seat."

"Hahaha, do you think he will take a look at you?"

"Who knows? We shouldn't limit our imaginations, right?"

Another asked. "Who's the handsome hunk you guys are talking about?"

A row of giggles followed. "You will see. Girl, you definitely won't regret coming here today. I guess the news has already leaked out. See how many girls dolls themselves up?"

Their conversation drifted to Jiang Jinyan's ears involuntarily. He loosened the mask and took a deep breath to ease his breathing. Suddenly, someone approached him and asked gingerly. "Sorry, classmate, is the seat beside you taken?"

Jiang Jinyan shook his head and made a 'please' gesture. Just in the span of a few minutes, the seats around him were fully occupied, 60% of them were girls. The auditorium was indeed more crowded than usual. The students who came slightly later than usual groaned in annoyance because there weren't any seats left.

Jiang Jinyan stretched his legs and drank mouthfuls of water to moisten his aching throat.

After waiting for a while, the lights dimmed and the seminar began. Jiang Jinyan shook his head and forced himself to focus. Just two hours. After that, he could go back and sleep for the whole day to recuperate. 

The seminar started with an associate professor who presented his collaboration with the government for his newest research project. Jiang Jinyan's pen glided across papers as dense words filled the paper. For a while, only the sound of the speaker and papers flipping could be heard across the wide auditorium.

Without him realizing, one and half an hour had passed.

"Please give our sincere applause to Mr. Fu for his great research of the ancient plaques and cenotaphs which are suspected to have been produced in Wei Dynasty! Next, we should have welcomed Ms. Dong, our senior and alumni who had succeeded in getting into Forbes 30 this year, but regrettably, there's some changes in Ms. Dong's schedule and she is unable to come today. In exchange, we have invited one of the most popular high jump athletes in the nation who has just participated in the Olympics Games in Tokyo. Let's welcome Mr. Qing Si!"

Jiang Jinyan's pen paused and the ink smeared across the white paper. Amidst the deafening cheers and squeals, a familiar figure stepped onto the stage, clad in a casual long sleeve shirt and cotton pants. A wide smile graced his charming face as he nodded toward the MC.

"Hello, everyone. Thank you for having me today. Some of you might not recognize me, so let me introduce myself first. My name is Qing Si, and I am a high jump athlete."

"Aaaaaaaah! Qing Si!!!!"

"Oh my God, how can our university invite such a famous figure like him? Aaah, now that I have seen him directly, I can die in peace!"

  "What to do? I want to cry…I have already been his fan for years!"

"Ugh, look at his body! Such long legs!"

"Of course, he's a high jump athlete, for God's sake! Do you think anybody can casually have such slender, long legs?"

"What do you know? That athlete who got into a car accident also has legs like him!"

"Who…?"

The noises ceased as Qing Si raised his palm. "It's such an honor to be here today. Next, I will talk about some things about my specialty. I hope you will not be bored listening to me yapping. Well, I will try my best to make it simple and interesting." He gave a wink, inducing a short sequence of squeals and screams again.

The speakers before Qing Si were professionals in their field, so their contents were quite dull and boring as time passed by. However, although Qing Si was also a professional, he was closer to them in age and he would crack some witty jokes once in a while, keeping the audience perked up and listening attentively.

In one corner of the auditorium, the man in a mask, who was seated in a place where no lights could reach, didn't even lift his head. He only wrote some key points and scribbled nonsensical drawings after fifteen minutes passed.

Qing Si was eloquent and the way he delivered himself was calm and collected. Standing on the stage, he exuded confidence which most twenty two years old fellows didn't have.

Jiang Jinyan didn't know whether it was his cold acting up, but he felt unprecedented nausea churning his stomach when he heard Qing Si talk about his experience in the Olympics. His career, his journey, the obstacles he overcame. It was the lights that were supposed to be Jiang Jinyan's, the glory that was supposed to be Jiang Jinyan's…

He almost couldn't sit still.