A Truehearted Lover Is Hard to Find

The smile slowly faded from Shen Jingchuan's face, and his heart skipped a beat.

This was the very question he was least able to answer. Looking at the confusion filling Meng Ke's eyes, he weighed his options for two seconds: should he tell her the secret or not?

He snuffed out the thought as soon as it surfaced. He couldn't tell her.

For one thing, it was so outlandish that she might not believe him. For another, even if she did, having something so serious weighing on her mind would leave her worrying herself sick every time he went out from then on, making it a burden for her instead.

It was better for him to shoulder it himself and spare her the worry.

He was silent for a few seconds before speaking with a hint of apology. "Meng Ke, it's not that I won't tell you the truth, and it's certainly not that I don't trust you.

"It's just that there are some things I really can't talk about. But don't worry, all this stuff came from legitimate sources. It definitely wasn't stolen or taken by force, and it has nothing to do with anything illegal."

Meng Ke looked at him. In truth, she wasn't dead set on digging into the source of the goods.

With an ordinary business partner, as long as the goods were sound and there was no risk, she wouldn't ask a single unnecessary question.

But Shen Jingchuan had long since become more than an ordinary former classmate in her heart. Without realizing it, she had begun to treat his affairs as her own, and her heart instinctively hung in suspense, for fear that he had strayed down the wrong path and would come to grief.

She hesitated, then went on, "But it must have taken a lot of capital to acquire all this material, right? Where did you get so much money? Don't tell me you ran into someone who didn't know what they had and got the bargain of a lifetime?"

Shen Jingchuan didn't know whether to laugh or get angry. He sighed inwardly.

Yes, it was precisely because they were close that she kept asking. If he were someone she barely knew, why would she care where his goods came from?

He could still claim that he had stumbled upon the jade rough and dug it up somewhere in the wild, but these neatly shaped seal blanks were obviously processed. There was no way he could just fob her off.

He sighed, a note of helplessness in his voice.

"I really can't explain it clearly to you. I promised someone I'd keep these things secret, so I really can't tell anyone."

Meng Ke looked steadily at him for a few seconds. She stopped pressing him about their origins and simply raised her eyes to look at him earnestly, her voice softening.

"I won't ask anymore. Just tell me this—are you sure these things won't get you into trouble? Nothing will go wrong, right?"

Shen Jingchuan jerked his head up, his gaze unusually earnest. He was just about to swear an oath when Meng Ke raised a hand and made a gentle pressing motion.

"All right, don't say it. And don't swear."

She looked at him, her tone softening, her eyes full of genuine concern.

"Don't take it to heart. I'm not trying to pry into your secrets. I'm just... afraid something will happen to you. I know you have good judgment. I trust you."

She paused, then added with certainty,

"We ought to trust each other anyway, shouldn't we?"

When Shen Jingchuan nodded emphatically, she went on,

"But remember, if you really run into trouble, some hurdle you can't get past, don't try to tough it out alone. Whatever it is, tell me. We'll shoulder it together, all right?"

Her words filled Shen Jingchuan's chest with warmth, a feeling both aching and tender.

He gazed at Meng Ke's earnest face and nodded heavily, unable to speak for a moment.

Meng Ke gently laid her hand on the table and reached toward him. Shen Jingchuan hesitated for an instant, then reached out too, his broad palm enveloping her slightly cool little hand.

Neither of them spoke. They simply held hands across the table, the warmth of their palms gradually passing between them.

Shen Jingchuan knew that this feeling was more precious than any stone on the table.

Shen Jingchuan's fingers tightened without his realizing it, gently drawing her hand toward him.

Meng Ke didn't pull away. She leaned forward with the slight tug, and the two drew closer and closer across the table until their breaths mingled and the tips of their noses nearly touched.

The warm yellow light fell on her eyelashes, casting faint shadows.

Looking into his eyes so close to hers, Meng Ke suddenly recalled a saying: A priceless treasure is easy to find; a truehearted lover is hard to come by.

The man before her had dared to entrust her with things worth hundreds of millions. He had never made any demands of her or asked her for anything, only giving her his whole heart without asking for anything in return. If she let a man like him slip away, she might never meet another in this lifetime.

She steeled herself, leaned forward, and gently kissed him on the lips.

Shen Jingchuan's head buzzed, and his mind went completely blank.

In all his life, this was the first time he had kissed a girl. His whole body went rigid, and all he could feel was the softness of her lips, carrying a faint, sweet fragrance of tea.

After two stunned seconds, he came to his senses. His heart pounding, he clumsily and eagerly returned the kiss.

It was some time before they parted.

Meng Ke's face was so red it looked ready to bleed, and even the tips of her ears and her neck were tinged pink. She hurriedly turned away, lowering her eyes, too embarrassed to look at him. Her heart was in a shy turmoil. What came over me just now? How did I dare to take the initiative and kiss him?

Shen Jingchuan was still sitting there in a daze, staring fixedly at her flushed profile. The soft, sweet sensation lingered on his lips, and he felt as though he were floating on clouds. It was a long while before he came back to his senses.

----(The author would like to say a little something here:

In today's society, everyone talks about the warmth and coldness of human relationships and the fickleness of the world, saying that the bonds between people are growing ever weaker. But is everyone really so coldhearted? I don't think so.

Most people are kind at heart. It's just that the world has taught everyone to keep things hidden. No one is willing to show their true heart first; they all wait for the other person to take the first step. It's the same between men and women as it is between friends.

Some readers might say that Shen Jingchuan's jade didn't cost him much to begin with, and that he dared to entrust it to her only because the cost was small.

If he had really been asked to hand over such an enormous sum saved up in hard cash, he might not have been so ready to do it. And if Meng Ke knew the stone was worth no more than a mirror, she might not have been so moved.

But I don't think that's necessarily true.

I've always believed that as long as you're willing to be sincere, sooner or later you'll meet a warm heart beating just like yours.

Of course, I also know it's a huge gamble. You might offer your true heart and get a dousing of cold water in return, or even a knife in the back.

But if you spend your whole life curled up in your shell, waiting for someone else to give first, you might never meet a true heart in all your life.

People have always seen this matter differently.

Maybe someone reading this will laugh at me for being naive, still believing in such things at my age.

Ah, then let me be naive this once.

Let me go on being naive like this.)---

Shen Jingchuan was still sitting there, savoring the moment, the soft feeling on his lips lingering all the while. So this was what being in love tasted like. It was wonderful.

His gaze fell on the person sitting before him with her head lowered. Her cheeks were flushed pink, her long eyelashes trembling gently, her fingertips unconsciously twisting the hem of her clothes. Even her neck was faintly red, and she looked shy and bashful. This was the girl he loved.

In that instant, his heart swelled until it was full, melting into a complete mess. He suddenly felt that the world was truly beautiful, so beautiful it filled his heart with sweetness, sweet enough to overwhelm him.