Chapter 1: What is a National Treasure?

When I woke up, the train was still rumbling. I opened my eyes to see Wu Qian looking at me with a beaming smile. I'd had a good dream last night; the wet patch of drool on the pillow looked exactly like a naked thigh.

I offered an apologetic smile, tucked my legs under the quilt, and greeted her: "You're up."

"I've been up for a while. You were even smiling in your sleep!" Wu Qian watched me with a grin.

I rubbed my head, my mind a complete blank. I truly couldn't remember what I had been dreaming about last night.

I am a young man in the prime of my life. Last night, I shared a soft-sleeper cabin on a train with the beautiful Wu Qian. The killer part is that we were the only two people in the cabin, yet nothing happened—it was truly mind-boggling.

To be honest, I despise Liu Xiahui, but right now, I despise myself even more! Wu Qian is my girlfriend, and a girlfriend is a future wife! To share a room with my own wife-to-be and have nothing happen all night—I really look down on myself!

Wu Qian was introduced to me by my aunt. She is a self-employed entrepreneur who has been knocking around in society for eight years; she's an old hand. You could say that apart from selling atomic bombs or narcotics, there isn't a business she wouldn't dare to do. We hadn't even known each other for two days before she brought me onto this train, saying we were going to Beijing to pull off a big deal.

Before this, my experience with women was like someone who had never eaten pork but had seen pigs run. For my four years of university, I happily helped others deliver love letters and flowers, never once thinking that those were the best days of my life. By the time I realized it, it was already time to pack my bag and get the hell out of campus. I hadn't even managed to grab the tail of my youth—this is something I've been brooding over ever since graduation.

"Get up and eat something, it's still early." Wu Qian handed me a set of toiletries, all brand new; it seemed she had been prepared for a while. I, on the other hand, had boarded the train alone, not even bringing a change of clothes.

After washing up and smoking a cigarette in the restroom, I returned to the cabin to eat two pieces of bread. I began to carefully observe her. Wu Qian was beautiful; my aunt had emphasized this repeatedly before introducing us.

She had a pretty, petite nose, as cute as a flower bud. Her cherry-like mouth was a splash of scarlet amidst a cluster of green grass. Her two eyes darted around, revealing her shrewdness and cunning. Her pointed chin set off a face as smooth as white porcelain, soft as crystal. A head of soft, long hair draped over her firm chest, feeling as if it were about to burst through its constraints and batter my fragile nerves.

A blush bloomed on Wu Qian's face. After a moment of hesitation, she asked, "Chen Feng, have you never had a girlfriend before?"

"Never," I answered with absolute firmness.

She laughed: "Actually, I've known you for a long time. Do you remember when I went to see you at the Normal University with your aunt? Back then, you were already a university student, yet you were still holding onto your aunt's hand and wouldn't let go. You were so shameless!"

"Is that so?" I said. I truly didn't remember her visiting me. My aunt had indeed visited many times and had even been to my dormitory; the beauty of my aunt, Jiang Xiaoyue, had once caused me to beat a shameless roommate until his teeth were scattered all over the floor.

"Jiang Xiaoyue is truly a good woman!" Wu Qian sighed.

I said: "The important thing is that my aunt is also a beauty."

Wu Qian smiled: "That's true! No one would say she isn't a beauty. It's just a shame she married a soldier; it's practically living like a widow. It's incredibly boring!"

I said: "It's not that bad. My uncle's unit is in Yonghe City, only an hour's journey from home."

"Chen Feng, do you know? When Xiaoyue said she wanted to introduce you to me, I nearly died laughing," Wu Qian said. "You know, she's my best friend. Who in the world introduces their best friend to their nephew as a girlfriend?"

My aunt is nearly 30 years younger than my mother; she was picked up by my grandmother. The year my grandmother picked her up was the year I was born, so my aunt often competed with me for my mother's milk. We slept on either side of my mother for five years before my grandmother finally took her back, claiming she was her youngest daughter, so I had to call her Aunt.

"It's not strange at all," I corrected her. "There are plenty of people in the world who introduce their wives to others as girlfriends."

"Nonsense," Wu Qian scolded. "That's not something a human would do!"

"It's really not nonsense." I leaned against the carriage wall and lit a cigarette.

"Enough. You have too much nonsense to say; I can't win an argument with you." Wu Qian changed the subject: "Do you know what business we're going to Beijing for?"

I shook my head.

Wu Qian bent over, and suddenly waves surged before my eyes. She pulled a cardboard box from under the bunk and said, "Do you know what this is?"

I still shook my head.

"A national treasure!"

"A national treasure? What is it?" My interest was piqued. I got up and moved closer, wanting to open it.

"A Shang Dynasty tripod. There are only three in the entire country!"

"Can I open it and take a look?"

"Don't!" Wu Qian shoved the box back under the bunk. "It's too much trouble to open."

"We're doing business with this?"

"Yes. Is there a problem?"

"This is a cultural relic. Trafficking in cultural relics is a crime," I said, suddenly feeling a chill creeping up from my feet.

"A crime? What crime? We aren't stealing or robbing, we aren't killing or setting fires. Besides, can you make money without taking risks?" She said it lightly, a mocking smile appearing on her face. "Are you scared?"

I wanted to say something but stopped, sighing in my heart. ===== CHAPTER 2 =====