The Green Hills Will Not Let You Pass

[I'm not really feeling this story, so I may put it on hold. I might remove it from paid access, or I might continue writing it later.]

[Irregular updates, frequent revisions]

An old friend asked Shen Boning to look after a friend of theirs. He was still wondering which friend they meant.

Until he met Cen Wei and understood what it meant to be as pure as a magnolia, proud on its branch.

Cen Wei had just turned eighteen when she moved to Beijing for university. She met Shen Boning at nineteen.

At the time, she was the daughter the Su family had yet to acknowledge, walking alone and enduring controversy. When rich young men pursued and harassed her, she paid them no mind.

She met Shen Boning because people around her said he was cold and reclusive, with a powerful background. Her brother had also mentioned him, saying he was indifferent to people and would probably end up alone for the rest of his life.

But that wasn't true at all.

In the deep stillness of night, a black car sat beneath the girls' dormitory, a silent reminder, or perhaps the menace of a predator hunting in the dark.

The eldest son of the Shen family, Shen Boning, who had never shown any interest in romance and was known for his aloof nature, waited in the car himself. His voice was very low as he asked Cen Wei,

"Are you really going to date him?"

-

People in their circle were astonished by their relationship. The most common comment was that the most ethereal beauty at the academy of fine arts had bewitched Shen Boning.

They also said that the eldest young master Shen had fallen out with his family at the compound over a woman and never looked back.

Little did they know that he had insisted on going with her, and was willing to risk everything for her.

Amid the layers of mountains, Cen Wei never forgot where she came from or abandoned the ideals she once held.

The only thing she couldn't let go of was Shen Boning, in Beijing, surrounded by splendor and bright as the moon above a high terrace.

After thinking it over, she still loved him.

Then Shen Boning really did travel a thousand miles from Beijing, battered by the elements, to appear in a remote mountain village. When Cen Wei saw the person she had missed for so long, her eyes reddened.

"Sir, our paths are different."

"How can you know that if we haven't tried?"

He slowly drew her into his arms, his voice so deep it hurt. "Cen Wei, after meeting you, I never considered choosing anyone else."

-

To Cen Wei, he was a towering mountain she could never cross.

But she never knew that years ago, at the eastern entrance to a hutong, the shadows of the trees swayed overhead. She had turned back to see a bustling temple, where a beautiful woman prayed with earnest devotion.

Shen Boning's car passed by her. He happened to glance over.

One look was all it took to enter his heart without warning.

He was the mountain, and she was its only crossing.

There was no need to cross it. The mountain belonged to me alone.

Distinguished young master, bright as the moon on a high terrace x clear-eyed, resilient female student

29 x 19

Shen Boning x Cen Wei

Theme: Striving for a better life