Chapter 112: Trouble Caused by a Box of Cigarettes

Chapter 112: Chapter 112: Trouble Caused by a Box of CigarettesLi Yifei remained silent, and Su Peng continued, "Although her background is powerful, with her father being the vice mayor, her personal capabilities are beyond reproach. We all truly admire her. Cao Yingbo’s connections are nothing compared to hers; they’re simply incomparable. But Ye Yunzhu isn’t like Cao Yingbo. If she could come today, she would definitely blend in with everyone."

At that moment, Li Yifei’s thoughts had drifted back to his high school days. Back then, Ye Yunzhu was the class president, not only excelling in her studies and being beautiful but also being incredibly warm-hearted. She never gave up on him, the underachiever. If he wanted to skip class and sneak out, he had to get past Ye Yunzhu first.

Thinking about how he used to try all means to skip class, with Ye Yunzhu watching him like a hawk, Li Yifei couldn’t help but feel an immense warmth. A smile of indulgence involuntarily spread across his face.

"Hey, are you even listening to me?" Su Peng called out at this point.

Only then was Li Yifei’s mind pulled back to reality. He asked, "What did you say?"

Shaking his head, Su Peng said, "You know, I really think you should see Ye Yunzhu. Some things can only be resolved by facing them."

Li Yifei smiled faintly and replied, "No need. The past is the past. I’ve long since stopped dwelling on it." But he knew in his heart that he couldn’t stop dwelling on it. Had it not been for thinking about Ye Yunzhu, he wouldn’t be so averse to romance now.

"Alright, enough talking. Let’s get some sleep. We’ve got to help Tao Yizhong tomorrow morning." Su Peng yawned. They had all drunk quite a bit when they went out earlier, and now the alcohol was taking its toll, making him feel sleepy.

However, Li Yifei just couldn’t fall asleep. Scenes with Ye Yunzhu flickered through his mind like a movie. After all these years, he still remembered everything so clearly, even the smallest details.

The gentleness in Ye Yunzhu’s voice as she urged him to study hard, her anger when he skipped class, the joy that beamed from her when he made progress, and the wonderful sensation of holding her hand for the first time, along with the excitement and nervousness of their first kiss...

Li Yifei usually tried his best not to think about these things, but today, he couldn’t help but recall them completely and uncontrollably. It made him really want to see Ye Yunzhu, yet he didn’t dare to face her. He didn’t know how to confront Ye Yunzhu and feared that their beautiful memories might shatter upon meeting her.

The next morning, everyone got up early, hastily washed up, and hurried to the wedding site to help Tao Yizhong with the preparations.

The wedding was held in a hotel, and the banquet hall was tastefully decorated. All this was managed by a professional wedding planning company, so the classmates were left with minor tasks like moving things around.

Around six o’clock, Tao Yizhong went to pick up the bride. Everyone gathered in the hotel’s lobby, waiting and chatting. Li Yifei, not standing out among his classmates, chatted casually with a few who had not been very successful in life.

With nothing better to do, Li Yifei felt like smoking. Since Tao Yizhong had paid for everything when they hung out the day before, and now Tao Yizhong wasn’t there, he handed out his cigarettes to the few classmates, one each. One of them, Li Haitao, looked at the cigarette Li Yifei passed over, then glanced at Li Yifei’s cigarette pack curiously, and asked, "Li Yifei, what kind of cigarette is this?"

The pack only had a picture of a Little Panda on it—a brand not everyone could have the chance to try, not even wealthy people.

Li Yifei smiled and said, "It’s not expensive; I just bought it casually while strolling over the overline bridge."

Another classmate, Zhao Xiaobao, chuckled and suggested, "Looking at this pack, it seems like those Special Tribute cigarettes from the legends. I thought you found it somewhere special."

Li Yifei laughed and replied, "How could I get my hands on such good cigarettes? Just make do with these."

Zhao Xiaobao took a few puffs and complimented, "These are nice cigarettes, taste really good. Do you have more? Give me two packs."

Li Yifei passed the half-empty pack to Zhao Xiaobao and said, "This is all I have with me, but if you like it, it’s yours."

Although the cigarettes were high-quality and Li Yifei enjoyed smoking them, he wasn’t the stingy type. It would be unkind to refuse a classmate’s request, especially since such cigarettes are hard to come by for others, but for Su Mengxin, it was all too easy. Now that he was supposed to help her with some tasks, taking a few of her cigarettes didn’t make Li Yifei uncomfortable.

While the group was smoking, Cao Yingbo came over. He had been handing out cigarettes in another area and came by to offer them some, saying, "Come on, switch to a new brand."

Everyone lit up at the sight of Cao Yingbo’s cigarette pack. The red packaging and the People’s Hero Monument logo—it was soft Zhonghua, one of Huaxia’s well-known cigarette brands, about sixty yuan a pack. Of course, there were more expensive brands, but when it came to brand recognition, Zhonghua was still the most prominent.

Zhao Xiaobao took the cigarette Cao Yingbo handed over and immediately stuffed it into the cigarette case Li Yifei had just given him, laughing, "Cao Yingbo smokes Zhonghua now? That’s a really good cigarette. I need to save it and smoke it later."

Cao Yingbo immediately said proudly, "They’re gifted to me, I just make do." But upon seeing Zhao Xiaobao’s cigarette case, he was momentarily puzzled and asked, "What kind of cigarette is this?"

Zhao Xiaobao replied cheerily, "Li Yifei gave it to me. I think it tastes quite good. You should try it. Having been used to Huaxia, I’m afraid you won’t be used to this kind of off-brand cigarette."

Of course, Cao Yingbo wouldn’t think that the cigarette Li Yifei gave Zhao Xiaobao was any good, so he just laughed it off, saying, "You’ve got it right. I can’t smoke anything less than thirty yuan, I start coughing. You keep it for yourself."

A few classmates couldn’t help but look down on Cao Yingbo. In college, Cao Yingbo only smoked cigarettes around ten yuan each, and he never seemed to cough, but now that he’s got a good job, he’s started putting on airs right away.

"Come on, give me one to try. The way you guys are smoking it, it seems pretty good," a middle-aged man in his forties walked over, asking for a cigarette to try.

Cao Yingbo was very generous and took out a Huaxia to give to him, but the middle-aged man didn’t accept it; instead, he said, "This isn’t the taste of Huaxia, it’s the kind you guys are smoking."

Cao Yingbo furrowed his brows and said, "Hey, uncle, do you think that cigarette can be better than the soft Huaxia?"

The uncle chuckled and said, "I’m a veteran smoker. I don’t smoke for the feel like you guys do. I can truly discern the quality of tobacco. This cigarette definitely smells like it’s a higher grade than Huaxia."

The uncle’s words immediately sparked everyone’s curiosity. Among the men, more than a dozen were smokers, and they all gathered around. By this point, Cao Yingbo had already snatched Zhao Xiaobao’s cigarette case to examine it, flipping it over and inspecting it before saying, "This brandless cigarette that doesn’t even list a manufacturer, and you’re saying it’s good?"

The uncle nodded and said, "The quality of a cigarette is not about the brand or how much money you spend. You all should know that cigarettes are made from tobacco leaves. Apart from the curing process of the leaves, the selection is the most important. Sometimes, the climate in an area isn’t good, so the tobacco leaves are of poor quality. Other times, even if the quality of the tobacco leaves isn’t normally great, if the climate in a particular year is exceptional, it can produce some pretty good leaves. Some cigarette factories take these exceptional leaves to make special cigarettes reserved for internal use."

Cao Yingbo took out a cigarette from the box and asked, "Are you saying this cigarette is a good one?"

The uncle took one, glanced at the pattern on it, and his eyes lit up. He then brought the cigarette to his nose, closed his eyes, and took a couple of gentle sniffs. He turned the cigarette around to look at the tobacco inside, his lips twitching a few times before directly saying to Zhao Xiaobao, "Young man, do you have any more of these cigarettes? Could you sell me a box?"

"No... I don’t have any more," Zhao Xiaobao stammered, clearly uncomfortable under the uncle’s intense gaze, like a little lamb under the scrutiny of a starving wolf.

"Then could you sell me half a box for a thousand yuan?"

"What?" Zhao Xiaobao’s eyes widened, as did those of the onlookers, all staring at the uncle as if he were crazy.

The uncle, sensing his forwardness, gave an awkward smile and said, "Sorry, I didn’t realize where the young man got his cigarettes, but I can definitely say these are specially made top-quality Little Pandas, definitely the kind that only the big leaders in Capital City can smoke. Here in Mile City, even the mayor or the Municipal Party Secretary definitely can’t get these to smoke."

Feeling everyone’s gaze on him, Zhao Xiaobao, like someone handling a hot potato, quickly shoved the cigarette case at Li Yifei, saying, "These are Li Yifei’s cigarettes."

All eyes then turned to Li Yifei, making him feel rather awkward. He didn’t expect to meet someone in Mile City who knew his stuff, and this uncle was really sharp, deducing the quality of the cigarettes just by smell, a real super smoker, indeed.

"Young man, would you sell me these cigarettes?" The uncle was looking intently at Li Yifei, anxious for an answer.

Li Yifei laughed and said, "Look, uncle, you must be mistaken. I bought these cigarettes at the train station overline bridge. A pack only cost me fifty yuan. If you pay a thousand yuan for my box, wouldn’t you be at a huge loss?"

The uncle immediately shook his head with conviction, saying, "No, no, the cigarettes are definitely not fake, they must be the real thing."

Cao Yingbo promptly suggested, "Maybe it’s not a counterfeit but a lucky batch of good tobacco leaves, right?"

This remark did help Li Yifei smooth things over, but the uncle shook his head again...