Chapter 91: The New Neighbor

Chapter 91: Chapter 91: The New NeighborLi Yifei had originally planned to go to the bar tonight to blow off some steam, but the thought of that girl who had haunted his dreams made him lose all interest. After buying clothes, he went straight home.

As the elevator doors were about to close, the sound of high heels tapping urgently on the floor rang out. Then, just before the doors shut, a woman squeezed in.

Seeing this person, Li Yifei was gobsmacked. He had absolutely not expected to run into this woman in the elevator.

"What’s the matter? Don’t recognize me?" Su Mengxin teased Li Yifei with a wink.

Li Yifei cracked a smile and said, "What brings you here?"

"I live here, ah. I’m on the sixteenth floor. Which floor do you live on?"

"The sixteenth floor?" Li Yifei’s eyes widened even further.

Su Mengxin immediately exclaimed in surprise, "Yeah, don’t tell me you also live on the sixteenth floor?"

Li Yifei looked at Su Mengxin, then cracked a wry smile and said, "Miss Su, I’m lucky it’s you. If it were someone else, I’d suspect you were deliberately looking for me."

Su Mengxin laughed and said, "Oh, so you mean you live on the sixteenth floor too? Doesn’t that make us neighbors?"

Li Yifei nodded and ventured, "Miss Su, may I ask you a question?"

"Sure, go ahead," Su Mengxin replied, her face always adorned with that signature smile of hers, both noble and extremely affable.

Li Yifei saw that although Su Mengxin was surprised, as a super special forces soldier, he had already regained his normal rationality and had analyzed the likelihood of Su Mengxin moving in here. Then he asked, "Given your status, you shouldn’t need to live in this kind of neighborhood, right? Not to mention staying in a five-star hotel, but at the very least, you should get a villa, no? Why are you living here?"

"It seems I cannot answer you here." Su Mengxin pointed to the elevator as it stopped on the sixteenth floor, and the doors opened.

Both of them stepped out of the elevator, and Su Mengxin said, "Aren’t you going to invite me to sit at your place?"

"I am truly honored. If others knew that Huaxia’s number one beauty is coming to visit my home, who knows how many men would want to kill me." While speaking, Li Yifei had already opened the door to his home and invited Su Mengxin inside.

After entering, Su Mengxin looked around curiously and then smiled, "Your place is pretty clean, which is quite surprising."

After pouring a glass of water for Su Mengxin and inviting her to sit down, Li Yifei took a seat beside her and said, "It’s not bad."

"Mm, it’s pretty good, just a bit small," she remarked.

"It’s already enough for me alone."

Su Mengxin took a sip of water and looked at Li Yifei. Her thoughts suddenly flew to the jungle and finally froze on the image of him taking a bullet for her, becoming somewhat dazed.

"Miss Su, what’s wrong?" Li Yifei, made a bit uncomfortable by Su Mengxin’s stare, cleared his throat to remind her.

Su Mengxin’s body gave a slight shake and she flicked her hair—an action so simple yet carried with the utmost grace as she said, "I was just remembering some things."

Li Yifei looked at Su Mengxin, puzzled by her presence, and said, "Miss Su, why did you choose to become my neighbor?"

"What do you think?" Su Mengxin didn’t express any surprise. With her status, she would certainly have investigated who resided in her vicinity in advance, and her bodyguards would definitely settle nearby. Others might not know, but Li Yifei must be very clear about it.

"You don’t still want me to protect you, do you?" Li Yifei looked at Su Mengxin with a bitter smile, hoping that wasn’t the answer.

But Su Mengxin giggled and said, "You guessed it right."

Li Yifei furrowed his brows and said, "Miss Su, I’m already retired. I’m just an ordinary person now, and no longer have any obligation to protect you."

Su Mengxin nodded and replied, "Of course I know. I didn’t come here in my former capacity either. I’m now just a businesswoman, or you could say pretty much an ordinary person. So I don’t mean to force you to protect me, but as neighbors, if something comes up and I ask for your help, you wouldn’t refuse, right?"

Li Yifei rubbed his nose and mused, "It seems I really do have the right to refuse." seaʀᴄh thё Novёlƒire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Seeing Li Yifei’s refusal, Su Mengxin’s eyes brimmed with even more amusement. She liked this Li Yifei even more, as he wasn’t fawning over her for her beauty or her status—the mark of a real man. "Then may I ask you for help?"

Su Mengxin’s usual demeanor was already devastatingly charming, but now with a touch of coquetry, she was more than any man could resist. Li Yifei turned away and said, "Miss Su, don’t tease me. Just speak plainly."

"I really do want to live an ordinary life for a while. I’m tired. But my identity is an issue wherever I go, especially with a bunch of bodyguards following me around everywhere, which makes me very uncomfortable. Being your neighbor, I fully trust my safety won’t be a problem, and it will allow me to have a simple, normal life."

Li Yifei lit a cigarette and said, "Miss Su, you can’t just use my labor for free, can you?"

Su Mengxin’s eyes narrowed. Li Yifei was definitely the first man to smoke in front of her. The smell of tobacco made her quite uncomfortable, and she couldn’t help but let out a light cough. However, Li Yifei only glanced at her and, without snuffing out his cigarette, took another puff.

"Don’t you know it’s rude to smoke in front of a girl?"

Li Yifei smiled faintly and said, "Aren’t you just an ordinary person? So, I won’t change because of you."

"Then it seems I’ll have to be the one to change."

"As you wish, if you don’t change, there’s nothing I can do."

The more Li Yifei disregarded Su Mengxin, the more she took a liking to him. If before, she had been preoccupied with thoughts of Li Yifei simply because he had saved her, because he had shielded her with his body and left her profoundly shaken, now his attitude was what made her admire him even more.

"Fine then, smoke if you want." Su Mengxin stood up, and with a smile said, "Wait for me a moment." Then she walked out the door, leaving it open behind her.

This left Li Yifei puzzled. Hearing the door of the adjacent room open and close after a while, Su Mengxin re-entered his home, this time holding two cartons of cigarettes in her hand.

"Don’t keep smoking those low-quality cigarettes. Here are two cartons of Special Tribute cigarettes. Smoke these instead."

Li Yifei’s eyes sparkled; for a smoker, good cigarettes were definitely attractive. The two cartons Su Mengxin brought were clearly hard-to-find, top-quality Special Tribute cigarettes, and he eagerly took them.

The packaging of these cartons of cigarettes was very simple, with nothing but the words "Special Tribute" written on them, and not a single picture; the whole box was just simple white carton. Anyone who didn’t know any better would surely think these were just fake cigarettes.

Li Yifei immediately opened a carton and pulled out a pack from inside—all white as well, without even the words "Special Tribute" on it.

He removed one cigarette, which looked no different from any regular cigarette, except for a beautiful Little Panda design on it.

"Special Tribute Little Panda!" Li Yifei exclaimed in delight, promptly extinguishing his own cigarette. He then lit one of the new ones, took a drag with narrowed eyes, and said in bliss, "Leaders’ cigarettes are indeed different. So satisfying!"

With a snort of laughter, Su Mengxin said, "Why does it look like you’re smoking opium when you smoke?"

Li Yifei, shaking his head, replied, "Smoking for a man is like shopping for clothes for you women. You try on clothes you like over and over, basking in vanity. We men, when we get good cigarettes, naturally have to savor them properly."

"Does shopping for clothes make you vain? I’ve never felt that way."

"Oh, right, you wouldn’t feel that way, just like those leaders smoking these Special Tribute cigarettes—no special feelings involved. How can they compare with us ordinary folks?"

Suddenly, Su Mengxin sighed and said, "You’re so right. Nowadays, I find very little interest in anything I do. That’s why I wanted to come here and experience the life of an ordinary person, let me get a taste of the joy of shopping for clothes and feeling vain about it."

Li Yifei widened his eyes and said, "I just can’t understand you people with such high status wanting to live the life of us ordinary folks."

"If you don’t understand, then you don’t. Anyway, I just want to experience it. Help me out, will you? I even brought you cigarettes, and you’ve smoked them too. You can’t say no now."

Li Yifei rolled his eyes, surprised Miss Su could be so shameless. He chuckled and said, "You think you can buy me off with just two cartons of cigarettes?"

Miss Su blinked and said, "At most, I’ll keep supplying you these cigarettes, how about that?"

"That offer is quite tempting... but even if I agree, it won’t do much good. To live an ordinary life, others must see you as average. Here in Mile City, if you avoid those social gatherings, it might work, but now that every important person in town knows who you are, living an ordinary life might not be so easy, right?"

"I’ve thought of that already. A few days ago, I returned to Capital City and handed over my business in Mile City to others. My return this time was in secret; no one knows about it. As long as I avoid contact with those leaders, who then would know about me being in Mile City?"

Li Yifei looked at Su Mengxin and said, "I always feel like this is a conspiracy, and it’s specifically aimed at me."

"What kind of conspiracy could I possibly have against you?" Su Mengxin squinted at Li Yifei.

Li Yifei gave a wry smile and said, "I’m just a poor guy. If you were to have a conspiracy against me, it could only be because you’ve taken a fancy to me."

"What do you think?" Su Mengxin secretly admired Li Yifei. This man was indeed impressive, but of course, she couldn’t admit it just yet, otherwise Li Yifei would surely be spooked.

Li Yifei rolled his eyes again and said, "You think I would believe that?"

Su Mengxin laughed happily, truly looking forward to the day when Li Yifei found out the truth. What kind of expression would he have then?