SD Chapter 12: Smoke

Previous | Table of Contents | Next

Liang Jingjing neatly coded the printed information, then turned around and saw the tall young man standing at the door.

She was startled at first, and then she heard Tao Mingzhuo call her: "Secretary Liang."

"Ah." Liang Jingjing was stunned for a moment, "Yes...it's you."

Liang Jingjing was glad that she reacted in time . , swallowing back the word "meal" that was about to be spoken in an instant.

For Tao Mingzhuo, Liang Jingjing actually had a grateful attitude. Because she is the only one who knows Jing Ci's condition, and the only one who knows how much hope Tao Mingzhuo's appearance brings to Jing Ci's life.

"Are you here to see Mr. Jing?" Liang Jingjing thought for a while and asked with a smile, "Mr. Jing has a meeting soon. Do you want to come to see him within an hour?"

She saw that Tao Mingzhuo seemed stunned. After a while, he shook his head.

"Actually, I'm here to find you." Liang Jingjing heard him speak hesitantly, "I want to know from you, is there anything in Mr. Jing's daily life that he particularly likes or dislikes?"

Liang Jingjing: "... ...Huh?"

Tao Mingzhuo's first "action" can be said to be a complete defeat.

He summarized the reasons for his failure. He felt that the main reason was that he did not understand Jing Ci's likes and dislikes, so he did not make targeted decisions, thus failing to make Jing Ci hate him.

Why can he have such a good temper? Why can't you get angry even if you're like this? Tao Mingzhuo was puzzled. He felt that Jing Ci's feelings for him were deeper than expected.

After sucking a whole row of AD calcium milk, Tao Mingzhuo felt that he needed to take the right medicine.

He finally decided not to torture each other about eating anymore. People are like iron rice and steel. It is shameful to waste food. He didn't want the spicy accident like last time to happen again.

According to Liang Jingjing, Jing Ci has a good temper and rarely shows obvious likes and dislikes to things.

"But if I have to say it, Mr. Jing doesn't like smoking cigarettes very much." Liang Jingjing thought for a while and said, "And he likes a relatively quiet environment. If he likes it... he usually asks me to book some exhibition tickets for him. That should be all."

Tao Mingzhuo decided to break through these points one by one.

So Tao Mingzhuo's second plan was to spit out smoke in front of Jing Ci.

In real life, Tao Mingzhuo can be said to hate people who smoke in public places. He thought this was a very selfish act that was harmful to both himself and others, and he finally made the decision after deliberation for a long time.

There was no cigarette smell on Jing Ci's body, and there was no ashtray in the office, so Tao Mingzhuo was sure that Jing Ci did not smoke, and he should not be looking for a smoker as a partner.

The two agreed to have dinner together around six o'clock every night, so after get off work that day, Tao Mingzhuo first went to the convenience store downstairs of the company.

In fact, Tao Mingzhuo didn't understand cigarettes at all. He was dazzled by the colorful flowers on the wall, and finally chose a pack of foreign cigarettes and put it in his pocket like a thief.

After waiting at the door of the company for another ten minutes, Tao Mingzhuo saw Jing Ci get out of the elevator and walk in front of him.

Jing Ci said to him: "Good evening."

Tao Mingzhuo responded and said: "Let's go."

Eating with Tao Mingzhuo has become Jing Ci's hope in life, and Tao Mingzhuo himself has also become a mature person. This was the motivation that drove Jing Ci to work in the company.

Today they had fried rice together.

Tao Mingzhuo picked up the rice on the plate and said, "The fried rice here is very fragrant. It uses lard residue, and the bowl is very big. Isn't it fragrant?"

Jing Ci said: "It's delicious."

He stared at Tao Mingzhuo's face, lowered his head, and slowly took a bite of fried rice.

Except for some minor accidents at the fried skewers meal, the dinners these days went very smoothly. Tao Mingzhuo took Jingci to experience some of the small restaurants where he usually eats.

Moreover, Tao Mingzhuo rarely gets inexplicably dazed when eating recently, but has returned to his previous state of eating well and being very engaged.

In fact, the feeling of eating at night is different from eating at the company at noon. Night is private time, and the atmosphere when the two of them get along seems to be less formal than usual at the company.

Jing Ci feels that it is difficult to define her relationship with Tao Mingzhuo now.

It's not like a boss and a subordinate, nor like ordinary friends, but a somewhat subtle and unclear relationship. Jing Ci decided to temporarily define this relationship as rice friends.

Logically speaking, after eating, it's time to say goodbye.

But rarely, after settling the bill, Tao Mingzhuo took the initiative and suggested: "There is a river next to it. Do you want to go for a walk and eat something like that?"

Jing Ci was startled for a moment and said, "Okay."

So they walked by the river. Walked for a while.

Strangely, Jing Ci felt that Tao Mingzhuo was not walking attentively. On the contrary, he kept looking left and right, observing the pedestrians around him.

The riverside is very quiet, there are not many pedestrians, and there are occasional vehicles passing by.

Then Jing Ci saw Tao Mingzhuo standing still, turned around, put his hand into his pocket, and said, "That..."

Jing Ci also stopped.

Just as Tao Mingzhuo was about to say something, a woman pushing a stroller stopped next to them and made a phone call.

Jing Ci saw Tao Mingzhuo take his hand out of his pocket again, and took a deep breath as if in pain: "... Well, it seems that I am still a little tired, let's not walk anymore."

After five more walks Minutes later, Jing Ci saw that Tao Mingzhuo finally stopped again and turned around again.

At the same time, he saw Tao Mingzhuo take out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and said very loudly: "Ah, I'm addicted."

Jing Ci: "...?"

Is Tao Mingzhuo real? very tired.

He didn't expect that it would be so difficult to find a place with better air circulation and no pedestrians around, especially no women and children.

As expected, when Jing Ci took out a cigarette from his pocket, Jing Ci looked a little surprised.

Tao Mingzhuo was very satisfied with Jing Ci's reaction. He said calmly: "Sorry, I'm used to it. When I have no inspiration for painting, I like to take a sip. I can't quit."

"You don't mind if I smoke one ." Right?" He looked into Jing Ci's eyes.

Jing Ci stared thoughtfully at the cigarette case in Tao Mingzhuo's hand for a while.

"It doesn't matter." He heard Jing Ci say, "Just smoke it."

Tao Mingzhuo also expected this answer. He lowered his head, took a deep breath, and decided to start his performance.

Tao Mingzhuo had not opened the cigarettes, and was looking down at how to open the box when he heard Jing Ci ask hesitantly: "So do you always like to smoke ladies' cigarettes?"

Tao Mingzhuo: "... ?"

He lowered his head and took a closer look, only to realize that although the cigarette box was printed in English, there was a logo of high heels on the side of the cigarette box, which seemed to be a cigarette specially designed for women.

Tao Mingzhuo was really numb.

When he bought it, he couldn't tell the difference between different brands at all, and there was a long line of people checking out behind him, so he didn't have time to study it.

So in the end, I could only choose one based on my eyesight. The packaging looked pretty good, mainly because Tao Mingzhuo thought the light-colored ones looked quite classy.

Tao Mingzhuo felt that his face was a little stiff: "Personal habits, special hobbies, no... can't you?"

He was afraid that Jing Ci would see some clues, but Jing Ci didn't seem to think too much, just smiled and nodded.

Tao Mingzhuo exhaled, "A lady's cigarette will indeed be fresher in the mouth."

The play had begun, and although there were some minor mistakes in the props, Tao Mingzhuo still resolutely continued with the performance.

Tao Mingzhuo was clumsy and took a long time to take out one. Jing Ci watched the movements in his hand and remained silent.

Tao Mingzhuo said, "I, I really smoked."

Jing Ci actually didn't understand why Tao Mingzhuo kept asking for his opinion on such a trivial matter as smoking, but he still nodded: "Smoking."

However, strangely, as if he remembered something, Tao Mingzhuo did not take the next step. Instead, he held up the cigarette in his hand and froze in place.

Jing Ci looked at his face without knowing why.

The air subtly froze for a moment.

After a while, Jing Ci tentatively spoke: "Did you... didn't bring a fire?"

Fifteen minutes later, Tao Mingzhuo walked out of a nearby convenience store.

Tao Mingzhuo, who had been embarrassed twice tonight, was completely numb. He just wanted to smoke this damn cigarette quickly and finish the drama as soon as possible.

The wind by the river was a bit strong, and Tao Mingzhuo pressed the lighter awkwardly. The flame flickered. It took him a long time to light the cigarette shakily.

Then Tao Mingzhuo picked up his cigarette and took a puff pretending to be calm.

Although the taste of ladies' cigarettes is lighter than ordinary cigarettes, it was Tao Mingzhuo's first time smoking, and his eyes hurt from the smoke, and his whole body was agitated.

But he still had to act as if nothing had happened and asked: "Ahem...cough, you, do you like people who smoke?"

Jing Ci looked at his face, smiled and said, "I don't really like it."

Tao Ming As soon as Zhuo heard Jing Ci say "I don't like it very much", he felt that his goal had been achieved, and he immediately became energetic.

He endured the itchiness in his throat and emotionally recited the lines he had prepared in advance: "Ah, that's really embarrassing. I am the type of person who is addicted to tobacco. How should I put it? I know it is true. It's a bit unqualified, but I just can't quit..."

Jing Ci looked at Tao Mingzhuo and said gently: "It's okay if you smoke one occasionally, and I feel like I haven't seen you smoke it before."

Tao . Mingzhuo raised his eyes alertly: "That's... that's just because you didn't see it. I smoke very fiercely in private, and I don't care about the feelings of the people around me. I'm very selfish."

Jing Ci said "Ah": "But, didn't you find a place where there is no one?"

Tao Mingzhuo: "...I don't understand what you are talking about at all."

The smoke dispersed, and Tao Mingzhuo felt a little uncomfortable smelling it. You have to bite the bullet and keep pumping.

Jing Ci didn't say anything more, just looked at the mottled light and shadow of the river, stood beside him quietly and waited for him to finish, without showing any dissatisfaction.

Tao Mingzhuo decided to use his ultimate move.

He paused, took out the cigarette case from his pocket again, and handed it to Jing Ci: "It's boring to stand around. How can I say, why don't you come with me and have a cigarette to experience something new?"

Jing Ci turned his head, Looking at Tao Mingzhuo's face, he said nothing.

Tao Mingzhuo felt that even a person with a good temper would probably feel angry this time.

After all, Jing Ci has made it clear that he doesn't like smoking, but he still smokes next to him regardless of his feelings, and even now has the audacity to invite him to join him.

Jing Ci didn't speak for a long time. Tao Mingzhuo felt that he might have gone too far, so he retracted his hand: "Forget it, you -"

Tao Mingzhuo was about to put the cigarette case back into his pocket, when Jing Ci said Suddenly he reached out and took it.

He heard Jing Ci say: "Thank you."

Tao Mingzhuo saw Jing Ci lower his head, neatly take out a cigarette from the cigarette case, hold it between his fingers, and look at it for a while.

For a moment, Tao Mingzhuo suddenly felt that with just a simple action of taking out a cigarette, Jing Ci showed a level of skill and calmness that he did not possess.

Tao Mingzhuo's intuition was wrong, and his Adam's apple twitched: "Don't you... don't like smoking?"

Jing Ci gently twisted the cigarette in his hand. His fingers were slender and slender, and women's cigarettes were also slender. It looks more aesthetically pleasing in his hands.

"It's not so much that I don't like people who smoke, it's better to say that I don't like smoking." Jing Ci sighed softly, "As for the reason for not liking it, maybe it was mainly because I didn't have strong self-control at the time, so I quit smoking. The process of dropping it is more difficult."

Tao Mingzhuo opened his eyes: "...?"

"But now I can control myself." Jing Ci held the cigarette between his fingers and said with a smile, "So I will give it a try occasionally. , It shouldn't matter."

Tao Mingzhuo saw Jing Ci lowering his head, his hair was gently blown by the wind, his eyebrows were somewhat obscured, and the expression on his face was somewhat unclear.

He bit the cigarette, tilted his head slightly, and said in a somewhat unclear voice, "Can I borrow a fire?"

Maybe it was because Jing Ci's temperament was so different from his usual temperament at this time that it took Tao Mingzhuo a long time to react. , he said: "...Okay."

Tao Mingzhuo thought Jing Ci meant to tell him to take out the lighter. However, the next second, Jing Ci suddenly bit her cigarette and came closer to the already lit cigarette in Tao Mingzhuo's mouth.

His movements were very smooth and natural. In an instant, the distance between the two was so close that even the tips of their noses were about to touch.

Tao Mingzhuo could only see Jing Ci's long and soft eyelashes trembling, his hair moving slightly with the rhythm of the wind, and his entire face was illuminated by orange, flickering firelight.

Jing Ci raised his eyes. Under the quiet night, the light in his eyes seemed to be gentler and purer.

The fire was dimly lit and the smoke was burning.

Jing Ci stood up slowly, put the cigarette between his fingers again, smiled faintly at Tao Mingzhuo, and then blew out a puff of smoke softly and lazily.

"Thanks." He said to Tao Mingzhuo.

Previous | Table of Contents | Next