13: Chapter 13 Men Are Boys Until They Die

After the meal, An Tian went out to buy cigarettes, and Liu Qing was washing dishes in the kitchen.

Yang Shiguang and You Ge were sitting side by side on the sofa watching TV when An Miaomiao walked over, frowning as she softly scolded You Ge.

"Behave yourself."

You Ge was a bit confused. Behave himself, how?

He looked at the cigarette held between his fingers and took out a pack of Huangfu, offering one to Yang Shiguang.

He noticed that An Miaomiao was still staring at him with a frown, which only made him more puzzled. Hesitantly, he took out another cigarette and extended it toward An Miaomiao.

"Want a light?"

An Miaomiao couldn't help but laugh at his dim-witted appearance. She grabbed his hand, pulled him up, and shooed him over to the single sofa on the side.

Then she sat in the spot he had just occupied, draped her fair legs over Yang Shiguang's lap, leaned her head against his shoulder, and smiled with her peach-blossom eyes crinkling into crescents, looking just like a tranquil cat.

Yang Shiguang patted her head and continued watching TV.

"Miaomiao, go cut some watermelon for Shiguang and the others."

Liu Qing's voice rang out from the kitchen.

An Miaomiao answered with a look of resentment, "Oh," and had no choice but to get up reluctantly and head to the kitchen.

Watching An Miaomiao walk away, You Ge put his cigarette back in his mouth and sat back down, whispering to Yang Shiguang:

"Is this girl getting more and more clingy to you?"

"Is she? Hasn't she always been like this?"

"Is that so? Maybe it's just my imagination."

Yang Shiguang looked at the pensive You Ge and smiled.

"Compared to you, she is indeed clingier to me. There's no helping it, who told you to pull the strap of her little camisole back then?"

"You have the nerve to say that? Wasn't it you who told me to pull it? You're the real culprit!"

Yang Shiguang didn't say anything, neither agreeing nor denying.

Before long, You Ge asked again with a cheeky grin:

"Shiguang, do you think this girl has a thing for you?"

Yang Shiguang was a bit surprised.

"How is that possible? Isn't this just a normal way for siblings to interact? Don't jump to conclusions. Didn't you take baths with your sister when you were little? Do you have a thing for your sister too?"

"...That's true."

Soon, An Miaomiao brought out the watermelon cut into pieces and placed it on the coffee table. This time, You Ge was quite self-aware and slunk back to the single sofa.

"Brother Shiguang, ah~"

An Miaomiao sat back down right next to Yang Shiguang, used a fork to pick up a piece of watermelon, and brought it to his lips, her other little hand held underneath to catch any drips.

Yang Shiguang ate it in one bite and patted An Miaomiao's little head.

Liu Qing, having finished the dishes, sat to the side and smiled kindly at the scene.

At this moment, An Tian returned from buying cigarettes, holding a carton of Heshentianxia. Seeing this, Liu Qing snatched it away.

"I told you to smoke less, yet you bought so much again."

After saying that, she opened the carton, gave three packs each to You Ge and Yang Shiguang, and tossed the rest back into An Tian's hands.

Yang Shiguang was just about to refuse when he saw the oblivious You Ge stuffing them into his pocket, saying:

"Uncle An, you're not bad, smoking such good cigarettes!"

"Ahem, it's alright, it's alright."

An Tian coughed in embarrassment.

Liu Qing watched as she stuffed the three packs of cigarettes into Yang Shiguang's pocket and said:

"You guys should smoke less too, but smoking better quality ones isn't as harmful to your health."

You Ge opened a pack, lit one up, took a puff, and said carelessly:

"We usually don't get to smoke cigarettes like this, you know."

"Huh? These cigarettes aren't expensive, aren't they 9 yuan a pack?"

Liu Qing was very puzzled. At this moment, An Tian was winking and making faces at You Ge, but You Ge didn't notice.

"These cigarettes? Aren't these..."

Realizing things were about to go wrong, Yang Shiguang immediately interrupted You Ge:

"Uncle An, how much are these cigarettes?"

"Right... right, 9 yuan a pack, 90 a carton. Haha."

An Tian was breaking out in a cold sweat, but he let out a sigh of relief upon hearing Yang Shiguang save the situation.

Liu Qing didn't notice anything and continued:

"That's right, it's not expensive, why can't you two afford it?"

You Ge realized the problem by now, his brain working at lightning speed, not daring to speak for fear of triggering the battle of the century.

Yang Shiguang's brain, however, was working faster than his, and he immediately thought of a way to smooth things over:

"Auntie Liu, it's not that we can't afford it, it's just that these cigarettes are usually hard to buy."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, Auntie Liu, we can't buy them!"

You Ge chimed in.

An Tian secretly sighed that these two lads were indeed smart, feeling relieved to have survived the crisis.

Unfortunately, he was happy too soon.

Liu Qing generously took out two hundred yuan from her pocket and handed it to An Tian.

"Old An, here's 200, go buy a carton for Shiguang and You Ge each, and remember to bring me back the change."

"This... this..."

"What 'this'? Are you being lazy? Then tell me where you bought them, and I'll go buy them."

An Tian looked at the helpless expressions of You Ge and Yang Shiguang, and then at his daughter, who was burying her head in Yang Shiguang's chest, trembling as she held back her laughter. He let out a long sigh, took the money with tears in his heart, and opened the door to leave.

Great, that was a loss of 2200, his hard-earned secret stash of money was wiped out in an instant.

(PS: In 2007, there was no price cap on cigarettes. As far as the author recalls, regular Heshentianxia was around 120 per pack back then, and White Heshentianxia was even more expensive.)

In the evening, Yang Shiguang was riding his bicycle home.

"Should I get a car?"

It really wasn't very convenient without a mode of transport, and he had to go to Star City later.

Star City was much bigger than Jianning, and taking the bus everywhere would probably mean spending most of the day on the road.

"What kind of car should I buy?"

Although Yang Shiguang had over a million in cash now, he still had new store expansions and other new businesses to develop, so his funds were still quite tight.

Buying a nice car at this time would be like draining the pond to catch the fish, and buying a basic commuter car would likely need to be replaced later anyway.

"What to do?"

Just then, a motorcycle zoomed past him.

He suddenly felt enlightened.

In his previous life, he had always had a motorcycle dream during college. It should be said that most boys had one; even many people pushing 30 still wanted to ride one and speed around.

After all, men are boys until they die.

"I can't afford the aristocracy on four wheels, but something on two wheels is more than enough."

It's just that in this era, motorcycles were still rare items and hard to buy.

Before he knew it, he had arrived at the old bungalow.

He suddenly remembered that A-Long seemed to have mentioned having similar connections before.

Hesitation leads to defeat, so he decisively opened QQ, and as it happened, A-Long was online.

Screenname: A-Long, didn't you mention before that you had connections for motorcycles?

Stallone: Hey, I do. What's up, Brother Shiguang, planning to get one to play with?

Screenname: Yeah, get one for commuting.

Stallone: Hehe, I doubt it's just for commuting. This thing is also a great way to pick up girls.

Stallone: What kind do you want? A domestic Horizon? Or high-end stuff like Ducati?

Screenname: Ducati is too flashy. Let's go with Japanese, they have a better price-performance ratio.

Stallone: Brother Shiguang, you have unique insights. Alright! Kawasaki? Honda? Suzuki?

Screenname: Yamaha, I guess. Yamaha R6, I want the latest 2007 model.

Screenname: It has to be an official import. I don't want anything of dubious origin. Safety first.

Stallone: You can trust me, A-Long! How could I get you that kind of garbage, Brother Shiguang? I'll send it to Shuicifang in a week.

Screenname: Thanks. Don't worry, I know all the ropes!

Stallone: [Fist-bump.jpg]

That night, Shuicifang was still booming, with quite a few people sitting outside waiting for a table.

Yang Shiguang and the other two also came to the shop to help out, though they didn't need to be chefs anymore; instead, they acted as waiters.

At this moment, two young girls at a table were chatting and laughing, waiting to order.

"This is the place, it's super delicious and super popular!"

"I know! I saved up 200 yuan just to come here!"

"After queuing for so long, we can finally eat here!"

Yang Shiguang walked over to the two girls with a notepad and pencil, flashing a professional smile:

"Hello, what would you like to order?"

However, the two young girls at the table didn't order; instead, they looked at him in surprise, and then said with disdain:

"I was wondering who it was. So it's you."

The other girl also mocked:

"Yo, isn't this the great follower Yang? Now that Zishan is gone, you've become a dog for someone else's late-night snack shop? Hahahaha."

Yang Shiguang frowned slightly and looked at the two of them.