Under meals

Chapter 12 Smoke

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

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

"Ah." Liang Jingjing froze for a moment, "It's next...it's you."

Liang Jingjing was glad that he responded in a timely manner, and swallowed the word "food" that was about to be exported in an instant.

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

"Are you here to see Boss Jing?" Liang Jingjing thought for a while, then asked with a smile, "Boss Jing is going to have a meeting soon, and you will come to see him in an hour?"

She seemed to be taken aback when she saw Tao Mingzhuo, and shook her head.

"Actually, I'm here to look for you." Liang Jingjing heard him hesitantly opened his mouth, "I want to know from you, Mr. Jing's daily life... Is there anything you particularly like or dislike?"

Liang Jingjing: "...Huh?"

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

He summed up the reasons for his failure. He felt that the main reason was that he didn't understand Jing Ci's likes and dislikes, so he didn't make targeted decisions, and thus failed to make Jing Ci hate him.

Why can he have such a good temper?Why can't you get angry after everything is like this?Tao Mingzhuo was puzzled, he felt that Jingci's affection for him was deeper than expected.

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

In the end, he decided not to torture each other on eating. People are like iron and rice is steel. It is shameful to waste food. He doesn't want the extra 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 about things.

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

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

So Tao Mingzhuo's second plan was to swallow the clouds and mist fiercely in front of Jing Ci.

In real life, Tao Mingzhuo hates people who smoke in public.He thought it was a very selfish behavior that was harmful to himself and others, and he finally made a decision after deliberating for a long time.

Jing Ci does not smell of cigarettes, and there is no ashtray in the office, so Tao Mingzhuo is sure that Jing Ci does not smoke, and she should be a person who will not seek 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 went to the convenience store downstairs of the company first.

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

After standing at the door of the company and waiting for another 10 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 become the driving force driving Jing Ci to work in the company.

Today they ate 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 it's very big. Isn't it very fragrant?"

Jing Ci said: "It's delicious."

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

Except for some minor accidents during the deep-fried skewers, the dinner these days went very smoothly. Tao Mingzhuo took Jingci to experience some small restaurants that he usually eats.

Moreover, when eating recently, Tao Mingzhuo seldom had that kind of inexplicable daze anymore, but returned to the previous state of eating deliciously and being very devoted.

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

Jing Ci finds it difficult to define her relationship with Tao Mingzhuo now.

It is not like a boss and a subordinate, nor is it like an ordinary friend, but a somewhat subtle and unclear relationship. Jing Ci decided to temporarily define this relationship as a fan friend.

It stands to reason that after dinner, it's time to say goodbye.

But rarely, after paying the bill, Tao Mingzhuo offered to propose: "The river is next to it, do you want to take a walk together to refresh ourselves?"

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

So they walked along the river for a while.

Strangely, Jing Ci felt that Tao Mingzhuo didn't seem to be walking attentively. On the contrary, he kept looking left and right, observing the pedestrians around him.

The river is very quiet, there are no pedestrians, and there are occasional vehicles speeding by.

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

Jing Ci also stopped.

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

Seeing Tao Mingzhuo took his hand out of his pocket again, Jing Ci seemed to take a deep breath in pain: "...Well, it seems that I am still a little bit tight, let's not walk anymore."

After walking for another 5 minutes, Jing Ci saw that Tao Mingzhuo finally stopped and turned around again.

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

Jing Ci: "...?"

Tao Mingzhuo was really tired.

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

Sure enough, the moment she saw herself taking out a cigarette from her pocket, Jing Ci showed a somewhat surprised expression.

Tao Mingzhuo was very satisfied with Jing Ci's reaction. He said nonchalantly, "I'm sorry, I'm used to it. When I don't have inspiration for painting, I like to take a sip. I can't quit."

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

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

"It's okay." He heard Jing Ci say, "You can smoke."

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

Tao Mingzhuo had never opened a cigarette before, and was looking down at how to open the box, when Jing Ci asked hesitantly: "So you always like to smoke women's cigarettes?"

Tao Mingzhuo: "...?"

He lowered his head and took a closer look, only to find that although the cigarette box was printed in English, there was a logo of high-heeled shoes 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 who checked out later, so he didn't have time to study it.

So in the end, I could only choose a package that looked good based on my eyesight, mainly because Tao Mingzhuo felt that the light-colored ones looked quite classy.

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

He was afraid that Jing Ci would see something, but Jing Ci didn't seem to think much about it, just smiled, nodded and said: "Lady's smoke will indeed be fresher in the mouth."

Tao Mingzhuo let out a breath.

The play had already started, and although there were some small mistakes in the props, Tao Mingzhuo still acted resolutely.

Tao Mingzhuo was clumsy, took a long time to take out one, Jing Ci watched the movements of his hands, and did not speak quietly.

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 didn't make the next move, but held up the cigarette in his hand, and just froze on the spot.

Jing Ci looked at his face in confusion.

The air froze for a moment.

After a long while, Jing Ci tentatively opened her mouth: "Did you...have no fire?"

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

Tao Mingzhuo, who was humiliated twice tonight, is completely numb. He just wants to smoke this damn cigarette quickly and finish the play early.

The wind by the river was a bit strong, Tao Mingzhuo clumsily pressed the lighter, the flame wobbled, and it took him a long time to light the cigarette tremblingly.

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

Although the taste of women's cigarettes is a little lighter than ordinary cigarettes, Tao Mingzhuo smoked for the first time, and he was so smoked that his eyes hurt, and his whole body was shocked.

But he still had to make a nonchalant gesture and ask, "cough...cough, you, do you like people who smoke?"

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

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

He endured the itching in his throat, and emotionally recited the lines he had prepared in advance: "Ah, that's really embarrassing, I'm the kind of person who is addicted to tobacco, how should I put it, I know it's true It's a bit lacking in quality, but I just can't quit..."

Jing Ci looked at Tao Mingzhuo, and said gently: "It's okay to smoke once in a while, and I feel like I haven't seen you smoke much before."

Tao Mingzhuo raised his eyes vigilantly: "That's...that's just because you didn't see it. I smoke a lot 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 were no people?"

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

As the smoke dissipated, Tao Mingzhuo felt a little uncomfortable smelling it himself, so he had to bite the bullet and continue smoking.

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

Tao Mingzhuo decided to release his ultimate move.

He paused for a moment, then took out the cigarette case from his pocket again, and handed it to Jing Ci: "Standing is always boring, what should I say, why don't you come with me to experience something new?"

Jing Ci turned her head, looked at Tao Mingzhuo's face, and said nothing.

Tao Mingzhuo felt that even if he changed to someone with a good temper this time, he would probably feel angry.

After all, Jing Ci has made it clear that she doesn't like smoking, but she still ignores his feelings and puffs away at the side, even now she has the audacity to invite him to join her.

Jing Ci didn't speak for a long time, Tao Mingzhuo felt that he might have overdone it, so he retracted his hands: "Forget it, you—"

Tao Mingzhuo was about to put the cigarette case back into his pocket, when Jing Ci suddenly reached out to take it.

He heard Jing Ci say, "Thank you."

Tao Mingzhuo saw that Jing Ci lowered her head, took out a cigarette neatly from the cigarette case, held it between her fingers, and looked at it for a while.

For a moment, Tao Mingzhuo suddenly felt that it was just a simple action of taking a cigarette, but what Jing Ci showed was a skill and calmness that he did not have.

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

Jing Ci gently twisted the cigarette in his hand, his fingers were slender and slender, and the lady's cigarette was also slender, which looked more beautiful in his hand.

"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 why I don't like it, it may be that I didn't have strong self-control at the time, so I quit smoking. The process of falling is more difficult.”

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

"But now I can control myself." Jing Ci held the cigarette between her fingers and said with a smile, "So it should be okay to try it once in a while."

Tao Mingzhuo saw Jing Ci lower his head, his hair was gently blown by the wind, his eyebrows and eyes were blocked, and the expression on his face was a little unclear.

He bit the cigarette, tilted his head slightly, and his voice was a little unclear: "Can I borrow a fire?"

It may be because Jing Ci's temperament is very different from usual at this time, it took Tao Mingzhuo a long time to react, and he said: "...OK."

Tao Mingzhuo thought that Jing Ci meant to ask him to take out the lighter.However, in the next second, Jing Ci suddenly bit her cigarette and leaned forward, directly approaching the already lit cigarette in Tao Mingzhuo's mouth.

His movements were very smooth and natural, and in an instant, the distance between the two was drawn so close that it seemed that the tips of their noses were about to touch each other.

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

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

The fire was dimly lit, and the smoke was burning.

Jing Ci stood up slowly, held the cigarette between her fingers again, smiled faintly at Tao Mingzhuo, and then exhaled softly and lazily.

"Thank you." He said to Tao Mingzhuo.