Chapter Eleven: Sanmin Cigarettes

  More and more people came, the beautiful lady wouldn't sit alone for too long, colleagues inviting her to dance were endless, she didn't refuse either, knowing more people is always beneficial.

  It was already around 8 or 9 o'clock, and Dong Zhiyu thought that after finishing this dance, she should head back. Today's task had been completed, and the mission from Xuan Tong Temple had been received. As for who "Quē" was, she didn't have any feeling at all - either this person wasn't present tonight, or they were extremely skilled at hiding themselves.

  Just then, a woman wearing a military coat strode in through the entrance, her hair disheveled and a strand loose behind her ear. She looked like she had rushed over from somewhere, and stood out starkly among the crowd. Many people in the ballroom turned to stare at her, but she ignored them, her eyes cast down as she walked heavily towards the bar, lost in thought.

  Dong Zhiyu recognized her, she was the lieutenant general who came and went freely in Ningyuan Building last time. As soon as she arrived at the bar, the young man handed her a glass of wine, apparently having already figured out her preferences. Dong Zhiyu peeked from behind, seeing her take the cup, tilt her head and pour it all down her throat.

  "Who is she?" Dong Zhiyu asked Sun Kezhang, the head of the General Affairs Department, who was dancing with him at this moment.

  "She's a big shot, holding multiple positions, and has been promoted two ranks in just half a year to become a lieutenant general! Her surname is quite unusual, 'Huái', with a single given name of 'Jǐn'. Everyone calls her Huái the Strategist, but she holds posts at the Military Advisory Council, Training Department, General Staff Headquarters, and Military Commission."

  " Huai Jin?" Dong Zhiyu murmured in a low voice, "So to speak, this person must have extraordinary abilities."

  "Coming from the Japanese Army Officer School, Mitsuyo Sakai highly appreciates her. It's said that Boss Wang always speaks to Mitsuyo with a flattering tone, afraid of offending her. But this female staff officer doesn't even lower her head slightly, it's really strange! This Japanese person is actually buying into her account!"

  Dong Zhiyu didn't continue the conversation, and indeed felt strange in her heart. After all, a woman like her could climb to today's position, it shouldn't be just because of graduating from Hui Guo Military Academy. Thinking this way, she couldn't help but feel curious, yet also didn't think about leaving anymore.

  After finishing the dance, she didn't notice her thirst and retreated to a table in the corner to drink soda water. Zhou Biqing also looked tired and saw Dong Zhiyu sitting alone there, so she came over like the wind.

  "Ah, I'm exhausted!" she said, fanning herself with a handkerchief while a whiff of wine wafted into Dong Zhiyu's nose. Suddenly remembering something, "Right, ask you something," she said in a hushed tone, which was unusual for her. "Do you wear that?" she asked, pointing to her own chest.

  "What's that?" Dong Zhiyu was perplexed.

  "Ah, it's that one!" Zhou Biqing pointed to her own chest again, and when she saw the other person didn't react, she lowered her voice by half, "Bra!"

  Dong Zhiyu rolled her eyes, this was already an outdated topic for her, back in the days at St. Mary's Girls' School it was a hotly debated issue, whoever didn't wear a bra would be ridiculed behind their backs, she didn't expect Zhou Biqing to still be so enthusiastic about this topic despite being so old.

  "What's wrong?"

  "Ah, I knew it, you Shanghai girls must be wearing them. Just now when we were dancing, I saw Qian Ruzhen from the mailroom and she wasn't wearing one...". Zhou Biquan's second half of the sentence turned into whispering in Dong Zhiyu's ear, who knows what nonsense she was saying, Dong Zhiyu's face turned red and she lightly scolded "You're going to get us killed, keep your voice down!"

  Zhou Biqing saw her like this, and she burst out laughing with joy, her drunken state fully exposed. As she gulped down a mouthful of soda water, she asked, "Hey, do you have any cigarettes?"

  Dong Zhiyu lowered her head and rummaged through her handbag, which she hadn't used in a long time. She managed to dig out a pack of cigarettes that had been placed inside at some unknown time.

  She stretched out her hand to give it to Zhou Biqing, but was intercepted by a slender arm from behind. A white and delicate hand covered the cigarette she had handed over, while also lightly pinching her own hand, which was imperceptible to outsiders, yet enough to serve as a warning to herself.

  "Miss Zhou, would you like to try my cigarette?" The voice came from above and behind Dong Zhiyu, it was clear but not thin, soft but not greasy, stable and smooth, like the texture of silk. As he spoke, his other hand had already handed over a pack of "Camels".

  Zhou Biquan suddenly stood up with a "whoosh", and also sobered up, "Hua... Hua Ziyu..."

  "He smiled and said: 'Take it.'"

  Zhou Biqing carefully picked out one, "Enough... enough, thank you, Hua Canmou..."

  Huai Jin turned the package of "Camel" cigarettes to Dong Zhiyu, who also took one out and lit it with a lighter provided by Huai Jin.

  "Thanks for the advice!" Zhou Biqing easily lit a cigarette, and was already dazed. Usually eloquent, this time she only repeated those two words over and over again.

  Dong Zhiyu took advantage of this gap to put his pack of cigarettes back into his bag and carefully hid it at the bottom.

  "Miss Zhou is being polite," Hua Jin smiled slightly again, glancing at Dong Zhiyu. "You two chat, I won't disturb you." After speaking, she withdrew and left, leaving behind a stunned Zhou Biqing still standing in the same spot, her neck following as she turned around half a circle, then back again, with an expression of being honored and surprised that had yet to dissipate: "Dong Zhiyu, I swear to you, I've been working here for almost half a year now, and she's never even looked at me straight in the eye before!"

  Dong Zhiyu smiled wryly, she had already thought it over several times and figured out what was going on. It turned out that the pack of cigarettes she had just handed over was a "Sanmin" brand, which was an internal cigarette of the Xuanwu Party in Chongqing, only available to party, government, and military personnel above a certain level. When Hua Jin suddenly appeared at the cigarette handover and intercepted it, pinching her hand as a hint, she knew the problem lay with the cigarettes. After thinking about it carefully again, she understood what was going on.

  She couldn't forgive herself for making such a low-level mistake. The handbag hadn't been used in a long time, and the pack of cigarettes must have been put there when she went out with Yu Pei. Today, Zhou Biqing wanted cigarettes, so she took them out without thinking twice. On the other hand, the fact that the other party intercepted her at least proved two points: first, the other party knew her identity; second, the other party had the same identity as hers.

  A small packet of cigarettes almost exposed himself, thinking about it is really frightening, but who is this woman called Huai Jin? Dong Zhiyu thought, she should be "Quē" (阙).

  The author has something to say: This story has been going on for 12 chapters so far, including the preface. Here, I would like to thank Shabulaji, Suning, and Dada for their support all along. I hope my writing will get better and better, and you can continue to support me.

  Also looking at the click rate and collection count, there should be some girls reading the article. If you think it's written well, please give me a score. Your support is my motivation for writing.

  Kowtow!

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