Chapter 002: The Brothers

The proprietress nodded and said, "You six are sufficient!"

Tang Shengsong said: "Just happened to run into this kid at the door. I heard that we were having a gathering, and this kid said to take him along. The boss said whether it's a group of sheep or just one sheep, it's the same to herd them, so we took him along. He volunteered to go stand in line."

Upon hearing the budget of fifty, Lu Xiancheng immediately said, "Fifty? Why bother queuing here? Let's go out of the school gate and have a meal."

Lu Xiancheng is quite the heavy smoker, but he hasn't learned to smoke since just entering school. Normally, he would start smoking around the second semester of his sophomore year when he has a girlfriend. However, the current Lu Xiancheng has already transformed into a different person, and smoking has naturally become an old habit. The fact that he has managed to refrain from smoking until now is likely due to being stunned by the event of his rebirth, momentarily forgetting his craving for cigarettes

Lu Xiancheng stood in front of the counter of the small shop downstairs, only then realizing that the present is not the future. His monthly living expenses amount to 500 yuan, and if he were to buy 31 packs of cigarettes, based on the concept of one pack a day, he would waste the two hundred yuan in his pocket in less than half a month.

Lu Xiancheng simply rubbed some soap, rinsed it off, and considered it done. He also gave his changed underwear a quick rub with his hands, deeming it washed. After wringing out the water, he placed it in the basin, put on clean underwear, and walked back to the dormitory holding the basin.

Following the location in his memory, Lu Xiancheng was pleased to see the four characters "Sihui Restaurant" in red on a white background. The entrance still looked quite new, suggesting that it had not been open for long

Zhao Lihui blinked and said, "Aren't you the one who doesn't smoke?" Although he said this, he immediately reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a pack of Huanghongmei that cost 4 yuan.

Xu Zhenghe took the menu, glanced at it, and asked Zhao Lihui, who was standing by the air conditioning vent: "Boss, what do you want to eat?"

Once the dishes were sufficient, everyone handed the menu to the proprietress. Naturally, the next steps were to place the order and serve tea. Perhaps due to the recent opening, the proprietress also served us a small plate of sunflower seeds.

m.hetushu.com. Being financially constrained, Lu Xiancheng could only glance from the thirty-one yuan range to the twenty yuan range. After contemplating for a moment, he had no choice but to turn his attention to the cigarettes priced at a little over ten yuan. After glancing back and forth three times, he ultimately returned his gaze to the twenty yuan range.

Embracing the air conditioner is akin to holding a little lover, and Boss Zhao, with half-closed eyes, is in bliss, having no time to ponder what to eat: "You may order whatever you like!"

Upon arriving at the lobby on the first floor, Lu Xiancheng had not yet arrived when he was met with a nauseating stench. Without even looking, just by the smell, Lu Xiancheng knew that it was the unmistakable odor of military training fatigue, on par with the contents of the two large bags he carried. The military training lasted for over twenty days without a single Sunday off, and in the nearly thirty-degree weather, being wrapped in camouflage clothing made the intensity of this smell all too clear.

Lu Xiancheng thought to himself: Aren't you being verbose? Hongmei is 4 yuan, this pack is 20 yuan, the prices are clearly displayed here

Xu Zhenghe laughed heartily twice towards the sky and then vanished without a trace

"Six" Lu Xiancheng looked at the approaching landlady and said

The boss handed out cigarettes! Lu Xiancheng looked at the four brothers who walked out as if they were oblivious, and said.

After speaking, this person looked up and down at Lu Xiancheng

Just as Lu Xiancheng was about to go out, he was pulled back by Tang Shengsong. Then, this fellow presented two large plastic bags in front of him, which contained the military training uniforms of five people that were too dirty to look at.

"Is six people enough?" Tang Shengsong asked

Lu Xiancheng quickly replied, "Alright, I understand! I didn't want to hear your explanation." He took the two large bags and rolled up his sleeves to catch up with the front of the line

What do you want to do

With just a glance at this person, Lu Xiancheng could roughly guess what was on their mind, certainly thinking that they were trying to show off. Of course, in 1996, the term 'showing off' did not exist, nor was there any concept of 'losers', but the idea of pretending to be wealthy was already present. In the mind of this young waiter, they must have felt that they had become someone pretending to be rich.

As soon as he heard, Zhou Guangyong ran out with his lunchbox, asking excitedly: "Where are we eating?"

Lu Xiancheng was immediately marked by a circle of black lines on his forehead, unable to think of any countermeasures, he could only raise his middle finger at this fellow. Considering that this was insufficient to express his disdain, Lu Xiancheng added another finger for emphasis

Xu Zhenghe walked into the shower room and saw Lu Xiancheng leaning against the wall with both hands, as if posing for a photo. He immediately felt a bit displeased: "You can't be a bit quicker, it has been almost ten minutes for just one shower, everyone is waiting for you to eat!"

Seeing Lu Xiancheng's nimble movements, the brothers also followed suit and stepped out of the door one after another

Arrived

Then this fellow directly stood in front of the air conditioning vent, completely blocking it. Fortunately, there weren't many people in the restaurant at the moment; the regulars had generally finished their meals by this time, and a group of novice freshmen were probably queuing at the stir-fry section.

"Follow me!" Lu Xiancheng waved his hand and led everyone towards the "Snack Street" at the back gate of the school

He stretched his neck to take a look into the stir-fry section and exclaimed, "Wow! Why are there so many people!"

Lu Xiancheng was still about ten meters away from the entrance of the stir-fry department, and he saw the boss squatting on the steps with a few brothers, resembling old farmers squeezing onto a train to return home for the New Year

Let's go! Lu Xiancheng quickly hung his underwear out of the window in three steps, then swiftly put on a sleeveless vest and baggy shorts, and stuffed his wallet into his pocket, ready to head out

Forget it, I will go buy a pack! Lu Xiancheng thought to himself, there probably isn't a second cigarette left in the boss's pack either

Zhao Lihui took the cigarette and glanced at it: "Goodness! You little rascal have started smoking in Jinshicheng, are you robbing a bank?" Saying this, he directly leaned over to the flame lit by Lu Xiangcheng and lit his cigarette.

To be honest, when the boss took out four packs of Hongmei, Lu Xiancheng lost interest. Although four packs of Hongmei were considered a high-end cigarette brand during university, by the end of the semester, when it came to bidding farewell at the library, even a single pack of Feima was sought after by many.

Lu Xiancheng has not even finished half of the soap when he saw this fellow returning

Xu Zhenghe listened and then turned to leave

It is now only 1996, and Shicheng Zhishang University is still situated in what is referred to as the eastern suburbs. The city has not yet developed into the form it will take twenty years later. Behind the school lies a mixed area of a small village and factories, and buildings taller than three stories are considered high-rises here. With such a large university nearby, these people are either unaware of how to open restaurants or are certainly knowledgeable about renting out rooms, leading to the natural emergence of small eateries in clusters

Watching the boss take out the item for quite a while, he finally managed to extract one from the crumpled box, and it had already bent into an L shape.

After taking a long breath, it took two or three seconds to exhale the smoke: "Hongmei simply cannot be compared to this smoke"

"Let's change the place, it's my turn here and I'm starving to death," said Lu Xiancheng

Lu Xiancheng looked at the menu for a while without ordering a single dish, then leaned forward and peered for two or three seconds: "Stir-fried intestines with fish, boiled meat slices, plus a farmhouse stew, is that about right with these three?"

After taking a beautiful puff, he blew out a smoke ring: "Let's go, we should find a spot first!" With that, he moved his long legs towards the stir-fry section.

Seeing Lu Xiangcheng pull out a crumpled twenty-yuan note and a one-yuan bill from his pants pocket, the server's gaze became even more contemptuous. After taking the money, he directly slammed the fifty-cent steel coin onto the counter glass and turned to leave.

Hahaha

Exiting through the back door, Lu Xiancheng instinctively led his companions towards the small restaurant that lingered in his memory. This small eatery had always been the designated dining spot for him and his friends during their university days. However, Lu Xiancheng was uncertain whether this restaurant, named Sixi, had opened its doors yet

"Even taking a shower is not allowed in peace" Lu Xiancheng quickly took the soap from the basin and lathered it on his body: "Just give me three more minutes, and I will rinse off!"

Zhou Guang and Tu Shu Yong are easy to spot; standing at a height of 1.88 meters, he has a certain air of distinction amidst the crowd. Lu Xiancheng immediately noticed him. However, what surprised Lu Xiancheng was not this individual, but rather the entire queue from the small stir-fry department stretching directly from the window to the door, all filled with first-year students. One only needs to look at the room full of heads that are over one centimeter tall to understand this.

What else do you have to do

In the small shop of the school's logistics department, the attendant is also a student, and can be considered a senior to Lu Xiancheng. However, this senior's service attitude leaves much to be desired. She glanced at Lu Xiancheng, then turned to the wall-mounted shelf, pulled out a pack from an opened carton of cigarettes, and with a snap, slapped it onto the counter. With her other hand, she casually grabbed a lighter from the counter and tossed it onto the cigarette pack

While flying, he was also shouting: "Air conditioning, air conditioning!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Lihui immediately smiled and put the cigarette to his lips, striking a match with a snap and praising Lu Xiancheng's back: "Old Five, I like you for one thing, you have good sense! You see, knowing that your brother has run out of cigarettes, you immediately refrain from mentioning the matter of taking advantage of the situation!"

Alas! Lu Xiancheng sighed deeply within himself and remarked: It is easy to transition from frugality to luxury, but difficult to revert from luxury to frugality

Boss, what is the budget?

A total of 20.50

Tang Shengsong said confidently: "Here, you brat, after wasting so much of everyone's time, you still complain about doing some work! When you were taking a shower, a classmate came to convey Director Guan's message, saying that anyone who does not want their military training uniform should take it downstairs, as the school will donate them to impoverished areas..."

Lu Xiancheng held his breath, threw the bag in his hand into the hall, and then quickly ran out of the dormitory building's main entrance

"Damn!" Lu Xiancheng couldn't help but exclaim, "You've got some nerve!"

Is fifty enough?

"How does Zhou Guangyong queue up?" Lu Xiancheng asked curiously

Xu Zhenghe looked at Lu Xiangcheng and smiled slightly: "Under the vast heavens, do not engage in any shameful activities!"

The boss and the boss's wife, Lu Xiancheng, pushed open the door and walked in. Before they had the chance to say much, they saw a figure resembling a small mountain 'flying' past.

... ...

Lu Xiancheng had no mood to argue with this little girl. He directly opened the cigarette box, took out a cigarette, lit it, took a deep puff, and then walked towards the store door while holding the cigarette box and lighter.

What are you doing, you slowpoke!

Tang Shengsong immediately exclaimed upon sitting down: "Madam Boss, what are your specialties here?"

Lu Xiancheng was not interested in entangling with this person. As for the service attitude, the entire school exhibited this kind of demeanor; as long as it was from the logistics department, it was all the same deadpan expression. If you liked it, fine; if not, no one would care even if you complained.

Lu Xiancheng has no interest in forming such a bird team; even if he were to participate, it would take at least an hour before it was his turn

"What are you pretending for, holding a box of good cigarettes in your hand, wanting everyone to see it?" the waitress muttered as she watched Lu Xiancheng's back.

Thinking this in my heart, yet my hand pointed to a pack of premium cigarettes in the counter: "Give me a pack of Golden Stone City, and also a disposable lighter."

Xu Zhenghe saw Lu Xiangcheng raise his eyebrows at him and understood the implication, explaining: "Zhou Guangyong is currently in line inside, you should go take a look, my goodness, it's packed with people!"

What happened?" Lu Xiancheng walked up to the group, asking as he took a cigarette from the pack in his hand and handed it to the leader

You may take a look at the menu " The proprietress smiled as she handed two copies of the menu to the nearest two individuals

However, Lu Xiancheng has been reborn after all. Previously, he always celebrated with thirty-one packs, and when going out for noodles, it was either Zhonghua or Huanghelou. Now that he is back, he is expected to settle for four pieces of Hongmei? How could Lu Xiancheng possibly accept that!

Lu Xiancheng patted his chest and said, "That doesn't count as mine!" After saying this, he called out to Zhou Guangyong, who was waiting in line inside, "Guangyong, come out, we won't wait in line anymore!"

Xiao Min, come over quickly to help, what are you mumbling about.

As soon as the boss caught sight of Lu Xiancheng entering, he immediately complained