Monday.
While having breakfast at a breakfast stall near his office, Dong Xuebin ran into Li Qing, the Full Director of the General Office. Li Qing was using disposable chopsticks to pick up a soup dumpling and bring it to his mouth. Naturally, Dong Xuebin did not dare sit at the same table as a leader. He greeted him from afar, then nervously sat at the next table over. Though they had only met a few times, Li Qing remembered his name because of the article Dong Xuebin had written for Deputy Director Yang. Just as Li Qing finished eating, he wiped his mouth with a napkin. "Little Dong, right? Mm, Lao Zhou said you've been performing well lately. Keep it up." Then he took out a pack of soft-pack Hongtashan cigarettes and tossed one to Dong Xuebin.
Overwhelmed by the favor, Dong Xuebin said, "Director Li, well... I don't smoke."
Li Qing chuckled. "What kind of man doesn't know how to smoke? Learn."
"Uh, thank you, Director Li."
Since the leader had put it that way, refusing again would have been ungrateful. Besides, Dong Xuebin was rather pleased that Li Qing had offered him a cigarette. It showed that the leader intended to draw closer to him. So, bracing himself, he accepted Li Qing's lighter. After fumbling with it a few times, he finally got a flame going, lit the cigarette, and cautiously took a puff. Perhaps because he inhaled very little, he did not feel like coughing. His head only went slightly fuzzy, leaving him a little dizzy.
Li Qing smiled, patted him on the shoulder, and went off to work.
After breakfast, Dong Xuebin did not hurry back to the office. Instead, he went to a roadside convenience store and bought a ten-yuan pack of Hongtashan cigarettes.