"Ah, I forgot you don't smoke anymore. Sorry, sorry."
Zhou Zhenyu was just about to pull back the hand holding out the cigarette when Uesugi Tetsu took the Liqun from him.
"Liqun, Liqun. When one person smokes, it's called benefiting oneself. When everyone smokes together, it's called benefiting the group."
Uesugi Tetsu smiled at him as he glanced at the old, crumpled pack and the single cigarette remaining inside.
"Right?"
Zhou Zhenyu gave him a thumbs-up, baring a mouthful of white teeth. "A fellow countryman. Spot on."
"But you can't smoke in the hospital, and lighting up by the roadside isn't exactly ideal either." Zhou Zhenyu shrugged and pointed at the smoking room not far away. "They've really got the little details down here. Everything's so systematic."
The two of them entered the smoking room. Zhou Zhenyu lit Uesugi Tetsu's cigarette first, then lit his own.
In his eyes, it didn't matter whether Uesugi Tetsu actually smoked it. He had kept this Liqun until now precisely so he could share it with a friend.
And the person standing before him was a fellow countryman.
In a foreign land, the words "fellow countryman" felt far more intimate than a few ordinary friends—especially when that fellow countryman had saved his life.
Zhou Zhenyu took a deep drag and exhaled. As the smoke drifted upward, his gaze grew complicated as well.
After thinking for quite a while, he finally found an opening to bring up a topic.
"Actually, my flight home is booked for the early hours of the day after tomorrow. It's with Spring Airlines. If nothing goes wrong, I should already be looking for some cheap room near the airport to stay in for the night."
Uesugi Tetsu said, "You have to admit, the budget-airline experience is pretty affordable."
Uesugi Tetsu