"Honey, why are you making such a big deal out of it? Didn’t I just buy Dad two cartons of Liqun yesterday?"

Sure enough, after hearing Chen Xi mention the name "Liqun," Bai Menghan’s cousin, Bai Mengyao, chimed in with a puzzled tone.

After speaking, she even reached out, grabbed her dad’s pack of Liqun from the coffee table, and waved it at everyone, as if to say, ’See? I always buy my dad such expensive cigarettes to smoke!’

But the next moment, she seemed to remember the massive pile of liquor worth hundreds of thousands. She sheepishly put the cigarettes back on the coffee table.

Seeing this, everyone turned their gazes back to Chen Xi.

They didn’t understand why Chen Xi was making such a big deal over a few cases of Liqun.

Chen Xi first shot his wife an exasperated look before gently pulling a carton out of the case. He clicked his tongue and marveled aloud:

"Liqun Fuchunshanju, and the soft-pack version at that. Brother-in-law, this is a truly grand gesture. Forget buying this many at once, even getting a single carton is hard enough!"

Just as Chen Xi finished his remark, Bai Mengyao suddenly let out a cry of surprise.

"Whoa, these cigarettes are 500 yuan a carton! That’s almost as much as Chunghwa!"

At Bai Mengyao’s cry, everyone was stunned. 500 yuan a carton? Didn’t that mean 50 yuan a pack? The Liqun they smoked were only 13 yuan a pack! How could these be so expensive?

’And for fifty yuan a pack, you might as well buy Chunghwa. That’d be way more impressive!’

However, among those present, besides Fang Chenyi, who just kept smiling without a word, only Chen Xi, who ran a small company, knew the true value of these cigarettes.

Bai Menghan’s parents, in particular, had pained looks on their faces.

"You silly child... Aigh, what can I even say? Cigarettes this expensive aren’t for a family like ours. Since it’s the thought that counts, you should return these as well. Just buy me a couple cartons of 8-yuan Hongtashan next time. That’s what I usually smoke."

Hearing this, Fang Chenyi just laughed and said, "Uncle, what are you talking about? These cigarettes were made to be smoked. If other people can smoke them, why can’t we? Haha, just smoke these from now on, Uncle. When you run out, give me a call, and I’ll bring you some more."

"You silly child, your uncle is right. For ordinary folk like us, 13-yuan Liqun is good enough. There’s no need to smoke something so expensive."

Second Uncle, sitting on the sofa, suddenly spoke up. He brandished the 13-yuan pack of Liqun in his hand, gesturing toward Fang Chenyi.

After Second Uncle finished, Bai Mengyao nodded knowingly and advised in the tone of a senior giving guidance:

"That’s right, brother-in-law. Look at your brother-in-law, he makes over a million a year, but doesn’t he just smoke 20-yuan Yuxi? You can’t compare yourself to the truly rich. The cigarettes they smoke cost one or two hundred yuan a pack. Can we compare? I’d say it’s better to save what little money you have. Buying a luxury car later on would be much more impressive."

When Chen Xi heard his wife speak up, her words in particular made his face burn with embarrassment. He shot Bai Mengyao an exasperated glare and asked, speechless, "Alright, alright, just stop chiming in blindly. And who told you these cigarettes are five hundred yuan a carton??"

Bai Mengyao was confused when her husband glared at her. She waved her phone and said, puzzled, "Um, I looked it up online..."

Seeing his wife’s clueless expression, Chen Xi snatched her phone. A glance at the screen left him speechless. He shoved the phone back at her and said irritably:

"Take a good look yourself and see how much it is!"

Bai Mengyao stared at the phone screen in confusion, then said, completely bewildered:

"500 yuan. That’s right, isn’t it? What’s wrong, Honey?"

Chen Xi was utterly exasperated. ’My wife is usually so sharp. How is she so dense right now?’

Meanwhile, everyone else was watching the couple, their eyes full of confusion. Bai Mengyao’s dad frowned and spoke up:

"Chen Xi, what’s going on? Did Mengyao read it wrong? Are the cigarettes not worth 500 yuan?"

Hearing his father-in-law, Chen Xi could only turn to him with a wry smile. "Dad, Mengyao did indeed read it wrong," he said. "But it’s not that the cigarettes aren’t worth 500 yuan. It’s that she mistook ’pack’ for ’carton’..."

"Mistook ’pack’ for ’carton’? What does that mean? Er... are you saying these cigarettes are 500 yuan a *pack*?? N-No way. Doesn’t that mean a carton is 5,000 yuan?"

The more Second Uncle spoke, the more shocked he sounded, until he couldn’t quite believe his own words.

But Chen Xi just nodded with a bitter smile.

"You’re right, Dad. This is the soft-pack Liqun Fuchunshanju. The market price is indeed 500 yuan a pack."

His words caused an uproar. Bai Mengyao snatched her phone back and took a closer look. Holy crap, it was true! The cigarettes were actually five hundred yuan a pack!

’What was I just saying? I think I was just lecturing him that rich people smoke cigarettes that are one or two hundred a pack. These are several times more expensive than what the ’rich people’ in my example smoke!’

"Holy cow! It really is five hundred yuan a pack! These cigarettes are actually five hundred yuan a pack! Oh my god, only an idiot would spend five hundred yuan on a single pack of cigarettes!"

The moment the words left her mouth, Bai Mengyao realized what she’d said. Her brother-in-law had just brought over three cases. By saying that, wasn’t she basically calling Fang Chenyi an idiot?

Sure enough, as soon as she said it, an awkward expression flashed across Fang Chenyi’s face.

This time, before Chen Xi could speak, Second Uncle couldn’t stop himself from scolding his daughter.

"You’re talking nonsense! So loud and rash all day, you don’t act like an older sister at all. Look at Menghan, she’s so quiet and gentle. If only you could be half as composed as her!"

At this point, Bai Menghan had no desire to speak. Fang Chenyi’s actions had already left her completely speechless.

Just then, Chen Xi cleared his throat, interrupting everyone’s chatter. He spoke with a wry smile on his face.

"Ahem, well, I wasn’t finished. Although the market price for these cigarettes is 500 a pack, the actual selling price isn’t five hundred. Because they’re so incredibly rare, most places don’t carry them. So, to actually get your hands on them, you’d have to pay at least 550 to 600 yuan per pack."

At his words, everyone was once again left dumbfounded!

At the same time, another large case appeared in the doorway before everyone’s eyes...

[To be continued...]