Investment Life

CHAPTER 20

As soon as these words were spoken, the whole room fell quiet. Even Scarface who had been plastered all over the woman in the student attire raised his eyes to look at the teenager on the sofa.

Ma Lei's gaze from the opposite side was real and sharp. Chen Yuanming lowered his head slightly, took a deep breath, reached out and picked up the pack of cigarettes that was on the coffee table.

Light yellow box, gilded bronze font, ten pieces of standard 555.

Chen Yuanming had also smoked once. He remembered that Sun Ju of the Finance Bureau loved American cigarettes the most. He had also smoked 555 and Hilton's for a while, and though he didn't like them their price and status was apparent.

Over the next 20 years, there will be an endless stream of smuggled cigarettes produced in Europe and the United States. Marlboro, Camel, Dunhill Road, Rothmans ... across the southeast coast, the numerous smuggling ships that were carrying thousands of boxes of private cigarettes to be dumped on the Mainland were doing very profitable business.

Compared with color TVs, with its high costs, large volume and low profits, this was the real money-making business.

It's not that Chen Yuanming had never thought of this. Starting from the third shipment, he and Scarface will stay for a night at the small courtyard in Luzhou. What kind of goods did they unload there? Why was it that the waterproofing on the truck he was driving was getting better and better, but the load was getting lighter and lighter? Even from the point of view of distance, China has so much land and so many cities, why did they choose the Changsha-Wuhan line ...?

Some things he had noticed but had never been interested in thinking it over carefully.

Recently however, because he was in full control of negotiations with Wang Haitao, because of the permissiveness in Scarface's words, because his mind was filled with those strange dreams and because his goals were within reach, he had relaxed his vigilance and ignored the real, stereotypical, behind-the scenes boss of this smuggling syndicate which will likely become the "No.1" in the future.

He had always wanted to be keep a low profile, to be humble and to use this place as springboard to future success. But as they say, once you get into the sack you cannot escape without breaking it.

Chen Yuanming raised his head as his fingertips lightly grazed the cigarette box. The gaze of the man sitting opposite him was still sharp and, at this time, even held a bit of coldness. Exhaling deeply, he smiled.

The cigarette box was put back on the coffee table, and Chen Yuanming shook his head. "Brother, you view me too highly."

Ma Lei's eyes narrowed. He picked up the cigarette case on the table and pulled one out. The beauty beside him immediately took out a lighter and leaned in front of him to light it. A deep exhale and a puff. A white smoke ring faintly appeared between the two and disappeared.

"Do you know what the strangest thing is about you?" He gently knocked against the cigarette and the ashes fell into the crystal ashtray.

Ma Lei's voice was not loud, and with his image obscured by the smoke he seemed a little unpredictable. "It's not that you are too clever, or that you're too good at making money, but sometimes, with just a glance you are able to understand the key point. What a fucking skill this is, but you never show it off. You act as though it's just right and proper."

After saying that he pointed at the cigarette case on the table, and this luxurious and extravagant room, "Did you see the name of this place?"

Chen Yuanming did not answer.

Ma Lei smiled, "You've seen it."

Even if Chen Yuanming did not have a brain, then he had really lived two lives in vain if he could not guess what was happening at this time. Cigarette smuggling, official car pick-up and drop off, a small building full of delicate beauties ... Maybe some people may not be familiar with these things, but most would have heard of the Xiamen case before, right? This was exactly the same, but in his previous life, Ma Lei had been imprisoned in 1994, and that person only started his own smuggling business in 1994.