Chapter 39: Cigarette Cards
After a long while, the sun gradually dipped toward the west, dyeing the entire earth in a shade of orange-red.
Arthur rode a sleek, jet-black horse, with the unconscious priest slumped across its back.
Arthur thought to himself, Johnny must be waiting at the station, growing restless by now.
After all, he had gone to a lot of trouble to find this priest!
Along the way, he had asked around, questioning passersby, and only managed to find the priest's location with great difficulty.
However, things hadn't gone smoothly; as soon as he spotted the priest, he found the man in the middle of a fierce brawl.
Thus, Arthur had to intervene, first dealing with those pestering the priest. Then, he had to find a way to silence the onlookers who witnessed the fight to avoid any unnecessary complications.
Finally, he even had to rescue the trapped priest from the uneven tracks.
After all that trouble, a significant amount of time must have passed.
Sure enough, when Arthur spotted the front of the station from a distance, he saw Johnny's horse still standing quietly in place.
In an instant, a thought crossed his mind: "It seems this guy is just as unlucky as the priest; he's probably been pinned down by those two'sons of bitches'!"
At this thought, Arthur couldn't help but feel a surge of anger; he dug his heels into the horse's flanks, speeding toward the station.
As he neared the station, Arthur dismounted aggressively and delivered a flying kick to the dilapidated wooden door.
With a loud "bang," the wooden door swung open. However, the scene inside caught Arthur completely off guard.
Johnny was sitting leisurely at a table, a cigarette dangling from his lips with thin wisps of smoke curling up, while one hand rhythmically tapped a mountain of chips piled beside him.
The two men sitting opposite him wore bitter smiles, nodding submissively to whatever Johnny said.
It turned out that this seemingly devilish youth had actually maintained a winning streak while playing cards.
What was even more excessive was that not only were his bets pitifully small—just a cent or two—but he also refused to let the two men leave.
Clearly, this behavior of finding joy in tormenting others was truly absurd.
At a glance from Arthur, the two men left as if granted a divine reprieve, rushing out so frantically that they even forgot to take the remaining few cents from the table.
Adhering to the principle of not letting anything go to waste, Johnny picked up the coins one by one and put them into his satchel. He said with a look of reluctance:
"Arthur! You've ruined my fun. They'd already lost a dollar to me, and I was just about to win all their chips!"
Arthur was also at a loss whether to laugh or cry; after all that time, he'd only won a dollar, yet one would have thought he'd bankrupted them and wouldn't let them leave!
Johnny slowly stood up, stretched, and picked up the slightly worn cigarette pack lying on the table.
He gave the pack a gentle shake, and upon hearing a faint rattle inside, his lips curled into a barely perceptible smile.
He then skillfully opened the lid, pulled out the last cigarette, and elegantly offered it to Arthur, who was standing nearby.
Arthur took the cigarette with a smile and thanked Johnny. Meanwhile, Johnny walked unhurriedly, carefully taking out the Cigarette Card from inside the pack.
His movements were gentle, as if he were holding some rare treasure.
Then, he softly placed the Cigarette Cards into a compartment of his satchel, afraid he might accidentally damage them.
Just then, a passenger who had been silently waiting outside the station for the train's arrival happened to catch sight of Johnny's actions.
The passenger had been sitting there in boredom, but when he saw Johnny putting the Cigarette Card into his satchel, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he instantly perked up.
He quickly stood up from his seat and hurried toward Arthur and Johnny, maintaining a polite demeanor.
Approaching them, the passenger looked full of excitement and anticipation, speaking with a slightly agitated tone:
"Hello there, gentlemen! My name is Phineas T. Ramsbottom. I happened to see you putting a Cigarette Card into your bag just now, and I simply had to come over and disturb you.
I wonder if you would be so kind as to let me take a look at the Cigarette Cards you just put away?" After saying this, he stared intently at Johnny with eyes full of longing.
Faced with such a warm and sincere request from a stranger, Johnny was momentarily taken aback, but then he smiled and agreed.
After all, the man was very polite, and Johnny naturally wouldn't refuse such a trivial request.
So, he opened the satchel compartment again, took out the Cigarette Cards, and showed them to Phineas.
Phineas examined the cards closely, his eyes gleaming with pleasant surprise. After a moment, he looked up at Johnny and said excitedly:
"What a coincidence! Actually, I've had a hobby of collecting Cigarette Cards for many years now.
But I'm ashamed to say, I don't particularly enjoy smoking myself, so I can only acquire new cards by buying cigarettes or trading with others.
Meeting you here today is truly a stroke of fate!" As he spoke, Phineas's face beamed with uncontrollable joy.
Then, as if remembering something, Phineas suddenly changed the subject and continued, "I wonder if you two would be willing to help me fulfill a small wish?
If it's convenient for you, you could help me collect a whole set of Cigarette Cards. Once you've gathered them all, just send them to me through the Post Office!
Of course, in return, I've prepared a generous reward for you."
Saying this, he quickly pulled two business cards and two packs of premium cigarettes—from which the cards had already been removed—from his pocket, handed them to Arthur and Johnny respectively, and mentioned they were small gifts for their meeting.
After doing all this, Phineas seemed like he wanted to say more. But just then, a loud whistle sounded in the distance—the train was arriving.
Phineas had to hurriedly bid farewell to Arthur and Johnny, then turned and ran toward the train as its doors were about to open.
Watching his receding back, Arthur and Johnny couldn't help but exchange a smile... Arthur marveled at how the world was full of wonders, that someone would actually like these little cards that were only for looking at.
Johnny, however, thought differently; this action gave him boundless inspiration. He could do the same when he started his own business later, giving his high-end products a sense of value for money.
--------
Guys if you want to support me and read some chapters in advance please do check out Pitreon.com/AnonymousWriter6