Chapter 78 Chapter 78 I just learned a little bit of 'gesture'! ...

Ji Maili: "What are you doing?"

The sound of running water was loud, and a red bucket was collecting water from the faucet. Chen Lu said, "Washing the car, how about you?"

Ji Maili: "I'm packing my things. My mom wants to take me on a trip. Chen Lu, I can't celebrate your birthday with you."

Ji Maili's voice was a little depressed on the phone. Chen Lu thought he was just unhappy because they couldn't celebrate their birthday together. "It's okay. I'll make it up to you when you come back."

Ji Maili was silent for a moment, then smiled and said, "You're so nice."

Shen Lu turned off the faucet and listened carefully. The sound seemed wrong: "What are you doing? Are you crying?"

Ji Maili sniffed: "I didn't cry."

This movement must be crying. Shen Lu said: "How about I go find you now and give you the birthday present in advance."

Ji Maili quickly said, "No, don't come!"

Chen Lu frowned. Ji Maili had never told him not to go looking for him because it was too late. This was the first time. "Are you okay?"

Ji Maili smiled and said, "What could be the problem? I'm just afraid that if you come, I won't want to leave. Okay, I won't talk to you anymore. I need to pack my things."

After hanging up the phone, Shen Lu leaned against the pool and looked at his phone for a long time.

Tao Dacheng suddenly came in from outside: "You haven't moved your car for half a year, why did you think of washing it?"

Chen Lu collected his thoughts and said, "Maimai wants to go out and play. I originally wanted to take him out on his birthday, but he just called and said that his family was planning to take him on a trip, so he can't go."

Tao Dacheng: "If he can't go, I can go."

Shen Lu threw a rag to him: "Go to hell, help me clean the car."

Tao Dacheng caught the rag that was about to hit his face and said, "No, what's wrong with you? Are you in a bad mood?"

Shen Lu couldn't explain why, but he felt Ji Maili was acting strangely. He walked out with the bucket in his hand, "I can't spend my birthday with my partner, so would you be in a good mood if it were your turn?"

-

On Ji Maili's birthday, Chen Lu browsed his Moments for the entire day but didn't see any messages from Ji Maili. He did reply to all the messages, but never posted a single video.

The next morning, Shen Lu received a call from Ji Huan, and he felt inexplicably panicked.

He picked up the phone: "Sister Huan."

Ji Huan: "Is Mai Mai with you?"

He had finally found the source of the strange things that had been happening over the past few days. Shen Lu felt a pang of anxiety when he heard this: "Didn't Auntie take him on a trip?"

"Travel?" Ji Huan was speechless for a long time. He had thought that since everyone was in a bad mood, it would be fine for him to go out for two days, but how did it become a trip? Ji Huan was a little anxious: "The day before yesterday, he had a quarrel with his family and ran away. I thought he was at your place."

Chen Lu was puzzled. Although Ji Maili acted recklessly outside, he rarely showed off at home. "Why are you arguing?"

Ji Huan guessed that Ji Maili didn't go to find Chen Lu because he definitely didn't want him to know about this, but this kind of thing had to be said sooner or later: "My parents wanted him to go abroad, but he refused, and my dad slapped him. Has he not contacted you in the past few days? Do you really not know where he is?"

When Shen Lu heard Ji Maili being beaten, he frowned and said, "I don't know. I'll go find him now."

"Wait," Ji Huan stopped him, "Xiao Lu, can we meet first before we go find him? I have something to tell you."

....

At the hotel, Li Jun came to Ji Maili with the meat pie his mother had made. Ji Maili's cheeks were bulging from eating so much that he said, "Your mother's pie is really delicious."

Li Jun said proudly, "Yeah, I told you my bakery is doing great business. Come over someday and try it. It tastes better when it's hot."

Ji Maili had been staying in the hotel for three days. Before he came out, he was slapped by Ji Kai. Ji Kai had never hit him in his life. This was the first time and the worst time. Half of his face was swollen at that time.

When he ran out of the house, he only took his cell phone. He had money but no ID. He didn't dare let Shen Lu see him like this, so he asked Li Jun, who didn't have a particularly good relationship with Shen Lu and would definitely not tell tales to Shen Lu, to help him get a room.

Li Jun looked at his face, which was still swollen. "How long do you plan to stay here?"

Ji Maili chewed the cake without any taste: "Let's stay here until my face recovers. I don't want Chen Lu to know about this."

Li Jun had never encountered such a thing before, and he wanted to persuade the other party but didn't know where to start.

The cell phone suddenly rang, Li Jun picked up the call, and the next second he suddenly looked at Ji Maili.

Ji Maili still had the unswallowed biscuit in his mouth: "What?"

Li Jun said, "Dong Qiu said he saw Chen Lu and your sister together."

Dong Qiu had been to Ji Maili's house together last time and knew Chen Lu and had also met Ji Huan. He had called to gossip, curious about whether Ji Maili's sister and Chen Lu were dating, but before he could finish his words, Li Jun passed the message to someone else...

Ji Maili thought Ji Huan was going to cause trouble for Chen Lu, so he stood up and asked, "Where?"

......

Meeting in a coffee shop felt a bit too formal. Ji Huan originally wanted to go to Shen Lu's house, but felt it was a bit abrupt, and their house was not suitable at the moment, so he called Shen Lu out.

Chen Lu was wearing simple jeans and a T-shirt, with a hint of anxiety between his brows. However, after hearing Ji Huan say that Ji Maili had told his family about the two of them because he refused to go abroad, his face suddenly lost all emotion.

Compared to Shen Lu, Ji Huan's mood at the moment was not much more relaxed. She took a sip of coffee and tried to suppress her emotions: "Xiao Lu, can you...break up with Mai Mai?"

His hands unconsciously clenched under the table, and his gaze moved from the untouched cup of coffee on the table to the face of Ji Huan who was sitting opposite him. In just two seconds, he raised the tone that should have been lowered to a level that no one else was allowed to touch: "I'm sorry, Sister Huan, I can't."

After hearing his answer, Ji Huan didn't know whether she felt relieved or more worried. In fact, she had already thought of the answer, but she still wanted to ask, even though she already knew the answer.

Ji Huan smiled bitterly: "You two are really worrying me to death."

Shen Lu saw that Ji Huan didn't really want to force him to break up with Ji Maili, so he asked, "What's your attitude, uncle or aunt?"

Ji Huan said, "They haven't spoken to each other for the past two days. My dad must be against it. My mom... I suspect she has already found out about you two."

Shen Lu was a little surprised.

Ji Huan glanced at him and said, "What's with that expression? How well do you think you two are keeping it a secret? You're always together, being so affectionate. Ji Maili can't wait to cling to you 24/7. And you, you're clearly a piece of trash, but you always treat me like a treasure. Who can't see that?"

Chen Lu: “…” Is it that obvious?

Ji Huan sighed: "I know the attitude between you and Ji Maili, and I'm not here to break you up. Going abroad is not a bad thing. It's just for a few years. It's not like he won't come back. If possible, I hope you can help persuade him. He has to have a way out in the future, right?"

Ji Huan didn't say anything else. Before leaving, he asked Chen Lu to contact her after finding Ji Maili.

After Ji Huan left, Chen Lu sat there alone, looking at his phone. That idiot had actually told his family about his plans to avoid going abroad, and even got beaten. He had even boasted to his father before that he would stand in front of Ji Maili when that day came, but he didn't even know about it until they'd been missing for three days.

The little fool is now fooling people and even talking about going on a trip.

"Welcome, how many..."

Ji Maili rushed to Shen Lu in a panic. He was almost out of breath after running all the way here.

Chen Lu looked up at the person who was panting heavily. It was like a dream. The person appeared while he was thinking about it.

Ji Maili supported himself on the table with both hands: "What did my sister say to you? Did she force you..."

Shen Lu raised his hand and touched his still slightly swollen face: "Does it hurt?"

Ji Maili was stunned for a moment, remembering that his face had not healed yet, and subconsciously wanted to hide, but Shen Lu held his hand.

Seeing that he couldn't escape, Ji Maili gave up and said, "It hurts! I didn't know my dad was so strong. He almost knocked my teeth out."

Shen Lu suddenly reached into Ji Maili's mouth and pried open his mouth: "The teeth are still there."

Ji Maili was startled, turned his head and spit out his hand: "Are your hands dirty?"

Shen Lu glanced at his hands: "Dirty, I just touched the soles of my shoes and didn't wash them."

Ji Maili: “…”

Ji Maili saw that Chen Lu was unhappy. There were many things that made him unhappy. He had told his family about their affairs without telling him, and he was beaten and lied to him. Ji Maili believed that he had done something unkind this time.

Coming out of the coffee shop, Ji Maili took the initiative to get on Shen Lu's motorcycle. Shen Lu asked him, "Where have you been staying these days?"

Ji Maili confessed honestly: "Hotel, I didn't bring my ID card when I left, so I asked Li Jun to help me get a room." He hugged Shen Lu's waist tightly: "I didn't want you to see what I looked like that day, I was afraid you would worry."

Shen Lu didn't say anything until he parked the car in front of his house.

Shen Lu pushed the car into the yard and glanced at Ji Maili: "Let's talk."

Shen Lu entered the house, but turned around to find that Ji Maili did not follow him in. He turned around and went out to see Ji Maili standing in the yard with his lips pursed and eyes wide open, looking as if he was going to die of stubbornness.

Shen Lu: "What are you doing standing there?"

Ji Maili was very successful. Tears kept rolling in his eyes but never fell. He choked and asked, "Have you been bribed by my sister?"

Shen Lu looked at him: "What would you do if I said it was me?"

Ji Maili's head buzzed, and in an instant he felt numb from head to toe... What should he do? He didn't know what to do!

He suddenly rushed towards Shen Lu. Shen Lu thought he was going to punch him and was about to block the attack, but Ji Maili put his arms around his neck and kissed him.

The kiss was completely random. First, I knocked his teeth, then I knocked his mouth with my teeth. It was a complete mess.

Shen Lu hugged the person and dragged him into the house, pressing against the door: “Let’s talk first.”

Ji Maili's eyes were red: "What are you talking about?"

Shen Lu: “About going abroad.”

Ji Maili: "I won't talk, I won't go, I won't listen!"

Chen Lu was also extremely anxious at this moment. From the moment he said he wanted to go traveling with his family until now, he had been feeling very nervous. His original hesitations were no longer within his scope.

Shen Lu’s grip on his waist was very strong: “Okay, then accept the gift first.”

The gift was in the room. Shen Lu threw the person on the bed, and the old bed board creaked.

Chen Lu took out two boxes from the drawer and threw them to Ji Maili: "Pick one."

Ji Maili thought it was a gift and was about to complain about who gave such a rude gift, but he picked it up and looked at it... and looked at it again... for a long time.

Ji Maili: "What a coincidence, I brought one too."

Ji Maili took out a small box of the same brand but different flavors from his trouser pocket. Shen Lu's eyes narrowed: "What have you been doing in the hotel for the past three days?"

Ji Maili: "I didn't do anything, just learned some little 'gestures'!"

Shen Lu was so shocked that he almost cursed: "...Who did you learn this from?"

Ji Maili said: "I asked Li Jun to find the resources for me."

The corner of Shen Lu's mouth twitched: "Fuck you...resources!" Shen Lu pulled down his pants and slapped his butt: "I told you to stop playing with that guy, can he teach you a lesson?!"

Ji Maili was so shocked by the beating that he tensed up all over: "You taught me well, you finished two boxes at once!"

Chen Lu originally wanted to scare Ji Maili with that little bit of anger, but now that he was yelled at, he couldn't suppress the anger anymore.

Compared to their first kiss, this matter was even more confusing for the two of them. Shen Lu was afraid of hurting her, so he tried it little by little, but Ji Maili was uncomfortable with his prodding: "Can you do it? If not, I'll do it!"

Chen Lu pressed down Ji Maili's legs, almost bending him over: "Shut up, it will hurt you to death if I don't fix it."

Ji Maili muttered, "If I had known earlier, I would have practiced some cartilage exercises when I was a kid. This is too damn tortuous."

Chen Lu chuckled and almost died of laughter. He released Ji Maili's ankles, leaned over and blocked Ji Maili's mouth before he could shout.