Chapter 14 Chapter 14 The tripe is from Shenlu Shabu, and the cola is...
When Chen Lu brought out the cooked dumplings, he saw Ji Maili sitting there staring blankly at the grape trellis that had been erected in the yard next door.
In the past, Ji Maili had no worries and was as happy as a little fool. Now the little fool has something on his mind, but Shen Lu can't guess what he is thinking.
Shen Lu walked over with dumplings in his hand: “Do you want vinegar?”
Ji Maili shook his head.
Shen Lu placed the dumplings in front of him and bent over to look at him: "What's wrong?"
Ji Maili poked a dumpling and took a bite, then asked vaguely, "Why are there so many people in your circle of friends? Are they all your friends?"
Shen Lu glanced at the phone on the table: "No, most of them are for work needs. Some are from the student union, some are classmates, and some are people I met while working. I don't necessarily contact them, I just left my contact information."
Ji Maili didn't quite understand, "Why add contact information if you're not in touch?"
Chen Lu has always felt guilty about Ji Maili having no friends. If Ji Maili had not been a loner since childhood and unwilling to play with other children, Ji Maili would not have alienated others for him, resulting in him having no friends at all now.
Chen Lu said, "Because we need some necessary interpersonal communication, Mai Mai, you should also make more friends who are not related to interests, such as your classmates who have a good relationship with you, such as Zhou Luyang. He wanted to add you that day, why did you refuse?"
Ji Maili said: "Because he is not a friend."
Shen Lu: "Why not?"
Ji Maili found his question annoying. "Why? You're my only friend. Why are you saying that? Are you trying to sneak away again so you're encouraging me to make other friends?"
If he continued asking, he might flip the table and leave. Shen Lu admitted defeat and said, "Forget it."
He let it go. Ji Maili hadn't finished asking, "So what you mean is that there are a lot of people in your circle of friends, but none of them are your friends?"
Shen Lu: “Not entirely.”
Ji Maili: "Then, Tao Dacheng, right?"
Shen Lu didn't intend to lie to him: "Yes."
Okay, I have successfully gotten myself into trouble, and I feel refreshed.
Ji Maili buried his head in eating two dumplings, swallowing them whole without tasting them. "They're not tasty."
Shen Lu sat down and continued to write his self-criticism, "Don't find fault."
Ji Maili ate another one and said, "It's just not tasty."
Shen Lu looked at him: "Tao Sijie always says that the dumplings I make are delicious and she can finish two plates by herself. Only you are too troublesome."
Ji Maili raised his head and pointed at the plate with his chopsticks, "Did you make this?"
Shen Lu wanted to take the plate away, "Well, if you don't like it, don't eat it. I'll order takeout for you."
Ji Maili quickly protected the plate, "...Let me try it again."
Ji Maili ate up the whole plate of dumplings and burped after finishing them.
Shen Lu watched him eat nothing and asked, "Didn't you say it wasn't tasty?"
Ji Maili said stubbornly, "It's just enough. Don't make it with chive stuffing next time."
The door was kicked open with a clang. The door was already in tatters, and Tao Dacheng's kick almost knocked the door panel off.
Tao Dacheng walked in carrying his schoolbag and saw the empty plate on the table. "Oh my god, are you two having sex? Did I come at the wrong time?"
Shen Lu felt sorry for his own door: "Next time, try kicking it with your feet."
Ji Maili was unhappy when he saw Tao Dacheng. He felt that Shen Lu must have learned his bad mouth from him.
Ji Maili muttered, "You know it's not the right time to come, but you still don't leave?"
Not only did Tao Dacheng not leave, he even sat down. "No, no, I just want a third party to intervene. Have you ever seen a mistress so consciously give way to the main wife?"
Ji Maili didn't like this kind of joke that didn't distinguish between men and women. He stood up and asked, "Are you sick?"
The yard was not big to begin with, and with three half-grown boys standing there, it seemed even more crowded.
Chen Lu held Ji Maili's shoulders and asked him to sit down. "He was joking."
Shen Lu glanced at Tao Dacheng and said, "Either you shut up or get out."
Tao Dacheng muttered something, probably something like "getting bored with the old and loving the new." "Can't you just stop talking? I came here to do my homework. Oh, and I haven't eaten yet. Didn't you have some dumplings left over from yesterday? Cook them for me."
Shen Lu said: "You are too late, it's gone."
Ji Maili pushed the plate in front of him and said, "Lick the bottom of the plate yourself."
Tao Dacheng looked at the two people who shared the same hatred and re-examined his own status. "...I was wrong. I'm not a mistress. At most, I'm an unfavored concubine."
Chen Lu and Tao Dacheng spent the whole afternoon writing a set of test papers, and Ji Maili spent the whole afternoon drawing a set of character sketches. After finishing, they ran into the house to sleep.
Tao Dacheng held Ji Maili's painting and compared it to Shen Lu's. "Oh my god, I didn't realize he had such skills?"
Shen Lu didn't make a fuss like Tao Dacheng. He helped Ji Maili pack her schoolbag and asked, "Are you not leaving yet?"
Tao Dacheng: "No, I'm not leaving. Didn't we agree to have hot pot at your house? I've already bought the food and it's in my refrigerator. You didn't forget, did you?"
Shen Lu really forgot. He glanced at the time and said, "Si Jie's cram school is almost over, right? Go pick him up and I'll go to your house to get the food."
Tao Dacheng pointed into the room, "Where's he?"
Shen Lu said, "Let him sleep. He will wake up around six o'clock."
Tao Dacheng clicked his tongue a few times: "You even know what time he wakes up, your relationship is really..."
Chen Lu said ostentatiously, "Are you envious? There's no point in being envious. Do you think our friendship from childhood is just a joke?"
"Oh my god, you've really had enough." Tao Dacheng was soured by him that he stood up and left. "Isn't it just childhood sweethearts? Tomorrow I will go look for my kindergarten girl, Bai Yueguang."
At about six o'clock, a light came on in the yard.
In the room, Ji Maili turned over and opened his eyes to see Tao Sijie lying on the bed with her butt sticking up, playing with a carrot knife. Before Ji Maili could react, Tao Sijie turned around and shouted outside: "Brother Mai Mai is awake!"
Ji Maili was startled by her and sat up.
Shen Lu came in from outside, "Awake?"
Ji Maili was perked up by Tao Sijie's shout: "What time is it?"
Shen Lu: "Six o'clock."
Ji Maili glanced at Tao Sijie who was looking up at him, "Why is she here?"
Tao Sijie said, "We're going to eat hot pot. We're waiting for you to wake up. Brother Mai Mai, can you handle spicy food?"
"Eat hot pot?" Ji Maili didn't hear Chen Lu say he wanted to eat hot pot before going to bed.
Chen Lu said, "He doesn't eat spicy food." Then he said to Ji Maili, "I cooked a simmered hot pot. There's something non-spicy about it. Go wash your face."
When Ji Maili came out after washing his face, the pot had already been set up in the yard. Half of it was filled with clear soup and the other half was filled with red oil. The red bottom of the pot was boiling and it smelled spicy.
Tao Sijie ate the spicy hot pot, and her mouth turned red from slurping it. She picked up a piece of tripe and gave it to Ji Maili, "Brother Maimai, try this, it's really delicious."
Before Tao Sijie put the tripe in Ji Maili's bowl, Shen Lu took it with his own bowl and said, "Brother Mai Mai doesn't eat spicy food, you can eat it yourself."
After Shen Lu finished speaking, he turned around and saw Ji Maili staring at the tripe in his bowl, "Why, do you want to try it?"
Ji Maili didn't really want to taste it, but when Shen Lu asked, he hesitated and nodded.
Ji Maili held the bowl, waiting for Chen Lu to shabu-shabu his tripe.
Shen Lu finished rinsing the tripe and put it in his bowl: "If it's too spicy, spit it out."
Ji Maili thought that if even Tao Sijie could eat it, he should be able to eat it too. However, as soon as he put the tripe into his mouth, his tongue felt like it had been blown up by a bomb. He picked up the Coke next to him and took a sip. "Damn! This is too spicy!"
Tao Dacheng glanced at the tripe in Chen Lu's bowl, and then at the Coke in Ji Maili's hand...The tripe was cooked by Chen Lu, and the Coke was drunk by Chen Lu.
After a while, the bottle of Coke returned to Shen Lu's hand again, and Tao Dacheng deliberately stretched out the sound of "Ah".
Shen Lu: "What happened again?"
Tao Dacheng shook his head: "No, nothing, you two continue."
Ji Maili felt that Tao Dacheng was sick. What was going on? He would never eat the spicy hot pot again!
Tao Dacheng mentioned Ji Maili's painting. "I thought you only knew how to fight, but I didn't expect you could also paint. The Shen Lu you just painted is really like him."
Speaking of painting, Chen Lu stopped being modest on Ji Maili's behalf: "He has been learning painting since he was a child and has won many awards."
Tao Sijie: "Brother Mai Mai, can you draw a picture for me?"
Ji Maili was in a good mood after being praised by Chen Lu: "Okay, I'll send it to you on WeChat when I finish it."
Tao Dacheng put down his chopsticks and said, "Give me one too. Come on, add me on WeChat first."
Ji Maili was still upset about Chen Lu saying Tao Dacheng was his friend, so he refused: "I won't draw."
Ever since Tao Dacheng knew that Chen Lu and Ji Maili were childhood friends, he automatically included him in his circle: "We've had two meals together. Chen Lu's buddies are my buddies. Don't be so formal with me. Whether you draw or not, add me on WeChat."
Ji Maili didn't want to join.
Chen Lu didn't want Ji Maili to be alone all the time, so he said, "Add him. If you can't find me one day, you can always ask him."
This was like touching Ji Maili's minefield. He frowned and said, "I can't find you, but he can?"
"You're the best at finding faults." Chen Lu said, "He and I are in the same class and live close to each other. Do you think he's a bit useful?"
If you put it that way, it does have some use.
Ji Maili reluctantly took out his cell phone.
Tao Dacheng cursed as he added WeChat: "So I'm just a fucking tool!"
Ji Maili: "Then you should be glad that you are still useful."
Tao Dacheng pointed at Ji Maili and asked Chen Lu: "Has your childhood friend always been like this? Why do I feel that all the beatings he received before were not unfair?"
Ji Maili yelled, "Who got hit? I'm always the first to hit you, okay?"
Tao Dacheng: "That's even more fair."
Ji Maili: "You——"
Chen Lu held down Ji Maili, who was about to jump up: "Okay, let's eat." Then he said to Tao Dacheng: "Can you please stop provoking him? Even eating can't stop your mouth."
Tao Dacheng had just quieted down when Tao Sijie took a sip of Coke and said, "Brother Mai Mai, have you ever won a fight?"
Ji Maili choked and said with a stiff upper lip: "...Of course."
Chen Lu glanced at him, and Ji Maili pretended not to see his doubts. In his eyes, even if he was beaten, as long as he could hold on to the end, he would be the winner. Whoever left the battlefield first would be the loser!
The author has something to say:
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Ji Maili, who was beaten to the point of being unable to get up and finally left the battlefield, said: "So what? Just tell me whether I should stay until the end!"
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