Leisurely Traveler with Check-in System

On the way, Li Younan briefly described his plan to go skiing in the northeast. Chen Rui once again fell silent.

Fortunately, this time, before Li Younan could bring it up, she proactively asked, ”Can you take me along?”

Then she weakly added, ”Our moms are really good friends.”

Li Younan laughed and retorted, ”My mom and Aunt Zhao are indeed really good friends, so I have the obligation to take care of you, right?”

Chen Rui seemed not to hear, kept her head down while picking out a pair of gloves.

Next was an immersive selection process.

They didn’t find the ideal skis at the Decathlon specialty store.

At checkout, originally Li Younan intended to cover Chen Rui’s expenses. She bought a pair of gloves, not too expensive, but Chen Rui stubbornly insisted on paying herself.

When leaving Decathlon, Chen Rui remained silent as she had during the shopping immersion.

This silence continued until they got into the car.

Li Younan smiled and asked, ”You only bought one pair of gloves?”

Suddenly, Li Younan sensed something was off.

Chen Rui kept her head down, her shoulders suddenly started trembling lightly, then a single crystalline tear fell.

Li Younan was momentarily stunned.

Chen Rui’s voice quivered slightly, saying, ”I... I know our moms are friends, it’s not something worth harping on about, and I’m not trying to impose any burdens on you due to this relationship, I’m... I’m sorry.”

Chen Rui’s mind was on the verge of collapse; she knew she shouldn’t cry, shouldn’t be overwhelmed by such emotions all of a sudden, but she couldn’t control the sadness.

Clearly, she’d felt much better before, why the sudden sensitivity now?

Yet for a long moment, she heard nothing from Li Younan.

Feeling increasingly complex emotions, she finally raised her head, only to see Li Younan peeling a lollipop.

Chen Rui opened her mouth.

At that moment, Li Younan suddenly handed over the lollipop: ”Open up.”

Chen Rui hesitated, instinctively opened her mouth, and the lollipop was stuffed in.

Li Younan leisurely said, ”Heard you mention before, you like this flavor of lollipop.”

Chen Rui’s mind went blank, this development was too strange.

Li Younan leisurely shifted gears, saying, ”Got it, won’t joke like that with you anymore.”

Chen Rui didn’t notice, her nose began to run. Li Younan grabbed a tissue from the car, casually slapped it on Chen Rui’s face, saying, ”The lollipop will turn salty in a bit.”

Chen Rui’s eyes widened, events unfolded beyond her expectations.

Curiously, the earlier overwhelming emotions suddenly completely healed, leaving only surprise and embarrassment.

She kept recalling the scene where Li Younan handed her the lollipop.

Ultimately, she weakly took out the lollipop from her mouth, saying, ”You... you bully people.”

Li Younan then became serious, saying, ”Let Aunt Zhao know then, I’ll take you along when I head northeast.”

After a pause, Li Younan continued, ”But I’m not sure how long you’ll be staying domestically, my northeast plans might last a month or two, maybe longer, I can only accompany you for a while.”

Chen Rui blinked: ”Oh.”

Li Younan shifted gears; the car was ready to go.

Then he added with some discontent, ”Just one more thing, the joke earlier was supposed to have a follow-up. In my plan, you were supposed to retort, or anyway have some reaction, then I’d smoothly say, call me brother, and I’d be obliged to take you.”

He seemed a bit troubled, lightly tapping his head, ”Didn’t expect you to have zero sense of humor.”

Chen Rui bashfully lowered her head but stubbornly replied, ”So random, just want to be others’ brother, strange habit, definitely won’t call you bro...”

Li Younan of course wasn’t intent on being someone else’s brother as a weird habit; it was just a spur-of-the-moment joke.

Seeing Chen Rui somewhat recovered from some earlier bad emotions, he felt slightly relieved, and only then drove back comfortably.