I turned reality into a romantic comedy.

Chapter 11: What is the most desired talisman?

However, before Lu Cheng and Chen Junqian could approach Xu Youwei, Lin Mu had already dragged her to their seats.

"This time, could you please help us with the blackboard bulletin board?"

Perhaps after being nudged twice by Lin Mu from behind, Xu Youwei awkwardly extended the invitation. She seemed to subconsciously dislike such weak words that sounded like she was asking for help, and her lips remained tightly pursed as she spoke.

"It's alright, it's alright. I was just discussing with Chen Junqian about joining you guys. Four people should be enough. How about we divide up the tasks first?"

As the class monitor from first grade to now, Lu Cheng has always been impeccable in his interpersonal skills. He is not only well-liked by teachers, but also highly regarded by other students in the class. He has a firm grasp on emotional intelligence.

"Well, class monitor, you write well with chalk, so you can write on the blackboard with me. Weiwei can draw, so she'll be in charge of the drawings. Chen Junqian... Chen Junqian will be in charge of helping us with... the design work?"

It can only be said that Lin Mu's emotional intelligence is indeed not a problem. Chen Junqian is sure that the first thing the other party would say was "help out", but he immediately changed it to a more sophisticated design.

In fact, there is no design work involved in blackboard bulletins. For elementary school students of this age, whether it is a large blackboard bulletin or a small handwritten newspaper, it is basically just a ready-made template found on the Internet. After all, it is indeed a bit difficult for them to design a bulletin from scratch.

"I have no objection. I can also help with other miscellaneous tasks, such as erasing the blackboard."

When the topic of erasing the blackboard came up, Chen Junqian unconsciously glanced at Lin Mu, only to be immediately glared at by the other man. It seemed that they had both thought of the height issue at the same time, since they had talked about this topic for a long time just yesterday.

"Okay, it's settled then. Chen Junqian, can you find and print out all the necessary documents tonight?"

"No problem, I can bring it to school tomorrow."

After the four-person team for creating the blackboard newspaper was fully formed, Xu Youwei became much more natural and returned to her usual self. It was a bit hard to understand what this child was thinking. Sure enough, she couldn't compare to Mu Mu, who always wore her heart on her sleeve.

After going through the details and reaching a consensus, the group walked out of the classroom together.

The second period this morning was pottery class, which is held once a week. Apart from PE class, which the PE teacher often misses, this is probably everyone's favorite class. After all, they haven't completely outgrown the age of playing with mud, and they certainly can't refuse the opportunity to openly play with mud, well, do pottery during class time.

There are no assigned seats in the pottery classroom; basically, everyone sits wherever they like, with students sitting in pairs around several rows of long tables. After assigning the day's tasks, the teacher walks around in front of the children to provide guidance or answer their questions.

Since the four of them came together, they naturally sat in a row. Chen Junqian sat next to Lu Cheng, while Xu Youwei and Lin Mu sat opposite the two boys.

Although Chen Junqian had seen pottery-related projects in various tourist attractions or DIY experience centers in his previous life, he had basically never been exposed to it again after elementary school.

Fortunately, since this was just an extracurricular activity, the teachers didn't particularly care whether the students were completing the tasks. As long as they weren't starting to knead mud balls and throw them at each other, it didn't matter. So Chen Junqian was able to continue slacking off with peace of mind.

Sitting next to him, Class Monitor Lu, who aspired to be a pillar of society, was diligently kneading the clay pot according to the steps taught by the teacher. Meanwhile, Lin Mu and Xu Youwei opposite them had already let loose and started treating the clay in their hands as larger and better clay, sculpting all sorts of little things.

It must be admitted that Xu Youwei's talent in sculpting clay is indeed quite remarkable, as Lin Mu described her as someone who could practice dessert-making skills with clay. Compared to Chen Junqian's crude technique of putting two clay balls of different sizes together to pretend to be a snowman or placing a small cube on top of a large cuboid and attaching a long tube to pretend to be a tank, Xu Youwei's clay figures and food all look quite presentable.

In a sense, the other person is more suitable to be Nuwa than him.

Perhaps feeling that such small gadgets were no longer challenging, Xu Youwei soon began to study a large-scale project called a castle. By the time get out of class was about to end, she had actually created a respectable piece, which attracted the attention of the teacher and students from other nearby classes.

But to everyone's surprise, the moment the bell rang, Xu Youwei reached out and flattened the castle she had been building for almost the entire class from top to bottom. Then she crumpled it into a mess with both hands, and without a care, got up from her seat and went to wash her hands at the row of sinks in front of the classroom.

Seeing this, Lin Mu quickly followed, washing his hands beside her while asking Xu Youwei in a low voice, a mix of concern and confusion:

"Why did you ruin that? It was so hard to make, it's such a waste."

"No matter how regrettable it is, it's something I made myself. Of course, I can treat my own things however I want. Besides, the pottery class is over. If I leave it there, the students from other grades and classes who come to class next time will turn it back into the original lump of clay."

"No, I think the pottery teacher likes it very much. We can ask him to keep your castle separately, Weiwei. We can make it into pottery, paint it, and keep it for many, many years without it ever changing... Weiwei, don't you remember the text 'The Clay Pot and the Iron Pot' that we learned in Chinese class last semester? Even after many, many years, when the resentful iron pot is completely rusted and oxidized, the clay pot can still be dug out intact."

"...Nothing in this world will never change."

After saying that, Xu Youwei seemed to realize that there was no need to say these things to Lin Mu, who was trying to comfort her, so she immediately changed the subject with her usual smile:

"Okay, okay, I just suddenly really need to go to the bathroom. Mumu, come with me, okay?"

"Oh."

Watching the two girls leave the pottery classroom together, Chen Junqian instinctively wanted to wipe his face, but he quickly realized that his hands were still covered in clay, so he went to the sink to wash them before slowly returning to the classroom.

It's fair to say that Xu Youwei's strange reputation in their class has been around for quite some time. So, when everyone was surprised by her behavior in today's pottery class, they got used to it after a while. They just added another personality trait to her that seemed like she was capable of beating people, as they whispered among themselves.

As expected, when it was time for after-school care at noon, Lin Mu approached Chen Junqian on his own initiative, just as Chen Junqian had predicted. The two sat side by side in the last row of the TV room, watching "Jackie Chan Adventures" which aired every noon, while chatting quietly.

The day before yesterday, we watched episode 11, featuring the Monkey Talisman. Yesterday, we watched episode 12, featuring the Tiger Talisman. And today, in the recap of episode 13, we can see an 'MVP-level replay' of how Evil Dragon, who was separated from Evil Dragon by the Yin-Yang power of the Tiger Talisman in the previous episode, stole all the talismans, leading to the resurrection of Shendu.

"Sometimes, I even suspect that Weiwei might also have a tiger charm. For example, yesterday she came to school as the good Weiwei, but today she turned into the evil Weiwei. Otherwise, her emotional fluctuations always seem a bit too big."

Lin Mu propped her chin up with her hand, watching the animation on TV while sighing and complaining.

"It's probably related to her family, right? After all, we don't know anything about her family situation. You don't even know where she lives."

As someone who has grown up at this age and is now reborn as a child again, Chen Junqian is very clear about the aspects of the environment in which children at this age, who have begun to develop their own independent thoughts, tend to experience particularly great pressure. However, they often cannot express this pressure in a concrete way, mainly due to differences in their level of understanding.

This is precisely why adults often fail to empathize with children's thoughts. Actions that children consider quite outrageous in expressing their emotions are often naturally ignored. At most, they might mutter something like, "You're acting strange today," or "Are you in a bad mood?" It's rare for adults to ask further, like, "What happened at school?" It's not uncommon for adults to directly retort, "I work outside every day and then come home to buy groceries, cook, and serve you, and you give me the cold shoulder first."

It's more accurate to say that the situation of his family and Lin Mu's family is quite rare. Although it could be said that it's because the two of them are indeed people who don't cause their parents any worry, on the other hand, it is precisely their parents and family education that have raised them into such personalities.

"Speaking of which, it seems that Weiwei keeps a diary. It would be great if we could see her diary so that we could understand what she is thinking every day."

Lin Mu, who thought he had come up with a great idea, quickly realized it wouldn't work after giving his suggestion. He lowered his head, looked at his toes in white sneakers, and denied it to himself:

"But she should be using the same password-protected diary as the one she gave me. Even if she did bring it to school, we wouldn't be able to read it without knowing the password."

"Oh, so this is what you got from her this morning."

"This is because it can improve one's ability to write Chinese compositions."

"But we also have to write a weekly journal entry and submit it to our teacher. I feel like you're barely managing to get by with yours, let alone the daily journal entry you have to write every day."

“They are different.”

As he spoke, Lin Mu lowered his head and repeated himself:

"It's just different."

She used to dislike writing weekly journals because she never knew what to write. Every day of her life was a repetitive cycle with little change. Apart from the level increases in the mini-games on QQ Space, such as farms, ranches, supermarkets, and parking spaces, she felt like nothing was changing, not even her height.

But these past two days, she suddenly felt that every day had become very long, and every day seemed to have things she wanted to write down and record as a diary. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been moved by Xu Youwei's words and accepted the gift directly.

However, Lin Mu was still unclear about the specific source of this idea. Not good at complex thinking and unwilling to think too much, she, like Xu Youwei in the morning, changed the subject in an almost abrupt way:

"How about we follow Weiwei after school today and see where her secret base is?"

"Not today. You've already finished eating all the vegetables at home. You'll have to go to the market to buy some more after school. You can keep the remaining six yuan with you."

"Yes, it seems like we really do need to buy groceries again."

As the saying goes, practice makes perfect. Ever since she went to the farmers' market with Chen Junqian, Lin Mu has become much bolder. After all, as the second-ranked student in her class and the third-ranked student in the entire grade, she was even eager to try it herself.

"Actually, I used to see my mom haggling with the shopkeeper for a long time when she bought things."

"...With the way we're buying groceries like we're picking out birdseed, we shouldn't even think about haggling over a few cents or dimes."

Although his past life experience allowed Chen Junqian to pick out a few small vegetables at the market and have the vendor weigh them without any psychological pressure, it would be too much for him to haggle over such a small amount. However, he was indeed an expert in this area.

"Right."

Perhaps recalling the experience of spending only three or four yuan with Chen Junqian last time, Lin Mu shrank back somewhat reluctantly.

Just then, the TV was showing the final battle. Jackie Chan, whose hands were soaked in magic potion, was rummaging around inside Shendu's body. The various thrilling scenes and battles between talismans kept the other children glued to the screen, screaming in excitement.

"Speaking of which, Chen Junqian, what kind of talisman do you want most?"

"Probably a chicken? I mainly want to try out what it feels like to fly. Where's Lin Mu?"

"What I want most is the dog charm, so that my dad, mom, grandpa, grandma, maternal grandpa, maternal grandma, aunt, great-aunt... in short, everyone can be young again like the dad in the cartoon."

"Didn't you think about yourself?"

"Hehe, because I'm still young and won't get old yet."

In the sliver of midday sunlight streaming through the window, Chen Junqian turned his head and saw Lin Mu swinging her little legs lightly as she laughed, as if someone had thrown a piece of rock sugar into honey, making it so sweet you could hear a clinking sound.

Chapter Twelve: The Problem That Can't Be Spoken Of

"A super crisis."

When Chen Junqian arrived at school in the afternoon, he saw his deskmate Zhong Yu speak to him in a serious tone as if the world was about to end, and his hand unconsciously rested on his shoulder.

"What's wrong? Did your family find out you were staying up all night playing computer games?"

"I forgot my books for class this afternoon."

Which door?

"science."

While it's true that many of the special weekly classes in elementary school, such as science and integrated practical activities, can be taken over by the main subject teachers, unfortunately, their science teacher is an extremely strict old-fashioned person. If he's found to be without his book, he'll probably be sent straight to the back of the classroom to stand and listen to the lesson.

"Let's borrow it from the class next door."

"I was just about to do that. I'll go to Class 1 and Class 2 in the corridor to find someone. Qian'er, could you borrow someone from Class 3 next door for me? I'll treat you to something later. Thanks."

After saying that, Zhong Yu had already run out of the classroom. Chen Junqian had no choice but to follow and help. After all, they were buddies, and he should help with this small favor of borrowing books.

Actually, borrowing books isn't that difficult, but it's not that easy either. It mainly tests your interpersonal relationships with students in other classes outside your own. After all, not everyone is shameless enough to directly ask a classmate from another class whom they don't know or have never spoken to for a book.

Conversely, if a student whom Chen Junqian didn't know at all came to borrow a book, he probably wouldn't lend it out. After all, who knows if the student would ruin his textbook in just one class period, and maybe come back with several scribbles and corrections.

However, when he actually got to the door of Class 3 and saw the students coming and going, Chen Junqian was indeed a little dumbfounded.

After all, elementary school was over a decade ago. It took him a lot of effort these past two days to recall his classmates one by one by relying on the duty roster and the teacher's roll call during class. He wasn't familiar with the students in the next class, not even before his rebirth, let alone after his rebirth.

Whether in elementary school, junior high school, high school, or university, Chen Junqian's social circle was surprisingly small. Moreover, due to his personality, he would never be forced to socialize because he forgot to bring his books, nor would he be as eager to sign up for every activity and actively participate in various events as Xu Youwei.

Through the window, he saw a familiar face sitting by the window. It was Zhu Wenyun, whom he had bumped into twice a couple of days ago. Compared to the students in the other three classes, she was definitely someone he knew.

Among the girls Chen Junqian knew, this girl had the longest hair, even longer than Lin Mu's. It inexplicably reminded him of the phrase that would become popular on the internet a few years later: "Wait until my hair reaches my waist, will you come and marry me?"

However, because I was sitting in the last row, I wasn't bothered by the boys behind me deliberately pulling my hair and messing around.

Unlike Lin Mu, whose height only allowed her to be placed in the front row, Zhu Wenyun's height was as prominent as the length of her hair; even when she sat upright, this was clearly noticeable.

Chen Junqian turned his head and glanced at her again, finally seeing that the book she was reading was Zheng Yuanjie's "Five Apples That Troubled the Earth." It was one of his favorite fairy tales, and it had helped him develop a liking for apples even more than the proverb "An apple a day keeps the doctor away."

Zheng Yuanjie's fairy tales have always been one of the children's literature works that he likes the most. However, because he has so many series and works, not counting the sub-series such as Lu Xixi, Shuke and Beta, and Big Bad Wolf Rock, the main series Pipilu alone has no less than dozens of single volumes, so he naturally cannot collect them all.

That's why he found a significant portion of the content in the student-shared library that would open a year later, and the name left on it was none other than Zhu Wenyun, who was now reading intently in front of him.

Perhaps because of this connection with a fellow book lover, Chen Junqian reached out and patted the shoulder of a student from Class 3 who was passing by.

"Could you please call Zhu Wenyun from your class? Thank you."