I turned reality into a romantic comedy.

"I feel like we could transport it to my old home in the countryside. There's enough space in the yard there, and we can build a shelter for it from the rain and wind. But then we won't have much time to paint new designs on it..."

"Then let's draw it properly on paper. Anyway, I think these two walls will be covered with drawings. It's not like it's anything shameful. I have no objection if you draw it and share it online or upload it to an online comic platform."

On internet platforms from 2014 to 2015, in addition to long-running serialized comics, four-panel comics in episodic format were also a track where it was easy to achieve success. In his previous life, Chen Junqian often saw comics such as "Give Me a Little Monk" or "Killer Goode" reposted by others on the homepage of UC Browser. He always felt that the daily life comics of two or three people created by Xu Youwei were quite suitable, just like Zhu Wenyun, who was able to touch a group of readers by writing such daily life comics. Many things and experiences can always make people of the same generation feel the same way and achieve a group of shared memories.

"It's possible, but we'd like to consider changing the name when uploading, so we don't use everyone's real names, since it would be a bit too awkward."

Even Zhu Wenyun herself only used her real name as a pen name. The names of the characters in the story have almost no connection with reality. Xu Youwei seems to be the same. Although both of them can say, "This is just my daily life," not everyone wants to openly show their experiences to others. Changing the name and making some changes would definitely be better.

"Well, since you've already drawn so much, just organize it a bit and post it slowly. I feel like you have enough drafts to post for a long time. As for the platform, let's just use our Weibo studio account. We've already accumulated quite a few fans. If we become popular, we can consider signing a formal contract with platforms like Kuaikan or Youyaoqi. That way, you can take the first step into becoming a comic artist."

In reality, there are no super popular illustrators with blonde twin tails who draw doujinshi-themed characters that look like anime characters at first glance. After all, the setting only needs to be mentioned by the author at the beginning to start the story. But in fact, everyone's talent needs to be cultivated and trained over a long period of time to blossom.

In Chen Junqian's view, the basic ability adaptability rating that each female protagonist receives from the system is probably a consideration and evaluation in this regard. After all, Zhu Wenyun, who was rated A, has indeed demonstrated her ability and talent. As long as she can achieve good results in the New Concept Writing Competition at the beginning of next year, she will become the youngest contracted writer of "Fireworks" to date, and will receive preferential treatment in resources and publicity. Her future in all aspects can be said to have suddenly become bright.

"Okay, but I feel like if my hobby really becomes my job... that would be quite troublesome."

Xu Youwei, who was lying on her desk, picked up the air conditioner remote and turned on the room's heating. The advantage of a small room is that the temperature rises very quickly. In no time, the room temperature could be clearly felt to be increasing, making one want to take off the outermost layer of bulky down jacket.

But they would feel cold if they took them off, so they just unzipped the jackets, revealing sweaters underneath. Xu Youwei immediately moved closer to Chen Junqian, reached out and touched the sweater he was wearing under his down jacket, and casually asked:

"Did Zhu Wenyun knit this for you?"

"No, she knitted me gloves this year. She's given me sweaters before, but I can't wear them now. I've grown quite a bit in the last two years."

"That's true. At this rate, I feel like Qinqin will be 1.8 meters tall by high school. But if she gets any taller, it's unnecessary. That would be too tall for Mumu."

"Does Mumu need this too?"

"Of course, Qinqin may not know, but she specifically brought this up when she was chatting with me. She felt that the tallest person she could reach was only 1.55 meters. If Qinqin is 1.8 meters tall, that's a difference of 25 centimeters, which is more than a head's length."

Chen Junqian had no solution to Mu Mu's height problem either. It was mainly because she was indeed the shortest among the girls around him. Not to mention Zhu Wenyun and Xu Youwei, who were the same age, even Chen Xi and Gu Lingguo, who were a year younger than her, had already surpassed her. The shortest among them was estimated to be around 1.6 meters tall in the future, which made a girl who could only start at 50 at most stand out, especially when standing next to his childhood sweetheart.

How should I put it... I'm glad they were born in a small county town in southern Anhui and not some small county town in Shandong.

After all, I heard that the average height there is even more exaggerated.

"I can't control my height either, just like I can't control Mu Mu's height. Actually, she has never been a picky eater since she was a child. I feel that it is determined by her genes."

"……Ugh."

They sighed for a while about their mutual friend Lin Mu's height. Xu Youwei then brought up Lin Mu's studies, mainly because Xu Zhiling himself had mentioned high school on the way there.

"If I were to go to high school, I should be able to get into a regular class at Ningzhong High School, but with Mumu's grades, that's uncertain. Besides academic subjects, the high school entrance exam also has 70 points for physical education, and she doesn't seem like she can get many points. It's like she's already several tens of points behind others before the exam even starts."

"The physical fitness test is indeed a problem, but Mu Mu is at least making progress. When she first started junior high, she couldn't even finish the morning exercises. Now there's still a year and a half until the physical fitness test, so let's work hard towards passing."

"Hmm... But even if she really doesn't get in, I feel like Mu Mu's family can still help her get in, so at least in the end everyone will definitely be in the same school."

The situation Xu Youwei described, where someone was "bought in" at the school, is different from the previous situation where they were only a few points away from getting in. This kind of "buying in" completely disregards the high school entrance exam score and involves spending money as if sponsoring the school. It's similar to how some parents sponsor a university to build a new building so their children can get in smoothly. In terms of their children's education, Guo Ning, or rather, parents all over the country, seem willing to invest.

"I still hope I can pass the exam on my own."

It would have been better if Xu Youwei hadn't brought it up, as her words stirred up Chen Junqian's high school memories.

If he remembers correctly, it seems that in his year, a student who was bought into the school did something earth-shattering, which resulted in all students who entered Ningzhong High School through this route from that year onwards no longer being randomly assigned to classes, but instead being put into one class for unified management. A new seventeenth class was created in addition to the original sixteen classes in their grade.

Not only are their classrooms located in another teaching building, but they also don't rank their students together with the top sixteen classes in their daily exams. Instead, they rank themselves behind closed doors. If it weren't for the fact that the location is still within Ningzhong Middle School and the teachers are the same, they wouldn't feel like students from Ningzhong Middle School in any way.

Although Chen Junqian was certain that Mu Mu would never do something like messing around with people in high school, or even going so far as to hang out in the cafeteria, the environment one is exposed to can indeed influence a person. Otherwise, so many parents wouldn't buy all sorts of school district properties or spend so much money to send their children to better schools. So even if it's a regular class, he still hopes that Mu Mu can achieve her goal. After all, she has never given up on her efforts and attends just as many tutoring classes as her peers.

Learning and teaching others to learn are two different things. The main purpose of the learning group is to provide everyone with an atmosphere and environment where they can concentrate on learning, just like how seeing others working hard makes you feel embarrassed to slack off, thus motivating them. But in fact, Lin Mu can concentrate on learning even without this, so even Chen Junqian himself can't do much to help her, mainly just provide her with spiritual comfort.

The two of them ate dinner together at the factory's staff canteen. The main reason was that there were no ingredients or cooking facilities at the old house. The chairman's private kitchen was reliable. In terms of sheer abundance, it actually surpassed the junk food meal they had before the apocalypse.

After dinner, Chen Junqian was kept behind by Xu Zhiling for a brief chat about business. Although Xu Zhiling's wealth was enough for him to live a carefree life, he was not yet at retirement age. For entrepreneurs, their forties are the prime of their lives, and he still wanted to achieve something in the future.

Feeling a bit bored while waiting outside, Xu Youwei decided to wander around the office building. When Chen Junqian came out and found her, she was holding an umbrella under a street lamp, looking up at the snow. The light focused on that small patch of light, illuminating only the delicate snowflakes in that area of ​​the sky, while everything else was hidden in the darkness. From a distance, it looked as if only the background where the girl was standing was snowing for her alone.

Upon seeing him emerge, Xu Youwei instinctively folded her umbrella and jogged towards Chen Junqian. The ends of her hair, fluttering with her movements, shone brilliantly under the streetlights, as if sprinkled with fluorescent powder. She then naturally took his hand and opened the same large umbrella with him.

Feelings related to liking someone, even the slightest bit, can instantly make one surrender and forget all past harshness, vigilance, and even bitterness.

At this moment, the mind is like a sponge, with every word and action of the other person like a surging wave, until the thoughts themselves become bloated, soft, and fragile.

Xu Youwei shook her head, trying to wring out the sponge in her brain that had already absorbed water, but to no avail. So she simply let it be and tightened her grip on the hand she was holding.

Everything in their future seemed like the snow-covered earth before them, without wounds or past events, as if everything was still possible, and everything could be started anew, rearranged, and re-etched with their own marks.

Looking back, all that can be seen are the two lines of footprints they left as they walked side by side.

Chen Junqian suddenly felt the girl beside him stop. Turning around, he could see her slowly repeating deep breaths and exhales. She reached out to feel the cool touch of her hand on his palm, then tried to suppress and calm the thunderous heartbeat that still pounded in her chest, no matter how many times she did it. She lowered her head, using her long hair to cover her face, and then carefully raised her eyes from there, trying to look at him, trying to look directly into his eyes.

"I want to accompany Qinqin from the beginning of her life to the end."

As if she wanted to bury her flushed cheeks in soft snow, she really wanted to experience falling in love like this.

P.S.: Thank you for reading and subscribing.

Chapter 105: Mu Mu mustn't know! (Part 2)

Chen Junqian can still clearly remember that Xu Youwei's first unsuccessful confession was at the beginning of 2012. Now, just one step away from 2014, a full two years have passed.

Of course, he could still pretend to be clueless and treat the other person's words as a confession, since there was neither liking nor love involved. In China, people wouldn't say things like "Please go out with me" like they do in Japan. Even if Lin Mu said the same thing, people would just think it was another common promise between childhood sweethearts.

But since the person who said these words was Xu Youwei, then this was a confession in the true sense. After all, the other party had said those words once during the summer vacation. In a sense, the sentence "I've fallen for you" is probably more touching than "I like you". After all, it seems to hide a very secret feeling and a long process. It's not the kind of statement that you like someone the moment you see them, but a more complex state of mind and feelings that you gradually realize after knowing them for a long time.

From this perspective, the achievement "Confession" that Xu Youwei achieved should be the most in line with the standard. If the time span is extended to a year, it seems that another achievement called "Love Rampage Motorcycle" can also be rightfully attributed to her. After all, if we only consider the condition of confessing again after failing to confess, Youyou did repeat it, only the interval was a bit long.

But Chen Junqian might like this long interval, because what he needs most right now is time. The passage of time will drive everyone's physical and psychological growth, and the changes in the former will drive the changes in the latter. When his age and theirs get closer and closer to the safe range that he can accept, the relationship between them will naturally fall into place.

Just as Chen Junqian's feelings towards Xu Youwei were undoubtedly more complicated than they were at the fireworks festival two years ago, the girl's cheeks flushed red like an apple on a branch, about to fall to the ground, because of the confession that slipped out. Her eyelashes were trembling slightly with nervousness, and her hands unconsciously gripped his. Her eyes, however, stubbornly maintained a direct gaze, waiting for his answer.

Unlike elementary school, they are about to enter the third year of junior high school and prepare for the high school entrance examination. They were even talking about these things just half an hour ago. Not only do various romantic comedy stories lay the groundwork for the male and female protagonists' past in junior high school, but most of the people Chen Junqian knows also started their student romances or even crushes in junior high school. The arrival of adolescence brings symptoms called "chuunibyou" (middle school syndrome) and makes people unconsciously want to care about a certain member of the opposite sex and become fascinated by their every move.

The tactic of stalling has always been one of the most effective weapons of a scumbag. Just like the "three no's principle" of "no initiative, no rejection, no responsibility," reality doesn't reset everyone's goodwill and experiences after one episode like a romantic comedy. Nor will it create a wooden protagonist who is blind and deaf to the goodwill and kindness of others. This has always been the most agonizing thing for Chen Junqian himself.

In the past few years, Chen Junqian has always fallen into a certain misconception: that dating at this age is just an advanced version of playing house, and he naturally assumes that his interactions with many girls are already no different from dating in many ways, and that going any further would only bring verbal affirmation.

But if we think about it the other way around, if this is what dating at this age is like, then he really doesn't need to worry too much about how a verbal promise will destroy their relationship. In recent years, domestic youth-themed movies such as "So Young," "Fleet of Time," and "Tiny Times" have exaggerated love triangles and conflicts to the point of near collapse of interpersonal relationships because they feature overly dramatic plots of infidelity, sex, and even abortion. But in reality, these things don't happen at their age. Chen Junqian doesn't think anyone around him would do such a thing, since he himself is watching.

We are different this year than we were last year, and so are the people we like.

It is a lucky and rare thing for us, who are constantly growing, to continue to like someone who has grown alongside us.

Compared to Zhu Wenyun and Shen Nianqiu, Xu Youwei was actually the one who could openly and honestly say the word "like." This was because the relationship they wanted to achieve and the feelings they held had long since gone beyond the scope of simple liking. So, sometimes she felt that the word couldn't express her true feelings, and other times she felt that her emotions were unworthy of using it. Perhaps this could be considered a negative consequence of precociousness.

So this time, Chen Junqian didn't lean over and ask "What?" like he did the first time when he didn't hear it at all, nor did he deliberately tease the other person by asking them to repeat it like the second time. Having clearly heard the sentence, he responded to the other person word by word:

"I will stay with Youyou for the rest of my life."

Then, he continued, looking the other person in the eyes, and said:

“Youyou said during summer vacation that she probably liked me, and actually I do too, and I think I will like you more and more over time.”

Even without that "marriage contract" or the entrustment from her father and grandmother, Chen Junqian would still have stayed with Xu Youwei until the end of her life, because it was originally his own choice.

Starting with Lin Mu, each time he actually targeted these girls first, and then they were included by the system as heroines. Therefore, there was never a causal logic that he would only approach someone because they were chosen as the heroine first. All his choices were proactive, and the stories all started with him. Everyone was like this, just like what he thought when facing Gu Lingguo:

If he really is the male protagonist of a romantic comedy, then the girl he has chosen should rightfully be the female protagonist who can find happiness in this romantic comedy.

Just like Shen Nianqiu, if Youyou wanted him to show such a clear attitude, then Chen Junqian was certainly willing to do so. After all, compared to his obviously difficult older sister, Xu Youwei's idea could be described as a simple and innocent little thought of being coquettish.

And that is indeed the case.

Because right after he said that, Xu Youwei, whose mind was completely blank, subconsciously wanted to recreate the grand escape from summer vacation. However, this time she really couldn't escape. Firstly, there was a lot of snow all around, and it was still falling heavily from the sky. Secondly, Chen Junqian had already put his arm around her shoulder, just like the way he had carried her to the car under an umbrella on that rainy day back then.

So... did she succeed in confessing her feelings?

Even after returning to their secret hideout, sitting on the edge of the bed in the room, Xu Youwei, having taken off her shoes and slightly damp socks, was still lost in thought about this question.

After all, she had genuinely heard the other person say 'I like you' to her.

So, does this mean Qinqin and I are lovers starting today?

After realizing this, Xu Youwei was initially slightly surprised and respectful, but then she immediately noticed the comic doodles on the manuscript paper on her desk. When she saw that these were not stick figures with only a surname on their heads, but rather chibi-style figures, she became dejected again and started rolling around on the bed.

Ahhhhhh—but what about Mumu?

Although Hsu Yu-wei admitted that she had indeed done many things that were somewhat unfair to her best friend before, the most serious thing was writing her own words on a bottle that Chen Chun-chien gave to her, and she had already been forgiven by him.

However, on the other hand, it was precisely because she was forgiven by the other party and also taken by Mu Mu to buy gifts to give to Chen Junqian again that Xu Youwei felt particularly guilty at this moment. After all, she never doubted that Mu Mu also liked Qinqin, it's just that the person in question hadn't realized it yet. Her behavior would be the worst kind of person in those prime-time dramas.

Besides Mu Mu, she had also been specifically warned by Chen Xi not to date Chen Junqian too early. So if he found out, Chen Junqian's parents would probably find out the next day, and after asking around, they would find out that she was the one who confessed first. Eventually, it would also reach Mu Mu's ears.

In short, when Chen Junqian returned to the room after getting a cup of hot water, all he saw was a girl who had already crawled into bed and was nervously biting her nails. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought she was a heartbroken girl who had failed to confess her feelings and was now thinking that she couldn't even be friends with him anymore.

"What's wrong now? Oh dear."

Chen Junqian placed the other person's cup on the bedside table and asked the same question with concern.

Then, he heard the girl speak as if she had made a decision:

"Qinqinqinqin, I think it's best if only the two of us know about our secret relationship. Hmm... from now on, this will be a secret between the two of us!"

----------------------------------

It was around 11 p.m., and Lin Su was still lying on her bed in her room looking at her phone, long past her usual bedtime. Her husband was already asleep next to her, and she could hear his even breathing.

Feeling the screen light was a bit too bright, the middle-aged woman pressed the power button. Then, sitting alone, she thought back to the scene two months ago when she took her mother, Gu Linguo's grandmother, to Shanghai for medical treatment. It was her first time going to a big city like Shanghai. It was just her and her mother. Her younger brother was busy outside, but she didn't know what he was busy with. After all, even the medical expenses were all paid by Lin Su's family.

She couldn't explain exactly what illness the old woman had, only that there was a problem with her intestines. The first time she went to Shanghai and took the subway for the first time, her mother had a seizure. She sat there crying loudly in pain, saying that they were going to kill her with pain and that they would abandon her as their mother. Lin Su could only apologize to the other passengers while pulling her mother up in this unfamiliar environment and taking her to the hospital.

This kind of thing always reminded her of the trip she took with her mother two years ago. At lunchtime, when they were sitting at a table with other members of the tour group, the old lady habitually picked at the food on her plate with her chopsticks. Reality isn't like the public service advertisements where people with dementia leave food for their children. If she really wanted to leave food, it would probably go to her son, not her. It was just a habit of this old lady who had lived in the countryside her whole life. It wasn't until someone next to her nudged Lin Su's arm and said, "Don't let your mom pick at the food with her chopsticks, it's unhygienic," that she realized what she had done, and her face instantly turned red to her neck.

Then, she scolded her mother as if she were scolding a child or her daughter. The old lady's hand holding the chopsticks froze for a moment, and then she didn't dare to pick up any food for a long time. She mumbled an explanation, half aggrieved and half annoyed, but then ate a whole bowl of white rice without picking up anything.

Lin Su, who was sitting next to her, continued eating as if she hadn't seen anything. With each bite, she felt a growing sense of guilt, but with each additional bit of guilt, she also felt a strange sense of relief. When they finished eating and went to the souvenir shop, she started to lash out at her mother again, yelling and shouting at her, asking why she was buying these worthless and useless little things. She only stopped when her mother was crying in front of everyone, her face all scrunched up. Then she began to fall into a cycle of pain and relief again.

As people get older, they start to cry like children. Even though the other person treated her completely differently when they were her age, this doesn't seem to apply to their family. Lin Su's own daughter is not a child who likes to cry at all. In fact, she hasn't seen her daughter cry since some time ago, just like her.

Suddenly, I heard the door creak.

It's already midnight before I knew it.

Gu Linguo gently pushed open the door and, on the first day of 2014, at the beginning of another birthday, said to her mother, "Mom, you've worked hard," thus completing this year's ceremony.

She remembered the essay topic her teacher had assigned about mothers, and then came up with a metaphor that was neither a golden flower nor a paper boat.

Sometimes I feel that my mother is like a spider. She is smart, patient, and skillful like a spider, and she is always working hard. In winter, she knits me beautiful and comfortable sweaters.

Spider eggs are very fragile. I think that spiders grow into such fierce and frightening creatures in order to protect their offspring.

At the same time, like a spider, my mother would arrange everything for me in an orderly manner.

It's like invisible threads have been laid throughout every corner of my life.

This is a net that even a moon boat cannot escape.