I turned reality into a romantic comedy.

After explaining the ins and outs of the incident clearly and quickly, Chen Junqian leaned back against Gu Linguo's door again:

"As for now, she's talking to her aunt about Lin Guo, like her birthday wish. She wants some privacy, like being able to lock her room door at times, or for her parents to knock gently before entering and ask, 'What does Uncle think?'"

By this point, no one even cared that Chen Junqian had climbed over the balcony to get into the house. Gu Yong, who had just woken up and was dragged into this whirlwind of topics, subconsciously glanced at his wife first, only to be met with a fierce glare from her. At least within this family of three, Lin Su had indeed been the center of attention for over a decade.

But Gu Yong hesitated for a moment, and finally moved his lips to indicate:

"Guoguo has indeed grown up. She'll be fourteen by the Chinese age reckoning after the New Year."

As if by some sudden turn of events, he immediately saw his wife, with whom he had lived for nearly twenty years, begin to contort her face. Her features, which seemed about to melt, twisted together, and she stared at her husband for a few seconds as if she didn't recognize him at all. Then her waist began to hunch over, and her whole body collapsed, as if she were about to sink into the floor. She sat on the ground and began to wail loudly, uttering all sorts of incoherent words, just like her mother, Gu Linguo's grandmother, who had also sat on the ground and cried loudly a few months earlier on a crowded subway.

This was, of course, an outcome Gu Yong had already anticipated, and could only helplessly close his eyes. Chen Junqian, however, merely pursed his lips into a hard line, then that line snapped abruptly, and an unusually cold voice emerged, drowning out the sobbing:

"That's why the problem will never be solved. Does everyone have to say the harshest things?"

Lin Su stared at him, her face deathly pale, as if she didn't understand what he was talking about. After a while, she suddenly let out a cold laugh:

"And who are you to Lin Guo?"

"I am her friend."

"What is a friend? Are they closer than one's own parents?"

Many times, it's not that I want to say things to an absolute or extreme degree, but I've actually been asked this question, and I genuinely feel that if I don't say something absolute, the other person won't realize that I'm already angry or have been holding back for a long time, just like the scene in front of me.

But Chen Junqian wasn't involved, so he couldn't answer the question on Gu Lingguo's behalf. He simply turned to look at Gu Yong.

"If it doesn't work out, then get a divorce. Whether it's the child's wishes or the ability to raise the child, Lin Guo would probably prefer to be with her father."

Faced with extreme ideas, one naturally needs to take even more extreme measures. Chen Junqian did not expect Gu Yong to actually divorce Lin Su, but crying, making a scene, and threatening suicide are not exclusive to women. Sometimes, practicing reverse techniques is also a necessary skill to learn. After all, the biggest difference between Gu Lingguo's family and his previous life is that he successfully saved Gu Yong. If Gu Lingguo's family were a single-parent family at this time, it would undoubtedly be much more troublesome.

"Lin Guo is already under a lot of pressure. There are some things that are inconvenient to say to you. As her friend, I think this is better. After all, sometimes it's better to just get a divorce than to stay together for the sake of the children and pretend to be together."

Chen Junqian's words were so frantically provoking the already fragile nerve in Lin Su's mind. Just like many female-oriented novels create a female protagonist who can ignore the rules in a world bound by rules, when the table was overturned by the word "divorce" in her most accustomed and familiar family interaction mode, many words suddenly got stuck and she couldn't say anything. The initiative was thus transferred back to Gu Yong.

"I……"

Seemingly still not quite understanding how the topic had suddenly escalated to this point, Gu Yong tried his best to calm the atmosphere down. He first reached out and pulled Lin Su up from the ground and pushed her into the room, then went forward and gently knocked on Gu Linguo's door, saying, "Guoguo, Daddy wishes you a happy birthday," before patting Chen Junqian's arm.

"Let's talk about it tomorrow morning. It's so late now. I'll talk to Guoguo's mom, and you can talk to Guoguo."

After saying that, he dragged himself into the room and closed the door, leaving Chen Junqian alone in the hall.

Even though Chen Junqian had the key to Gu Lingguo's room door in his pocket, which he had just taken out of his pocket, he still gently knocked on the door himself. A few seconds later, he heard a click from inside as the door opened. The girl, who hadn't changed her clothes during that time as he had expected, was still wearing that dress. However, the blindfold she had been wearing had been removed, and her two heterochromatic pupils, one black and one gold, were now filled with glistening tears. These translucent beads rolled down her face and onto her clothes.

However, she dared not reach out to rub or wipe her eyes, because such an action could easily cause the soft lenses to fold inside her eyes or stick to her eyeballs, damaging her cornea. So Gu Lingguo simply let the tears roll down her face.

Some people cry out of fear, some out of sadness, and some out of joy.

Crying is always given all sorts of meanings.

But right now she's just crying, silently, quietly shedding tears.

Chen Junqian sighed, then took out a tissue from his pocket and handed it to her. Seeing that she didn't want to take it, he stepped forward and gently wiped away her tears. The warm tears seeped through the tissue and into his palm, feeling almost burning hot in the winter.

However, it seemed that this was not the action Gu Lingguo wanted at all. She quickly broke free from the paper, opened her arms and hugged Chen Junqian's upper body, pressing her forehead against his and continuing to cry.

A few tears fell onto Chen Junqian's lips with her movement and posture.

They have been traveling long distances since their childhood, and have finally arrived at the estuary.

Therefore, it tastes just like salt from ancient times, surprisingly salty and astringent.

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

Chapter 108: Reality is the Second Dimension (Two-in-One)

Although the newly unlocked achievement was named "If there were a female protagonist in front of me who would shed tears," Chen Junqian really didn't want to see any girl crying in front of him. He was the type who would respond better to gentleness than force. If Zhu Wenyun hadn't been on the phone but had instead been hugging him and sobbing like Gu Lingguo was in front of him, he probably wouldn't have been able to say such harsh words.

Perhaps he is indeed the kind of person with a strong sense of empathy, or perhaps emotions are contagious. Looking at the girl silently shedding tears in front of him, his own mood also plummeted, because he couldn't find any better comfort. After all, he felt that every word he said at this moment was like cutting open the other person's wound. Family, mother, and related topics have always been so heavy.

However, he still couldn't remain silent, because Chen Junqian did indeed feel some kind of pity for Gu Linguo.

However, the feeling of feeling sorry for someone always evokes a sense of looking down from a superior position, and is associated with words like sympathy, pity, and pitifulness. So after thinking about it, Chen Junqian changed the form of his feelings and expressed them in a way that was called affirmation.

"No matter what others think, Lin Guo has always been a very important and indispensable part of my life."

This wasn't entirely insincere, because the other person's niche was truly irreplaceable. Putting aside all the other achievements, Chen Junqian genuinely liked having a girl he could chat with about anime and manga. After all, this was an indispensable part of his life since his rebirth, and he might even want to move closer to that goal in the future.

Chen Junqian's words were practically like they had teeth, or rather, every word he uttered tonight was.

Because each time it felt like gently biting into the softest part of her heart.

Actually, Gu Lingguo had already cried alone in her room before Chen Junqian came in. But now she was afraid of crying like this in front of Chen Junqian. She felt that tears were a seal that restricted her growth. Every time she cried, it seemed that it would be harder for her to smile in front of him like before.

Upon realizing this, tears instantly became the most precious thing in the world, as if each drop flowing from her body would take away a portion of her life force. So she stood there, pursing her lips until they turned white, trying to shrink the corners of her eyes, and turned her back to wipe the crisscrossing tear stains on her face with a tissue.

It was only because she wasn't wearing makeup today, otherwise, with all that snot and tears, her face would probably be enough to open a paint shop on the spot. However, even after the tears stopped, the occasional sobs and heavy nasal sounds couldn't go away. The colored contact lens in her right eye also became blurry due to a layer of water film. Feeling that her hands were too shaky to take it off, Gu Lingguo simply put the eye patch she had taken off back on, blocking her vision from that side, and looked at Chen Junqian with her left eye.

"Thank you."

Without adding familiar titles like "brother" or "senior," Gu Lingguo, after crying, simply thanked Chen Junqian in a plain manner, then unconsciously glanced at the door again:

“I heard everything you said outside just now… My dad will never get a divorce, and even I feel a little… I don’t know how to put it.”

If the public service announcements on TV show the idea of ​​seeing a mother washing her grandmother's feet, which inspires one to wash their own mother's feet and thus achieve a kind of filial piety, then what Gu Lingguo sees is a more tragic cycle. She not only sees her mother washing her grandmother's feet, but also how her mother wipes her body and bottom. This is the fundamental reason why Gu Lingguo and even Gu Yong have been able to tolerate Lin Su for so long.

Just like the thoughts Gu Linguo had in the hospital after her father's accident:

She suddenly felt sorry for her father, who had almost lost his life that night, but also for her mother, and for her grandmother, who, after getting sick, could only be cared for by her daughter because her favorite son was useless. She felt that no adult in this world was not pitiful.

However, even at this juncture, Gu Lingguo still has two choices.

One type, which will be most commonly seen on the internet, involves completely severing ties with one's family of origin, holding the attitude that "because my mother was pitiful, I don't want to become like her," and then comfortably blaming all future personality flaws and misfortunes on childhood and family. With the ideas that "the first child I have to raise after I become an adult is myself," "I should never mistreat myself," and "what I cannot obtain in my youth will ultimately trap me for life," they directly fall into traps such as overspending, online loans, and other pitfalls. Chen Junqian himself has seen more than one such example.

Gu Lingguo's thoughts are closer to another kind. Although it may sound a bit self-centered, she does have a certain pity for her mother and a desire to save her. So she is more willing to try to play the role that her mother likes. However, this behavior is also constantly challenging her ability to cope. No matter how precocious a child is, he is not an adult. Moreover, the psychological capacity of adults is often limited. The string will eventually break.

But Chen Junqian would certainly prefer to see Gu Lingguo, whose personality aligns with the second idea, because in his eyes there is still room for maneuver. Even though he doesn't think Lin Su will truly change her values ​​and way of thinking that she has maintained for half her life in a short period of time, playing the role of a good mother is not a difficult thing, after all, Gu Lingguo herself has been playing the role of a good daughter for more than ten years.

Whether it's 'making do' or 'making do,' continuing to maintain the family status of three is the best outcome for Gu Lingguo's family. After all, as Gu Lingguo herself said, neither she nor her father could bring themselves to actually get a divorce.

“You don’t have to actually do this, but you can’t not say it. If Auntie really cares, and it’s most appropriate for me to say it myself, her behavior and way of thinking are the most damaging to the people who are closest to her and care about her. So even if it’s just pretending to be indifferent to ‘intimidate’ her, it will at least be much better.”

Gu Linguo's family situation is completely different from Shen Nianqiu's family situation, so Chen Junqian's views and solutions will also change according to the actual situation. After adding this reiteration, he temporarily ended the topic, trying to make the atmosphere in the room a little more relaxed.

"But I really didn't expect you not to have changed your clothes inside."

"...This is extremely troublesome to change, and by then we were completely panicked."

As if to show Chen Junqian the full picture of her cosplay outfit, Gu Lingguo stood in front of him, lifting her skirt and slowly turning around before sitting back down on the bed. She then lifted her knee-high socks out of her slippers and dangled them in mid-air, seemingly about to do something.

"I was originally planning to give my brother a surprise."

"I think it's more of a shock. Although I did say that I wanted to recreate some famous scenes from anime with you, Lin Guo, it's obviously unnecessary to do something with such a high risk factor."

"Ok."

As she spoke, Gu Lingguo moved her chair over from the side, then stood on tiptoe and raised her lower leg in a slightly condescending manner, dangling it in front of Chen Junqian.

"Then that's the only way."

Completely understanding what the other party wanted to do, Chen Junqian obediently sat down on the ground, lowering his height. He then extended his right hand, palm up, and soon felt a slight weight on it. Instinctively, he tightened his grip on Gu Lingguo's outstretched foot, which was resting on his palm. As a result, Gu Lingguo immediately trembled in sync, almost falling off the chair.

"...So, are all anime characters immune to tickling?"

After muttering this under her breath, Gu Lingguo carefully moved her other foot over as well. Although Chen Junqian was strong enough to support the girl's weight, it was obviously difficult for him to land on both palms and maintain his balance. After all, she wasn't holding a rope. So, two seconds after he stepped over, Gu Lingguo, completely unsteady, fell forward onto Chen Junqian and then caught him in her arms.

"This is a scene from the first episode."

Nestled in Chen Junqian's arms, Gu Lingguo muttered something to herself, then quickly looked up again:

"Actually, if I really lowered the rope down the corridor today, as long as my brother was there, even if something suddenly happened to me, I should be able to achieve the scene from episode nine?"

In the ninth episode of "Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions," Rikka Takanashi, encouraged by her friend, chooses to confess her feelings to Yuuta Togashi on a rooftop. However, before she can even say anything, she almost falls off, but Yuuta catches her just like in the first episode.

"Let me say it again, reality is not a two-dimensional world, and we should never have this kind of thinking again."

"I know."

He pressed his head against Chen Junqian's chest once more, listening to his heartbeat. He felt his own emotions calm down as well. The quiet atmosphere, almost devoid of any human voice, continued. It felt as if this place had been forcibly ripped from the river of time, a small world that had been separated from the rest of the world, and in this small world, there were only the two of them.

So much so that Gu Lingguo didn't even want to answer anymore.

She really wanted to argue back.

[You yourself climbed over the balcony at midnight last night.]

[You're only a year older than me, yet you're not afraid at all.]

You yourself can easily say things like "I'm important."

Reality is not a two-dimensional world.

But the very fact that you're in my life is already beyond reality, beyond fantasy, beyond anime for me.

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

Chen Junqian certainly wouldn't stay in Gu Linguo's room all night. After all, if he actually did such a thing, his position would become quite delicate and even awkward. So, after confirming that the other party was alright, he decided to temporarily retreat after rushing to two events in one night.

"I'll come over again tomorrow morning to check on things. By then, there should be a preliminary result regarding your parents' situation. Also, Happy New Year."

He didn't say happy birthday, because in his eyes, Gu Lingguo's birthday was the second day of the twelfth lunar month, which the two of them had agreed on, not the first day of the twelfth lunar month, so he had to wait almost 24 hours longer.

"Happy New Year, but could you wait a moment, brother? I'd like you to take this outfit I'm wearing back with you, since it's too easy for it to be discovered if I leave it here."

"Okay, then I'll wait outside until you've changed."

"But I also wanted to chat with my brother while I was changing clothes. If we talked outside, my parents would hear us. It would be better if my brother stood there and turned away or lay on my bed with his back to me... So many things happened tonight, and my mind is still a bit of a mess."

Since Gu Linguo had already said so much, Chen Junqian had no choice but to stay in the room. He lay down on the bed facing the wall as she instructed, closed his eyes, and listened to her rustling sounds of taking off and putting on her clothes while chatting idly with her for a while.

Although it sounded like a rather romantic scene, Chen Junqian himself felt that his emotional fluctuations were not as great as when he measured the other person's body size last time. After all, he was indeed feeling a bit sleepy. He had worked a long shift on the first day of 2014, and now Chen Junqian just wanted to go back to his room and sleep as soon as possible.

When he turned around again, Gu Lingguo, who had taken off all her clothes and changed back into her pajamas, lay back down on the bed. The white blankets covered her from neck to toe completely, leaving only her small face exposed. She looked at him expectantly, making it seem as if the next thing she would say was, "Don't leave tonight."

"I want to go back."

As if she hadn't heard Chen Junqian's complaints, the girl simply stretched out a small hand from under the covers and waved it at him.

"Am I supposed to offer a bedtime story service?"

With a sigh, Chen Junqian got up, put on his shoes, and sat back down on Gu Linguo's bedside. He was about to tuck her outstretched left hand under the covers when the girl grabbed his right hand instead.

However, seeing that Gu Lingguo was pretending nothing had happened with her eyes closed, Chen Junqian could only let her continue to hold his hand. She seemed to be a little sweaty, and he could feel the smooth texture of her palm, which was also warmer than his own.

"...Go to sleep."

Stripped of her unrealistic disguise, the girl lying there was just an ordinary girl.