I turned reality into a romantic comedy.

Because the final exams of last semester were postponed to the beginning of next semester, Lin Mu was spared the torment of grades during this winter break. In fact, in her own words, this exam schedule was definitely a good thing for her. After all, most students would definitely have a lot of fun during this winter break, but as long as she studied hard during the winter break and secretly opened the book, she would definitely make a remarkable improvement in the final exams at the beginning of the semester.

It has to be said that as they grow older and the pressure of their studies increases, Chen Junqian feels that every time he chats with Mu Mu, she inevitably brings up topics such as studying, exams, and grades. A lot of her extracurricular time is spent on these things, to the point that sometimes he wonders if it's because of his own pressure.

"There is a bit of truth to that. After all, Qianqian's grades are really good. No, they should be described as incredibly good."

When Chen Junqian asked her question, Lin Mu made no attempt to hide her thoughts. As she spoke, she rudely bumped his back with her foot at a steady pace, as if she wanted to release some of the pressure in her heart.

Compared to you, a top student, I'm practically a slacker.

When people are pushed to the limit, they can do anything, but they still can't solve math problems they shouldn't be able to solve. For Lin Mu, who has a childhood sweetheart named Chen Junqian who has consistently ranked first in the grade, the difference in talent is indeed obvious. If her parents hadn't been so demanding about her studies, Chen Junqian would definitely be the perfect "other people's child".

"Although I definitely can't get into any special or elite classes, I should at least get into a regular class at Ningzhong High School."

If Lin Mu had imagined that she and Chen Junqian would still be in the same class when they first entered junior high school, she would no longer have such unrealistic fantasies. After all, the clear distinction between regular high schools and vocational high schools, between Ningzhong and Jinzhong among regular high schools, and the special enrollment classes, key classes and regular classes within Ningzhong have already created one obstacle after another between them.

With Chen Junqian already positioned in the final special recruitment class, all Lin Mu could do was try to overcome as many obstacles as possible and get as close to him as possible.

In fact, most of the troubles of adolescence come from school, family, grades, or interpersonal relationships. Lin Mu is no exception, since grades are often tied to interpersonal relationships, whether at home or at school.

"If Mu Mu wants to apply for the regular class at Ningzhong High School, putting aside her studies for now, it would be best to get as many points as possible in physical education. If you feel that this is really impossible, you can also consider other methods."

Having genuinely experienced both the middle school and college entrance exams, Chen Junqian certainly had more experience in this area. For example, regarding the physical education entrance exam that Lin Mu had been worried about since entering junior high, he knew a way to cheat his way through. That is, if he judged that he would not be able to pass even if he participated, he could use his connections to get a diagnosis from a local hospital stating that he could not participate on the two days of the exam due to physical reasons, and then he could naturally get a 60% passing score as a guarantee.

Chen Junqian had two students in his class who used this trick in his previous life. The reason he remembered it so well was that he was going through the worst period of his life as a fat person and he was running like crazy to finish the physical education exam for the high school entrance exam. Although he did not pass the 1,000-meter compulsory event in the end, he still got good scores in the optional volleyball passing and rope skipping events with the help of his homeroom teacher and special training. In the end, it did not drag down his high school entrance exam results.

"Other methods?"

After listening to Chen Junqian's explanation, Lin Mu quickly shook his head and made the same choice as in his previous life:

"There's no need for that. People will gossip. Besides, I'm not sick at all. I'm very healthy. Even if I don't get a perfect score or a 90, I should be able to get a passing score if I try hard."

"Well, I suggest that Mumu choose rope skipping and volleyball as her two optional events. These two are the simplest, easiest to practice, and easiest to get good scores on. They are much easier than the mandatory 800-meter run."

"Okay, I'll try my best to practice these two items in my future PE classes."

After discussing some topics related to the physical education entrance exam, Chen Junqian and Lin Mu heard a call from downstairs inviting them to come down for dinner. After responding, they came out of Lin Mu's room, and Mu Mu, who was walking in front, naturally took Chen Junqian's arm and held his hand.

In front of both sets of parents, she was never shy or hesitant to show their close relationship, especially after the chemistry experiment incident. After all, during that time, she would go to Chen Junqian's house whenever she had free time. She not only competed with her sister for the honor of waking Chen Junqian up, but also got teased by her parents for a long time. So Lin Mu, who was originally a little thin-skinned, became much thicker at this time, and naturally felt less guilty doing so.

Watching the two children walk down the stairs hand in hand, chatting and laughing, Chen Jun suddenly heard Lin Youfeng, who was sitting next to him, say with a smile:

"These two kids are getting closer and closer as they get older. If you didn't know better, you'd think they were already dating."

His heart skipped a beat.

Because of similar remarks made when Chen Jungang returned to Guoning and Xu Zhiling to report on their work.

I've also heard it from the other party.

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

PS2: There will be an extra chapter tonight.

Chapter 115: What Would You Choose? (Part 2)

Unlike Chen Jun, who was already sweating a little despite the cold weather, Wang Hongling didn't seem to think much of Lin Youfeng's joke. Sitting there eating sunflower seeds and chatting, she casually chimed in:

"No, they've been playing together since they were kids."

It can only be said that the advantage of being elementary school classmates is that although Chen Junqian and Lin Mu's acquaintance only started in the fourth grade, in the eyes of the parents who do not know the specific details, it can be inferred that they started from the first grade. However, there seems to be no problem with saying it this way. After all, if the two were not classmates who knew each other's names and had some understanding of each other from the beginning, Chen Junqian would have had no right to get involved in the earliest incident of losing money.

Lin Mu had no intention of clarifying this practice, which was in some way a historical record. Rather, given their current relationship and circumstances, it was impossible to say that they weren't actually that close back then. Moreover, she had already prepared herself for any strange girls she might encounter in the future, and she would simply use the same smooth little combo she had used since first grade when she was in the same class as Qianqian.

Actually, this wasn't the first time their parents had made such a joke at a parent-teacher meeting. However, given Xu Zhiling's words, Chen Jun always felt a little guilty. One was his former boss, and the other was a business partner. Moreover, aside from their work relationship, they also had a good personal relationship. He really didn't know how to respond.

To reiterate, while other parents are still worried about their children's academic performance or personality traits, this father is actually thinking about how to help his son navigate between two girls' families. What kind of situation is this?

A little embarrassed, Chen Jun took a sip of tea to brush it off. He was determined to have another father-son talk with Chen Junqian during the Chinese New Year this year. After all, at this age, if they wanted to, they could do some things that crossed the line. Although he knew his son would never do it, as a father, he still had to give him some advice.

Chen Junqian was unaware that his father's stress level was even higher than his own. After taking Lin Mu's hand and coming downstairs, he naturally greeted her parents politely, then pulled Mu Mu to sit down next to him, opened the drinks next to them and poured them for her. He was indeed acting like the host, just as Lin Youfeng had said, "Don't act like a guest when you come to my place."

"Will Junqian come to our mountain to play again this year? When I went home last time, Lin Mu's grandparents were still talking about you. Another year has passed in the blink of an eye."

The conversation at the dinner table still revolved around the two children, since both Chen Junqian and Lin Mu were the absolute center of their respective families.

As soon as Lin Youfeng asked the question, Lin Mu, who was sitting next to Chen Junqian, also subconsciously stopped eating and turned her head to look at him without hiding her emotional fluctuations, wanting to hear her childhood sweetheart's answer.

"I will definitely go if I have the chance. Even if I can't go on the first day of the Lunar New Year, I will definitely visit my grandparents in the mountains before the Lantern Festival."

The answer sounded neither good nor bad. Although it wasn't the answer Lin Mu most wanted to hear, it wasn't the answer she least wanted to hear either. The main reason was that Chen Junqian himself was not likely to make promises he couldn't keep. Given the context that Shen Nianqiu was coming to Guoning on the 28th of the twelfth lunar month, it was indeed difficult to make any definitive statements.

"Actually, Mu Mu can come to our place to play during the Chinese New Year. You Wei often comes to our hometown during the Chinese New Year. She used to be able to set off firecrackers with Jun Qian, but now she can't."

After Lin Youfeng extended his invitation, Wang Hongling followed suit and extended the same invitation to Lin Mu. She genuinely wanted to get closer to this incredibly lovable girl. However, this wasn't to say that Xu Youwei wasn't likable; it was just that Lin Mu, who was more accustomed to visiting the countryside, was more familiar with her than the former. Otherwise, Lin Mu wouldn't be able to receive information about any changes or schedules made by Chen Junqian at home so quickly.

"Yes, that works too."

If each of them had a strong sense of 'time territory' during their elementary school years, then after entering middle school, with changes in environment and mindset, these thoughts naturally became confused. At this time of year when she shouldn't be involved, Lin Mu still readily agreed.

"Last year, Qianqian came to my house for the Chinese New Year, so this year I went to Qianqian's house for the Chinese New Year, and next year I will go back to my house."

"Haha, it sounds a bit like what I saw online the other day. These days, young couples discuss whether to go to the mother-in-law's or the husband's parents' house first for Chinese New Year, and finally decide to alternate between them once a year."

Chen Junqian couldn't really say much to his childhood sweetheart who was adopting a "since you're not coming, I'll go to you myself" attitude. Is this the "trouble" of childhood sweethearts?

However, at least Mu Mu isn't the type to wake him up every morning while saying things like, "I'm the only one who comes to wake you up personally every morning, afraid you'll oversleep—it'll be the same no matter how many girls like you in the future." But even if she did do that, he could probably easily deflect the situation back to her.

"You've taken my place as your childhood sweetheart and the advantage of waking me up every morning, yet you still let other girls fall for you. Shouldn't you reflect on yourself? Did you fail to grasp my psychological vulnerabilities? Did you fail to fully showcase your strengths and conceal your weaknesses? Did you make a mistake in your approach? If so, do you have any further improvement plans? Are you really just going to give me attitude and threaten me? This shows that you have neither the intelligence nor the emotional intelligence to win me over, and you don't even have the courage to show our close relationship to others. If you still want to monopolize me, don't you have a clear understanding of your own position? I suggest you reflect on yourself."

Well, by the way, the above set of output mainly comes from a certain friend, Youyou, who came up with a response to Mumu's absolutely righteous arguments a few years ago. It's the kind of sentence that can break Mumu's defenses in just a few words. Do you think your closest friends understand you the most? Fortunately, Youyou has now reformed and joined the camp of absolutely not persecuting Mumu, so I was able to share these words with him in a relaxed manner as a joke not long ago.

The achievement called "marriage contract" was still flashing in his mind, but Chen Junqian didn't think much of it. The main thing was that Mu Mu herself seemed to have completely missed her parents' meaning. Compared to the combined skills of Xu Youwei's three generations, it was much weaker. The intensity was far less than that of the birthday banquet during the summer vacation.

"Is Qianqian going to Shanghai tomorrow?"

Taking advantage of the adults' rare moment of silencing their conversation, Lin Mu leaned over and quietly asked him, "For all these years, my bowl has remained unchangingly filled with leafy green vegetables. But in this situation, I can no longer pick and choose what I really can't eat, like fatty meat, and hand it to him to finish."

Or rather, since they graduated from elementary school, the two of them have rarely sat at the same table to eat. The time when they ate lunch, watched cartoons, and took naps together in the same after-school care center was almost two years ago. Thinking about it this way, you can indeed feel that the girl's facial features have matured compared to then, especially compared to her still relatively young figure. However, when she smiles, she still seems like a complete child.

"Well, tomorrow is the 14th. I should arrive in Shanghai in the afternoon, the competition officially starts the day after tomorrow, the final results will be released the day after that, and then I'll come back that day. All in all, I'll stay for three days and two nights."

"Don't you plan to explore Shanghai a bit more? It probably hasn't snowed there yet..."

"Three days should be enough. The main problem is that return tickets are hard to buy. If we don't take the return train that the organizers bought for us in advance, we feel like we'll be stuck in Shanghai for who knows how long."

"Oh, then Qianqian really should come back sooner."

Since it was Zhu Wenyun, not Chen Junqian, who went to the competition this time, Lin Mu couldn't really say anything like "good luck in the competition." After sending her best wishes to Zhu Wenyun from afar, she said the same thing again, "have fun," which felt like she had said it before, and then she started to concentrate on trying to serve food to Chen Junqian.

If we start counting from the first grade of elementary school, 2014 is now the eighth year that the two of them have known each other.

Lin Mu always thought that the feeling that time was passing faster and faster was a very simple mathematical problem, because when she was seven years old, each year she lived was one-seventh of her life so far, when she was eight years old it became one-eighth, and when she was nine years old it became one-ninth. This number is naturally getting smaller and smaller, so time naturally feels like it is passing faster and faster.

However, if you calculate it the other way around, it also shows a trend of the other person occupying an increasing percentage of her life.

They have known each other for longer than they have not known each other, and this number will continue to increase over time.

It's 60% now, but it will become 70%, 80%, and 90% later.

The infinitely repeating zero point nine nine nine nine nine can be regarded as one.

so what.

When they both grow into old men and women, they'll suddenly realize that they've had some connection with each other since birth.

Ah!

Feeling extremely satisfied with this passage, Mu Mu decided to write it down in her diary tonight.

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Shanghai.

Lying on her bed, Zhu Wenyun held up her train ticket to the incandescent light bulb in the room, letting its shadow fall on her eyelashes and nose. The small print on it had a mysterious, almost transparent quality when viewed from this angle, causing her to unconsciously squint.

This should be her first trip as a couple with Chen Junqian in a long time. The one in Beijing doesn't count, because Shen Nianqiu was waiting there. No matter how much you try to deceive yourself, you can't call that a trip for two.

I had been planning a trip since the summer before I was in sixth grade, but I haven't actually done it yet. So I might as well make this trip to the New Concept Writing Competition in Shanghai a rehearsal and preview.

Zhu Wenjun put the train ticket down, folded it back into her pocket, and lay there quietly, listening to the television in the next room. She subconsciously reached for her phone, which was lying next to her, but no matter how many times she refreshed the screen, all she could see was a text message from the other person: "I'm having dinner at Mu Mu's house tonight, I'll be back late, Wenjun, you should get some rest too." This brought their supposed late-night chat to a close.

Zhu Wenyun put the cheap earphones she bought for ten yuan from the convenience store in front of the school into her ears and began to listen to music aimlessly by herself.

The past year of 2013 and the upcoming year of 2014 were the era when folk songs began to explode in popularity. Classic works such as "Miss Dong", "Zebra Zebra" and "Southern Girl" have emerged. For Zhu Wenyun, who has a bit of an artistic temperament, these folk songs with strong narrative, catchy melodies and simple lyrics and sincere emotions are undoubtedly easy to touch her heart. So she has been listening to them on repeat during this period.

Human emotions tend to converge in certain ways. Miss Dong and the Southern Girl could also be Mr. Chen and the Southern Boy. At least when Zhu Wenyun listened to these songs, all the thoughts that popped into her mind were related to Chen Junqian, making her a little worried about what kind of writing she would produce in the New Concept Writing Competition semi-final the day after tomorrow.

To be frank, in the previous dozen or so New Concept Writing Competitions, there were actually quite a few award-winning works related to youth, romance, and campus life. After all, Han Han and Guo Jingming, who came from this competition, are veterans of writing on this subject. Many students who participated in the competition under their influence unconsciously gravitated towards this direction.

If possible... she would like to write too.

While Zhu Wenyun was pondering the wild horses and grasslands, the organizers in Shanghai had already finalized the topics for the second round of the New Concept Writing Competition.

It's still the same two-choice option as in previous years:

The first question was an essay on the topic "My Views on Love".

The second question is: After I graduate from university, I will write a letter to my father/mother in the form of a letter.

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

PS2: The two questions at the end of this chapter are actual questions that appeared in the second round of the New Concept Writing Competition.

Chapter 116: The Winds of the Future (Part 2)

In many romantic comedies that Chen Junqian has watched.

This kind of character often appears.

They are often born in rural areas outside of Tokyo and may speak their local dialect when they are emotional or unintentionally. They usually come here with some shining wishes and dreams. Some of them will achieve their wishes here, but more often they will run into walls everywhere and feel that they are out of place in this international metropolis.

The charm and appeal of the characters are effectively conveyed to the audience through such events, which is a very effective technique, since the confusion about the future and the pursuit of the future have always been classic themes in youth dramas.

Just as Masaya Nakagawa wrote in "Tokyo Tower":

The entire cityscape of Tokyo resembles a vast cemetery. Crowded, row upon row of rectangular buildings stand like tombstones. Though varying in size, they are not fundamentally different in this respect. This immense cemetery stretches endlessly to the distant horizon. People, filled with longing for this city, flock here from their hometowns, yearning for its grandeur. This city, where many dreams, hopes, regrets, and sorrows lie dormant, perhaps indeed it is a giant graveyard.

In springtime Tokyo, like a vacuum cleaner constantly sucking in trash, young people from all over Japan gather here. The dark, flexible tubes are like tunnels leading to dreams and the future.

But if you go through the tunnel, all you find there is garbage.

The main city described here would be much the same if it were Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, or Shenzhen. For many people who have lived their entire lives in this small county town in southern Anhui with a permanent population of only 300,000, which is less than one-tenth the size of a district in these cities, the scenery there is indeed unimaginable.

Traveling to a city for tourism and working or even settling down in a city are two completely different things, and this is also the difference between Beijing and Shanghai for people from Guoning.

Due to geographical location and proximity, few people from Guoning go to work in Beijing, but quite a few go to Shanghai. After all, the eastern part of Anhui is the legendary Yangtze River Delta region. Compared to Tsinghua and Peking Universities, which parents always talked about when their children were young, when their children actually reach the crucial moment of taking the college entrance examination, most parents will naturally shift their future plans to universities in Shanghai, such as Fudan and Tongji. This is basically the upper limit that Guoning's top scorers in the city can reach, since it only produces one Tsinghua or Peking University every few years.

Just like going to university there and being able to stay there after graduation, Shanghai is probably such a place for many of Guoning's parents, even if they haven't seen "Tiny Times," which is set in this city.