I turned reality into a romantic comedy.

"Okay, Wenyun, come with me first, this area is blocking the way."

Before Zhu Wenyun could react, Chen Junqian reached out and took her hand, then turned around and walked back to Lin Mu and Xu Youwei. He then saw that one-third of an achievement in his mind had been unlocked.

Similar to the three-step process of "The Dressing Doll Falls in Love," which requires all three steps to complete, the same applies to "Campus Star," which he noticed around this time last year. The three conditions are: "Being envied for always being surrounded by various beautiful girls," "Representing the school in a major event or competition and winning glory," and finally, "Providing benefits for all students in the grade."

Last year's "Chinese Character Dictation Competition" allowed Chen Junqian to fulfill the second condition, but he hadn't unlocked the first condition despite taking Xu Youwei and Lin Mu on countless trips throughout the year. Now that Zhu Wenyun had just arrived, the achievement was unlocked naturally.

After fully considering the controlled variables, Chen Junqian was quite certain that this must be Mu... cough, it's just a matter of time. After all, it's possible that everyone hadn't fully matured last year, so calling them "beautiful girls" is indeed still a delicate timeframe.

"Oh, shall we go straight to the club activity room?"

Although Chen Junqian publicly took her hand on this busy street, Zhu Wenyun showed no embarrassment whatsoever. In fact, if Chen Junqian hadn't been quick to take her hand, she would have taken it herself first.

"No, no, no, shouldn't Wenyun explain to us first? Why are you here? Don't they have evening self-study sessions at Jinzhong?"

Only then did Lin Mu realize the meaning behind Chen Junqian's words. He quickly waved his hand, looking flustered as if a plan he had prepared for a whole day had fallen through.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you before, I applied to the school for exemption from evening self-study, so I had time to go back and pick up the lunch I made at noon. But since I didn't know what your plans were, I only made lunch for Junqian and me today. Maybe we can have lunch together in the future?"

As she spoke, Zhu Wenyun raised the bag in her hand again; it looked like a thermos.

In a sense, this is her exclusive area of ​​advantage. At least in this respect, she doesn't need to fight tooth and nail. She can simply stand there and state the facts, using her absolute strength and privilege to build a barrier that makes the other two hesitate.

After all, neither exempting them from evening self-study nor cooking for them personally are things that these two childhood sweethearts and their official girlfriends could do.

However, Chen Junqian quickly broke the somewhat awkward silence. As he took the thermos from Zhu Wenyun, he gestured towards the stalls outside:

"It's no fun just the two of us eating. Actually, there are a lot of restaurants outside our school with pretty good food. And Youyou and Mumu need to eat dinner too. It would be better if we bought some food outside and brought it back to the club activity room to eat."

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking too. I'll buy Wenyun an egg pancake, and then you can share some of your food with me. Perfect, perfect."

Unlike Lin Mu, who easily cheered and laughed again because of Chen Junqian's answer, Xu Youwei, standing on the other side, had a more complicated feeling. Watching Zhu Wenyun and Chen Junqian interact, she always felt an inexplicable territorial protectiveness, wanting to get angry.

She seemed no different from before, but something felt off, as if the other person had undergone a similar change in mindset after the summer vacation that had just ended.

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

Chapter Two: The Game Under the Table (Part Two)

In one of Zhu Wenyun's unpublished drafts, she wrote the following sentence:

You are a dream I've never had, yet it feels like I've lost you countless times.

This is what she used to describe the feelings of the female protagonist in the story when she had a crush on someone. However, Zhu Wenyun herself always felt that her mentality was completely opposite to this statement. She would always hold onto a certain idea or assumption that she had lost countless times, even if it was something she had held tightly in her hands from the beginning.

The reason for this idea is probably partly due to the classic saying, "Those who are favored are fearless," and partly due to the personality of the literary girl herself.

Just like how martial arts novelists of the last century would often have a fit of pretentious intellectualism and create plots in their stories that would get readers to throw paint at their doorsteps, the synonym for presumptuous expectation followed by presumptuous disappointment and presumptuous breakdown is nothing more than self-indulgence, self-delusion, and self-satisfaction.

Zhu Wenyun, also a writer, has consistently done a good job in this regard. All her works are written to cater to the commercial market, but conversely, the emotions she has nowhere to release, a kind of "literary youth syndrome," naturally end up in other aspects of her daily life.

From this perspective, although it is very difficult to admit, it is indeed the same as what Gu Linguo thought. Zhu Wenyun, the author who has written millions of words of romance novels, clearly has different views on feelings and dating than ordinary people. Shen Nianqiu's words to Xu Youwei on her birthday during the summer vacation also had this consideration.

Because she knew very well that before she came of age, Chen Junqian, who was surrounded by girls like Guoning, would most likely fall in love. After all, she was the one who gave him his first kiss. So she didn't hold any of the ideas that "my little brother will definitely not be moved by women and will only focus on studying" that would make her laugh.

If one had to choose a girl to act as a transition or a proxy, Zhu Wenyun would undoubtedly be Shen Nianqiu's best and only choice. Besides their genuinely good relationship, her personality was also a crucial factor.

Shen Nianqiu certainly had her own ulterior motives, or rather, she had figured out Zhu Wenyun's psychology, which is why she thought that even if the two of them were to fall in love, she could seamlessly take over two years later. Perhaps deep down, Zhu Wenyun herself was longing for such a 'heartbreak,' and by doing this, she was helping this romance novelist experience the most realistic situation in real life.

Although Zhu Wenyun was unclear about Shen Nianqiu's thoughts when she said those words, she had to admit that they did give her a reason and confidence to act, as they were indeed a form of recognition. Of course, compared to the 'older sister' who had played a near-kissing game with her younger brother in front of her, Zhu Wenyun still felt that it would have been better if those words had come from Chen Xi, the real younger sister.

Completely unaware of the emotional journey the two girls behind him had gone through on that short walk from the school gate to the club activity room, Chen Junqian took out his key and pushed open the classroom door. Having not been inside all summer, he immediately felt a long-lost tranquility, carrying the smell of ink and dry dust, as soon as he opened the door. He quickly walked to the window and opened it to let in some fresh air.

Compared to usual club activities, there were two fewer people in the literature club classroom today. However, because dinner was to be served, the long table in the middle was still packed full, especially after Zhu Wenyun brought out layer after layer of various dishes.

Although Chen Junqian had already felt the weight of the food when he carried it over, he was still a little surprised when he saw Zhu Wenyun take out four dishes and a soup from it with great momentum, as if she were showing it off. After all, he could cook himself and knew at a glance that two of the dishes would take a lot of effort.

Without a doubt, compared to Zhu Wenyun's impressive display, the egg pancakes and takoyaki that Lin Mu had just bought from a roadside stall seemed rather inadequate.

What Chen Junqian had always wanted to complain about was that while there were quite a few Japanese snacks that were popular in China, even in a small county like theirs, one could buy takoyaki and sushi that looked at least decent, there was no trace of candied apples related to a certain achievement. He was already planning to DIY one at home someday.

"Actually, I ate at this restaurant when it first opened. It was alright, I can only say that."

Unlike Lin Mu, Xu Youwei casually pulled out a chair and plopped down between Chen Junqian and Zhu Wenyun, cutting off their eye contact. While speaking, she picked up a bamboo skewer, unceremoniously pierced a meatball, and was about to feed it to them herself when she glanced at it and put it in her own mouth first. Then she turned to Lin Mu on the other side and said:

"Mumu just bought Qinqin's favorite shrimp flavor, right?"

"Yes, yes! No salad dressing, extra bonito flakes, I've told the vendor everything."

Unaware that someone had used him as a proxy to start a war, Lin Mu nodded happily. Only after seeing Zhu Wenyun start serving rice to Chen Junqian did he belatedly use a skewer to pick up a piece and habitually feed it to his childhood sweetheart, which finally made Xu Youwei next to him breathe a sigh of relief.

She did seem to be fighting for her best friend, but in reality, she was asserting her own dominance. On the one hand, it could slightly alleviate her guilt, and on the other hand, it was also like using her best friend's protectiveness as an excuse to vent her jealousy as the official girlfriend who couldn't be seen in public.

After all, she really can't cook.

However, when Xu Youwei saw Lin Mu successfully start feeding Chen Junqian takoyaki, she felt a subtle displeasure. Girls in love not only have their intelligence fluctuate greatly, but their emotions also change drastically. After all, she wasn't the type of person like Zhu Wenyun who could win even if she saw her crush showing affection to others in front of her.

As for Chen Junqian, he was also paying attention to everyone's emotions and behavior. Moreover, he had an achievement system in his mind that could be used as a radar to predict everyone's actions.

What's flashing and reminding you right now is yet another achievement that appeared a long time ago, but only now has the opportunity to be triggered:

The game played under the table

From the scene in "Water Margin" where Ximen Qing uses the pretext of picking up chopsticks to grab Pan Jinlian's bound feet, the under-the-table power struggle has never truly stopped, especially on the set of romantic comedies.

Whether it's secretly kicking each other under the table while maintaining a facade of calm, or stealthily taking off her shoes and gently stroking her beloved's thigh with her toes to gauge his reaction, every female protagonist should give her all in this silent war.

Conditions for achieving this: Trigger any of the above scenarios when at least two female protagonists with romantic comedy suitability are present.

Other achievements related to this one include "Under the Table... (Please read this after you reach adulthood)".

Almost simultaneously with this achievement being announced, an offensive from his girlfriend began under the table.

It started as a surprise attack tinged with obvious resentment. The girl, who had somehow lost her shoe, didn't hold back and stepped precisely on the surface of Chen Junqian's black sneakers. Instead of moving away immediately, she stomped on them hard, like a cat annoyed by the invasion of its territory, using the ball of her foot as a pivot. It was as if she was being coquettish, or as if she was venting her dissatisfaction.

The force wasn't actually that strong, and the pain transmitted through the shoe was negligible; it was more of a harsh reminder.

Feeling Chen Junqian's hand, which was picking up food, stiffen slightly, Xu Youwei felt a little better. She continued eating the fried noodles she had bought, but her feet didn't stop moving. Instead of retreating to her safe zone, her mischievous foot slid down Chen Junqian's shoe, like a nimble fish, and lightly hooked his heel.

The original stepping motion turned into an extremely intimate rubbing.

Through the thin sock, her toes gently brushed against Chen Junqian's protruding ankle bone, rubbing against it intermittently. Their relationship had finally evolved to the point of physical intimacy during the summer vacation that had just ended. As a result, Xu Youwei had learned quite a bit about the weaknesses of her seemingly perfect boyfriend. So, she mischievously wiggled her toes again, gently scraping his Achilles tendon through the fabric of her canvas shoes.

If you didn't see what was happening under the table, you probably wouldn't imagine that the girl who was complaining to her best friend about how boring evening study was with math and English was actually asserting her ownership of the boy next to her in a rather affectionate way.

Chen Junqian tried to pull his leg back slightly, wanting to get rid of this tempting feeling that was making his heart flutter.

Sensing his intention to retreat, Xu Youwei raised an eyebrow slightly. Instead of backing down, she went a step further, her toes pointing upwards until they touched Chen Junqian's calf.

The warmth of the socks traveled down the fabric of the trousers.

The girl's instep gently hooked around his calf, no longer just playful mischief, but an almost dependent entanglement. She gently placed her leg on top of his, like vines entwining a tree, or like searching for the only source of warmth in the cold, deep sea.

It was a silent form of coquetry.

Don't hide, Qinqin is mine, even her legs are my support.

Xu Youwei's movements under the table were small, yet carried a heart-stopping persistence. She drew circles on the inside of his calf with her toes, a symbol she often drew on his palm when she was bored. She would also tap his muscle lightly with her heel from time to time, with a hint of 'I'm unhappy, hurry up and comfort me' in her arrogant manner. But she would quickly snuggle up to him again, with a hint of 'But I still like Qinqin' in her words, which seemed like a compromise.

At this moment, neither the carefully prepared dinner brought by Zhu Wenyun nor Lin Mu sitting there feeding him one piece of food after another seemed to be as important as the restless foot under the table, which caught the attention of the male protagonist of the romantic comedy.

When Chen Junqian finally gave up resisting and even gently clamped her foot with his calf to stop her while responding to this secret intimacy, Xu Youwei finally revealed a genuine, sly smile on the table.

She casually grabbed the cola she had brought, tilted her head back, and took a big gulp. The icy carbonated drink slid down her throat, easily suppressing the sour jealousy in her heart, leaving only a sweetness and pride that only that boy could understand.

That's right, I'm Qinqin's girlfriend.

"I'll also try Wenjun's cooking—hmm, it's really good."

Zhu Wenyun felt that Xu Youwei's tone had suddenly softened, carrying a hint of smugness. The hostility from before seemed to have vanished in an instant, replaced by a kind of lazy sense of control, which was somewhat like her previous self.

"It's a bit worse than Junqian's, but I can make more if you want to eat it in the future."

"Actually, it would be great if Qinqin had time. I'd really like to eat Qinqin's cooking every night. It would give me more motivation to study in the evening. What do you think, Mumu?"

"Well, I feel happy eating with Qianqian. What we eat is not particularly important. Actually, the food at the after-school care center when we were in elementary school was really just so-so."

"I can vouch for this. Don't be fooled by Mu Mu's seemingly non-picky eating habits. She only acts that way in front of most people. I don't even know how many scraps she threw to me back then."

The atmosphere felt like it had returned to the familiar realm of romantic comedies, and the group's first dinner in their third year of junior high school drew to a close in this strange yet harmonious atmosphere.

Since there were four people in total, almost all the food that Zhu Wenyun brought was eaten. However, after tidying up the thermos, she showed no intention of leaving. Instead, she took out her blank manuscript paper and pen from the cabinet under the table, seemingly planning to stay in the club activity room.

"Wenyun really doesn't have to go to evening self-study... I'm so envious."

For Lin Mu, who was about to go back to the classroom for evening self-study, Zhu Wenyun was undoubtedly the most enviable girl in the world. The thought that he would have to study for the next year while she would not make it even more enviable made him even more so.

"Ah."

Zhu Wenyun nodded, then looked at the three people who were about to leave and suddenly said:

"Actually, Junqian didn't have to come."

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

Chapter Three: The Increasingly Composed Male Protagonist of a Romantic Comedy (Two Chapters Combined)

In fact, this is a topic that everyone should know, but everyone deliberately avoided during dinner just now. After all, although reality is not a world like Baka and Test, where academic ability is paramount, excellent academic performance is the greatest privilege and confidence for students, both at school and in daily life.

The idea that good students are good at everything is a deeply ingrained preconceived notion among many parents, which is the fundamental reason why Chen Junqian was able to quickly get to know Gu Lingguo at the beginning.

In the current context of the topic of evening self-study, it means the 'freedom' of not having to attend.

Zhu Wenyun didn't deliberately lower her voice or avoid anyone; instead, she spoke these words frankly. Everything in the room instantly became clear. The three people who were about to leave the activity room stopped in their tracks and turned to look in her direction.

Xu Youwei, who was originally checking her mouth and teeth for food residue with a small mirror, subconsciously shifted the mirror slightly. The reflected light shone on her beautiful profile, and her gaze froze on Zhu Wenyun. The corners of her mouth turned up slightly, but there was a subtle hint of coldness in her smile, or perhaps a kind of arousal after being provoked.

After all, to be honest, even if Chen Junqian didn't attend evening self-study, it had nothing to do with her, his girlfriend who wasn't even in the same class. However, Xu Youwei was more wary of what he might do to Qinqin during the time she had to stay in the classroom.

Lin Mu, who was carrying trash bags on either side of Chen Junqian, was also stunned by those words. She first stared blankly at Zhu Wenyun, then turned to Chen Junqian, her eyelashes trembling slightly. After all, she had already envisioned the evening self-study period, which was particularly difficult for ordinary students, as a time for dinner with Qianqian to return, and as an extra period of time to spend together, doing problems, studying, and chatting about anything and everything in the classroom at night.

She never considered that Chen Junqian was actually more free than them, and that it wasn't because of his personality or wealthy family background, but simply because he did his best as a student.

Then, Lin Mu's thoughts naturally continued to extend in other directions. She could recall hearing her homeroom teacher ask Chen Junqian if he had any ideas about participating in various math, physics, and chemistry competitions, and she could also see her Chinese teacher jokingly teasing him about why he didn't develop in the field of literature like Zhu Wenyun. The choices presented to the other party were always diverse, which was completely different from her, who was still striving to reach the admission score of the regular class of Ningzhong High School.

The atmosphere in the activity room fell silent for a moment. The lights from the basketball court outside shone upwards, making Zhu Wenyun's silhouette, who was waiting for an answer, even clearer.

The girl didn't seem to care about the other two's reactions; she simply looked at Chen Junqian calmly. She wasn't boastful or arrogant; her tone was as casual as an invitation, like pointing out another option and possibility for him.

However, Chen Junqian could still understand the meaning behind Zhu Wenyun's actions. The reason was simple: she just felt that she, being from a different school, was allocated too little time. In elementary school, she only had twenty minutes between classes every day, and now that she had entered middle school, she only had this short period after school, which she shared with others.

So these words seem frank on the surface, but they are full of hidden thoughts. This kind of recognition and invitation between kindred spirits carries a certain secret expectation, as well as a desire in a young girl's heart to pull him into her 'world where only you and I are'.

The room was eerily quiet, with only the clock hands barely moving the clock forward.

“Evening self-study must be quite boring for a top student like Wenjun, and you also have work to do on your new book, so it’s perfectly normal for you to skip it.”

Instead of answering Zhu Wenyun's question immediately, Chen Junqian first affirmed her actions, and then glanced at his childhood sweetheart beside him.