I turned reality into a romantic comedy.

The girl stiffened for a moment in his arms, then softened, closed her eyes, and a very faint, satisfied smile curved her lips.

Calling it masochism isn't entirely accurate, but Shen Nianqiu might secretly enjoy being treated maliciously by the world. This allows her to convince herself to rest and indulge in pleasure in Chen Junqian's arms for a while longer. Without establishing a healthier positive feedback loop, rashly destroying this morbid logic might lead to even more serious consequences.

Of course, if we were to follow the plot of a rejected draft from a romance novelist, Chen Junqian could try grabbing Shen Nianqiu's chin and saying something like, "XXX, your life is mine. I won't allow you to torture yourself into a state of being neither human nor ghost for those two unworthy people. This body will be with me for the rest of my life, so you have to take good care of it for me. Do you understand?"

As for whether this is someone's own XP, only the person involved knows for sure.

"Does your mother know you're coming down to find me?"

"She's taking a nap, but it's okay even if she wakes up."

When is the due date?

"It should be in the next day or two, but I'm not sure of the exact time, so she means I have to stay here with her all night."

"Where's your dad?"

"He has his own classes to attend."

"It's clearly the National Day holiday."

"Because we want to provide the best possible conditions for our children... well."

After that sudden surge of emotion subsided, Shen Nianqiu didn't feel anything special when she said those words again, especially since she had already discussed these topics with Chen Junqian.

"That--"

Before Chen Junqian could finish speaking, an untimely and clearly audible gurgling sound broke the somewhat eerie yet warm atmosphere.

This is the most honest protest from the body.

As it turns out, if they really get hungry, real-life girls can also make the same signature rumbling stomach sounds as those in romantic comedies. The female protagonists' reactions were synchronized between the virtual and real worlds. Shen Nianqiu subconsciously reached out to cover her stomach, her eyes instantly turning red with embarrassment, and she wanted to curl up into a ball.

It's so embarrassing. It's like an animal that hasn't fully evolved yet, unable to control even the most basic physiological needs.

Chen Junqian was stunned for a moment, then found it amusing to look at her mortified and indignant expression.

"You really waited until I arrived? Well then, I really have to take you out for a big meal. Let's go."

"...I don't want any fancy meals, just something simple is fine."

"Yes, yes, then you can choose the place yourself, sister. I'm really not familiar with Lin'an. Is the West Lake Fish in Vinegar Sauce in Hangzhou any good?"

"Vinegar is a dish of fish and vinegar is a dish of fish. Actually, I really want to eat what you make for me, anything is fine, but there's nowhere to eat it, so I don't really want to take you to my house."

"Well, I'm not just staying here for today. I'll think of something tomorrow. This restaurant looks pretty good, so I'll go with it."

As they walked and talked, Chen Junqian found a casual restaurant near the hospital. It was a little after 3 p.m. and there weren't many customers, so they easily sat down in a private room. He then quickly ordered four dishes and a soup, which were mostly dishes that he knew Shen Nianqiu liked.

A chef's best habit is to remember all the diners' preferences and dietary restrictions, and Zhu Wenyun learned this very well, although it may be because the number of people he had to remember was much smaller than Zhu Wenyun's.

While waiting for the food to be served, Chen Junqian took out his phone from his pocket, but not to browse the news or reply to someone's message. Instead, he imitated the trick Xu Youwei had used on him and pressed and held the power button on the side of the phone to turn it off. Only after doing this did he look at Shen Nianqiu sitting opposite him.

"Sister, please turn off your phone too."

"Ah."

Shen Nianqiu nodded naturally.

indeed.

The owner of the only number she had saved in her contacts had already come to her.

That tool, which was originally only for communicating with him, no longer needed to be used.

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

PS2: The old group was suddenly discontinued for some reason. The new group number is 947267082.

Chapter Fifteen: Mu Mu: Don't use trees as a metaphor either! (Two chapters combined)

The phone screen went completely dark in their hands and was then casually placed aside. In an era where couples on dates often find themselves engrossed in their phones, occasionally sharing topics, such a scene seemed rather rare. It was more like students who hadn't yet received their own phones, simply focusing intently on each other's faces.

Because the restaurant wasn't crowded at this time, Chen Junqian's dishes arrived quickly. Knowing that Shen Nianqiu was hungry, he asked the waiter to bring rice along with the food, so he served her a bowl of rice first.

"Let's eat first."

After saying that, he also picked up his chopsticks again, picked up a piece of pork rib that was stewed until it was soft and tender and fell off the bone, removed the small piece of bone, leaving only the tenderest meat, and then put it into Shen Nianqiu's bowl.

Actually, apart from his interactions with Lin Mu, Chen Junqian had never had the habit of serving food to others. However, he did feel that the older sister was unusually vulnerable today, like a child who needed to be taken care of. So, he unconsciously projected his feelings onto the way he interacted with Mu Mu, even though the difference between the two in appearance was probably the most obvious among the girls around him.

However, to Chen Junqian's surprise, this was still far from enough.

Sitting there, Shen Nianqiu first glanced at the meat in the bowl, then looked up. Her beautiful eyes, which always carried a faint sense of aloofness at school and seemed to be veiled by a layer of mist, now stared directly at Chen Junqian without any concealment, finally revealing a wet, weak, and longing look, like that of a small animal.

"Junqian".

She spoke softly, her voice so weak it sounded almost unnatural.

"Ok?"

Chen Junqian was drinking soup with his head down when he heard this, so he looked up.

"My hands are weak, I have no strength."

As she said this, Shen Nianqiu placed her hands, which were actually nothing special, except that her fingertips were slightly cool from the wind, on the table. Her fingers curled up slightly, like a cat spreading its belly to its owner.

"...You feed me."

The air seemed to freeze for a second.

Chen Junqian paused in his action of holding the spoon. He looked at Shen Nianqiu and suddenly felt that Mu Mu was no longer such a child. Even when Mu Mu was in the fourth grade of elementary school, she had never made such a request to him.

All he could say was that for a long time, the Shen Nianqiu he knew was a girl with such a strong sense of self-respect that she would never tell him anything about her family unless he actively investigated and pressed her. Even in her most embarrassing moments, she would try her best to maintain the dignity of being called an older sister in front of him.

But at this moment, she acted like a complete child, making this request to him with a straight face that seemed somewhat pretentious or even absurd to others.

However, Chen Junqian was only stunned for a moment.

The next second, he put down his own bowl and picked up the spoon in front of Shen Nianqiu.

"it is good."

He scooped up a spoonful of pork rib soup, then very naturally brought it to his lips, blew on it, tested the temperature, and finally offered it to Shen Nianqiu's lips:

"Ah—open your mouth."

Shen Nianqiu obediently opened her mouth and then put the spoon in her mouth.

She chewed slowly, her cheeks slightly puffed out, but her eyes never left Chen Junqian's face. Looking at his focused expression and the extremely gentle look in his eyes and brows that had softened because of taking care of her, the huge emptiness in her heart was finally filled again by this little bit of warmth.

Losing the feeling of being loved is essentially just as terrible as losing the ability to love others. Or perhaps this is what is called emotional value. Humans are, after all, social beings. Losing it completely means that we are not far from saying goodbye to society.

One bite, two bites, three bites.

Chen Junqian fed her patiently, occasionally wiping away a little soup stain from Shen Nianqiu's lips with a tissue. He seemed to be enjoying the feeling of being completely relied upon by someone. The rationality that he usually wanted her to be independent seemed to crumble in the face of this extreme intimacy.

"I feel like my older sister is even better at acting like a child now than Xiaoxi was during last year's Chinese New Year."

Upon hearing Chen Junqian's words, Shen Nianqiu paused in swallowing before slowly speaking:

"It's definitely different from back then."

In fact, Shen Nianqiu herself had reviewed her performance at that time. She wore the neatest clothes, sat upright, spoke softly, and volunteered to do chores, such as serving dishes and washing fruit. Even when Chen Junqian's mother asked her to sit down and rest, she would smile and agree while continuing to do so, packaging herself as a perfect, sensible guest who would never cause trouble for others.

"Back then, I wasn't a child. Compared to a child... an adult, well, at least I would act more like an adult, although I know very well that many adults are not actually associated with adjectives like mature, steady, and sensible."

Chen Junqian raised an eyebrow, seemingly already sensing what she was about to say, but he didn't interrupt. He simply waited quietly for her to finish speaking, the spoon in his hand still steadily hovering near Shen Nianqiu's lips.

Shen Nianqiu leaned forward, ate the spoonful of soup, and then, like a child who had finally received candy, squinted her eyes contentedly before slowly saying:

"It's just the two of us today."

"And don't you realize it yourself? Acting like a child in front of you is actually very effective."

"Of course, maybe others have said the same thing to you, and Xiaoxi did it too, didn't she? But what I mean is definitely not exactly the same as what they mean."

"What's different?"

Faced with Chen Junqian's question, Shen Nianqiu honestly gave his answer:

"If I had to put it into words, it would probably be what is called 'possessiveness,' because children are the kind of creatures in the world who are most likely to express possessiveness without being criticized. For example, when I hear a kindergarten child say to a friend, 'You are only allowed to play with me from now on,' I just laugh."

"But if an adult, a rational adult, wants to express to another person 'you are mine,' 'I want you to only look at me,' or 'I want you to give me all your resources,' then the situation is different."

"Actually, very few people can do this, especially those of us who are neither children nor adults... well, students? We don't have the shamelessness of children nor the resources of adults, so many romance novels, without the help of divine intervention, feel more like a group seeking warmth. 'As long as I'm with you, I'm satisfied' is just a hidden expression that can't really solve the problem. But my brother is different. I always feel that you can really do anything, at least for me."

"This is the kind of role I originally wanted to be."

At this point, Shen Nianqiu's own lips seemed to droop slightly, clearly still feeling somewhat embarrassed by the process of 'admitting her weakness'.

“You call me sister, and I call you brother, but in the end, our positions are completely reversed. For example, if I were to say to you seriously like an adult: ‘Chen Junqian, I don’t allow you to look at other people. I want you to revolve around me every minute and every second. I want you to give me everything you have’… how would you think?”

Before Chen Junqian could answer, Shen Nianqiu gave her own answer:

"You'll definitely feel bad about it; it's not good emotionally, and you can't do it rationally either, right?"

"So, it's good to obediently regress into a child at this time. After all, I've never really been a child before. And a sister isn't always the one who takes care of others; sometimes she's the one who gets taken care of, right? Go and act like a child, acting spoiled for no reason, pointing at the most expensive toy in the shop window and saying 'I want that,' without actually paying for it yourself."

She looked at Chen Junqian, her eyes filled with a strange mix of clarity and self-loathing:

“I can’t do what you do right now, take responsibility for your life, or give you anything substantial. The reason I’ve been able to hold on until now is because you’re here. So, sometimes I do think about whether it would be better to become a useless person who can’t take care of himself, a child who just opens his mouth and waits for you to feed him? Because only in this way, when you have to take care of me, have to feed me, have to watch over me, have to put all your attention on me… can I feel that I truly possess you.”

Even if it's just for this one meal.

After he finished speaking, the private room in the restaurant fell into a deathly silence.

It can only be said that in terms of a certain self-destructive tendency, Chen Junqian's official girlfriend is indeed no match for Shen Nianqiu and Gu Lingguo, who actually deleted their accounts from Earth Online. And unlike the anime girl who actually lives next door and watches over him all the time, the one in front of him is indeed more serious.

After saying all this in one breath, Shen Nianqiu looked at Chen Junqian quietly, as if waiting for his verdict.

Once again, she laid bare her darkest, most humble, and most calculating side to him.

Chen Junqian looked at her.

Shen Nianqiu thought he would remain silent, feel helpless, or show a look that seemed to be one of heartache but was actually a look that was meant to bite the most tender corner of her heart.

However, Chen Junqian just stared at her intently.

His eyes didn't hold the heaviness she expected; instead, they quickly ignited with an extremely bright, even sharp, flame.

Chen Junqian slowly put down the spoon in his hand, the metal striking the porcelain bowl with a crisp sound.

"elder sister."

He spoke, his voice steady, as if he had prepared these words beforehand:

"Your logic is indeed convincing. After all, in this world, only the strong are often qualified to talk about possessiveness. Only those who have leverage dare to demand that others only look at them. But according to this logic, isn't regressing to a child the only option? Since you value so much so-called capital and ability so much..."