I turned reality into a romantic comedy.

Seeing Lin Mu enter the room and close the door, Gu Lingguo immediately took his place and sat down next to Chen Junqian. She picked up the nameplate from the coffee table and poked Chen Junqian's face with it, while propping her chin up and speaking to him in a low voice:

"Although the senior is a bit of a chuunibyou, reality is reality, especially for a character like the younger sister. Does the senior also want to go to a German orthopedic clinic? Or post something on the internet more than ten years from now?"

"...Isn't your knowledge a bit too extensive?"

Chen Junqian found Gu Linguo's complaints somewhat amusing:

"It was just an accident."

"Of course I know it was just an accident, but you have to think about it, senior. Such situations do exist in reality, otherwise there wouldn't be the term 'German Orthopedics.' I always thought that your relationship with Xiaoxi was much better than that of an ordinary family, but then this happened today. To be honest, when I went in and talked to Xiaoxi just now, I could tell that she wasn't actually that angry."

As she spoke, Gu Linguo leaned even closer, almost touching Chen Junqian's ear, her warm breath tickling his earlobe.

"That was taught to you, Lin Guo. Have you forgotten that Xiao Xi immediately begged me to tear off your name tag from the beginning?"

"Waaah, I'm so wronged! A normal person would definitely think I was being nauseating if they heard what I said back then. After all, there's a saying that people with older brothers and sisters in real life never watch works that are about siblings. So it's definitely not my problem, it's your and Xiaoxi's problem!"

It felt like a script had been prepared long ago, as Gu Linguo's whispers kept pouring into Chen Junqian's ears.

"Brother, do you know about the Westermark effect in psychology? It's like how family members who have grown up together from childhood don't seem to have much attraction. On the contrary, when you've been separated for a while and then suddenly experience that kind of close relationship that should have appeared in your early years again, you feel it's special and you value it more. If it's someone of the opposite sex, you might even develop feelings similar to love. That's how it is in 'Yosuga no Sora'."

"Why have you switched to calling me 'brother' again?"

"Because I'm reminding my brother that if he wants a younger sister role, I'm perfectly capable of it! So don't really have any chuunibyou fantasies about Xiaoxi, or stop exuding charm! After all, I've wanted to say this for a long time: if I put myself in Xiaoxi's shoes, and had a brother who's been with me since we were little, protected me in an accident, is smart, handsome, considerate, and can make my family rich, I would definitely develop other feelings too. The fact that she, a sister who isn't even from the 2D world, is willing to fulfill her brother's chuunibyou fantasies and wake him up every day is enough to prove this point."

Chen Junqian didn't answer anymore, but just kept looking into Gu Lingguo's eyes. Sure enough, after a short while, the other party looked away shyly.

"Okay, I did have a little bit of personal motive in what I said above. After all, things have already turned out like this, so we can't just suddenly save and load like in some visual novel. But I've already given you a heads-up. If things really turn out this way in the future, I won't be responsible for it."

"Ok, I know."

Seeing Chen Junqian answer so calmly, Gu Lingguo also stopped talking for a while and instead lay there cosplaying some mysterious 'Brother, I fell down, come and help me up' meme.

Meanwhile, in Chen Junqian's room, Lin Mu was already talking to Chen Xi.

"Don't worry, Xiaoxi, I've already spoken to Qianqian for you! Besides, it was just an accident. Accidents like this can happen in games like tearing name tags. Everyone on TV is rolling around on the ground..."

Before she could finish speaking, the girl in front of her asked her this question:

"Did Sister Lin Mu and my brother have such an accident?"

"Huh? Eh? Eh? Eh?"

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

PS2: I'm sorry for the late update because I encountered something very abstract tonight. It felt too abstract to summarize. I'll post a separate chapter about it later when I have the chance. My group members always manage to come up with something amazing for me.

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Is it too late to make up for it now? (Two chapters combined)

For Xu Youwei now, she has gradually gotten used to the fact that the first thing she does after waking up on Sunday mornings is not to pick up her phone and send a sweet text message to someone. Even though the new house she comes to stay in on weekends does contain countless memories with him, the thought that the house was originally bought for the convenience of going to Ningzhong for high school makes her reconsider.

Zhu Wenyun arrived around nine o'clock in the morning. She is the type of person who either doesn't easily agree to things, but once she does, she does it well. Since she had promised to tutor Xu Youwei, she would set aside some of her time on a weekend to have a study session with her.

Of course, if you look at it from another perspective, this can also be considered part of the material she draws for her work.

Although saying "My child is very smart, but just hasn't studied hard enough" sounds like a high-EQ statement nowadays, after personally tutoring Xu Youwei a few times, Zhu Wenyun was still willing to admit that Xu Youwei did have talent in learning, at least not to the point of making her feel like she was looking at a monkey with a sense of existential doubt.

"Wenyun is really amazing..."

Just like the saying goes, "If you don't study, you'll see me like a frog in a well looking at the moon; if you study, you'll see me like a mayfly looking at the blue sky." After settling down to study again, Xu Youwei could increasingly appreciate the value of Zhu Wenyun's academic excellence. She could understand a problem that she couldn't grasp in half a day with just a glance. And when she thought about how Zhu Wenyun also had a job writing articles, she felt even more grateful for what Zhu Wenyun did.

“Junqian is more capable than me and is better at teaching. Mumu has been making progress this year, and he deserves credit for that as well.”

Faced with Xu Youwei's remark, Zhu Wenyun casually steered the conversation toward Chen Junqian, then continued to observe his reaction discreetly.

"Of course I know Qinqin is amazing. Before every major exam at our school, people come to pray to him, this academic genius, but there's nothing I can do. If I want to get back to my previous ranking or even improve further, I have to stay away from him for the time being."

So why is that?

"...I can't explain it clearly right now, let me ask Yun to help me take a look at this question."

As always, whenever Zhu Wenyun wanted to ask more questions, Xu Youwei would immediately steer the conversation back to studying. However, today was a little different. As soon as she finished speaking, she heard a soft knock on the door.

Few people knew Xu Youwei's home address, so she asked the doorman with some doubt, then went over and looked through the peephole, where she saw Lin Mu standing there.

"Weiwei, it's me."

"Why is Mu Mu here?"

Xu Youwei opened the door and welcomed Lin Mu in. She couldn't help but glance back a few more times. She had just said that it was better to keep her distance from Chen Junqian, but now she was hoping that he had come with Lin Mu today. But no matter how many times she looked, there was no one else behind her.

"Ah, I came to see Weiwei alone. Wenyun is here too."

"Yes, we're both studying."

"Weiwei is indeed very hardworking, and Wenyun has also worked hard. They will definitely get good grades next time."

After seemingly rushing through those two sentences, Lin Mu appeared hesitant, as if she wanted to say something more. Zhu Wenyun, standing beside her, put down her pen and nodded to her, saying:

"So, did Mumu come here today for something? Or is she here to study together?"

"No, no, it's just that I'm a little worried that it might affect the two of you and disturb your studies."

"Actually, it's okay. I just finished studying for an hour and was planning to take a break. If Mumu has anything to say, just say it. I'll go get you some water."

Seeing Lin Mu in such a flustered state was a rare sight, and Xu Youwei was equally curious. She went to the kitchen to pour a glass of water and handed it to him. The three of them sat together on the sofa, looking quite like the first generation of childhood sweethearts when the Guoning Alliance was established.

"Alright, go ahead and say it."

"Hmm... let me think where to start. Let me ask Wenjun first."

"Is there anything else you want to ask me?"

"Because I feel you have the most experience. You know, how should I put it, ask Yun what she thinks the relationship between childhood sweethearts really is? After all, you've written so many novels of this type, both long and short."

Zhu Wenyun was also a little confused when Lin Mu asked this question hesitantly, so she tentatively asked another question:

Why did Mumu suddenly want to ask this?

"Because I wanted to know what things childhood friends could do, or did often, but that wouldn't seem strange to others."

At this point, Lin Mu seemed to have gotten into character. Although she was still quite shy, her tone became firm. If Gu Lingguo were here, she would probably add the line "I'm very curious" to her lines later.

"The main thing is that Lin Guo and Xiao Xi asked me a lot of questions about this yesterday, but I didn't feel anything about many of the things they took for granted. I had never done them, and I had never even thought about them before... Even though Qianqian and I have been childhood sweethearts for fifteen years."

Zhu Wenyun and Xu Youwei's lips twitched in unison as they both noticed Lin Mu, who had now skillfully switched to his version of events from fifteen years ago. Then, the former took the initiative to ask:

"So what are those things?"

"What do you think should be done?"

Perhaps feeling a little embarrassed to speak first, Lin Mu had a sense of déjà vu, like when he was comparing answers with his top-performing friend after an exam. He wanted to let the other person give the correct answer first, and then show the appropriate response himself, rather than talking incessantly about the answer first, and then hearing the top student next to him calmly throw out a completely different set of multiple-choice answers.

"It's probably about going to and from school together, having meals together during holidays, and being familiar with each other's parents, who sometimes tease each other... That's all I can think of right now."

Before Lin Mu could react, Xu Youwei glanced at Zhu Wenyun with suspicion. After all, she had been following the story since the first novel she wrote. Zhu Wenyun had written about countless ways childhood sweethearts could be, so it was hard for Xu Youwei to believe that she could only think of these basic ones.

"What about Weiwei? What do you think?"

It seemed that Lin Mu had not gotten the answer he wanted from Zhu Wenyun, so he turned his attention to another top student, Xu Youwei.

"I think the most important thing between childhood sweethearts is the so-called social immunity."

Without mincing words, Xu Youwei pointed out a term Zhu Wenyun had used in one of her novels, and once again succumbed to a sense of superiority stemming from her seniority, her tone becoming casual:

"To outsiders, all they can see is the result, which is the current level of intimacy between the two people. Apart from family, childhood sweethearts are the relationship that best highlights this point. It only takes one sentence to tell others, and then no matter how much they act closer than ordinary friends, others will gradually get used to it. So they are often mistaken for being in a relationship."

"Specific, concrete things."

"Specific details?"

"Yes, it's the kind of thing you'd write on a questionnaire like, 'If you and her/him have done these things, it means you must be childhood sweethearts with a great relationship.'"

"Oh, so that's what Mu Mu wanted to ask. Well, I actually mentioned something earlier, which is that people might mistake us for a couple."

As soon as Xu Youwei said that, Lin Mu, whose status as a "Campus Popular Figure" had been verified by the controlled variable method, became a little deflated, but still managed to ask one more question:

Has Vivi ever encountered this situation?

"Yes, it happens every April Fool's Day. After all, I always stand next to Qinqin and give every girl who walks by a threatening look."

"Where is Wenjun?"

Before Zhu Wenyun could answer, Xu Youwei had already pouted and explained for her:

"Mumu can find out how many rumors there are by asking around at Jinzhong. Besides, there have been similar rumors at our school since the beginning of this semester."

"……All right."

Seeing her best friend visibly becoming depressed, Xu Youwei quickly offered a few words of comfort:

"But Mu Mu has them too! It's just rumors about it."

"Huh? Really? But I've never heard of that before?"

"Because Mu Mu is a very nice person, so people definitely won't gossip about these things in front of you. After all, if rumors about puppy love spread everywhere, the person involved will definitely be called to the teacher's office."

Well, the "everyone" mentioned above refers to himself, Zhu Wenyun, and Shen Nianqiu. How can the three of them not be considered "everyone"?

"I see."

Hearing Xu Youwei's explanation, Lin Mu breathed a sigh of relief, then rallied his spirits and began to press for answers:

"Does Vivi remember how they discussed it?"

"Ah, well, because I felt these rumors were very disrespectful to you, Mu Mu, so I didn't really listen to them. Anyway, it's the same old story, saying that they think you and Qin Qin, uh..."

As she spoke, Xu Youwei herself started to hesitate. After all, spreading rumors about her boyfriend and best friend required a lot of mental fortitude. She wasn't a literary girl like Zhu Wenyun, whose thinking and logic were different from others. So, after struggling for a while, she looked into Lin Mu's eyes and was forced to say the second half of her sentence:

"It's like you and Qinqin are a couple. You almost always talk to each other after class, you sit together during evening self-study, and after morning exercises, you even go to the convenience store to buy snacks for me..."

Feeling that she was about to blurt out her innermost thoughts if she continued talking, Xu Youwei awkwardly looked away and unconsciously lowered her voice, muttering to herself:

"That's roughly the rumor."

"Oh, thank you, Weiwei. I didn't know that before. Now I'm relieved. It means that the three of us and Qianqian are childhood sweethearts."

Perhaps it was this topic that opened the floodgates, as Lin Mu finally took the initiative to bring up what happened at Chen Junqian's house yesterday. She talked about everything from the accident during the name tag ripping game to how she went to the room to comfort Chen Xi, and then heard a series of questions from the other party.

"I've thought about it myself, and the thing I've done the most is probably waking him up. But I think that's something that only two people who live very close to each other can accomplish. If I lived downstairs or next door to Qianqian, I would definitely be willing to go and wake him up every day, because Qianqian likes me to wake him up. We've been doing this since we were in after-school care when we were in elementary school."

"I don't know if sleeping together counts as living in the same room. If it doesn't count, we actually slept in the same bed on the high-speed train, but because Qianqian went to sleep in my original upper bunk in the middle of the night, I don't know how long it lasted, so I'll count it as half a time."

"But, but I haven't done anything else! Like taking a bath together or accidentally having any intimate physical contact with each other. But Xiaoxi thinks that Qianqian and I must have had such experiences, and Linguo keeps saying the same thing. I don't know how to answer them. Is this kind of thing common for real childhood sweethearts?"

After listening to Lin Mu's long explanation, Youyou, who had indeed done things with her childhood sweetheart including but not limited to the above, shook her head seriously and denied it:

"This is something that only lovers do."