I turned reality into a romantic comedy.

Then, as usual, she nudged the other person's shoulder:

"Get up, brother."

Chen Junqian raised his eyebrows twice, and made a muffled nasal sound, as if protesting that his sweet dream had been disturbed. He groggily opened his eyelids, his gaze wandering aimlessly in the air for a couple of seconds before finally focusing on Chen Xi's face.

"Xiao Xi?"

"...Who else could it be but me? Time to get up."

As she spoke, Chen Xi waved the earphones she had just taken off at Chen Junqian:

"What were you listening to last night? I don't remember my brother having the habit of sleeping with headphones on. Aren't you afraid your ears will hurt the next morning?"

Chen Junqian didn't intend to hide anything from his sister's question. He rubbed his slightly messy hair, yawned widely, and then casually replied:

"I wasn't listening to music; it was a file Mumu sent me."

"Lin Mu? What file did she send you? And you need to listen to it with headphones all night?"

"It's not like you listen to it all night. You can think of it as an alarm clock, just a very short audio clip."

"What kind of alarm clock requires you to wear headphones? Can't it be played out loud?"

Without giving Chen Junqian a chance to react, Chen Xi directly stuffed the earphone, which still carried the other's body heat, into her left ear.

At first, there was no sound in the headphones, so quiet it was as if there was no power. Just when Chen Xi thought the playback hadn't started or had already ended, a very subtle yet extremely clear friction sound suddenly came from deep inside her left ear.

That was the sound of fabric rubbing against the microphone windscreen, but it sounded almost like someone was lying on her pillow, their hair brushing against her ear.

This sudden sense of presence made Chen Xi's heart skip a beat.

Immediately afterwards, Lin Mu's voice rang out:

"Qianqian, it's time to get up!"

Chen Xi, who was wearing one earphone, widened her eyes instantly, revealing a look of astonishment.

That sound...it's too close!

This is not the same feeling as listening to a regular phone call or a recording. The sound of a regular recording is flat, a sound image that only exists between the two ears, but this sound has a clear sense of space, with a position in front, behind, left, and right, and even a certain weight.

In the headphones, Lin Mu's voice slowly moved from the left rear to the right left, as if she were walking around the edge of the bed and then leaning down. The sound was extremely granular, and every breath of air in her pronunciation and the subtle sound of her tongue touching her teeth were captured and amplified with great precision.

"Even though it's Sunday, I can't stay in bed."

Lin Mu's voice was deliberately lowered, and you could even feel a lazy bubble sound. That tingling sensation went straight to the top of the head through the ear canal. Then, there was a sound of inhalation in the audio, followed by a whoosh, which was the sound of blowing air.

If she closed her eyes, Chen Xi could even feel that non-existent airflow brushing against her earlobes and neck. The extreme realism brought a physiological shiver, causing goosebumps to instantly rise on half of her body.

"Snapped!"

Chen Xi couldn't stand the eerie feeling that there was a third person in bed besides herself and Chen Junqian, so she quickly took off her headphones again and put them on the blanket.

"...What kind of recording is this? It feels like someone is right next to my ear."

Chen Junqian was amused by his sister's reaction. He propped himself up against the headboard and, with a hint of excitement, explained to her:

"Isn't the effect amazing? I specially bought a Neumann microphone, one of those simulated human ear microphones. It can simulate the structure of the human ear and the distance between the ears for recording. You probably don't understand those ASMRs that are so popular right now, but think of them as devices used to help you sleep. The sound produced is 3D surround sound in both ears, specially designed to simulate the feeling of an intimate space."

"Oh, it's that mannequin head you put in the company's recording studio, right? Lin Guo saw it when she went there recently, and she said she was startled when she saw it."

Unlike Lin Mu, although both are "second-generation" employees in the company, Chen Xi herself rarely goes there. In fact, Gu Lingguo goes there much more often than Chen Xi due to work and personal reasons. She only remembered this matter after being reminded.

"Yes, the results are quite good. Mu Mu is a complete novice who hasn't done much work before, and there were quite a few problems, but the final result was very good. Technology really does change lives."

"This kind of thing is just electronic signals that deceive the brain."

It had the air of a big dog from a Zheng Yuanjie fairy tale, watching its master's attention stolen by a new electronic dog. Chen Xi simply snorted softly at this, her gaze falling on Chen Junqian's ear, which was slightly red from being pressed down. After thinking for a moment, she reached out and pinched it, gently rubbing it with her fingertips.

"Besides, aren't you uncomfortable wearing headphones all night?"

Chen Junqian was about to say, "Actually, he put on his headphones after waking up today, just to hear what was going on," but before he could finish speaking, he saw his sister suddenly move.

Although he knew that the limited-edition Ice Festival sister had a significantly larger range of activities than the summer limited-edition sister, this was the first time he had ever seen her take off her shoes and sit on the bed, then place her hands on either side of his pillow. It was like a variant of a wall slam, yet it also felt like she was firmly confining him to a certain territory.

The morning light shone on Chen Xi's back, gilding her silhouette with a golden edge, and making her eyes appear even brighter, seemingly radiating an indomitable spirit.

"Didn't I already tell you that my brother can just wake me up?"

"Besides, do we really need to record this kind of thing? My brother and Sister Nianqiu are actually in different cities, quite far apart. Since she can't come and call me in person, there's no need to use a recording instead. Forget it, I'll just tell her myself next time."

After saying that, Chen Junqian saw his younger sister purse her lips again:

"It's just talking into someone's ear, blowing on their hair, and rubbing their hair... Does my brother need a human microphone or 3D surround sound for something like that? Just because she can't do it doesn't mean others can't."

After saying that, she didn't give Chen Junqian a chance to refuse and slowly lowered her body.

The male protagonist of the romantic comedy subconsciously held his breath, his heart began to race involuntarily, and he watched Chen Xi's face turn away little by little, finally stopping at his left ear, where his earphone had just been removed.

They were very close.

He was so close that he could clearly feel the girl's hair gently brushing against his cheek, tickling him slightly. At the same time, he could smell the faint scent of her shower gel, the same scent he used, mixed with the warm atmosphere of the bed, instantly enveloping all his senses.

"Hey……"

Chen Xi spoke up.

Unlike Lin Mu, she didn't deliberately use any breathy tone; she simply lowered her originally cold voice. However, the difference was that what accompanied her voice in reality was a genuine, warm, and moist breath.

It wasn't the diaphragm vibrating in the headphones, but breath carrying human body temperature, spraying directly and without obstruction onto Chen Junqian's ear, then sliding into his cochlea like lukewarm syrup.

Seemingly feeling that this still didn't achieve the effect she had just heard, Chen Xi tried even harder to move closer to his ear, to the point that her upper body was practically pressed against his. Her attention was now entirely focused on his ear; her lips were almost touching the fine hairs on his earlobe, yet remained just out of reach, maintaining this almost-touching distance that was even more tantalizing than direct contact, as she continued to breathe:

"Brother, get up."

Unlike a girl who invented her own nickname, she was born with an affectionate nickname that could be used to address someone besides their name. Even if a neighbor called her that name a lot in some random language, she would be the only one recognized by outsiders.

The airflow from each word danced on the extremely sensitive nerves of the ear. The sound was not compressed or reproduced by any electronic devices, but carried the most primal vibrations, directly striking the eardrum through the ossicles.

Immediately afterwards, Chen Xi took a deep breath and gently touched the other person's head.

In a sense, this is probably something she has wanted to do for a long time.

After all, the older brother in front of her really liked to pat her head. Although Gu Lingguo would always mysteriously say that this was how head patting was done in the world of anime, Chen Xi herself, having been patted on the head since she was a child, would still want to pat this increasingly tall boy back a couple of times.

"call--"

As she worked on the other person's hair, she gently blew a breath onto it.

The real hot air currents felt like some kind of tangible feather, carrying a kind of nerve-stimulating sensation, making Chen Junqian look towards the door with some concern. After all, according to the writing style of romantic comedies, this kind of environment where two people are plotting together will definitely refresh the role of the eavesdropper... cough cough, it should be that the ambiguous scene between the two people will definitely refresh the role of the misunderstanding.

However, nothing happened. Instead, Chen Xi calmly sat up again, pretending to be indifferent. She even picked up the other earphone that had fallen on the bed, neatly coiled the earphone cord, and placed it on the table furthest from the bedside along with her phone.

"Although I said back then that Sister Lin Mu was not included in this prohibited category, that only applies to her own people. So, brother, you are not allowed to wear headphones to sleep anymore. And are you really unaware or pretending not to know? Wearing in-ear headphones to sleep means your ear canal is not ventilated all night, which can easily breed bacteria and cause otitis media. Moreover, although the continuous sound stimulation is small, it can cause great damage to the auditory nerve if it lasts for a long time."

As she spoke, she reached out again and gently rubbed Chen Junqian's still slightly red earlobe:

"Does my brother know?"

"understood."

With a little trickery, the male protagonist readily accepted the new, more romantic comedy-style version of his already fixed morning routine.

"Okay, I'm getting up now. I'm going to Youyou's place today."

"Oh, she seems to have done quite well on her exams this month, right?"

"I guess we've achieved our initial goal, so we've made plans to go out and relax together."

Upon hearing this, Chen Xi reached out again to try and push Chen Junqian's already propped-up upper body back into the covers, even intending to take the headphones and put them back in.

"...Then brother should sleep a little longer."

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

Chapter Thirty-Three: Just Because

If elementary and middle school students worry about their grades, adults worry about their living expenses, and college students worry about both grades and living expenses, then Xu Youwei today is someone who doesn't need to worry about either of these things for the time being. This joy, which is visibly overflowing, is clear to everyone, including Zhu Wenyun, who is sitting in front of her at this moment.

"So, if I were to say right now that Youwei can leave get out of class early this morning, would you start cheering like a primary school student?"

Is it true that get out of class ends early?

Just like those foodies who can only hear "snacks? Where are the snacks?" when advised to "be a little more careful," Xu Youwei's keyword extraction ability has obviously reached this level. Upon hearing this, she immediately raised her head and widened her eyes, showing the demeanor of a student who suddenly becomes alert and stares intently at the podium to see when the teacher leaves after the bell rings.

"Of course not, Youwei, just relax and continue doing your homework."

Ruthlessly shattering the girl's newly formed dream, Zhu Wenyun picked up the report card from the table again amidst the girl's dissatisfied grumbling. Ningzhong and Jinzhong always used the same set of test papers, so she was quite clear about the difficulty and passing score of the mock exam that had just ended in December.

Almost a semester later, half of her junior year has passed and Xu Youwei has finally returned to her original position, standing at the top 400, which is a sure thing for her to get into Ningzhong High School. Considering that she can almost get full marks in the physical education entrance exam, if she continues to maintain this level, then it should be a sure thing that they will both get into Ningzhong High School in the entrance exam in half a year.

Of course, for Lin Mu and Xu Youwei, it just meant attending the same high school.

Just like the early admission of some colleges and universities, the selection of special admission classes in Ningzhong High School will also officially start in May before the high school entrance examination every year. The junior high schools of Guoning and Hejin have already convened a meeting with the top students in the grade to discuss this matter. At that time, about thirty students who pass the selection will theoretically be directly admitted to the special admission class, and the high school entrance examination will only be a formality. Therefore, her and Chen Junqian's goals and directions were completely different from those of the other two.

To be frank, Zhu Wenyun really likes, and even enjoys, this feeling. After all, regardless of gender, everyone is drawn to the special feeling of being the only one illuminated by the bright moon. It is precisely because of this that so many people ask and answer the questions in various literary works: "Am I the most special person in your heart?" and "In my heart, you are the most special person."

However, for a literary girl who, from the very beginning, held views on matters of love that were completely different from those of ordinary people due to her own experiences and personality, she would always find it hard to resist thinking further about the development of the plot of "the bright moon hangs high and shines only on me," imagining all sorts of branches, and then putting herself and someone else into it, finally conceiving and writing a whole bunch of things that could be described as a manifestation of her literary madness in her mind and even on paper.

The bright moon hangs high, yet it does not shine on me.

The bright moon hangs high, shining not only on me.

The bright moon hangs high, once shining alone upon me...

Although these statements might subtly resonate with the mindsets of certain individuals at first glance, Zhu Wenyun actually longed to experience them all herself. After all, not everyone could share all their joyful or unpleasant emotions with Shen Nianqiu with a self-destructive mindset. Xu Youwei was just like that; aside from sharing many details between them with a boastful attitude when she was at her most triumphant, she would avoid all other details. Now, she rarely even spoke or acted boastfully, which Zhu Wenyun found quite regrettable.

After finishing her tutoring session somewhat absentmindedly, Xu Youwei eagerly picked up her phone, which was off and lying beside her, right in front of her. After turning it on, she immediately started tapping on the screen, seemingly texting someone. The smile on her face quickly changed from anticipation to a sweet and shy silly grin. She seemed to be soaking in a honey pot, just short of being surrounded by pink bubbles.

Zhu Wenyun just watched her quietly.

She has actually written quite a few stories about girls in love, but perhaps that's why, when she herself entered into even a casual relationship, she didn't experience such obvious emotional fluctuations as Xu Youwei and many of the characters she wrote about.

Is it because gaining something doesn't leave as lasting an impression as losing it? Or is this just her personality from the beginning?

Holding onto many thoughts that even she herself didn't understand, Zhu Wenyun suddenly asked:

"Did you go back?"

"Ah, yes, I replied."

Xu Youwei, who was engrossed in typing, paused subconsciously, then subtly offered a reminder:

"Is Wenjun going back too?"

"If you calculate the time, it's about time."

Although she said that, Zhu Wenyun didn't make any move with her hands. She just rested her chin on her hand and continued to look at Xu Youwei, forcing the latter to start looking for other topics: