I turned reality into a romantic comedy.

Then, Chen Junqian received a video call invitation from Lin Mu on his phone.

Lin Mu walked towards the window with her phone in hand. Looking down, she saw that Chen Junqian was indeed asleep in bed. The light was dim, and he seemed to be under the covers. She could only barely see half of his face moving.

"Qianqian, don't move and don't go out, you'll catch a cold. I'll take you to see!"

As she spoke, she didn't want to switch the camera to the rear, because then she wouldn't be able to see Chen Junqian's face.

So Lin Mu could only hold up his phone, with his back to the window, and try to turn his upper body to the side so that the floor-to-ceiling window and the falling snow could be captured in the shot.

"Did you see that? Did you see that?! It's really snowing huge amounts of snow!"

Lin Mu excitedly pointed to the night view outside the window behind her. To get a better angle, she had to waddle from side to side like a clumsy penguin, and even took a few steps back, pressing her whole body against the glass.

Chen Junqian on the other side of the screen remained silent.

Lin Mu thought it was a bad signal or that the snow was too light to capture a clear image, so he anxiously held the phone up even higher and waved his entire body in front of the camera.

"Qianqianqianqian? Did you get stuck? I told you it was heavy snow, right? Can you see it from where you are?"

Several seconds later, Chen Junqian finally answered the receiver with a voice that seemed to be suppressing a laugh.

"Yes, got it."

His voice was languid, yet carried a strange undercurrent of suppressed laughter.

"Isn't it beautiful!"

Lin Mu's eyes sparkled; she felt she had done something truly great.

"It is...beautiful. It's December 25th now, isn't it? Hmm, that's a pretty easy date to remember, as an anniversary."

"What anniversary?"

"It's the anniversary of my first video call with Mumu. Okay, never mind, I just think Mumu's outfit is kind of funny."

Lin Mu was taken aback and subconsciously looked down at himself.

Instantly, a surge of heat shot from the soles of my feet straight to the top of my head.

Because she was in such a hurry to show her childhood sweetheart the snow, and in order to adjust the angle, she completely forgot about her current attire.

At this moment, she was wearing an extremely large and fluffy onesie pajama, and it wasn't an ordinary pajama. It was a light pink onesie with a tail on the back and two ears hanging from the hood, shaped like a squirrel. This was one of the merchandise items sold by the Three Fierce Company in the past two years, but she got it for free, just like the squirrel plush toy on her bed at this moment.

Just now, in order to show off the snow outside the window, she jumped around in front of the camera, her upper body swinging back and forth on the screen. What's worse, because she was so close to the camera, her pink fur coat took up almost three-quarters of Chen Junqian's phone screen. As for the so-called first snow, it could probably only be seen through the gaps in her pink bunny ears.

Realizing this, Lin Mu abruptly ended the video call, then plopped down on the bed and started rolling around hugging the giant squirrel plush toy. After a while, she sat up, glanced at the messages on her phone, and saw that Chen Junqian had actually sent a message saying, "Very cute and very suitable for Mu Mu."

Is this good news? At least it feels like we have the opening message for next year's greeting cards.

Meanwhile, Chen Junqian put his phone down with a smile on his face.

In fact, Lin Mu's actions just now did more than just let him admire that pink fluffy pajama set, but it seems that even Mu Mu himself didn't realize it.

That's the main reason he said he wanted to make today a memorial day.

The first time a repeatable achievement titled "[Of course, there must be fan service in a romantic comedy]" was achieved by the female protagonist named Lin Mu.

Yes, congratulations!

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

Chapter 37: The Truth Is True (5k)

The New Year's Day performance at Guoning Middle School kicked off as scheduled on the evening of December 31, 2014. The ninth graders, who were relieved of evening self-study, lined up and walked toward the school's auditorium under the guidance of their respective homeroom teachers. The atmosphere was relaxed and carefree. After all, they could go home and enjoy the upcoming New Year's Day holiday after watching the show, which was much better than anxiously counting down the time to attend two math or physics classes.

Because their performance order was earlier in the program, Chen Junqian's Class 5 of Grade 9 didn't immediately sit down in the audience to chat and brag while waiting for the show to start. Instead, they were taken to the dressing room backstage. The Class 4 ahead of them seemed to have just finished changing clothes and doing their makeup. The entire backstage area was full of students dressed in Republic of China-era school uniforms. Chen Junqian couldn't find Xu Youwei for a moment and was pulled to a corner by the makeup artist.

Unlike other students who only need to go through the motions of applying some powder, Chen Junqian, who is in charge of the piano solo, obviously needs to be more refined in terms of clothes and makeup. He has been doing makeup for others for a while and has hardly ever done makeup himself. He sat there quietly, letting the makeup artist use various props to work on his face. Soon, a group of students from his class and other classes gathered around to join in the fun.

Actually, if Gu Lingguo hadn't asked to see him play the piano, Chen Junqian would probably have been more likely to be the host in this New Year's Day performance. The school had already asked him about this, since he was indeed a good representative of the school in terms of image. After he politely declined, they found two boys and girls from the broadcasting department to fill in as usual.

However, judging from the current situation, it seems that their treatment is indeed on par with that of a TV host.

Lin Mu sat on the box next to her. She looked quite natural after she finished her makeup, unlike some of the students around her who felt strange and awkward.

After all, she was a girl who had been dressed up beautifully by her family since she was a child. She had done makeup many times before. Usually, she always wore a ponytail and a baggy school uniform. Today, she had light lip gloss on her lips, blush on her cheeks, and her hair was loose and draped over her shoulders. She was wearing the choir's uniform white shirt and dark blue pleated skirt, and she was looking at her childhood sweetheart in the mirror with her chin on her hand.

Chen Junqian was wearing a well-tailored black suit tonight, just like the kind of suit worn by pianists in movies. His originally slightly casual hair was carefully styled, which made his facial features more defined. For some reason, it reminded Lin Mu of the completely different look of Qianqian she saw when she called him a few nights ago.

"...It's not ready yet? Won't it be too late?"

"Of course not. You're the star of the show tonight, so naturally we'll have to put in a lot more effort."

The school's makeup artist put away her powder puffs and examined her work with satisfaction.

"Alright, perfect! Go over there and wait your turn, get ready to go on stage."

Seeing that Chen Junqian had finished his makeup, Lin Mu was just about to go up and say hello to him when she heard Lu Cheng in the front row signaling the boys and girls to stand in the rehearsed lines and prepare to go on stage. She had no choice but to obediently follow the other students in her class and start lining up. She watched Chen Junqian walk from the other side to a position near the stage, as he was going to be the first to go on stage.

"The next program will be a chorus performance of 'Riding the Waves' by the students of Class 5, Grade 9. Let's give them a round of applause."

As the host's announcement faded, the huge red curtain slowly opened.

The stage was completely dark, except for a spotlight that shone brightly on the grand piano in the center of the stage.

Immediately afterwards, Chen Junqian walked out from the side of the stage and steadily stepped onto the stage.

For a moment, the entire auditorium seemed to be paused, followed by the loudest applause of the evening, along with chaotic discussions and even screams.

Just as Gu Linguo said a few days ago, this year's New Year's Day performance was indeed an unexpectedly large number of audience members compared to previous years. A large number of first and second-year junior high school students, who had already started their New Year's Day holiday, deliberately stayed behind. Unlike the third-year junior high school students who were essentially just there to participate in the performance without attending evening self-study, the students, who had more time, even bought glow sticks from somewhere. The school leaders sitting in the front row turned around when they heard the noise and could already see the scattered glow sticks around the auditorium.

"It's like idol worship."

"He is indeed a big star, he has been on CCTV programs."

“Excellent people are indeed liked wherever they go, and this kid is quite sensible.”

"Maybe in three years he will be the top scorer in the college entrance examination in Guoning or even Xuancheng."

After all, it was the New Year's Day performance, so the leaders' tone was quite casual, especially after seeing the city leaders who had been specially invited to watch the performance clapping without any apparent concern.

Chen Junqian on stage seemed unaffected by the audience's reaction. He walked steadily and calmly to the piano, gave an elegant bow, and then sat down. Only then did the other students from Class 5 file out from backstage, climb the steps on the stage, and stand in their rehearsal positions.

Lin Mu, who wasn't very tall, stood in the middle of the first row of the choir. This position was quite close to Chen Junqian. Even though the lights above were a bit dazzling, she could still clearly see Chen Junqian's profile. He was sitting in the light, and with the glow sticks flashing below the stage, he looked like a prince from a fairy tale.

However, Lin Mu herself had long been used to her childhood sweetheart's excellence. In the past, she would always feel a sense of pride and honor in such situations, but now she felt less of that emotion and more of a more grounded tranquility. In addition, she was genuinely happy for him. She never felt the same subtle feeling as the childhood sweethearts in the romance novels written by Zhu Wenyun, such as 'the other person is too outstanding and will leave me behind, I can't catch up'.

Lin Mu felt that this kind of mentality varied from person to person. If someone had such thoughts, then she could have such thoughts about anyone, whether they were ordinary friends or her own siblings. The reason why childhood sweethearts could remain childhood sweethearts was that neither of them would easily have such thoughts.

"when--"

The first note flowed from Chen Junqian's slender fingertips, and the noisy auditorium instantly fell silent.

That was the prelude to "Treading the Waves," which Chen Junqian adapted into a more magnificent solo version. His fingers flew across the black and white keys, and the stage lights changed with the melody, casting their light on his focused profile and outlining the straight contours of his nose.

The choir's voices joined in at the right moment, the clear voices of the young men and women intertwining with the stirring piano music. Lin Mu opened her mouth, her voice blending into the collective melody, but her gaze never left that profile.

As if sensing something, during the calm interlude of the music, Chen Junqian slightly turned his head while playing, his gaze sweeping over the chorus, and his eyes precisely met Lin Mu's in mid-air.

The photographers below the stage started taking pictures in unison. I wonder if one of them was someone that a rich young lady had invited through her personal connections. In the audience, my sister and Lin Guo were probably watching too, but they couldn't find him for a moment. I turned around and looked at Mu Mu, and she almost sang off-key the next line.

With this lighthearted, sarcastic attitude, Chen Junqian played the entire song smoothly. In fact, he always felt that this kind of nostalgic song, which was more like a children's song, could be paired with a title like "Finally understand why villains are stunned by a song" on video platforms ten years later. However, for him, it wasn't just a simple matter of being stunned, but a genuine return.

As the music ended, the last note trembled and dissipated in the air.

Chen Junqian stood up again and bowed to the audience along with the whole class who were singing behind him.

The applause was thunderous and long-lasting. You could even hear boys from other classes whistling and cheering, as if someone else was going to give flowers. But they were startled by the homeroom teacher standing nearby. In the end, they hurriedly gave the flowers to Lin Mu and ran away, leaving Lin Mu a little dazed.

Back in the dimly lit auditorium, the adrenaline rush slowly subsided. Class 5 was located in the middle to back of the auditorium. Everyone hunched over, whispering excitedly about the performance, and squeezed back to their seats one by one.

Lin Mu, still holding the flowers, was a little dazed. She had just found an empty seat and was trying to calm herself down while looking for Chen Junqian. Then she saw that he hadn't gone to the side where the boys were gathered, but had come straight over and sat down in the empty seat next to her.

Originally, everyone could sit anywhere, but because Chen Junqian was so popular, the eyes of other classes around him, and even the students in front and behind, were glancing at him intentionally or unintentionally. Many students who hadn't seen what had just happened thought that the flowers were brought by Lin Mu himself, and for a moment, they all became spectators during the break between the two programs.

"Why is there a bouquet of flowers here, Mu Mu? Is she that popular?"

"No, no, no, there was a girl just now..."

Lin Mu felt the probing, envious, and even jealous gazes around her like searchlights. Although she had successfully developed some self-awareness as a childhood sweetheart over the past year and had shown that intimacy in many public places that she hadn't dared to do before, the current situation was still beyond her expectations, and she even stammered a little when she spoke.

"Wow, Mu Mu's popularity has soared that even girls are being attracted to her."

Chen Junqian still enjoys teasing Mu Mu. The so-called male protagonist of a romantic comedy would naturally be considered a scumbag in reality. Having long been aware of this, he doesn't care much about other people's opinions and continues to focus on teasing his childhood sweetheart.

"It was someone else who asked me to give this to you, cough cough."

Having just finished a spirited rendition of the chorus, and feeling a bit anxious, Lin Mu, whose throat was dry, coughed twice unconsciously. Then she saw Chen Junqian take out a bottle of mineral water that he had prepared beforehand from his backpack, unscrew the cap, and hand it directly to her.

Here, have some water.

Lin Mu bit her lower lip, not dodging. Holding a large bouquet of flowers, she was in a state of mental blankness, just like she had been in a movie theater years ago. Unable to reach out to take the flowers, she could only lower her head slightly and take a couple of sips from Chen Junqian's hand, as if being fed by him.

This scene made the girls who were secretly watching gasp in shock.

Just when Lin Mu herself felt so ashamed she was about to explode, her best friend finally arrived at the scene, albeit belatedly.

Xu Youwei didn't really care about drinking water or not. After all, the three of them had fed each other countless times since they were little, even two hours earlier when they had dinner together. So, her first notice was of the bouquet of flowers in Lin Mu's arms. After sitting down next to him, she curiously nudged Lin Mu's arm:

"Why are there still flowers? Who sent them?"

Xu Youwei's Class 4 also performed a chorus today, but the song was different. They were also dressed in the school uniforms of the Republic of China era. They wore a plain moon-white short jacket with wide sleeves and a dark black knee-length skirt that reached their calves. They wore round-toed black cloth shoes and their hair was braided into two thick black braids that hung down in front of their chests. It was quite different from their usual style, which inexplicably reminded Chen Junqian of Dai Wangshu's "Rainy Alley" in the Chinese textbook that he had not yet learned.

"I didn't see clearly. It seemed to be a lower grade student. It was probably meant for Qianqian, but our homeroom teacher scared it away and just gave it to me instead."

With Xu Youwei's arrival, Lin Mu breathed a huge sigh of relief. It was as if she had felt incredibly insecure standing alone next to Chen Junqian on April Fool's Day and needed Xu Youwei to lead her in her mission. Even her speech became much smoother. After speaking, she released the flowers in front of Chen Junqian.

"for you."

"Is this considered using someone else's flowers to present to Buddha? But I feel like there will be a different set of rumors circulating at school tomorrow."

"...What do you mean by 'borrowing flowers to present to Buddha'? It was originally given to Qianqian by someone else."

Taking the bouquet from Lin Mu, Chen Junqian smiled and sniffed it. This made Xu Youwei, standing beside him, feel a little uncomfortable. She asked in a slightly scrutinizing and awkward tone:

"Qinqin, you actually accepted it? Tch, you've received the first bouquet of roses from a fangirl in your life. Now, let's interview you. How do you feel? Mumu and I are still watching."

Well, now the rain in the alley where Lilac Girl is staying isn't raining but rather sour vinegar. Lin Mu nodded in agreement, relying on his own experience. One of Weiwei's strengths is that she's absolutely perfect at talking.

"It was indeed a gift for me, so I can't refuse it, can I?"

The surrounding noise was a bit loud. Chen Junqian lowered his head slightly and gently touched Lin Mu's nose with the bouquet of flowers that originally belonged to someone else. The coolness left on the petals made the girl subconsciously shrink her neck.

"But since Mu Mu doesn't want to use these flowers to give to Buddha, then I'll borrow them. These flowers are now yours."

Precisely dividing the bouquet into two identical parts by hand, Chen Junqian then distributed the flowers to Lin Mu and Xu Youwei. Lin Mu hadn't seen it earlier, but being tall, he had a clear view. The one who came over to deliver the flowers was none other than the most troublesome female protagonist. At least, Chen Junqian himself felt that Gu Lingguo's initial intention was to give the flowers to Lin Mu and then watch the show.

"That student, don't go to other classes, go back to your seat in your own class."