I turned reality into a romantic comedy.

"Since you're so stubborn, there's nothing I can do. How about I just video call my brother? I don't know where he went this morning, maybe I can let him explain himself?"

Xu Youwei's pupils constricted sharply; almost instinctively, she blurted out...

"Don't call! He can't answer right now."

Chen Xi's finger hovered above the screen as she tilted her head to look at her:

"Why can't I answer? Didn't you just say it was a friend? Can't even a friend make a phone call?"

Xu Youwei bit her lip, but subconsciously explained:

"Although I don't know what he and Lin Guo do for a living, they are usually very busy around February, May, August, and October every year. I also follow their account, and they said yesterday that they would update a video today, so they must be making a video now."

Upon hearing Xu Youwei's answer, Chen Xi was taken aback for a moment before pursing her lips and replying:

"You really know my brother well; I didn't even know which account they belonged to."

Xu Youwei's cheeks instantly burned hot, both from shame and embarrassment at having her lie exposed. She had clearly decided to retreat to the position of friend and handle the situation calmly, but those memories of Chen Junqian seemed to be engraved in her cells, ready to pop up and betray her at the slightest carelessness.

"That just shows you don't understand Qinqin, she's his sister."

"I don't know my brother?"

Chen Xi frowned even more as she watched Xu Youwei, who had made a rare comeback.

Originally, she did come to test Xu Youwei, but seeing the other's expression as if the sky had fallen but she was still pretending to be fine, Chen Xi felt a strange sensation.

This reaction doesn't seem like that of a young couple deeply in love and afraid of being discovered by their teachers or parents.

It seems like...we just broke up?

Moreover, it's the kind of breakup that's unclear and ambiguous, leaving lingering ties afterward, making it feel like the most heartbreaking breakup imaginable.

"I need to study."

Xu Youwei gave him a very serious order to leave.

"Will you come to my (brother's) house again this Chinese New Year?"

"If Mu Mu goes, I'll go too."

"What if my brother goes to Mumu's place for the New Year?"

"...Let him do as he pleases."

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

PS2: The group number for the regular group is 1083336388, and the group number for the full subscription group is 1078560569.

Chapter 46: Your Personal Health Consultant (4k5)

In fact, in many of Zhu Wenyun's novels, a considerable number of the female protagonists have indeed fallen into the same kind of depressed state as Xu Youwei is now, which is like a breakup. But each depression becomes an opportunity for them to awaken, either to realize where their true feelings are pointing, or to finally get out of the shadow that has lingered in their hearts since childhood but has been suppressed there and refused to dissipate. Then, what follows is a natural reversal and victory, thus forming the beginning, development, climax and conclusion of a story.

But those are all plots from novels.

If Xu Youwei were to choose the aspect of the protagonists in this type of romance novel that she most admires, it wouldn't be the so-called "sincere devotion will be reciprocated," but rather the ability to act on a determined mindset once a decision is made to change, and then relentlessly pursue that goal.

However, in reality, it's hard to do that. Most people are only enthusiastic for a short time. For example, everyone in their class knows that the physical fitness test is only two or three months away, but there are still some people who are unwilling to put in the corresponding effort and preparation.

In this respect, Lin Mu is probably more like the female protagonist in this kind of story than she is. Whether it is studying or sports, she has always been persistent in making down-to-earth progress, rather than like her now, typing and deleting a few words in someone's chat box, but never actually sending them.

The light from the phone screen reflected on the girl's somewhat pale face. Although she seemed to have dealt with Chen Xi's sudden visit for the time being, what Chen Xi said also served as a reminder to her that her behavior these past two days had indeed been too abnormal. Although it seemed that only Chen Xi, who had been watching her every move, had noticed something amiss, if this dragged on any longer, perhaps not everyone would be able to detect the abnormality.

Therefore, she should act as if nothing had happened and behave as before.

But then again, what was that person like before?

Upon realizing this problem, Xu Youwei, who had become accustomed to her clandestine relationship with Chen Junqian, was momentarily stunned. Zhu Wenyun's new book described Lian Xinyu as someone who was easily spoiled and then became arrogant. Lin Mu and Chen Junqian believed that she was sometimes excessively quiet and sometimes extremely unruly, hot and cold as if she were split in two by the Tiger Talisman, with two personalities taking turns on stage. However, Xu Youwei herself couldn't find a few specific words to describe herself.

Feeling that further thought wouldn't yield any results, Xu Youwei took a deep breath, hovered her finger above the input box, and typed the following words again:

Hey, wanna hang out tomorrow?

Even ten days ago, Xu Youwei probably wouldn't have imagined that she would hesitate for so long to send such a simple message to the other party. If it were before, less than ten seconds after sending the message, the other party would reply with her own emoji to show their approval, and if there were other things, they would patiently explain to her.

However, the latter situation is quite rare, since she would never bother him when he was really busy.

Xu Youwei slumped her phone onto the table, her forehead pressed against the cool screen. Looking at Chen Junqian's message, she felt like a clown practicing a fake smile in front of a mirror, every time she tried, it felt like a rehearsal for her mistake.

"Or... let's just forget about it."

She sighed, not wanting to force herself to confront that wound any longer. Since she couldn't go directly to him, she had no choice but to resort to the second plan.

After closing the chat window with Chen Junqian, Xu Youwei clicked on Lin Mu's profile picture again. She didn't have many people added to her QQ, and the few she did add weren't the type to change their nicknames and profile pictures every few days. Therefore, apart from Chen Junqian, none of them had been saved in her contacts.

Or perhaps, she initially chose to do this in order to highlight the other person's specialness.

【Senmu】

Every time she saw this username, the events of three years ago on Mount Jingting would vividly resurface in her mind. The last time the two had a conversation was on the very first day of winter break. As Xu Youwei typed, she suddenly felt a slight relief from a certain sense of guilt. After all, what she was doing was essentially acting as a wingman for Lin Mu.

[Mumu! It feels like there's no difference whether there's winter break or not. I'm still studying at home all day. I've almost finished all my winter break homework.]

Sure enough, Lin Mu replied to the message in less than three seconds:

[Weiwei, you finished your homework so quickly? No wonder I haven't seen you these past two days. Qianqian said we'd go shopping together this afternoon, and he already told you in advance. It'll be a good time to relax and get some fresh air.]

Looking at the text flashing on the screen, Xu Youwei was also a little surprised, after all, she had never received such an invitation. However, since the other party had said so, Xu Youwei, who originally wanted to achieve this threesome, also typed in agreement.

During the winter break, the Guoning City Center commercial district was already filled with the festive atmosphere of the Lunar New Year. Red lanterns and Chinese knots were hung everywhere, and Andy Lau's song "Gong Xi Fa Cai" (Wishing You Prosperity) was playing on a loop in the mall. Every corner seemed to be filled with the hustle and bustle and joy of the upcoming New Year.

"Qianqian! Over here!"

As soon as Chen Junqian arrived at the agreed location, he saw Lin Mu, wearing a bright red down jacket and looking like a Lucky Baby for Chinese New Year, waving excitedly in the distance. Standing next to her was Xu Youwei, the classmate who had disappeared in both real life and the internet after giving her breakup speech in the middle of the night.

If Chen Junqian hadn't taken the initiative to arrange a meeting with Mu Mu without prior consultation, he didn't know how much longer the other person would have stayed at home like an ostrich.

While waiting for Chen Junqian with Lin Mu, Xu Youwei kept looking at the beige scarf Chen Junqian was wearing, or rather, at the confident and poised demeanor she exuded – a state she least wanted to face right now.

"You're here. Did you two come together?"

Chen Junqian strolled over leisurely, his attitude no different from usual.

"Yeah, Weiwei has been studying at home these past two days. She's almost finished her winter break homework, and she hasn't fallen behind in the final exams. She's so persistent."

Upon hearing this, Xu Youwei smiled as naturally as possible, then glanced at Chen Junqian discreetly.

Where are we going today?

If Xu Youwei from a few months ago were here to give her a score, she would probably give her a failing grade right from the start. After all, most of the time, Xu Youwei was in charge of planning their trips. She is the kind of person who is outgoing and likes to lead others around according to her own ideas when she is with people she is close to.

But it's safe to say that just being able to run out like this, pretending to be normal, has already exhausted all of Xu Youwei's strength.

However, Chen Junqian had already prepared himself mentally for this, and took the lead without hesitation:

"I didn't have a specific destination, I just wandered around and bought whatever I wanted."

"I need to buy milk tea first, let's go!"

After speaking, Lin Mu made a suggestion full of energy, and then led the way towards the increasingly numerous milk tea shops along the street, one every two steps. However, after only a few steps, he found that Xu Youwei had grabbed his right arm.

She felt a little strange for a moment. After all, when the three of them went out together before, Xu Youwei would either be the one enthusiastically leading the way and taking them to fun places, or Chen Junqian would be in the middle protecting the two girls. But now, Xu Youwei took the initiative to go around to her right and gave the left side to Chen Junqian, making her the center of attention all of a sudden.

However, Lin Mu only paused for a moment and walked directly to the front of the milk tea shop to order. After a while, he said "thank you" and took the three cups of milk tea from the shop assistant, handing one cup to Chen Junqian and one to Xu Youwei.

Holding their milk tea, the three of them began to wander aimlessly through the streets.

"Since the ban on setting off firecrackers during the Lunar New Year, there are no more stalls selling fireworks and firecrackers around here. I used to love browsing these stalls and could spend half a day choosing them. It's such a pity."

No matter how much he denies it, Lin Mu, who will be a high school student in the second half of the year, has begun to have some feelings of growing up. He feels that in another two years he will be making statements such as "the New Year's atmosphere is getting weaker and weaker".

"Yeah, Youyou and I used to play together for several nights in a row, from the first day of the Lunar New Year until the fourth or fifth day, right there in our village."

Chen Junqian was simply talking about very ordinary topics, but Xu Youwei had absolutely no idea how to respond. She felt that if she opened her mouth now, she would give herself away, so she simply turned her head to look at the stalls selling handwritten Spring Festival couplets set up on both sides of the street, rather abruptly changing the subject:

"Mumu wrote Spring Festival couplets for her family when she was little, right?"

"Hehe, that was several years ago. After all, I only studied calligraphy for a few years in elementary school. I didn't have time to study it after junior high school, and I've almost forgotten it now. Last time I found the water-dipped brush that the school gave me to play with at home, and I almost forgot how to hold the brush."

As it turns out, throwing the conversation back to Lin Mu was always the right decision. After all, she was always the one who was most willing to share her daily life and feelings. After picking up the conversation, she laughed and launched into a long rant about the topic:

“Actually, every time I see those heavy and thick collections of award-winning works on the bookshelf, I feel that they take up too much space. There is only one page, no, less than a quarter of a page of my work, but my parents always spend hundreds of dollars to buy them and put them away.”

"Mumu's calligraphy, both soft-pen and hard-pen, is actually quite beautiful. I feel that she can easily score several points higher in the exam by doing a lot of work."

"Qianqian also deserves credit. Hengshui style is definitely the most worthwhile calligraphy style I have ever practiced. If this can be considered calligraphy, it is still usable now and can continue to be used in the future."

Perhaps because he was standing in the center, or perhaps because he sensed an unusual atmosphere emanating from the two people on either side of him, Lin Mu took the initiative to initiate the conversation:

"By the way, Qianqian! Is it your turn this year?"

"Huh? What, it's my turn?"

"Are you pretending to be stupid! Didn't we agree on this two years ago? You went to my house for Chinese New Year the year before last, and I went to your house last year. So this year it should be Qianqian's turn to go to my house. My mom was just saying the other day that there won't be another chance in a few years, so she wants to give you a couple more big red envelopes while we have these few years!"

It was the same old, familiar topic, but Xu Youwei still felt uneasy. It was a pity that it was already winter break, and even during the school year, the counseling room next to their club activity room was usually closed.

She never lets Chen Junqian and Lin Mu come to her house to play, not even during the New Year.

But she was thinking last summer that now that she was living alone, maybe she could invite Lin Mu and Chen Junqian over for holidays, in addition to regular times. But now she couldn't bring herself to say it.

After all, having Chen Junqian spend the Spring Festival at Lin Mu's house this year is one of the best ways to achieve her ultimate goal. At least in the years when Lin Mu always went back to her hometown in the mountains with her parents for the Spring Festival, the Spring Festival with Chen Junqian was one of the happiest times of the year.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, he paid a visit to Lin Mu's parents and elders, showing his face in front of them. Although he didn't know if their family was the same as his own, this kind of scene, similar to meeting the parents, was the easiest way to foster ambiguity and one of the best opportunities for Lin Mu to become dependent on him.

...Anyway, she already had the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year.

"Or is it that Qianqian has something to do and can't come? That's alright."

Lin Mu, oblivious to the subtle shift in the atmosphere, continued smiling brightly as Chen Junqian didn't respond immediately, then turned to look at Xu Youwei:

"If Weiwei wants to come, of course she'll come too! Whether it's my house or Qianqian's house, just like last year, the three of us will be together, and we'll invite Xiaoxi to play cards all night."

Xu Youwei looked up and met her friend's sincere and warm eyes.

In that instant, the bitterness in her heart reached its peak, but then it was strangely enveloped by a twisted warmth.

Lin Mu is still the same Lin Mu, still afraid that she will be lonely and sad.

But it was precisely because of this that Xu Youwei felt her plan was even more correct.

After all, only someone like Lin Mu could achieve the ending she wanted.

"Okay."

Xu Youwei blinked and gave a signature sweet smile:

"Anyway, my family won't miss me or make a difference. I'll just come over to your two houses to freeload. But it really should be Mu Mu's family's turn this year, Qin Qin, do you want to go?"