I turned reality into a romantic comedy.

"That's right, but Qianqian definitely can't fool the uncles and aunts. When they secretly ask me and Weiwei, I'll tell them without hesitation that you two are just acting to get red envelopes."

"Tch, where did that little sister who always says her brother isn't allowed to date early, or she'll go tell the parents?"

"Of course I'm studying hard, so that if I actually start dating early, my grades will plummet and I'll end up crying and admitting that dating does affect my studies."

It has to be said that having an ally who knows what you're doing makes things much easier. It's like turning the situation from one against six into two against five. If you add Gu Linguo, who sees through it but doesn't say anything and just thinks he's having a chuunibyou phase and trying to replicate the 'pretending to be lovers' trope that's common in anime romantic comedies, then it's essentially three against four. You can completely control the situation without making a sound.

After silently giving Zhu Wenyun a thumbs up in his heart, Chen Junqian pretended nothing had happened and steered the conversation elsewhere, keeping the atmosphere of the dinner party peacefully until the end, before sending everyone home one by one.

Lin Mu and Xu Youwei were both picked up by their parents, while Shen Nianqiu and Zhu Wenyun said they wanted to go shopping together. So Chen Junqian only had to drop off Gu Lingguo and Chen Xi.

The restaurant wasn't far from their homes, but considering that Chen Junqian's bicycle could only carry one person at a time, they had to split up and take each person back one by one.

While riding his bicycle to take Gu Linguo home, Chen Junqian suddenly felt a weight on his back. Gu Linguo, who was sitting there, had put her arms on his shoulders and used the weight to stand up from the seat. The evening breeze made her hair fly in all directions.

"So you really enjoy pretending to be my girlfriend, huh? No wonder you're a fan of fake love stories. And you actually managed to get other girls besides me to act with you. That's amazing."

"Should I say something like some clueless male protagonists, 'Why does Lin Guo seem a little unhappy?'"

"No need, because I'm not unhappy at all."

As she said this, Gu Lingguo's hand moved even closer to Chen Junqian's neck, almost encircling it. Although her expression was not visible, her tone remained cheerful and smiling.

"I know! This is a solo episode featuring other female protagonists. If the production team likes it, they might even create a special individual ending theme. What the other female protagonists need to do now is pretend that nothing happened and they didn't see anything. That's what the male protagonist and the audience are hoping for. Do you think I'm right, brother?"

"That's why I've always felt that Lin Guo has a deeper case of chuunibyou than I do."

"That's how Rikka Takanashi is..."

Even though her head was already resting on his shoulder and her lips were getting closer and closer to his ear, she could still feel that Gu Lingguo's voice was getting softer and softer.

"Even if my brother stops having chuunibyou one day, I might still have it."

Perhaps because she had talked with Shen Nianqiu about her old diaries again today, Lin Mu, after being picked up by her father and brought home, was alone in the bathtub. However, she still unconsciously picked up her phone, which was already covered by a waterproof bag, and opened the cloud storage space. With a touch of nostalgia, she began to flip through her old diaries, and in no time she had finished reading the first hundred or so entries.

If we were to summarize her diaries from two years ago with keywords, the two words that appear most frequently would be these two.

The first one is 'Qianqian', and many times it is in a seemingly meaningless, diary-like form like 'I did XXXX with Qianqian', or simply expressing feelings like 'Qianqian is so good, so amazing, so handsome...' etc.

As for the second most frequently used word, it is 'grow taller'.

The phrase "I really want to grow taller" appeared almost every two days, almost like a dividing line, making Lin Mu unconsciously recall those times.

I was really concerned about my height back then. I remember there was a height chart on the door when I was young, and my goal was to grow to over 1.65 meters tall.

No, actually I still care a lot, but since I've helplessly accepted the current situation, I won't keep nagging about it or trying to change it like I used to.

However, after her conversation with Shen Nianqiu today, Lin Mu, who had given up on vertical growth, started to observe the horizontal development of her figure. But even now, having shed her thick winter clothes and lying naked in the bathtub, and even using the principle of 'water refraction' taught in physics class, after studying it for a long time and weighing it in her hands, she still reluctantly put half her face into the water and started bubbling.

Don't be sad alone when you're feeling down, just give me a call.

For some reason, Lin Mu recalled a line that Zhu Wenyun had written in one of her novels, spoken by the male protagonist. Without even thinking, Lin Mu knew that it must have been Qianqian who said it, since the two of them would talk on the phone for a long time every night.

So do they hit each other while taking a bath?

No, no, there's no bathtub in Wenyun's house.

In that case, my last conversation with Qianqian was actually our first bathtub call as childhood sweethearts.

It feels like it happened a long time ago.

How about we fight it a second time now?

But we were eating together just two hours ago.

But Wenyun and Qianqian can see each other every day.

After a jumble of thoughts, when Lin Mu came to her senses, she realized she had already dialed the other person's phone number.

"Hello? Is this Mu Mu?"

The voice on the other end of the phone came quickly, but Lin Mu was stunned for a moment.

Because it was Shen Nianqiu who answered the phone.

Meanwhile, Zhu Wenyun, bursting with inspiration, began writing her next book:

The male protagonist always tolerates his childhood sweetheart, who has always stayed in his room and by his side since they were young, like a father. This is because he has already dated other girls and even tasted the forbidden fruit, so he naturally thinks, "Well, compared to my girlfriend, my childhood sweetheart is still a complete child. I guess I shouldn't hold it against her. I can't do anything about her."

Thus, while he was indulging in Qingmei more and more, he would naturally and completely eliminate her from the list of women he could associate with.

Qingmei was completely unaware of this.

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

Chapter 57: No, that's not right, Mu Mu is the mastermind! (Two chapters combined)

If reality were truly a situational romantic comedy, Lin Mu and Shen Nianqiu's conversation might have turned into a plot of "How come Qianqian's phone is with you?", "Because he's washing dates?", "Washing, taking a bath?" But in reality, after a brief moment of surprise, Lin Mu naturally ignored the question.

After all, Qianqian mentioned during dinner that Shen Nianqiu was currently staying in a house he rented, not a hotel. She had just arrived in Guoning and it was clear that she would be staying there for ten days to half a month, so she definitely needed someone to help with shopping and decorating.

And right now, she's the one washing dates—oops, taking a bath—she's the one who should be doing it.

She would call Qianqian while taking a shower, and this was something that only he and Weiwei should know, since it was a bit embarrassing to talk about it with others.

But the more Lin Mu tried to control his body and keep it completely still, the less he could do it. His two feet, which were clenched together in tension, suddenly jerked involuntarily, splashing water everywhere and transmitting the commotion to the other end of the phone.

"Hmm? Is Mumu taking a shower now? I think I can hear water."

"Ah, um, yes, I'm taking a bath. W-what's wrong?"

Upon hearing Lin Mu's affirmative answer on the phone and hearing another splash of water, Shen Nianqiu instinctively gripped Chen Junqian's phone, realizing once again the kind of intimate relationship her younger brother's childhood sweetheart and the other person maintained.

Of course, she had no idea that this was just Lin Mu's second attempt, which she had made without thinking. She immediately assumed that this romantic interaction was just a normal part of their daily life, and even went so far as to imagine that "the fact that they can take a bath together and talk on the phone now means they probably took baths together when they were little." After all, judging from the photos Lin Mu had posted before, she and Chen Junqian hadn't known each other since elementary school; it was just that this forgetful girl had completely forgotten about it.

The younger brother had been pretending not to know, probably to take care of the other's feelings and thoughts. Rather, if there hadn't been this relationship, how could he have gone to great lengths to take care of an ordinary classmate for a whole week? It's impossible that he, a fourth-grade elementary school student at the time, had fallen for the even younger Lin Mu.

It can only be said that the most terrifying thing for a rival is often the everyday details of childhood sweethearts that they themselves are unaware of. If she weren't some random newcomer, she would have been overwhelmed by this thick barrier of memories and bonds between childhood sweethearts just from this one detail.

"It's okay, my brother is helping me tidy up the room. I'll go over and give him the phone now, and you two can chat."

"No, no, since Qianqian is busy, never mind. I didn't have anything special to tell him anyway. I'll hang up now, bye-bye—"

As soon as Lin Mu finished speaking, the phone rang with a busy signal indicating that the call had been disconnected. Shen Nianqiu continued walking into the room without showing any emotion, her thoughts still racing.

Sure enough, the absence of any special reason meant that she simply wanted to call Chen Junqian. No wonder the awakening of childhood sweetheart characters in Zhu Wenyun's novels always occurs after the habit and taken-for-granted nature that has permeated daily life is broken. If we only consider the childhood sweetheart relationship, Lin Mu is indeed the most standard among Guo Ning's three girls.

Meanwhile, at the door of Shen Nianqiu's room, Chen Junqian, who had just affixed the cherry blossom petal as a nameplate to the lintel at Shen Nianqiu's request, was also surprised to find that an achievement had been completed in his mind. However, since it was not an achievement that could be triggered repeatedly, he did not receive the reward again. It just popped up to remind him, just like the [0721] achievement that someone had previously completed solo.

What is this guy saying?

As we all know, in the world of romantic comedies, the male and female protagonists often misunderstand each other in various situations. However, unlike tragedies where misunderstandings lead to separation or lifelong regret, the cross-server chat in our romantic comedies is always designed to achieve a comedic effect that brings a knowing smile to the audience. Both parties unknowingly and inadvertently achieve their own conquests.

[Conditions for achieving this: Complete the above scenario with any heroine who is suited for romantic comedy, or achieve it independently by at least two heroines who are suited for romantic comedy]

This was an achievement he and Gu Lingguo had already completed, but he didn't expect it to be triggered again now.

Chen Junqian was quite certain that he had been focused on his task for the past few minutes, and hadn't even spoken to anyone, let alone chatted across servers. So it could only be the latter situation.

Just then, he saw Shen Nianqiu walk up to him with his phone in her hand.

"Mumu called you just now, but you didn't hear it upstairs, so I answered it for you. She hung up after only a few words. If you're worried, you can call back now."

Well, it seems that the so-called cross-server chat is most likely happening between these two.

Since the system's achievement description clearly stated that the cross-server chat in the romantic comedy was essentially for comedic effect and self-conquest, Chen Junqian was also quite relaxed. After taking the phone, he glanced at the call log and, sure enough, there was a very short call from Mu Mu. He dialed back immediately, and the other party answered right away.

"Hey, Mumu, my phone wasn't with me just now, what's wrong?"

Before he could even hear his childhood sweetheart's voice, Chen Junqian first heard a loud splashing sound, followed by Lin Mu's familiar, soft, and sweet voice after puberty:

"N-nothing, I'm taking a shower, just like last time."

Upon hearing Lin Mu mention 'last time,' Chen Junqian's first reaction was that the other party wanted to recreate, or rather, complete, some random '100 things that childhood sweethearts must do,' so he immediately chimed in:

"Oh, so should I go take a bath now?"

Shen Nianqiu, who was standing next to her, narrowed her eyes again.

Sure enough, judging from her younger brother's answer, Lin Mu not only made phone calls while taking a shower, but also made her brother join her every time. Then, while listening to the ambient noise and conversations on the other end, she would use that as material to... well, you know.

Do you really think everyone is like you, Shen Nianqiu? You should suspect your best friend Zhu Wenjun instead of Lin Mu. She talks to her brother every night before going to sleep.

Unaware that Shen Nianqiu, who appeared perfectly normal on the surface, was already internally turning into a rant, Chen Junqian planned to explain a few more words to his sister after ending the call. After all, judging from the situation tonight, the other party and Mu Mu should have resolved that little episode from years ago and should have a good relationship. So he continued talking to Lin Mu on the other end of the phone.

"So Qianqian's house has a bathtub too? Does that mean we won't have to borrow Weiwei's bathtub next time?"

"Well, it wouldn't be convenient to always use Yoyo's bathtub, would it?"

hiss--

Upon hearing Chen Junqian's reply, Shen Nianqiu gasped again.

It turns out that the two of them had been using Xu Youwei's bathtub all along.

She originally thought that Lin Mu had no ill intentions towards her good friend, but she didn't expect that the other party still remembered what Xu Youwei had done.

You secretly left your own words on the gift I gave him, so I'll blatantly use your bathtub to take a bath with him remotely and make phone calls, while you can only listen from outside.

So don't be fooled by the child's smiling face today. If I hadn't apologized quickly and sincerely, I might already be on his bad side, since Lin Mu has a habit of keeping a diary...

But who keeps a diary if they're a decent person?

If we follow this line of thought, her phone call might be a hint, since she had originally planned to let her younger brother stay with her tonight, just like the past few days.

Yes, although I will condone what you did in Lin'an, this is Guoning!

Chen Junqian noticed the cross-server chat achievement flashing in his mind again, and was a little confused for a moment. He felt that his conversation with Lin Mu was completely unambiguous and could not be misunderstood. Could it be that the system's judgment mechanism was particularly stupid today?

Or is it because Mu Mu is inherently a very innocent person who is easily misunderstood, so the system approved her?

At the same time, in the personal panels of the various female protagonists in the system, Zhu Wenyun, who had lost her D personality adaptability after becoming the girlfriend, and Shen Nianqiu, whose personality adaptability also began to leap upwards by leaps and bounds, even reaching A in a short moment, were considered by the system to be the best personality candidate for the female protagonist of a romantic comedy.

Then, just as Chen Junqian was about to end his call with Lin Mu, his sister's voice suddenly came from behind him, at a volume that seemed designed to be heard by his childhood sweetheart on the other end of the line.

"Alright, I've finished tidying up here. Thank you for your help, little brother. You can go home and get some rest now, since your little sister will be waking you up tomorrow."

"...I feel so lost."

The next morning, the first thing Chen Junqian saw when he opened his eyes was Chen Xi sitting by his bedside.

"If it's because of the fake woman... Sister Nianqiu's matter, you can actually tell Uncle and Aunt the truth directly. When I came here today, I saw 9,999 on the table. It's one in ten thousand."

"I thought you would tease me by saying 'sister-in-law' too."

"Ah, that's because Lin Guo already told me that in Japanese, 'sister-in-law' and 'older sister' are actually similar, so when I call her Sister Nianqiu or Sister Shen, it already has that meaning."

Although he said that, Chen Xi still turned his head away arrogantly, even though he had been supporting him and Shen Nianqiu at the dinner table just yesterday.