I turned reality into a romantic comedy.

"Dad, Mom."

He had finally reached this point where he was still young, and in about three years he would be forever young and forever love his parents.

As far as Chen Junqian was concerned, he didn't care what those romantic comedies filled with names he couldn't understand were like. But if it was a comedy, the main theme of the story should be a happy ending, just like how the model operas after the Spring Festival Gala always added the line "Let's make dumplings together".

For a long time afterward, Chen Junqian was convinced of one thing.

From this moment on, he was truly 'reborn'.

Only then did he truly qualify to become the protagonist of a so-called romantic comedy created alongside many others.

Chapter Two: Not Childish Even for Children

Not wanting his parents to see him lose his composure, Chen Junqian shouted, then quickly turned around and went back to his room, closing the door behind him. The two people who had just returned home felt his attitude was a bit strange, but they didn't think much of it. Soon, one of them went into the kitchen to wash his hands and start cooking, while the other grabbed a storybook he had recently brought home from the table and went into the bathroom.

It was probably because he had a father who would even glance at a book while using the toilet to pass the time that Chen Junqian developed the good habit of reading at a very young age. There were always small magazines such as Story Club or Zhiyin near the bathroom at home for entertainment, while Yilin and Reader were relatively rare.

The trade-off is that you might get so engrossed in watching that you squat for too long and it takes a lot of effort to stand up.

After catching glimpses of these scenes through the crack in the door, which brought his childhood memories back to life, Chen Junqian's mood finally calmed down. He reached out and pulled back the curtains in his room, taking advantage of the still bright light to take another good look at his room.

Actually, there's nothing special about it. It's just a bed, a desk with a cabinet, a chair, and a bedside table. His spare clothes are all kept in the same closet as his parents', and the bedside table is filled with spare socks and other small items.

The only computer in the house was in his parents' room and was password protected. He remembered how, as a child, he would rack his brains trying to guess the password hints until he finally got his hands on it by using an underhanded trick, thus beginning his internet surfing career.

Just as Chen Junqian was already imagining how he would use the internet to earn his first pot of gold and give his peers a huge head start, a certain system in his brain kindly reminded him:

"Alright, now can we start talking about romantic comedy?"

"I didn't send you back to the present to help you build some business empire. Let me emphasize again, what a child your age should be doing most is..."

"Enjoy your childhood?"

"Of course not. It's about starting to build all sorts of bonds, create all sorts of memories, and create all sorts of CG events with other girls when you're still a child. You've been reborn, so you definitely have to fall in love. And it has to be a romantic comedy with happy endings for everyone. That's what it means to win at the starting line."

"Actually, if you ask me, the time you were reborn is actually quite late. You should have won over most of the people around you in kindergarten. If you had started in elementary school... you could still be considered childhood friends."

"You really have a strong attachment to romantic comedies."

"Because that's what I do, and if it weren't for someone's connections, I would have already reincarnated you into someone who, upon opening their eyes, finds a little sister sweetly calling out to them, 'Onii-chan, time to wake up!'"

"Stop, stop, okay?"

Chen Junqian rubbed his temples with a hint of helplessness:

"Of course I thank you for letting me be reborn, and I also promise you that I can go... well, try to be the male protagonist of this romantic comedy, but everything has to be done step by step, right? You keep saying this, but I don't know exactly how to do it."

"Okay, okay, you mean you want me to give you tasks, but I don't have any rewards for completing tasks, after all, I'm not that kind of system."

"You granting my wish to be reborn is already the greatest reward for me. I'll try my best to cooperate with you, okay? After all, putting aside romantic comedies, I'll definitely want to have a relationship after being reborn, since I never had one in my previous life."

"I'm relieved to hear you say that. Let's start by trying to build bonds with one or two girls. The method is up to you. After all, I haven't figured out the rules of operation here yet. It doesn't seem very reliable to give you two buffs like Lucky Pervert. It wouldn't be good to turn you from a celibate type into a prison-bound male lead. Anyway, good luck to you. I'm going to take a break to recharge."

After saying that, Chen Junqian finally felt his mind suddenly become much clearer and quieter. Feeling much more relaxed, he lay down on the bed and began to think about the current situation.

After all, this point in time is sixteen years ago for him. He has forgotten many of the subtle memories of his childhood, and many of the remaining ones are shrouded in a fog. Although he can think of a lot of money-making ideas in one go, perhaps as the system said, it is indeed too early for a primary school student to think about these things now. He should just let nature take its course and enjoy this reborn old time again.

The setting sun shone through the window, still carrying a slight warmth, so much so that Chen Junqian unknowingly fell asleep. He didn't wake up until his mother called him from outside to wash his hands and have dinner. He answered and opened the door to leave his room.

Today's menu consists of three dishes and a soup: stir-fried cucumber with ham slices, stir-fried green peppers with dried tofu and shredded pork, a dish of "ants climbing a tree" (minced pork and vermicelli), and a large bowl of tomato and egg soup.

In fact, when it's just the three of them eating, his father Chen Jun and mother Wang Hongling don't usually put food on his plate. After all, Chen Junqian isn't particularly picky about food. Apart from scallions, ginger, and garlic, which most children dislike, he doesn't have any particular aversion to vegetables.

"School just started these past few days, so let us know if there's anything you need to buy, like book covers or stationery. Oh, and also this year's complete guide to elementary school textbooks, didn't you say you wanted to buy that at the beginning of every new semester?"

His father's words reminded Chen Junqian of this somewhat distant memory, and he nodded somewhat awkwardly while eating:

"Okay, I'll buy it tomorrow."

"Let's keep it at twenty-three. The money will be on the table tomorrow; you can take it to school."

For Chen Junqian, who didn't have a fixed allowance at that time, using the pretext of buying supplementary teaching materials to earn small kickbacks was something he often did in the past. For example, this complete guide to elementary school textbooks could actually be bought for about twenty yuan, but he would usually report an extra three or two yuan, and the extra money would naturally become his own allowance.

Incidentally, since the "Complete Explanation of Elementary School Textbooks" supplementary teaching material always comes with reference answers to the questions at the end of each lesson, and sometimes teachers will directly assign those questions as homework, or even use this as a temporary substitute when they don't have the textbook, in Chen Junqian's eyes, the "Complete Explanation of Elementary School Textbooks" has always been the king of cost-effectiveness among supplementary teaching materials.

"it is good."

After asking Chen Junqian, the two of them started talking about their work at the factory. It can only be said that in terms of their marital relationship, he was sometimes quite like an accident under the guise of true love. But then again, it was probably this relatively harmonious and relaxed family environment that allowed him to remain nostalgic about his childhood experiences for a long time after he became an adult.

After dinner, Chen Junqian volunteered to wash the dishes again. Although he didn't get paid much for it, he was just killing time. Since it was the beginning of the semester, he had already finished his little homework while he was bored in class.

With her son helping with the housework, Mom naturally slipped out to play mahjong. She's always had this hobby and often boasts that she has mahjong friends all over the factory. However, since the stakes are low, it's basically just a way to pass the time and socialize, so her family doesn't think much of it.

Meanwhile, his father was much busier. Chen Junqian remembered that his father was busy with job transfers or promotions during this period, so he often went to the factory at night to work overtime and organize production.

However, it was precisely because his parents were away from home for extended periods on two separate nights that he was able to use those days to embark on his dream of a shooting game with 300 million mouse clicks, immersing himself in the world of online games, online novels, and QQ Space.

Of course, that will have to wait until six months later when he cleverly cracks his own computer password. Right now, Chen Junqian's time after dinner, besides doing his homework, seems to be spent going downstairs to play with other kids living nearby, and then watching TV or reading books.

As the saying goes, adults play cards with adults, and children play cards with children. Chen Junqian just found a large stack of round cards in the second drawer of the bedside table.

Just as he thought of this, he heard his name being called downstairs.

Because it had been a long time, and they hadn't had any contact since graduating from elementary school and moving, Chen Junqian couldn't remember the names of the other children behind him, except for the boy who was leading the group. However, children sometimes don't care about such things when they play together; it's just more fun when there are more people.

After replying loudly, Chen Junqian took a large stack of round cards from the bedside table drawer and stuffed them into his pants pocket. He had mainly collected Ultraman or Digimon designs. The cards were quite hard, probably made of cardboard, and wrapped in a thin film. They shimmered when shaken.

After the children gathered together, Chen Junqian asked Duan Xin, the only boy he could still name who was the leader:

Where should we go today?

"The sun is still a bit strong, let's go under the tree."

Pointing to a tree not far away, five or six boys squeezed over and eagerly took out their round cards from their pockets.

The rules are simple: each person takes turns, and by flipping over other people's cards with their own, they can take those cards. It's easy to pick up and play, but winning every time requires some skill.

Like Duan Xin, he is the one among the children who is most adept at adapting his actions to the situation and position of the cards. Compared to others who only slap the cards hard and end up with nothing but dust, he has mastered a variety of basic techniques such as stomping (standing his own round card upright and lightly tapping the opponent's card with the edge), slicing (using skillful force to attack the opponent's slightly raised edge due to the terrain and make it flip over), and shoveling (aiming hard at the opponent's weak point to win by force). He can even use skillful 'spinning' to make the opponent's round card and his own rotate together to make it flip over. When combined, they are naturally invincible.

Chen Junqian, who hadn't played this game for at least a decade, couldn't gain any advantage against the elementary school student. By the time everyone was ready to leave, a quarter of the cards he had brought with him had already ended up in the other player's pocket.

"Let's play Three Kingdoms Kill tomorrow."

Perhaps feeling that always winning wasn't a good thing, Duan Xin, who understood the importance of sustainable resource utilization, immediately suggested this. Last month, he used his saved allowance to buy the complete standard version of Three Kingdoms Kill, thus solidifying his status among the kids. After all, without him as the host, the game really couldn't be started.

"Okay, I want to play with Xiao Qiao tomorrow. Her cards are so beautifully drawn."

"I want to play the one with the Malay sword... Lu Sun!"

"Zhao Yun's skills are too weak. Why is it that such a cool character in the cartoon only has the skills 'kill when you dodge' and 'dodge when you kill'?"

When the topic of Three Kingdoms Kill came up, several other kids got excited, but then someone said, "It's seven o'clock, Animation Dream Factory is showing it," and everyone scattered again.

For these primary school students, the children's channel's "Animation World" at noon and "Animation Dream Factory" and "Galaxy Theater" in the evening are probably the programs they least want to miss, and Chen Junqian is no exception.

With a nostalgic mindset, he returned home and turned on the TV, where he happened to hear Sister Deer and Bubble Dragon say the opening line, "Cartoon Fun Island, where happiness is indispensable."

After a few opening interactions, the animation for this season quickly began to air. However, the opening two lines of a grand and majestic song immediately struck Chen Junqian like a thunderbolt, and the words "Fifty-two episode animated series - Monkey King" appeared in gold.

"Playing with monsters, toying with demons, the Golden Cudgel will settle all disputes—"

So this is the animation Dream Factory on the children's channel that was showing at that time.

Upon hearing the familiar opening theme song sung by Sun Nan, the singer of the theme song for "The Legend of Nezha," in the same extended tone, Chen Junqian's memories came flooding back. No wonder he remembered that besides watching the classic animated film "Journey to the West" with its opening theme song, he had also watched another animated film featuring Sun Wukong as the main character when he was a child. This must be the one.

Speaking of which, he had just completed all the achievements of "Black Myth: Wukong" before his official rebirth. In a sense, it could be considered a cross-time collaboration. After all, the Monkey King Sun Wukong was indeed the first superhero that these children came into contact with. Every time he came home for summer vacation, he would pick the most handy stick from his grandparents' woodpile and practice his skills.

At 7:30, after Animation Dream Factory ends, it's time for Wisdom Tree.

When Chen Junqian saw Hong Guoguo, Lv Paopao, and the pink doll Xiao Gudong, whose identity as a child was unclear whether it was a lion or a hedgehog, saying the opening line, "Wisdom fruit on the wisdom tree, you and me under the wisdom tree, playing games in front of the wisdom tree, lots and lots of fun," he unconsciously raised the corners of his mouth while hugging his knees on the sofa.

After Wisdom Tree, the Galaxy Theater at 8 o'clock was probably the latest program he could watch at night when he was a child, since it was past 8 o'clock, which was also the time for him, a primary school student, to go to bed.

This season's broadcast is Dinosaur Babies.

Even after turning off the TV and obediently following his usual routine to wash his face and feet, and returning to his room to sleep under the covers, the melody of the first line of the theme song sung by JJ Lin still lingered in Chen Junqian's mind:

I stand on the roof of the world, looking at the heavens and the earth with a magnifying glass.

As for romantic comedies, let's save that for tomorrow.

On his first night after his rebirth, Chen Junqian slept soundly and peacefully, just like a child his age should have.

He dreamed that he was running with the wind in the fields, running with the clouds in the sky, and running through the water on the beach.

At this moment, he felt as if he had returned to the days when he neither felt nor believed that he would suddenly grow up. What he needed to do now was to climb over the mountain to chase a butterfly he had never seen before.

But such a scene will never reappear in a vague dream more than a decade later, leaving only an indescribable sense of loss upon waking.

Because Chen Junqian knew that when he opened his eyes again, he would still exist in this room from his childhood.

The beauty of the word "goodbye" lies in the fact that it signifies both farewell and reunion.

He is back.

My loved ones are still here, and my dearest friends are still young.

Chapter 3: Events can happen in real life too.

At 6:15 a.m., probably due to his body's natural biological clock, Chen Junqian woke up naturally. By the time his mother knocked on the door to wake him up, he was already putting on his school uniform.

Except for weekend mornings, the family usually doesn't cook. After all, the three of them don't have the same work and school schedules. Plus, there are all sorts of breakfast shops just a short walk away. So, after putting on his shoes, walking to the small sink in the bathroom, picking up the YaYaLe toothpaste (whose packaging is still quite flashy), brushing his teeth and washing his face, Chen Junqian casually took the four one-yuan coins his mother had placed on the living room table beforehand, and left with his schoolbag.

This was his money for bus fare and breakfast. His mother had put the money for the complete guide to elementary school textbooks in the outer compartment of his schoolbag beforehand, so that he wouldn't lose it if he put it in his pocket.

He glanced at the design on the coin again, which featured three lotus flowers and a national emblem, thus earning the right to linger on it a little longer.

Actually, the morning reading class at the experimental primary school he attends starts at around 7:30, but there's no way around it. Considering the time for breakfast and the journey by bus, getting up at 6:15 is indeed the latest time.

Although he did go to bed early last night, children this age are always sleepy. It wasn't until he stepped outside and was greeted by the cool morning breeze that Chen Junqian finally felt awake and began to think about his breakfast choices for the day.

Prices were still quite cheap at that time. Three yuan was enough for him to have a hearty breakfast. After all, even the most expensive bowl of old duck soup with rice crust on the stall in front of him only cost three yuan.

"Hey—Chen Junqian, let's go eat instant noodles at the school gate."

Just then, he suddenly heard Duan Xin's voice coming from behind him. He and Chen Junqian were in the same grade but not in the same class. However, because they lived close by, they usually went to school together and could be considered good friends. But Chen Junqian still felt somewhat reluctant to accept the suggestion that Duan Xin was making.