I turned reality into a romantic comedy.

"I'll get it for you."

At this moment, Zhu Wenyun, who had the height advantage, also took the initiative to stand on tiptoe and stretch out her fingers as well.

Their fingertips touched on the spine of the same book.

One, two, three...

Then, they took down the books that were placed there.

The cover of this book also features a howling wolf.

However, it is not Shen Shixi's "Wolf King's Dream".

It is Jack London's "The Call of the Wild".

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Literary Girls Always Easily Get Heavy

In fact, Chen Junqian generally does not consider the collections of short stories by writers of the caliber of Chekhov, Jack London, Mark Twain, or Maupassant to fall within the scope of children's literature, since even learning about them in textbooks is something that happens in junior high or even high school.

However, from the perspective of readability and interest alone, even without analyzing the social background of the scene description like a language teacher, and without understanding the many metaphors, the works of these masters are still quite interesting.

For example, the book Jack London's "The Call of the Wild" that he had asked Zhu Wenyun to get for him was actually not much different from Shen Shixi's animal novels. It had the same animal protagonists and focused on the relationship between humans, animals, and nature. So after thinking about it for a moment, Chen Junqian took the initiative to recommend it to Zhu Wenyun.

Zhu Wenyun ultimately recommended Yang Hongying's "Girl's Diary" to him. She probably thought that Chen Junqian, as a boy, wouldn't usually read this type of book. But in fact, Chen Junqian has always been inclusive and open to all kinds of children's literature and even animation.

After all, he was sometimes curious about what girls were thinking, and this diary-style work, which describes how the sixth-grade girl Ran Dongyang grew from a little girl into a young woman and the subtle changes in her physiology and psychology as well as her daily life at school and at home, was indeed a pretty good stepping stone.

Seeing that Chen Junqian had accepted her recommendation, Zhu Wenyun seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, because this was also one of her favorite works, to the point that she had once thought of writing a diary about it, but she had never been able to put it into practice due to her frustratingly slow writing speed.

After registering with the librarian using Zhu Wenyun's library card, the two found an empty seat and sat down. After all, the sun was shining brightly outside, and the library had tables and chairs for readers. However, the people sitting near them were mostly students doing their homework.

If the safety education they receive during elementary school at least includes daily reminders from teachers and drowning prevention checklists during summer vacation, then sex education is actually quite lacking.

When Chen Junqian revisited the girl's diary in his hand, this was the first thought that came to his mind. Then he probably understood why Zhu Wenyun's expression was a little subtle when she handed him the book.

Perhaps because the target audience is girls, Yang Hongying made no attempt to avoid describing girls' secondary development, menarche, and menstruation in this book. In particular, the book begins with the description of the female protagonist feeling that her school uniform suddenly became too tight after the summer vacation. It was hard not to think of Zhu Wenyun, who was sitting next to him right now and was also significantly taller than her peers.

However, considering the other person's family situation, the scenario of being carefully explained to her by her mother beforehand, and then receiving roses and a note saying "Welcome to become a real girl" on the day of the event, as depicted in the book, probably only exists in stories.

Or perhaps this book was actually the first source of detailed knowledge in this area for the other person, just as Pipilu and 419 Sins was his first encounter with criminal law.

However, this is probably the last glimmer of this era of children's literature. After all, in another ten years, the next generation of children will no longer need to learn relevant knowledge from such places in a daze. The chaotic and complicated flood of internet information will not give them any choice or room for maneuver, and they will be bombarded with it all at once, making it impossible to distinguish between good and bad.

The two sat together quietly, turning the pages of the book one by one.

At this moment, Chen Junqian gradually understood why the system had given the other party a D rating for adaptability in the hindsight evaluation. Compared to speaking directly, Zhu Wenyun was indeed more accustomed to using a more indirect approach, expressing her thoughts through the book handed to her and the words written down.

This is not something he can change overnight, and in fact, it doesn't need to be changed. He just needs to stop omitting the most important words or prove it with his actions.

It was almost lunchtime when the two of them packed up their books and left the library.

Zhu Wenyun originally wanted to say that her grandmother had brought food, but she also knew very well that her true feelings were that she would be happy even if she didn't eat, or just watched Chen Junqian eat alone, as long as the two of them could go back and sit there reading in silence in the afternoon.

"I'll ask you to come."

However, this awkward silence did not last long. Chen Junqian quickly pulled her to the nearest noodle shop and ordered two bowls of the cheapest plain noodles on the menu.

"But actually, the pickled vegetables at this shop are quite good."

Although it was just two bowls of vegetarian noodles, Chen Junqian didn't pick and choose at all. He took a small dish from the condiment station next to him, which consisted of kelp strips, pickled radish, pickled vegetables, pickled cowpeas, and other side dishes that would make up a meal in Korea. He then picked at the noodles in his bowl with his chopsticks and started eating.

Actually, the money he's using now is the money Lin Mu gave him a few days ago, supposedly the part of the hundred he hadn't spent that day.

However, his natural demeanor probably put Zhu Wenyun at ease, especially after Chen Junqian intentionally steered the conversation toward the books they had been reading.

This is a time for chatting and relaxing without having to worry about the class bell.

They can discuss a particular episode of Zheng Yuanjie's works featuring Shuke's verbal battle with Beta, taking on the roles of either the affirmative or negative side to share their perspectives.

You can start by talking about your views on pets through Laughing Cat's Diary, and then naturally expand on the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland, who also laughs.

You can also discuss a particular article in a children's literature issue that moved you. However, what Chen Junqian finds a little regrettable is that because he only got involved in this field a year or two later, works that impressed him, such as "Vibration," "Elvis," and "Nine-Nine from Ghost Manor," were either just being serialized or had not yet been published.

But that's enough.

Zhu Wenyun was still amazed that they had read so many of the same books, which gradually came together in their conversation.

Those vividly colored characters, those captivating stories, and those imaginative plots together form a sun as bright as the spring sun in the sky, enveloping the two of them in its warmth. Yet, it doesn't feel oppressive or restless; instead, it's simply overflowing with warmth, making you want to stay forever.

It's like a bear that's prepared to hibernate being suddenly awakened by a ray of sunlight piercing into its cave. But it still can't tell from this one sign whether it's still freezing outside; it's just a trap or illusion to lure it out of there.

After all, fairy tales contain both gray wolves disguised as grandmothers and hungry wolves imitating mothers singing "Little rabbit, be good—open the door." The price of being fooled is always quite heavy, with no chance of trial and error.

Although it was only much, much later that Zhu Wenyun realized that she was not actually a little bear hiding in a cave to hibernate in order to avoid the cold, and that the spring and winter outside were actually determined by her own will.

But at least at this moment, she still stubbornly believes it.

This beam of light was deliberately set out for her alone.

She wasn't the girl in that story who could still pull out nine yuan and fifty cents after losing two hundred yuan, and the other person wasn't the classmate who cooked for her in that story either; she didn't have a classmate.

Zhu Wenyun used to think that she was just like the crops in her grandmother's field, used to no change, growing step by step in a predictable pattern, after all, that way she would eventually grow up.

But now she finds herself starting to like the spring sunshine, rain, and wind.

He was her one and only spring.

Chapter Thirty-Nine: We Hug Each Other Back to Back (Part Two)

On the last day of the National Day holiday, Chen Junqian did not find his childhood sweetheart waiting to wake him up at home. Lin Mu had just returned from a trip with her family and was currently in a fantastic state of frantically finishing her homework. It seemed that the only achievement he could unlock from her during the entire National Day holiday was the time she successfully exploited a bug to tidy up her clothes.

However, Zhu Wenyun's progress was going smoothly. Although Chen Junqian could guess that the achievement the system wanted was for two people to approach the same book from different directions and then reach out to grab it at the same time, practice proved that his tricky method could also achieve it. It can only be said that Zhu Wenyun's high level of skill has its advantages.

Just as Chen Junqian decided to stop making a fuss and simply stay home to waste the last day of his wonderful seven-day holiday, he suddenly heard a loud knocking on his door.

At first, he thought his parents, who had already gone to work yesterday, had forgotten something at home. But when he ran over in his shoes and opened the door, he found Xu Youwei standing there wearing a sun hat and carrying a small bag on her back.

"Ugh, it's so hot! Why is it still this hot in October?"

Although the electric fan built into her sun hat was spinning non-stop, Xu Youwei, who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, was still covered in sweat.

It was her first time visiting Chen Junqian's house. She looked around and immediately spotted the sink in the bathroom. Without saying a word, she took off her sun hat, put it aside, and went over to turn on the tap, splashing a handful of cold water on her face.

"You've just returned from your trip?"

"Yes, I went to Xi'an and only got home last night."

Xi'an?

Remembering his classmates who would go to neighboring counties to post tons of photos on their social media, Chen Junqian asked another question out of curiosity:

"I haven't even seen what photos you posted."

"Because I don't really like posting on social media, and I didn't take many photos. There are some souvenirs I brought for you in my backpack, take a look yourself. By the way, are the towels here okay to use?"

"From left to right, these are mine, my dad's, and my mom's. You can use my mom's..."

Before Chen Junqian could finish speaking, he saw Xu Youwei take off her leftmost towel, wipe her face haphazardly, and then soak it in water, wring it out, tidy it up, and put it back.

"Okay, thanks."

"I do feel like I've gotten a little tanned."

"Because it's hotter over there than here, and many attractions are outdoors, and even inside, there are many places without air conditioning, like the Terracotta Army."

Seeing that Chen Junqian didn't open the backpack as she wanted, Xu Youwei had no choice but to walk over and unzip it herself, handing over a bag that looked quite heavy and resembled a whole brick:

"This is what I bought there. It seems like you can dig out a small terracotta warrior from inside. It's supposed to simulate the archaeological process, and it even comes with various tools. I don't know if you'll like it."

"Oh, thank you."

Chen Junqian, who had worked in museum cultural and creative industries for a period of time in his previous life, was not surprised by these archaeological blind boxes. What Xu Youwei was giving him was just the beginning of the experiment. More than ten years later, they had evolved into hidden and limited editions like gacha games. Moreover, the contents were not only terracotta warriors, but museums from all over the world would make small and exquisite replicas of their own treasured representative cultural relics and put them in.

Chen Junqian figured his adopted sister would be quite interested in this, so he nodded and accepted it.

"I love so much."

"If you like it, that's fine. I brought Mumu a handmade wooden comb, and I plan to give it to her for her birthday at the end of the month."

At this point, Xu Youwei realized that she hadn't even closed the door since she came in, so she closed it with her foot and began to look at the decoration and layout of his house with the same interest as Lin Mu before her.

"This place feels so familiar."

“Every family in these apartment buildings looks like this, the only difference is the placement of the furniture and decorations. I guess it’s because you’ve been here before when visiting relatives during holidays.”

"possible."

Xu Youwei tilted her head and thought for a while, then decided to give up thinking and started taking things out of her schoolbag:

"Oh right, the Happy Detective magazine and the freebies you ordered for me this month arrived a couple of days ago. Here's the book, and here's the toy watch that came with it."

As she spoke, Xu Youwei also took out a magazine and a beautifully packaged small box together:

"Because you ordered it for me, and you said you also like this kind of magazine, I decided to bring it over so we can read it together for the first time. This way we can avoid spoilers. As for the watch, you can give it to me when you're done playing with it."

However, Chen Junqian showed no interest in accepting the toy watch with the image of the elementary school shinigami anime character printed on it, and simply shook his head at the idea.

"You can wear the watch; I'm not interested in it."

"Really not?"

"No."

"You're not lying?"

"No."

"Then put it on me."

"I'll put it on you, so you can put it on."

Facing Xu Youwei's outstretched wrist, which was slightly tanned but still fair, Chen Junqian recalled the scene a month ago when she grabbed his wrist and slapped it with a slap. But now the tables had turned, and he was the one putting something on her wrist.

Although the process was a little more complicated than the simple "snap," wearing a toy watch wasn't difficult in the first place. In no time, Xu Youwei had already raised the watch face and aimed the laser pointer at the back of his neck, seemingly intending to give him a tranquilizer dart just like Kogoro Mouri's.

"Okay, let's read the book. I hope it won't disappoint me."

After admiring the watch, which was a free gift with the magazine subscription, for a while, Xu Youwei didn't seem to care about the box. Instead, she sat on one side of the sofa, held one side of the magazine, and gestured for Chen Junqian to sit next to her and hold the other side of the magazine.

Because they were still children, and the magazine itself had a large number of pages, Chen Junqian did not refuse, but instead adopted a serious and prepared stance as instructed.

Unlike Zhu Wenyun, who never spoke while reading, Xu Youwei probably chose this reading method from the beginning so that she could chat with him about what she was reading at any time.