I turned reality into a romantic comedy.

"You can't let me choose all of them, you should also choose what you like."

However, there are always things that can be held onto from childhood to adulthood.

Chapter 42: You call this a homemade bento box? (Two chapters combined)

Since the homeroom teacher did not strictly require the students to sit in the same order as in class on the bus, Lin Mu sat down next to Chen Junqian as soon as he got on the bus, carrying a bulging backpack.

Over the course of more than a month, she gradually lost her initial worries and even began to openly display the fact that the two of them had a very good relationship in front of the other classmates.

"Actually, I originally wanted to grab a seat in the last long row and invite Weiwei to sit with me, but unfortunately I didn't manage to get one."

A little unwilling, Lin Mu glanced back at the boys who had already taken out their Ludo games on the long seats in the last row. She mumbled something in her throat for a while, but Xu Youwei, who was separated from her by the aisle, didn't seem to care much. She smiled and said it was okay before turning her head to look at the scenery rushing past outside the window.

As soon as everyone got on the bus, they started taking out snacks from their bags. Chen Junqian, who was sitting by the window, subconsciously opened the window halfway to let in some of the mixed smells that suddenly rushed out of the bus. Lin Mu thought he had seen some special scenery and curiously leaned his upper body over to look out.

Unlike her usual ponytail, Lin Mu's mother had given her a slightly more complicated hairstyle, probably because they were going on a spring outing. The high half-ponytail had loose ends hanging over her shoulders, and she had specially braided it into a three-strand braid with a cherry-decorated hair tie. The remaining strands of hair occasionally brushed against Chen Junqian's nose with the wind, making him feel itchy and wanting to sneeze.

"It's nothing."

"It's just opening a window to let in some fresh air."

After helping Lin Mu back into her seat and fastening her seatbelt as instructed by the homeroom teacher standing in the front row, Chen Junqian casually praised her.

"Your hair looks really good today."

"Yes, I like it very much too."

Has Mumu ever been to Jing County before?

"I think I've been there before? I don't really remember. Actually, I prefer staying at home more than traveling. What about you?"

"I've been there twice, but I don't remember it very well, although I never really look forward to school field trips."

In Chen Junqian's memory, the most memorable spring and autumn outings arranged by the school during his primary school years were probably the spring outing to Jingting Mountain organized before the sixth grade graduation. When all the classes took a group photo at the top of the mountain, it seemed that many students were too tired or simply too lazy to climb to the top. Their homeroom teacher kept nagging about it for a long time, almost as if he wanted to relive the story of the summer camp in Japan.

"I also think the school's spring and autumn outings aren't very fun, but if we have one less day of class, we can treat it as a holiday."

As she spoke, Lin Mu took out a bag of rice crackers from her backpack, gave one to Chen Junqian, and then started crunching on another. After finishing, she subconsciously licked her fingertips, but after realizing that Chen Junqian was staring at her, she still made a slight excuse:

“I would definitely not lick it at home, but wipe it off with a tissue, but I’m not at home now.”

"really."

In fact, Chen Junqian could understand Lin Mu quite well. After all, many of his little actions were indeed instincts or even nature of children of this age. However, as long as he was in front of adults, whether he was eating at his own house or at someone else's house, Lin Mu would generally not exhibit any impolite behaviors such as shaking his leg, picking at his food, sticking his chopsticks into his rice, or eating with his left hand bent over instead of holding the bowl.

While this is indeed a reflection of good upbringing, perhaps because the Lin Mu he first met was the Lin Mu in the form of someone whose parents were not at home, Lin Mu was able to relax a little in front of Chen Junqian, just like he is now.

After eating two rice crackers, he felt a bit salty in his mouth. After rummaging through his bag for a while, Lin Mu finally managed to pull out a round box of Want Want Tea Jelly.

Unlike the "When I grow up, I want to be an astronaut. My grandparents were so happy that they gave me a big slap in the face for my favorite food... Xi Zhi Lang Jelly" that Chen Junqian ate more often and saw more often on TV, this tea jelly seemed to have added ingredients.

Sure enough, after tearing open the packaging like he would a cup of instant noodles, Lin Mu then tore open the individually packaged creamer and poured it over the tea jelly inside. Only then did he pick up the small plastic spoon that came with the package, scoop up a spoonful, and contentedly put it in his mouth, remarking with satisfaction:

"This is super delicious!"

Then, she waved her little spoon at Chen Junqian:

"Would you like some, Qianqian? It's not too sweet, it has a slightly bitter tea flavor."

Faced with this opportunity to rack up achievements that was practically handed to him, Chen Junqian certainly wouldn't refuse. He had just nodded in agreement when another spoonful of tea jelly was tremblingly brought to his lips. He lowered his head and caught it with his mouth, and the bouncy tea jelly rolled directly into his mouth. It did taste pretty good.

And he also managed to get the feeding play achievement again, but unlike Xu Youwei who fed the other person herself, this time Lin Mu fed him.

Just as Chen Junqian was checking the progress of his achievements in his mind and savoring the slightly bitter-sweet taste that was slowly melting in his mouth, he suddenly noticed that Xu Youwei at the other end of the corridor had turned her head over again at some point, with a jelly in her mouth, propping her cheek up as she looked at him and Lin Mu, seemingly lost in thought.

Even after their eyes met directly in the air, she made no attempt to look away. However, judging from the jelly bag in her mouth that suddenly deflated, her mood didn't seem as calm as she appeared.

However, Lin Mu, whose back was to Xu Youwei, did not notice this. She was still gently shaking her head from side to side, hoping to get a word of praise from Chen Junqian. The cherry hair tie she was wearing bounced lightly in the sunlight, sparkling like crushed diamonds.

"good to eat."

"Would you like to eat some more?"

Feeling that watching Chen Junqian eat was more enjoyable than eating himself, Lin Mu eagerly picked up his spoon again, to the point that Chen Junqian really didn't expect him to say "Come on...ah" like the achievement title suggested.

After being fed several more bites, Lin Mu finally seemed completely satisfied and leaned back in her seat, then brought up her birthday at the end of the month:

"October 30th is a Friday. My parents are throwing me a birthday party at the Jintianhai Hotel. Do Qianqian and Weiwei want to come? You can come and eat for free without having to pay a gift."

According to the customs of their hometown, the most important birthday celebration for children is after their first birthday and then their tenth birthday. Generally, it is held in a grand manner, and it seems that Lin Mu's birthday celebration is no exception.

"I should be able to go."

Whether intentionally or not, Xu Youwei echoed Chen Junqian's words immediately after he finished speaking:

"Friday should be fine, I guess."

"Okay! I'll go back and tell Mom and Dad that you can sit at the table with the kids. I'll come find you after I'm done with this."

As the main character of the day, according to the traditional procedure, Lin Mu is in a sense the same as the bride and groom at the wedding. He will have to perform a talent in public and then be led to greet the guests at each table. That's why I'm telling them this beforehand.

The journey of more than two hours was indeed a bit long. Even though they ate and chatted, most of the students felt sleepy after about an hour and a half. Soon they either dozed off or actually fell asleep in their seats. However, Lin Mu was unusually energetic today.

More accurately, it looked more like some kind of awkward, uncomfortable posture.

"...You don't need to use the restroom, do you?"

He immediately noticed a little girl next to him squirming in her seat, looking rather uncomfortable. Considering the child's constant talking since boarding the bus, Chen Junqian whispered to her to confirm.

Yes, a little.

"Wait a minute."

After unbuckled his seatbelt and quietly confirmed with the homeroom teacher, Chen Junqian returned to his seat and whispered words of comfort:

"We'll be at the service area in three minutes. There are public restrooms there."

Thanks to the good news brought by Chen Junqian, Lin Mu breathed a sigh of relief. However, she kept her slender legs tightly together, held the hem of her shirt with both hands, bit her lip, and nodded. The moment the car finally stopped, she quickly got out of her seat and ran towards the restroom.

Chen Junqian, who had been sitting on the bus for more than an hour, took the opportunity to get some fresh air and stretch his body. Soon, he saw buses carrying students from other classes arriving at the service area one after another. Many students got off the buses, some anxious and some relaxed, making it quite lively for a while.

"Hey--"

Suddenly, a familiar voice came from behind him. Before Chen Junqian could react, a hand, seemingly holding his mouth, covered his mouth. Judging from the action, it even looked like a kidnapping scene.

"Wishing you well...?"

Before he could even call out her name, the girl's hand was already slightly outstretched to Chen Junqian's lips. However, what followed to cover his mouth was not a wet wipe soaked in mysterious anesthetic gas, but something harder, like granules, with a faint fragrance.

In the next instant, the achievement system in Chen Junqian's mind rang again, but this time it was two completely different things from the one in the car. In addition to the achievement "Come on...ah", another achievement that had never been triggered before was also unlocked for the first time.

[Essential for lovingly prepared bento boxes]

The way to a man's heart is through his stomach. In romantic comedies, at least one of the female leads always seems to have cooking skills, and she'll hand over the bento box while saying classic lines like, "I didn't make this especially for you, I just bought extra ingredients."

Of course, even those seemingly dark or simple bento boxes contain the precious sentiments of the female protagonists. After all, who would dislike a girl who is willing to wash her hands and cook for them?

Achievement conditions: Being given a handmade bento by the female protagonist who is suited to romantic comedies. Reaching key milestones such as once, ten times, one hundred times, one thousand times, etc., will count as completing one achievement.

At the very moment the achievement was lit up, Chen Junqian, who had subconsciously chewed the foreign object that had entered his mouth, finally realized what the other party had stuffed into him.

The sunflower seeds were peeled one by one by hand and then gathered into a handful in the palm of the hand.

At this moment, Chen Junqian didn't have time to complain about how this thing could be successfully identified as a handmade bento by exploiting a bug, because even though Zhu Wenyun had completely swallowed the handful that was loosely held in his hand, the other party still didn't seem to want to let go. The warm palm was still pressed against his lips, and even actively rubbed it a couple more times as if it didn't mind getting dirty.

So he shouldn't have so easily gotten the impression that he had already smoothed things over a few days ago. In a sense, her thoughts and actions are the most unpredictable. Is that why the system gave her an A rating for action adaptability?

It felt like a long time had passed, or maybe just a few seconds, before Zhu Wenyun finally took her hand off Chen Junqian's face. Then, quite naturally, she picked off a few remaining sunflower seeds from the edge of her palm and put them into the small disposable paper cup she was holding in her other hand. The cup was already almost half full of sunflower seeds, so it seemed that the other party's harvest along the way was indeed more than just the handful she had just held.

"……for you."

Seemingly worried that Chen Junqian might mind, she stretched out her hand again to show off her short but adequately long fingernails:

"They were all peeled by hand."

Chen Junqian didn't agree immediately, but he didn't refuse either. Instead, he jogged back to the bus carrying his class, took out his backpack, and pulled out his uneaten tea jelly. Silently, he followed Lin Mu's steps to pour in the creamer and stir it well before handing it to Zhu Wenjun.

"It's a deal, we'll switch, this one's delicious too."

"okay."

Only after the two of them completed this mysterious exchange ceremony, which might seem incomprehensible to others, did Zhu Wenyun turn around and leave with the tea jelly given to him by Chen Junqian, leaving him alone standing there in a daze for a while, facing the nearly full cup of melon seeds in his hand.

Finally, Chen Junqian tilted his head back and, as if drinking water, brought the paper cup to his lips, crunching away at the sunflower seeds with mixed feelings.

It seems that from now on, he'll have to peel two crayfish for the other person at the late-night snack stall.

Chapter 43: They remained silent, only tearing at the tablecloth.

As is a must-have at any tourist attraction, Taohuatan in Jing County is no exception. However, perhaps wanting to interact with the visiting students, the tour guide hired by the school specifically asked them a question with a smile:

"Does anyone know the story of Peach Blossom Pool and Li Bai? If you can, we have a small gift for you."

As she spoke, she showed off the small gift in her hand, which seemed to be a refrigerator magnet. It was small and exquisite, with the poem and pattern of "Peach Blossoms in Full Bloom" engraved on it. Lin Mu was a little tempted and quickly shook Chen Junqian's hand beside her.

Seeing his childhood sweetheart's expression, Chen Junqian, who indeed knew the answer to the question, lazily raised his hand to answer first:

Legend has it that during the Tianbao era of the Tang Dynasty, Wang Lun, a wealthy man from Jing County, was overjoyed to hear that the great poet Li Bai had traveled south and was staying at his uncle Li Bingyang's home in Nanling. He wrote to Li Bai, inviting him: "Sir, do you enjoy traveling? There are ten miles of peach blossoms here, a sight to behold. Sir, do you enjoy drinking? There are ten thousand taverns here for people to enjoy their drinks."

Upon hearing this, Li Bai gladly went. When he arrived in Jing County, Li Bai asked Wang Lun where the Peach Garden Tavern was. Wang Lun replied, "Peach Blossom is the name of the pool, not the location of any peach blossoms. Wan Family is the surname of the innkeeper, not the location of any tavern." This made Li Bai laugh heartily, and the two became friends. The famous poem "To Wang Lun" was written by Li Bai as he was about to depart. See, that's the statue standing over there."

"Great, this child's explanation is excellent, let's give him a round of applause!"

The tour guide seemed surprised that a fourth-grade student could actually pop out of the group and retell the story clearly and fluently. After a slight pause, he took the lead in applauding. Chen Junqian himself didn't think much of it, but Lin Mu, who was standing next to him, seemed quite happy, as if she was about to stand up and announce to the world that this was her childhood sweetheart.

After receiving the small gift from the tour guide, Chen Junqian handed it to Lin Mu, who played with it for a while before carefully putting it into the outer pocket of his backpack.

Of course, stories are stories, and real tourist attractions are another matter entirely.

Just as Wang Lun is often considered a more famous "lying down and winning" person than "Master Cen and Master Danqiu," it's hard to say that Peach Blossom Pool is an interesting scenic spot. After all, Li Bai's popularity is undeniable, but it's quite difficult to develop a fun tourist attraction based solely on a poem.

Moreover, it's autumn now, and the peach blossoms, which are usually one of the main selling points, aren't in bloom yet. As for wine, forget about it. All we can do is look at the deep Peach Blossom Pool in the poems and feel the elegance of the ancients.

Fortunately, the tour guide had solid basic skills and spoke fluently about Li Bai's life and activities in Anhui, which prevented the atmosphere from becoming too awkward. Some of the more prescient elementary school students had already started taking notes, planning to copy them into their travelogues to reach the word count.

Before we knew it, it was lunchtime. The school had arranged for a large local farmhouse restaurant, and each class had twelve students sitting at a table. However, considering the budget, the dishes weren't exactly plentiful, especially for the picky elementary school students. Before long, everyone started munching on the snacks they had brought with them.

It's fair to say that they would much rather eat snacks three times a day than meals. Since they finally have this opportunity, they naturally want to make up for it by eating well.

Chen Junqian picked up a couple of bites of food and tasted it. It was just home-style cooking, about the same level as what they had taught at their after-school program. So he and Lin Mu filled two bowls with rice, becoming one of the few students at their table who were eating seriously.

However, perhaps knowing how picky the elementary school students are, when almost all the dishes were served, each table was given an extra large bowl full of sweet fermented rice balls, which immediately attracted everyone's attention. After all, based on Chen Junqian's rich experience of eating at rural banquets for many years, this stuff is indeed quite popular, and the children can slurp down several bowls.