I turned reality into a romantic comedy.

Shout "I love you!" to the sky!

"To the wandering white clouds, I say I miss you—let the sky hear it, let the white clouds see it, no one can erase the promise we made."

I want to take you to see the ocean and tell you I love you!

"I'll give you the brightest star and say I miss you."

"Listen to the ocean's vow, look at the unwavering blue sky, let us love freely—"

Completely different from the Little Tigers' timbre and singing style playing on TV, Qiu's voice was gentle, even the long "wu wu wu—" humming that followed the chorus was extremely soft, like a mother gently coaxing a child.

As for the next two songs, "Butterflies Fly" and "Green Apple Paradise," Qiu didn't sing along the whole time. Instead, she simply hummed the tunes in Chen Junqian's ear, making him feel as if the other person was really by his side watching the Spring Festival Gala together.

After the Little Tigers' medley performance ended, before hanging up the phone, the other party smiled and said to Chen Junqian:

"Although I will definitely send you a message at midnight, there are some things that I feel are better said in person."

"Well then, little brother, I wish you a Happy New Year."

"Yes, I wish you a Happy New Year too, sister."

After exchanging New Year's greetings two hours early, Chen Junqian put away his phone and returned to his warm room. Fortunately, his grandmother and father didn't seem to care too much about what he was doing outside. He simply said he had been sitting for too long and went out to stretch his legs to get by.

As the Lunar New Year of 2010 drew closer, my mother and grandfather, who had been playing cards and mahjong outside, rushed back home. The group laid out the fireworks and long strings of 500-shot firecrackers they had bought in advance in the yard, and then lit them one by one as the TV host counted down and said "Happy New Year".

In no time, loud noises and smoke filled the entire courtyard. The frightened little monster ran into the house early and huddled at Chen Junqian's feet, too scared to move. In the sky, the fireworks of thousands of homes illuminated the entire night as if it were daytime. One after another, the blooming fireworks replaced the stars and the moon, becoming the ruler of the night.

If nothing unexpected happens, the firecrackers will be going off until the wee hours tonight, and the children will finally be able to legitimately stay up all night under the guise of keeping watch or not being able to sleep.

After replying to all the New Year's greetings messages sent to him individually or in groups on QQ, Chen Junqian sent Qiu an extra message separately:

"I will definitely go to the Shanghai World Expo this year."

This is not a New Year's wish, but merely a statement of commitment.

The other party simply replied with three words:

"I'm waiting for you."

After sending that message, the girl lying on the bed pressed her phone back to her chest. The pounding in her chest had never been so clear, each beat almost audible to her.

For her, the World Expo meant that she could travel to more than 100 countries around the world together with him just by meeting him once.

Chapter 50: In the end, I also became someone else's child (Part 2)

I always feel sleep-deprived on the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year.

Coincidentally, the Lunar New Year in 2010 fell on Valentine's Day on February 14th. However, this obviously had nothing to do with a child like Chen Junqian. The continuous sound of firecrackers kept him awake until the early hours of the morning, and he was still half asleep when he got up to wash. After simply eating a bowl of noodles made by his grandmother with chicken soup, he was handed two boxes of gifts. It was time to go out and pay New Year's visits.

Because at that time, their rural area had not yet been developed or demolished, so most of their relatives lived quite close together, which in a sense made it convenient to visit relatives during the New Year.

We send your gifts to my house, and my gifts to your house. Occasionally, we also pick out unwanted gifts from other families to give away, such as Xuanjiu liquor, Brain Gold, Fingerxin, and pure milk, thus completing a large cycle of left-hand to right-hand.

Of course, as the only son in the family, Chen Junqian still enjoys absolute control over all the gifts. If he wants to keep them, they will basically not be given away. This includes drinks that he likes to drink, such as yogurt and fruit juice, as well as snacks that he likes to eat, such as Danish Crown cookies and Orion pies.

It has to be said that receiving gifts during the Chinese New Year is also a kind of blind box experience. If you open enough gifts that suit your taste, you could almost provide Chen Junqian with drinks and snacks for an entire semester.

Besides giving and receiving gifts, the inevitable annual ritual is the classic red envelope tug-of-war. Just like the "Chinese Parents" game that will be released on Steam later, which will include a push-and-pull game where you say "Auntie, you can't do this!", Chen Junqian just wants to collect the red envelopes and leave now, since he'll be the one giving them to the kids in a dozen years.

Since Chen Junqian's grandfather was the eldest son in his generation, his other siblings would bring their families to his home for a meal on the first day of the Lunar New Year every year. As the eldest grandson of the eldest branch, Chen Junqian naturally received extra attention.

Although it hasn't reached the point of being bombarded with questions like "How's your job? How much do you earn? Do you have a girlfriend? When are you getting married?", I still can't help but be asked a couple of questions about my school grades and usual performance. It's just that the fact that I'm ranked first in my grade is so eye-catching that even the mutual compliments have become extra sincere.

At this moment, however, Chen Junqian was unaware that he had quickly become "someone else's child," because he was currently rushing with his father to Chen Xi's house in the city, where they did not live in the village.

Chen Xi's mother, who is also Chen Junqian's godmother, is a tenured teacher at a local primary school, while her father is a sales manager at Zhan's, a local pecan company. Although their family is not as well-off as Lin Mu's family, who are large suppliers with genuine pecan trees, they are still considered well-off in the current era when the pecan industry in Guoning has not yet taken a sharp turn for the worse. Therefore, they live in an apartment complex in the city.

Happy New Year, brother.

After taking the elevator to the fourth floor, Chen Junqian knocked on the door, and Chen Xi, who seemed to have been waiting there, immediately opened the door from the inside. The little girl looked up at him with a sweet smile and wished him a Happy New Year.

"Yes, Happy New Year."

Perhaps because there were many guests visiting to wish us a Happy New Year, there were many disposable shoe covers on the shoe cabinet. Chen Junqian and his father each took a pair, put them on, and went inside. They were then invited to sit on the sofa.

In no time, Chen Xi steadily brought over two cups of brewed tea and politely placed them on the coffee table in front of them. Then, she pushed a plate full of various melon seeds, peanuts, nuts, dried fruits, candies, and snacks in front of them.

After doing all that, Chen Xi unceremoniously took a rather ugly-looking persimmon and happily sat down to eat it, her two little braids swaying back and forth.

Unlike the several relatives Chen Junqian visited in the village this morning, Chen Xi's family prepared a much more exquisite snack platter. Most of the snacks were packaged small treats, with glittering gold coin-shaped chocolates, round planet cups crammed together, and pure white cloud cakes and various kinds of Xu Fu Ji candies next to them. The variety was truly impressive.

Chen Junqian had just casually picked up a planet cup and started eating with a small spoon, taking only a couple of bites, when Chen Xi, who had somehow already gnawed down a persimmon that looked almost as big as her face to just the stem, quickly reached into the scrambled egg dish again. Seeing this, her uncle, who was chatting with Chen Jun nearby, gave her a light tap on the head.

"Are they the guests or are you the guest?"

"Waaah... I didn't eat breakfast this morning."

"That's because your mom and I made breakfast a long time ago, but you just couldn't get out of bed. Lunch is coming up soon, so eat less."

After being lectured like that, Chen Xi reluctantly withdrew her hand, then suddenly stood up from the sofa with an air of "I can't stand this house for another second," and somewhat laboriously picked up two boxes from the corner of the living room.

"Tch, then I'll go visit my brother now."

"We have guests coming over soon."

"They're here to wish you a Happy New Year, Dad, but I don't want to see them."

Sensing the slightly tense atmosphere, Chen Jun took the initiative to smooth things over:

"Well then, since you and your sister are going to have lunch at my place anyway, I'll take Xixi with me when I go back later. Junqian can play with her."

Having witnessed his daughter emerge from her room into the living room this morning when Chen Junqian and his family arrived, the uncle sighed somewhat helplessly and raised an eyebrow at Chen Xi:

"I'm asking you."

"Sure, I want to play with my brother."

And so, when they came downstairs again, there was another person behind them.

"Dad, when are you going to buy a car?"

Looking at the motorcycle in front of him, which seemed to be about the same size as himself, Chen Junqian subconsciously asked a question. After all, in his memory, his father bought a house, a car, and a new phone after he got a promotion, so it should be about time.

"It'll be quick. Let Xixi sit in the middle, so she doesn't get cold."

Chen Jun put on his helmet and skillfully started the motorcycle. Chen Junqian followed his instructions and helped Chen Xi sit between the two of them. He stretched his arms forward as much as possible to hug his father's waist, trying to keep Chen Xi from getting too much wind.

However, Chen Xi himself thoroughly enjoyed riding his motorcycle at high speed on the roads, where the number of people had decreased by more than half during the Spring Festival. He even spread out his arms with great interest halfway through, showing no sign of getting cold.

In the words of Chen Junqian's grandmother, this is probably what it means for a child to have three fires burning inside them.

Before she knew it, she was back in her hometown. Without hesitation, Chen Xi headed straight for their family's food platter, seemingly ready to have a good meal. The other relatives sitting near the fire pit smiled and made room for her, even urging her to eat and take whatever she wanted without being shy.

Compared to the snack platter at Chen Xi's house, the one arranged by Chen Junqian's grandparents was much simpler. There were almost no packaged snacks; instead, there were all sorts of fried or baked sugar and oil mixtures, which were much more rustic in both variety and style.

However, Chen Xi herself seems to prefer this style, since she really does smear fermented bean curd all over the rice crust from the earthen stove and then crunch it up, enjoying herself immensely.

Qima crisps are shaped like sachima but have a harder texture and are coated with a layer of shiny syrup. Eat them!

Colorful, crispy fried shrimp chips, enjoy!

Round and fragrant egg biscuits, made from rice or millet and mixed with peanuts, sesame seeds, and nuts, and crispy and sweet rice candy—eat them!

All I can say is that if he could farm achievements on his sister, I feel like Chen Junqian could farm the "feeding play" achievement a hundred or a thousand times every Lunar New Year.

The younger sister, her cheeks bulging, brought over the tea that had been poured for her in advance and was now cooled to a drinkable temperature. After the other party drank it down in one gulp, she picked up the kettle and poured her another cup. Chen Junqian suddenly understood the mentality of some mukbang fans. After all, the way some people eat can indeed make people feel good just by watching them, and Chen Xi was one of them.

Perhaps because a sliver of rationality remained in her mind—that it was almost lunchtime and she needed to eat—Chen Xi didn't indulge in snacking until she was full. After filling her stomach, which hadn't had breakfast, and with her intelligence overcoming her instinctive appetite to regain control, she belatedly realized that she was caught in a massive vortex called a group of relatives.

However, Chen Junqian was already aware of his sister's somewhat socially anxious and homebody nature. He quickly pulled her out of the crowd, led her to the room, and made her world relatively quiet again. All that was left was the background noise of last night's Spring Festival Gala being replayed on TV.

Did you watch the Spring Festival Gala last night?

When Chen Xi was alone with Chen Junqian, he was quite relaxed. He casually pulled out a handful of sunflower seeds from his pocket, which he didn't know he had grabbed at some point, and slowly cracked them in his mouth while answering Chen Junqian's questions while looking at the TV screen.

"I watched a little bit with my mom, but it wasn't very interesting."

"I've basically watched all of them. I went to sleep after the 'Unforgettable Tonight' song finished, but it was too noisy and I couldn't sleep much. It should be better in the city?"

"It's a little better, but it's still very noisy. I finally managed to fall asleep with earplugs in, but I still didn't sleep well, otherwise I wouldn't have been unable to get up in the morning."

Looking left and right, Chen Xi noticed the schoolbag that Chen Junqian had brought and placed here. After all, he was going to stay in his hometown during the Spring Festival, so he brought back his winter vacation homework, report card and other things he had picked up from school.

"Brother, have you finished your winter break homework?"

"Not yet, but if I write a little bit every day, I'll finish writing it just before registration."

It can only be said that Chen Junqian has recently started to try to distribute the amount of homework evenly across each day, probably influenced by Zhu Wenyun. In fact, if one’s self-control and self-discipline are really good, this planned homework mode is indeed easier. However, most people tend to accumulate little by little and end up having to finish it in the last two days before the deadline.

"Let me see……"

Seemingly intrigued by the winter break homework of older students like Chen Junqian, Chen Xi eagerly opened his schoolbag after obtaining his permission. However, before even finding the winter break homework titled 'Happy Winter Break,' he had already discovered several of Chen Junqian's final exam papers and his growth record.

Although the award certificate is awarded once a year, the growth record requires recording grades at the end of each semester. Chen Xi curiously flipped to the latest page and saw a series of 100 points in the 'Academic Year Subject Performance Evaluation' for the first semester of fourth grade.

Somewhat shocked, Chen Xi flipped through the few final exam papers she had found again. Looking at the series of checkmarks on them, she fell into deep thought and suddenly realized that she seemed to have forgotten to say something last week on the eve of the Lunar New Year.

How can someone achieve such good grades while reading many books, watching many cartoons, playing many games, and making very good friends?

I glanced again at the message written by the homeroom teacher to the right of the academic performance evaluation; it was also filled with words of praise.

Your performance this semester is absolutely worthy of a perfect score from the teacher. This is not only a compliment to your academic achievements, but also a commendation for your contributions to class affairs and interpersonal relationships.

In school affairs, you are friendly to your classmates, always lend a helping hand to others, and actively participate in various class activities. You are a good assistant to the teacher and a good role model for your classmates.

In interpersonal relationships, you take care of your friends and are always the first to notice their difficulties. Then you use your enthusiasm and care to make them feel the warmth of the world again. These are things that your teachers have always seen.

I wish you continued success next year!

"...That's so exaggerated."

As a student who often received comments from her homeroom teacher such as "I hope to see you work harder next semester" or "You're good at everything, but you don't seem to care much about your studies," this was the first time Chen Xi had seen such an enthusiastic and full-of-praise message from her homeroom teacher. So much so that when she looked up at Chen Junqian again, her eyes seemed to have changed.

Seeing this, even Chen Xi herself suddenly felt a little regretful.

Unfortunately, she was a year younger than her brother.

otherwise.

She might also want to try being in the same class as a brother who is praised by the homeroom teacher, and go to school together.