I turned reality into a romantic comedy.

"Make a wish and then blow out the candles."

After saying this softly, Chen Junqian started singing "Happy Birthday to You" all by himself. There was no other way, since his grandmother didn't understand it, so he had to be the one to provide the background music.

"Ah."

Zhu Wenyun nodded, then closed her eyes, her hands naturally clasped together in front of her chest. After making a wish in her heart, she opened her eyes and blew out a breath onto the candle in front of her.

Whether it was because she used too little force or because the candles were of exceptionally high quality, she couldn't blow out all the candles with one breath. A few candles closer to Chen Junqian flickered in the airflow but stubbornly continued to burn.

A little worried that Zhu Wenyun might care about the so-called custom that birthday wishes only come true if all the candles are blown out in one breath, Chen Junqian quietly blew out the few candles that were still burning on his side while the other person was slightly stunned. Then, he immediately clapped and turned the room lights back on.

"Alright, alright, we can cut and eat the cake now."

Because Zhu Wenyun's grandmother wasn't particularly interested in birthday cakes, and considering that it's not good for older people to eat too many sweets, she ate a small piece and then went back to her room, leaving the rest of the cake and the space to the two children.

However, the cakes at this shop were indeed quite good, and since they had bought a relatively small six-inch cake, Chen Junqian and Zhu Wenyun ate a few pieces together, and there was hardly any cake left. Naturally, the two of them slowed down their eating.

"I thought you would ask me what kind of birthday wish I made."

"Hmm? So that's the question I need to ask?"

"I think most people would be curious, right?"

"That's true, but most people probably wouldn't say it, since birthday wishes don't come true if you say them out loud."

"Yeah, so I just made a wish that I would never be as happy as I am today."

Seeing Chen Junqian's subconsciously surprised and bewildered expression, Zhu Wenyun finally smiled at him with the playful and triumphant air of a child her age, as if she had successfully pulled off a rare prank.

"Idiot, didn't you just say that?"

"Wishes won't come true if you say them out loud—"

She doesn't want that to happen.

...She doesn't want to.

Chapter 56: Once you miss out, no one can blame you (Part 2)

During the May Day holiday, Chen Junqian was invited by his aunt and uncle to visit their home.

From his perspective, Chen Xi's near-accident a little over a month ago was clearly a butterfly effect he created after his rebirth, and to some extent, it was an undeserved disaster.

Because he remembered that in his previous life, the other party was not involved in this incident at all. Thinking about it carefully, it was actually because his relationship with his sister had become better after his rebirth, and he had taken a position in advance, that Chen Xi took the initiative to greet him when she saw him, which triggered a series of chain reactions.

However, for Chen Xi and her parents, Chen Junqian is definitely someone they should be grateful to.

After all, in that situation, no one could guarantee what kind of harm Chen Xi would have suffered if he hadn't caught her when she fell and hadn't allowed the situation to worsen, causing a stampede to actually occur.

It was precisely because of this that Chen Junqian could clearly feel that his little sister's attitude towards him had become more intimate after that incident. Sometimes, she would even climb up a floor after class to talk to him. However, her parents were happy to see this happen.

Their family and Chen Junqian's family were already considered to be old friends. In the past, they had to worry that their relationship might be broken by the time the younger generation came along. Now that the two children can play together, that's naturally the best thing.

When Chen Junqian came over this time, Chen Xi was playing jump rope downstairs.

Although it's unclear whether this is just a passing fad, it's probably due to some lingering effects of that unexpected event. Chen Xi, who used to be a complete homebody, is now willing to go out and get some exercise.

In her own words, this way, even if she encounters the same situation again, even if she can't save others like Chen Junqian, she can still try her best to save herself.

When the little girl saw Chen Junqian coming over, she immediately threw down her jump rope and skipped over to give him a big hug:

"The food isn't ready yet, brother, play with me downstairs for a while."

Similar to Lin Mu's neighborhood, Chen Xi's building also has a specially designated fitness equipment area downstairs. The facilities are the same old ones, but since it's a holiday, most of the space is occupied by other children, so she's practicing jump rope on the open space next to it.

Using the tissues he had brought, Chen Junqian wiped the sweat from his sister's forehead. He also picked up the colorful, slightly fragrant, and slightly plastic-smelling jump rope that she had thrown away and sat down with Chen Xi on the double pedal trainer next to them.

Although this thing was originally designed as a fitness machine to strengthen leg and lower limb muscles, it was mostly used as a simple seat. However, Chen Xi was still very interested in sitting there talking to Chen Junqian while stretching out her legs and kicking them up and down like she was on a swing.

"Want some candy? I bought it outside."

Having known each other for over half a year, Chen Junqian was quite familiar with his younger sister's specific preferences, tastes, and various little thoughts.

For example, what she just said about her mother still cooking and playing with her downstairs a little longer is, in a way, a way of implying that her parents can't control her right now, so she should take out whatever good food or fun things she has now.

As expected, Chen Xi quickly pulled her leg back, reached out to Chen Junqian, and smilingly accepted the candy he offered. Then she replied:

"I want to eat! I want to eat!"

Today, Chen Junqian bought her some baby bottle candy, which is quite popular and not very cheap at the moment.

As the name suggests, this is a candy designed to resemble a baby bottle, with a nipple-like shape on top and a bottle containing a glittering, sweet and sour powder of unknown origin.

Since it wasn't her first time eating it, Chen Xi skillfully licked the entire candy thoroughly with the tip of her tongue before removing the top, turning it upside down, and stuffing it directly into the bottle. After shaking it a couple of times, when she pulled it out, the entire candy was covered in crystal-clear powder, radiating a dazzling and captivating luster under the sun.

Actually, as long as you don't chew it actively but just suck on it slowly, a bottle of candy can last for quite a long time. However, Chen Xi didn't have that kind of leisure time. After putting it in her mouth and sucking and licking it a little, she started to chew it directly into her stomach with a crunching sound.

Just as people's preconceived notions about the children of teachers are often inaccurate, there was probably a similar tendency in Chen Xi's family as well. After all, considering that her uncle, as a sales manager, was often away on business trips, it was mostly just her and her aunt at home.

Chen Junqian had actually heard his grandmother talk about this goddaughter. The main reason for adopting godparents in their area was to benefit from their good fortune and ensure that the child would be free from illness and disaster throughout their life. Since his aunt's biological mother died in childbirth, in a sense, his grandmother and the other's biological mother were no different.

Moreover, his aunt's life after that was indeed quite smooth sailing, with both her career and family life being quite good.

It was precisely because of this that, in Chen Junqian's memory, his aunt, as his goddaughter, was always very filial to his grandmother. She would visit her whenever she had time, not just during holidays. However, one thing is one thing, and in terms of family education, she sometimes did have a bit of the temperament of a teacher.

Or perhaps the other person habitually brings some of their work-related ideas and practices into the family, but educating students and educating children are often not the same thing.

It just goes to show that every family has its own troubles.

From Chen Junqian's perspective, all he can do now is, as an elder among his peers, show more concern for Chen Xi, just like what's happening now.

As a former children's literature creator, Chen Junqian has never minded, and even quite enjoyed, listening to children confide in him. This was true of Xu Youwei, Zhu Wenyun, and now Chen Xi.

Of course, compared to the other two, her little sister is definitely not at their level yet. It's just some everyday family complaints. But even so, sometimes it's good to talk to someone and vent.

In every respect, Chan Kwan-him is perfectly suited for the role, especially after the incident that occurred more than a month ago.

"Alright, it's time to go upstairs for dinner."

After telling her brother about all her experiences with school, life, and family during this period, as well as the new books she had read and the new cartoons she had watched, Chen Xi stood up from the exercise bench with satisfaction. However, just as she finished speaking to Chen Junqian, she heard someone call her name from behind.

"Xiaoxi, is your dad home right now?"

Chen Junqian turned around at the sound and saw a middle-aged man in his thirties. He was dressed quite smartly, wore glasses, and looked very refined. He was holding a folder in his hand, but he looked a little anxious at the moment.

"Uncle Zhang? My dad is home now, but we have guests today, and we're about to eat."

Seemingly recognizing the man, Chen Xi answered his question and then pointed to Chen Junqian beside her:

"Look, that's my brother."

Then, she took the initiative to introduce herself again:

“This is my dad’s colleague from the factory. He often comes to our house.”

Hello, little friend.

Although he was facing two elementary school students, Uncle Zhang still greeted him quite politely. He subconsciously reached into his pocket, but only found a cigarette case and a lighter. He could only smile at him somewhat awkwardly.

"Uncle needs to speak with her father urgently, could you spare a moment?"

However, Chen Junqian found the other person's face increasingly familiar, and when his gaze inadvertently fell upon the title of a page in the folder the other person was holding, seeing words like 'E-commerce B2C' and 'Nuts Direct Sales Online Store', he realized who the other person was.

"Is this Uncle Zhang Xinghuo?"

Zhang Xinghuo was a little confused when his name was called out so readily:

"you are?"

“I am Lin Mu’s classmate. I saw you once at Mu Mu’s tenth birthday party last year, and Uncle Lin also told me about you.”

In fact, since last September, Chen Junqian has never given up on persuading Lin Mu's father to switch to e-commerce, or rather, to support the company's decision to do e-commerce internally, because based on his experience in his previous life, this path was indeed the right one for at least the next ten years.

The person the other party mentioned to him at that time, who had realized the potential of this opportunity from the beginning and wanted to pursue it, was none other than Uncle Zhang, who would later become the founder of the 'Three Fierce Xu' brand.

As someone who had specifically worked on a research project about the pecan industry in his hometown during his university years, Chen Junqian was very clear about the other party's business trajectory. Around this year, the other party facilitated the establishment of the first online store brand within Zhan's Company and entered the e-commerce field.

In 2011 alone, the online store's sales reached 20 million yuan. Just when the other party firmly believed that the e-commerce boom was in the next two years and that they should further expand and seize the market, a related controversy broke out within the company. A considerable number of people still believed that compared to offline physical stores, e-commerce was just virtual.

It was under these circumstances that the other party chose to leave their job and start their own business, independently establishing the "Three Fierce Xu" brand and taking advantage of the last wave of the internet e-commerce economy to soar to new heights.

However, at this point in time, the other party is still a marketing vice president who is facing numerous obstacles in launching his first online store.

"Lin Mu... is Lin Youfeng's daughter? He did tell me that he knows a primary school student who thinks like me, and that we'd definitely get along better than I would with him. Could it be you?"

"That must be me."

Then, under Chen Xi's completely bewildered gaze, the older brother suddenly started discussing a topic that Chen Xi couldn't understand at all with this Uncle Zhang whom he knew. In the end, the older brother said, "If possible, I will persuade Uncle Lin and Uncle Zhang to support you." Then the other party nodded in satisfaction and left.

It's fair to say that she didn't really realize what was happening until Chen Junqian took her hand and led her home, and she sat down at the dinner table to eat her first bite.

Because in no time, the older brother started chatting with his father again, taking advantage of Uncle Lin's visit, leaving the depressed Chen Xi to just bury her head in her food.

Just a moment ago, they were talking about things like "why Di Qing didn't end up with Princess Baihua," "which brand of mechanical pencils is better to use near the school gate," and "she used to eat the candy first and then the powder before she learned the correct way to eat baby bottle candy." Why did it suddenly turn into this?!

Can we talk about something that elementary school students can understand?

However, Chen Xi's gloom did not last long, because her brother soon turned around and started chatting with her again. Chen Xi did not care about her father, who was sitting there lost in thought without even eating his food, and happily continued talking with her brother.

As a primary school student who is particularly interested in historical themes, Chen Xi has never been able to resist animated films with such elements, and the same goes for TV series. After watching "The Myth," which is set against the backdrop of the Qin and Han dynasties, she immediately started watching "Beauty's Rival in Palace," which had just premiered in March.

In fact, until the successive hits of several Qing Dynasty dramas such as "Palace," "Scarlet Heart," and "Empresses in the Palace" in 2011, the choice of historical dramas with palace intrigue in China was quite diverse, rather than being exclusively based on the Qing Dynasty.

For example, the drama "Beauty's Rival in Palace" that Chen Xi is currently watching is set in the early Han Dynasty from Emperor Hui to Emperor Wu, and the historical prototype of the female protagonist is Empress Dou Yifang, the wife of Emperor Wen of Han.

However, Chen Xi, who had only just begun to understand the various dynasties, was naturally not very clear about the somewhat complicated background stories and historical prototypes. She simply watched the plot and gradually developed an interest in and a preliminary understanding of those historical figures without knowing anything about them.

And so, after dinner, Chen Junqian spent the entire afternoon with his sister watching the first few episodes of "Beauty's Rival in Palace" together, just like when they watched "The Great Hero Di Qing" together during the last Chinese New Year. As before, he explained and supplemented her with some background historical knowledge while watching.

Chen Xi sat beside him, propping her chin up with her hand, watching and listening intently. The things she was most interested in were being said by the person she most wanted to be with and talk to, and for her, this was the most wonderful thing in the world.

Of course, she is still just a little flower bud at the moment, and it will probably be a long, long time before she understands the first line of the theme song of the TV series called "Fallen Flowers": "When flowers bloom, they are most precious; when they fall, they wither. Who can blame the flowers for missing their blooming season? Flowers need comfort."

Chapter 57: Never Refuse Your Childhood Sweetheart! (Two Chapters Combined)

As May arrived, with the official opening of the Shanghai World Expo, the overwhelming media coverage and publicity sparked a heated discussion even in Chen Junqian's elementary school class, especially after someone actually went to the Expo during the May Day holiday.

To be fair, Guoning, located in southern Anhui Province, is not far from Shanghai, but it's not exactly close either. Besides, traveling outside the province can't be done just for the kids; parents also need to make time to squeeze out their own vacation days in advance.