I turned reality into a romantic comedy.

Well, just like eating bitter melon doesn't necessarily make you grow taller, but it is indeed very bitter.

Even though she knew her childhood sweetheart would only be gone for a short while, she still felt a bitter taste in her mouth, to the point that her lips shriveled up rather unsightly.

When your mouth tastes bitter, you should eat something sweet to suppress it, but it always feels like this isn't just ordinary bitterness; you need something more stimulating, just like the alcohol my father sometimes drinks.

Thinking of this, Lin Mu took out a packet of popping candy from his pocket, tore it open, and poured it into his mouth in one gulp, looking quite like the fishmonger Qiang who would eat coffee dry more than ten years later.

A string of words immediately popped into his mouth, saving him the trouble of having to speak again to call him back.

"My time has come, I have to leave. This is my tree!"

Ugh... she really wanted to put up a sign like that right here.

----------------------------------

Of course, Chen Junqian had no idea that in the short time he was gone, the little boy left behind had been experiencing a rollercoaster of thoughts, as Shen Nianqiu had already taken his hand and taken him directly up to the second floor.

The second floor area mainly corresponds to the theme of this World Expo, "Better City, Better Life," and is decorated with a large number of interactive areas with a strong science fiction style, such as the canvas called "Future City" that he was pulled to by the other party.

Children can freely express their imaginations about the future on it, and the things they draw will appear simultaneously on the giant projection above their heads, automatically adding some interaction with the surrounding environment.

Actually, once you get over the initial awkwardness, the familiar voice and tone can easily shorten the distance between online friends meeting for the first time. Although, as soon as they met, he felt like he had already been artificially brought closer together.

"Did your sister come from Zhejiang?"

"Yes, I live in Hangzhou now, but my hometown is not there, but Lin'an City, which is under its jurisdiction."

Upon hearing the somewhat familiar place name, Chen Junqian was momentarily stunned, and related information quickly surfaced in his mind.

At this time, Lin'an, like Guoning, had just been upgraded from a county to a city at the end of the last century, and had not yet been incorporated into Hangzhou as a district...

As for why he knows so much about it, it's because although Lin'an is located in Zhejiang Province, it actually borders Anhui and even Guoning. It is originally adjacent to Anji County, Jixi County and Guoning City in Anhui to the north.

But that's not the main point. The main point is another consequence of this border: these two county-level cities, located in different provinces, are actually quite similar or even converging in terms of climate and soil.

The most compelling evidence is that the other party was also able to grow hickory nuts and, like Guoning, won the honorary title of "Hometown of Chinese Hickory Nuts." However, unlike Guoning's subsequent decline in the hickory nut industry and its shrinking market share year after year, Lin'an's hickory nuts successfully completed the industry transformation and directly took over the former's position. The planting area and output soared, accounting for more than 60% and 70% of the national planting area and market, respectively.

However, upon reflection, he could indeed guess that, because when he had talked to Shen Nianqiu about Lin Mu's nine yuan and fifty cents, she hadn't asked about her parents being away from home because they had to go back to harvest walnuts. After all, such customs and traditions existed in Lin'an.

Of course, not all children are reborn, and they certainly wouldn't have collected a lot of relevant information like Chen Junqian did because of his university courses. When introducing her hometown to him, Shen Nianqiu didn't even mention pecans at all, only remarking on the fact that her home and Chen Junqian's home didn't seem to be far apart.

Thinking about it this way, the cost for the two of them to meet here seems to be much higher than if either of them had taken a bus directly there.

"Then it should be easier to meet in the future. I thought we were in the far north and far south, but it turns out that although we are not in the same province, we are not that far apart."

As she spoke, Shen Nianqiu drew a path of small, blooming flowers on the drawing board, and then drew two little figures walking on it. Soon, they were projected onto the top of the device, quickly attracting the interaction of another group of electronic birds.

Of course, compared to the large number of oddly shaped or mushroom-like houses, UFO-shaped drones, or humans traveling in giant robots, Shen Nianqiu's paintings stand out for their simplicity and unpretentiousness.

However, the volunteer sister next to her, as always, smiled and encouraged every child who came to try, and this time was no exception:

"Imagining the future doesn't necessarily have to be in the direction of science fiction. As long as it expresses one's beautiful aspirations and wishes, I think it's acceptable. Is this a scene of playing outside with parents and family?"

"It's with my younger brother."

Shen Nianqiu smiled and shook her head, but she was still carefully controlling the upward curve of her mouth to avoid showing her braces. Then she saw Chen Junqian stop painting and, seemingly unintentionally, point out the little thought she had hidden in her heart.

"I remember that Lin'an was the hometown of Qian Liu, the King of Wuyue during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. He not only governed Hangzhou very well, but also left behind the famous saying with his queen, 'When the flowers bloom on the roadside, you may slowly return.'"

"...How do you know everything?"

Just like when the two chatted online before, they would always make people wonder if they were really two years older than each other and that the other person was the older sister.

However, unlike online, the two of them are now standing face to face in person.

So Shen Nianqiu no longer needed to stare at the computer screen alone, questioning her life. Instead, she could directly reach into the other person's hair, deliberately messing up her arrogant younger brother's hairstyle, pinching and kneading his little face like dough, and humming as if she had successfully retaliated:

"Remember this, smart kids aren't liked by older sisters."

Although she said that, Shen Nianqiu was still very happy inside, after all, she had only had such simple interactions a few times in her past life.

Although it looks like a childish game of pretend that other kids played, it feels more real to Shen Nianqiu, who lives in a real family that seems to be playing some kind of family role-playing game.

She had already done all the planning and had scouted out the locations two days prior.

They want to go to Saudi Arabia to see the Milky Way and starry sky in the desert, visit Mount Fuji and admire the cherry blossoms in Japan, take a cable car through the snowy Alps in Switzerland, hug an AR koala in Australia, and see a beautiful maple forest made of fluorescent stickers in Canada...

From the very beginning, Shen Nianqiu never intended to merely 'borrow' Chen Junqian for a short while, as Lin Mu had imagined.

Chapter 65: On the Matter of Competing for Achievements (Part 2)

After playing for a while on the second floor at the electronic kite wall, the parent-child pedal generator designed to promote the concept of low carbon and environmental protection, and the straw building blocks, the two went up to the top floor of the China Pavilion, where they could experience a large-scale immersive film called "Blooming City".

In addition to the 3D effects, the seats behind each audience member also provide feedback such as vibration in sync with the progress of the film. Although this technology is no longer a novelty in amusement parks more than a decade later, it is definitely a memorable experience for children in this era when "Avatar" has only been released for half a year.

"However, if you really like this kind of thing, the IMAX theater in the Saudi Arabia Pavilion seems to be even more extravagant. It is said to be like seeing the Milky Way and the starry sky, but the queue time is a bit long."

After they had almost finished exploring all the attractions in the China Pavilion, it was lunchtime. Shen Nianqiu led Chen Junqian out while introducing him to her recommended attractions, showing that she had indeed done thorough research before coming.

However, when he heard the word "starry sky," Chen Junqian was still subconsciously stunned. He suddenly thought of another ununlocked achievement in his achievement list. Unlike the others, this one was one he could clearly identify the source of after he had caught up with the series and developed the habit of watching them.

A Starry Sky for Two

The stars shine so that one day everyone can find their own star.

The starry night sky is always the perfect backdrop for romantic comedies. It can be a precious memory shared with you, or a treasure that you once kept in your heart but now want to share with you.

If you understand constellations and astronomy, then reach out and point out the names of those stars to her, tell her about the Summer Triangle formed by Altair, Vega, and Deneb, and tell her that the brightest first-magnitude star, Spica, is actually a close binary star system that shines together.

Of course, it doesn't matter if you don't understand these things, because you can still point to this entire dazzling starry sky and say to her:

This is all I have, and now I'm giving it all to you.

Condition for achievement: Lie hand-in-hand with the heroines who are suited for romantic comedies, under the starry sky and watch the stars.

If Chen Junqian remembers correctly, there was a similar scene in the new anime "Bakemonogatari" that aired last year, which he had just watched during the winter vacation.

Before coming to the Shanghai World Expo, he originally thought that this achievement was most likely to be triggered with Xu Youwei, because the two had already fulfilled half of the conditions during the Spring Festival this year. They held each other's hands in the dark night. However, there were no stars on those nights, and they did not lie down side by side. They just played with firecrackers.

Chen Junqian glanced again at the Saudi Arabian pavilion, shaped like a moon boat, which wasn't far from them and was within their field of vision, then nodded to Shen Nianqiu and said:

"Yeah, I want to go."

"Let's go this afternoon, but we'll probably have to wait in line for three or four hours. It's better to go eat first, I need to go back and meet up with my family..."

After looking around at the various shops on the Chinese food street, Shen Nianqiu's eyes lit up when she saw a particular shop, and she pulled Chen Junqian over:

"I may not have enough money to treat you to a meal, but I can still afford a cup of milk tea."

"Boss, boss, make me two cups of Hong Kong-style milk tea."

How much sweetness do you want?

"My regular sugar, little brother, what about you?"

"Less sugar, please. I remember that Hong Kong-style milk tea is already quite sweet."

"Okay, so that's one cup with regular sugar and one cup with less sugar."

While Shen Nianqiu was ordering and paying, Chen Junqian also looked up and glanced at the shop's signboard. Sure enough, it was Hong Kong-style milk tea.

Although at this point in time, major milk tea shops and brands have not yet been established or penetrated into small counties like Guoning, Hong Kong-style milk tea and Taiwanese pearl milk tea have indeed become quite popular, and are poised to replace the powdered milk tea of ​​the past. However, perhaps due to their taste and names, the latter has taken the lead in capturing the market.

After all, for someone who has never tried milk tea before, the name "silk stocking milk tea" sounds a bit strange compared to "pearl milk tea."

However, this doesn't mean that Hong Kong-style milk tea actually uses stockings in the production process. It's just that the cotton tea bags used in the production process are dyed tea color after repeated brewing, which looks like stockings, hence the name.

Watching the shopkeeper skillfully filter, pour, and pull tea through a tea bag resembling a stocking, Shen Nianqiu thoughtfully looked down at her straight legs, then gently nudged Chen Junqian's shoulder with her elbow:

"Speaking of which, little brother, have you ever seen stockings before?"

"It should just be a type of sock."

Although Chen Junqian wanted to say he had never seen them before, he had watched a lot of Japanese romance anime for no reason, and with all the wonderful little facts in the system achievements, he had seen not only stockings, but also other kinds of suspender stockings, thigh-high pantyhose, etc.

"Hmm, it seems they also come in different colors. Flesh-colored, black, and white are the most common, but there seem to be other colors as well."

"really."

In the system's terms, this could be considered a cute attribute of the character, but sometimes it can be too rigid. For example, female characters with good figures must wear black stockings, while those with petite figures must wear white stockings.

Chen Junqian clearly remembered that this thing was originally designed for men.

Since the milk tea chef had already prepared and packaged both cups of "silk stocking" milk tea and handed them out, the conversation between the two about silk stockings had to come to an unfortunate end.

After receiving the milk tea, Shen Nianqiu took a sip with the straw, and her expression changed slightly as she frowned her beautiful eyebrows:

"It does seem a bit too sweet. What about the younger brother's?"

"Mine is fine."

Chen Junqian, who had just taken a sip, had barely finished speaking when Shen Nianqiu snatched the milk tea from his hand. As if to rigorously verify the difference between less sugar and standard sugar, Shen Nianqiu, holding a cup in each hand, took another sip of Chen Junqian's cup before nodding and offering her assessment:

"It definitely tastes better with less sugar, I'll order this one next time."

After saying that, she returned the milk tea, and then, after leading Chen Junqian to find Chen Jun and his group, Shen Nianqiu, who had arranged to meet again in front of the Saudi Arabia Pavilion that afternoon, took her leave for the time being.

"...What is this?"

As soon as he returned to his team, Chen Junqian saw Lin Mu point to the milk tea he had just taken a sip of, so he casually replied:

"The milk tea is from that shop over there. Mumu, do you want some? I'll go buy you another cup."

"No, I want to drink yours."

Faced with his childhood sweetheart's rather obvious "I'm a little unhappy, so you have to cheer me up" attitude, Chen Junqian generously handed her the milk tea.

"Then you can have it."

"...Not bad, I guess."

While Lin Mu blinked and put the straw into his mouth, uttering this remark, Chen Junqian also checked a new achievement that had just been unlocked in his mind.

[The straw we drink from together]

Indirect kissing is an indispensable element in romantic comedies, and straws are one of the most commonly used props. There are innocent types who unknowingly bite the same straw and only realize it later with blushing and a racing heart, thinking, "I think I indirectly kissed the other person." There are also scheming types who deliberately bite the straw their crush used when the crush is not around.

Of course, both of them are cute.

Condition for achievement: Share a straw with the female lead who is suited for romantic comedies.

The other achievement associated with this one is "Headphones for Listening Together".

Okay, if we calculate the time, Shen Nianqiu completed this achievement two minutes earlier than Lin Mu. It's a bit of a pity that this achievement cannot be triggered repeatedly, otherwise those two minutes would count as completing it twice.

They found a Nanxiang steamed bun shop on the Chinese food street and sat down. While waiting for their food, Chen Junqian and his family chatted about what had happened that morning.