I turned reality into a romantic comedy.

With gentle movements, Chen Junqian lifted Lin Mu's hand slightly, wrapped the cotton string from the bottom of the paper cup around Lin Mu's wrist a few times to ensure it wouldn't fall off if Lin Mu turned over or let go during the night, and then returned to his own bed and tied a knot on his wrist with the string from the paper cup attached to his own side.

Next, let's make a wish that Mu Mu won't have to get up to go to the bathroom tonight. After all, he only wrapped the rope around the other person's wrist a few times. As long as he sits up a little more vigorously from the bed, the paper cup and rope will naturally break free.

Anyway, it's just a casual attempt, so it's no big deal if it fails.

The night passed in the blink of an eye. When Chen Junqian opened his eyes again, it was already around seven o'clock in the morning. The two of them must have fallen asleep around ten o'clock last night, so more than eight hours had indeed passed.

However, the achievement for "Forced Romantic Link" in his mind was not triggered.

So it failed after all?

It seems something went wrong with Mumu. Either she moved too much while sleeping in bed, or she got up to go to the bathroom and broke free of the rope.

With this thought in mind, Chen Junqian subconsciously looked at another bed just a few steps away, and then saw a completely unexpected situation.

The string on the other end of the paper cup was still tied to Lin Mu's left wrist, who was still unconscious. However, it wasn't simply wrapped around his wrist a few times the night before; instead, it was tied in a knot, just like Lin Mu's own wrist, and it was tied quite securely.

...I don't think I tied a knot on Mumu's wrist last night.

However, even if his memory is indeed flawed, if both sides are tied up, a notification should pop up saying that the achievement has been successfully triggered.

While Chen Junqian was still thinking, he suddenly saw Lin Mu blink her eyes as if she was about to wake up. So he immediately lay back down on his bed, pretending that he hadn't gotten up yet.

There's nothing I can do since this achievement hasn't been triggered, so I'll just have to settle for trying the "Time to Get Up" achievement again.

Meanwhile, on her own bed, Lin Mu rubbed her sleepy eyes and slowly woke up from her dream. The first thing she did upon opening her eyes was to look at her wrist. She breathed a sigh of relief when she found that a rope was still intact and tied there. Only then did she look at Chen Junqian.

Around one or two o'clock last night, she instinctively got out of bed and went to the bathroom, still half asleep. She really wanted to repeat what she had done the night before and lie down next to Qianqian, but then she suddenly noticed that the cotton string they used to connect the paper cup phone was tied to his wrist. Then she followed the string and found the other end of the string lying empty on her bed.

Given the context, the events that first came to Lin Mu's mind were as follows.

She fell asleep, and then Qianqian, for reasons unknown—perhaps wanting to dream together while sleeping with her, perhaps simply afraid she would leave him and get lost, or perhaps to complete some kind of matchmaking ritual—tie the rope around both of their wrists.

But when I got up and went to the bathroom, I somehow managed to untie or break free of that knot while I was still half asleep!

In a fairy tale, this would be like a stubborn princess who refuses to heed a prophecy, accidentally breaking the ritual others were trying to perform to save her, and thus being destined to walk into the classic plot of a wicked witch's curse.

To be honest, the moment Lin Mu realized this, he even had the urge to cry. But in the end, with a self-deceiving or belated attempt to salvage the situation, he went back to his bed, pursed his lips, and sniffled as he re-tied the rope around his wrist, even making sure to tie a tight knot.

Thankfully, Qianqian didn't wake up.

So, it shouldn't have been found, right?

She slowly got off her own bed and lay down next to her childhood sweetheart's bed. Lin Mu placed her hand next to his and stared blankly at the rope that tied them together.

To be honest, this was probably the first time she felt that the relationship between the two of them might be as fragile as a thin cotton thread, like a kite string, which could break free at any moment without her noticing, and then the other person would fly away to some unknown place like a kite with a broken string in a child's hand.

What made Lin Mu feel even more heartbroken was that she was even more afraid that the one who would accidentally break free of the rope would be herself, just like last night, when Qianqian clearly wanted to tie the rope properly.

This was also the first time since they met that Lin Mu did not wake Chen Junqian up immediately. Instead, she sat there and tried to adjust her mood and expression, because if she did so, it would be easy for the other party to discover that she was hiding some heavy little secret.

Just like before she fell asleep last night, she should have been smug and triumphant the moment she woke him up, her tone a mix of teasing and surprise as she waved her wrist and said:

"Wow, why is Qianqian still tying a rope to my hands?"

"Hmm, are you afraid I'll secretly abandon you and run away?"

Even if she was the one who was truly panicking and terrified, it was she who was truly panicking and terrified.

Chapter Twenty-Five: Mu Mu is a Little Fierce Dog (Part Two)

In theory, what Lin Mu really wants to do right now is to go to the bathroom sink, look in the mirror, and sort out his expression and thoughts. He even needs to practice beforehand to create a flawless, consistent smile.

But if he did that, the ropes binding their hands would break again, so Lin Mu had no choice but to take his tablet computer from the bedside table and use the reflection from the unlit screen to eliminate any potential flaws.

Then, she gently pressed the power button again, and the tablet screen immediately lit up, revealing a photo of the two of them taken during last year's World Expo, which she had specially set as her wallpaper. She continued to compose herself and her expression while looking at it.

After confirming several times that there was nothing wrong, Lin Mu finally reached out and poked Chen Junqian's cheek as she had yesterday, trying her best to speak softly in his ear in the same tone as before:

"Hey—Qianqian, it's time to get up."

"Uh-huh."

Chen Junqian was a little puzzled as to why Lin Mu hadn't woken her up for so long. She even considered opening her eyes to peek and see if Lin Mu had gotten up and gone back to sleep. But then she finally heard the familiar waking voice, so she got out of bed and pretended to have just woken up.

"What time is it?"

"It's past seven, almost eight, but that's not important."

Although she had already prepared all her lines, Lin Mu still felt a little flustered when she actually spoke in front of Chen Junqian. After all, she had never been a good liar, and this was already her limit.

"When I woke up this morning, I found this wrapped around my hand. Qianqian, do you have any ideas?"

As Lin Mu said this, she seemed to accidentally bite her tongue. This guilty behavior only made Chen Junqian more certain that the knot on her hand was tied by her.

By slightly adopting Lin Mu's thought process, Chen Junqian's thoughts, after much deliberation, had already pieced together most of the details of the matter. Therefore, he simply went along with it and admitted it:

"Yeah, I tied it on you after you fell asleep last night. How should I put it, I guess I was a little worried."

Seeing that Chen Junqian didn't seem to notice that the knot had been loosened, Lin Mu breathed a sigh of relief, and his tone even lifted a little.

"But you can't go to such lengths just because you're worried. What if I need to use the bathroom at night? Do I have to wake Qianqian up and go with me? But I do seem to recall reading a similar story in a book..."

"Mumu is talking about 'relieving oneself,' right? In ancient times, when the army was escorting prisoners, if a prisoner needed to relieve himself, they would ask to have his hands untied. So the phrase 'relieving oneself' gradually became a euphemism for going to the toilet."

"That's right, Qianqian really reads a lot of books."

As he spoke, Lin Mu shook his wrist again:

"So, Qianqian, can I go to the bathroom now?"

"...How come they actually had to ask for permission?"

"Because if a prisoner secretly untied his/her hands, wouldn't that be the same as escaping? He/She would be caught and whipped."

Faced with Mu Mu, who had inexplicably started some kind of mysterious role-playing game early in the morning, Chen Junqian, who had never intended to achieve the [Forced Romance Link] achievement, casually waved his hand:

"Untie it, after all, we're both awake."

"Then I'll solve it!"

"Ah."

"It's really time to solve it—"

"...If you don't understand, I'll understand first."

Well, it seems that Lin Mu's thoughts are indeed more complicated than he imagined. Is this also a sign of growing up?

In short, after struggling for quite a while, the two of them finally freed themselves from their restraints, then went to the bathroom separately and stood together at the sink to brush their teeth.

Actually, there are achievements related to brushing teeth in the system's achievement list, but whether it was watching Xu Youwei brush her teeth last time or brushing her teeth with Lin Mu this time, Chen Junqian had no intention of achieving them. This is because, like the "Time to Get Up" achievement, which can only be triggered by childhood sweetheart characters, it is an achievement that is only available to a specific type of character. This is the kind of "little sister" achievement that Chen Junqian had complained about before, which also occupies a considerable part of the entire achievement list.

Yes, we really were just brushing our teeth.

As everyone knows, a brother who doesn't brush his sister's teeth isn't a good brother.

The toothbrush is a weapon, the toothpaste is a contract, and the foam is an excuse to cover up blushing and a racing heart. Using fine bristles to stroke the sensitive areas on the inside of the body is something that can bring pleasure, as long as your technique is good enough.

The younger sister's level of resistance will be directly proportional to how obedient she becomes after giving in, but please be careful not to let anyone else see or hear this, since you really can't explain that you were just brushing your teeth.

Conditions for completion: Brush the teeth of the female protagonist who is considered a younger sister type, and make her genuinely feel comfortable and happy.

It can only be said that in July 2011, before "Nisemonogatari" had officially started airing, Chen Junqian was indeed a bit confused about the content of this achievement. Moreover, the most important thing was that a certain younger sister character he had high hopes for had not yet been included in the system, so he basically just threw it into the lowest priority category without caring about it.

But does brushing someone else's teeth really make them feel genuinely comfortable and happy?

With this question in mind, Chen Junqian glanced at Mu Mu, who was standing next to him brushing her teeth, in the mirror. He suddenly felt a little regretful that she was both his childhood friend and his younger sister, since these two types of characters have many similar achievements in the system's achievement list.

In fact, the achievement description for the childhood friend-exclusive "Time to Get Up" specifically mentions that "a childhood friend who can't wake up her childhood friend isn't a good loser, especially if the male protagonist isn't beaten to it by his sister who lives closer."

"What's wrong? Is it because Qianqian isn't used to the toothpaste I brought?"

Noticing Chen Junqian's gaze, Lin Mu immediately stopped what she was doing and asked a question, her mouth full of foam and her words slightly muffled.

That's right. Just like the shower gel and shampoo he used last night, Chen Junqian also used the same toothpaste Lin Mu brought this morning, which is why he asked that question now.

"It's nothing, I just suddenly remembered that I talked to Weiwei before about whether we prefer brushing our teeth or washing our face."

"Ah, she also mentioned this to me. It was the conversation you two had on the first day of the Lunar New Year. Actually, I don't have any particular preference. It's all about making myself look better, so you have to approach it with a serious attitude."

"Indeed, what Mu Mu said makes a lot of sense."

After finishing their morning routine, the two went downstairs to eat the hotel's buffet breakfast. As expected, breakfast in the north mainly consists of various kinds of noodles. However, Anhui is a central region where people eat both rice and noodles, so Chen Junqian and Lin Mu did not feel particularly uncomfortable and enjoyed eating together.

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

Since it's really not appropriate to sit in Dad's office playing on the computer every day like yesterday afternoon, the two of them decided to stay in the hotel this morning to watch TV, do their summer homework, and continue to tutor Mumu individually.

However, this pleasant time didn't last long, as Chen Junqian's phone, which was in his pocket, suddenly rang.

He had already changed his ringtone, switching from Xu Liang's "Being a Jerk" to Xu Song's "Plain Face," choosing the middle part. So when it rang, it played the lyrics "If I look at you again, will I still have feelings?" which made Lin Mu want to sing along. She had heard the song before.

"Hello, this is Chen Junqian."

“I’m Zhang Xinghuo… I didn’t expect you to have a personal cell phone now. I was a little taken aback when Lin Youfeng gave me the number yesterday.”

Although it was said in jest, you could still hear the slight weariness in the other person's tone, as if they hadn't slept well for several nights.

"Just as you said, the company doesn't plan to continue down the e-commerce path, even though the Keke Fruit online store has been online for less than a year and its turnover is already approaching 20 million."

"I originally wanted to increase my efforts during this year's Double Eleven, and I even made a pledge to produce 200 million in three years to show them what I'm capable of, but it still didn't work out."

Although Zhang Xinghuo has been promoted to marketing general manager based on the performance of Keke Fruit, the predicament he faces still seems unchanged. After all, for a traditional company that is used to the past sales model, a comprehensive transformation is a very difficult thing. Moreover, Zhang Xinghuo is just a senior employee in the company, and the decision-making power is never in his hands.

"There's no time to wait any longer. The window of opportunity for FMCG brands to build their brands on e-commerce platforms is just two or three years away. Like I said before, if you're willing to go it alone, I'll help you talk to Uncle Lin about supply. The same goes for your uncle. If we both persuade him, he'll definitely be willing to give it his all. He's an experienced salesman with connections and resources. Add your own team, and you'll be more than capable."

Similar to his previous life, even with Chen Junqian's slight interference, Zhang Xinghuo achieved even better results on the same timeline, but the extra few million could not be the decisive factor in determining the company's direction.

So, just like in his previous life, Zhang Xinghuo will once again make the decision to leave his job and start his own business, resolutely giving up his current comfortable income.

"Yes, it's time to leave."

Perhaps because of his own unusual personality, or perhaps because he had witnessed too many of Chen Junqian's amazing qualities over the past year, Zhang Xinghuo unconsciously ignored his age and treated him as an equal partner when talking to him.

After all, the other party not only has a systematic set of ideas, but also has the ability to bring in the suppliers and talents that he currently desperately needs.

“I’ve looked at the table you gave me several times. Your ideas are similar to mine. The most important thing for e-commerce is to first find a good brand positioning, find a way to strengthen its memorability, then build a good supply chain, and at the same time, pay attention to service and try to create a differentiated experience from competitors.”

"Correct."

Recalling the knowledge he had specifically sought out when teaching university courses in his previous life, Chen Junqian and Zhang Xinghuo chatted for quite a while before the other party took the initiative to ask him:

"What are your thoughts on the brand?"

"I think anthropomorphizing animals and creating anime is a good choice. Since we're planning to enter the internet nut industry, how about choosing squirrels, which like to eat nuts?"