I turned reality into a romantic comedy.

If she were to get her hands on those props she had once fantasized about, including the remote control that could control people's behavior, she would probably act in a completely different way than before.

Zhu Wenyun recalled how, with the editor's friendly suggestion, she had imitated a more mature style of writing to write the story's opening:

My youth was artistic, and the boys I met were also artistic. They say you can't have your cake and eat it too, but I just wanted to have it all at least once.

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On the day of the autumn track and field meet, the whole school was filled with the sounds of gongs and drums, firecrackers, red flags, and a sea of ​​people.

Of course, the above is just an exaggerated description, but the total number of teachers and students in all six grades of the school is indeed quite large. The stands on both sides of the playground were full, and the students were all filled with the joy of being on holiday.

After all, for students who don't participate in any events, apart from having to come to school, the sports meet is practically no different from a holiday, since they don't have to attend classes.

Zhong Yu was one of them. Before the sports meet started, he took the small basin that was originally placed at the back of the classroom to put rags and moved it to the vicinity of the stands. Then he used it as a battle platform and started playing a spinning top battle with the boys.

In fact, not every child had enough pocket money to buy a fancy spinning top like the ones in cartoons, with multiple layers of armor and requiring a launcher to fire. Besides, those things were hard to carry around, and if they were confiscated, the boy would feel bad for a long time. So, the boys in the class played with spinning tops that cost five cents each, made of metal or plastic, from the small shop near the school gate.

This thing is smaller and can be launched by hand. The only drawback is that it's not very easy to identify. When several people are going in together, they have to keep a close eye on their own one from the beginning, otherwise they won't be able to tell who is who after a while.

Chen Junqian had just gone to the front to get his number bib and hung it around his neck when Zhong Yu pulled him into the spinning circle. Zhong Yu even gave him a spinning top, and a group of boys gathered around to start a cricket fighting game until one of the spinning tops flew out of the fighting circle and landed on the head of a girl in front of them.

Seeing that the other side looked like they were going to tell the teacher, Zhong Yu had no choice but to remove the battle board in a bit of a mess. The boys scattered like birds and beasts without any sense of loyalty, thus forcibly announcing the end of this temporary spinning top competition. Chen Junqian then sat down a few steps and was pulled over by Lin Mu to sit next to him.

Although they were all the same size bib numbers, because of Mu Mu's small size, they felt a bit wobbly hanging on her. However, since the child had only signed up for the three-legged race, Chen Junqian was afraid that the bib number would fly off while she was running.

"Does Qianqian want some water? He has to run a kilometer in a bit."

"Hmm, what about Youwei? I think she also signed up for the girls' 800."

"They're checking in over there; the girls' competition starts earlier than the boys'."

Pointing in a certain direction below the stands, Lin Mu enthusiastically offered his suggestion:

"Actually, I would stand at the finish line and wait for Weiwei at every previous sports meet. Qianqian, do you want to come with me this year? She's always so tired after running, I can hand her a towel, give her some water, and help her up."

"No wonder Mumu seemed so skilled when she picked me up at the finish line last year."

"But after running the 1000 meters, Qianqian was like nothing happened. Actually, it's okay to be a little...tired."

What do you mean by "just a little bit tired"?

"It's like I'm about to collapse, and then my weight falls on me. I might even get a little heatstroke, but it's okay, I brought some cooling balm."

Chen Junqian felt that Mu Mu, who was sitting next to him, was lost in some kind of fantasy, and he was too lazy to expose her. It felt more like she was introducing herself as his childhood sweetheart. Rather than saying that he wouldn't be surprised at all if she turned out to be like what she described after running a thousand meters.

"Then let's go there and wait together."

As Xu Youwei's 800-meter race was about to begin, Chen Junqian took the initiative to pull Lin Mu along to the central lawn near the finish line.

Their elementary school track is 250 meters per lap, so 800 meters is a little over three laps. For Lin Mu, who usually feels a bit tired after jogging one lap during warm-up in PE class, this is a terrifying length.

"I heard that we had to run laps every morning in junior high school... Ningzhong's track was 400 meters per lap, so we had to run two laps, which is equivalent to 800 meters in one go, right?"

"Why don't you start exercising more now? Science has shown that appropriate exercise can also promote the secretion of growth hormone and make you grow taller."

As Lin Mu's closest childhood friend, Chen Junqian naturally knew how to effectively persuade him.

Sure enough, Lin Mu's eyes lit up as soon as he heard the keyword "growing taller," but he immediately pouted again:

"But exercising is so tiring."

"I'll go with you. Besides, you need to exercise eventually. Even if we don't mention the morning exercises later, there are special physical education points in the high school entrance exam."

"Well, if Qianqian comes with me... wait a minute, Weiwei only has one lap left."

Noticing her friend's progress, Lin Mu interrupted her own conversation and, like the other students in her class, began to cheer loudly for Xu Youwei during this final sprint.

Xu Youwei is still in the top tier, but because the three or four girls in the top tier are neck and neck, the rankings and the outcome are still uncertain until the very last moment.

When they were only 100 meters from the finish line, Xu Youwei, who seemed to have spotted two people near the finish line, suddenly peeked out quite noticeably from the crowd.

Her medium-length, jet-black hair, past her earlobes and shoulders, was blown back by the wind, and her bangs were also scattered, revealing the girl's smooth forehead, and then she came closer and closer in Chen Junqian's line of sight.

After all, these were the first two events of the day. With plenty of energy and some mysterious external support, Hsu Yu-Wei proudly crossed the finish line first.

However, unlike the other girls who gradually slowed down and eventually stopped after crossing the finish line, she showed no intention of stopping after reaching the finish line. Instead, she crashed directly into Lin Mu and Chen Junqian, who were waiting not far behind the finish line, as if she couldn't brake in time.

Perhaps it was because the latter reacted faster than the former, or perhaps Xu Youwei had originally aimed at Chen Junqian, so the next second, she seemed to have used all her strength, just as Lin Mu had described, and handed over all her weight to Chen Junqian.

Which number?

Seemingly too immersed in her own world, Xu Youwei lay on Chen Junqian's chest and subconsciously asked this question.

"Number one! Number one! Vivi is so amazing!"

Lin Mu, who was standing next to her, answered in this way, and then pulled her closer to herself and pulled her a little away from Chen Junqian. She carefully wiped the sweat from her forehead with a dry towel that she had prepared in advance.

"First place, that's great."

After repeating this sentence, Xu Youwei took the bottle of mineral water that Chen Junqian handed her, which already had the cap unscrewed. She tilted her head back slightly and took small sips to replenish her water, but her gaze was still fixed on the other person's somewhat blurry face through the bottom of the mineral water bottle.

This is her finish line.

He was the final destination she chose.

Even if... someone was already standing next to the finish line.

But she would still want to rush over like she did today.

Then, go and be number one.

Chapter Thirty-Eight: We Are All Old Generals on the Stage (Part Two)

According to the system's definition, the charm of the so-called sports festival lies in combining budding romance with passionate competition, allowing the audience to enjoy the tension and excitement of the game, as well as to be driven crazy by the ambiguous relationship between the characters that is just one step away. In the atmosphere of everyone helping or counter-helping, and the visual symbols of sweat and heartbeats, a kind of sweet and refreshing romantic comedy is created.

But in reality, none of the above descriptions apply to Chen Junqian himself, since the school sports meet is fundamentally different from the sports festivals in anime and manga.

Putting aside the fact that the nighttime festivals common in Japanese romantic comedies' sports festivals, such as the test of courage or bonfire parties, simply don't exist, and that things like the obstacle course race and the 'person you like' note that you're guaranteed to draw are completely impossible to replicate in reality, even the most basic competitive atmosphere is often not very exciting.

Just like the scene of Zhong Yu playing with spinning tops with the boys before the competition, for most students, the school sports meet is essentially one of the holidays when they don't have to go to class. Therefore, there is often a significant disconnect between the atmosphere outside the venue and the atmosphere inside. Often, the athletes are competing fiercely on the track, while the students in the stands are busy with their own things, either eating and chatting or basking in the sun and reading comics.

Only when they occasionally hear their classmates shouting something in the front row will they look up and glance ahead, let alone actively run around to watch other competition venues such as long jump and high jump.

In fact, Chen Junqian was also one of these people before his rebirth. Although he would sometimes feel a sense of youthful exuberance when he saw athletes on the track returning to drink water after crossing the finish line amidst the cheers of their classmates, it would only last for a short while before he would go back to doing his own thing and continue enjoying this free holiday without having to attend classes.

But now that I've been reborn, I should try some new things.

Standing at the starting line, stretching and warming up, Chen Junqian waved to Lin Mu beside him. Suddenly, he remembered a short video he had seen in his previous life of a boy crossing the finish line at a sports meet and making a heart shape with his hands above his head in front of the audience.

Perhaps we could give it a try after that?

Just as Chen Junqian was preparing to launch his campaign, Zhu Wenyun, who was also trying something new, sent her encouraging message to the broadcasting department.

To be honest, the students in the broadcasting department were quite surprised and delighted by Zhu Wenyun's arrival. After all, everyone in the school knew that her essay had won the first prize in the province, and that she had even published something and received royalties. She was definitely a well-known young writer in the whole school.

After receiving the genuine message of encouragement from the other party, the two girls at the radio station simultaneously fell into an awkward silence.

First of all, there was the sheer volume of papers. Unlike other students who submitted their papers one by one, Zhu Wenyun submitted seven, eight, or even ten papers right away.

It's one thing to have a lot of them, but the key point is that they are all written for one project and one person. What's going on? Are they going to turn those few minutes into a special session of cheering speeches for one person?

Looking at the content again, it was even more impressive. It can only be said that Zhu Wenyun, who is currently adapting to the style of "Fireworks", is no longer acting. The two girls watched with wandering eyes and speechless, while they had already started to remember it and planned to write it into their QQ space background wall when they got home that night.

"I don't think this will work; the teacher will take a look."

After giving this slightly tactful reminder, to their surprise, Zhu Wenyun took out another collection of encouraging articles from her other pocket, looking as if she had been prepared all along, and it seemed that she had fully learned the experience of preparing contingency plans for everything in her writing career.

"Then we'll use these from here."

Well, the two elementary school students from the broadcasting department had never seen anything like this before. However, after taking a look at the content, they found it to be much better than the initial version. At least it was the kind of text that they could read with full emotion without getting the headmaster knocking on their door.

After leaving the broadcasting department, Zhu Wenyun hurriedly returned to the playground and sat at the highest point of her class's stands. Amidst the noise of her classmates, she looked at Chen Junqian, who was preparing to start the race, from afar on the starting line.

She could see Lin Mu holding a water bottle and a towel, waiting near the finish line, and she could also see Xu Youwei, who was participating in the standing long jump on the sand on the other side at the same time. But her gaze only lingered on them for a moment before focusing on Chen Junqian alone.

Simultaneously with the starting gun, the cheering announcements broadcast over the loudspeakers around the playground began.

Just like last year, when Chen Junqian participated in the competition, all the messages were written to cheer him on. Of course, elementary school students can also like someone, and this is one of their naive and slightly shy ways of expressing themselves.

Unlike last year, all the cheering messages this time were written by Zhu Wenyun herself.

However, the students around her couldn't detect anything unusual at all, because she not only omitted her own name, but also deliberately used and imitated different tones and wording, just like that meme "Actually, there are only you and me in this group, everyone else is my alternate account", genuinely creating a secret atmosphere that no one else would notice, but only she herself knew.

Sitting on the high platform, Zhu Wenyun propped her face up with her hands and looked at the boy who had been leading the pack since the start of the race. Then she felt all sorts of interesting scenarios popping into her mind.

She will definitely write many stories in the future.

The story will also feature many male and female protagonists with different personalities and backstories.

But just like the cheering speeches she's hearing now, which constantly change their tone and wording, their core and essence are the same.

Zhu Wenjun always felt that it was very difficult to communicate with a girl like her. Even her closest grandmother would sometimes say that she was unwilling to talk about anything and kept it all to herself. This was not like a child at all.

After all, children should not listen to anything, not listen to nothing and not speak.

Her growth process skipped the first stage, but it also seemed not to; it was just reversed. Because now that she was next to him, Zhu Wenyun felt that no matter what others said, she would no longer listen.

In fact, when Zhu Wenyun was with Chen Junqian, she always felt like she had become a simple child. Even though the saying "A beautiful appearance is a dime a dozen, but an interesting soul is one in a million" hadn't come to her yet, she didn't understand that an interesting soul was actually someone whose information density and knowledge level were far superior to hers, but who was still willing to listen to her pointless nonsense, patiently communicate with her, and put forward some viewpoints that she had never heard before, and then easily subvert her short-sighted imagination and values.

But what's done is done, and even if Zhu Wenyun heard these words, she would probably be able to refute them, because she could also sense that the other person lacked that part that only she could do. Their relationship was never the kind of unequal one that completely encompassed each other.

Zhu Wenyun is very satisfied and content with the current situation. After all, she is not the kind of child who is used to asking for things. So even though she felt that twenty minutes of one-on-one conversation time every day was not enough a long time ago, she has not made any substantial efforts to increase it, because she had never even had those twenty minutes before.

It will probably be some time before she belatedly realizes her problem at some point.

I discovered that she was still hiding her inferiority complex, avoiding jealousy, and pretending to be content.

Just like Zhu Wenyun doesn't want to watch the three-legged race that afternoon at all.

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For Lin Mu herself, the entire sports meet was actually just a big plate of dumplings made for the last dish of three-legged vinegar in the afternoon. So, more than ten minutes before the event officially started, she had already eagerly called her childhood sweetheart over to tie their legs together as a kind of advance rehearsal.

During the month-long training, Chen Junqian and Lin Mu gradually figured out the trick. Since there was indeed an irreconcilable height difference between the two, they could only resort to unconventional methods.

Other pairs of similar heights generally walked shoulder to shoulder to maintain balance, while Chen Junqian and Lin Mu opted for a lower stance, walking closer to their waists.

More precisely, Mu Mu wrapped her arms around Chen Junqian's waist, and then Chen Junqian used his superhuman athletic ability, like a mysterious anime sports student, to lift Mu Mu up and run without her feet touching the ground.

Aside from its less-than-ideal visual appearance, it has virtually no drawbacks.

As for the visual effects, all I can say is that the parties involved have no objections.

As the grand finale of the sports meet, the three-legged race is naturally more recreational than the regular sports events held during the day. It mainly serves to lighten the mood, but ironically, this is why more students come specifically to watch the race.

After all, this is a sport that tests the teamwork of the participants to a great extent. If even one person fails to coordinate well, it often leads to a scene that makes the audience burst into laughter and the referees laugh and cry. Because of the rule that if you fall, you have to return to the starting point and start again, it is quite normal for some teams to take two or three minutes to reach the finish line, even though the distance is only a short 100 meters.