I turned reality into a romantic comedy

Carrying two cardboard cutouts, Chen Junqian once again sped along the country road with Xu Youwei before lunch was ready, returning to the familiar downhill slope. Suddenly, Xu Youwei, sitting behind him, shouted at the top of her lungs, almost startling him so much that he lost control of the handlebars and speed.

"Why did you suddenly shout—"

"Because it feels so good!"

Even after the two of them had finished going down the big slope, Xu Youwei still looked like she hadn't had enough. If it weren't for the fact that it was almost lunchtime, she probably would have urged Chen Junqian to ride the bike up and down again.

“My maternal grandmother’s house is here. Come visit sometime.”

After Chen Junqian parked the car at the entrance of a small courtyard, Xu Youwei nimbly got out of the car carrying two pieces of cardboard, then waved goodbye to him.

"I'll definitely come if I have the chance."

After replying with that, Chen Junqian turned his car around and left. After all, he was also starving after working so hard all morning and was in a hurry to get back for lunch.

Only after his figure completely disappeared from her sight did Xu Youwei suppress her smile, turn around and walk into the courtyard. She silently bypassed a room from which faint sobs could still be heard, and entered the room where she was temporarily staying. Then, she tied two pieces of cardboard to the chair on the left and right with ribbons.

After everything was completed, the girl who had been shouting loudly behind Chen Junqian's car during the downhill journey silently sat down.

If viewed from the side, the throne she made is probably even more beautiful than the one Uncle Neil made on the show. The only pity is that the person sitting on it is too short, so you have to go around to the front to see the face and expression of the person on the throne.

If you actually walk over there, you'll only see a little girl who has nothing to do with words like king, queen, or princess; at this moment, she's just curled up in her seat with her legs drawn up to her knees.

There was no way around it. Ever since her mother passed away and her father remarried, she, like the false throne beneath her, had become a lonely king who ruled only herself.

But it was at this moment that her gaze inadvertently caught a line of text that someone had secretly written on the inside of the cardboard with a marker while it was being made:

[Liking the Sheep Charm doesn't necessarily mean you want to see how others react after you die; perhaps you just want to see someone you can only see in your spirit form.]

Xu Youwei subconsciously reached out and poked at the words, and suddenly felt a lump in her throat.

...He's a strange but very smart boy. He can definitely read Mu Mu's mind, even though she's such an innocent girl.

She thought so.

...but I didn't mean to dislike it.

Because sometimes Mu Mu just can't be like this person, able to guess what she's really thinking without saying a word.

Hsu Yu-Wei doesn't find this feeling of being understood bad.

Chapter 18: I will find an angel to love you in my place.

On Sunday afternoon, after spending more than a day in his hometown in the countryside, Chen Junqian set off back to the city. This was his weekly free time to use the computer, so he went directly to his parents' room without any hesitation, connected the computer (which they had already set up and placed there) to the broadband, and logged into his QQ account.

Opening QQ Space, the first thing you see is a bunch of mysterious links reminiscent of the times, forwarded by classmates. Some are like, "[Forward] Ten little-known facts you didn't know; I was devastated by the third one," others are like, "[Forward] Ten super funny jokes; the sixth one made me laugh all day." Even more outrageous is, "Outrageous! Teacher He Jiong is almost crying with anger. June 30th is Teacher He's birthday, but the Korean host said Teacher He has no fans and no one is sending him birthday wishes. He Jiong made a bet with the Korean: if this post doesn't get 500,000 forwards by June 30th, He Jiong will quit hosting; if it gets 500,000, the Korean host has to apologize. The contract is signed; friends who like watching Teacher He's hosting must forward this! 'Like this and you're Chinese; don't like it and you're North Korean.'" Chen Junqian was completely stunned.

Lin Mu posted a new status update these past two days: 'Starting to practice writing a diary today,' accompanied by a picture of the password-protected diary that Xu Youwei gave her. Chen Junqian saw it and casually gave it a like. Like a rich second-generation, he tidied up his farm, ranch, pets, and luxury car parking space before leaving the space.

A short while later, Chen Junqian found that he had suddenly received a friend request. When he opened it, the nickname was Winnie the Pooh, and the note was written as Xu Youwei.

After accepting the friend request, Xu Youwei immediately sent a message:

"I asked Mu Mu for your QQ number, but I didn't expect it to only be accepted now."

"Because I only just returned to the city, and there are no computers in the village."

"Ok."

Unlike Chen Junqian and Lin Mu's extremely simple nicknames, Xu Youwei not only used Winnie the Pooh as her nickname, but also changed her profile picture to a corresponding Winnie the Pooh photo. Opening her profile, you can see that the background is also the same, which shows that she must really like this character.

Do you go back to the countryside every weekend?

Although he really wanted to complain that the other person had already asked him this question to his face yesterday, Chen Junqian still typed out his answer again:

"That's generally how it is. Sometimes they're too busy to go back because they feel they don't have time to take care of me. What about you?"

"Me? I don't go back often. Yesterday was probably the first time I've gone back in the past few months. It's quite a coincidence that we ran into each other."

After hearing Xu Youwei's explanation, Chen Junqian suddenly understood. No wonder he had never seen Xu Youwei in the countryside in his previous life. Otherwise, given his experience of frequently driving a tricycle through the countryside, he should have some impression of her.

"But I'll probably go back more often in the future. Remember to come visit me then. Do you still remember where my grandma's house is?"

What if I say I don't remember?

“Then I’ll come find you. Anyway, I remember where your grandpa’s house is. There’s a little stray dog ​​at the door that’s easy to spot.”

The two of them tacitly avoided mentioning the sentence Chen Junqian had left inside the cardboard sign on the throne. After all, if the other party had seen it, then everything that needed to be conveyed had already been conveyed, and there was no need to repeat some things in person.

"Do you really like Winnie the Pooh? Your profile picture and nickname both use that."

"Yeah, but my favorite is the second one. Have you seen it?"

"Is it that show, 'Anytime, Any Place! Super Detective, Serious Case Solving'?"

"OK."

Chen Junqian wasn't surprised by Xu Youwei's preference. After all, just like her fondness for the Adventure Tigers, after a few days of getting to know her, he had confirmed one thing: although she looked like a well-behaved girl, she did indeed have a restless heart that belonged to detectives and adventurers.

This is due to her personality, but it is also inseparable from her family environment. It feels a bit like she is expressing her dissatisfaction in this way during an early rebellious phase.

Undoubtedly, compared to Lin Mu, Xu Youwei does have some of the psychological problems common to children of this age, but she is clearly not yet at the point of going astray. After all, these actions are just her own unique way of venting or self-help.

But there's nothing we can do. Just like when someone who has been isolated for too long is drowning and raises their hand to call for help, others often mistake it for waving. So far, apart from him and Lin Mu, it seems that no one has noticed Xu Youwei's actions, not even her parents.

The biggest family-related blow to children of this age is most likely their parents' problems. However, in the past, Chen Junqian couldn't determine whether the divorce was due to parental discord or an accident that caused the family to break apart. He eventually found out by subtly inquiring with the homeroom teacher in the office.

To be more precise, it was after he expressed this desire that the teacher took the initiative to explain it to him.

As someone who has loved reading since childhood and has read all kinds of children's literature, Chen Junqian has naturally also been exposed to foreign literature. One of them is "Heart" by Italian writer Edmondo De Amicis, which his homeroom teacher, who is also a Chinese language teacher, once recommended.

In this world-renowned diary-style novel, there is a scene where Caron, the most helpful student in the class, loses his mother. Before Caron's arrival, the class teacher specifically informs the whole class of this news during the class meeting, telling all the students to sympathize with his pain, warmly greet and comfort him, and not to joke or laugh at him.

And indeed, all the classmates in the story, including the protagonist Enrico, did just that. Even after school, Enrico's mother, out of consideration for Caron's feelings, refused his hug.

However, the content of children's novels obviously cannot be fully applied to reality, and it is even more likely to have the opposite effect. Therefore, the homeroom teacher chose to remain silent from the beginning, even though he knew about the changes in Xu Youwei's family and the impact on the child. Because at this time, it was the right option for him, as an adult, to do nothing.

However, things changed when Chen Junqian, who had recently become very close to Xu Youwei, came to her door. At least that's how the homeroom teacher saw it. After all, the two had first worked together on the blackboard newspaper, and then they were to become partners and serve as the class's discipline committee members.

In the view of this homeroom teacher who has been teaching for many years, many things need to be resolved by the children themselves. Adults’ rash intervention can sometimes have a worse effect. Chen Junqian is indeed a very reliable candidate. After all, he has good grades and never causes trouble. He is a model student no matter where he is.

After learning about the other party's exact family situation, Chen Junqian finally began to try to intervene, and the words on the throne were a test.

Judging from the fact that Xu Youwei has now taken the initiative to add him on QQ, the effect seems to be quite good. After all, kids in this era are a hundred times more sensible than elementary school students of the same age ten years from now.

Do you usually play games?

"I don't play much."

Chen Junqian believed this, since no real gamer would actually say that Poop Superman is their favorite game.

"Actually, I'm not really interested in computers, and playing games all the time is bad for my eyes, so I don't want to wear glasses."

Chen Junqian, who had worn glasses for many years in his previous life, felt as if he had been hit in the chest. However, he was sure he would not repeat the same mistake in this life and would definitely need to take better care of his eyes.

For some unknown reason, Xu Youwei abruptly ended the conversation, saying "I'm logging off, see you at school tomorrow" before going offline, leaving Chen Junqian with a grayed-out profile picture once again.

Just as Chen Junqian was about to shut down his computer and log off because of the other person's comment about glasses, 'Qiu', who had just logged on, sent another message:

Have a nice weekend.

"The weekend is almost over..."

"It's the weekend, after all. Have you finished your homework? Or are you going to finish it all tonight?"

"I finished writing it a long time ago."

"Oh right, my brother is a good student, so he definitely won't be like me who always puts it off until the last minute."

If Zhong Yu's approach to acquainting with brothers and sisters online is characterized by its casualness, then Chen Junqian's acquaintance, 'Qiu,' is someone who takes these virtual relationships she builds online quite seriously, or rather, is persistent in doing so. It was at Qiu's strong request that Chen Junqian specially created a separate 'sister' section for her in his friends list.

Of course, having heard the other person's voice and seen their household registration book, Chen Junqian was certain that the person on the other end of the internet cable was indeed a girl. After all, using a voice changer to make friends with elementary school students at this time was too ahead of its time; probably no one would do something so pointless.

"No one's home today, shall we have a QQ voice chat?"

Seemingly finding typing too slow, Qiu sent this inquiry shortly afterward.

"Okay, there's no one home at my house right now."

Since they did have a habit of communicating via voice, Chen Junqian typed his agreement, turned up the volume of the speaker next to him a little, and brought the microphone on the table closer to his mouth.

Not long after the call connected via internet, Chen Junqian heard a girl's voice:

"Hello—hello, can you hear me?"

Perhaps because she had reached puberty, her voice was completely different from the other girls in the class that Chen Junqian usually heard. It lacked the sharp, childlike quality of a child's voice. Although it was slightly hoarse and had a slight static, it was still a very gentle tone.

"Yes, I can hear you."

"I suddenly felt like making a call today because I finished watching the movie 'Fireworks,' which was released in the first half of this month. There are a few parts that I really, really like, but I feel like they wouldn't feel the same if I typed them out and sent them to you. So I wanted to read them to you."

Perhaps genuinely wanting to project an aura of maturity in front of his 'younger brother,' Chen Junqian could sense from the voice that the other person had straightened up, even suppressing the playful laugh that had just been about to escape their lips. After a slight rustling sound, perhaps from turning pages, he heard the other person's recitation again:

"Some girls, when they reach a certain age, such as sixteen or seventeen, suddenly become very beautiful, and their originally dim light becomes dazzling. While some girls are born beautiful and smart, and are pampered, they become very proud, their beautiful eyes seem to be on top of their heads, unwilling to look down at the poor planets that revolve around them."

"But perhaps at some point, she suddenly can't understand math and science, suddenly gets fat, suddenly becomes nearsighted, and her perfect world collapses. So, it will take a long time before we can distinguish which of the people who pass through our lives are shooting stars and which are fixed stars."

"But at that time, will we still be able to meet, fall in love, and say 'I'm sorry, it turns out you are such a star' again?"

"how is it going?"

"It sounds very nice when you read it."

"I was asking how your writing is going... but thank you for the compliment."

"It's very well written."

It can only be said that although he is not the target audience for this type of story, Chen Junqian has no prejudice against Qiu's hobbies. After all, it is perfectly normal for young girls of this age to like this kind of romantic and beautiful style.

But thinking about it carefully, it seems that it is precisely because I read too much of this kind of literature about the regrets and pains of youth before I even reached my own youth that I have unrealistic and excessive expectations for my upcoming youth. As a result, I either end up with a messy and miserable ending, or I only realize much later that my youth has passed by so uneventfully.

"Actually, sometimes I've thought about submitting articles to 'Fireworks' magazine, but I can't even manage a 400-word essay right now, and there's nothing I particularly want to write about. After all, every day is just going to and from school, and I'll be starting junior high next year, so I feel like there will only be more things to do. There's no excitement or story in my real life, so I can only read you sentences from magazines."

"I've had quite a few things happen to me lately."

It has to be said that the advantage of online relationships is that no matter how much you say, it is difficult for the other party to really interfere with your real life. Therefore, the sense of distance will subtly become closer than in reality. So Chen Junqian casually mentioned that he had cooked for Lin Mu this week.

"Wow, that's amazing. Although I can cook, I only know the simplest few dishes, and I'm not very skilled at it. I usually just help my mom cook in the kitchen."

After such a straightforward compliment, the two chatted in detail about various things in the kitchen for quite a while, until Chen Junqian yawned a little sleepy. Only then did the other person concernedly end the conversation and ask:

"are you sleepy?"

"A little bit, since I don't take a nap at noon on weekends like I do during the school week."

"Why don't you go take a nap? I'll hum a song for you, and then you can obediently turn off the computer and go to sleep, okay?"

It's unclear what exactly this scene touched on, but Chen Junqian, with his eyes closed, leaned over his computer desk and gave a silent reply.

The other person didn't sing any lyrics; they just hummed the tune of a song in the softest possible way, but Chen Junqian still recognized it.

It is "Angel's Wings", released in 2007.

He silently sang it in sync with the melody and rhythm, line by line, because for a long time after his parents' unexpected passing, it was also one of Chen Junqian's favorite songs:

"I believe you are still here, never having left, my love is like an angel protecting you."

"If life ends here, then I am no more."

"I will find an angel to love you in my place."

Chapter 19: Putting this in a visual novel format means it's going to have a CG cutscene.

On Sunday evening, just as Chen Junqian was preparing to play a rare, intense game of Three Kingdoms Kill with the other kids in the neighborhood, to experience the epic battles of this prehistoric era before the game's numerical values ​​skyrocketed to the point where skills were transformed into lengthy essays, the landline phone at home suddenly rang.

Because he was the closest, Chen Junqian simply grabbed the microphone.

"Hello, who are you?"

But the voice coming from the other end of the phone was completely unexpected; it was Lin Mu calling.

"I... I was looking for Chen Junqian... Oh, it was you who answered the phone, phew."

Perhaps it was because she heard his familiar voice, but she could also sense that the other person's slightly tense tone relaxed immediately: