I turned reality into a romantic comedy

"Happy Detective".

Chen Junqian wasn't surprised by Xu Youwei's answer. After all, he could tell that she genuinely liked detective and adventure themes. So it was quite reasonable for her to choose "Happy Detective," which had just been launched this year and was touted as the first children's detective magazine in China, from among all the extracurricular magazines available.

Coincidentally, before his rebirth in his previous life, Chen Junqian had tried to submit articles to them and later to the newly launched magazine "Detective Mike Fox," which also focused on juvenile detective literature, but they were not accepted in the end.

"And the toy that comes with it is a Conan laser watch. The watch cover can pop open to act as a sight, the mirror has a built-in magnifying glass function, and there is a laser emitter next to the watch face... I really want it."

Faced with Xu Youwei's constant nagging and darting glances at him for his reaction, Chen Junqian thought for a moment and then agreed:

"That's alright. Actually, I'm quite interested in this kind of subject matter."

What he said wasn't entirely untrue. After all, the Adventure Tigers and Happy Detective were also books he was enthusiastic about during his childhood. Not to mention that he later revisited them due to work, and he still felt a certain fondness for them.

Hearing Chen Junqian nod in agreement, Xu Youwei subconsciously raised the corners of her mouth, her little tiger teeth flashing. If the two weren't walking in the corridor of the classroom, she probably would have cheered and given him a hug.

"You've been a huge help, thank you so much! If there's anything I can do to help in the future, just let me know, hehe."

It has to be said that Xu Youwei's smile was indeed quite infectious. Being looked at and thanked by her with such a smile made Chen Junqian feel much better. He didn't know if it was the subtle influence of a certain embarrassing system, but he even had an urge to reach out and pat her head.

After the morning reading session and the two classes in the morning, there was a long break. The four-person blackboard bulletin board group skipped it again with a clear conscience. Just before the third class was about to start, Xu Youwei had already thrown away the chalk, patted the chalk dust off her fingers, and jumped off her chair.

"Then please have the class monitor and Mu Mu finish writing the rest of the words. Chen Junqian and I are going to get our eye exercises checked."

"Ah, oh, um."

Lin Mu, who was concentrating on copying the manuscript on the blackboard, was also stunned by what she heard. By the time she carefully turned around from her chair, Xu Youwei had already grabbed Chen Junqian's arm and left, leaving only two figures walking away into the distance.

"What's wrong?"

Seeing Lin Mu suddenly stop what he was doing, Lu Cheng, who was writing furiously on the other side of the blackboard, casually asked the same question.

"nothing."

Lin Mu carefully turned his body back to face the blackboard and placed the chalk he was holding on it again, but his lips were unconsciously pursed, and even the force with which he wrote on the blackboard was a little heavier than before.

The improved relationship between Chen Junqian and Xu Youwei should be a good thing, and it's the result she hoped for. After all, with the former by her side, the latter should never again have the frightening idea of ​​using the sheep talisman to play dead.

After finishing copying this page of the manuscript, Lin Mu slowly climbed down from the chair, the coins in his pocket clinking as he did so.

Oh right, she hasn't paid back the two yuan she owed Chen Junqian yesterday.

Thinking of this, Lin Mu took advantage of the last bit of time before the other students returned to class and quickly went back to Chen Junqian's seat. He took out the two yuan he had gotten from his parents and, after hesitating for a moment, put it into Chen Junqian's pencil case.

For some reason, she suddenly glanced into Chen Junqian's desk drawer. After discovering that the Miaolian drink she had given him that morning, as usual, was already more than half gone, she calmed down and went back to her seat.

As another eyewitness who was still in the classroom at that moment and witnessed the whole process, Lu Cheng also showed a solemn and respectful expression.

Goodness, it turns out that now they're not just delivering milk anymore, they've gotten to the point of paying money?

So scary, so scary.

Chapter Twenty-One: The Privileges of Childhood Sweethearts

"I've also learned some things about Xu Youwei."

As the wind demon roared on the television screen, Chen Junqian took the initiative to bring up the topic with Lin Mu during the midday after-school care session.

Lin Mu, who was still struggling with green vegetables today, looked up with some confusion upon hearing this. It seemed that she was the one who usually brought up this topic, so it was a little strange that Chen Junqian was the one who spoke up first.

As one of Xu Youwei's few two friends in class, Chen Junqian had no intention of hiding her family situation from Lin Mu. After all, given her personality, even if she knew, she wouldn't go around spreading it around. Rather than letting little Lin Mu worry and speculate every day, it was better to just tell her directly.

Ultimately, there are some things that Lin Mu is better suited to do than him, and the other party does indeed have positive ideas in this regard. He was the one who was initially brought in by Lin Mu.

After listening to Chen Junqian's explanation, Lin Mu nodded thoughtfully, biting his chopsticks, and said:

"So, the reason why Weiwei doesn't want to go home after school is because she feels there's nothing left in that home or that house that she cherishes?"

"Although it hasn't reached that point yet, there is indeed that aspect involved. Of course, before we find out the whole truth, we can't just make subjective assumptions and prejudicially imagine her father and stepmother as villains. After all, blended families can also be happy."

"Yes, that's how it is in 'Home with Kids'. Xia Yu, Xia Xue, Xia Bingbao... no, it's that Liu Xing and the others also have a very good relationship."

"So we should make bold assumptions and carefully verify everything. After all, we don't know if the atmosphere at her home is really that bad and oppressive, or if she simply hasn't accepted the current situation yet. Although I personally think the former is more likely, since it's only been a summer since her mother passed away, the transition was a bit too fast."

At this point, Chen Junqian paused slightly:

"But we'll have to find out about these things gradually, one step at a time."

"Yes, I talked to Weiwei about it when I got out of school this morning, and she agreed to walk you home together. You can just ask her about it while you're chatting with her on the way."

Although he was trying hard to project a lively tone as usual, Lin Mu still seemed a bit down, but he quickly forced himself to smile at Chen Junqian.

"Oh, right, I told my parents about you this morning before I went to school. They also want to meet you and thank you in person. They'll be picking me up from school today. Would that take up just a little bit of your and Weiwei's time?"

"That's fine, but did you get scolded for telling everyone about losing two hundred yuan?"

"I definitely got hit, after all, it was two hundred yuan. And they even asked why I didn't call them after such an incident. Apparently, they kept some cash in a hidden compartment of one of the drawers at home... But nothing's happened now. It's more like this week has become more unforgettable."

With a hint of disgust, Lin Mu gulped down all the greens and bitter melon in the bowl, swallowing them whole without even chewing. Then, he quickly drank two large mouthfuls of water.

"I don't know when I'll be able to get used to the food."

"It's not easy to stick to eating food you can't get used to, look."

As he spoke, Chen Junqian gestured towards the others sitting next to him. Many children were quite picky eaters, either picking out what they didn't want to eat from their bowls or leaving it in. Lin Mu, who clearly didn't like the food but still tried his best to swallow it without wasting it, was definitely a good child among good children.

"Because a balanced diet is essential for good health, growth, and to prevent turning into the mountain demon Bo Gang from TV."

"really."

Hearing Lin Mu mention Bo Gang, Chen Junqian wholeheartedly agreed. After all, no one wants to be seen with the words, "The divine token that subdued the mountain demon Bo Gang is a drum." This was also one of the driving forces behind his successful weight loss in high school in his previous life.

"The class is organizing magazine subscriptions soon, are you interested in subscribing?"

Suddenly remembering what Xu Youwei had told him that morning, Chen Junqian casually asked Lin Mu about it, only to be met with a rather frank shake of his head:

"No, I've never subscribed to those kinds of magazines. There's nothing in them that interests me, whether it's the free toys or the magazines."

"That's it..."

After Lin Mu said that, Chen Junqian understood another reason why Xu Youwei bypassed the other party and went directly to him. They had known each other for much longer than he had, and they probably knew that Lin Mu had never subscribed to a magazine, which was why they did not choose to seek help from her.

"What's wrong? Does Qianqian have his eye on some toy and want me to order it for you?"

"...What the heck is Qianqian?"

For a moment, the title made him hallucinate either the lead singer of "Serious Snow" or another illegal figure, and Chen Junqian looked embarrassed.

"Who told you to have such a long name? My name is also Weiwei."

Completely oblivious to the annoyance of reduplicated words, Lin Mu said this as if it were perfectly natural, then tentatively changed the way she addressed him, propping her cheek up to the side:

"Or perhaps Junjun?"

Chen Junqian, who almost hallucinated on some mysterious second-generation operator, quickly raised his hand to suggest going back to the original design. He figured that the naming was up to personal preference, and it would be another decade or so before some illegal character was revealed.

"It wasn't me, it was Xu Youwei. She asked me to subscribe to 'Happy Detective' for her this morning. But I wouldn't call it helping, since I'll probably be subscribing to it myself this year too."

As he spoke, Chen Junqian recalled that before his rebirth, he had focused on this field for a while. He had tried submitting manuscripts to "Happy Detective," which he had watched in his childhood, and at the suggestion of his editor, he also tried to create children's detective literature similar to "Detective Mike Fox" or "La Semaia Detective Agency," which had just become popular in recent years, in the direction of Himalaya audiobooks. As a result, he learned and wrote a lot of messy knowledge and manuscripts, but in the end, almost all of them ended in failure.

Even so, he doesn't dislike children's adventure and detective themes, after all, he initially got into this field precisely because he liked it.

However, unlike Chen Junqian and Xu Youwei's fascination with this kind of content, Lin Mu was just the kind of person who followed trends and went with the flow. For her, this kind of content was probably limited to a few Adventure Tigers books and Detective Conan shows on TV.

"I see. So you two really do have common interests. That gives you something to talk about. Good luck—"

Just two days ago, Lin Mu was telling Chen Junqian that if he and Xu Youwei didn't know how to talk, they could talk about their shared interests. But now that he saw the two of them showing surprisingly similar interests in certain areas, Lin Mu felt a little sour inside, but he didn't show it on his face.

"Speaking of which, I put the two yuan from yesterday into your pencil case this morning, did you see it?"

"Yeah, here it is."

Chen Junqian flashed the two coins in his pocket toward Lin Mu, then thought for a moment and spoke to her again:

"Let's go buy some snacks."

"now?"

"Okay, consider it my treat. Let's go."

With two yuan in his pocket, Chen Junqian, who had secretly slipped out of the after-school care center with Lin Mu, suddenly remembered a meme about "six yuan spicy hot pot" that would be born on Tieba a few years later. Looking at Lin Mu, who seemed to be secretly watching him from behind, he suddenly felt that maybe he could write a post about two yuan snacks more than ten years later.

At this time, there are only a few scattered students at the school gate who have slipped out of after-school care or home to buy things. The only group that has a slightly larger crowd is a few boys watching another boy draw a prize.

Actually, this is a unique feature of the small shops near the school gate. The game is the same as the scratch-off lottery tickets at the welfare lottery booth behind the school, but it costs 50 cents per game. It is said that you can win up to 100 yuan, but you can only say that whoever believes it will be fooled. At least Chen Junqian only won one yuan when he was a child. Zhong Yu once won five yuan and bragged about it in class for a long time.

Standing once again in front of the dazzling array of goods on the shop shelves, Chen Junqian felt a little dazed.

If he were to define snacks at this time, the three main categories would be various kinds of candy, various kinds of spicy strips, and various kinds of fried and puffed foods. What impressed him most were these snacks that cost only five cents or a dollar, each with a catchy name printed on their packaging.

Ball-shaped spicy strips are called dinosaur eggs or shrimp-pulled eggs, while strip-shaped ones are called spicy chicken tendons or red oil gluten. There are even more slice-shaped ones, from the famous Tang Monk meat to beef tendon, to little slippery tofu and stinky tofu. Other types, such as shredded, crispy ones, or all sorts of others, are available, which can definitely dazzle children with choices on all levels.

The main fried puffed foods are crispy noodles and potato chips. In Chen Junqian's hometown, the main brands sold are Little Master and Magician. The latter is led by Kebike, and the Jay Chou on the packaging left a deep impression on Chen Junqian for a long time.

Other snacks such as Mimi's shrimp chips, scallion, shrimp noodles, Nanjing roast duck, and boiled fish are also among their favorites. After all, they come in large portions and are easy to share, making them essential snacks for traveling and making friends.

Of course, if we're really talking about fancy designs, the first two categories combined probably can't compare to the ever-evolving variety of candy snacks. From sucking candy to pacifier candy to diamond candy to rock candy to rope candy to cigarette candy that looks like a cigarette when you hold it in your mouth, candies of all shapes and sizes can easily win the hearts of children with their appearance, and Lin Mu today seems to be no exception.

Perhaps because she had just eaten and wasn't very hungry, she simply grabbed a pack of taro candy, while Chen Junqian picked out a roll of fruit juice and tried to put it in his mouth to pretend to be a scary zombie with his tongue sticking out. However, little Lin Mu immediately stuffed it back into his hand with some dissatisfaction.

It seems that even under the midday sun, the other party's courage did not increase accordingly.

Chewing on the strip-shaped fruit roll in his mouth and swallowing it, Chen Junqian then took a taro candy that Lin Mu fed him. The two of them returned to the daycare center while savoring the candy that slowly softened and sweetened in their mouths.

Perhaps it was so that childhood innocence could never grow up that the world invented happiness and candy and linked them together.

It's not lunchtime yet, and you can see many small groups playing tag or blind man's bluff in the open space outside. The former is simply running and chasing people, while the latter involves designating a small space where people can't leave, and then blindfolding one person with a red scarf to be the "blind man" who touches others. The person the blind man touches then has to take his place as the next "blind man".

If a certain system in Chen Junqian's mind were still conscious, it would probably be shouting things like, "This is the perfect place to trigger a lucky pervert incident."

However, neither of them intended to join in. Lin Mu was more inclined to be quiet than active, and Chen Junqian was completely unfamiliar with everyone, not even knowing their names. So the two of them simply found a slightly shady spot to sit down and watched them play around.

For them, who are still in childhood, time is something that seems to never run out, no matter how much they squander it.

The sweetness of the candy in my mouth, combined with the warm sunshine, seemed to fill the air with a sweet warmth, like thick honey, so comfortably that I could sleep all day long while soaking in it.

Unlike the empty classroom last night, Lin Mu was surrounded by a bustling crowd, and the sun was shining brightly in the sky. But she suddenly felt a sensation similar to that of a certain moment last night, as if the whole world had suddenly shrunk before her eyes until only she and Chen Junqian remained.

You might even feel that this place is a piece that has been forcibly peeled off from the long river of time and space, so quiet that you can't hear a single human voice.

You can think about anything, or you can think about nothing at all.

Perhaps because she stayed up late last night to finish her homework, or perhaps it was simply because it was almost nap time, the drowsy girl had somehow leaned against the boy, like a small animal that had found its destination and naturally hid under the shade of a small tree to doze off.

In reality, no one would claim to be someone's childhood sweetheart.

But childhood sweethearts who recognize each other do sometimes have a few special privileges.

Chapter Twenty-Two: Childhood Sweethearts Should Naturally Meet Each Other's Parents

When Chen Junqian arrived at school in the afternoon, he found two more things on his desk.

It has to be said that in the week or so since his rebirth, his desk and desk drawer have been frequently refreshed with all sorts of magical gadgets. However, unlike the milk and coins before, what's on the desk now are the two Pipilu single volumes that he lent to Zhu Wenjun last Friday. Zhu Wenjun must have asked a classmate to put them there for him or secretly put them back on his desk when no one was in the class at noon.

Considering Zhu Wenyun's personality, Chen Junqian believes the latter is more likely.

As a reading enthusiast who is strict with himself and others when it comes to books, Zhu Wenyun's attitude towards books is indeed impeccable. After lending them out for two or three days, Chen Junqian even felt that the colorful covers of his two books had become cleaner, as if they had been carefully wiped clean.

I casually flipped through it and didn't see any damage such as creases or corners. I even found a bookmark that seemed to have been specially left by Zhu Wenyun. It had the words "Both books are very good. Thank you very much - Zhu Wenyun" written on it in delicate, tiny characters.

Turn the bookmark over, and you'll find the back covered with titles of various children's literature books, some of which are highlighted. The last sentence reads:

"These are the books I have at home. If you are interested in any of them but haven't read them yet, you can come and borrow them from me anytime. The ones marked with emphasis are my personal recommendations."

To Chen Junqian's slight surprise, there were quite a few scattered issues of "Children's Literature" magazine. After all, most primary school students these days are mainly interested in pure comic magazines such as Zhiyin Manke, Comic Party, and Sa Comic. People like 'Qiu' who read "Xiaoshuo Hui" and "Huahuo," which are mainly text-based, are already in junior high school. Professional publications like "Children's Literature," which are more academic in all aspects, are even rarer.