I turned reality into a romantic comedy

Chapter 56: Once you miss out, no one can blame you (Part 2)

During the May Day holiday, Chen Junqian was invited by his aunt and uncle to visit their home.

From his perspective, Chen Xi's near-accident a little over a month ago was clearly a butterfly effect he created after his rebirth, and to some extent, it was an undeserved disaster.

Because he remembered that in his previous life, the other party was not involved in this incident at all. Thinking about it carefully, it was actually because his relationship with his sister had become better after his rebirth, and he had taken a position in advance, that Chen Xi took the initiative to greet him when she saw him, which triggered a series of chain reactions.

However, for Chen Xi and her parents, Chen Junqian is definitely someone they should be grateful to.

After all, in that situation, no one could guarantee what kind of harm Chen Xi would have suffered if he hadn't caught her when she fell and hadn't allowed the situation to worsen, causing a stampede to actually occur.

It was precisely because of this that Chen Junqian could clearly feel that his little sister's attitude towards him had become more intimate after that incident. Sometimes, she would even climb up a floor after class to talk to him. However, her parents were happy to see this happen.

Their family and Chen Junqian's family were already considered to be old friends. In the past, they had to worry that their relationship might be broken by the time the younger generation came along. Now that the two children can play together, that's naturally the best thing.

When Chen Junqian came over this time, Chen Xi was playing jump rope downstairs.

Although it's unclear whether this is just a passing fad, it's probably due to some lingering effects of that unexpected event. Chen Xi, who used to be a complete homebody, is now willing to go out and get some exercise.

In her own words, this way, even if she encounters the same situation again, even if she can't save others like Chen Junqian, she can still try her best to save herself.

When the little girl saw Chen Junqian coming over, she immediately threw down her jump rope and skipped over to give him a big hug:

"The food isn't ready yet, brother, play with me downstairs for a while."

Similar to Lin Mu's neighborhood, Chen Xi's building also has a specially designated fitness equipment area downstairs. The facilities are the same old ones, but since it's a holiday, most of the space is occupied by other children, so she's practicing jump rope on the open space next to it.

Using the tissues he had brought, Chen Junqian wiped the sweat from his sister's forehead. He also picked up the colorful, slightly fragrant, and slightly plastic-smelling jump rope that she had thrown away and sat down with Chen Xi on the double pedal trainer next to them.

Although this thing was originally designed as a fitness machine to strengthen leg and lower limb muscles, it was mostly used as a simple seat. However, Chen Xi was still very interested in sitting there talking to Chen Junqian while stretching out her legs and kicking them up and down like she was on a swing.

"Want some candy? I bought it outside."

Having known each other for over half a year, Chen Junqian was quite familiar with his younger sister's specific preferences, tastes, and various little thoughts.

For example, what she just said about her mother still cooking and playing with her downstairs a little longer is, in a way, a way of implying that her parents can't control her right now, so she should take out whatever good food or fun things she has now.

As expected, Chen Xi quickly pulled her leg back, reached out to Chen Junqian, and smilingly accepted the candy he offered. Then she replied:

"I want to eat! I want to eat!"

Today, Chen Junqian bought her some baby bottle candy, which is quite popular and not very cheap at the moment.

As the name suggests, this is a candy designed to resemble a baby bottle, with a nipple-like shape on top and a bottle containing a glittering, sweet and sour powder of unknown origin.

Since it wasn't her first time eating it, Chen Xi skillfully licked the entire candy thoroughly with the tip of her tongue before removing the top, turning it upside down, and stuffing it directly into the bottle. After shaking it a couple of times, when she pulled it out, the entire candy was covered in crystal-clear powder, radiating a dazzling and captivating luster under the sun.

Actually, as long as you don't chew it actively but just suck on it slowly, a bottle of candy can last for quite a long time. However, Chen Xi didn't have that kind of leisure time. After putting it in her mouth and sucking and licking it a little, she started to chew it directly into her stomach with a crunching sound.

Just as people's preconceived notions about the children of teachers are often inaccurate, there was probably a similar tendency in Chen Xi's family as well. After all, considering that her uncle, as a sales manager, was often away on business trips, it was mostly just her and her aunt at home.

Chen Junqian had actually heard his grandmother talk about this goddaughter. The main reason for adopting godparents in their area was to benefit from their good fortune and ensure that the child would be free from illness and disaster throughout their life. Since his aunt's biological mother died in childbirth, in a sense, his grandmother and the other's biological mother were no different.

Moreover, his aunt's life after that was indeed quite smooth sailing, with both her career and family life being quite good.

It was precisely because of this that, in Chen Junqian's memory, his aunt, as his goddaughter, was always very filial to his grandmother. She would visit her whenever she had time, not just during holidays. However, one thing is one thing, and in terms of family education, she sometimes did have a bit of the temperament of a teacher.

Or perhaps the other person habitually brings some of their work-related ideas and practices into the family, but educating students and educating children are often not the same thing.

It just goes to show that every family has its own troubles.

From Chen Junqian's perspective, all he can do now is, as an elder among his peers, show more concern for Chen Xi, just like what's happening now.

As a former children's literature creator, Chen Junqian has never minded, and even quite enjoyed, listening to children confide in him. This was true of Xu Youwei, Zhu Wenyun, and now Chen Xi.

Of course, compared to the other two, her little sister is definitely not at their level yet. It's just some everyday family complaints. But even so, sometimes it's good to talk to someone and vent.

In every respect, Chan Kwan-him is perfectly suited for the role, especially after the incident that occurred more than a month ago.

"Alright, it's time to go upstairs for dinner."

After telling her brother about all her experiences with school, life, and family during this period, as well as the new books she had read and the new cartoons she had watched, Chen Xi stood up from the exercise bench with satisfaction. However, just as she finished speaking to Chen Junqian, she heard someone call her name from behind.

"Xiaoxi, is your dad home right now?"

Chen Junqian turned around at the sound and saw a middle-aged man in his thirties. He was dressed quite smartly, wore glasses, and looked very refined. He was holding a folder in his hand, but he looked a little anxious at the moment.

"Uncle Zhang? My dad is home now, but we have guests today, and we're about to eat."

Seemingly recognizing the man, Chen Xi answered his question and then pointed to Chen Junqian beside her:

"Look, that's my brother."

Then, she took the initiative to introduce herself again:

“This is my dad’s colleague from the factory. He often comes to our house.”

Hello, little friend.

Although he was facing two elementary school students, Uncle Zhang still greeted him quite politely. He subconsciously reached into his pocket, but only found a cigarette case and a lighter. He could only smile at him somewhat awkwardly.

"Uncle needs to speak with her father urgently, could you spare a moment?"

However, Chen Junqian found the other person's face increasingly familiar, and when his gaze inadvertently fell upon the title of a page in the folder the other person was holding, seeing words like 'E-commerce B2C' and 'Nuts Direct Sales Online Store', he realized who the other person was.

"Is this Uncle Zhang Xinghuo?"

Zhang Xinghuo was a little confused when his name was called out so readily:

"you are?"

“I am Lin Mu’s classmate. I saw you once at Mu Mu’s tenth birthday party last year, and Uncle Lin also told me about you.”

In fact, since last September, Chen Junqian has never given up on persuading Lin Mu's father to switch to e-commerce, or rather, to support the company's decision to do e-commerce internally, because based on his experience in his previous life, this path was indeed the right one for at least the next ten years.

The person the other party mentioned to him at that time, who had realized the potential of this opportunity from the beginning and wanted to pursue it, was none other than Uncle Zhang, who would later become the founder of the 'Three Fierce Xu' brand.

As someone who had specifically worked on a research project about the pecan industry in his hometown during his university years, Chen Junqian was very clear about the other party's business trajectory. Around this year, the other party facilitated the establishment of the first online store brand within Zhan's Company and entered the e-commerce field.

In 2011 alone, the online store's sales reached 20 million yuan. Just when the company firmly believed that the e-commerce boom was in the next two years and that it should further expand and seize the market, a controversy broke out within the company. A considerable number of people still believed that e-commerce was just virtual compared to offline physical stores.

It was under these circumstances that the other party chose to leave their job and start their own business, independently establishing the "Three Fierce Xu" brand and taking advantage of the last wave of the internet e-commerce economy to soar to new heights.

However, at this point in time, the other party is still a marketing vice president who is facing numerous obstacles in launching his first online store.

"Lin Mu... is Lin Youfeng's daughter? He did tell me that he knows a primary school student who thinks like me, and that we'd definitely get along better than I would with him. Could it be you?"

"That must be me."

Then, under Chen Xi's completely bewildered gaze, the older brother suddenly started discussing a topic that Chen Xi couldn't understand at all with this Uncle Zhang whom he knew. In the end, the older brother said, "If possible, I will persuade Uncle Lin and Uncle Zhang to support you." Then the other party nodded in satisfaction and left.

It's fair to say that she didn't really realize what was happening until Chen Junqian took her hand and led her home, and she sat down at the dinner table to eat her first bite.

Because in no time, the older brother started chatting with his father again, taking advantage of Uncle Lin's visit, leaving the depressed Chen Xi to just bury her head in her food.

Just a moment ago, they were talking about things like "why Di Qing didn't end up with Princess Baihua," "which brand of mechanical pencils is better to use near the school gate," and "she used to eat the candy first and then the powder before she learned the correct way to eat baby bottle candy." Why did it suddenly turn into this?!

Can we talk about something that elementary school students can understand?

However, Chen Xi's gloom did not last long, because her brother soon turned around and started chatting with her again. Chen Xi did not care about her father, who was sitting there lost in thought without even eating his food, and happily continued talking with her brother.

As a primary school student who is particularly interested in historical themes, Chen Xi has never been able to resist animated films with such elements, and the same goes for TV series. After watching "The Myth," which is set against the backdrop of the Qin and Han dynasties, she immediately started watching "Beauty's Rival in Palace," which had just premiered in March.

In fact, until the successive hits of several Qing Dynasty dramas such as "Palace," "Scarlet Heart," and "Empresses in the Palace" in 2011, the choice of historical dramas with palace intrigue in China was quite diverse, rather than being exclusively based on the Qing Dynasty.

For example, the drama "Beauty's Rival in Palace" that Chen Xi is currently watching is set in the early Han Dynasty from Emperor Hui to Emperor Wu, and the historical prototype of the female protagonist is Empress Dou Yifang, the wife of Emperor Wen of Han.

However, Chen Xi, who had only just begun to understand the various dynasties, was naturally not very clear about the somewhat complicated background stories and historical prototypes. She simply watched the plot and gradually developed an interest in and a preliminary understanding of those historical figures without knowing anything about them.

And so, after dinner, Chen Junqian spent the entire afternoon with his sister watching the first few episodes of "Beauty's Rival in Palace" together, just like when they watched "The Great Hero Di Qing" together during the last Chinese New Year. As before, he explained and supplemented her with some background historical knowledge while watching.

Chen Xi sat beside him, propping her chin up with her hand, watching and listening intently. The things she was most interested in were being said by the person she most wanted to be with and talk to, and for her, this was the most wonderful thing in the world.

Of course, she is still just a little flower bud at the moment, and it will probably be a long, long time before she understands the first line of the theme song of the TV series called "Fallen Flowers": "When flowers bloom, they are most precious; when they fall, they wither. Who can blame the flowers for missing their blooming season? Flowers need comfort."

Chapter 57: Don't Refuse Your Childhood Sweetheart! (Two Chapters Combined)

As May arrived, with the official opening of the Shanghai World Expo, the overwhelming media coverage and publicity sparked a heated discussion even in Chen Junqian's elementary school class, especially after someone actually went to the Expo during the May Day holiday.

To be fair, Guoning, located in southern Anhui Province, is not far from Shanghai, but it's not exactly close either. Besides, traveling outside the province can't be done just for the kids; parents also need to make time to squeeze out their own vacation days in advance.

That's why, in Chen Junqian's memory, several of his classmates who went to the Shanghai World Expo did so during their summer vacation.

He only needs to pass his final exams to fulfill the promise he made with his parents last year: a trip to the Shanghai World Expo during the summer vacation.

Although his parents had already said that it didn't matter whether he took the exam or not after he was awarded a banner and certificate for "heroic act" more than a month ago, they were even willing to take their son to the Shanghai World Expo as a reward for his performance in the stampede incident.

However, for most students, just like Chen Junqian in his previous life, they were unable to see the Shanghai World Expo in person even after it closed in October. Their impression of the Expo was thus sealed in the image of Haibao, which later disappeared from television.

In this situation, people inevitably start to fantasize about 'if only such an event could be held in their own neighborhood.'

"But I heard from my dad that Guoning is really going to hold a big celebration this year. It seems they are planning to make this year's pecan festival especially grand. I heard they are going to invite several celebrities."

After countless bottles of Mountain Dew that finally earned him the Golden AK for his online crush, Zhong Yu was now nauseous at the sight of carbonated drinks. So even as the weather got warmer, he didn't drink an ice-cold soda like before. Instead, he lay on the table and sipped water from a revolver-shaped water gun.

Because his father is a big boss in this industry, Zhong Yu's words are quite credible. A group of students immediately gathered around. However, Zhong Yu himself couldn't seem to explain it clearly, only saying that his father had mentioned it casually during a meal.

The pecan harvest season in Guoning is in early September every year. Chen Junqian and Lin Mu's relationship improved because of this opportunity last year. The pecan festival is held at the end of September after the pecan harvest. However, in the past, it was basically just a gathering of practitioners in this industry chain and relevant government officials to discuss the future development of the industry. It had nothing to do with these kids.

However, Chen Junqian, as a reborn person, knew that the rumors Zhong Yu heard from his father were indeed true. From the perspective of later generations, this year's pecan festival was, in a sense, like the imperial concubine's visit to her family in "Dream of the Red Chamber." It seemed to have reached its peak of splendor, but it was followed by a decline year after year.

Actually, if possible, Chen Junqian would like to give his good brother a hand, but he would have to wait until the end of this year when Zhang Xinghuo's first online nut store brand, "Ke Ke Guo," is up and running. Only then would he have the capital to convince people. Otherwise, talking about business models and industry transformation with these big bosses who are still making a fortune would just be empty talk.

At lunchtime at the after-school care center, Lin Mu took the initiative to bring up this topic with Chen Junqian.

Nearly a year has passed, and Lin Mu's height has shown a relatively gratifying change. It can only be said that her hard work of eating green vegetables with a bitter face every day and having a cup of Milo at home has not been in vain. However, this gratifying change is only relative to herself.

Compared to her peers, she is still a bit petite, and should sit at the same table as a child a year younger like Chen Xi.

Of course, Chen Junqian would never bring up the height issue in front of Lin Mu, which would make the other party want to pounce on him and bite him. Anyway, it would be fine if he was a little taller, so there wouldn't be any inconvenience when they did anything together. After all, the classic setup for many two-player puzzle games is a tall person jumping and a short person crawling.

“I heard from my dad that he plans to invite several big-name celebrities to perform this time, basically the bigger the better.”

Although he already knew just how amazing the supporting cast was, Chen Junqian still pretended to be clueless and said:

So who are they?

"Well, it seems we're still in contact. My dad said we might invite Jay Chou over. We're currently negotiating his appearance fee with his manager. It would be great if we could get him to come; I really enjoy listening to his songs."

Lin Mu, propping his chin up with his hand and biting his chopsticks, spoke with a hint of uncertainty:

"But my dad said that even if we can invite them over, it would probably only be enough for three or four songs, because their appearance fee is too expensive, and they charge per song, which would add up to several million."

Perhaps it's because he and Chen Junqian often play Monopoly at home during their free time, or perhaps it's simply that once money reaches a certain amount, children no longer have a concrete understanding of it and it's just a number. So when Lin Mu talks about millions, he doesn't feel anything special.

It can only be said that the Guoning walnut industry at that time truly had such deep pockets. Otherwise, Zhang Xinghuo would not have had such difficulty promoting e-commerce. After all, everyone had become accustomed to the current business model and had made a fortune from it over the past ten years, falling into the classic state of being a predator.

"Mumu, which Jay Chou song do you like the most? Or, if Jay Chou really came, which songs would you like him to sing?"

Faced with Chen Junqian's question, Lin Mu thoughtfully chewed on the bitter melon in his mouth for a while before hesitatingly saying:

"I like all his songs. If I could only choose two, I would probably pick 'Sunny Day,' 'Her Eyelashes,' and 'The Promise of Dandelion.' The latter one was recommended to me by Weiwei. It's the background music in the U-Love-Me milk tea commercial. Have you heard it, Qianqian?"

"I heard."

It was even Xu Youwei who hummed it to him right in front of him.

"But I feel like these two might not be selected, since they're both considered love songs?"

Because it was indeed a major event in his childhood, Chen Junqian had a very clear impression of it. The four songs Jay Chou sang at this year's Guoning Hickory Festival were "Chrysanthemum Terrace", "Far Away", "Double Sticks" and "Huo Yuanjia". After all, it did feel a bit strange to sing the songs Lin Mu mentioned in this kind of occasion, and the organizer's requirements this time seemed to be based on traditional Chinese style, so these were the songs chosen.

"Yeah, but I do think Jay Chou's love songs are pretty good. But it would be great if he could come. It would be better if we talked for ages and then he didn't even show up."

"Well, your dad has already gone to such lengths, so I feel there's a pretty good chance we can get them in the end. But if they do come, it'll probably be packed with people."

In Chen Junqian's memory, the time Jay Chou came, the entire Guoning district was truly deserted. He himself had to ride on his father's shoulders to vaguely see the figure on the stage; the rest of the time, he could only look up at the scene on the big screen.

"It's okay, I'll just ask my dad for an extra front-row ticket so Qianqian and I can sit together."

As a major shareholder among the organizers, Lin Mu's father certainly had the ability. However, looking at Lin Mu's naturally smiling face and her matter-of-fact invitation, Chen Junqian felt that he was really going further and further down the path of being a kept man.

Even considering the decline of the Guoning walnut industry in the future, there is a saying that "a lean camel is still bigger than a horse, and a broken boat still weighs three thousand catties." The so-called decline is only relative to the past peak market.

Even if we look at it from more than a decade later, based on the Lin Mu family's assets that he saw, it would definitely be at the level of a county-level Brahman.