I turned reality into a romantic comedy

I went to celebrate the holiday today, so there won't be an extra update tonight.

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy Dragon Boat Festival, and may all your wishes come true.

Since the author himself did not visit the Shanghai World Expo, most of the descriptions are based on his own observations of the footage and written records, as well as his research of relevant materials. Please forgive any errors or omissions in the details. Thank you for your understanding.

Thank you all for your continued support. I will try my best to update again next month.

Chapter 66: My Sister is an Achievement Master (Part 2)

As one of the most popular national pavilions during this World Expo, the Saudi Arabia Pavilion's main selling points, besides its overall moon-boat-shaped exterior, are its massive curved screen, which covers an area of ​​1,600 square meters.

Unlike traditional IMAX theaters, the IMAX in the Saudi Arabia Pavilion is not a conventional spherical shape, but a super-large three-dimensional screen. Combined with a dynamic platform, it allows the audience to have a strong sense of immersion, as if they are 'flying' or 'floating' while watching the movie.

However, before entering the hall, Chen Junqian and Shen Nianqiu faced a seemingly endless queue.

While waiting to enter, Chen Junqian took the initiative to flip through Shen Nianqiu's Expo passport, which had arrived two days earlier. This thing was a bit like Tang Sanzang's travel permit in "Journey to the West," and its main purpose was to collect stamps for each pavilion visited.

"My sister visited quite a lot of the pavilions, including the China Pavilion, Japan Pavilion, Germany Pavilion, France Pavilion, African Union Pavilion, and Spain Pavilion."

"Since we've already been here for two days, and we've visited quite a few less popular attractions that don't require long queues, but there are definitely some fun things to do there. After we've seen these popular attractions, I'll take you there."

Like ants carrying food, Shen Nianqiu sat on a folding stool and slowly moved forward with the group, putting on a sun hat. She then took out a tube of sunscreen she had prepared in advance from her small bag and waved it at Chen Junqian.

"Let me put some on for you, the sun is quite strong this afternoon."

Unfortunately, although summer vacation is the time when children have the most free time, it is also the hottest and sunniest time of the year. Especially on the road before they enter the air-conditioned spiral entrance, they are basically exposed to the scorching sun.

"I can do it myself."

"I don't believe you really know how to apply this. You boys probably only had prickly heat powder applied to your skin and a few creams applied to your face when you were little."

"……It really is."

Having his secret exposed by Shen Nianqiu, Chen Junqian had no choice but to raise his hands in surrender, letting the other party do whatever they wanted to his face.

"Even when applying sunscreen, you can't just apply it right away. You have to do some cleansing and moisturizing steps first, otherwise it will affect the sunscreen's film formation or make it dry."

As she spoke, Shen Nianqiu first took out a wet wipe from her bag and carefully wiped away the sweat from Chen Junqian's face, behind his ears, and neck after he closed his eyes. Then she applied lotion and moisturizer again, and after the skincare products were fully absorbed in three to five minutes, she squeezed out an appropriate amount of sunscreen into her palm.

To be honest, after being taken advantage of by the other party, Chen Junqian understood part of why there was a sunscreen-related achievement in his list of un-unlocked achievements. This kind of interaction was indeed full of intimacy and subtle romance in every sense, which was really easy to make people feel uneasy.

Summer is the perfect time to wear sunscreen!

[Without a doubt, summer is the season with the most fan service (fan service) scenes in romantic comedies, and there are naturally many different kinds of play derived from this, with applying sunscreen being one of the representative works.]

Whether it's applying sunscreen to the heroine's back as she lies on the beach untying her bra strap, or watching her accidentally squeeze the milky white liquid of sunscreen onto other parts of her body, leaving a slightly sticky feeling, the moment warm hands combined with the cool, damp sunscreen touch the skin is the perfect way to capture the most wonderful expressions. Go try it!

Condition for completion: Actively apply sunscreen to the female lead who is suited for romantic comedies once in the summer.

Although the system's achievement descriptions were full of all sorts of ambiguous provocations, making one want to say something like "Four vegetarian steamed goose hearts," after nearly a year of battling wits with the system, Chen Junqian knew very well that its judgment mechanism was actually quite stupid in some aspects.

Therefore, when Shen Nianqiu gently and evenly applied sunscreen to his exposed right forearm in the same direction, he also took the initiative to apply a little sunscreen to the other's cheek, which was focused on his work, and rubbed it in circles with his fingertips.

"I already applied it before I came, but if my little brother wants to apply a little more for me, that's fine too."

As expected, both Shen Nianqiu and the embarrassing system in his mind immediately indicated that there was no problem, allowing Chen Junqian to easily unlock and claim another achievement, and the reward for the next milestone was just around the corner.

"You graduated this year, right, sister?"

"Yes, it was about a month ago."

"Will you experience any special feelings?"

"To be honest, it's nothing. Although we were classmates for six years in elementary school, I don't have any memories of spending time together when we were very young. Plus, I'm not the type to have many friends. I didn't even get to sing karaoke at graduation."

Chen Junqian neither agreed nor disagreed with Shen Nianqiu's words. After all, his situation when he graduated from elementary school in his previous life was not much different. Most of his classmates were just acquaintances who could be called by name. In the end, he and Zhong Yu and Lu Cheng ended their elementary school life at the first KFC that Yu Guoning had just opened.

"But how should I put it, I can't say that I didn't have any feelings or songs I wanted to sing at the time, but because of the braces, I didn't really want to go up, and in the end I didn't sing any songs."

Although Chen Junqian had already stated that he didn't care at all, it would be a lie for Shen Nianqiu to say that she didn't care at all. So, from the moment they met until now, she had been intentionally avoiding showing her teeth.

"What song does my sister want to sing?"

When asked this question, Chen Junqian recalled his past life. He vaguely remembered that he, Zhong Yu, and Lu Cheng were singing "The Days on Beijing East Road" and "Hello Tomorrow" back then. Moreover, they sang these two songs again when they graduated from junior high school, which can be considered graduation anthems in a certain sense.

""wish"."

"Oh, that's an old song."

Like "The Days on Beijing East Road," Chen Junqian remembers that this song was also recorded by high school seniors on the eve of their graduation. However, compared to the former, which was only released this year and has not yet become popular, this song is already an old song from more than ten years ago.

"If we're really talking about old times, the children's songs that everyone sings now are even older, and I think they're actually quite suitable for singing during graduation season."

"Indeed, I really like its lyrics myself."

In fact, the year of release is the least meaningful standard for these so-called graduation season songs, because their core themes are often completely similar. Whether it's nostalgia for the past, confusion and experiences in the process of growing up, or aspirations for the future, no matter how many years have passed, you can still instantly feel the scene and mood at that time when you listen to them.

"Right, right, my favorite line is 'Growing up is a door made of leaves, and childhood is a group of dear friends.'"

At this point, Shen Nianqiu seemed to remember something and took out the MP3 player she always carried from her pocket. She handed one of the earphones to the person she had been waiting for, selected the song from the music library, and started playing it. She then began to hum along softly.

The waiting time at the Saudi Arabia Pavilion was estimated to be four hours, but after playing all the songs downloaded into Shen Nianqiu's MP3 player, it would take much longer than that, which was more than enough time.

So she could sit here with him, propping her face up, listening and humming these songs that she had never sung at the karaoke during graduation, just like the lyrics say, "gently day after day, year after year," until they found themselves under another vast starry sky.

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

The four-hour wait in line was indeed worthwhile. Although they had imagined it, Chen Junqian and Shen Nianqiu were still involuntarily shocked by the sight before them once they entered the Saudi Arabia Pavilion.

Today's film is "Arabian Journey," which, as the name suggests, mainly presents viewers with the natural landscapes, urban scenery, and cultural heritage of Saudi Arabia.

Once again, they sat down in an empty seat, just like in a movie theater. But this time, Lin Mu was no longer by Chen Junqian's side, nor was there the bucket of popcorn that had been spilled on the ground. Their fingertips no longer needed it to touch, because the moment the lights in front of them went out, Shen Nianqiu had already intertwined her fingers with his and held his hand in hers.

The moment the Arabic music began to play, the entire audience felt as if they were sitting on a magic carpet from a fairy tale, with each audience member lifted into the air. As the camera suddenly zoomed out and then crashed down on the screen, they had just passed through the clouds over the Red Sea and were immediately transported to the seabed.

The azure sea shimmered with golden light under the sun, and the colorful coral reefs seemed almost within reach. You could see the children in the front row reaching out to try and catch the schools of fish that were crashing into them.

In another scene, they seemed to be standing on the edge of a desert cliff again, with hot winds blowing in their faces and yellow sand flowing beneath their feet. Camels and millions of pilgrims walking through it gathered into a golden sea, surging towards their holy city. The entire audience also tilted slightly, giving the two of them an almost weightless and falling feeling. It was as if only their clasped hands could give them some sense of security, so they couldn't help but tighten their grip even more.

After the hustle and bustle of the holy city of Mecca subsided, and as the music gradually softened, the film transitioned to its finale, shifting back to the vast desert, this time at night.

Under the starlight and moonlight, the entire desert seemed to glow with a silvery-blue luster, as if it had fallen into the embrace of the Milky Way. This reminded Chen Junqian of the riddle in the movie "Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf: The Tiger's Might" that he had watched with his sister at the cinema earlier this year.

How many stars are there in the sky?

There are as many as the sands in the desert.

The Milky Way spreads across the night sky as lightly as a bride's flowing gown, with tiny diamonds embedded and adorning its hem like countless glittering stars.

To be honest, Chen Junqian had no knowledge of astronomy or constellations, so he couldn't name any of the stars in front of him.

However, Shen Nianqiu next to him was the same. Rather than trying to identify the constellations and stars, all his senses and thoughts were filled with a more direct and simple shock and stimulation in the face of the scenery.

The seats reclined, and the two people lying there seemed to be lying on their backs on a sea of ​​sand, or floating in a sea of ​​stars. The faint light of stardust cast soft shadows on their faces, turning their eyelashes silver.

Humans are always insignificant in the face of the vast natural world and the universe. If one were to come here alone, one might inevitably feel a sense of loneliness because of the scene before one's eyes.

But now that they are two people, it feels romantic, like a pilot who crashed in the desert meeting the Little Prince.

"So lovely."

"Yeah, it's really beautiful."

They simply expressed such sentiments at the scene before them on a summer afternoon at the Saudi Arabia Pavilion of the Shanghai World Expo.

All adults were children at first, and the starry sky before them is one of the backdrops that most easily reminds them of this fact.

Will we ever see something like this together again?

Chen Junqian heard Shen Nianqiu ask him this softly beside him. This was probably the first time the two had met since then, and he heard a rare hint of melancholy in her voice.

"Yes, next time, we'll go see real stars."

No matter how realistic the images in front of you may seem, they are essentially virtual projections.

But just as the two of them have evolved from a virtual relationship that only existed online to an offline relationship that is now connected hand in hand, the virtual can certainly be transformed into reality as long as one is willing to do so, and the starry sky in front of us is no exception.

However, Shen Nianqiu is not the only treasure in the story. All the memories she can give away are those of the female protagonist in this starry sky. From the beginning, she wanted to create more and more memories with her, as countless as the stars in the sky.

However, unlike Chen Junqian, she is not yet certain that she can accomplish such a thing. For example, their current meeting is entirely due to the fact that the other party has put in more effort and came here after winning first place in the grade four times in a row.

"Yes, I believe so too, and I will work hard."

As she nodded in agreement, the moment the achievement "Starry Sky for Two" was successfully unlocked in Chen Junqian's mind, Shen Nianqiu had already made a decision in her heart.

In fact, just like Zhu Wenyun, who has already earned her first pot of gold by far surpassing her peers with her writing skills, her basic ability adaptability evaluation in the system is also A.

Chapter 67: You Smell Like Her Perfume (Part 2)

Because they spent too long queuing, by the time Chen Junqian and Shen Nianqiu finished viewing the exhibition and got up to leave the Saudi Arabia Pavilion, it was already dusk.

Although many national pavilions at the World Expo were open until around 10 p.m. and even had extra programs, it seems that Shen Nianqiu's parents couldn't accept their daughter wandering around alone so late at night. So, the older sister who couldn't completely occupy Chen Junqian's time for the whole day had to say goodbye to him temporarily and made an appointment to get up early the next day and head straight to the Japan Pavilion to queue up.

"If you're going to see the exhibition in the evening, the UK Pavilion, France Pavilion, Germany Pavilion, and African Union Pavilion all have some great special programs. Little brother, go see them by yourself. Bye-bye."

"Well, goodbye sister."

After parting ways with Shen Nianqiu, Chen Junqian quickly found his parents and Lin Mu at the Chinese Food Street. They seemed to have visited the American Pavilion in the afternoon and were still talking about some of the exhibits and games there.

Since they planned to continue exploring the World Expo site that evening, the group decided to have dinner there as well, choosing a small, unassuming Shandong cuisine restaurant.

While waiting for the food to be served, Lin Mu, who was sitting on the same bench as Chen Junqian, also moved closer to him, turning her head to ask him, shoulder to shoulder:

"Which country pavilion does Qianqian want to visit tonight?"

"I heard the French Pavilion's evening sessions are pretty good."

"It seems I've indeed heard it's very romantic."

In this age of rampant stereotypes, for a primary school student like Lin Mu, France is synonymous with romance, Germany with rigor, and England with afternoon tea. So, upon hearing this, he simply nodded in agreement.

"Then let's go to the French Pavilion."

After deciding on their destination for the evening, Lin Mu took the initiative to tell Chen Junqian about the interactive experiences she had had at the American Pavilion that afternoon, such as watching 4D movies and shooting hoops with virtual NBA stars. However, she made no attempt to ask Chen Junqian where he had gone or what he had done, acting as if nothing had happened if she didn't know.

However, Chen Junqian wouldn't bring up such a thing on his own initiative. After all, he hadn't watched so many episodes of romance anime since winter break. If he were to use the storylines in the anime as an analogy, the current situation would be that Shen Nianqiu's solo episode had just passed, and now it was Lin Mu's turn to take center stage.

Although he wasn't quite like those male protagonists in anime who, after each episode, seemed to forget everything that happened and immediately faced the next female lead with a completely new attitude, Chen Junqian was still very clear that what he needed to do now was to appease his slightly resentful childhood sweetheart again, just like at noon.

The number of visitors to the Expo site at night was significantly less than during the day, and the queues were noticeably shorter. It was estimated that it would only take about ten minutes to get in. Chen Jun himself was reading from the guidebook in his hand to the French Pavilion, which was designed like a French vertical garden:

"The theme of the French Pavilion is 'Sensual City,' which centers on art, romance, and technological innovation. It aims to showcase France's achievements in urban sustainable development and the humanities through a multi-sensory experience that engages the senses of sight, hearing, smell, and touch... This is what the pavilion's guidebook says."

"It seems there's an art exhibition, including works by Van Gogh and Cézanne. Do you want to go see it?"

It can only be said that neither Chen Junqian nor Lin Mu are children who are interested in painting. If Xu Youwei were here, she would probably go and take a look. Therefore, they shook their heads at their father's suggestion.

"Then we'll go directly through the garden corridor in a bit. The outdoor courtyard behind it is said to be modeled after the gardens of Versailles Palace, and it's even decorated with special lights at night."

Following the children's wishes, Chen Jun quickly finalized his route. After entering the French Pavilion, the group bypassed the art exhibition area and began walking along the garden corridor towards the outdoor courtyard.

The surrounding walls are all high-tech screens, continuously displaying Parisian street scenes and French natural scenery, accompanied by elegant jazz music, which really gives people the illusion that they are strolling through the streets of Paris.

“Qianqian, look at that—the corridor of the official’s office.”

Upon seeing an interesting tunnel at the intersection ahead, Lin Mu grabbed Chen Junqian's hand and ran over first, tilting her head slightly to read aloud the Chinese text on the sign outside:

"It seems to be saying that it contains all sorts of iconic French scents."

As a national pavilion themed around the city of senses, France's Sensory Gallery is the only large-scale exhibit at this World Expo that focuses on 'smell'. You can see many visitors standing inside, sniffing the air as if trying to detect the scents.

"Let's go in and take a look."

Lin Mu, somewhat impatient, took Chen Junqian's hand and rushed inside. Following the example of the other tourists, she twitched her small nostrils and, with the accordion music playing in the background, she indeed smelled a sweet fragrance.

"This tastes like bread."

"Hmm, I can smell the aroma of butter, it seems to be mimicking the smell of a bakery commonly found on the streets of France."

After exchanging their thoughts, the two slowly walked forward and found the answer on the notice board on the wall. Just as they had thought, it was the aroma of bakeries on the streets of Paris, seemingly the result of a collaboration with a famous local bakery.

After passing through a designated area where atomized fragrance was released to avoid mixing scents, the two arrived at the location of a second scent. Under the warm orange-yellow light, they smelled a clear floral fragrance. However, this time they were stumped. After all, there are so many beautiful flowers in the world, and they really couldn't guess which flower it was.

"I think it smells like lavender. A laundry detergent I bought before smelled a bit like this."

After hesitating and thinking for a long time, Lin Mu gave his answer with some uncertainty, and the two of them then walked forward together to see the correct answer.

"Lavender fields in Provence, Mumu, you guessed it right!"

"Humph, of course."

If Lin Mu had a tail or a nose that could grow longer, Chen Junqian felt that her tail would probably be sticking up to the sky and her nose would be touching his neck. However, he still cooperated and continued to praise her, since he originally intended to coax her more.