I turned reality into a romantic comedy

After politely thanking the backstage staff, Chen Junqian exited the auditorium through the back door and then circled back in through the main entrance, walking into his class's formation. Xu Youwei had already reserved an empty seat next to him.

Completely unaware that the photographer in front of him suddenly turned the camera 180 degrees and started filming the audience, Chen Junqian walked over and naturally sat down next to Xu Youwei. Then he heard her lean over and whisper in his ear, "Qinqin was so cool on stage just now."

After saying that, she pulled away again, smiling as she touched his collar.

"This outfit looks pretty cool, and it's rare to see you dressed like this."

"After all, most people wear school uniforms most of the time. My impression of most of my classmates is basically just their school uniforms. Maybe I'll bump into them outside during a holiday and not recognize them."

Anyway, after graduating from elementary school, Chen Junqian had experienced more than once walking on the street and hearing someone call his name. He vaguely felt that the person was his former classmate, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not remember the name and could only awkwardly wave and nod.

"Indeed, contrast is very important."

Upon hearing Chen Junqian's words, Xu Youwei suddenly began to ponder, then realized that in all the time she had known him, she seemed to have never worn a particularly exquisite and beautiful little dress like the one Lin Mu wore at his tenth birthday party, like a Disney princess.

After all, given her personality and habit of spending long periods of time outside after school and during holidays without going home, skirts would definitely be much less convenient than pants, not to mention that her mother, who used to be most willing to dress her up, is no longer here.

This was probably the first time since her mother's death that Xu Youwei began to seriously rethink this matter. However, she was still unaware of the saying "women dress up for those they love," and simply wanted Chen Junqian to say, like she had praised him today, "You look really beautiful."

Because the auditorium's seating area wasn't a tiered classroom with varying heights, even though students were told they could sit anywhere, shorter students would still have their view blocked by the heads of those in front if they sat in a seat towards the back. So, Lin Mu was once again kindly placed in the front row by his homeroom teacher.

However, Lin Mu herself didn't think too much about it. After all, apart from the photographers standing at the very front right below the stage, her first row was the closest to the stage. Therefore, she could see Chen Junqian's speech and the poetry recital very clearly. For her, that was already quite satisfactory. She had even decided to write about this in her diary tonight.

Moreover, Weiwei had already told her that their main focus now should be on Zhu Wenyun. After all, judging from how well she and Qianqian cooked together that day, they must have cooked together countless times, but Qianqian had never mentioned it to her!

Hmm... Could it be that after two years, she's going to use the origami technique called "East, West, South, North" again?

Moreover, Zhu Wenyun always reminds Lin Mu, who experienced the Shanghai World Expo last year, of another girl. After all, the two of them have begun to show similarities in some aspects.

Thinking back to her trip to the Shanghai World Expo last summer, Lin Mu felt a little guilty. After all, she didn't dare tell Xu Youwei that she only played with Qianqian at night during those days. Anyway, don't ask, just say that she had a lot of fun.

How about we try to take Qianqian on a trip again this summer?

The most regrettable thing about my last trip to Shanghai was that, apart from being robbed of most of our time together by a certain older sister who suddenly appeared, it was also because the time and itinerary were too tight. We didn't get to visit many other attractions besides the Expo Park, and we didn't even get to go to the water park that we had planned to visit.

In summer, playing in the water is definitely the most comfortable thing to do.

After thinking about Chen Junqian's family situation for a while, Lin Mu, who was his childhood sweetheart, soon remembered that his father had just been transferred to work in Tangshan, Hebei this year.

Based on their conversation with Chen Junqian's aunt (Chen Junqian's mother) during their visit to Qianqian's house last weekend, it seems that the two of them intend to take a bus to Tangshan during the summer vacation to visit Chen Junqian and stay for two days, since he can't come back except for the Chinese New Year.

Thinking back to when he first heard that Uncle Chen was going to Tangshan, Hebei, but had no idea where it was, Lin Mu specifically went online to find a map of Hebei Province. In that instant, his little brain exploded with an amazing memory, and he actually remembered those places near Tangshan.

If you're looking for a place near the sea where you can enjoy water activities, there seems to be a very close place called Qinhuangdao. Look at the name; it even includes the word "island," so it must be right next to the sea.

This summer vacation, I'll first find a way to go to Tangshan with Qianqian and his family, and then we'll go to Qinhuangdao for a trip. Perfect!

Thinking of this, Lin Mu nodded secretly, feeling that he would definitely do better in geography in junior high school than he did in English.

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Of course, before Lin Mu's grand summer travel plan, which was still far from being realized, began, Chen Junqian and Zhu Wenyun had already embarked on a short trip together on the first day of the May Day holiday.

Since only five people were going to Xuancheng to participate in the competition, the school did not send out a bus as usual for spring and autumn outings. Instead, they called a minivan to transport the teachers and students.

Of the five students selected, apart from Chen Junqian and Zhu Wenyun, the other three were sixth-grade students about to graduate, one boy and two girls.

After all, when it comes to writing essays, older students with more reading experience and richer knowledge do have an advantage. However, they still have great respect for Chen Junqian and Zhu Wenyun, who consistently rank first in their grade and have published genuine manuscripts.

Since they were all trying to bring honor to the school and themselves, the atmosphere among them was quite harmonious. On the bus, they started sharing the snacks they had brought to pass the time and began to talk about reading and writing.

Zhu Wenyun didn't really want to get involved at first, since she was the kind of person who didn't like to actively interact with the outside world. So when she first got on the bus, she just sat there quietly, taking small bites of her favorite red bean ring bread.

But who knew that as the two sixth-grade girls chatted, the topic started to veer and swerve in an increasingly strange direction.

At first, he tried to cover it up by talking about books, asking Chen Junqian whether he thought Ran Dongyang's extra attention to Wu Mian in "Girls' Diary" was love or just a vague crush. But soon he started going straight to the point, asking him if he believed in love at first sight. It seems that graduation season is indeed a magical season, especially for these graduating students. The teacher in the front passenger seat frowned a little.

"The book itself has already answered this question, hasn't it?"

After finishing her red bean ring bread, Zhu Wenyun suddenly addressed them, even reciting the original text:

“In the book, Ran Dongyang himself asked his mother, ‘Can a primary school student like someone?’ His mother’s answer was, ‘It’s not a question of whether it’s possible or not, but a question of how to view it. Liking someone is always a very normal thing, but true liking is about making yourself and the other person better.’ If you still ask this kind of question now, it will only make me doubt whether you have read the book at all.”

As if that wasn't enough, Zhu Wenyun continued, pursing her lips:

"Your current behavior is just like those students in the book who gossip in class, pairing up classmates and saying who likes whom. It only makes people hate you. Junqian himself may not want to say it directly, but I don't know you well."

"...just like you don't know him at all."

Chapter Fourteen: Of course! (Two chapters combined)

As soon as Zhu Wenyun said those words, the two sixth-grade girls were speechless for a moment. The teacher in charge, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, finally found an opportunity to enter the conversation, saying that they were about to reach a highway service station and that anyone who needed to use the restroom could go there, thus changing the subject.

However, after this little incident, the atmosphere among the students in the back seat fell silent again. Some started taking out their phones to pass the time, while others leaned back and closed their eyes for a nap.

Did you think what I just said was a bit too much?

Chen Junqian, who was also scrolling through the news on his phone, soon received a message from Zhu Wenyun on QQ. Even though the other person was sitting right next to him, she probably felt it wasn't appropriate to ask directly in this situation, so she chose to ask him this question via a quick text message.

Actually, it's not so bad; in the end, it's a one-time solution.

In fact, Chen Junqian is also adapting to a change in his image in the eyes of others. After all, in his previous life, he was indeed a student who stayed in a fixed small circle and had little presence.

This is completely different from my current self, who follows the logic of creating events when there are none and generating stories when there are none. But the more I do this, the more I need to get used to standing in the spotlight like I did on the day of the school anniversary.

In reality, the male protagonist in a romantic comedy can never be like the one in the story—plain-looking, a homebody, socially inept, without special talents, with average grades, and only possessing a certain "kindness" that can be perceived upon first contact—and thus easily embark on the story.

Rather, it's more accurate to say that he had already demonstrated this once through his own experience in his previous life.

Therefore, he will definitely receive more and more judgment and attention from the outside world. However, today's situation is indeed the first time. After all, as Zhong Yu said, he has probably been 'protected' too well at other times.

This statement also sounds a bit strange.

After all, it was his first time playing the male lead in a romantic comedy, and there were some things that he needed to experience firsthand to know how to do.

As Chen Junqian sat there looking out the window, further adjusting and reviewing his mindset and thoughts, Zhu Wenyun, sitting next to him, was also thinking about something similar.

However, unlike Chen Junqian, who was thinking about how to deal with the increasing amount of goodwill projected from others in the future, she was seriously considering why such a situation would not occur with Lin Mu and Xu Youwei.

Reflecting on the way those two people interacted with Chen Junqian, and thinking about how she spent time with them and how she was in the car just now, she thought about it.

If it were Lin Mu, judging from the travel photos he posted on his QQ space of his trip to the Shanghai World Expo with Chen Junqian last year, he should have immediately taken out his tablet from his backpack after getting on the bus, and then put one earphone on each of them, creating an unbreakable fortress that only protected the two of them, not giving outsiders any chance to speak.

If it were Xu Youwei, she would probably first deliberately let other girls come over and talk to her, and then casually show her relationship with them through various small details, such as tearing off half of the red bean bun she had just finished eating and feeding it to Chen Junqian, and then smilingly resting her chin on her hand and staring at the two girls opposite her.

But how did I do it?

Compared to the two girls, she was the closest companion to Chen Junqian. She had even taken the initiative to invite him to Xuancheng to participate in the essay competition. However, after getting on the bus, she didn't dare to show this to anyone else and just sat there without saying anything.

In fact, it was the same at school. Although Zhu Wenyun still felt that the twenty minutes of break time she spent with Chen Junqian every day was enough for her to reminisce about the next day in terms of information density and quality, in terms of the length and form, hers was indeed the shortest and simplest.

After all, the two of them just sat there and started chatting. It was nothing compared to Lin Mu, who could go to the same after-school care center with him every day at noon, sit at the same table to eat, and watch cartoons on the same TV. It was also nothing compared to Xu Youwei, who could be seen when passing by his classroom window, was his deskmate at school, and would walk home with him after school.

Human desires do indeed rise. Perhaps what she initially wanted was a friend with whom she could chat for twenty minutes every day about reading and writing, but now she feels that twenty minutes is not enough.

Especially after she started writing her own story with him, Zhu Wenyun suddenly realized that the interesting experiences between the two of them were sometimes like a barren mine that could be seen at a glance, but seemed to be able to be lit up in a few nights.

It's like spending a long time knitting a glove and only feeling happy when you give it to the recipient and hear them say thank you; or like practicing a dish many times and only feeling happy when the recipient tastes it and says it's delicious.

She spends too much time doing things alone because she's thinking about him, and too little time actually doing things together with him.

But perhaps it is precisely because there are so few memories that I think about them again and again. Those few memories are repeatedly frozen and thawed by Zhu Wenyun, just like my grandmother in my childhood who always couldn't bear to part with the leftovers and would cook them again and again.

Just like how she never cared about the dangers of leftovers preserved in this way before, and would just stuff them into her mouth, she had never even considered this aspect of the problem before.

For the first time in her life, Zhu Wenyun experienced a sensitive and vulnerable psychological change called puberty that came along with her physical development.

Even though no one asked Ran Dongyang like Mo Xin'er in the story, "What would you do if you found that your feelings for him were different one day?", she was just as stunned as the female protagonist in the book who was about the same age as her now. However, she could no longer find an answer from all the books she had read that could slow down her heartbeat.

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After arriving in Xuancheng, since the essay competition wouldn't officially start until the afternoon, the teacher in charge led the group to the guesthouse provided by the organizers to temporarily put their things down. Then they went out for a stroll, planning to have lunch and then go back for a nap to recharge for the competition in the afternoon.

As an essay competition recognized by the provincial education department, students who win the final competition will not only receive an award certificate issued by the provincial education department and the association, but also an additional prize and bonus. They may even have the opportunity to be selected for inclusion in teaching materials such as "Examples of Excellent Essays by Primary and Secondary School Students". It is a very prestigious competition.

As elites who had fought their way from the preliminary rounds of the school selection and the semi-finals of the city-level selection to the final provincial finals, everyone naturally wanted to win this honor. So, after wandering around for a short while, the sixth-grade students found excuses to return to the reception area, preparing to cram at the last minute, look at relevant writing reference books, and guess the essay topics that might be given.

However, Zhu Wenyun had no such thoughts at all. Compared to the upcoming essay competition, she now felt that taking a walk and chatting with Chen Junqian alone in an unfamiliar city was a more romantic thing.

Although Xuancheng is just a small place not far from Guoning and cannot be compared with international metropolises like Shanghai, and it does not host a major event like the World Expo that takes place every four years, it is enough for Zhu Wenyun.

"Those who have abandoned me, yesterday's days cannot be retained; those who trouble my heart, today's days are full of worries... If the final is held in Xuancheng, will you use a line from Li Bai's poem 'Farewell to Uncle Yun at Xie Tiao Tower in Xuanzhou,' which he wrote here, as the title?"

"It's possible, but not necessarily, because the finals of these kinds of competitions have always been held in Hefei. If that's the case, then the essay topic should be Sun Quan, who commanded ten thousand troops in his youth and whose war in the southeast never ended."

As the saying goes, literature and history are inseparable. Although Zhu Wenyun was not a student like Chen Xi who was particularly interested in history, she still heard the teasing tone in Chen Junqian's words and couldn't help but chuckle.

"So what kind of questions do you think will be asked?"

"How could anyone have guessed that?"

Anyway, Chen Junqian didn't really have any particular thoughts about this essay competition. He only came to participate because he accepted Zhu Wenyun's invitation to accompany him.

As he spoke, Chen Junqian sniffed the familiar aroma that filled the air. It was almost lunchtime, and all the snack stalls and restaurants along the road were open for business. The sign in front of the nearest shop read "Authentic Shuiyang Three Treasures".

Following Chen Junqian's gaze, Zhu Wenyun also tilted her head in slight confusion:

What are the Three Treasures of Shuiyang?

"Duck feet buns, duck wings, and Shuiyang dried tofu. Because the Shuiyang River flows through the border of Anhui and Jiangsu provinces, these are sold in nearby Nanjing, Wuhu, Ma'anshan, and Xuancheng. They're actually quite delicious. How about we have these for lunch? One hot pot is enough for the two of us, so it won't cost too much on average. When you're traveling, you should always try some local specialties."

As it turns out, "Since you're already here" truly deserves its place as one of the top three comforting phrases, alongside "It's the New Year" and "You're still a child." Zhu Wenyun was somewhat tempted by it and finally nodded in agreement. After contacting the teacher in charge by phone to let her know that she wouldn't be going back for lunch, she went into the restaurant.

After ordering from the owner, Chen Junqian sat down with Zhu Wenyun, then punctured the plastic wrapping of two sets of tableware, picked up the thermos next to him, and rinsed all the tableware with boiling water before handing them over to her.

When a pot of Shuiyang Three Treasures hot pot, which looked quite appealing and smelled delicious, was served, Zhu Wenyun curiously leaned over to examine it for a while:

"So duck feet buns are duck feet wrapped with duck intestines, right? And there seems to be something else wrapped inside?"

"Yes, it contains a piece of marinated duck heart."

Since it was just the two of them, there was no need to worry too much about table manners. After the dishes were served, they immediately picked up their chopsticks and started eating. After just a couple of bites, Zhu Wenyun's eyes lit up and she gave the dish a very high rating:

"good to eat."

"Right? Sometimes when I really crave this dish, I ask my mom to go to the market to buy it. Actually, Guoning can also buy it. It's great with rice."

Chen Junqian, having picked up a piece of dried tofu soaked in savory broth and chewed it, then shoveled a mouthful of rice into his mouth, soon heard Zhu Wenyun's praise as she bit open a duck intestine and put the small piece of duck heart inside into her mouth:

"This is not bad either, but there's only a little bit in one duck feet bun, it feels too little."

"If you really like it, you can have it all. I only eat the outermost duck intestines and duck feet."

If it were the previous Zhu Wenyun, she would probably subconsciously refuse Chen Junqian's suggestion. After all, she would never deliberately show a particular preference for a certain food in front of close people, whether it was when eating with her grandmother or when eating with Chen Junqian.

Because she always felt that accepting other people's kindness was a rather heavy thing, if Chen Junqian hadn't bluntly lowered all her defenses two years ago and directly said to her, "Right now, right here, I'm here," she would probably still be immersed in that little world of her own.

But that only meant Zhu Wenyun let one person in.

She now wants to slowly start going out a little further.

He wanted to tell others that he knitted his own winter gloves, wanted others to know that they had a good relationship, and wanted everyone to see that they were just like the other two people.

So this time, Zhu Wenyun agreed. She began to try to learn like a child her age to ask for a little something from the outside world, and to say "I want" to something, which was quite rare for her.

"Yes, I want to eat this."

Then she received a response.

Maybe everything is just that simple and logical; it's just that sometimes we overcomplicate things.

After all, Chen Junqian wasn't some nonexistent friend she had imagined.

Before they left, the restaurant owner gave them two small candies to cleanse their palates after the meal. They were two layers connected together with a small hole in the middle, which could be whistled by pressing the tongue against the hole.

Despite it being her first time eating this kind of candy, Zhu Wenyun quickly grasped the technique and was able to blow a clear sound in no time. Chen Junqian, on the other hand, blew for a long time without making a sound. In the end, he accidentally blew the whole candy out of his mouth and watched it fall to the ground with some annoyance. He could only wrap it up with a tissue and throw it into the trash can next to him.

Watching Chen Junqian's back slightly ahead, Zhu Wenyun also subconsciously pursed her lips, moved the tip of her tongue that was pressed against the hole in the candy to the side, and unconsciously licked her inner lip.

For some reason, she actually had the bizarre thought that if the other person said they wanted it at that moment, she would actually do something like pass the candy she was holding in her mouth to them.

Chapter Fifteen: The First Medal from Girl to Young Woman (Part Two)

That afternoon, Chen Junqian and Zhu Wenyun arrived at the venue for the essay competition on time. It seemed that a lecture hall of a local middle school had been temporarily requisitioned. After verifying their identities and names in front of the classroom, the two were separated and sat in two corners some distance apart. Holding the most handy pen they had brought, they began to wait for the competition to officially begin.

One minute before 2:00, the proctors began distributing blank draft papers from front to back, and simultaneously announced the topic of this essay competition on the whiteboard:

April 23rd was World Book Day, a day that reminds us of the importance of reading. Based on your reading experience, discuss how books have broadened your life experiences and helped you discover aspects of your inner world you were previously unaware of. You can describe a book that has had a profound impact on you, or depict the overall changes that reading has brought to you.

The content should be specific, reflect genuine feelings, and be no less than 800 words.