I turned reality into a romantic comedy

"Yay—I can go out and play with Qianqian again!"

"Qinhuangdao, here we come!"

In response, Chen Junqian only glanced at the system achievement list in his mind again, after all, he had also figured out that this thing could indeed be used as a radar system sometimes.

Well, the achievement "[Of course, romantic comedies must have fan service]" remains unmoved, not even bothering to subtly tease it.

Take a day off

So far this month, I've updated 116,000 words, averaging about 9,000 words per day. I've been updating at roughly the same pace since the book was first published. Readers who have read my older books should know that I used to be a one-update-per-day writer, but now I've evolved to a two-update-per-day writer with great difficulty. I just don't know if I'll continue to evolve in the future.

However, as the title suggests, I've been under a lot of pressure since the book started, since it didn't do well at first. So I didn't dare take a single day off. Now that the first highly recommended novel is finished, I can finally breathe a sigh of relief, so I'm taking a long-awaited day off to rest.

Thanks to everyone's support, the book has performed much better than I expected. Actually, as I said at the beginning, this is a topic I've always wanted to write about, and this result is enough for me to write smoothly all the way to the end. Thank you again!

By the way, let me answer two questions:

First, stop asking about past lives. I've read a lot of rebirth novels myself, and I know that some authors do write about backstory plots that are absurd, but I definitely won't. Besides, if it were really absurd, the book review section would have been flooded with comments already. You can tell just by looking at it, right?

Second, this book is a harem novel. I never engage in stock market speculation or factional infighting when I write books. You can play around with themes like persecution, the main heroine, and who I'm really into, but in the end, it will definitely be a harem.

The cover will be changed starting next week. I'm releasing it in advance for everyone to see. It can be roughly seen as Mu Mu on a thundery day.

Chapter 18: The Secret Base is Actually the Wedding Room (Part 2)

However, before Chen Junqian could begin his trip to Tangshan and Qinhuangdao, he had to give Xu Youwei a heads-up, as she was completely absorbed in another important endeavor.

Although he visited Xu Youwei's home during the Lunar New Year this year and received permission from her father that he could come to visit often in the future, Chen Junqian has not visited Xu's home again since then.

After all, even Xu Youwei herself doesn't stay at her house much. Every time she meets Chen Junqian on weekends, she either goes directly to his house or they meet outside.

However, starting this year, the latter situation has occurred much more frequently.

It's not that Xu Youwei was a little guilty and didn't want to run into Lin Mu, who also frequently visited Chen Junqian's house. After all, she always went to Chen Junqian's grandmother's house in the countryside more often than the employee dormitory of the wear-resistant factory, so the chance of running into her was almost zero.

The main problem is that Xu Youwei doesn't seem to have taken what she said during the New Year as a joke. She actually pulled Chen Junqian to establish a magical organization whose full name is "In order to prepare for the upcoming 2012 doomsday, we must build shelters in advance," which is abbreviated as "Doomsday Shelter."

Although this organization currently only consists of the two of them.

However, compared to some miraculous projects that have 'no script, no actors, and no start-up funds,' they at least had a full two thousand yuan in start-up funds, mainly because the red envelope that Xu Zhiling gave to Chen Junqian at that time was indeed quite large.

Since it's a shelter plan, the first thing we need is a fixed, secluded location.

Although the two had left various footprints throughout Guoning and established secret bases of all sizes, they were basically just talking for fun. After all, whether it was a water ball on the lake in the park, a swing on the sand, or a small alley that no one passed by at certain times, it was obviously not suitable as a place for long-term fixed use.

During this semester, Chen Junqian and Xu Youwei spent almost all their time after school looking for a base. The two of them went through abandoned construction sites, ran under bridges, and even almost considered renting a house. However, because they were too young and didn't even have ID cards, they had to give up on all of them.

However, when summer vacation started and Xu Youwei returned to her maternal grandmother's house in the countryside for a temporary stay, she unexpectedly learned from her grandmother about an old house where she used to live. It was said that it was where her mother, Xu Youwei's wife, used to live, but no one had lived there for many years and it was half abandoned. However, the key was still in her grandmother's hands.

And so, after going around in circles, the two finally found a decent place. Although it wasn't the secret basement of the Golden Tiger Chinese Restaurant that Xu Youwei had envisioned, like the secret basement of the Adventure Tigers, it was still reasonably well-hidden, considering that there were hardly any people around.

Of course, the first task for the two of them was to clean up the house.

After all, they had been deskmates for a whole year at school, and Chen Junqian and Xu Youwei had been on duty together several times. However, probably because this time they were cleaning their secret base, their future refuge, Xu Youwei was not as energetic as she was when she was on duty at school, constantly waving her broom to challenge him to a duel. Instead, she was quite serious about dusting, sweeping, and tidying up.

Although, according to Xu Youwei's grandmother, the house had been uninhabited for a long time, it still contained some traces of life and various old objects, which the two of them temporarily placed in a corner of the room.

"It feels like this used to be a wedding room."

Chen Junqian picked up an enamel basin that was carelessly upside down on the ground, covered in cobwebs and dust. He wiped it lightly with a tissue, then went outside to the still-functioning water pump and rinsed it twice, revealing its original appearance.

The double happiness character with gold trim on a red background has faded somewhat, and the edges are particularly noticeable, revealing large areas of porcelain white, highlighting the traces of time.

"My grandmother seemed to have mentioned that this was where my wife got married, but it seems she didn't stay there for long, I don't know why."

Xu Youwei also found a pair of thermos flasks that had rolled to the ground under the bed. Although the outer shell had turned yellow like an old photograph, after rinsing them with water, the peonies entwined on the flasks were still bright and dazzling.

I tapped the bottle gently with my hand. The inner liner of one bottle seemed to be broken, while the other still made a hollow echo, making me wonder if this thing could still keep things warm.

The empty thermos was turned around in the sunlight outside, and you could still see the gilded characters "May you be forever united" and "May you have a son soon" engraved on the bottom, although the edges of the strokes were already a little blurry.

"Look, there's a dressing table over there. I just found this thing in the drawer inside."

As she spoke, Xu Youwei proudly presented a round mirror, about the size of an adult's palm, to the side. The mirror had a radial crack on the front, which split the two people's faces reflected in it into several shaky fragments. The paper-cut mandarin ducks and double happiness characters pasted on the back were also missing parts, making one unconsciously think of the phrase "a broken mirror is hard to mend."

"Actually, there's another big and heavy camphor wood chest next to it, just like the one in Grandma Qinqin's house. Let's go open it together in a bit."

"It sounds to me like you're talking about opening treasure chests in a game."

"Because the shape really does look like it, and I was also worried that there might be dead rats inside. I just saw one under the bed, and it was all dead."

Xu Youwei pursed her lips upon hearing this. She wasn't scared, she just felt a little disgusted.

Although so many years have passed, the scent of camphor wood is still very distinct, unconsciously reminding people of the smell of mothballs that adults used to put in the closet at home. However, it was only much later that Xu Youwei suddenly realized that if her memories with the other person also had their own unique scent, then it would probably be like this, repeatedly lingering between clarity and ambiguity.

When you are clear-headed, you feel sweet and secure, and you remember happiness clearly.

When things are blurry, there is a bittersweet feeling, and sorrow always lingers.

However, she was now filled with a sense of adventure, excitement, and curiosity, and together with Chen Junqian, she reached out and opened the box with great ceremony.

To Xu Youwei's disappointment, there were no eye-catching treasures inside, just some trinkets, which was to be expected.

The candy and cookie box and soap box with the words "Auspicious Phoenix" printed on them were opened one by one from the box. They were also empty. After washing them, they were temporarily set aside like the previous items.

After cleaning the entire house inside and out, Xu Youwei looked at the various items that had also been tidied up and were at least visually refreshed. Suddenly, she felt a strange sensation, as if she were decorating a wedding room. She unconsciously glanced at Chen Junqian standing next to her.

"In that case, it's come to an end. At least we have a place to go."

Since he had already decided to play along with Xu Youwei in this farcical, impossible apocalypse, Chen Junqian was quite enthusiastic. Moreover, cleaning the room did bring a strange sense of satisfaction and accomplishment after the task was completed, which was much better than watching Xu Youwei throw her umbrella away during her performance in the rain and then nonchalantly tell him, "Qinqin, I lost my umbrella."

It can only be said that from that day onwards, Xu Youwei's mental health level soared to the highest among the three people in Chen Junqian's mind; otherwise, his expectations for her would not have been mental health.

This kind of personality, which is somewhat like giving up on oneself and throwing caution to the wind, but is essentially based on unrealistic expectations, is really a headache to think about. Because if he doesn't respond well even once, he will become disappointed or even break down on his own.

Therefore, within his capabilities, Chen Junqian tried his best to correct the other party's psychological problems while responding to her expectations as much as possible, but not entirely, because that would in turn raise her psychological threshold, making the stone of desire rolling down the mountain even faster.

"But we'll have to wait until I get back from Tangshan to discuss the rest."

Although she already knew from Chen Junqian that he was going to Tangshan to visit his father this summer, when she heard the news again that he would be leaving her for a while, Xu Youwei's heart still tightened as if someone was gripping it. Even the romantic feeling she had just felt instantly became self-deception, and she just mumbled a muffled "hmm" with a heavy nasal tone.

"When are you coming back?"

After a long while, she finally asked the question.

"Two weeks?"

"So long?"

"Because we added a trip to Qinhuangdao. After all, what Mumu said made sense. It's not easy to go on such a long trip, and there are indeed places to visit nearby, so we definitely have to go and see them."

Well, although she already knew from Lin Mu that he would be going to the World Expo like last year, Xu Youwei was still even more unwilling to hear this, and even felt a little upset.

Although she was confident that her relationship and experience with Chen Junqian were no less impressive than his, their family backgrounds were completely different, and the relationship between their families was also different. Therefore, Xu Youwei knew very well that she would not have the same opportunity as Lin Mu to go out with Chen Junqian's family as easily.

However, this was the path she chose herself. The only person she wanted to communicate with and spend time with was Chen Junqian. It had nothing to do with his parents, and she didn't want to spend her time on such things.

Even though Xu Youwei herself knew that her thoughts were a bit extreme, the reality was that the worldline she thought she would be happier than she is now, even if her mother hadn't died, was just wishful thinking. The happy family she thought she had was just an illusion, because her father had indeed cheated on her and had a child several years ago.

Therefore, family relationships are never truly stable. Just like the vows we see on wedding supplies today, they are nothing more than beautiful but wishful blessings. In the end, only what you truly possess is yours; everything else is meaningless.

All I can say is that if Chen Junqian knew what Xu Youwei was thinking, he would probably raise the level of her psychological problems by another level in his mind.

Of course, Xu Youwei has always been a girl who is best at lying with her eyes, so even at this time, she still won't show anything unusual.

The magic of coquetry and apologies only works the first time. Any rash actions that cannot achieve any definite results will only deplete the affection that the two people have built up through repeated experiences and memories. This is something that Xu Youwei confirmed again after the chorus rehearsal incident two months ago.

So, she simply smiled slyly at Chen Junqian as always, offering him her most insincere wishes:

"Oh, I see. Well then, I hope you have fun, Qinqin."

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

Two days later, Chen Junqian, his mother, and Lin Mu embarked on their journey to Tangshan.

Since she was bringing Lin Mu along this time, Wang Hongling, who was taking care of two children by herself, decided after some consideration to spend more money to buy a soft sleeper berth with higher comfort and safety, where four people could share a compartment and the door could be closed.

Fortunately, the other empty bed seemed to be genuinely unoccupied, so the entire small space became a (pseudo) private space for the family of three. As a result, Lin Mu became much more relaxed in his speech and behavior, and started talking to Chen Junqian about the bunk beds as soon as he entered the room.

"I want to sleep on the top bunk, then Qianqian will sleep on my bottom bunk, and Auntie will sleep on the bottom bunk on the other side, how about that?"

"Would anyone actually be willing to sleep in the top bunk?"

"Because I think the top bunk is fun, like climbing this little ladder."

As he spoke, little Lin Mu climbed up the ladder to the top bunk, then sat on the edge of the bed, swinging his little legs and looking down at Chen Junqian. His toes dangled above Chen Junqian's head, his white-socked toes occasionally brushing against his hair. Sitting there, he propped his chin on his hand and gave his childhood friend a smug smile, as if he had finally experienced what it felt like to be taller than him.

Please stomp on me hard!

Looking at this newly triggered achievement in my mind, whose name alone is quite obvious, I always feel that this trip is going to become strange and weird.

Chapter Nineteen: Let Me Hug You One More Time (Two Chapters Combined)

Please stomp on me hard!

In classic romantic comedies, being trampled on by all sorts of beautiful girls (both physically and psychologically) is one of the uniquely blissful troubles for male protagonists.

Whether it's a tsundere young lady's punishment play, an athletic girl's accidental slip, a black-haired queen's declaration of dominance, or a timid loli-type heroine's back-stepping relaxation, this action perfectly blends shame, heartbeat, and a subtle desire for conquest.

After all, being able to admire the blushing cheeks and trembling voice of one's beloved up close is a VIP experience that those who are single will never understand.

Condition for achievement: Be trampled underfoot by any heroine with romantic comedy traits in any way.

It has to be said that real-life schools are not very good places to trigger romantic comedy achievements. On the contrary, Lin Mu gave Chen Junqian a brand new achievement right away when they went on vacation.

Although at first glance it still seems a bit like bullying the stupid judgment mechanism of the shameless system, looking at Mu Mu sitting on the top bunk above him, seemingly really focused on using her toes to tease his hair, one would feel that this judgment was not a problem.

However, considering his own past achievements in playfully tugging and patting Lin Mu's head, Chen Junqian didn't pay much attention and let Lin Mu, who was now a head or several heads taller than him due to the terrain, play around.

After playing for a while, Lin Mu, feeling a bit bored, went down the small ladder from the upper bunk and sat down next to Chen Junqian.

Wang Hongling, who was sitting opposite the two, was already lying on the bed playing Happy Landlords on her phone. Seeing this, Lin Mu also wanted to play on his phone, so he took out his tablet from the backpack next to him.

A year later, Mu Mu, who was about to become a junior high school student, had clearly lost a lot of interest in cartoons. This time, the cartoons that Mu Mu wanted to watch with her on the tablet were no longer "Happy Heroes" like last year, but several currently popular dramas.

"Actually, my mom downloaded them all for me. She didn't know what I liked to watch, so she downloaded a lot of shows that she liked after watching them herself. The last time I actively watched a TV series was 'Chinese Paladin 3'. But since then, it has been re-broadcast every year, and I've watched it several times on and off. It's almost the same as 'Journey to the West'."

Upon hearing Lin Mu mention "Chinese Paladin 3," Chen Junqian couldn't help but recall the conversations he had with the system before his rebirth, which were completely out of sync, and even had a sequel.

That is, after watching the TV series "Chinese Paladin 3" with Chen Junqian, and even seemingly studying the original game again, the system finally gave this evaluation of Long Kui that he blurted out at that time:

[A scheming, manipulative, and charming princess who can transform into two different forms—pure and alluring, weak and timid, or strong and assertive—is actually my brother-obsessed, love-struck, and cheap younger sister from my past life.]

Well, as expected, no matter how much this embarrassing system, which has been ingrained in people's minds by romantic comedies, is localized, it still has that strangely mysterious anime flavor the moment it opens its mouth.

Oh, so can I be considered a part of the anime/manga community now?

He was inexplicably lost in thought, so when Lin Mu asked him which of the three shows he wanted to watch, "Summer's Desire," "The Temptation of Going Home," or "The Living Buddha Ji Gong," Chen Junqian casually chose the third one. Then he started to wonder if the scene in this supernatural drama where a fox spirit transforms into a human and reads books by the night with a beautiful woman by her side could be considered a fantasy of a reclusive scholar from hundreds of years ago.

After all, this matter is also recorded in "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio". For example, the story of the fox demon Ying Ning, which Chen Junqian himself likes very much, could be described as a "healing, naturally naive, but seemingly cunning fox-tailed beast-eared girl with a mysterious sense of humor".

Is the world really as the system says, where everything can turn into this strange state if you observe it with eyes that are meant to discover romantic comedies?

He casually took the earphone Lin Mu handed him and plugged it into his left ear. The two of them then skillfully shared the same earphone and started watching TV to pass the time.

Since they had just eaten before boarding the train, Chen Junqian and Lin Mu did not start eating snacks as soon as they got on the train. Instead, they each had a preserved plum lollipop in their mouths and sat shoulder to shoulder on the lower bunk.

Unlike the Zhenzhi and Zizai sticks that Chen Junqian usually eats, the plum lollipop that Lin Mu gave him today cannot be simply taken as the name suggests. After all, there is indeed a plum inside the candy, but more precisely, it is a plum pit, and it is a pure pit without any fruit pulp, which can only provide a subtle sour taste.

Chen Junqian vaguely remembered that he didn't like eating this candy much before because Zhong Yu once joked with him that the plum pits inside were specially eaten clean by old ladies and then reused. It can only be said that Zhong Yu really knows how to ruin other people's appetite.

Of course, he couldn't possibly tell Lin Mu, who was happily licking her lollipop, about that joke now. After all, the child really loved sweets, and it was making him a little worried about her cavities.