I turned reality into a romantic comedy

Today was the day Gu Lingguo was brought by her mother to tidy up the new house, which was almost finished with renovations. However, she didn't have any particular thoughts about her room or her new home. After all, even after moving, her bedroom would still remain completely transparent to her mother.

However, compared to these, Gu Linguo was actually more concerned about the latest episodes of "Guilty Crown" and "Fate/Zero" that would be released tonight. Both of these October anime series had already reached exciting parts of their stories, making people unconsciously look forward to the upcoming plot...

In theory, compared to Chen Junqian, who was walking uphill and carrying a tall stack of quilts, Gu Lingguo, who was walking downhill, undoubtedly had a wider field of vision. Unfortunately, she was also focused on other things, so by the time she realized what was happening, she saw a quilt with two legs pressing down on her.

"Well--"

The moment he realized he had bumped into someone, thanks to his super-fast reflexes, Chen Junqian immediately adjusted his posture and reached out to help the other person.

In fact, the force coming from the blanket had indeed disappeared at the beginning, and it seemed that the person who collided with him had also managed to regain his balance.

But then, as if he had twisted his ankle on the steps again, the other person pressed down on him through the blanket. Chen Junqian quickly adjusted his position, leaning slightly to the side against the wall to avoid being pulled backward and rolling down the steps. At the same time, he grabbed the other person's hand again, helping her regain her balance, before apologizing.

"Excuse me, are you alright?"

Then, Chen Junqian saw a small head pop out from the blanket he was holding. It was a girl who seemed familiar yet also unfamiliar, giving him a smile that was a mixture of apology and another subtle emotion.

Standing on tiptoe, she pressed the blanket down as far as possible with her hands, propping her chin up so that her eyes were level with his. Gu Lingguo then confirmed his face once more, and said something she should have replied to Chen Junqian a long time ago, but which hadn't been heard in the chaos:

"I'm fine, how about you?"

Chapter 41: Data Entry Failure (Part 2)

"fine."

He had a feeling that he had seen the other person somewhere before, but Chen Junqian couldn't quite remember where he was. After all, the memories in his mind were a collection of his past and present lives. Even with this inexplicable sense of familiarity, he still couldn't be sure whether he had seen the other person in his previous life or had some interaction with him after being reborn.

"Then I'll go back first."

Seeing that Chen Junqian was about to leave, the little girl who looked about the same age as his sister followed him. Just a moment ago she was going downstairs, but now she followed Chen Junqian upstairs, as if she wanted to see where his house was.

"You're Chen Junqian from Class 4, Grade 6 of Experimental Primary School, right?"

"You were first in your grade, appeared on TV and received a banner, and won first place in the men's 1,000-meter race at the sports meet two months ago. I saw you when you spoke under the national flag."

"Are you carrying a blanket home? Do you live here too? Which floor are you on? Maybe we're neighbors?"

To be honest, this was probably the most talkative girl Chen Junqian had met since his rebirth. He had only gone up a few steps when she had already launched into a barrage of questions and answers, and then bombarded him with a whole bunch of questions.

"I live on the third floor, room 301. You're also a student in the lab, right?"

"Third floor... then we're neighbors, I live in room 302 next door."

The moment he heard those words, Chen Junqian's eyes sharpened. He felt as if he had found the mysterious female lead who had been scanned out by the system not long ago. After all, having watched romantic comedies so many times, he was already very familiar with the battle between childhood sweethearts and newcomers.

Adding to the inexplicable sense of familiarity she had felt earlier, this was practically the perfect combination of all the prerequisites for a childhood friend reunion, just like the female lead, Yozora Mikazuki, in the romantic comedy "Haganai," which aired this October.

However, no matter how hard Chen Junqian racked his brains, he couldn't recall having such an old acquaintance before, whether at the wear-resistant factory or in his hometown in the countryside. Moreover, judging from the other person's words, it seemed that she knew him because he was quite famous at school.

Chen Junqian turned around and carefully examined the girl from top to bottom. Physically speaking, she did seem to have fallen from the sky (the steps). However, he couldn't find a single adjective to describe her.

He was neither tall nor short, neither fat nor thin, and his hairstyle and clothes were nothing special. The only thing that left a deep impression on people was his pair of eyes that seemed to speak. At this moment, he was looking at him in sync, and even blinked in confusion, as if he didn't understand why Chen Junqian was suddenly staring at him without saying a word.

"I won't officially move in until around the Lunar New Year next year. What about you?"

Although it's not like the scenes in Japanese literature where people give gifts to their neighbors after moving and say "please take care of me in the future," Chen Junqian did move from a tenement building where the neighbors had close relationships. So, he would still pay more attention to the relationship between neighbors and outsiders. Moreover, this girl really does seem to be the sixth female protagonist in the system's description who is adapted to romantic comedies.

"I estimate I'll have to wait another year, because this house was originally bought specifically for me to attend Ningzhong High School. If I move here now, it will mean taking a longer route to the experimental school."

"So you're a year below me."

"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Gu Lingguo from Class 2."

Perhaps because he had watched too many Japanese romantic comedies, when he heard the other person introduce themselves, Chen Junqian even naturally imagined hearing "senior" in the background before remembering that his younger sister seemed to be in Class 2.

"Class Two? Do you know Chen Xi?"

"Ah, she and I are good friends. I just invited her to my house a couple of days ago. Senior...ex...brother, what's your relationship with Xixi? If you both have the surname Chen, are you siblings?"

It seems that Gu Linguo hadn't decided on a term of address at first either, and after struggling with all sorts of strange terms for a while, she naturally switched back to calling him "brother".

"Yes, she is my sister."

Because he felt it was a bit troublesome to explain his relationship with Chen Xi to people every time, and in the current online environment where recognizing godfathers is becoming popular, having a god-sister is indeed a somewhat strange relationship that is easy for people to say strange things, so now he usually just uses "sister" when introducing or explaining to others.

As they spoke, the two walked up to the third floor. Just as Chen Junqian was about to put the blanket down and take out his keys from his pocket, Gu Lingguo, who was standing next to him, understood and took the blanket from his hands.

"Thank you."

With one hand free, Chen Junqian took out his key from his pocket, opened the door, and was about to reach for his blanket when the other person, acting as if to see things through, simply carried the blanket inside first.

Can I see your house?

"It's nothing. I was just planning to invite you in for a seat and a drink of water anyway."

Chen Junqian took a pair of his mother's shoes from the nearby shoe cabinet and placed them in front of the other person's feet. He changed into his own shoes first, then took the quilt and went into his room to put it away. When he came out again, he saw Gu Lingguo sitting obediently on the sofa in the living room, seriously looking at the surroundings and environment.

After handing her a glass of water from the water dispenser, Chen Junqian sat down opposite her and started using the opening line Jia Baoyu had once used: "I've seen this younger sister before." Gu Lin, of course, readily admitted it:

"Well, since you're Xixi's brother, I'll call you that for now. Of course, you've met me before, because during the stampede last March, I almost fell down the stairs, and you pulled me back. So you're my savior, right?"

"I see. But I didn't recognize him at first, and he's hardly a savior."

"Because it was just a one-time encounter, and it happened almost two years ago. As for whether it was life-saving or not, it was chaotic back then, and it's not surprising that anything could have happened. So that's how it is for me. And Xixi always tells me the same thing. In fact, I think it's because of you, brother, and that stampede incident that I became good friends with her."

The more Chen Junqian chatted with Gu Lingguo, the more he could sense a certain indescribable quality about the other person. After all, many adults cannot speak clearly and express themselves clearly. Moreover, while speaking, the child maintained a sincere and polite eye contact with him, somewhat like Mu Mu's behavior in front of strangers, but not exactly the same. It naturally gave people a pleasant and comfortable conversation experience.

If we were to define it, it would be what we call emotional intelligence.

This is a child with high emotional intelligence, and so far, it's quite comfortable to get along with him.

After making this initial judgment in his mind, Chen Junqian reviewed the system in his mind again, but it was still pretending to be dead and showed no intention of recruiting a new female lead.

"By the way, can I go into your room, brother? I'm currently renovating my new room and I'm curious about what a boy's room looks like."

"That's alright, but actually I haven't moved all my own things in yet. Right now, there's only half a bookshelf of books in the room."

"Yes, Xixi often says that you love reading, so you know a lot and your grades are also very good."

As she spoke, Gu Lingguo followed Chen Junqian into his room. Just as Chen Junqian had said, apart from the bedding on the bed and half a bookshelf of books, the other decorations had not yet been started, and the wardrobe was empty. So she naturally walked to the bookshelf, as if she wanted to find something in it.

"Oh—so my brother subscribes to magazines like this too."

Seeing Xia Lingguo flipping through the magazines on his bookshelf with great interest—most of which were either temporarily stored by Xu Youwei or brought to his house to read together and then forgotten to be taken back—Chen Junqian didn't think much of it. He just suddenly felt that the scene before him resembled a classic scene from some romantic comedies he had read, and even had it recorded in his achievements list.

[Health Check]

In fact, in traditional romantic comedies, when the female protagonists first enter the male protagonist's room, the first thing they do is, while saying something like, "Well, a boy's room should definitely have that, right?", they begin a mysterious search while he goes down to pour tea.

But whether one genuinely wants to investigate the sexual fetishes of their crush, or secretly hopes to find a type that corresponds to their own, is another matter entirely.

Condition for completion: Have any of the heroines with romantic comedy abilities check your room for any hidden strange books or items.

It can only be said that this is another Japanese achievement that would be difficult to achieve in China. After all, with the popularity of the Internet, learning materials are already in the cloud. Moreover, he is not yet of age for the Holy Grail War. There are no strange items or books in the room. He can't very well write out a mysterious article about "Abin's high school grades are not ideal" or "Bai Jie is twenty-four years old this year and graduated from a local normal college" just to achieve this achievement.

Moreover, Mu Mu, who goes to his room most often, would never have such thoughts or behaviors. Two months ago, his mother said that Xu Youwei came to the house several times when he was not home and stayed in his room for a while. But Chen Junqian was not there at the time, otherwise he might have had a chance to fool her.

"Wow, there's even a Japanese textbook! Is my brother planning to study a less commonly taught language when he takes the college entrance exam?"

Gu Linguo's words brought Chen Junqian's thoughts back to reality.

"No, I'm just learning on my own. After all, some things are not very convenient to read without localization."

It's fair to say that when Japanese art is mentioned at this time, the only thing that comes to mind is something like "A Well in the Mountains" or "The Name of the Void." So, after saying that, Chen Junqian realized the ambiguity in his statement and was about to explain when the other person leaned closer, giving him a look of confirmation.

"I understand. What my brother wants to translate and watch are the new anime series that air each season in Japan, right?"

Before Chen Junqian could react, the other person ran to the door again, changed their shoes, and unlocked their own door with a key, seemingly to get something. Two minutes later, they returned and carried in a rather heavy-looking book box.

Upon opening it, one finds layers upon layers of supplementary teaching materials such as textbook explanations, gifted courses, elementary school innovation guides, and colorful classrooms. However, after taking all these books out, what lies at the very bottom is a thick stack of comic magazines.

From "Anime City" to "Dynamic New Force" (later renamed "Dynamic New Era") and then to "Anime Fever," the bottom of the entire book box was filled with anime-related magazines, featuring characters that would be quite familiar to acquaintances but completely unknown to outsiders, such as EVA, Code Geass, Touhou Project, and characters from the latest anime series.

Then came a large stack of CDs, which were all included as freebies with the magazine.

Unlike other popular print magazines of this era, anime and manga magazines related to the two-dimensional world come with a CD containing programs produced by the editorial department, newly recorded anime series, and even collections of Galgames and numerous CM series illustrations. As a result, a single copy often costs more than 20 yuan, and the deluxe edition can even sell for 40 or 50 yuan.

"...We probably haven't met more than a few times."

"Actually, when I'm bored, I sometimes secretly listen to my brother and that senior student Zhu's conversation after class, and then I notice whether you are also a fan of otaku culture. It probably started when my brother mentioned that Haruhi Suzumiya appeared in the promotional video for the Japanese Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo when he was chatting with her."

"Although I always thought that a model student like my brother, who is good at studying, has good grades, and good character, doesn't seem like a typical otaku, there are always such contrasting characters in many works, right? I never thought it would be proven today. My brother is just like me, and like me, he has never told anyone before, right?"

It feels a bit like the opening plot of an anime I watched a year ago called "My Little Sister Can't Be This Cute," but it seems completely different because these hobbies weren't suddenly discovered by someone; rather, she took the initiative to confess them.

More importantly, the other party understood these things from the very beginning.

"But it's okay. From now on, we'll be just the two of us. Please feel free to talk to me about these things, brother. Of course, I also have a lot to say to you. This is our secret."

As she spoke, she raised her little finger at Chen Junqian.

At the same time, the system also began to officially collect information on the girl named Gu Lingguo and to rate her.

Speech adaptability: A.

Action adaptability: A.

Personality adaptability: A.

Appearance... Basic abilities... Adaptability to romantic comedy...

As if it had encountered some kind of bug, the system, which was in complete chaos, fell silent again, and the half-finished file of the female protagonist disappeared without a trace once more.

Data entry failed.

Chapter 42: Birthdays One Day Apart (Part 2)

"and then?"

"What then?"

"It's about what happened between you and that Gu Lingguo."

"We became friends in a fairly ordinary way?"

It was Monday again. Lin Mu was particularly curious about who his new neighbor was, and he would be going to visit her new home next week. So Chen Junqian didn't hide the fact that he had met such a girl from his childhood sweetheart, and besides, there was nothing to hide anyway.

After all, Mu Mu really couldn't understand their anime-related topics.

"I didn't know there were so many different kinds of animated films."

Today's main dish is braised winter melon, which Mu Mu seems to like quite a bit. While munching on it, she turns her gaze to the TV, where "Lilo & Stitch" is playing. This is the next show chosen by the children themselves after "Super Beast Force" finished airing. It has been shown in the animation world before, and together with "SpongeBob SquarePants" and "Jackie Chan Adventures," it should be considered one of the three most popular animation shows in their tutoring class.

"So only Japanese anime is considered '2D'? Doesn't Stitch count?"

"It depends on whether this definition is narrow or broad. But what I talked about with her was mostly Japanese anime, and it was anime with a season as the time unit, with one episode released every week, and a season of anime with about twelve or thirteen episodes."

"Huh—is it that short?"

For children like Lin Mu, who are used to watching large-scale domestic animated series with 52 episodes, or episodic series like "Lilo & Stitch," "SpongeBob SquarePants," and "Jackie Chan Adventures," which often have hundreds of episodes, a 12 or 13-episode animation, especially with one episode released every week, is indeed a bit hard to imagine.

"But I remember that the anime I watched before, like 'Detective Conan,' 'Pokémon,' 'Digimon,' 'Cardcaptor Sakura,' and 'Shugo Chara!,' were also very long."

"Because some of them are long-running IPs that are still being serialized, while others have already had several seasons. When they were introduced to China, they were automatically compiled into a collection. Mu Mu saw something like that, just like Naruto and One Piece."

Although Chen Junqian offered this explanation, Lin Mu still seemed to understand but not quite. However, she didn't delve too deeply into the matter and instead shifted the topic to that specific person.

She said she was Qianqian's friend.

"Yes, I asked Xiaoxi later, and she is indeed her good friend."

Speaking of this, Chen Junqian recalled the information his sister had sent on QQ that was related to the other party's family. However, there was no need to tell Mu Mu these things, since it was another situation that the other party had never seen and could not understand at all.

"Is this the same person that Qianqian saved during that stampede?"

"Well, I wouldn't really call it saving her; I just casually pulled her up."

"...so why wasn't I there that day?"

Chen Junqian felt that Lin Mu, sitting opposite him, muttered something to himself in a low voice, which he couldn't quite hear. Then he saw Lin Mu look up, his tone unusually serious:

"So, Qianqian, do you want to think back carefully about that day? Did you save anyone else that day?"

"...Actually, at that time, I was only holding onto my sister and her. Why are you suddenly asking about this?"