I turned reality into a romantic comedy

It was as if the mother had expressed all the emotions of the family, leaving the remaining two women, the father and her, to feel ashamed to express their feelings. The entire family revolved around the mother, like a single star, and her connection with her father was equally weak.

But it's not entirely absent.

At least Gu Lingguo was very clear about one fact: the fact that she could still play computer games and watch anime on weekends and save up one anime magazine after another with her allowance was because of her father's support. However, under the premise of her mother, this action was always kept secret.

As for the topic of crying, in Gu Lingguo's own memory, she had probably only cried once in front of her mother.

That happened when she was in first grade. She couldn't quite remember the initial reason, but she remembered her mother's reaction very clearly. Her mother had also lost control of her emotions and cried and shouted at her for a long time.

For Gu Lingguo herself, that was probably the first time she felt a sense of guilt. Every part of her body was plunged into a vague and dull pain, making her feel that she was a worthless person and that she should have knelt down and begged her mother for forgiveness.

From then on, she dared not cry in front of her mother anymore.

Because her mother only responds to her tears with her own, but Gu Lingguo's psychological defenses will be breached before her mother's, and she will eventually crumble.

Then one day, on his way home from school, Gu Linguo saw a stray mother cat who had just given birth to kittens. She seemed to be starving to death, lying in the shadows of the alley, barely able to move.

She quickly fed the other person the bread she hadn't finished, and her mother, who was picking her up from school, didn't stop her. Instead, she patted her daughter's head and comforted her.

"It will definitely survive."

"Ah."

"Even for the sake of the kittens next to it, it has to struggle to survive."

Gu Lingguo fed the mother cat two more times. The mother cat, who was so thin that she was practically skin and bones, seemed to be a little better. The kittens next to her, who looked like they had just opened their eyes, huddled together and eagerly nursed.

Then, she heard her mother's comments:

"I just don't know if the little brat will remember this good thing about his mother when he grows up."

Later, Gu Lingguo discovered that her mother thought in the same way not only towards her, but also towards her husband.

Over the years, whenever the two had disagreements, they would always invariably steer the outcome of the event in the same direction.

Every time, her mother would treat her the same way, falling into a state of never apologizing or speaking, only watching the other person suffer and desperately torturing herself and the other person, to the point that even her father couldn't tell who was at fault in the first place, who was the real culprit, or what the two of them had been arguing about in the first place.

In fact, before Chen Junqian faced the absurd question of "if your mother and your girlfriend fell into the water at the same time, who would you save first?", Gu Linguo had already experienced many similar questions, except that the questioner was his own mother.

It probably started when her mother read her the story of filial piety, "My mother used a stainless steel bowl for my grandmother, and I followed suit and successfully persuaded my mother to change her mind." Since then, the other person has never given up on this issue, but the focus of their attention has been completely different.

Will you dislike your mother when I get old?

When watching that public service advertisement about an Alzheimer's father who still remembers his child's favorite food, the mother would turn to her and ask:

If I develop Alzheimer's disease in the future, what will you do to me? Will you send me to a nursing home and just abandon me?

When watching that ad where "grandma answers the phone and learns her family isn't home, leaving her alone with a table full of food and a TV that won't turn on," the person on the other end still asks:

Will you let your mother become like this in the future?

Although it was a question, Gu Linguo always felt that her mother's tone was half prophetic sorrow, as if she had foreseen her own end. So even though she would answer no seriously every time, her mother would only show a subtle smile, as if she was trying her best to show that she would still love her even though she knew she was lying.

The other half is a kind of cruel voyeurism. She wants to know her daughter's thoughts, and she wants to know her daughter's thoughts every moment, as if she is using tweezers to peel back the skin of a certain part of her body bit by bit, until she sees the inside out, and she is unwilling to miss any inch.

In fact, Chen Junqian's judgment of Gu Linguo was completely correct, because in the other person's mind, any confusion, doubt, pain, or relief could be answered with four words, and these four words could naturally follow any question or any answer.

For Gu Lingguo himself, it was a more effective magic weapon than four-character phrases like "since we're already here," "it's the New Year," "it's just a child," and "the person is dead."

So why?

Because...

She is my mother.

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"Hello Auntie, I'm Chen Junqian, who lives next door. I just officially moved in these past two days. Please accept this little bit of wedding candy."

If we were to say that Chen Junqian's first impression of Gu Lingguo's mother wasn't bad, she wasn't the kind of woman often described in literary works with high cheekbones, thin lips, and narrow eyes. She was just an ordinary-looking person with ordinary clothes, like someone you'd glance at and forget about among a group of parents picking up their children after school.

"Hello, I've heard about this from your mother before."

"Even if I didn't hear it from your mother, I've heard your name. You were first in your grade for three consecutive years, a model student for three years, and you even received a banner for your act of bravery. When I was chatting with your mother before, I told her that everyone in our workplace area envies her for having such a good son like you."

Although it seemed like a perfectly fine exchange of pleasantries at first glance, Chen Junqian still keenly noticed the problem. He reasoned that the other party's stance on his act of bravery during the stampede should have been the same as his aunt and uncle's, since he had genuinely saved their daughter.

However, Gu Lingguo's mother didn't mention it at all, which can only mean that either Gu Lingguo didn't tell her mother at all that she almost got involved in the stampede, or she did tell her but her mother didn't care at all.

Regardless of the method, one can actually glean a lot of problems from just a glimpse.

"Please sit down, I'll get you some water."

She said this politely, and as soon as she turned around, Gu's mother turned back to call her daughter:

"Lin Guo, we have a guest. Chen Junqian, the top student in your grade, will be your neighbor from now on. Mom, didn't you pick a good location for this house?"

When Gu Linguo came out, seeing that the two didn't seem like they were meeting for the first time, Gu's mother asked her a question out of curiosity.

“My sister and Lin Guo are in the same class and are very good friends, so I’ve met them before. Auntie doesn’t need to worry about whether she’s first in the grade or not. In my opinion, Lin Guo also has the opportunity to get such good grades.”

Chen Junqian knew very well that if he simply said that Gu Lingguo was also very smart, according to the other person's way of thinking, they would only jump to the logic of 'she must not have studied hard enough yet', so he nodded again and added:

"Because I'm a good student, my homeroom teacher asked me to help my classmates and start a study group. It's been working quite well so far. We're all neighbors now, so it's easy for us to visit each other. If Lin Guo is willing, she can join in and study together."

"Why wouldn't I agree? This is a great thing! I'll agree on behalf of Lin Guo. If Lin Guo's grades improve in the future, Auntie will treat you to a meal!"

Looking at her mother's smiling face, Gu Linguo felt that she had already anticipated that after Chen Junqian left, he would act as if to say, "Mom went to great lengths to ask for such a favor for you, so you'd better take advantage of it in the future." But just as this thought arose, the boy sitting next to her, who had just lied for her, took advantage of her mother turning around and grabbed her hand under the sofa.

If no one cared about her before, she wouldn't feel uncomfortable when she was cold. But when someone suddenly treats her well and warmly puts her in their heart, she will suddenly learn to feel pain. The feelings that were once dulled will always surge more and more intensely after they return.

Neither the bathroom nor her parents' arms were places where Gu Lingguo could cry.

After all, reality and the world of anime are definitely different.

But in that instant, she still felt that she had finally found a real place where she could rush over and cry for a little while.

Chapter 50: Older Sister and Younger Sister (Combined)

In the last two days before the Lunar New Year, Chen Junqian's main task was to help his mother run the shop.

After several months of preparation, their small mahjong parlor finally opened for business. The fully automatic mahjong machine and good service couldn't make them rich overnight, but it was much more leisurely than working in a factory, and the income was quite good.

After all, as a seasoned mahjong player with over twenty years of experience, Wang Hongling was well aware that the competitiveness of a mahjong parlor lay in both hardware and software. The former was, of course, the fully automatic mahjong machine that was still a rare sight in Guoning, a small county town, which didn't require hand washing. The latter included service aspects such as the environment, food, and attitude.

Wang Hongling herself had previously complained that many mahjong parlors were stingy with their tea and snacks. For a table of four people, they would only serve two or three of each item, which meant that each person wouldn't even get one. Moreover, the hygiene was poor, which made people feel uneasy coming to the parlor.

With this empathetic mindset, Chen Junqian's small mahjong parlor did quite well. Thanks to the promotion by Wang Hongling's mahjong friends, it quickly became a minor hit on social media. Especially now, during the Lunar New Year season, the rooms are almost always full every afternoon and evening, generating considerable revenue from table fees.

Just like the saying goes, "To judge whether a Chinese restaurant abroad is authentic, you only need to see if there are any children doing their homework behind the counter," Chen Junqian thus became a small business owner who did his homework behind the counter while also minding the shop, and also served tea and water on the side.

However, his younger sister was with him today. Chen Junqian's godmother was also a mahjong enthusiast and was very supportive of her sister-in-law's mahjong room. So Chen Xi came along and brought her own laptop. They sat side by side at the front desk and watched TV dramas together.

The hottest drama of the beginning of 2012 should be "Beijing Love Story", which aired at the beginning of the month. However, the brother and sister were not very interested in this drama. They were watching "Empresses in the Palace", which aired last November but immediately became the hottest drama of the year.

Although Chen Junqian can only think of Cao Cao in "New Three Kingdoms" when he sees Chen Jianbin's old face now, which left him with a completely negative impression, the overall quality of the series is still quite good. Not to mention him and Chen Xi, even their mothers quite like watching it.

When Chen Junqian heard the ending theme song and saw that the singer was Yao Beina, he was still a little dazed. His initial impression of this female singer came from the second season of the national variety show "The Voice of China", which will be broadcast next year. But in fact, before that, she had already achieved great success and is still remembered by many fans after her death.

Thinking of "The Voice of China," which is set to premiere next year, Chen Junqian turned to his sister and asked her a question:

"Does Xixi want to continue pursuing a career in singing in the future?"

"Wow, my brother asked me the exact same question as my dad."

"Huh? Really?"

"Yes, my dad asked me about this a couple of days ago after he came back from Xinjiang, but I haven't thought about it yet."

Unlike Lin Mu's family, in Chen Junqian's eyes, his sister's family situation had undergone a clear transformation, and the key to this transformation was his uncle's business.

In his previous life, Chen Junqian had met a college classmate who posted a long article on his WeChat Moments that left a deep impression on him. Perhaps this article could explain his sister's current situation.

The saying "poverty makes a couple miserable" is not limited to couples. Sometimes it's not that they don't love each other, but that they don't have money. What gives me confidence is my parents' love, but the premise for my parents to love me wholeheartedly and not want me to suffer too much pressure and be in a bad mood is that they have money.

I've always tried to put myself in others' shoes. If I were my parents, I definitely couldn't do any better than them. I probably would have given up long ago, and I would be more stingy, more frugal, more irritable, and more worried. So every time I think about this, I feel like I'll never have children.

Because I'm not sure if I'll take my anger out on my child and tell her that I've become like this because I've sacrificed so much for her. I don't know if I'll be driven by the pressure of life to the point of hysterically losing my temper with my child, demanding that he study hard for a better future, or crying and asking him what will happen to the family if he doesn't study.

Without money, my stress becomes my child's stress, my unhappiness becomes my child's unhappiness, and my child's stress and unhappiness are things that would have fallen on my shoulders anyway.

Sigh, I really wish I could become rich overnight. If not, at least my parents could become rich. Their love would flow in with the money, and we could become the happy family that everyone online envies.

Actually, Chen Junqian's aunt and uncle used to be a bit of a "tiger mom," but compared to Gu Linguo's mother, even Chen Xi herself felt that her mother was quite understanding. Moreover, with the great success of Chen Junqian's uncle's career, the atmosphere of the whole family became more harmonious, which also gave Chen Xi more choices.

Of course, Chen Xi was also well aware that all of this was thanks to her brother, who sat next to her, warming his feet in the same electric brazier and chatting with her.

"Don't worry too much if you haven't decided yet. After all, Xixi's grades are pretty good. Let's talk about it in junior high. Besides, I think you prefer humanities subjects to art."

Chen Junqian didn't know about the other girls' subsequent academic performance, but he did know about his younger sister. In his previous life, without his interference, she was able to rank around 3,000th in the province's liberal arts college entrance examination and go to a 211 university specializing in liberal arts. She definitely had a talent for learning.

However, regarding whether his interference will improve or worsen his sister's grades, Chen Junqian remains quite optimistic. Moreover, as things have progressed, his sister now has other paths to choose from more freely.

"Yes, I'll definitely choose to be a humanities student when I choose my major later."

Although she felt it was a bit early to ask this, since the conversation had already progressed this far, Chen Xi still asked one more question:

"What about your brother? Will he choose humanities or sciences in the future?"

"It's most likely a humanities major."

"I heard there are a lot of girls in the humanities classes."

"That's normal. In some liberal arts classes, the male-to-female ratio can be as high as 10 to 1."

In his previous life, Chen Junqian's liberal arts class only had seven boys.

After all, this topic was still somewhat distant for the two of them at the moment, so Chen Xi quickly brought the conversation back to the near future.

"Actually, our family is also planning to buy a new house in Yunqi Jinyuan."

“I’ve heard my mom mention this before; Xixi is indeed going to junior high school.”

"I originally wanted to buy the house next to my brother's, but it was a bit late. But I didn't expect Lin Guo to live there, so it's about the same? Our new house is downstairs from you two, so it feels like we can go to and from school together sometime."

Just by describing this scene, Chen Xi already felt genuinely satisfied and expectant. Unconsciously, she moved her feet, which were covered by clothes and placed in the electric brazier, closer to her brother, trying to touch his soles.

It snowed this year, just like last year.

She will stay there on New Year's Eve just like last year, and the little dog at the door will still be there wagging its tail to welcome her.

In a rapidly changing era, things that remain unchanged amidst the slow passage of time always bring a sense of peace. If growing up is a matter of a moment, then the time before growing up is always so sluggish that it almost stagnates, making girls today want to lean on their older brother's shoulder and take a nap.

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Of course, the improved family atmosphere was not limited to Chen Xi's family; Chen Junqian's own family was also filled with laughter and peace during the Spring Festival.

Even if they didn't know what Chen Junqian's e-commerce venture was all about, they could see that Chen Jun's promotion and Wang Hongling's small mahjong parlor business was doing well. In addition, the new house was renovated and they had officially moved in. So Chen Junqian's grandparents were also in a good mood, and they had a very enjoyable New Year's Eve dinner.

The 2012 Spring Festival Gala was the first without Zhao Benshan, and also the first Spring Festival Gala for Shen Teng and the Happy Twist team. It was like a kind of generational change. Shen Teng, who appeared under the name "Hao Jian", replaced Zhao Benshan and Song Dandan, who were known as "Baiyun and Heitu", and became a regular on the Spring Festival Gala.

Although Chen Junqian hadn't watched the Spring Festival Gala much since 2014, he still had a good impression of Shen Teng and Happy Twist's sketches from 2012 to 2014, such as "Today's Happiness", "Today's Happiness 2" and "To Help or Not to Help". Mainly because of the contrast with the later years, the quality was still acceptable, at least they were comedy sketches that could make people laugh.

Anyway, when they saw Shen Teng pop out of the TV and start pretending to be the eldest son who had traveled from twenty years in the future, Chen Junqian and Chen Xi were still laughing happily in the room. Even Shen Nianqiu on the other end of his phone sent a series of "hahahahaha" messages at the same time.

Just like last year, the younger sister, who is not good at staying up late, fell asleep on the sofa around 9 or 10 pm. However, this year she did not lie on Chen Junqian's lap, giving him a chance to get up and go outside to call his sister.

"Your younger brother came to visit me on the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, right?"

The two naturally discussed their meeting a few days later. After all, if you think about it, their last meeting was almost two years ago during the Shanghai World Expo. Now it's almost 2012, and the London Olympics are about to begin. It has indeed been a long time since they last met.

"Yes, I went there with a friend on the morning of the fifth day of the Lunar New Year."

"My brother must have grown quite a bit taller since then, right?"

"That's for sure."

At least I won't be pulled up to chest level by the other person anymore.

"I haven't grown much in the last two years, so I hope my younger brother will give me a surprise when we meet. After all, I still prefer boys who are taller than me."

Shen Nianqiu, who is almost in her final year of junior high school, has almost finished the early puberty period that girls usually experience, and her rapid growth has been slowed down. However, she is already very satisfied with her current height and doesn't need to comfort herself with self-deceptive words like "some girls are still growing in high school" like some kids who are dissatisfied with their height.

"Is your sister still watching 'Fireworks'?"

"Haven't watched it in a while, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing, I was just curious. After all, my sister is living at school now, so I was wondering what would happen if she read magazines?"

"If you live on campus, there are newsstands and convenience stores. Some students in my class would rush over to buy snacks during the few minutes between classes. If you want to read, you can still read. If a friend buys something, I'll borrow it to flip through. But I'm not as interested as I used to be, and I don't buy every single issue without fail."

Compared to "Fireworks," Shen Nianqiu now undoubtedly values ​​this long-awaited reunion with Chen Junqian more. So, after only a few words, she steered the conversation back to a weighty question that left Chen Junqian speechless and unable to answer.