I turned reality into a romantic comedy.

After getting her phone back, Zhu Wenyun immediately pulled up the photo from her album and looked at it from every angle before finally putting it back in her pocket with satisfaction. She watched Chen Junqian wave goodbye and return to his class, but she stood there alone for a while longer before going downstairs. Instead of returning to her class, she just wandered around the campus.

She held up her phone and looked at the group photo, returning to a moment of solitude, as if no one knew her and she didn't need to care about anyone. She detached herself from the entanglement of worldly affairs and freely entered a state akin to being slightly tipsy.

With a slight joy in her heart and a slight sway in her body, everything felt like a girl slowly waking up, walking through the campus she was about to leave with two photos of the two of them. Just breathing in the air and gazing at the scenery, she felt herself gradually becoming an adult.

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"...So you can get your name printed on the chest of your clothes after using the restroom?"

Since it wasn't written in any hidden place, Xu Youwei, with her sharp eyes, noticed the mark left by Zhu Wenyun as soon as Chen Junqian returned to the classroom and sat down. It was even more conspicuous than the scarf that her deskmate had worn around her neck after going out for a while around Christmas last year. It blatantly showed its presence, making it impossible for Xu Youwei to ignore it.

"Huh? Her name? Zhu Wen-yun, did she go to the restroom just now? No, she wouldn't take a pen with her to the restroom, would she?"

Even the slowest-witted child, Lin Mu, realized something was wrong. He and Xu Youwei quickly put on a show of "confess and you'll be treated leniently, resist and you'll be punished severely," flanking Chen Junqian on either side, wanting to ask him what was going on.

There wasn't really any need to hide it, since both of them knew that Zhu Wenyun was currently writing a novel. So Chen Junqian quickly explained the autograph issue, but the focus was naturally on the joking banter and the possibility of the book appreciating in value, easily deflecting Lin Mu's question.

"So this can be considered a kind of early investment, just like when Dad invested in your company, Qianqian. If Wenyun really becomes a great writer in the future, will I also become famous? After all, her first book... or rather, her debut work is about me and Qianqian."

No, no, no, it can only be said that in Guoning alone, Mu Mu is already the most famous kid. After all, just like the source of all evil in the Tieba forum, "Jia Junpeng, your mother is calling you home for dinner," Lin Mu, who made a big splash in front of tens of thousands of citizens at the last walnut festival, is in a sense about as famous as Jay Chou.

After all, when people mention the pecan festival from two years ago, besides Jay Chou, the first person they can think of is that little girl who lost her name, only her real name has never been revealed.

"And I've heard that many fans deliberately get celebrities to sign their clothes, which are more valuable than signatures on paper."

"Right."

Actually, there was such an achievement in Chen Junqian's mind, but it was exclusive to idol-type characters. That's why Zhu Wenyun didn't trigger it just now. The system's judgment of this child is still closer to the literary girl category, even though Chen Junqian always felt that she was the kind of absolutely atypical literary girl.

However, unlike Mu Mu, who is always easy to fool, Xu Youwei, who always puts a lot of pressure on Zhu Wenyun, or rather, on everyone except Chen Junqian, including herself, and would overthink things, is not so easily dismissed. She is still staring intently at that signature.

Because the desk drawers had all been emptied beforehand, and no one would bring stationery on Children's Day when there were no classes, Xu Youwei subconsciously reached into her pocket and found only an invisible pen that she had brought from home before coming to school that morning. She now goes to Chen Junqian's old house almost every day, and today was no exception.

But this time, Xu Youwei refused to deceive herself by leaving any marks with an invisible pen like before. So, she silently got up and ran to the office at the end of the corridor. Using the excuse that she needed it for a class game, she borrowed a black marker from the homeroom teacher and then earnestly said to Chen Junqian:

"I want to sign too."

"Wow, is Weiwei going to be a big star in the future? Wenyun is a star writer, so Weiwei will be a star painter."

It's safe to say that Lin Mu is probably the only one among the three people still believing in the excuse of autographs increasing in value. However, since both of them are planning to sign autographs, Chen Junqian simply pulled Lin Mu in as well.

"Why don't you sign one too, Mu Mu?"

"Qianqian thinks my autograph will appreciate in value in the future, so you'd better keep the greeting card I gave you safe. There are a lot of words on it, besides my own diary, it's the most words I've ever written."

Because her name had very few strokes, Lin Mu, all smiles, took the pen from Xu Youwei first, quickly signed it below Chen Junqian's collar, and then returned the pen to Xu Youwei.

"Weiwei's name has quite a few strokes, so be careful not to misspell it. You can't use correction fluid or correction tape here."

"know."

Xu Youwei just pursed her lips. Her name was indeed the one with the most strokes among the three, the kind that couldn't be drawn in one go even with a fairy wand. Although she had her own scribbled signature, when she actually wrote it, she wrote each stroke quite neatly. She was lying on Chen Junqian's chest and kept pressing forward, forcing Chen Junqian to lean back and half-lie in Lin Mu's arms on the other side. His childhood sweetheart took advantage of the situation and pulled his hair and forehead several times.

Even after writing all the strokes of the most complex character in her name, '薇', Xu Youwei didn't look up. Instead, she creatively drew a cute little figure on the back, which immediately overshadowed the two signatures on her clothes, making her stand out from the crowd.

Elementary school graduations are generally not as sentimental. Unlike the songs Chen Junqian sang with his class when he graduated from junior high and high school, such as "The Days on Beijing East Road" and "Chasing Dreams with a Pure Heart," while Chen Junqian and his two friends were playing around in the audience, the girls in the center of the class started singing the theme song of the sitcom that has been airing for three seasons this year.

All I want is for people to smile at me and treat me well.

"I want to escape, I want to escape. They think I'm noisy and disruptive."

"Actually, I understand that there are so few right people."

"Being able to grow old together is more important than anything else."

Being able to grow old together is more important than anything else.

He sang the lyrics aloud in his mind, then looked out the window at the bright sky, where the sun shone and cicadas chirped.

Before the long summer and summer vacation even began, they had already said goodbye here.

His time with them during their primary school years and childhood has come to an end.

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However, for Shen Nianqiu, who doesn't have any particularly special memories or feelings about her entire childhood and primary school years, the most important thing right now is to find a suitable time during the upcoming summer vacation to go to Guoning and see her younger brother.

To be honest, if possible, she would certainly be willing to spend the entire summer vacation, all two months, with her younger brother. However, her family just doesn't care much about her, not that they really treat her as if she doesn't exist or is dead. After all, even if she goes on a trip with friends, it's unlikely that she could just disappear for two months without any problems.

Moreover, Shen Nianqiu is about to enter the third year of junior high school.

She knew very well that her little bit of presence and voice at home came mainly from her excellent performance. Whether in her studies or anything else, she never caused her parents any trouble and even made them feel proud in front of others. So, she naturally had to perform well in the upcoming high school entrance exam as always, and she would have to respond to the school's call to go back to school early for extra classes this summer.

In conclusion, after considering all factors, Shen Nianqiu concluded that she could only stay in Guoning for about a week, which was slightly longer than the time she and Chen Junqian first met during the World Expo.

Since this trip to her parents' place was ostensibly for tourism, there was no need to worry about transportation. After buying a ticket with a transfer through Guoning Railway Station, Shen Nianqiu could simply get off there early and arrive undetected. In reality, she didn't care about the "sky" or "sea" at all, and there was no need to hide it.

Back home, Shen Nianqiu packed her luggage while looking at her mother, who still showed no reaction to her impending departure. She suddenly realized that her mother seemed to be dissatisfied with this familiar situation.

These grievances accumulated little by little, and for a long time she was completely unaware of them. They gradually fermented into another kind of complex emotion, lurking in every fold of her body and heart, growing and maturing with her, and when they matured to a certain degree, they would fall off naturally like fruit.

However, these emotions now have a second outlet, or rather, a confessional space.

Shen Nianqiu had already made up her mind that even if Chen Junqian were to one day unleash all the negative emotions she had instilled in him over the past long period of time, just like the mysterious pit in the text she had recently studied called "Hey—Come Out," she would accept it willingly.

Yes, I accept it all.

P.S.: Thank you for reading and subscribing.

Chapter 74: Sister and Mu Mu (Two-in-One)

To be honest, Lin Mu initially had the same expectations for this summer vacation as the previous two years, which was to travel with Chen Junqian again. However, he was told by Chen Junqian that he would not be going to Tangshan to see his father this year.

The main problem was that the meeting time that Shen Nianqiu and Chen Junqian had arranged happened to coincide with this time. Considering that the other party was definitely not as good at scheduling as he was, Chen Junqian had no choice but to adjust his schedule to match Shen Nianqiu's. As a result, only his mother went to Tangshan this year, while Chen Junqian himself stayed at home alone.

The good news is that he won't have to worry about not having a place to stay once his older sister arrives.

The bad news is that Shen Nianqiu is going to move directly into Chen Junqian's house.

Well, it's not entirely bad news. Even setting aside the various achievements that Chen Junqian had in his mind that were about to be triggered, he knew very well that Shen Nianqiu wouldn't obediently come to stay at the hotel. So, having someone stay at home from the beginning might save a lot of trouble. It was better than being sneaked into a hotel in the middle of the night or being called to a hotel by a phone call.

Even though it was summer vacation after graduation, with no academic or coursework pressure, Chen Junqian's schedule was still packed. Or perhaps it was precisely because everyone was free of homework that they kept inviting him out. Xu Youwei was busy preparing for the apocalypse, Zhu Wenyun was planning a trip, and then there was Shen Nianqiu, who was about to arrive in Guoning...

Well, it's fortunate that there are still two children a year younger who have to go to tutoring classes and do their summer homework, otherwise Chen Junqian would be completely overwhelmed. After all, he is only in the initial exploration stage of becoming a master of time management, and he has never been this busy in both his lives combined.

"So Qianqian means that Shen Nianqiu will be coming to our area in a couple of days?"

After listening to Chen Junqian's explanation, Lin Mu, who was holding the icy red bean milk tea in both hands, took a big sip of the red bean stuck in the straw, but ended up choking and coughing twice. She quickly grabbed a tissue from the table, covered her mouth and nose, and sneezed with an incredulous expression. She was clearly still deeply impressed by this online sister who was her childhood friend whom she had met a few times two years ago.

"Yes, or more precisely, tomorrow night."

"Shouldn't she be entering her final year of junior high this year? It's a crucial time for her to prepare for the high school entrance exam, how could she be thinking about going out to play?"

"...I feel like Mu Mu is the one who has the least confidence to say this."

"But they also need to attend two more training courses this summer."

Dissatisfied, Lin Mu lightly kicked Chen Junqian under the table, then absentmindedly sipped her milk tea while biting her straw, continuing to ask:

"How long will she stay? A day or two?"

"About a week."

"A week?"

"Yes, one week."

"Where does she live?"

"Stay at my house, isn't my mom going to Tangshan right now?"

After all, this kind of thing couldn't be hidden, so facing his closest childhood sweetheart, Chen Junqian didn't hide anything at all and frankly told Lin Mu all the arrangements, leaving Mu Mu alone there holding her milk tea, bewildered in the air conditioning.

"Because Mumu is the girl who comes to my house and my room the most, I thought I should tell Mumu in advance. As soon as I confirmed the specific date with my sister, I immediately told Mumu."

However, before Lin Mu could even process any emotions, Chen Junqian's words, such as "the most girls," "immediately," and "sister," made her lips curl into a smile, and she unconsciously nodded in agreement.

"Yes, yes, Qianqian will definitely tell me. She's coming to Guoning as a guest this time, so we definitely need to take good care of Sister Shen Nianqiu. She'll be staying in Auntie's room, right? Should we tidy it up in advance?"

"No need for that. It's not like no one lives here. My mom was sleeping here a couple of days ago."

Moreover, Shen Nianqiu might not actually sleep peacefully in that room. After all, once someone sleeps together, it's bound to happen again. Even if Chen Junqian were home alone, he wouldn't be surprised if the other person did something like sneaking into his house at night.

"But there's nothing fun to do in Guoning... If I stay for a week, I feel like I'll get bored after just a couple of days."

With the local's typical thought that "there's nothing fun to do here," Lin Mu, who had already put himself in the role of host, was now seriously considering how to make Shen Nianqiu feel at home. He started counting on his fingers, reminiscing about all the things he had played with since childhood:

"There's a newly opened haunted house near Yangning Park. I wonder if they still have strawberry picking available. I think I saw it at the beginning of last month. Or how about we go rafting at Qinglong Bay? It should be fun to play in the water in the summer."

"Well, let's talk about it after my sister gets here."

Although the term "sister" originally only continued the virtual relationship on the internet, Chen Junqian has gotten used to calling her that over the years, mainly because Shen Nianqiu also likes him to call her that. However, it has now become a kind of illusion or anesthetic that can numb people, and at least for now, it seems to be working quite well for Mu Mu.

Of course, this doesn't mean that Lin Mu had no thoughts about Shen Nianqiu's sudden arrival and her move into Chen Junqian's house.

But whenever she looked up and surveyed Chen Junqian's entire room, seeing the decorations and ornaments that he had carefully designed and placed in various locations, each one emphasizing its presence, Mu Mu's heart would feel at ease again.

After all, it was different from the Shanghai World Expo site, which she was completely unfamiliar with two years ago.

This is her home turf.

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On July 5, 2012, Shen Nianqiu stepped off the train with her suitcase and quickly spotted Chen Junqian among the crowd waiting to pick her up.

If Lin Mu is the kind of girl who looks like an adorable little animal when wrapped in thick winter clothes, then Shen Nianqiu undoubtedly exudes the most complete charm in the opposite summer. Although she is already a grown woman, she is only wearing a simple white T-shirt and dark blue jeans. Her outstanding presence is enough for Chen Junqian in the crowd to find her immediately and reach out to greet her.

"I'm so disappointed that they didn't hold up a sign saying 'Welcome, dear sister, to Guoning' as we agreed."

"...Don't take a one-sided joke as an agreement, okay? Nobody would agree to that with you."

Slightly speechless, Chen Junqian took the suitcase from Shen Nianqiu's hand and then placed a large sun hat he had prepared beforehand on his sister's head.

"The sun is really strong outside today."

"Wow, you've grown taller again."

Because of this small gesture, Shen Nianqiu carefully observed her younger brother's height, whom she hadn't seen for almost half a year, and leaned over to whisper something to him:

"Boys may develop later, but once they do, do they grow much faster?"

Chen Junqian had a feeling that his sister's next sentence was going to be something weird like, "Let me see if your development is normal." He just pursed his lips.

"I'll definitely be taller than you in two years."

"It's better if he's taller than me. There's no rule in this world that says a younger brother can't be taller than his older sister. But no matter how tall he is, he's still a younger brother. That's very important, you have to remember that."