I turned reality into a romantic comedy.

Chapter 5: Expectations That Are Inevitably Doomed (Part 2)

Since entering middle school, Chen Junqian has been home alone most evenings. After all, his father is far away in Tangshan and his mother needs to go to the shop. So now when he talks to Zhu Wenyun on the phone, he puts the phone on speakerphone and puts it aside, then either reads a book or does his homework.

The same is true today.

How's the new school?

"Everything is pretty normal. My homeroom teacher wanted me to be the class monitor, but I wasn't interested. In the end, I reluctantly became the Chinese language representative. She knows that I write very well."

"The winner of the first prize in the provincial essay competition, a great writer."

"If you wanted to, you should be able to easily win an award in that kind of essay competition."

As always, Zhu Wenyun still held high expectations for Chen Junqian, even though the latter himself was unaware of them.

Just like the metaphor she used in her conversation with Xu Youwei on the top of Jingting Mountain earlier this year, she still unconsciously compared the difference in their abilities to rice and weeds, which appear to be the same on the outside but are completely different in essence. It's just a pity that only Zhu Wenyun and Xu Youwei knew about that conversation, otherwise Chen Junqian might have been able to detect something unusual about the other party.

Both Xu Youwei and Lin Mu have a special name for Chen Junqian. This is a fact that Zhu Wenyun, who has always been by Chen Junqian's side, can fully recognize. However, she doesn't seem to have such thoughts at all and just uses his real name to address him in a normal way.

Because she felt that this was something that didn't need to be rushed. In Zhu Wenyun's mind, which had been surfacing for several years and was now deeply rooted, she believed that Chen Junqian, who had a larger and more comprehensive reading volume and more outstanding writing ability than her, would one day embark on the path of becoming a writer. And the pen name that would be born at that time would be a unique and exclusive name between the two of them, who were book lovers who were connected by books from the very beginning.

But Chen Junqian is currently unable to clearly realize this, which is undoubtedly a dangerous move. The shrine will always slowly take shape on the altar in the heart of a young girl's wishful thinking. The second-rate children's literature creator probably wouldn't think of this kind of thing before truly facing this feeling, that a girl whose current achievements have already surpassed his efforts of more than ten years in his previous life would stubbornly regard him as rice, but only regard himself as weeds.

So he still took Zhu Wenyun's words as mere politeness, like those beautiful words of comfort, and casually accepted them before moving on to the next topic:

"What is Wenyun doing now?"

"I'm on the phone with you."

Perhaps because he was particularly fond of this corny joke, ever since the two of them got their own cell phones and could start talking, Zhu Wenyun would occasionally repeat this joke, which he had told countless times, before obediently following it with a real answer:

"I'm previewing tomorrow's lesson, Chinese."

Among the girls Chen Junqian knows, aside from Shen Nianqiu who is not currently in Guoning, probably only Zhu Wenyun would do the work of previewing and reviewing.

"Will we have our first lesson tomorrow?"

Picking up the Chinese textbook that was lying next to him, Chen Junqian opened the book cover with a picture of a horse in ink painting and turned to the first page. The first lesson was Wang Jiaxin's modern poem "On the Other Side of the Mountain".

If it were Mu Mu on the other end of the phone, Chen Junqian could probably already imagine her humming the tune of "There are Smurfs on the other side of the mountains and the sea." However, for Zhu Wenyun, the newly appointed class representative for Chinese, her preparation was much more serious and diligent. She was even talking to Chen Junqian about her favorite topic: imagery.

"Mountains and seas are indeed very classic images."

Guoning, located in southern Anhui, is also a mountain city; otherwise, its most famous specialty wouldn't be mountain walnuts. Therefore, Zhu Wenyun herself seems to have a similar feeling about the lines in the poem: "Beyond the mountains are still mountains, and those mountains, with their iron-blue faces, gave my imagination a zero!"

"Because my grandmother's hometown is in the mountains, she would go back to stay for a few days every year during the Spring Festival. The terrain there is just one mountain after another. Even if you climb to a very high place, it is still just mountains."

"Has Wenyun never been to see the sea?"

"In fact, I have hardly ever left Guoning since I was born, and I have never left the province."

"Then why cancel that summer trip?"

Even though nearly two months had passed, Zhu Wenyun still couldn't express the complex thoughts that had arisen in her heart back then in concrete words when faced with Chen Junqian's question, which seemed to bring up old matters again. Just like her latest chapter, which had changed readers' opinions drastically during those two months of serialization and dropped out of the top three in the voting rankings.

"If we could only have one summer trip together, I would prefer it to be the year I finish my senior year of high school at eighteen."

Well, here comes another irrelevant and baffling answer.

Even for Chen Junqian, who frequently interacted with Zhu Wenyun, it was impossible to understand the thoughts of this incredibly rich and literary young woman at every moment. So, for now, he could only offer his comments objectively:

"But no one has stipulated that the two of us can only have one summer trip. You're overthinking it."

"Because some things are truly unpredictable. It's only much later that you realize you've done that thing for the last time and seen that person for the last time."

Hearing this, Chen Junqian thought that Zhu Wenyun had also been infected with the Yoyo virus at some point, but the next second he heard her speak again:

"For example, the fact that we two are not even in the same school now."

"No, no, no, this was to be expected, since the school district rezoning will put your house in the Jinzhong area."

"...But this wouldn't have happened if you hadn't moved."

"So you really do care about someone being in Tsunaka, huh?"

"if not?"

For the first time, Zhu Wenyun showed a terrible side of her personality to Chen Junqian. Even in the new junior high school, she still had the habit of running to the corridor after class to squat and observe the girls. She just stared at the blank paper in front of her, as if she was gazing at the existence on the other side of the mountain with a livid face, which gave her fantasy a zero score.

But just like when he faced Xu Youwei and Lin Mu at school, Chen Junqian once again came up with the solution of clubs. It can only be said that if these girls are not given something to do, they are indeed capable of causing trouble. Even the usually quiet Mu Mu is almost corrupting Xu Youwei.

"Clubs? Can students from other schools join?"

"Anyway, I'll be the minister then, so just tell me if you're willing to participate or not."

By forcefully seizing control of the conversation, Chen Junqian extended his invitation to the other party.

"……Come."

Zhu Wenyun really had no reason to refuse, after all, Lin Mu and Xu Youwei had already joined. However, she subconsciously thought that this was just another copy of a study group.

Even so, it's definitely worth participating.

Because she was also afraid, afraid that the relationship between the two of them would be like that described in so many melodramatic coming-of-age stories in magazines, where they would gradually lose contact after childhood and eventually miss each other.

Of course, this is also impossible.

Because in Chen Junqian's own club plan, Zhu Wenyun is indeed an indispensable and important figure, and the most important chief writer position must be her.

Even after being reborn for more than three years, Chen Junqian still hasn't figured out what career he wants to pursue in the future.

But one thing is certain.

He should... definitely never go back to working with words.

The achievement titled "[The Battleground is in Progress]" is also flashing a faint, bloodthirsty light today. Standing from God's perspective, it has once again noticed another domino in the chain, and it is still waiting for the day when everything is overthrown.

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

On the first weekend after the start of the new school year in September, Chen Junqian had two main things to do.

One of them is the production accident that was originally scheduled to happen tonight in the third workshop of the wear-resistant factory, which would change his entire fate in his previous life.

Frankly speaking, since he wasn't present in his previous life and was quite young, the adults naturally tended to gloss over the accident itself. However, judging from the casualties at the time and the fragmented marks of injury that Chen Junqian himself could still see after his parents were dressed and made up before cremation, it was likely that an employee made a mistake while operating a large machine and was accidentally caught in the accident. His parents were the victims of the accident, since both of them were long-time employees in the factory, and the former was the workshop director. They wouldn't usually operate the machines themselves.

The factory's announcement afterwards also mentioned other issues such as the machine's inherent aging problems and inadequate safety measures. The machine was at considerable risk at that time, or it was likely to reach its carrying capacity limit that night. So even though his parents were no longer at their posts in the workshop, there was a high probability that other victims would appear. This was the key reason why Chen Junqian chose to do this.

As for why he didn't inform the factory beforehand, it can only be said that before the specific incident actually occurred, the words of a kid like him who had never been to the workshop even once didn't carry much weight. Moreover, according to the accident investigation results, the employees at the time also had improper operation, and the combination of the two led to the accident. Therefore, in Chen Junqian's plan, there was still a small probability that the machine would malfunction tonight but no one would be hurt, and it would just be the same as before, where people would report the problem for repair.

If that's the case, then it's definitely the best.

Since the verification wouldn't be available until the evening, Chen Junqian held onto this thought or wish in a relatively relaxed manner while starting to deal with the second thing he needed to do that day, which was to buy a bicycle as promised to Xu Youwei.

Actually, if you think about it carefully, he often went grocery shopping with any of the three girls, but they bought different things. However, in the past year or so, he did go grocery shopping the most with Xu Youwei, since the two of them had to prepare for the end of the world.

When December 21, 2012, actually arrived, and before the rumors of the end of the world were truly proven false, the two of them would tacitly continue playing this role-playing game that they had been playing for almost two years.

"Qinqin, good afternoon—"

When it came to buying bicycles with Chen Junqian, Xu Youwei had completely shaken off the gloom she felt at school. She had transformed back into the energetic girl she knew best, the one who would take her all over the city after elementary school. As soon as she met Chen Junqian, she greeted him with great enthusiasm and then jogged over to stand beside him.

"Where to? Where to?"

"Let's find a brand's exclusive store. After all, we'll be using it for at least three years, so I feel like we should buy a sturdy one with good quality. Anyway, the budget my mom gave us is definitely enough."

"Yes, and please bring a seat!"

"Of course, let's go."

"By the way, I heard that if you ride a tricycle a lot, you might find it a bit difficult to learn to ride a bicycle. Is that true?"

"There will definitely be a little bit, since the two have different balance methods. But I'm pretty good at riding a bicycle. I can take you after I buy it today, believe it or not?"

"I believe you. As long as Qinqin dares to take me, I will definitely ride with her. When you were riding your tricycle around the countryside, I just rode with you. What's there to be afraid of?"

Speaking of this, Xu Youwei herself fell into thinking about a certain issue.

"But should I sit straddling or sideways later?"

"So that's what you were worried about?"

"Yes, because sitting straddling someone makes you look like a little kid. But the advantage is that I can hug Qinqin's waist from behind. Sitting sideways is a bit dangerous, but it makes me look more like an adult, and it looks better in photos."

"If it were today, I think Youyou should sit sideways."

Why?

Faced with Xu Youwei's question, Chen Junqian did not answer immediately. Instead, he reached out and held the girl's shoulders, and with a little force, turned her around. Her pale yellow skirt fluttered playfully in the wind with this movement.

"Because Youyou wore a very pretty dress today."

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Chapter Six: What You Know and What You Don't Know (Two Chapters)

The time in Gu Linguo's family is always out of sync. Although the three people live under the same roof, it is as if they live in different time zones on opposite sides of the ocean, especially for her father and mother.

However, it was only much later that Gu Lingguo realized that even without the time discrepancy, the two adults were intentionally avoiding each other.

While Father ate, Mother went to do other things.

She would only start eating after he left the table, and she always insisted on sitting at the opposite end of the table, as if she didn't want to sit in the chair her husband had just sat in.

He was on the balcony, and she was inside the house; he was inside the house, and she went up to the balcony. It was as if the two of them were enormous creatures far beyond what Gu Lingguo could observe. Whenever they stood together, their limbs would bump into each other uncomfortably, and there wasn't enough air above their heads for the two of them to share.

Even so, the two of them still lived under the same roof as husband and wife, forming a family of three together.

In fact, Gu Lingguo hadn't seen the two of them argue or quarrel for a long time. Just as she had described before, the result of such a thing would always be that both of them would forget what they were arguing about in the first place. Every time, her mother would treat her the same way, falling into the kind of situation where she would never apologize or speak, and would only watch the other person suffer to torment herself and the other person, dragging the situation into an unsolvable dead end.

Without a doubt, the statement "The only places you can cry are the bathroom and your father's arms" is a complete fallacy for Gu Linguo.

If we apply this to her family situation, it should be that 'the only place for Dad to cry is the bathroom.'

Even Gu Lingguo herself couldn't remember when it was, but she had heard her father's voice there once when she got up in the middle of the night.

It was the low, hoarse, quiet, and weary cry of a middle-aged man.

Therefore, from this perspective alone, the family's share of tears should have been used up by the two adults long ago. With no tears to store, no place to cry, and no reason to cry, Gu Lingguo has lost the ability, or rather, the right, to cry.

However, starting this month, Gu Linguo sensed something was amiss.

Because the two of them started having unnecessary contact again, like masochists who know the outcome will be the same but still rush headlong into it.