I turned reality into a romantic comedy.

"Ah."

With great interest, Chen Junqian took his own and quickly removed the outer packaging. However, what was revealed inside was not a specific planet, but a more magnificent galaxy composed of countless stars.

"Ah, Qianqian's is prettier than mine, I want to switch with yours!"

"Hey, Mu Mu already licked the one in your hand, okay?"

"Qianqian actually dislikes my saliva? I ate braised pork and gave you a piece of fatty meat before and you didn't say anything. At worst, you can lick this piece first and then we can switch."

Faced with Mu Mu's natural use of the "we've always been like this" card, Chen Junqian could only temporarily surrender. The main reason was that the brief tug-of-war had already attracted the attention of many other classmates. He felt that if two more rounds went on, Xu Youwei from the next class would hear some mysterious rumors before the next break and stage another scene like last year when school started. So he immediately reached out and made the exchange with Lin Mu, taking the Saturn lollipop from her.

"However, the taste was just average, just a regular lollipop."

After taking a bite, Chen Junqian quickly gave his evaluation.

"It's good-looking enough. The starry sky pattern inside is actually made of a layer of colored glutinous rice paper, but if you do it like that, the price doubles."

Seemingly noticing that the other classmates walking back to class with her were watching her, the little girl belatedly realized what she had just been doing and deliberately distanced herself a bit. With the lollipop in her mouth and her cheek naturally puffing out, Lin Mu crunched the candy with a snap.

My heart was beating even faster in that instant than when I stood up to answer a question during the open class.

She was shy.

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Chapter Thirty-Four: 2013 is the Springtime for Literary Girls (Part Two)

If we were to say which of the girls around Chen Junqian has the most theoretically free weekends, then the answer would undoubtedly be Zhu Wenyun.

The reason is actually quite simple.

Because the other party has never attended any training courses, tutoring classes, or hobby classes to this day.

Although the most common saying among middle school homeroom teachers is that with everyone's current level, it's not necessary to rely on that one percent of talent, and the results are still determined by personal effort, some students do have extraordinary learning talents. They can understand what others need to read three or four times to comprehend and apply it to other situations after just one reading. Zhu Wenyun is one such student.

Even if she weren't currently at Jinhe Middle School, which has a lower student quality, she would definitely be a top student at Ningzhong Middle School, a candidate for the special admission class. Therefore, she is even more famous at Jinhe Middle School and has already been given the title of "academic superstar" that has only become popular on the Internet in the last two years.

Good looks and good grades would be one thing, but even in terms of "street smarts," which is something that middle school students of this age care about, the other person is several streets ahead of them. Whether it's that he has actually fought three people in class, or that he didn't even get punished after the fight, or the true and false rumors that spread afterward, all of these things are constantly stirring up the students' hearts. At least every time Chen Junqian rides his bicycle to pick up Zhu Wenyun after school, he enjoys a very high level of attention.

To be honest, Chen Junqian sometimes felt that Zhu Wenyun's current situation was somewhat similar to that of the female protagonist in an anime called "Shugo Chara!" which he and Lin Mu had watched together before. However, Zhu Wenyun herself did not worry about or care as much as the female protagonist did about the fact that this was not her true self. Expanding her interpersonal relationships was a difficult thing for her in itself, so this was actually better, and it was a kind of peace and quiet on another level.

At least there won't be all sorts of guys trying to confess their feelings to her anymore.

In fact, ever since 2013, whenever Chen Junqian was with Zhu Wenyun, there was always a faintly shining idea in his mind, an achievement that was just one step away from being officially realized. Its name was "getting too into the role".

[Too immersed in the role]

Whether it's due to parental pressure to get married, peer comparisons, or the classic reason of avoiding an increasing number of suitors, the scenario of the male and female protagonists pretending to be lovers is a common trope in romantic comedies. This pseudo-relationship, resembling a marriage of convenience that blossoms into love, will inevitably turn out to be real in the end.

Of course, this may also be a common tactic used by some female protagonists who struggle to transition from friendship to romance. They deliberately play dumb from the beginning, pretending to be too immersed in the role to make the fake relationship real.

After all, who would want to play this game of pretending to be lovers with someone of the opposite sex with whom they have absolutely no feelings?

Condition for achievement: Pretend to be lovers with any female protagonist who is suited for romantic comedy.

As for the fact that this thing was just glowing but hadn't been officially triggered, Chen Junqian felt that it was mainly because the two of them hadn't reached a verbal agreement on this matter. Although there was indeed some intention in their actions, at least among the students in Jinzhong, he had heard similar rumors more than once, and everyone spoke with great certainty and conviction.

On Saturday morning, Chen Junqian, who also had no tutoring classes to attend, finished all his weekend homework at home and then rode his bicycle to Zhu Wenyun's place. This was a meeting the two had arranged in advance.

Everyone else has their own tutoring classes to attend today, and even Xu Youwei has to go to her professional painting class practice. Therefore, the club activity time that Chen Junqian mentioned on Monday is Sunday, which is tomorrow.

Of course, although Zhu Wenyun didn't have any training classes to attend, it didn't mean that her weekends were completely idle. If writing was considered work, then she was probably the only student among them who needed to work on weekends.

Chen Junqian actually visited Zhu Wenyun's house more often than he visited Lin Mu's house. This was mainly because the two families would visit each other, unlike Lin Mu's family. Unless Chen Junqian invited him or had something to do, Zhu Wenyun would almost never visit Chen Junqian's house on his own initiative. So, he was the one who came to Zhu Wenyun's house most of the time.

Moreover, compared to Lin Mu's kitchen, which he only used briefly for about a week a few years ago, Zhu Wenjun's stove has been used countless times with him. At least a quarter of the progress of the "feeding play" achievement was done here.

Spring after the New Year is always the time when Zhu Wenyun's family has no shortage of food and drinks to entertain guests. After all, in this era when New Year's gifts have not been completely dominated by yogurts such as Anmuxi and Moslian, the variety of gifts that can be received during the New Year is still quite rich. Zhu Wenyun specially opened a box of Zhenguoli for him and took the strawberry flavor that Chen Junqian likes the most.

Just as Chen Junqian had anticipated, Zhu Wenyun had indeed asked him to come over again for the matter of that idol-type teenage writer. After all, she really couldn't discuss this matter with her parents and grandmother, who knew nothing about this kind of thing, so it was basically just the two of them communicating, and today was no exception.

"The editor's suggestion is that I shouldn't participate in the provincial-level essay competition this year, but instead register for the New Concept Essay Competition."

"The New Concept Writing Competition... Does your editorial department really want to create another Han Han and Guo Jingming?"

Upon hearing Zhu Wenyun mention the term "New Concept Writing Competition," Chen Junqian's mind immediately conjured up images of this competition, often referred to as the Chinese Language Olympics, and several names that had distinguished themselves in previous editions, including Han Han, the first-prize winner of the first edition, and Guo Jingming, the first-prize winner of the third and fourth editions.

"Yes, because I'm old enough to qualify for Group B."

Like ordinary essay competitions, the New Concept Essay Competition is also divided into three groups according to age: Group A for current senior high school students and junior high school students, Group B for junior high school students and junior high school students, and a youth group for those under 30 years old who are not middle school students.

"What does Wenjun think?"

"I must participate. The editors mean that I must at least pass the preliminary test to enter the second round, and they believe in my abilities."

Unlike the provincial-level essay competitions that Zhu Wenyun and Chen Junqian had participated in, this national essay competition was, in fact, a competition where only a few hundred out of tens of thousands of people were selected in the preliminary round. So even Zhu Wenyun herself couldn't help but feel that the editors were being a bit naive and insensitive when they said this.

"...Could you come with me?"

After hesitating for a moment, Zhu Wenyun still asked the question to the boy in front of her who was drinking strawberry-flavored fruit juice with a straw, and immediately received a reply without hesitation:

"I will not participate."

To be honest, after his rebirth, Chen Junqian never had any intention of developing in the literary field that had shattered his dreams in his previous life, nor did he ever think that he had the talent in this area. He participated in the essay competition twice, once to accompany Zhu Wenyun and the other time to create a literary society. The results also proved his thoughts. After all, if it weren't for the second time when he was given a topic that suited his performance by sheer luck, he felt that winning the first prize would have been quite difficult.

Why?

However, to Chen Junqian's surprise, as soon as he said his answer, Zhu Wenyun suddenly became agitated and questioned him back.

"Because I wasn't interested in the first place, and besides, it was Yun herself who asked for it..."

Chen Junqian subconsciously continued to answer, but before he could finish saying the words "the road to take," the other person had already reached out and covered his mouth, and unconsciously moved closer to him, looking at him with a slightly dazed gaze.

Suddenly brought to this close proximity, Chen Junqian could understand why his first rumor had started with the girl in front of him. In terms of both height and appearance, she was indeed the most mature among her peers, having almost completely shed the childishness she had shown when they first met a few years ago, and seemed no different from a sixteen or seventeen-year-old high school student.

"...I don't want to hear you say those things."

He could hear the girl in front of him muttering very softly.

However, the other person quickly released the hand that had been covering his lips, as if activating some remote control or strange app, and spoke very seriously to Chen Junqian:

"Let's put it another way, okay? Just repeat after me."

As she spoke, Zhu Wenyun muttered to herself again:

"Let's talk about it after you win first prize in the New Concept Writing Competition."

Although he didn't understand what the other person meant at all, seeing Zhu Wenyun staring at him like that, Chen Junqian still complied with her idea and repeated the sentence:

"Well, let's talk about it when you win first prize in the New Concept Writing Competition."

"it is good--"

As if receiving a divine message from a supreme deity that needed to be conveyed and carried out, Zhu Wenyun, instantly brimming with energy, even raised her voice again as she made this promise to Chen Junqian, who still seemed out of touch with reality:

I will do it!

"Ah, um... okay, I trust Wenyun."

Since things had come to this point, Chen Junqian thought it best to take advantage of the situation and pat the other person's head again to refresh the progress of the "head pat kill" achievement. As he subconsciously reached out his hand, this thought naturally came to his mind.

The literary girl is indeed an awkward character in every sense of the word.

We did it right away.

For Zhu Wenyun, who is known for her exceptional drive, once she has decided to do something, all that remains is to work tirelessly towards that goal.

After communicating and confirming with the editor, she quickly obtained the re-examination questions and outstanding winning sample essays from previous years' New Concept Writing Competitions, in order to grasp some of the judges' preferences in terms of questions and style.

Compared to the essay competitions they had participated in before, the New Concept Essay Competition, which emphasizes new thinking, new expression, and new experience, has very few restrictions on topics, genres, and word counts. The only requirement for the preliminary round is that the essay must be under 5,000 words. In the past two years, the topics for the second round have been a choice between two options. For example, the topics for the 14th New Concept Essay Competition that just ended last year were "Han Han" and "Searching is not done with the eyes".

For ordinary middle school students at this age who are still struggling to write essays of a few hundred words and need to repeatedly pad out the word count, the New Concept Writing Competition is indeed an unattainable event. Even though the final winners can gain early attention and even admission to major universities in China, Guoning has never had a single student pass the preliminary test and advance to the final round. As a result, the Chinese language teachers at Guoning don't even mention this aspect, let alone provide guidance or training.

However, the editors at Fireworks magazine were quite familiar with Zhu Wenyun's situation and quickly offered to introduce her to an experienced teacher in the chat room. The preliminary submission period for the New Concept Writing Competition is from April to November each year. Submitters only need to attach the registration form from the back of the Sprout magazine to register and submit their work. The second round of the competition is at the end of the year, so there is still plenty of time.

"Wenjun is from Anhui, right? If you don't have time during the summer vacation because of school, you can come to Hefei. The teacher I found for you, Teacher Zhang, is a veteran teacher at Hefei No. 50 Middle School. He has trained many promising students and is a very nice person. Our editorial department can also reimburse part of your travel and accommodation expenses."

It seems they really intend to spend a lot on Zhu Wenyun. Faced with the editor's arrangement, Zhu Wenyun had no reason to refuse, even though she had been thinking about going on a trip with Chen Junqian this summer last year.

But thinking about it the other way around, it seems like this training could also be considered an opportunity?

"Okay, thank you, editor."

After typing and sending the message, Zhu Wenyun immediately turned to look at Chen Junqian beside her, just like she did two years ago when she went to Xuancheng alone to participate in the competition. She hadn't said a word, but it seemed like she had already said everything.

"...Okay, I'll go with you during summer vacation, okay?"

Chen Junqian had no choice but to agree somewhat reluctantly, but then another thing suddenly came to mind.

Hefei No. 50 Middle School.

If he remembers correctly, the Anhui team for the first "Chinese Character Dictation Competition," which will be held this summer, seems to be composed of students from this middle school.

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Chapter 35: What We Want Is a Tiger (Group Number Available in This Chapter)

Thinking about it carefully, this seems to be the first time Chen Junqian has led Guo Ning's childhood friends on an outdoor group activity. Before, they would just hold study sessions at home, and the spring and autumn outings they went on together were all organized by the school. Moreover, since the group was not entirely in the same class, except for the last trip to Jingting Mountain, they basically went on separate activities.

To be honest, now that he's in middle school, Chen Junqian isn't as eager to try and trigger the "Scandal Field in Progress" achievement as he was in elementary school.

Firstly, the first few rewards of the system achievement milestones have already been obtained, and the next milestone's mention of correcting the world's will seems rather unclear. Therefore, in terms of subjective reward motivation, it will naturally be much weaker.

Secondly, as the girls around him grew older, Chen Junqian gradually realized that if he tried to actively trigger a so-called "battlefield," what he would get in return might not be the classic scenes he enjoyed in romantic comedies, but rather genuine emotional entanglements. Although it wouldn't amount to the kind of family dramas that aired at 8 pm, involving things like tearing hair and slapping people, kids of this age are indeed not afraid to say things that could be very hurtful.

However, once certain words or actions are spoken or performed, they will inevitably create irreparable rifts and scars in the relationships between the individuals, ultimately preventing a happy ending for all of them. This is the key reason why Chen Junqian is trying his best to avoid such incidents and to firmly maintain control in his interactions with each person.

To be fair, even without knowing about the mysterious childhood friends alliance that had been established for almost a year, Chen Junqian still felt that at least the atmosphere of Guo Ning's trio together was relatively harmonious. This was the result of his tireless efforts. After all, from the earliest study groups to the club activities at school, the girls who had known each other for three or four years had spent a considerable amount of time together, and their relationship could definitely be described as that of friends.

Among these three, if Chen Junqian had to pick a central figure, it would undoubtedly be Lin Mu. After all, she had a good relationship with Xu Youwei and had known Zhu Wenyun for a longer time. Moreover, given her personality, she was quite suitable to be the central figure connecting the three, just like the scene where she was leading Xu Youwei and Zhu Wenyun into the exquisitely decorated shop in a protagonist's manner.

Of course, this might also be because she is indeed one of the main characters here.

As Guoning's first flagship store of Three Fierce Dogs, it can be said that everything went smoothly from top to bottom, from policy to construction. The store's decoration and location are impeccable. It faces the KFC next door, which also belongs to Chen Junqian and Chen Xi's family, which can be regarded as fulfilling Chen Junqian's childhood wish to eat fried chicken, hamburgers and snacks all he wants.

Turning his head, Chen Junqian glanced again at the logo and the Three Squirrels cartoon image printed on the shop sign. In the original timeline, they were a duo of one woman and two men, named Xiao Mei, Xiao Jian, and Xiao Ku.