I turned reality into a romantic comedy.

"Yes, at least we don't have to worry about running into them when they come back. We have plenty of time and it's safer. It feels like there won't be a good opportunity like this for a while, so we really can't miss it."

Gu Linguo nodded firmly in agreement with Chen Xi's somewhat impatient suggestion, expressing her stance.

Although she had always felt that Shen Nianqiu's personality problems might be more serious, since he was away from Guoning most of the time, it would be beyond her reach to investigate. Therefore, it would be best to start with Xu Youwei for now.

To be honest, before truly realizing that the other party was hiding such a secret, Gu Lingguo's priority rating for Xu Youwei was always below Zhu Wenjun and Lin Mu. This was because, in every aspect, the other party always gave her a feeling of being neither too high nor too low. She was easy to understand in every way. After all, Lin Mu herself had several diaries that no one else had ever read. She never expected that such a side was hidden beneath her outward personality. It almost made her willing to raise her rating by one place.

"But how do I get in? Breaking into someone else's house without their permission would definitely make me look like a burglar if I got caught."

However, even though he had already made the decision to investigate the old house while the other party was away from Guoning, Chen Xi was still a little unsure about the specifics of how to do it.

"How about we go in openly and honestly? We can bypass Sister Youwei and go directly to her father, and try to get the house key from him."

“It doesn’t seem likely… After all, we’re not very familiar with her father, and even if Xu Youwei’s father doesn’t know exactly what his daughter is doing in the house, he definitely knows that Xu Youwei is currently using that house. If my brother goes to ask for it, there might be a chance, but it’s unlikely for me, since he doesn’t know me.”

"Then let's go ask my brother's mother for help?"

"There's no good reason, is there? Are we supposed to tell Auntie that we suspect someone is doing something strange in your old house? It doesn't seem convincing at all, and besides, we really don't know what Xu Youwei is doing in there. Our only clue..."

As he spoke, Chen Xi pulled out a fragment of photographic paper from his pocket:

"Look, it's just the one we found before."

“I’ve already seen their graduation photos from my brother’s class. This should be part of it. We found it at her door, so this is most likely the graduation photo that Xu Youwei got. But judging from the situation, she probably cut out everyone else.”

"It sounds like something a yandere character would do."

Faced with her best friend's sentimental remarks, Chen Xi tilted her head in confusion again:

"What do you mean?"

"It's that kind of weirdo who likes someone so much that he wants to collect all their personal belongings and traces of their past, and wants to imprison them by his side and not allow them to come into contact with anyone other than himself."

After Gu Lingguo finished explaining, the little girl next to her subconsciously shrank back.

"Is this... really that exaggerated? I don't think Hsu Yu-Wei would do something like that."

“Yandere characters don’t start out like this. Everything develops gradually, and Yuwei is no exception. If left unattended, she might end up like this. After all, no normal person would think of cutting out two people from a graduation photo separately. And I have a strong feeling that there’s more to that old house than just this. There might be something even more exciting that we never even imagined.”

"Even...even more exciting?"

"Yes, for example, there's a doll or pillow with her brother's name printed on it, and the walls are covered with photos of her brother that she secretly took. Every night she lies there hugging the doll, looking at the photos, and talking to herself about things like, 'We'll never be apart.' Or there are some little figures or something. Don't you like reading these kinds of scary stories, Sister Youwei?"

However, Chen Xi was still a little intimidated by Gu Lingguo's ability to describe such behavior in such detail so naturally. After all, the subject of the other party's address was always "brother," and anyone who didn't know better would think that she herself held such a view.

However, Gu Lingguo didn't notice this and continued talking about the things she imagined Xu Youwei might do, things she had of course also considered:

“She definitely has a lot of video footage of my brother. Didn’t we already find out some of it when we were filming the VCR? And although we keep saying it’s an old house, I’m sure the place where she did these things and put these things is in my brother’s old room. The bed she’s lying on is definitely the one my brother slept in for more than ten years. Maybe she even deliberately replicated the original layout of the room. Plus, she’s done things like writing on other people’s things before, so there’s a lot of scary things written on those photos related to my brother.”

Listening to Gu Lingguo's description, Chen Xi even felt a chill in the evening breeze. She had initially become curious about her brother's childhood sweetheart simply because of the invisible pen writing on the bottle, but now the situation seemed to be heading in some kind of folk horror direction. And her brother's pet wasn't a talking dog, but a harmless kitten!

Why isn't Xixi saying anything?

After delivering her thoughts at length, Gu Linguo noticed that Chen Xi had been silent for quite some time, so she turned her head and asked him a question.

"Hmm... I'm thinking."

The little girl, whose tone had become somewhat timid, also seemed to be lost in thought.

"Even if we do get into that house, what can we do? Tell my brother about it? Tell him that Xu Youwei has always liked you? No way."

"Should we go talk to Xu Youwei and tell her that we already know you like my brother and that you're not allowed to like him anymore? Of course, that won't work either. After all, no one has said that she can't like my brother, right? Besides, if it's just one person thinking about it, it's not considered puppy love. It's just a crush. It's not appropriate for me to tell Auntie."

After Gu Linguo's description, Chen Xi felt as if she had already been to the other party's house, so her mind jumped to the matter of cleaning up the mess. Only then did she belatedly realize that there was really nothing she could do, and she even felt that the two of them were helping the two of them to break through the last layer of the window paper.

"That's not right."

Gu Linguo immediately rejected her best friend's somewhat negative idea.

"Actually, what matters is never what we can do, but what we know. Being informed is the most important thing. Only in this way can we have a psychological expectation of what Sister Youwei wants to do, what she will do, and what she will do in the future, and then make the right choice when necessary. This is the importance of information gap."

At this point, Gu Linguo again urged Chen Xi to add something:

"After all, Xixi wouldn't want her brother to be kidnapped by Sister Youwei one day, would she?"

"She's not my sister, I don't have a sister... None of them are my sisters."

Although it might sound a bit childish, this is indeed Chen Xi's true thought. That's why she never calls Gu Lingguo "sister xx" like she does. After all, they are only about a year apart, and she usually calls her by her first name. She has no intention of making herself into a bunch of older sisters out of thin air.

Because some people genuinely seem to want to be her older sister, or treat her like a younger sister.

But what kind of person does my brother want to date?

The younger sister definitely should have a say.

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

Xu Youwei, unaware that Chen Xi and Gu Linguo were about to break into her private hideout, was undoubtedly in a very good mood today, especially after officially boarding the plane to Beijing.

Looking out the airplane window, the clouds in the sky were thick, clusters upon clusters, but without any clear shape. They were constantly changing, never staying in one place, their outlines blending rather ambiguously into the azure background.

A child, probably only six or seven years old, sitting next to Xu Youwei was leaning against the windowsill, pointing excitedly at the clouds outside and saying to his mother:

"Mom, look, this cloud looks like a flower, this one looks like our little dog, and this one looks like a broom..."

Although Hsu Yu-wei couldn't discern any fixed shape from the clouds the other person was pointing to, perhaps it was precisely this uncertain existence that made people associate it with something.

People are simply projecting their emotions onto these tiny water vapor aggregates. Once they realize this, when they look at these clouds, a girl who is gazing intently at the clouds with her chin in her hand will naturally think of those fluffy cotton candy, of that night at the fireworks festival, and of the boy reaching out to wipe the sugar strands off the girl's lips. A smile gradually appears on her face.

In the formless realm, shapes are depicted through tangible will, and one's own vision is placed upon them. Whether it is clouds or stars, they are created into objects or constellations. This is the unique imagination of humankind, or rather, the beautiful vision that one makes for oneself.

Upon arriving at the Beijing airport, Chen Junqian, who was already waiting in the waiting area, smoothly picked up Xu Youwei. After calling her father to let him know she was safe, he naturally pushed Xu Youwei's luggage with one hand and held her hand with the other.

"Come on, let's take Youyou to eat first. You must be hungry."

"Well, let's go."

Xu Zhiling did not come in person this time. After all, summer vacation is always a holiday for students, and adults do not take a holiday with them. As for his daughter's safety, he directly entrusted it to Chen Junqian and his son, who were in Beijing.

The reason they are referred to as father and son is that Chen Jun, who lives in Tangshan, Hebei, is not particularly far from Beijing. After hearing that his son was participating in the Chinese Character Dictation Competition in Beijing and had made a great name for himself, he took leave to come and see him. Having an adult by his side always makes him feel much more at ease, which is why Xu Zhiling was able to send Xu Youwei over alone.

"By the way, isn't Yoyo's birthday coming up soon?"

"Well, it's about the day after tomorrow. The reason I was able to come to Beijing this time is because I used up my birthday wish on my dad. Actually, I don't usually use this, so I guess that's why he agreed so readily."

Xu Youwei's birthday is August 10th every year. Unlike Lin Mu, who only celebrates her birthday according to the lunar calendar, Xu Youwei always celebrates it on August 10th. And right now it's August 8th, which is one of the reasons she chose to come and find Chen Junqian. After all, she has spent her birthday with Chen Junqian for the past few years, and she has to do it again this year.

After leaving the airport, Chen Junqian found a small restaurant nearby with a good reputation and sat down. He skillfully ordered dishes according to the two of them. Then, he turned his head and saw Xu Youwei sitting opposite him, playing with the horoscope machine on the table with great interest.

This is a common type of large, oval-shaped jar in this era, with a semi-transparent dome on top. Inside, it is filled with various small gifts packaged in colorful plastic bags or cardboard boxes. The machine is printed with the twelve constellations and dates. You only need to insert a one-yuan coin into the coin slot on the side to twist out a small gift and today's horoscope prediction. It's a bit like a gashapon machine or a blind box.

"August 10th... Yoyo, you're a Leo, right?"

"That's right, the end of July, the prelude to August, you're a Leo—"

While humming these two lines of lyrics, Xu Youwei took out a one-yuan coin from her pocket and put it in. Soon, she received a small gift with a fortune prediction for the day written on it.

It can only be said that after the Chinese almanac's prediction of today's zodiac sign became inaccurate, Youyou has already embraced the twelve constellations, a trend of Western learning spreading eastward. Judging from this, in another ten years she will be studying MBTI.

Leos will have good luck this week.

She will also have good luck.

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

Chapter 50: I Want to Paint You My Color (Part 2)

Although Xu Youwei came to Beijing specifically to see Chen Junqian, Chen Junqian didn't really have much time to accompany her on a proper sightseeing tour, especially with the semi-finals of the "Chinese Character Dictation Competition" scheduled to begin recording live tomorrow.

However, Xu Youwei herself was also aware of this, so her small request was simply to stay by his side, in order to ensure that she would not disturb his study preparation.

In Xu Youwei's own words, even just sitting there watching Chen Junqian practice the combination of strokes and related knowledge of various Chinese characters and words would be very satisfying for her, even if there was no specific exchange of words between the two of them.

Xu Youwei, who doesn't cause trouble, is indeed one of the most well-behaved girls. The saying about the Tiger Talisman is essentially just a joke. The real reason why Xu Youwei has this somewhat dual personality is due to a series of family changes. Her so-called well-behavedness was actually just an indifferent attitude of not wanting to respond to anything in the world.

Of course, completely opposite to her state of not wanting to hear, see, or say anything back then, Xu Youwei has now also shed some of the shadows of the past. Time is indeed not a panacea for all wounds, but the panacea for wounds is certainly hidden within time, and this is true for everyone.

That's why Chen Junqian didn't return to his original hotel today. Instead, he stayed in a single room at another hotel that his father had booked for Xu Youwei, making final preparations for the semi-finals of the dictation competition that would begin tomorrow.

He wasn't particularly worried about Shen Nianqiu and Zhu Wenjun's situation, because the semi-finals weren't just his own. All three of them were busy preparing for it. Even when Xu Youwei wasn't there, the three of them, who were staying in the same hotel, would only meet and chat during meals and when the show was airing.

While Chen Junqian was reviewing the words in the Modern Chinese Dictionary word by word in his mind and on paper, Xu Youwei was also leaning against the sofa next to her, head down, writing and drawing in a book. However, what she was holding was not a large Chinese dictionary, but a coloring book called "Secret Garden: A Hand-drawn Coloring Book for Exploring Wonderland," which her art teacher had specially brought back from abroad for her.

Xu Youwei has always been drawn to coloring books. Ever since Chen Junqian first met her, she has enjoyed playing with coloring books or sand coloring books during her free time between classes. However, unlike the coloring books that tested visual perception rather than drawing skills and the simple sand coloring books, this adult coloring book, which topped the Amazon bestseller list overseas, is obviously more complex and tests the reader's aesthetic sense and coloring skills.

After all, a coloring book is essentially just a bunch of pre-printed black and white line patterns. All the reader has to do is color them. But in reality, Chen Junqian doesn't have the computer he used to play on in his computer class without internet access. The "drawing" function in the mini-program has a one-click coloring function, so each color must be filled and colored by the reader himself. Therefore, it is also quite effective in training patience.

Just as there are a thousand Hamlets in a thousand readers' eyes, when faced with the same pattern composed of black and white lines, everyone's ideas and plans for coloring are different. A peacock with its tail feathers spread can be colored green or blue, but in the hands of Xu Youwei, whose mood is as bright as the sunshine outside the sky today, it is colored with dazzling seven colors, and every tail feather proudly radiates a charming light.

After two hours of this tacit agreement of not disturbing each other, Chen Junqian stretched and stood up to loosen his limbs. He then walked over to Xu Youwei, glanced at the painting in her hand that was almost finished with color, and took the initiative to strike up a conversation with her:

"nice."

"Well, the teacher asked me to use this to practice using and mastering the skills of color. The Chinese character dictation competition that Qinqin is participating in should also include vocabulary related to this."

"Yes, we've had questions on 'texturing strokes' in painting and 'indigo' in color. I just don't know if they'll be tested again in the semi-finals."

As he spoke, Chen Junqian took the initiative to chat with Xu Youwei about the semi-finals that would be held the next day.

"I've already spoken with Teacher Zhang. She's the coach leading the Anhui team this time. The Anhui team is also performing tomorrow, so tomorrow morning, Youyou, come to my hotel with my dad before nine o'clock. Then, go to the recording venue with the Anhui team in the lobby on the first floor. You two are one of my few supporters."

Xu Youwei nodded at first, but after hearing the last sentence, she pouted:

"I don't believe that your support group only consists of me and my uncle. There are clearly support groups for you online, Qinqin. If it weren't for the fact that you can't hold up signs at the recording of the show, there might have been audience members holding up all sorts of light boards to cheer you on."

"The friends and family group is different from the support group. After all, I don't know them. But the friends and family group will get screen time. Yoyo will most likely be on camera."

"Tch... I don't care about that."

Although they said it with a touch of arrogance, both Chen Junqian and Xu Youwei knew very well that the other/themselves had come to Beijing specifically for this reason. After all, Lin Mu and Zhu Wenyun had already appeared on television, and for Xu Youwei, who was quite competitive, this was definitely a fact that she couldn't easily accept.

"I'm just here to cheer Qinqin on."

After saying this, Xu Youwei quickly revealed her true thoughts:

"...So what kind of introduction will the production team give me?"

Chen Jun goes without saying; he'll just be referred to as 'Chen Junqian's father'. But Xu Youwei seems quite concerned about what title she'll be given when she appears backstage as part of the family and friends group.

At least he should be better than Lin Mu, that nobody who's basically Chen Junqian's classmate. If it weren't for the fact that he habitually called him "Qianqian" during the recording, and the production team had to add a "(Chen Junqian)" explanation in the subtitles later, it would have been fine to just have any other ordinary classmate read those lines. Otherwise, Mu Mu in Guoning wouldn't still be holding a grudge about it.

Especially after the second episode featuring Zhu Wenyun aired, thanks to a certain old man who always linked every sentence to Chen Junqian, the two have become the most orthodox childhood sweethearts or mentor-student relationship in the current online discussions. If it weren't for the serious tone and atmosphere of the show itself and the fact that the two are not very old, there would probably already be related CP creations by now.

"I can't really say for sure. I feel like they're probably friends? After all, Youyou can't really be considered my classmate anymore."

"Friends... that's fine too, they're better than classmates anyway."