I turned reality into a romantic comedy.

Because physics and chemistry experiments account for a portion of the score in their middle school entrance exam, Guoning Middle School doesn't simply remove the experiment-related parts to save time. Basically, teachers will take students to the lab to participate in the relevant experiments covered in the junior high school physics and chemistry textbooks. However, unlike romantic comedies where a stereotypical female lead is always wearing a white lab coat, has dark circles under her eyes, and likes to brew coffee in a beaker, this lab is more like a place where no one is allowed to go in except for class.

In Chen Junqian's memory, what he remembered most about his junior high school chemistry lab classes was the various flame tests. Putting all sorts of metals into all sorts of solutions to watch their chemical reactions was even more exciting than watching fireworks outside.

A few days after watching the game, in late September, Chen Junqian's new phone finally arrived smoothly—the iPhone 5s, which Apple had just launched this year.

He bought the latest Apple model not because he was an Apple fan, but simply because he needed to shoot new videos. After all, unlike previous Apple phones and other phones, this Apple model added fingerprint recognition and officially unlocked the fingerprint unlocking feature. Almost all subsequent phones have adopted this design.

However, the only thing that bothered Chen Junqian was that he had overlooked the differences between Apple and Android devices, whether it was the style of the charger or the memory card slot.

In other words, his original plan to transfer the memory card from his first-generation phone to the new phone was not feasible. However, since it was the same phone number he had been using for several years, and it contained his chat history with many people, he was reluctant to just get a new one. So, he finally settled on a compromise: he would continue to use his original first-generation phone for daily use, while the newly purchased Apple would be used as his work phone for the time being.

This was probably good news that would give Zhu Wenyun a huge sigh of relief upon hearing it.

Just as Chen Junqian began preparing for his trip to Beijing to participate in the finals of the Dictation Competition in late September, another piece of news that left him somewhat amused and exasperated came with the airing of the latest episode.

Following him and Zhu Wenyun, Guo Ning is the third middle school student in history to make a striking appearance on a CCTV television program.

born.

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

PS2: Something came up and I missed a thousand words, but I'll make up for it in the next chapter.

PS3: Actually, the second match of the group stage between OMG and SKT was the first World Championship I ever watched. It was when Cool's Syndra solo killed Faker's Ahri, but the opponent practiced E all the way up from the first tower to the high ground. That left a deep impression on me when I was still in junior high school.

Chapter 79: The King of Expressions! (Two-in-One)

Although Chen Junqian and Zhu Wenyun have been back in Guoning for classes for almost a month, the seven-person group they created during the summer vacation is still active. They still connect to the same voice chat channel every Friday night to watch the latest episode together, just like during the summer vacation.

The "Chinese Character Dictation Competition," which airs once a week, featured its semi-final episode in late September. It was the episode that Xu Youwei herself went to Beijing as part of Chen Junqian's support group to participate in the live recording. Because of this, even before the show officially aired, Youyou had already started muttering in the voice channel about whether she could appear on camera.

At least the time should be longer than that of Mu Mu, who only appeared in the VCR with the minor title of "Chen Junqian's classmate".

As Xu Youwei silently prayed, the first shot backstage quickly appeared as she wished, followed by the host's narration:

"As you can see, Chen Junqian, who performed exceptionally well in the preliminary rounds of our show and has a huge online following, has also come to the recording studio today with his family and friends. This is Chen Junqian's father, and his friends who came all the way from Guoning to cheer him on."

Xu Youwei, who had successfully gotten a line of introduction and a shot, didn't even have time to be happy before she saw herself on the TV screen again, even in a close-up, clapping and cheering for Chen Junqian who had just answered a question correctly.

"Does Vivi get so much screen time?"

"Did some of Sister Youwei's fans infiltrate the production team?"

"It seems like a lot of the backstage friends and family members were cut off during this event."

After this happened twice, the other people in the chat channel also noticed this, and they all spoke up, some teasing and some joking. However, Xu Youwei didn't feel any pressure at all and accepted everything they said.

"It's probably because Qinqin is very popular, so my group of friends and family members were also taken care of. It's like how Sister Shen's Zhejiang team is also very popular, so the Zhejiang team has a lot of backing."

"Indeed, it makes a lot of sense. But Youyou was much more engrossed in watching it than I expected. She's very emotionally invested. If I didn't already know the outcome, I probably would have been nervous along with you."

Because Chen Junqian was also recording the show in front of the stage at the time, it was also the first time he had seen Xu Youwei's specific reaction backstage. While saying this, he looked at the various expressions on the other party on the TV and felt that all sorts of meme images and words such as "Girl praying", "How dare you talk to Qinqin like that, how many mothers do you have?" and "Will win" were already popping into his mind. After the show airs tonight and the online resources are released, he must take a good screenshot, make his own meme, and share it in the group.

In 2013, emoticons had long become an integral part of online chatting. Apart from animal emoticons and cute or abstract ones like the panda head from rage comics, real-life emoticons also accounted for a considerable usage rate. Examples include Kim Jong-un's big laugh, Yao Ming's face, or screenshots of real-life expressions taken from various variety shows such as "The Voice of China" and "Happy Camp," all of which were widely used.

However, as Chen Junqian continued watching with this thought in mind, he suddenly realized that the production team seemed to have the same idea. Throughout the entire semi-final, Xu Youwei's various vivid and lively expressions were all captured by the camera. Combined with the production team's superb editing and post-production techniques, it was hard not to leave a deep impression. So much so that before the show even ended, he had already jokingly predicted:

"Yoyo, I think she's about to become a hit, um, I mean her emojis."

"...Uh, uh, I didn't notice it at all at the time."

If it were just her friends teasing her, Xu Youwei could have remained calm. But when things got to this point, she felt like crying. After all, she never wanted to become a comedian or any kind of funny character. In the end, if a face makes people want to laugh, wouldn't it make confessing her feelings even more difficult?

"I've already seen someone using it. Don't worry, I'll share it in the group right away."

"Quickly forward this, I need to save it—"

"Will Vivi be at the finals?"

The other girls also seemed to enjoy watching the drama unfold, but Lin Mu was the only one who asked that question.

"Of course we have to go! Even if Youyou doesn't go herself, the production team will probably have to cover her travel expenses to invite her to participate. But what about you guys? Do you want to come along?"

Faced with Chen Junqian's invitation, Zhu Wenyun and Shen Nianqiu, who were already going to Beijing to participate in the competition, naturally did not need to answer. He mainly asked about Lin Mu, Gu Linguo, and his sister, but quickly received three negative answers.

"Even though it's National Day, I have to go to tutoring classes... Waaah, physics is so hard, chemistry is so hard, studying is so hard..."

"I'm also in a tutoring class, and my mom wouldn't feel comfortable letting me go to such a far place as Beijing alone. It's even more unrealistic for her to accompany me. Anyway, it'll be a live broadcast, so I'll cheer for you, senior, from Guoning."

“I could have gone, but my mom called me a couple of days ago and said she was coming back for the National Day holiday. My dad also said he would take some time during the National Day holiday to come back from Xinjiang to persuade my mom in person, so I couldn’t go.”

After listening to the three people's answers, Chen Junqian was also a little disappointed, because he really wanted to receive cheers from everyone at the final competition.

"So, only Youyou will come?"

"Alright—just like in the semifinals."

Unlike Lin Mu, who enrolled in more and more tutoring classes after entering junior high school, Xu Youwei's number of tutoring classes is much less than in elementary school. She is currently only taking painting classes, which she has been taking since elementary school. Therefore, her schedule is much more flexible. Upon hearing this, she quickly nodded in agreement.

After making this decision, the group chatted and laughed as they shared the newly released Xu Youwei emoji packs before going offline or lurking. Chen Junqian himself began to closely monitor the trends on the internet.

His prediction was indeed correct. After the program aired that night, the popularity of a certain "Youyou" student began to ferment and grow rapidly on relevant online forums and message boards. By the time Chen Junqian woke up after a good night's sleep, various reports and press releases had already been published. If one were to randomly select one of them, it would be something like this:

[A "King of Expressions" appeared backstage at a dictation competition; every smile and frown became a viral meme!]

The furrowed brows and prayers when nervous, the jubilation and cheers when answering correctly, and other vivid and lively expressions... these genuine reactions unexpectedly made an ordinary girl the "biggest winner" of this year's Chinese Character Dictation Competition.

This Friday night, after the national semi-finals of the "Chinese Character Dictation Competition" aired on CCTV-1, not only did the contestants' wonderful performances spark heated discussions, but a special "backstage supporter" unexpectedly became an internet sensation—a girl affectionately known as the "Expression Queen" by netizens, Xu, a student from Guoning.

Just three hours after the show aired, a series of vivid expressions she made while watching the competition were captured and turned into memes, which went viral on social media platforms.

During the competition that evening, when the camera panned across the contestants' friends and family, a girl dressed casually quickly caught the audience's attention. She stared intently at the stage, her expression constantly changing as the competition progressed.

When the contestant she supported successfully wrote "黼国黻家", she excitedly clenched her fists and her eyes smiled into two crescent moons; when the contestant struggled with the writing of "耒耜", she unconsciously frowned and pursed her lips; when she saw her friends and family cheering for the contestant on stage because of the word "rainbow trout", her subtle "that's it?" smile was equally amusing.

These unvarnished, genuine reactions were captured by viewers and paired with humorous captions, quickly becoming popular memes on WeChat, Weibo, and QQ groups. Related topics also climbed into the top ten of Weibo's trending topics after the show aired, garnering over 3000 million views.

According to reporters, this student, Xu, is actually Xu Youwei, a classmate and friend of Chen Junqian, a contestant in the 100-person team and a favorite to win this year's Chinese Character Dictation Competition, who also enjoys high popularity online. Xu Youwei comes from the junior high school division of Guoning Middle School in Guoning City, Anhui Province. As a member of the support group, she traveled all the way from Guoning to Beijing to cheer on her classmate and friend.

Her friend, Chen, who was also a contestant that night, told reporters: "Youwei has always been my good friend. When I was participating in the competition, I felt much more at ease thinking about the gentle encouragement she gave me backstage."

According to staff members of the production team, the area where Hsu Yu-Wei's family and friends were located was indeed the "most infectious" area on set that day, as her reactions influenced the emotions of everyone around her.

When analyzing this phenomenon, Professor Wang, an educational psychologist, pointed out: "The popularity of the 'Expression Queen' actually reflects the audience's desire for genuine emotional expression. In the highly competitive competition, she showed the purest friendship and sense of collective honor among teenagers, and this emotional resonance cannot be replaced by any performance."

"This also shows that the Chinese Character Dictation Competition is not just a competition of knowledge, but also a window to showcase the spirit of young people. The children compete in wisdom on the field and spread warmth in the audience, which precisely reflects the warmth and humanistic care of education," Professor Wang added.

The program's producers stated that this unexpected popularity reflects the media's broad influence, but they will guide the public to focus more on the cultural connotations of the program rather than excessively focusing on individual participants.

As the final of the Chinese Character Dictation Competition approaches, more and more viewers are looking forward to whether this "Queen of Expressions" will appear in the family and friends section again, and what wonderful meme material she will bring.

However, there is no doubt that in this attention economy era, Xu Youwei, with her most genuine emotional expression, unintentionally showcased the immersive experience of the new generation of teenagers watching the games, becoming a bright spot in serious cultural programs.

Her rise to fame was not the result of a scheme, but a genuine victory—in an era where everyone meticulously cultivates their image, what touches people's hearts most is often unadorned authenticity.

This year's Chinese Character Dictation Competition not only allowed us to rediscover the beauty of Chinese characters, but also showed us the most beautiful aspect of youth: striving for knowledge, cheering for our peers, and expressing undisguised joy and regret!

This is reporter XXX reporting for you.

Hmm... I don't remember ever giving a similar interview or saying anything like that, and even when he does address Xu Youwei, he usually just calls her 'Youyou'.

After once again marveling at the allure of journalism, Chen Junqian sent Xu Youwei an emoji and typed:

"Are you awake?"

A very fast response time, almost instantly.

"It's more accurate to say that I didn't sleep at all."

In fact, compared to Chen Junqian's popularity, the viral spread of memes is undoubtedly more crazy. So in this respect, Xu Youwei's popularity has surpassed his to some extent. The overnight sensation seems to have completely adapted to this crazy world where everyone seems to be sending their own memes. She even leisurely replied to Chen Junqian with a fan-made version of a cocky cigarette-lighting JPG.

When do you plan to leave?

"It should be October 2nd, the finals are on the 4th, so going a couple of days earlier would be about right."

"Together?"

"Yes, you also need to ask Yun. We'll take a car to Nanjing together first, and then take a plane."

While Chen Junqian was typing and chatting with Xu Youwei, his bedroom door was pushed open from the outside again. It turned out that Chen Xi, who had woken him up earlier, hadn't gotten up and thought he might have fallen asleep again. But when she came in, she found him leaning against the headboard playing on his phone, so she reminded him again:

"Get up."

"Yes, yes, I'm up."

After casually sending Xu Youwei a message saying "Let's chat later," Chen Junqian put his phone aside, quickly got dressed, got out of bed, and walked to the sink. His toothbrush cup was already filled with warm water at the right temperature, and the toothpaste was already squeezed onto it, ready for him to start washing his face. It was all done by his sister.

After rinsing his mouth and spitting out the water in front of the mirror, Chen Junqian watched Chen Xi, reflected in the mirror, walk into his room and start making his bed. He fell into deep thought again. Although he didn't suddenly have the thought that his sister couldn't possibly be this cute and sensible, he still felt a little concerned and subconsciously asked:

"How has Xiaoxi been staying with me this past month?"

"Hmm? Everything's fine. What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, as long as you think it's good."

Putting the toothbrush back into his mouth, Chen Junqian recalled a mysterious achievement in his mind that involved both his sister and brushing teeth. Although his current system did include female protagonists with a sister theme, he was no longer the clueless newbie anime fan who was completely unaware of how bizarre this achievement was. After all, "Nisemonogatari" had already started airing, and if he were to replicate this action with his sister in real life, not only would his mother be furious, but even Chen Junqian himself would feel guilty. Araragi Koyomi's genius personality and drive were something that he, a fake romantic comedy protagonist in the real world, could not imitate.

"By the way, I have an idea for the recent draft."

After helping Chen Junqian fold the blankets on the bed neatly, Chen Xi came out of his room again, stood beside him, and said this.

Because their entire club's original scriptwriter, Zhu Wenjun, has been preparing for the final round of the Chinese Character Dictation Competition this month, and Lin Mu really doesn't have the ability in this area, the responsibility of writing the script has temporarily fallen on Chen Xi. After all, Chen Junqian's own idea is historical stories and myths, which are Chen Xi's expertise. In addition, her grades are indeed good, so she has been racking her brains about this area for a while, and it seems that she has made some progress.

"Well, you said."

After wiping his face with a towel, Chen Junqian turned to his sister, wanting to hear her opinion.

"You said the best kind would be humorous and funny, like the style of 'Unexpectedly,' so I specifically looked through ancient joke collections, such as 'Xiaolin Guangji,' which scold quack doctors, corrupt scholars, monks and Taoists. But most of them were all kinds of vulgar jokes, which made me a little dirty."

"That's how it is in 'Xiaolin Guangji'. I've read it before."

Upon hearing Chen Xi mention this book, Chen Junqian nodded in agreement. In his previous life, he had compiled jokes from this book for a public account, selecting some less vulgar ones. These ancient joke collections can sometimes offer insights into the lives, mental states, and humor of people from ancient times.

If Chen Junqian had to pick one scene from among them that could be considered a romantic comedy in a sense, he would probably choose the one from the "Heart of the Guifeng Department":

A man took a concubine and enjoyed himself with his wife. His wife said to him:

"Your body is here, but your heart is there."

The husband simply replied:

"If that's the case, then my body will be there, but my heart will be with you, okay?"

Well, all I can say is that it's quite advanced in every aspect.

"However, the jokes in 'Xiaolin Guangji' are very short and concise, and as I just said, there's a lot of vulgar content, which is a bit difficult to adapt into comics or animation, so—"

"How about we tell some history-related jokes? I've been reading a lot lately and I've noticed a lot of those really weird foreshadowing and callbacks. In your anime/manga terms, you'd call them 'flags' (foreshadowing or plot devices)?"