I turned reality into a romantic comedy.

If we were to use a mobile phone as an example, it would be that when chatting with Chen Junqian, Shen Nianqiu would always unconsciously demand that he reply to her messages instantly, to the point that she almost wanted to see his name displayed in the chat box every moment instead of the nickname 'little brother', but another string of characters saying 'typing...'.

Shen Nianqiu didn't think her request was excessive, because she sent messages at a relatively fixed time every night. There were no surprise visits like checking up on someone, no sudden harassment in the middle of the night when she was emotionally unstable, and she wouldn't bombard the other party with a series of text messages just because the other party was a little slow to reply for some reason. But that didn't mean she wouldn't wait anxiously on the other side.

Chen Junqian has never been stingy with making promises and guarantees to Shen Nianqiu. These promises are often like short-term remedies that can boost her temporarily, but resistance will develop afterward, requiring a stronger boost. In a sense, this is a real-world manifestation of the "adding fuel to the fire" theory in "On the Faults of Qin"—"today we cede five cities, tomorrow we cede ten"—because desires are never satisfied, and no one can control another person from having random, unfounded thoughts.

Therefore, online relationships are always extremely fragile. Although the two of them did become intimate, it simply transformed their online relationship into something closer to an online romance or a long-distance relationship. Their communication was still limited to the internet cable, which was like a light cord. If one end was pulled even slightly, the other end would immediately be plunged into darkness.

Especially around Christmas, because this holiday always coincides with the other person's birthday, while she can't see him, does the other person in Guoning receive carefully prepared gifts from other girls?

Fortunately, Chen Junqian would talk to her about even such things as if they were just chatting about everyday matters. After all, the two of them would exchange gifts. At first, it was just e-cards in QQ email, but later it turned into physical gifts that she could see and touch, like the journal she gave him this year and the handmade desserts that Chen Junqian gave her.

The idea for this journal actually came from Chen Junqian's casual remark. However, Shen Nianqiu took it to heart and actually took screenshots of the most interesting and intimate conversations they had shared over the past year and printed them out.

For a long time, she lived off these things. As long as their chat continued, Shen Nianqiu would still be alive. Uproot those emojis and replies, and she would be the one planted underneath.

In fact, given that their relationship had reached this point, Shen Nianqiu felt that the only possible outcomes were either a romantic relationship or that of strangers. After all, no girlfriend would tolerate her boyfriend having such an intimate friend of the opposite sex. In the end, they weren't really siblings, even though Shen Nianqiu and Chen Junqian had gotten used to this way of addressing each other.

Even if he wasn't born that way, in the six years they've known each other, she's slept with his scent and embraced him every night. She's long since become so familiar with him that she's treated him like a true family member.

Therefore, he cannot date anyone other than himself.

Fortunately, the other party did not do that, and actually did give her that promise.

If their past events were to be made into a movie, then Shen Nianqiu would undoubtedly be the most suitable director, because these scenes have played countless times in her mind over the years, and she has tried countless different angles and filters, since there is only so much material.

It is precisely because of this that accidental things are given an air of inevitability, and unexpected encounters are given a sense of destiny.

What seemed ordinary at the time has now become extraordinary.

In terms of imbuing meaning into something later in life, she might be the one who excels the most.

In Shen Nianqiu's world at the end of the year, only two things remained.

I want to see you and I long to see you.

I think of you in the morning, I think of you at noon, I think of you at night, and I even dream of meeting you. I want to see you relentlessly and tirelessly, and when I do, I want to snuggle in your arms and tell you how much I love you.

The snowy night with its heavy snowfall had become the perfect backdrop in her eyes, as if she had forgotten that in reality there was no Santa Claus sleigh pulled by reindeer that could travel freely through the snow and ice, among the clouds and steep mountain ridges.

After all, this isn't a time when I can leave at four o'clock and see you at seven, so I start to feel happy and excited at three o'clock.

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Before entering the club's activity room, Chen Junqian deliberately banged his heavy rubber shoes on the doormat. The snowflakes on the shoes fell down with this action, gathered into a small pile, and then melted into a puddle of snow water at a visible speed.

The snow was still falling heavily in Guoning, but the school didn't seem to be officially canceling classes. The students complained while also looking forward to it. After all, if classes were to be canceled, they would most like it to happen during the final exams. There had been precedents where the final exams, originally scheduled for the end of the semester, were postponed to the beginning of the next semester due to various unforeseen circumstances. For most students who wanted to have a comfortable and enjoyable winter break, this was undoubtedly the best and most acceptable outcome.

Because snow had already started to accumulate on the roads, Chen Junqian and his sister had to take out their rubber boots, which they hadn't used in a long time, from the shoe cabinet. Of course, they couldn't ride bicycles anymore. Although the city's main roads were being cleared of snow and ice by designated personnel and equipment, the overall road conditions were still not optimistic. Even cars with four wheels could easily slip if they weren't careful. For safety reasons, it was best to avoid riding bicycles with passengers. As a result, even Zhu Wenyun couldn't come to Guoning Middle School to participate in club activities these past two days.

After all, it gets dark early at this time of year, and buses and taxis are hard to find. Zhu Wenyun's grandmother was also worried, so Chen Junqian simply gave her a day off. However, he didn't expect that on Christmas Day, Zhu Wenyun would still trudge through the snow to bring him a pair of gloves that he had knitted in advance, so that he could avoid the fate of being unable to bend his fingers.

Fortunately, their club's activity room still had air conditioning. Even though the heating wasn't very effective, it was still warmer than outside. As soon as Chen Junqian walked in, he felt that the indoor temperature was significantly higher. Lin Mu, who was looking at the ice flowers by the window, subconsciously turned around to greet him.

She seemed to have been lost in thought for quite a while, and the outline of her face was already reflected in the windowpane, with very clear features. If you looked closely, you could even see the fine lines on her lips. Even in the depths of winter, Mu Mu's lips were a bright and vivid red, and just standing there made people feel much warmer. This made Chen Junqian unconsciously think of the old saying that a child is like a child with three fires on his body.

"I ran over and turned on the air conditioner early when the second-to-last class ended. Pretty clever, right?"

Xu Youwei, who was sitting at the other desk and seemed to be drawing, proudly raised her chin, turning into a self-satisfied little brat. Chen Junqian also gave her high praise, and then casually found a place to sit down. Lin Mu had already brewed some black tea... Of course not, he had just taken a bag of ordinary tea leaves from the homeroom teacher and filled a thermos with hot water from the water heater in the office, and was brewing it there now.

Today, unusually, only the three of them were in the club activity room. Zhu Wenjun couldn't come every day, and Chen Xi just happened to be on duty. Gu Linguo was picked up by her mother early and taken home. Picking up her daughter in the heavy snow was like an achievement that she had to complete. Chen Junqian even felt that she was looking forward to another rainy night when her daughter was sick. But no matter what, Gu Linguo was hastily put on a raincoat and taken away on an electric scooter in front of him, even though he had said that his mother would come to pick her up soon.

"Thank you, Mu Mu."

After accepting the tea that Lin Mu carefully and meticulously brought him with both hands, Chen Junqian took out his phone from the drawer. He certainly wouldn't dare bring it to class, but leaving it in the activity room was no problem. Don't ask, it was just a necessary research step in the process of literary creation. Anyway, no one else would be here. Not to mention playing on his phone, Chen Junqian and others had played countless 4399 two-player games on the activity room's computer.

"What is Qianqian looking at?"

Unlike many people who would lean in to ask him the question, Lin Mu genuinely asked the question without any intention of sneaking around to peek at his phone screen. Instead, he sat there like a squirrel, cracking sunflower seeds, looking as relaxed as if he had already entered winter mode.

"Train ticket, from Guoning to Lin'an."

"Huh? I seem to remember that Qianqian already bought it a couple of days ago?"

"Yes, but this morning I received a message saying that the train I bought was canceled, so I can only look for other tickets. If there are no direct tickets, I'll have to look for connecting trains."

"Cancelled? Is it because of the snow?"

"Yeah, it's really inconvenient to go out in this weather."

This time, Chen Junqian didn't hide his trip to Lin'an from the others. After all, Shen Nianqiu had already mentioned it in their group of seven, and the two of them were currently buying train tickets.

If Chen Junqian can buy it, he will go to Lin'an; if Shen Nianqiu can buy it, he will come to Guoning.

However, it can only be said that neither of their progresses has been very smooth.

"Do we really have to go during this time? It's snowing so heavily."

Faced with Lin Mu's concerns, Chen Junqian was momentarily at a loss for words, finally managing to say:

"Because I do want to see you. If Mu Mu ever finds herself in a similar situation but really wants to see me, I will go to her."

"But I won't be that far away from Qianqian."

The girl sitting there spoke as if it were perfectly natural, and even tilted her head in confusion.

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

Chapter 100: I really don't understand you anime/manga fans (combined chapters)

If Zhu Wenyun, who is not currently present, could see this scene, she would surely be quite gratified. In front of Shen Nianqiu, the three childhood sweethearts of Guoning should naturally stand on the same side. Putting aside the fact that they met earlier, the other party is the true "heaven-sent" type. After all, the relationship between childhood sweethearts is not only based on the time of meeting, but also on geographical proximity. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many childhood sweethearts in various literary works who are easily separated by a move.

"But we can't stay in Guoning forever, can we?"

Without a doubt, Guoning is a tiny county town. Its 300,000 permanent residents make it smaller than even a district in provincial capitals like Hangzhou or Nanjing. Unless the two of them decide not to go to university, they will definitely leave here to study elsewhere, not to mention the decades to come. After all, their life story won't end after high school graduation like a romantic comedy light novel; it will continue until they grow old.

“Even if we’re not in Guoning anymore, we can still be together. As for university, I’ll go to whichever city Qianqian goes to. Your grades are indeed better than mine, but we’re only in the second year of junior high. I’ll definitely study hard in the future. And even if we don’t end up going to the same university as Qianqian, we can still be in the same city. It can’t be that the only university Qianqian goes to is one that I can’t get into.”

It was as if he was demonstrating to Xu Youwei when to be gentle and not overly affectionate, without the slightest hint of affectation. The girl sitting there held a hot teacup in her hands and naturally expressed her thoughts, just like the serious argument she made to Chen Junqian about childhood sweethearts back then, leaving him speechless once again.

"Exactly, exactly. They still have to travel so far to see people even though it's snowing so heavily."

In this situation, Xu Youwei, who was trying to secretly learn the "speaking skills of childhood sweethearts," also chimed in, seemingly having forgotten that she had just taken a plane directly from Guoning to Beijing during the summer vacation.

"Let's see. After all, there are still a few days left. Maybe the snow will stop by then and we'll be able to buy tickets."

Not wanting to dwell on the matter any longer, Chen Junqian simply moved on and shifted the topic to Zhu Wenyun, who hadn't come today.

"Even if we don't go to Lin'an, I still have to go to Shanghai with Wenjun this winter vacation. The preliminary results of the New Concept Writing Competition came out yesterday, and we advanced smoothly."

"I don't think I heard her say anything?"

"After all, it's just advancing to the semi-finals. Wen Yun is aiming for the first prize this time. That's just her personality, you all know that."

Chen Junqian stretched lazily in his seat, then picked up his teacup and took a sip of the steaming tea. Unlike clubs in anime where everyone has their own cup, they used simple disposable paper cups for drinking water and tea. Lin Mu, who was sitting not far away, was also holding one, which reminded him of the paper cup phones they had played with before.

Separated by distance, he and his sister can only contact each other by phone. He and his childhood sweetheart, whom he sees every day, naturally play on paper cup phones, which are so close yet feel like they are worlds apart. The distance does not always determine the closeness of a relationship, but the way they get along will certainly be very different, and the problems that arise will naturally be different as well. This is also something that Chen Junqian needs to overcome and solve.

Thinking this, Chen Xi, having finished her class duties, finally came over from the classroom. She walked into the activity room, bringing with her a chill and a slight cold wind. She immediately put her schoolbag aside, took out a cold hand warmer, replaced the cold water with hot water, and hugged it to her chest. Only then did she seem to come alive. She lazily leaned on the table, turned half her face to Chen Junqian, and asked:

"Brother, did you receive a call from the deliveryman? Lin Guo told me that delivery should start today."

"China Post, don't worry. The weather isn't good right now. Although it arrived in Guoning yesterday, it feels like it would be incredibly fast if it could be delivered tomorrow. Just wait. It's not that urgent anyway. It should be delivered within this week."

Hearing the siblings' conversation, Xu Youwei's curiosity was piqued, and she stopped what she was doing and asked them a question:

"What kind of courier service did you use? Did you buy something on Singles' Day? It shouldn't be that it hasn't arrived yet."

“It’s not mine, it’s Lin Guo’s. But it’s inconvenient for her to sign for it at home, so she filled in our home address and phone number and asked my brother to sign for it before giving it to her.”

"So mysterious! What's inside?"

"A set of C costumes is a costume used for cosplay, role-playing? The costumes of characters in anime."

Since Chen Xi herself couldn't be described as a two-dimensional person, it was even more difficult for her to explain to Xu Youwei. After explaining it over and over again, she finally managed to understand the contents of the package.

"Lin Guo can make clothes... I never knew that."

"It hasn't come to that point yet. This set was mainly made by someone else according to her own measurements."

Speaking of this, Chen Junqian recalled the scene when he took the other person's measurements. Just like the "Campus Popular Figure" achievement he had seen before, which required fulfilling all three conditions to unlock, the "Changing Doll Falls in Love" achievement also required completing the three steps from taking measurements to trying on the clothes to actually displaying them. At that time, he had only completed the first step of the prerequisites.

"So, what anime is it from?"

"You guys definitely haven't heard of it, because I haven't either. It's something like 'chuunibyou' or something."

For Chen Xi, whose only anime experience so far is Yosuga no Sora, the name "Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions" was indeed a bit too hard to remember. So Chen Junqian added the full name. Lin Mu and Xu Youwei had never heard of it before, since their memories of Japanese anime were still limited to those long-running shonen manga.

As for why Gu Lingguo chose Rikka Takanashi from this anime as her first cosplay character, it can only be said that on the one hand, she genuinely liked the anime, and on the other hand, she was limited by her own physical and mental limitations. After all, you can't expect a middle school girl to cosplay a larger character. Moreover, in Chen Junqian's opinion, she did have a certain kind of chuunibyou spirit, but she just couldn't openly express it in real life like this character, ignoring the gaze of others. Now, she could take this opportunity to express it properly, which was one of the reasons why she agreed to Chen Junqian's proposal in the first place.

Suppressing emotions for too long always needs to be released. Compared to his sister, whose life revolves around the achievement of 0721, Chen Junqian definitely prefers to see Gu Linguo's way of releasing pressure through things she enjoys.

After chatting and drinking tea in the club activity room for a while, the group dispersed earlier than usual on this snowy day. All three of them had cars to pick them up, and their parents were already quite familiar with each other. After exchanging greetings, they took their children into the car and drove away. Chen Junqian stayed with his sister, but as soon as they got into the car, his phone rang in his pocket.

His ringtone hadn't changed in the past two years; it was still Escape Plan's "The Brightest Star in the Night Sky." However, this time, the song had barely finished the first three words when Chen Junqian answered the phone cleanly and decisively. After a few simple replies, he hung up and waved his phone at his sister beside him.

"You should apologize to China Post. They delivered it really fast this time; it's already at our doorstep."

"Great! I'll have to see what it looks like then."

Wang Hongling wasn't particularly concerned about the arrival of the packages her two children had ordered. She had long since realized that her son's abilities far surpassed those of her and his father. Having already achieved her ultimate life goal of becoming both a boss's wife and the boss's mother by middle age, the rest was simply a matter of not meddling in other people's business and enjoying her retirement. After all, with Chen Xi's mother's example as a cautionary tale, she could just lie back and relax.

After returning home, Chen Xi still needed to go back to her own home for a meal, so she only glanced at the square-shaped delivery box at the entrance of the building, said that she would come over in a while to open the box together, and then quickly went home to eat. Chen Junqian put the entire package into his room first.

With their family's economic strength increasing rapidly in the past two years, the apartment they had chosen before they became wealthy, which they were already quite satisfied with at the time, now seems a bit small, especially referring to Chen Junqian's own room. After all, if you look at the size of the whole house, it would definitely be more than enough for him and his mother to live in.

To be honest, Chen Junqian always felt that Xu Youwei's situation was quite suitable for him. She had a room for sleeping, a room at her grandmother's house in the countryside, a room for their secret base, and another room at the old house in the wear-resistant factory. The four rooms combined were not only spacious enough, but could even be divided into functional areas. It wasn't just a case of a cunning rabbit having three burrows; it was more like having four.

Considering various practical factors, Chen Junqian did feel that he needed a few secret bases. Putting aside all sorts of messy things like keeping mistresses or learning foreign languages, the main reason was that his room was becoming increasingly insufficient.

Chen Junqian really didn't have any intention of 'decluttering'. After all, if he really wanted to declutter his room, Mu Mu and Gu Lingguo could probably do the same for him. Everything in his room was precious and a memory. But just like the five Christmas castles that were almost filling his desk when unfolded, as time went by, all sorts of items and decorations would only pile up more and more, seriously squeezing his living space. Even the big package that had just been delivered was a bit difficult to put down.

This is a package from Xuancheng to Guo Ning. Since the summer comic convention ended, Gu Lingguo has kept in touch with Fan Qing, whom she met back then. Most of the cosplay outfit was made by Fan Qing. As someone who has personally experienced the quality of Fan Qing's cosplay outfit, Chen Junqian is quite confident. After all, even the best foundation can't withstand poorly made costumes and props, a point that has already been proven in countless film and television works.

Considering that Gu Linguo would definitely not be able to access her phone at this time, Chen Junqian did not inform her on QQ that the package had arrived. With the final exams approaching, Gu Linguo, who had already failed her midterm exams, was undoubtedly concerned about whether she could have a good New Year.

After finishing dinner at home, Chen Junqian, still waiting for news about the train ticket standby, continued to research feasible transfer options. Just two minutes later, his sister burst into his house, excitedly preparing to unpack with him. She even thoughtfully set up her phone to record the whole process and share it with Gu Lingguo.

Compared to the Kirito cosplay outfit that Chen Junqian wore back then, this Gothic dress cosplay outfit of Takanashi Rikka is undoubtedly much more complicated. Various accessories are neatly categorized and packed in various small bags. The main body consists of an overcoat, shirt, and skirt, followed by a corset, eye patch, headdress, bow tie, and socks.

Yeah, socks.

As the only reborn person in the small county, Chen Junqian finally saw the real-life over-the-knee socks, which are practically standard attire in the world of anime, almost five years after his rebirth. The elastic black stockings, the lace-trimmed cuffs, and the small leather shoes that came with them made him begin to understand why his achievements in this area were so numerous and varied, and why he had been unable to deceive the system into achieving them through underhanded means all these years.

Compared to Chen Junqian, who was particularly particular about his socks due to certain obsessions, Chen Xi herself preferred the retro European jacquard dress with its layered, flared skirt and water-soluble lace trim. Holding it up to her chest, she sincerely praised it:

"It's so beautiful."

However, she quickly shook her head, as if denying her own statement: