I turned reality into a romantic comedy.

Although it's a long and winding road, if you only look at this picture...

It seems she has achieved her goal?

Moreover, the fireworks display earlier made Xu Youwei realize something else.

Actually, besides myself, there are many, many other people who hope that the two of them will be together.

There are far more people supporting him than those supporting him.

...Then she won't worry about it anymore.

that is it.

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

Chapter 73: The So-Called King's Game (4k6)

Although tonight's process was quite abstract in many ways, at least like the achievement that Chen Junqian had finally realized in his mind, the ending was still very satisfactory.

Nothing else went wrong on the way back. The three of them walked and chatted, and soon they arrived back at Lin Mu's house without any trouble. From afar, they could hear the adults playing mahjong in the yard, which was a classic background sound during the New Year.

Lin Mu's house in his hometown is quite big, so there are many empty rooms. Although Lin Mu and Xu Youwei have been good friends since childhood, they don't really have the experience of chatting all night and sleeping together like many best friends. The main reason is that Xu Youwei has been innately allergic to family-related environments since her family's changes. She is the type who would rather drag Chen Junqian outside to run around than go home.

They neither take the initiative to bring people back to their own homes, nor do they visit friends' homes, let alone stay overnight at other people's homes. So this year's Spring Festival was the same. The two of them slept in separate rooms, but after they finished washing up, the three of them gathered in Chen Junqian's room first.

Lin Mu was writing in his diary at his desk, while Chen Junqian and Xu Youwei were playing cards, using sunflower seeds as chips and stakes, and chatting idly.

"Writing a diary even on the night of the first day of the Lunar New Year, that's so typical of Mu Mu."

As the person who first dragged Lin Mu into the diary pit, Xu Youwei, who had only ever written one holiday diary since childhood, really didn't expect that the other party could persist until now. In fact, in Zhu Wenyun's new book, he was even specially treated as an important part of the character setting, stirring up the reader's emotions again and again in several related important chapters.

"Because it's already a habit, I feel okay. If I don't write in my diary every night, I feel like I haven't finished something and I can't sleep."

Lin Mu, with one hand supporting his chin and the other holding a pen, answered this question earnestly, then turned to Chen Junqian and asked:

"Qianqian, do you remember how long we were lost?"

"It should be less than half an hour, maybe just twenty minutes. Is Mumu going to write this?"

"Yes, this is definitely ready-made material, I should write it down."

"I always feel that Mumu's material library gets richer around the Chinese New Year."

"Because the Lunar New Year is the winter vacation, and during the winter vacation, Qianqian and I will be together, and then all sorts of things will happen between us that are worth remembering."

Actually, around this time last year, Lin Mu was also writing in her diary in front of Chen Junqian. That day, she was tricked out of her phone while shopping, and Chen Junqian rushed to get it back for her. Thus began Chen Junqian's occasional career of helping his childhood sweetheart polish her diary.

But today is a little different from last time.

Because there's one more person here.

The thought of Xu Youwei playing cards with Chen Junqian right behind him made Lin Mu realize he couldn't do what he did many times last year—call Chen Junqian over to his side and interview him like a reporter. His progress slowed, and he finally put down his pen and sat down next to the two of them.

"Never mind, I'll write more before bed. Let's play cards together, the three of us?"

"Sure, it's still early anyway."

After making room for Lin Mu, Chen Junqian reached out and began to skillfully shuffle the cards, even showing off his fancy card-cutting technique a few times. Don't ask why, because some male leads in romantic comedies also have identities such as phantom thieves or magicians.

Actually, there are certainly romantic comedy achievements related to playing cards or 'board games', but both games are actually exclusive to Japan and even the world of anime. One is 'Joker', which has appeared in various anime, and the other is 'King's Game'.

Compared to the game of drawing Jokers, which he himself couldn't even enjoy, Chen Junqian actually had ideas on how to trick the system in real life to achieve the King's Game achievement, and had even prepared special props in advance.

As it turns out, Chen Junqian, with his super memory, could easily count cards in his mind, and his dominance in Dou Dizhu was indeed unquestionable. He could beat the landlord when he was a peasant, and he could crush Xu Youwei and Lin Mu's peasant alliance when he was the landlord. So after playing two rounds, Xu Youwei said she was giving up, looking dejected.

Poker is supposed to be a game of luck, but someone's cheating here.

"If we don't play poker, I also brought some board games."

"You even brought a game? It's not your and Zhong Yu's favorite game, 'Three Kingdoms Kill', is it?"

"Ahem, no, that's not it. Here, this one."

Chen Junqian took out the "Truth or Dare" game box he had bought in advance from his bag and waved it in front of the two of them before placing it in the center of the three of them.

The so-called King's Game is basically a game where the person who draws the King can give orders to number XX and number XX to do something. However, since the person doesn't know their own number before giving orders, they can easily hurt themselves while giving out perks. This kind of game, which can be made into a comedy with a little design, has naturally become a frequent feature in various romantic comedies.

The alternative Chen Junqian found in reality was Truth or Dare, since the dare part was almost identical to the King's Game in some ways. Considering the system's weak judgment mechanism, fooling the other party shouldn't be a big problem.

"Truth or Dare, I feel like it would be really fun to play with a lot of people."

Upon seeing the game's name, Xu Youwei also shared her opinion.

"No, no, no, I think this kind of game can only be played by very close friends. I definitely cannot accept playing this with people I don't have a good relationship with, or even strangers."

Lin Mu waved her hand at this. She was the type who had seen pigs run even if she hadn't eaten pork. This kind of so-called party icebreaker game was too much for her. It was only appropriate in the current situation where there were only the three of them.

"I feel that three people are enough. We can invite Wenyun next time if there is a chance."

"Wen Yun has definitely never played this before."

"Are you so sure, Yoyo?"

"Hehe, if she had played them, she would have written them into her books already. Why would she keep trying to exploit one Pocky game? The various Pocky games she's played in the novels she's written over the years could fill a 3x3 grid."

Xu Youwei just rolled her eyes at this, then unconsciously glanced at Chen Junqian's lips, knowing in her heart that Zhu Wenyun must have done this with him countless times.

But it didn't matter to her, since she had skipped all the boring flirting games and gone straight to kissing him, and there had even been one this morning.

"Pocky Game? Is that the game where you eat a Pocky stick together? It does sound quite interesting. Wen Yun's writing is also very interesting. I laughed out loud when I first saw the male and female protagonists in the book using CC to eat Pocky. Five cents for the effect of five dollars, it's really cost-effective."

As Lin Mu spoke, he enthusiastically opened the game box:

"But then again, the version that Qianqian bought probably doesn't have any particularly strange truth or dare questions, those are too adult."

"It's okay, we're just playing around. If we draw something we don't like or can't do, we can draw again. Playing games is all about having fun."

"Okay, I'll roll the dice first."

The two dice that came with the game box were thrown, and the result that rolled in front of the three people was a three and a six, which added up to nine points.

Xu Youwei and Chen Junqian followed closely behind, with the former having a score of seven and the latter ten. It was then Xu Youwei's turn to receive the punishment, as she had the lowest score.

"Truth or dare? Vivi, you choose one!"

Lin Mu very attentively placed two stacks of cards in his palms, one on each side, and handed them to Xu Youwei for her to choose from. After hesitating for a moment, Xu Youwei chose the former.

"Tell me the truth."

"Okay—then Vivi will draw a card."

Feeling a little nervous, Xu Youwei drew a card from the deck. She was still worried that she would draw a card that asked her to "reveal her deepest secret" or "who she likes." However, the last card was a very ordinary question:

What are your goals for this year?

"In that case, of course we'll both get into Ningzhong High School."

Xu Youwei felt that this answer was her true feelings. After all, the question gave her a goal, not her ultimate goal. Getting into Ningzhong High School was indeed one of her goals, but her ultimate goal was actually the two people in front of her.

"Let's cheer each other on!"

After easily letting Xu Youwei off the hook, Lin Mu had a major stroke of bad luck this time, rolling two ones and becoming the one with the lowest score to be punished.

"Vivi chose Truth, so I'll choose Truth or Dare."

It seemed that the 'scale' of the question Xu Youwei had just drawn reassured Lin Mu. As the [King's Game] achievement appeared in Chen Junqian's mind, Lin Mu also reached out his hand towards the card pile without any suspicion.

King's Game

As we all know, one of the core charms of the female protagonist in romantic comedies is the contrast and the cuteness that comes with it, and the King's Game is one of the classic ways to bring out these.

When the wooden stick marked 'King' is drawn, all the usual hierarchical relationships and social dynamics are reversed. Seeds of unrequited love and unconfirmed confessions will speak out in ambiguous commands. Whether it's confessing to the person on the right or holding hands with the person on the left for twenty seconds, every unknown command will make everyone's heart race.

[Conditions for achieving this: Participate in the King's Game with at least two heroines who possess romantic comedy elements, issue commands related to romantic comedy elements, and ultimately achieve the desired result.]

"Let me see what I drew..."

Lin Mu turned over his cards, the smile that had been playing on his lips suddenly vanished, and he stared at them for a while as if to double-check, before slowly reading the contents aloud:

"Kiss any part of the face of the first person of the opposite sex sitting to your left for three seconds, such as the side of the cheek, forehead, tip of the nose, etc."

As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Youwei gasped, as if she had been put on pause. She froze on the spot, her long eyelashes trembling violently, and her fair neck turned slowly and with great difficulty, like a rusty gear. Her gaze fell upon Chen Junqian, who was sitting to Lin Mu's left.

Well, actually it doesn't matter if he sits on the right, since he's the only person of the opposite sex present, so he's Chen Junqian no matter which side you count from.

Although there was a prior notification of the achievement, Chen Junqian really didn't expect that the interaction would be at the level of kissing right away, so he was stunned for a moment.

"Oh dear, this punishment seems a bit too much for a girl."

Xu Youwei broke the silence first, smiling considerately, her stance instantly shifting from wingman to best friend.

"Mumu is so easily embarrassed. If you don't want to, let's choose another one. Anyway, we already said that we'll skip anything we don't like or can't do."

Chen Junqian looked at Lin Mu's cheeks, which were beginning to turn red, and nodded in agreement. He leaned back slightly, not wanting to put any pressure on her, and spoke gently:

"Yeah, if you don't want to do it, then forget it and just draw another one."

As he spoke, he reached for the stack of cards on the table, wanting Lin Mu to draw another card.

Just as Chen Junqian's finger was about to touch the card, Lin Mu stopped him instead:

"Wait...wait a minute!"

His childhood sweetheart's voice involuntarily rose a fraction, carrying a hint of urgency she herself didn't realize. She subconsciously reached out one hand to lightly block Chen Junqian's wrist, while her other hand unconsciously gripped the hem of her sweater.

Upon meeting Chen Junqian's slightly surprised gaze, Lin Mu quickly withdrew her hand as if burned. The courage she had just mustered due to her impulsiveness deflated like a punctured balloon. Lowering her eyes, her thick eyelashes fluttered nervously, and she dared not look directly at the two people in front of her. Her voice stammered and became softer:

"We've only just started playing, and you're already jumping? Weiwei didn't jump either..."

"Childhood sweethearts in books even bathe together, so what's the big deal about a kiss on the cheek?"

"Well... I'm coming over here..."

She muttered these words to herself several times, as if encouraging herself or reminding Chen Junqian in advance.

Even though they weren't that far apart, Lin Mu subconsciously braced her hands on the soft carpet, like a kitten tentatively extending its paws, and slowly moved her body to face Chen Junqian. This made the distance seem much longer. As the distance suddenly closed and she looked at his increasingly close features, her already dizzy mind went even more blank.

Fortunately, her childhood sweetheart did not avoid her; he simply watched her quietly, his dark eyes focused and earnest.

Stared at like that, Lin Mu could feel a fine, even layer of sweat appearing on the tip of his nose. He finally closed his eyes tightly, not daring to linger any longer, afraid that he would back down in the next second. He tilted his head up slightly, and without thinking twice, lowered his head as soon as he felt that he was about right.

As a result, I did not feel any actual touch.

Seeing his childhood sweetheart suddenly close her eyes and tilt her head to kiss the air after leaning in, Chen Junqian's initial romantic feelings vanished, replaced by an involuntary smile. Even Xu Youwei, who had been dazed, couldn't help but come back to life.

"Qianqian, don't hide..."