I turned reality into a romantic comedy.

"I think this punishment is alright. It's much better than confessing your love or kissing. Besides, it's winter now, and everyone is wearing several layers of clothing. It's not like it's summer and we can't take them off."

As Xu Youwei spoke, she deftly unbuttoned her thin coat. With a soft rustling sound of the fabric rubbing together, she took off the coat, still warm from her body, hugged it to her arms, and casually tossed it to Chen Junqian.

"Can I trade you this for this?"

"Sure, here you go."

Lin Mu watched as his childhood sweetheart quite familiarly accepted the thin jacket, then took off her own jacket and tossed it to Xu Youwei. It wasn't until Xu Youwei had already taken the rather large and thick jacket for a girl and sat down again that Lin Mu belatedly realized what had happened.

Because of the size and style difference, Chen Junqian obviously couldn't fit into the petite women's cardigan and could only symbolically drape it over his knees as a blanket. Xu Youwei, on the other hand, didn't hesitate to put on Chen Junqian's down jacket, which was so big for her that it felt like she was wearing an adult's clothes. Chen Junqian's scent quickly enveloped her completely. Her ex-girlfriend tucked her hands into her long sleeves, her cheeks flushed, and her eyes gleamed with a secret, immense sense of satisfaction.

"Alright, the exchange on one side is complete."

Chen Junqian sat back down on the sofa, leisurely turning his head to fix his gaze on Lin Mu, who was trying to make himself as inconspicuous as possible:

"Now it's the other side's turn. What does Mumu plan to offer me in exchange?"

Lin Mu, whose name was called, froze. Her lower body clothing was definitely not the first thing to consider. Today, she was wearing a turtleneck sweater with only a thermal undershirt underneath. If she took off the sweater, the scene would be unimaginable.

Seeing Chen Junqian staring at him and the glaring black down jacket Xu Youwei was wearing, Lin Mu was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the beige hand-knitted scarf that Chen Junqian had casually placed on the sofa armrest when she first entered the room—a scarf that had been given to her by Chen Junqian at the end of last year!

good chance!

The girl reacted swiftly, rushing towards the sofa armrest like a gust of wind, grabbing the scarf, and hurriedly wrapping it around her neck twice with lightning speed.

"I'll trade you this, I'll trade you my scarf!"

Lin Mu raised his chin, pointing defiantly at the scarf around his neck, trying to bluff his way out of the situation.

"Hey, wait a minute, Mu Mu, this is cheating!"

Before Chen Junqian could speak, Xu Youwei, who had just completed the exchange, immediately stopped him. She pulled her black coat tighter around herself and looked at Lin Mu with a half-smile:

"The card says 'currently worn' clothing. Your scarf was clearly placed aside just now; you put it on temporarily. How can that count?"

Lin Mu, caught red-handed, deflated like a punctured balloon. Her scarf slipped halfway down her neck, hanging awkwardly on her shoulder. She glanced at her best friend with a hint of resentment, knowing that this tactic was going to fail.

"You got caught cheating, didn't you?"

Chen Junqian couldn't help but chuckle, resting his chin on his hand and raising an eyebrow at Lin Mu:

"Mumu only has one sweater, it seems she has no other choice. Does she really want to take off her sweater and give it to me?"

"No, no, no..."

But what could she possibly offer in exchange?

Time ticked by, and the atmosphere in the living room became ambiguous and tense. Lin Mu's face flushed red and then turned pale, her mind racing. Just as she was about to burst into tears, she suddenly remembered a certain hint that Chen Junqian had given her at the beginning.

Feet...right, socks!

"I...I'll use this."

Lin Mu gritted his teeth, as if he had made some great decision, and suddenly sat cross-legged on the carpet.

Today she was wearing a pair of cotton mid-calf socks with pink bear patterns. Under the watchful, barely suppressed laughter of the two people beside her, Lin Mu blushed and stiffly pulled off the pink bear sock on her left foot.

Her fair and delicate little feet were instantly exposed to the air, and because of nervousness, even her round and cute toes curled up shyly.

She clutched the sock tightly, as if handing over some dangerous explosive, her eyes closed, her arm outstretched, and offered it to Chen Junqian in a voice barely audible:

"Here you go, Qianqian wants to trade me a sock too."

Chen Junqian looked at the ridiculous yet adorable pink bear sock in front of him, and then at Lin Mu's face, which was so red it was almost bleeding, and finally couldn't help but burst into a hearty laugh.

"Okay, whatever you say."

The male protagonist of the romantic comedy laughed so hard his shoulders shook, but he didn't forget to bend down and take off the gray cotton sock on his left foot to complete the exchange with Lin Mu.

It's fair to say that most of the romantic comedy achievements related to socks have already been completed in the past, leaving only two achievements strongly related to stockings. Otherwise, I would have unlocked two more achievements by now.

Chen Junqian twirled the pink bear sock in his hand a couple of times, but he still didn't intend to wear it. The main reason was that shoe size was closely related to height, and given the height difference between him and Lin Mu, it was possible that he could force it into the sock, but it was also unlikely. So he put it aside, like some strange trophy.

However, Lin Mu couldn't do that. Firstly, she didn't have a legitimate reason for not being able to put them on, and secondly, she did feel uncomfortable with one foot bare. So, after taking the socks, she hesitated for a moment before finally putting them on.

Anyway, it's not like she's never worn Chen Junqian's shoes before. What's the difference between wearing socks and wearing shoes?

But when Lin Mu actually put on the socks, seeing the strange look of his two socks—one on each foot and the other on the other—and then seeing Chen Junqian's leisurely expression, he glared at him.

"Why isn't Qianqian wearing it? Qianqian should wear it too!"

"It's true that I can't wear it, but if Mumu insists that I wear it, then this is the only way."

Deliberately in front of Lin Mu, Chen Junqian steadily took the sock, unfolded it, carefully opened the top, and then quickly slipped it onto his hand. Like a comical hand puppet, he moved his fingers at Lin Mu, which made Xu Youwei next to him laugh out loud.

"...Aaaaaaaahhhhhh."

To be honest, Lin Mu felt a little embarrassed to have his socks, which he had just been wearing, played with in front of his childhood friend, especially with Xu Youwei laughing next to him. So, he could only try to get away with it by making a lot of noise, and he even felt like he had enough material to write a week's worth of diary entries.

An ambiguous atmosphere filled the living room, a tension that was both amusing and absurd. Chen Junqian, wearing the pink bear sock on his left hand, idly dangled it in the air, causing his childhood sweetheart to blush with embarrassment once again.

Thanks to Chen Junqian's two consecutive dares that heated up the atmosphere, Xu Youwei, who was to be punished after the next dice roll, also voluntarily chose a dare.

"I choose dare."

As Xu Youwei spoke, she stretched out her slender fingers and gently stroked the deck of Truth or Dare cards. The first three rounds of Truth or Dare involved kissing on the forehead, sending a confession text message, and exchanging intimate clothing. The scale of the challenge increased with each round, and the ambiguous tension intensified with each one. To the point that she unconsciously prayed in her heart that this time, she would draw a punishment that allowed her to interact with Chen Junqian alone... such as eye contact or a hug.

With this secret and excited anticipation, Xu Youwei took a deep breath and flipped the top card over with a snap.

However, when she saw the handwriting, she lost interest.

"Truth or Dare: Hold your nose in place and spin around ten times in one breath."

It was unremarkable, even a little comical.

"puff--"

Lin Mu couldn't help but burst out laughing, his previously tense nerves completely relaxing:

"Weiwei's punishment is too harsh, it's completely different from what we were doing just now."

Xu Youwei's smile froze on her face, her heart filled with deep disappointment. But not wanting to spoil the mood, she could only force a smile and stand up, pretending to be relaxed.

"Yeah, looks like my luck is pretty good. Ten spins is nothing."

She was wearing Chen Junqian's oversized coat, the long sleeves hanging down past the back of her hands, making her look somewhat petite and pitiful. After standing up, she took the initiative to walk to a slightly more open space in the center of the room, stretched out one hand to pinch her nose, and reached the other hand through her arm to grab her ear, taking a deep breath.

"Okay, I'll begin. One, two, three..."

Xu Youwei began spinning rapidly in place. The hem of her wide black coat arced through the air with her movements. At first, she was able to maintain her balance, but by the fifth spin, the scenery in front of her had begun to blur into hazy patches of color.

"Seven...eight...nine..."

Lin Mu counted for her from the side, and seeing Xu Youwei's increasingly disordered steps, he couldn't help but remind her with some concern:

"Weiwei, slow down, don't fall!"

"ten!"

As Lin Mu gave his final countdown, Xu Youwei finally stopped moving.

However, the moment she stopped, a wave of intense dizziness washed over her. The ceiling and floor of the entire living room seemed to be flipping wildly. Her legs were completely unresponsive, as if she were standing on a soft ball of cotton. She was clearly one of the best physically fit people her age, so how could she be so dizzy after only ten spins...

"Hey--"

Xu Youwei let out a cry of surprise, her vision went black, and she completely lost her balance, falling straight forward.

"Vivi!"

Lin Mu was startled and cried out in surprise. He tried to get up to help her, but it was too late.

Just as Xu Youwei thought she was about to make an embarrassing close encounter with the floor, Chen Junqian had already quickly taken his position. However, due to the urgency of the situation, he didn't even have time to take off the comical pink bear sock in his hand. With a long stride, his powerful arms accurately caught the girl who was about to fall in mid-air.

He wrapped one arm around Xu Youwei's slender waist, while his other arm gently supported her shoulder, pulling her into his embrace. Due to the momentum, Xu Youwei's cheek slammed heavily against Chen Junqian's strong chest, letting out a muffled groan.

"Be careful, why are you spinning so fast?"

Xu Youwei's head was still buzzing, but her nose was filled with the pleasant mixed scent of the boy, combined with the warmth of his coat, which almost instantly awakened her past muscle memories. She lay there for a long time without getting up, and only after two minutes did she sit down on the side, holding her forehead.

"It's okay, it's okay. I guess it's because I sat here for too long. I did feel a little dizzy when I suddenly stood up and spun around. Qinqin, thanks! Come on, let's keep playing."

Seeing that Xu Youwei was indeed alright, Lin Mu also breathed a sigh of relief. However, after losing this time, she still carefully chose to play truth again as the punishment.

[Honest Question: Have you ever searched your own name using a search engine? If so, did you see anything strange or funny?]

"What a strange question."

After reading it aloud, Lin Mu shook his head matter-of-factly, his big eyes blinking as he looked at the two people in front of him, and answered quite frankly:

"Of course not, why would I do such a thing? Searching for my own name is too narcissistic and weird. Besides, I'm just an ordinary student. How could there be anything about me online? I'm not asking a famous writer like Yun. This question is too easy. Okay, that's enough."

Unlike Lin Mu, who felt she had easily passed the truth-or-dare punishment, Xu Youwei felt a chill run down her spine and her forehead broke out in a cold sweat after hearing the question. Her hand, which was about to pick up her water glass to drink and hide her embarrassment, suddenly trembled and almost spilled water on Chen Junqian's coat.

She quickly lowered her head, burying half her face in the rim of the water glass, frantically trying to hide her uncontrollably twitching mouth by drinking, and shrinking even tighter inside her large black coat.

After all, this is something Lin Mu would find strange; she has not only done it before, but more than once!

The main reason is that Xu Youwei herself was a brief internet celebrity, which was two years ago when the first season of "Chinese Character Dictation Competition" aired.

Ever since she found out she had become a meme, Xu Youwei would secretly do this extremely 'narcissistic and strange' thing every night under the covers: repeatedly searching for her own name on a search engine.

At first, she just wanted to see if netizens had dug up any dark history of hers, but when she saw the funny captions that the netizens added, she felt so ashamed that she wanted to crawl into a hole, but at the same time, she felt a secret sweetness because she could freeze Chen Junqian's shining moment in this special way.

That's not even the most blush-inducing thing.

Xu Youwei bit her lower lip and secretly glanced at Chen Junqian, who was teasing Lin Mu with his eyes. Her heart started pounding again.

At that time, she not only searched her own name, but also, with extreme guilt and anticipation, entered related terms for the two names 【Xu Youwei and Chen Junqian】in the search box.

Every time she pressed the Enter key, her heart pounded, like a thief peeking into someone's diary, eagerly searching for any clues she wanted to find in the vast sea of ​​forum posts and Weibo comments.

When she turned to page ten or so, she finally saw a post from a passerby saying:

"Who's that girl cheering backstage so enthusiastically? Could she be Chen Junqian's girlfriend? She's so genuinely cheering him on, they look like a couple deeply in love!"

There were other people agreeing with that comment:

"I think so too! It looks like they grew up together as childhood sweethearts. The boy is winning an award, and the girl is even more excited than him. It's so sweet!"

Those cold words on the screen were more tempting and sweeter than the sweetest honey to Xu Youwei at the time. That night, she held her phone and excitedly rolled around on the bed several times, her face so hot that it could cook an egg.

It has to be said that the "couples" and "girlfriends" typed out by those complete strangers on the keyboard satisfied all the girlish thoughts she dared not express aloud.

"Hey, Weiwei, what's wrong? Why is your face even redder than when you were spinning around?"

Lin Mu leaned closer, looking curiously at Xu Youwei, who seemed to want to bury her face in the water glass.