I turned reality into a romantic comedy.

Coincidentally, the final episode of this season also features an aquarium and penguins.

So Lin Guo will most likely be here too, maybe we'll run into him?

However, this idea was quickly abandoned. After all, compared to the somewhat secluded corner, the penguin exhibit was obviously one of the most popular areas in the entire aquarium. Before Chen Junqian and his group had even fully entered, they could hear the excited screams of children and the noisy calls of parents taking photos. The lights in the exhibit area also changed from the ambiguous and dark deep sea blue to the bright and clear glacial white, causing him to subconsciously squint his eyes to adjust.

With the sudden change in light and environment, Shen Nianqiu and Zhu Wenyun seemed to have completed some kind of exchange. This was probably something the two had agreed on beforehand, like a relay race or a wheel race. The former used the excuse of going to the restroom to slip into the crowd, while the latter took over as a substitute.

Both of them were even wearing white dresses today, which is a common outfit at the beach, since everyone learned the scientific fact that black absorbs heat when they were in elementary school.

Zhu Wenyun's demeanor has always been excellent, probably because she is often in front of the camera. Chen Junqian himself was very curious about how she managed to earn the title of Mysterious King of Fighters in Tianjin with just a few punches. This stark contrast even made him feel that she was older than the female lead of the anime "Himouto! Umaru-chan" which just came out in July this year.

From the perspective of an older brother, it's really hard for him to understand this kind of subtle, slightly dramatic, and somewhat pretentious younger sister. She seems more like a spoiled, fearless, and domineering sister. Thinking about it this way, the world of anime isn't so great after all. At least in terms of younger sisters, Xiao Xi is still better than many female protagonists.

"There are so many people."

Looking at the throng of people ahead, Zhu Wenyun sighed softly, her voice gentle like a breeze across the sea, a perfectly gentle smile playing on her lips, giving her a graceful and radiant impression.

Although he had said it many times, Chen Junqian still felt that, in terms of the so-called fun of 'raising', Zhu Wenyun was the female lead he felt most connected with, whether it was her image, temperament or so-called ability.

"There are quite a lot, be careful."

Temporarily abandoning the idea of ​​searching for Gu Linguo inside the crowded venue, Chen Junqian chuckled and took a gentlemanly half-step forward, using his broad shoulders to naturally create a safe haven for her in the crowd.

Just then, a little girl, about four or five years old, holding a blue penguin balloon, got so excited that she broke free from her mother's hand and ran wildly through the crowd, giggling, and bumped straight into Zhu Wenyun's legs.

"oops!"

The little girl bumped headfirst into Zhu Wenyun's slightly cool skirt and fell to the ground with a thud. The little penguin balloon in her hand flew to the side, and she looked like she was about to burst into tears.

Taking advantage of his height, Chen Junqian instinctively reached out and grabbed the balloon that was flying toward the ceiling. Zhu Wenyun didn't show any surprise or annoyance at being bumped into. She kindly bent her knees slightly and squatted down so that her line of sight was level with the little girl on the ground. Her white skirt spread out like a blooming lily under the light.

"Little one, are you hurt yourself?"

At this moment, Zhu Wenyun's voice was visibly gentler than usual. She reached out her slender, fair hand, first gently patting the dust off the girl's clothes, then casually taking the blue balloon Chen Junqian offered and placing it back into the girl's chubby little hand, her eyebrows curving into a beautiful arc.

"The penguin is inside the glass. Hold Mommy's hand tightly, or the penguin balloon will fly away too."

The little girl, who had been brimming with tears and ready to burst into sobs, looked at the beautiful and gentle older sister who seemed like a fairy, and stubbornly held back her tears. She blankly accepted the balloon and said in her childish voice:

"Thank you sister."

The young mother who rushed over apologized repeatedly:

"Excuse me, young lady, this child is so naughty, did he bump into you?"

"It's okay, it's normal for children to be active. There are a lot of people here, so please hold his hand."

Zhu Wenyun stood up, smiled, and politely nodded to the mother. But as soon as the mother and daughter had walked away, she immediately turned to Chen Junqian, who had intended to praise her, and said:

"Junqian, it's time for you to say your lines."

"Hmm? Wen Yun was quite gentle just now? It was very captivating?"

"These are lines from the previous stage. Generally speaking, in romance novels, when a child of this age appears in front of the male and female protagonists, it's to guide them to ask the question, 'Do you prefer a boy or a girl?'"

"...What stage are you at? Have some respect for your high school student status, okay?"

Zhu Wenyun's earlobes flushed almost imperceptibly, but she maintained a polite smile, her eyes darting around, before finally giving up on pressing the matter further.

"Alright, since Junqian doesn't want to answer, let's go look at the penguins first."

After this little incident, the two finally squeezed in front of the huge viewing glass.

The exhibit tank didn't contain the emperor penguins that people stereotypically imagine living in icy wilderness, but rather a group of relatively small creatures with a distinctive black band around their chests and pink fleshy patches around their eyes and beaks. A display board next to them explained their characteristics, and Zhu Wenjun naturally began to read it; she had always had a natural interest in words and reading.

"Humboldt penguins".

The surrounding noise made her consciously keep her voice soft, leaning close enough that only Chen Junqian beside her could hear, pointing to the black and white figures that darted through the water like torpedoes, gently explaining to the boy beside her:

"Originally, they lived on the west coast of South America, where the cold Peru Current passes through, but the land has a temperate or even tropical climate. So they are one of the few penguins that are distributed in the temperate zone. If you look closely at the pink patches on their faces, they are used to dissipate heat, after all, we are in Sanya now."

Chen Junqian stood quietly beside her, one hand on the glass and the other around the girl's shoulder. In front of the crowded observation deck, he listened to her quietly explaining the facts, but another sentence suddenly popped into his mind.

Just then, a familiar voice rang out from not far away, loudly reciting the words he was thinking of:

"If you look closely, you might notice that the two penguins are always inseparable. In fact, they are a couple. Humboldt penguins in captivity will always stay together as long as their partner is alive, as if confirming their bond. The two penguins will groom each other and call to each other. Please try to stop and appreciate the behavior of the penguin couple. Why isn't there a sign like this in front of the Humboldt penguin exhibit? If I ever have the chance to work here, the first thing I'll do is abuse my power to put up such an explanatory sign."

Then came another familiar voice.

"Don't speak so loudly in front of so many people... If Lin Guo keeps doing this, I'm going to pretend I don't know you."

Because Gu Lingguo's voice was indeed quite loud, Zhu Wenyun, who was standing next to Chen Junqian, also heard the sound and curiously glanced over there. However, it seemed that Chen Xi had forcibly taken them away, so neither of them could find any specific figure.

Was that Lin Guo speaking just now?

"It's her."

"Did that statement have any special meaning?"

"To put it simply, it appeared in the final episode of an anime that just finished airing."

"Romantic comedy?"

"Yes, it's a romantic comedy, although the current direction of the anime is a bit nauseating. You can interpret 'Wen Yun' as meaning twisted or entangled."

"I know that, after all, although I haven't written it myself, I have read it."

Zhu Wenyun smiled and nodded. Her body was already leaning lightly against the inside of Chen Junqian's arm, completely unguarded. The aloofness she deliberately maintained in the crowd miraculously blended into a gentle and delicate feeling in this small safe zone he had created.

This was precisely the time when the zookeepers were feeding the animals.

A zookeeper wearing diving goggles carried a bucket of dried fish to the artificial reef in the exhibit area. The Humboldt penguins, who had been gracefully swimming in the water just moments before, instantly transformed into a group of clumsy and adorable chubby little creatures. They waddled out of the water and climbed ashore, forming a crooked line. Some of them anxiously flapped their short wings, making "quack-quack" sounds similar to donkey braying, creating a rather comical scene.

So, are there really penguin couples?

"Actually, most penguins are monogamous, but not necessarily. As mentioned earlier, this is the general case. However, it's meaningless to impose human concepts of love, marriage, and infidelity onto animals."

"Humans are animals too, aren't they?"

"Then, conversely, these concepts may not mean anything to humans at all."

"Junqian did think that way, but I don't dislike it. In fact, every time I hear it, I feel a strong sense of excitement. It's like it's constantly reminding me that this is the first secret about you that I know that no one else knows."

As Zhu Wenyun was speaking, a penguin slowly walked to the glass. Through the thick glass, its beady little eyes curiously observed the humans outside. Its snow-white belly and black spots were clearly visible. It even clumsily raised one wing and flapped it twice on the glass, as if greeting the two people outside.

Unlike the tourists around her who were screaming and yelling, Zhu Wenyun gently bent down and placed her palm lightly on the glass, directly in front of the little penguin's wing.

The light shone on her profile, outlining her soft features. Her eyes were full of love for these little creatures, and she radiated a gentle, maternal glow.

For a moment, all the noise of the surrounding people, the crying of children, and the clicking of camera shutters faded away from Chen Junqian's world. All that remained in his eyes was the girl in the white dress who radiated a tranquil glow.

"Junqian, look, it's following my hand."

Zhu Wenyun's gentle voice brought him back to his senses. Chen Junqian looked over and saw her fingertips moving slowly across the glass. The Humboldt penguin actually swayed its little head and followed her hand.

Chen Junqian lowered his head, shifting his gaze from the penguin back to Zhu Wenyun's smiling face. Then, he suddenly reached out and, through Zhu Wenyun's back, gently interlocked his fingers with hers, enveloping her hand that was moving on the glass, and together they attracted the little penguin's attention.

The little penguin seemed to have developed a strong obsession with the two hands pressed together against the glass. It tilted its black and white head, stared at the overlapping hands with its beady black eyes for a few seconds, and then clumsily took two more steps closer to the glass.

Zhu Wenyun was completely charmed by its curious and adorable appearance. She had shown great patience and friendliness towards both humans and penguin chicks today, and her eyes were full of bright smiles. The two of them gently drew a circle on the glass with their fingertips, and the little penguin's head immediately became like a wind-up toy, swaying left and right as it drew circles.

"It seems like it can actually understand it."

The girl whispered in Chen Junqian's ear, her voice filled with undisguised childlike excitement. Then, the two of them tried to quickly slide their fingers upwards, and the little penguin immediately raised its short, thick neck. When they slid their fingers downwards, it suddenly lowered its head, its pink mouth almost touching the ice on the ground, attracting the curious attention of other tourists nearby. This made Zhu Wenyun feel a little embarrassed, which was unusual for her.

The main reason is that Gu Linguo and Chen Xi were just here, and they might not have left yet.

"We both feel so stupid."

"So Wenyun can be shy too. I thought that girls who chased after their classmates to sell things at the market when they first met wouldn't be shy from a young age."

"Actually, that was the only time, so I've always felt that I'm actually very lucky."

Just as Zhu Wenjun had expected, Gu Lingguo, who had just sworn an oath to abuse his power, hadn't gone far. Instead, he stood in a corner at a distance, watching the two people, until Chen Xi, who had gone to buy water, returned and curiously asked:

"What is Lin Guo looking at?"

"Try to stop and observe the penguin couple's behavior and reaction."

Although her best friend's tone was relatively calm, Chen Xi still sensed a strange and complex emotion in her words, but the next second she was overwhelmed by another seemingly random remark from her friend.

"Sigh, I feel like Yui is going to lose to Yukino."

"Who is Yui, and who is Yukino?"

"Yui Yuigahama is Yui Yui, and Yukino is Yukinoshita Yukino."

"...Even if you told me the full names of these two Japanese people, I still wouldn't know who they are."

"Long, straight black hair is amazing."

"So, Lin Guo—no, does that mean there's someone who doesn't have long, straight black hair?"

"But Sister Wen is the most perfect with long, straight black hair, and she even has a figure advantage over Yukino. No, no, this should be the setting for Kasumigaoka-senpai... Hehehe, I, I remember now."

"So I'm Kato Megumi!"

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

Chapter 128: Last-minute cramming, and the cramming failed (5k)

As the final act of their aquarium trip, after recruiting all the characters along the way, Chen Junqian led the group to watch the last aquatic animal show, a classic family-friendly activity, perfect for several people to watch together.

The aquarium's water theater is a semi-open structure similar to an ancient Roman arena, capable of accommodating nearly a thousand spectators. In the center of the theater, a huge, irregularly shaped blue pool is like a giant sapphire embedded between the stands, with dazzling artificial lights reflecting off the water's surface. When Chen Junqian and his group arrived, the stands were already packed. The lively Hawaiian warm-up music mixed with the buzzing conversations of hundreds of spectators and the laughter of children, making the place quite noisy and lively.

"But why are there so many empty seats in the front row?"

Standing in the aisle of the audience, Lin Mu quickly noticed that compared to the bustling back rows, the front rows were much sparsely populated, with less than half of the audience members seated.

"Although the first three rows offer a much clearer view, the main problem is that you're more likely to get splashed by water. So you usually have to go to the staff next to the area to get a waterproof raincoat. By the way, Mu Mu, don't you remember? Last time at the aquarium in Qinhuangdao, you got splashed by dolphins in the first row."

Lin Mu looked somewhat bewildered as he recalled Chen Junqian's explanation, before finally putting on a look of sudden realization, though it was unclear whether he had truly remembered it or not.

"It seems so, so should we sit in the front row this time?"

"It depends on you guys. It usually won't splash too much. After all, this isn't like Fantawild's flooded area. Wearing a raincoat shouldn't be a problem."

As soon as Chen Junqian and Lin Mu finished speaking, Shen Nianqiu, who was standing next to them, had already caught the key words and immediately admitted it:

"I want to sit in the front row, my little brother can come with me."

"Oh, okay, what about you guys?"

"I'll pass, I really don't want to get splashed with water."

After Chen Xi refused, she immediately pulled Gu Linguo over from beside her: