I turned reality into a romantic comedy.

But every time she looked at it, this sentence would pop into her mind again.

After all, it's different from the love triangle in the book. There's practically a six-pointed star around his childhood sweetheart, and Lin Mu can vaguely sense that this is really the result of Qianqian's deliberate actions. He's keeping everyone's relationship with him in a rather ambiguous range, as if he's deliberately waiting for something.

Realizing this fact made Lin Mu feel both annoyed and relieved, because in a sense, it meant that the other party had not actually engaged in any substantial intimate behavior with anyone so far. It was like a long-distance race, where everyone was at a different pace from the finish line, but the referee was controlling the time it took for everyone to reach the finish line, trying to get them to cross the finish line at the same time as much as possible.

This sounds fair and impressive, but it's all an ideal scenario. In reality, even the entry time for each athlete is different. So if an athlete really goes all out to cross the finish line from the start, the referee can't stop them. And once the established fact is achieved, it's too late for someone to change their mind later.

To say that she has no regrets would be self-deception, but it wasn't actually to the point of being hysterical. Compared to possessiveness, the desire to share is a more common emotion in a girl's life so far.

Everyone has probably read the fairy tale "The Giant's Garden" from their elementary school textbooks. The most important thing is to generously share, just like a garden; the tree you plant welcomes everyone to come and enjoy its shade.

The girl's pen stopped here, and she put away her diary with satisfaction.

That should be enough to fool people, right?

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

PS2: This chapter could also be titled, "You Taught Me Too Well, Weiwei."

Chapter 207: Xi Shiliu, Able to Warm the Bed

Unlike last year, when she had to use a feint and a diversion to successfully move to Chen Junqian's room, this year Chen Xi felt that this trip was even unbelievably easy. Shen Nianqiu, whom she originally regarded as her number one enemy and the biggest obstacle, seemed to have no intention of guarding against her at all. Instead, he stayed in his room obediently and seemed to be fast asleep, making it difficult for Chen Xi to figure out what he was thinking.

When his younger sister came into the room, Chen Junqian was replying to one New Year's greeting message after another on his phone. When he encountered a template greeting that looked like it was sent to a group, he would send back a template in return. If it was a greeting that looked like he had written it himself, he would send a sincere greeting word by word.

Because she had only come in her pajamas, Chen Xi immediately spotted the bed and burrowed under the covers, leaving only her head peeking out. Clutching the blankets with both hands, she turned to look at her brother sitting at his desk. She wanted to call him over to lie down, but was also worried he might be busy with something important. After a while, she muttered to herself:

"I'm warming your bed, brother."

Although he deliberately lowered his voice, Chen Junqian still clearly caught his sister's voice in the quiet room, and turned around to answer with a wry smile:

"Is it possible that I turned on the electric blanket beforehand?"

"...Electric blankets are just mechanical heat, technological heat. No matter what, human body temperature and skin are definitely the best at warming people."

"I don't deny that. Xiaoxi is indeed very warm, she has been since she was a child. It's just that her hands and feet are a bit cold. She should pay more attention to exercise in the future."

As the male protagonist of a romantic comedy who has been sleeping with his younger sister on New Year's Eve since he was a child, Chen Junqian initially thought it was just a common saying about children having three fires on their bodies. Later, he discovered that his younger sister was indeed simply prone to overheating and sweating, seemingly a little weak. In winter, she would easily break out in a cold sweat while also having cold hands and feet, so she would often stick close to him in a gesture of seeking warmth. As a result, every year on the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, he would wake up to find the two of them entwined together.

"Even if I only get 10 or 20 points on the physical fitness test, it won't affect my application to Ningzhong's special admission class."

"It has nothing to do with the physical test. Your own health is the most important thing. Mu Mu used to have similar physical fitness to Xiao Xi, but now she has improved after sticking to exercise."

Although frailty is a common "cute" trait in anime and manga, Chen Junqian certainly wouldn't want any of his real-life heroines to be associated with that word. If he had to pick the one among the six who was relatively the weakest, it would definitely be his younger sister. Unlike Zhu Wenyun, who was completely immune to frailty and could even be described as a strong, country girl, Chen Xi had always been a typical literary girl with typical personality traits and habits. It was only because she had a best friend who liked to get her involved that she seemed to become even more of a homebody.

As for Lin Mu, who used to be her equal in athletics but could now easily tell her, "You can't outrun me, do you believe that?" Chen Xi just smirked and decisively changed the subject, instead reaching out to pat the pillow next to her.

"Brother—get into bed."

"Okay, wait for me."

Putting his phone aside for the moment, Chen Junqian took off his sweater and outer pants, leaving only his inner cotton shirt and thermal underwear. He leaned against the headboard and continued replying to messages on his phone. The bed was already warm thanks to the electric blanket that had been turned on beforehand. However, his sister's palms and ankles, which had suddenly pressed against him, were a little cool. The former reached from his waist to his stomach and pressed against him, while the latter kept hooking her toes around the bottom of his pants and rubbing against him to keep warm.

"Brother, stop playing on your phone, talk to me, talk to me!"

Perhaps it was because of some evocative scene, but Chen Junqian always felt that his younger sister became exceptionally childlike around this time of year. However, the way she held him and swayed him, constantly touching a certain soft spot that couldn't be ignored, constantly reminded him of the fact that she had grown into a young woman. So Chen Junqian simply put down his phone, turned off the lights in the room, and then snuggled into the covers to answer:

"I feel like I've already said a lot tonight."

"Then tell me a story to lull me to sleep, just like before."

“Hmm, let me think… Today a Korean girl sent me a bamboo scroll through someone. She said this is the best summer she’s had since her coming-of-age ceremony. This year she found a job in the county of Xinzheng and exchanged all her salary for cloth. Now she’s selling the rice she’s earned over five years at the market. The post stations are bustling with carriages. If she just goes south to Yunmengze to go boating, she can save up enough rice for ten days. The day before yesterday, she was walking in the market of Xinzheng when everyone on the street suddenly stopped what they were doing, bowed and hugged each other, and sang while beating earthen jars. She said she was very happy and had the illusion that the reign of Cheng and Kang was being restored and the Zhou rites were being revived.”

"Is this some kind of anime/manga related meme?"

"Xiao Xi will probably know in ten years. But if you're talking about anime, I actually wrote something related recently. After listening to it, Xiao Xi should know what a romantic comedy is."

"Okay, brother, go ahead and tell me."

"How could this be? I should be a proper merchant from Dayi, studying at the Imperial Academy in Yindu. My parents are always traveling as merchants in Fangguo. In the morning, my younger sister wakes me up from her semi-subterranean pit to eat the millet porridge she cooked herself. When I go out, my lovely childhood sweetheart is waiting for me with seashells in her hand to go to school together..."

"So, is the relationship between a younger sister and a childhood friend really the underlying logic of romantic comedies?"

"That's generally how it is, so I like Xiaoxi and Mumu very much. It's so great that you two are by my side."

Hearing Chen Junqian's words, the younger sister lying there gave a soft hum, buried her head in his chest, and continued:

"What else? Please continue, brother."

“The new transfer student from the Dongyi tribe in the Imperial Academy would sit at the same table as me. During the lectures, he would secretly pass me inscribed tortoise shell pieces. The proud female official in charge of clan laws would blush and straighten my hemp collar. The beautiful witch doctor in charge of herbs would smile mischievously and use herbs to tell me my love fortune.”

"...If you had told me this sooner, I would have known what you and Lin Guo had been up to all along. It's a pity that there are no foreign transfer students in the class, no pretty female teachers in the infirmary, and the discipline inspector is a bald headmaster. Speaking of which, was it because of this that you wanted to be a discipline monitor in elementary school? And you actually met Xu Youwei. Well, thinking about it this way, it doesn't seem like it was entirely impossible."

Feeling that his younger sister's current complaints were remarkably similar to his own past self, Chen Junqian couldn't help but chuckle and patted her head under the covers. Only after touching her did he belatedly realize that whenever his hand touched the female lead's head, it would automatically become Kato X's hand. However, when he tried to remove it, Chen Xi became unwilling, feeling a little uneasy yet enjoying herself, and her body temperature began to rise visibly again.

"There must be more, brother, please continue."

Feeling that he really should say something to distract his younger sister, Chen Junqian reaffirmed his resolve never to touch anyone's head without permission, and then continued:

"After school, cute junior girls would wait for me in the workshop, which only had abandoned bronze kilns, and call me 'Brother Zong' with happy faces..."

"Hehehe, it's no surprise that the Shang Dynasty was ultimately destroyed by a fox spirit."

"Lin Guo might cry if she heard Xiao Xi's sarcastic remark."

"...Fine, let her call me senior, senior brother or whatever. Anyway, my brother and I will be in the same year next year, and she'll have to call me senior sister then."

"I think Xiaoxi should think more about how to tell Lin Guo about this. It's better to make things clear to her sooner rather than later. You're the only friend she has at school. If you skip a grade too, she'll definitely feel lonely, just like Youwei feels abandoned by Mumu and Wenjun."

Recalling the scene from that day and Gu Lingguo's words to her, Chen Xi felt the burning blood rushing to her head suddenly cool down. She turned her head away and quietly agreed.

"Okay, I understand."

"Then, the expressionless senior diviner approached me with a smile under the pretense of inspecting the sacrificial cattle and sheep."

"Ah, I know that. It's what they call the 'three-no' contrast in cuteness. Lin Guo told me about it, and she even thinks I'm a bit like that. What do you think, brother?"

"A little bit, because it feels like Xiao Xi is often indifferent to others, giving off a subtle vibe that she would be bullied by the Will of Domination if she were placed on some mysterious film set."

“Bullying? I’ve never experienced it, because everyone knows I’m my brother’s sister. Actually, according to rumors at school, my brother has a very scary background. It sounds like he’s some kind of domineering CEO from a female-oriented novel.”

“It’s definitely a good thing not to be bullied. I used to worry that Lin Guo would be bullied.”

"Huh? Why?"

"Because she was very unconventional during that period, I was worried that one day at noon she might just use the classroom whiteboard to show animations to people."

If we use the definition from ten years later, Chen Junqian felt that Gu Lingguo could be considered a mysterious two-dimensional Jiaxin for a while. Although this kind of personality is unlikely to encounter direct physical bullying, various forms of mental and social isolation and ridicule are still very common. Fortunately, none of these happened, or rather, some of them did happen, but because someone's mental fortitude was quite good, they didn't care at all.

"Indeed, but it's much better now. After all, I'm almost a high school student, so I should be past that 'chuunibyou' phase you guys always talk about. Okay, brother, continue."

“At night, the bold young girl from the neighboring clan, her face painted with vermilion, would wait for me outside the town gate to dance the Nuo dance over a bonfire, and then she and her childhood sweetheart would compete for my affections.”

"Childhood sweethearts are so prone to jealousy and rivalry..."

"Can I suspect that Xiaoxi is hinting at someone?"

"That person is actually less likely to be jealous, otherwise the story would have ended long ago. But putting aside childhood sweethearts, it seems like my brother isn't interested in girls like the one mentioned earlier at all."

"Perhaps it's because people naturally distrust girls who only care about looks? It's not that they think the other person's feelings are superficial, it's just that they feel the two people aren't close enough yet."

"Oh, I see. So my brother is also a childhood sweetheart type. But that's fine too."

As a beneficiary, Chen Xi gladly accepted this fact. Although she didn't know whether it was her brother who influenced Zhu Wenyun or Zhu Wenyun who influenced her brother, she still wanted to cheer for the childhood sweetheart relationship. Of course, when it comes to dating and marriage, one should find someone they know well, and she felt the same way.

"When I went to take a bath at night, I bumped into my younger sister who was wearing a kudzu cloth on the shore. My older sister, who was drunk from drinking millet wine at night, ran to the straw mat, hugged me, and said that the divination result was very bad and she would never be able to get married. She wanted to spend her whole life with me. Was all of this just my fantasy?"

"Romantic comedies always involve fantasizing about bumping into girls taking a shower or using the bathroom... So why is it always the younger sister? Oh, it's because we live under the same roof, right?"

The younger sister, who was already capable of analyzing and arriving at the answer on her own, quite rudely skipped over the last part about her being an older sister, and sighed while hugging Chen Junqian:

"It's all just your imagination, brother. Even if these female protagonists really existed, I don't think you would want to travel back to the Shang Dynasty. After all, I've always felt that no matter which historical dynasty you travel to, the standard of living would not be higher than today. There would be so many inconveniences. So, brother, do you want to catch me taking a bath or changing clothes after I've finished bathing someday?"

"Yeah... wait, wait, wait. I agree with what came before, why are you asking leading questions?"

"It's okay, it's okay. Just treat me as your fiancée when the time comes. Anyway, I've already seen everything."

"I don't remember. If you're talking about that time during summer vacation, I stood obediently behind the rocks and didn't see anything."

"...Tch, I'm going to sleep."

"Buzz buzz buzz buzz".

"What the hell?"

"Give Xiaoxi the voiceover of Dawei's motorcycle."

"I feel like my brother likes the new Three Kingdoms much more than I do; it's clearly a terrible show."

"I still remember how excited Xiaoxi was before the show started."

"What year was that? Was it 2009? I seem to remember that the new Three Kingdoms came out in 2010. I watched it on Anhui TV at the time."

"Yes, 2009."

"Seven years ago."

It seemed that she was truly getting sleepy; Chen Xi closed her eyes, her voice sounding as if it were floating out from the edge of a dream:

"I definitely started liking it around that time."

"History?"

"elder brother."

As if answering the previous question, or as if simply calling out to him, Chen Xi finished speaking and then seemed to have used up the last bit of her consciousness. Her breathing gradually became steady, her hand still holding Chen Junqian's arm, her brows relaxed, and she quietly curled up in the warm quilt.

The room fell silent again. Chen Junqian picked up his phone, and when the screen lit up, he saw a message that Shen Nianqiu had sent ten minutes earlier:

"Did Xiaoxi go to your place?"

He glanced at his sleeping sister and typed a reply:

"Yes, she's asleep now."

The other side quickly sent a reply:

"If she doesn't fall asleep soon, I'm going to force myself on her."

"Hmm? What's wrong?"

"Because it's almost midnight, I wanted to wish my brother a Happy New Year in person, just like before."

While sending messages, Shen Nianqiu didn't seem to stop. As the door was carefully pushed open from the outside, Chen Junqian looked up and saw his sister standing outside. The dim light from the corridor fell on her face, making her expression look much softer and quieter than during the day.

Chen Junqian had intended to get up, but as soon as he moved, he realized that he was completely bound from arm to leg by his younger sister. Shen Nianqiu seemed to have noticed this as well, and with amusement, she tiptoed in. Looking at the two of them like this, she teased them softly in a tone that seemed to say, "Finally, I've seen a normal sibling relationship."

"I'm holding you so tightly."