I turned reality into a romantic comedy.

"I'm not talking to you about academics today, I just want to have a casual chat. It's been a month since the start of the semester, are you settling in well at school?"

"It's great. Actually, I prefer being at school to being on vacation."

Lin Mu replied with a smile. Her words weren't exactly a lie, because it was quite counterintuitive that she and Chen Junqian spent more time together during the school year than during holidays, since they were in the same class, and high school students spend most of their day in class.

Teacher Shen picked up the porcelain cup on the table, took a sip, and decided to try to probe indirectly first:

"You'll be officially choosing your major at the end of this semester. Have you decided whether to go for humanities or sciences? Actually, the teachers think your grades are pretty good in both areas, so you can choose either one."

"Yes, I've made up my mind. I want to choose humanities because Qianqian also studies humanities."

Sure enough, the name came from the other person's mouth, and Teacher Shen naturally got to the point:

"The humanities are also good. You just mentioned Qianqian. I have noticed recently that you and Chen Junqian are getting a little too close in class."

As she spoke, she observed Lin Mu's changing expression and continued slowly:

"I know you're good friends, but you're all still students. No matter how close you are, male and female students should maintain a certain physical distance and boundaries in public places like school. What do you think?"

This is a standard excuse to prevent early romantic relationships. In her past teaching career, Teacher Shen has used it to dissuade several high school couples in the early stages of their relationship. Generally, when girls of this age hear their homeroom teacher make such a suggestion, most of them will turn bright red, and some will even get so anxious that their eyes will turn red as they try to explain, "We are just ordinary friends." In this respect, the students in the special admission class are even more innocent than the students in the regular class.

However, Lin Mu neither blushed nor panicked. This calm attitude inexplicably reminded Teacher Shen of that day in early September last year, when a graceful young girl stood here and gave her a similar look. Even the matters they discussed and the other party involved were the same.

She blinked her clear, innocent eyes, then slightly furrowed her brows, shrugged her shoulders with a hint of helplessness, and spoke in a tone that was both resigned and troubled, as if sharing an extremely heavy family matter with her homeroom teacher. She then glanced up at her teacher while fiddling with the ends of her hair.

"Teacher Shen, I understand what you're saying. Actually, I also find it quite troublesome."

"trouble?"

Lin Mu leaned forward slightly, closing the distance between herself and Teacher Shen, and lowered her voice even further, as if afraid of being overheard by others:

"Actually... both of our families have already made a decision."

"……what?"

The red pen in Teacher Shen's hand veered off course by half an inch, leaving a glaring red mark on the white paper:

"What's settled?"

"It's...it's a marriage agreement between the two families."

Ms. Shen's pen fell to the table with a thud. She wondered if she had just hallucinated. It was the 21st century, and she was facing a 17-year-old high school girl. How could she hear lines from an old-fashioned romance drama coming from her mouth?

"Lin Mu, what are you saying?"

Teacher Shen took a deep breath, her expression becoming serious:

"You can't make jokes like that, and we live in a society governed by the rule of law now. Feudal remnants and outdated customs are unacceptable."

“I’m not joking, Teacher Shen.”

Lin Mu put on a serious expression and even took out a photo from his pocket and handed it to Teacher Shen.

These are some more pieces of evidence she found in Chen Junqian's old photo album. If Chen Xi were here right now, she would probably be wondering why she took that photo out of there. But as it turns out, as long as a childhood sweetheart has a strong desire, this level of historical evidence can indeed be easily created.

"Actually, Qianqian and I have known each other since we were little, but it's not the kind of feudal remnant like the arranged marriages that the teachers talked about. Those kinds of agreements don't take into account the opinions of the parties involved at all, and they are indeed dregs. The main reason why Qianqian and I got engaged was because of the company and business considerations."

As Teacher Shen leaned back in awe, Lin Mu explained in a measured and methodical manner:

"Teacher Shen, you may have seen our parents' workplaces in our files. Actually, both of our families are the founding major shareholders of the Three Fierce Xu Group. The direct family shares of our two families are highly cross-shared within the group."

Ms. Shen's thoughts were completely led by Lin Mu. After all, as a native of Guoning, she did know about this large national enterprise in the area, and she had indeed seen the various titles of Chen Junqian's father, Chen Jun, and Lin Mu's father, Lin Youfeng, in their files. When the files were created, the principal had specifically instructed that more attention should be paid to these two students. Even last year's study tour was facilitated by Chen Junqian, who facilitated the first cooperation between the school and the company, and she heard that the results were quite outstanding.

"Actually, I don't know either. It's said to be related to some kind of listing. In short, the goal is for me to be with Qianqian, and they even said that it would be best if we got married as soon as we reached the right age."

As Lin Mu continued telling this outrageous lie, he gave Teacher Shen a helpless look, as if he were forced to bear the burden of a wealthy family, and twisted the hem of his clothes with his hands as he spoke:

"Teacher Shen, we really, really aren't in a puppy love relationship. Anyway, that's how it is. I've already told you."

Seeing Lin Mu put on that obedient expression again, Teacher Shen froze in her chair, feeling that her worldview had been violently impacted like never before. She had imagined countless reactions from Lin Mu: crying and admitting her mistake, stubbornly refusing to admit it, or even bringing out her parents to pressure her.

The only thing I didn't expect was that this young girl would casually mention things like "corporation" and "listed company."

Hey, hey, hey, have you ever considered that I'm almost forty years old and feel like I can see the end of my life ahead of me? I even feel a stronger sense of frustration than when I faced Zhu Wenyun back then.

"This...this is the age of marriage! This doesn't comply with the marriage law, and..."

Teacher Shen stammered in rebuttal, her voice noticeably weaker than before, lacking any real authority.

"Yes, but my parents are so good to me, this is one of the few things I can do for them. Besides, Qianqian is actually a very nice person. We've known each other since we were little, and the teachers have noticed, haven't they? He's been keeping an eye on my studies, isn't he? That's just how he is."

Feeling that a couple of candid complaints had been added, Teacher Shen rubbed her temples, a headache forming. Finally, she managed to maintain her composure and her tone became very earnest:

"Chen did the right thing. As for Lin Mu... although your family situation is special, school is ultimately just a place for learning. The teacher still hopes that when you return to the classroom, you can focus your main energy on preparing for the college entrance examination. Try... try not to show too much of your special family situation in front of your classmates, so as not to affect other people's study mood, understand?"

"I understand! I understand perfectly!"

Lin Mu immediately stood up straight, even playfully giving a standard Young Pioneers salute, his eyes shining:

"Thank you, Ms. Shen, for understanding our predicament. Don't worry, I will definitely work hard to improve my grades and will absolutely not create any negative public opinion in the class!"

"Alright, alright, let's go back to the classroom."

Teacher Shen waved to her, feeling rather helpless.

Goodbye, teacher!

Lin Mu turned and glided out of the office as nimbly as a rabbit. As soon as she stepped out of the office corridor, the expression on Lin Mu's face faded like the tide the moment she turned the corner, and finally turned into a series of crisp laughter that she couldn't hold back.

No wonder Vivi always likes to lie and deceive people; it turns out that sometimes it can be very effective. Moreover, due to the credibility she has accumulated over the past ten years, it is easier for people to believe what she says.

After successfully fooling his homeroom teacher, Lin Mu became increasingly unrestrained in his daily activities at school.

In the past, when she bumped into Teacher Shen in the corridor, her hand, which was holding Chen Junqian's sleeve, would recoil as if she had been electrocuted. Now, even if Teacher Shen saw Lin Mu following Chen Junqian like a little tail from afar, she would only push up her glasses with a complicated feeling, then sigh inwardly, and turn around to pretend to look at the blackboard in the corridor.

The atmosphere in the class became somewhat subtle. However, the main focus of the special admissions class was still on studying. Students from other classes could see the various interactions in the corridor, so soon some girls who were jealous of Lin Mu and Chen Junqian's good relationship continued to make sarcastic remarks in private, saying that Lin Mu's grades were not as high as Chen Junqian's, but he was always sticking to him like a follower, which was really too annoying.

However, Lin Mu has developed patience in dealing with such rumors, and can even face them with a rather relaxed attitude. After all, it at least means that people are willing to associate him with Chen Junqian, which is much better than associating him with Zhu Wenyun and Xu Youwei.

As for Chen Xi, I wish you good luck in your high school entrance exam—no, I mean, the early admission exam for the special enrollment class.

If you could only read one romance novel in your lifetime, it would probably be "I Turn Reality into a Romantic Comedy".

Time flew by amidst the intense daily grind of studying and routines. Before she knew it, the midterm exams were upon her. For Lin Mu, this was a true battle of destiny, as academic performance was paramount. If she could also rank second in the grade, wouldn't she be able to sit next to Qianqian in class? Zhu Wenyun could apply, so could she, of course.

However, this dream was quickly shattered. Although he had indeed made some progress compared to before, Lin Mu's academic performance was now only at the level of "I'm sorry I couldn't make Zhu Wenyun feel satisfied." However, Zhu Wenyun herself didn't care about these things and was even unusually indifferent to Lin Mu's various little actions during this period.

The reason is simple: Lin Mu told her that this was also for researching material for his new book.

For a romance novelist who had previously complained to Chen Junqian while writing her book that she "couldn't figure out how Lin Mu would take the initiative," and relied entirely on her own wild imagination, witnessing such a precious scene in person was like having two wishes fulfilled at once, both in terms of her personal desires and her work.

Moreover, the person has already stated in their diary that they will share it openly and generously, so being petty now would only make them seem narrow-minded and jealous.

If Gu Lingguo were here, she would probably marvel at how her childhood sweetheart had somehow managed to replicate a 'fake love' in real life without any instruction... Oh, she really is here.

As it turns out, while Shen Nianqiu was preparing for the college entrance examination in Lin'an, Xu Youwei and Zhu Wenyun had already entered a state of "playing dumb" either passively or actively, and even her younger sister was single-mindedly preparing for the early admission exam, Gu Linguo, who was about to face the high school entrance exam, showed an amazingly good mentality.

"I feel like using the excuse that I need to temporarily quit the internet to take the high school entrance exam to stop updating has a subtle sense of revealing my age... Besides, I feel that writing video scripts is already a way for me to relax in my busy schedule. Anyway, I won't get into the special class or the key class, but I'm pretty sure I'll get into the regular class, so I just need to keep a positive attitude."

The various events that occurred at the beginning of this year seemed to have left no trace on the heart of this young girl. Gu Lingguo, who was sitting there with her legs curled up, tapping on her tablet, subtly looked a bit like Shiro from No Game No Life. Perhaps because she often played the role of the younger sister, Chen Junqian always felt that this girl's sisterly attributes were unexpectedly a bit too strong.

"It seems your mom has high expectations for you."

"There's nothing we can do about it. Besides, the reason she wants me to do well in high school is because she wants me to get into a good university, find a good job, and eventually make a lot of money. I'm already preparing to take the final step directly towards that goal and overtake others, which means I can avoid taking twenty years of detours."

It has to be said that the period between 2016 and 2020 was indeed a period of explosive growth in the number of ACG (Anime, Comics, and Games) enthusiasts in China. As a result, a large number of content creators who specialize in providing information and discussions on this topic also began to experience a period of rapid growth in followers. In addition, the high video revenue that had not yet been cut due to the impact of short videos gave Gu Lingguo a lot of confidence when she said this.

"Yes, if that's what Lin Guo thinks, I'll support you. You can also tell me about family matters anytime."

"That's a big plus, senior."

Gu Linguo responded with a smile, and then they started discussing the new anime series that would start in April.

Although both "Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress" and "Re:Zero -Starting Life in Another World-" seem destined to be the most popular series, Gu Lingguo specifically discussed this season's romantic comedy, "Netoge no Yome wa Onnanoko ja Nai to Omotta?", with Chen Junqian because she knew his favorite genre was always romantic comedies.

"Just from the name, it sounds like a light novel, a typical otaku fantasy."

"My senior has changed too. He used to love watching these kinds of shows. He couldn't get enough of the new anime of the season and would go find older ones to watch."

Chen Junqian could only laugh at Gu Linguo's complaints. After all, this was the biggest beautiful misunderstanding between him and Gu Linguo. To be honest, a large part of his attention to ACGN culture in the past few years was actually to understand the technical terms in the system. It just so happened that Gu Linguo saw it and formed this misconception based on preconceived notions.

Well, compared to his two lifetimes, it feels like there's not enough of the anime/manga content. Even he himself doesn't know when it started, but suddenly he's not particularly enthusiastic about romantic comedies every season anymore.

Perhaps it's because he himself has almost become a genuine romantic comedy male protagonist?

"The male protagonist, Nishimura, is proposed to by a female player named 'Ako' in an online game. Because he was once deceived by a 'cross-dresser' in the game, he was extremely resistant at first. However, when he met her at an offline gathering, he found that she was not only a super beautiful girl, but also couldn't distinguish between reality and the game. In reality, she directly called him 'husband' and was extremely clingy. No, wait."

"It's not just clingy anymore, it feels like she's completely dependent on him. She's also a withdrawn outsider at school, doesn't like socializing, skips classes, and her only support is Nishimura. As long as Nishimura is around, she's not afraid of anything. I feel like this kind of female protagonist is too easy to become yandere. I feel like it's easy to overdo it when creating this kind of heavy-hearted female protagonist. What do you think, senior?"

Listening to Gu Linguo's speech, Chen Junqian inexplicably thought of Lin Mu during this period of time.

Of course, the homeroom teacher wouldn't just talk to Lin Mu alone. He was also called over to find out what was going on, and then he learned from the other party about the fake relationship. However, he wasn't worried about some mysterious blond boy hiding in the school trees every day to spy on whether the two of them were really dating. His first reaction was that Mu Mu had actually reached the age where she could lie.

No, no, if you think like that, wouldn't you become like the kind of male protagonist Zhu Wenyun once wrote about, who, because he has already dated other women and even tasted the forbidden fruit, would naturally think, "Well, compared to my girlfriend, my childhood sweetheart is really still a child. I guess I shouldn't hold it against her; I can't do anything about her."

I remember that in one of the drafts that couldn't be published in any sense, the final outcome had absolutely nothing to do with a romantic comedy; instead, it headed straight for the basement.

but……

He never imagined that the curse of being so familiar with his childhood sweetheart would one day befall him. However, the ingrained impressions from the past were too deep, so even though he realized that the other person was genuinely suppressing his shyness and making an advance towards him, Chen Junqian still felt that something was not quite right, with a vague sense of unease.

Suddenly remembering a point he had previously overlooked, Chen Junqian subconsciously asked Gu Lingguo in front of him:

"Speaking of which, what does Lin Guo think of female protagonists who keep diaries?"

"Huh? What decent person keeps a diary? Diaries are meant to be read by others. Even if they weren't at first, they will eventually be, unless nobody knows she's keeping a diary, just like Chekhov's gun."

“…That’s it.”

"Wow, Senior suddenly let out a huge sigh. Even if you're past the age of liking romantic comedies, you don't have to do this. Besides, Senior could also star in a movie called 'My Online Wife Can't Be a Girl.' After all, you've always been playing LOL with Sister Youwei, right? If the theme is changed to Honor of Kings, you could even make a movie like that with Sister Nianqiu."

In response to Gu Linguo's teasing, Chen Junqian simply explained, with a slightly somber tone, the fact that he had only just realized:

"Actually, Mu Mu should be the most suitable person to film this series."

"Huh? It's actually Sister Lin Mu?"

"Because I feel that Mu Mu is like the female protagonist in a story who wants to bind or prove a close relationship through something that seems very vague and unreliable to outsiders—like getting married in a game. But I don't know how to find a better way or event to prove it, or rather, I don't even know myself..."

Before Chen Junqian could finish speaking, Gu Lingguo suddenly burst out laughing, mimicking her best friend and saying, "This matter is also recorded in XXX":

"I think we watched 'Kokoro Connect' together back then. There's a famous line in it that I think would be very fitting, but it depends on whether you dare to say it."

I once used you as material for a spell.

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

Chapter 215: I Hate Summer