I turned reality into a romantic comedy.

As it turns out, just as the long history and profoundness of Chinese culture allow Chen Xi to find a phrase in various historical records that says, "This matter is also recorded in XXX," the numerous romantic comedies can indeed provide Gu Linguo, who has never been in a relationship, with a wealth of theoretical experience when it comes to matters of love.

Just like the famous line from "Love at First Sight" that the other party just quoted, Chen Junqian suddenly realized that the problem with his communication style with his childhood sweetheart, which felt somewhat awkward compared to others, might lie here. That is, until today, he had never looked at Lin Mu from the perspective of a relationship between opposite sexes. So much so that when the other party stacked coins on her collarbone in front of him, his first reaction was to remove them as if he was disappointed, afraid that it was unhygienic or that she would catch a cold.

In Chen Junqian's view, there must be two reasons for this problem, namely, physiological and psychological factors, and it is definitely not just his problem. After all, Shen Nianqiu and the others can provide him with valid evidence.

In this respect, Gu Lingguo's question just now was actually a high-EQ version of "Do you have that kind of impulse towards her?" or "What is the House of Commons' opinion?"

After all, as childhood sweethearts, the two had already gone through the romantic stage of being a couple. No matter how much they liked each other, it would only go from 95% to 100%. What remained was the physical aspect, and that's where they got stuck.

So Mu Mu's mood must be quite chaotic right now. Her family environment and the personality she developed from growing up can't make her like Shen Nianqiu and Zhu Wenyun. She's not even as bold as her best friend Xu Youwei, who is much bolder in every way. Or rather, her knowledge in this area is practically nonexistent. At least Chen Junqian clearly remembers that during a previous Spring Festival, she talked to him worriedly about a chapter in her biology textbook.

Generally speaking, at this point, Chen Junqian would definitely need to take the initiative to play the role of the guide. Moreover, it is foreseeable that Mu Mu will not say something like "Why are you so skilled?" like Dongma did. After all, she already knows about this. On the contrary, his attitude, which is no different from before, might make her feel that he doesn't have any feelings for her.

So, let's get back to the topic...

Seemingly noticing the change in Chen Junqian's expression, Gu Linguo also teased with a smile:

"There are only the two of us here, so you can speak freely, senior. I definitely won't laugh at you for being a loli-con. Besides, Sister Lin Mu isn't completely flat-chested. Actually, I saw her in the dressing room last summer. Don't worry, senior."

"To be honest, Sister Lin Mu is a very cute girl. You can't really think she's still a child, can you? She's the same age as you, a year older than me. She'll be seventeen after the New Year. Does that mean that people who have known each other since childhood really have the same mindset as childhood sweethearts? Xiao Xi would be crying."

"...It's hard to explain right now, but Lin Guo's advice today was very useful and helped me a lot."

"Would you consider giving me a reward, senior?"

"What does Lin Guo want? Want to go to another comic convention together?"

As if she had planned it all along, Gu Lingguo held up one finger and expressed her wish to Chen Junqian:

"Hmm—after I finish my high school entrance exam this year, as for comic conventions... let's organize one ourselves!"

Following Shen Nianqiu and Xu Youwei, Lin Mu finally understood the satisfaction of having all her innermost thoughts depicted by someone with the most fitting words. The diaries she lent out transformed into Zhu Wenyun's simple and unchanging emotional descriptions and flowed back into her life. Her emotions seemed to be sublimated, as if she had transformed from a naive little girl into a young woman who would dress herself up for her lover.

[I'm afraid he'll get cold or hungry, I worry he might encounter some accident. Sometimes, even when I'm sitting alone at home, I suddenly think about what would happen if he died one day. I always want to gently touch him, as if I also want him to be a patient or a fragile piece of porcelain. Maybe liking someone is just the impulse to be the protector of the person you like, even if you know that this kind of protection is unnecessary in the eyes of others.]

I know that being nostalgic isn't good, because if you keep clinging to the past, the shapes of those days become blurred, like pudding-flavored ice cream, a badminton court without a net, the streetlights on the way home, like the music fading but someone still blushing and singing. But those things are clearly there, just like we are here now. A childhood sweetheart who doesn't cling to the past isn't a true childhood sweetheart.

Of course, since her diary entries were almost entirely filled with lies, there were naturally some sentences that were completely contrary to Lin Mu's true thoughts. However, the girl could now easily filter them out of her mind, especially those descriptions that said liking someone meant possession and taking, while love meant giving and letting go.

Liking and loving should coexist, so possession, demanding, giving, and letting go should also coexist, because this kind of feeling is not simple at all, but rather thick and complicated, like a swamp that soaks the heart. At least that's how Lin Mu thinks now.

Suddenly, Lin Mu inexplicably got up from the bed and walked to the dressing mirror in the bedroom. She looked at the girl in the mirror again. She was wearing a pink and white pajamas, and her hair was loosely tied into a bun. Because she didn't pay much attention to her appearance at home, a few strands of hair were messily sticking to her neck and ears. Then she suddenly took two steps forward, almost pressing her face against the cold mirror.

"Are your eyes... a little swollen?"

Lin Mu gently pressed her index finger under her eye socket. Because she had stayed up late a few days ago to memorize English words for her midterm exams, there was a faint bluish-gray tinge on her skin. Although it was very light, it looked rather out of place against her originally fair and almost transparent skin.

"And this..."

She turned her head slightly, staring intently at the spot near her ear on her right cheek, illuminated by the cold light streaming in from the window. There was a tiny pink dot there, neither painful nor itchy, not even a pimple, probably just a faint hair follicle mark left from staying up late or eating too many snacks recently.

The girl gently touched the tiny red dot with her fingertip, her brows furrowing unconsciously.

"It's so ugly..."

She dejectedly lowered her hand and lay back down on the bed. Several years after saying goodbye to her childhood, the desire to grow taller suddenly took over her mind again. But this time she was even more greedy. In addition to growing taller, she had a series of other desires. If she had to summarize it, she probably wanted to become a more attractive girl.

Thinking of this, Lin Mu suddenly recalled Shen Nianqiu's image.

In Lin Mu's mind, Shen Nianqiu almost fulfilled all the fantasies of boys about their romantic partners. It can only be said that being anxious and insecure is one of the most genuine feelings of childhood sweethearts in the early stages of love. Just two months ago, she was still punching her best friend and saying that she was enough to satisfy her on her own. Sure enough, she was just bullying Weiwei so that she wouldn't talk back.

On the other hand, if it were someone like Weiwei, that would be great too. After all, Qianqian had dated her before, so he would at least not dislike her or be able to accept her.

Lin Mu lowered his head, looked at his feet in flat slippers, and then at the empty outline of his chest caused by the loose sweatshirt.

Petite, delicate, and naive.

These were the weapons she usually used to be obedient and pleasing in front of her elders, but now, these words had become like small, dull knives, sharpening her heart and making her feel uneasy.

Would Qianqian like this type?

Lin Mu gripped the drawstring of his hoodie, his eyes somewhat vacant. He recalled the last time he showed off his A4 waist and touched his belly button with his hand behind his back in front of his childhood friend, but the other person's first reaction was to take the coins stacked on his collarbone off. From that angle, looking down from above, there would definitely be a little bit of something there!

Removing her hand from her chest, which she had unconsciously placed there, and patting her slightly flushed cheeks, Lin Mu straightened up again. She comforted herself, telling herself that if she lay down and touched her chest, the fat would spread out to the sides and cause her to shrink further. She then looked at herself in the mirror again.

Play to your strengths and avoid your weaknesses! Don't dwell on things you can't change!

Trying to let her tied-up hair down, letting her fluffy black hair cascade over her shoulders, Lin Mu tilted her head slightly, mimicking the poses of the models she had seen in fashion magazines, tucking her chin in slightly and looking at the mirror with a dreamy gaze.

Two seconds later.

"Pfft-"

Lin Mu couldn't help but laugh first.

"How silly, like a little kid pretending to be an adult."

She rubbed her aching cheeks, and the feigned allure in her eyes vanished instantly, replaced by a lively and cheerful expression.

Thinking of Chen Junqian, Lin Mu's lips involuntarily curled into a smile.

Two days ago, during her afternoon nap, she deliberately pretended to be unconscious and took her childhood sweetheart's hand in hers. As if she were dreaming of some delicious candy, she put his index finger in her mouth and then clearly felt the changes in his body. She remembered Gu Lingguo saying that this was what was called "saying one thing but doing another," meaning he was still very responsive to her.

Lin Mu crossed his arms and proudly raised his head at his reflection in the mirror.

Happiness always comes quickly. The thought that Chen Junqian didn't really treat her like a child without any thoughts made Lin Mu feel as if her chest was filled with pink bubbles, which lightly carried her to the sky.

She couldn't resist twirling lightly in front of the mirror, the hem of her sweatshirt fluttering slightly, a few rays of light from the floor-to-ceiling windows falling on her smooth calves, making her look as light as a doll dancing on a music box.

"Actually, I'm quite cute too."

She made a face at herself in the mirror, then rested her chin on her hands and carefully examined her eyes.

"I have big eyes and long eyelashes, and Qianqian often compliments me."

Recalling the feeling of those large, warm palms covering her head, Lin Mu couldn't help but bury her head in her knees and let out a silent, sweet, and shy scream.

This feeling is wonderful, like taking a big gulp of ice-cold soda on a hot summer day, or like snuggling in the warmest blanket on a cold winter night.

However, this sweetness had just begun to spread in my heart when it was quickly extinguished by cold water.

Lin Mu slowly raised his head, the smile on his lips gradually fading.

"But then what? And then what? And then what?"

In the two months since the winter break, their relationship seems to have indeed progressed to a new level. However, in reality, they haven't even reached the stage of kissing that Shen Nianqiu had already reached. Apart from that first kiss that the other didn't even know about, their only kiss was that one that was purely accidental. Moreover, because the water pipe suddenly exploded, the two of them seemed to have forgotten about it together, and neither of them mentioned it again.

Moreover, Lin Mu was very clear that even if the two of them kissed one, two, or many more times, she would definitely not be satisfied. After all, she knew that the other person had already been with other people, and just thinking about this made her know that she would definitely want to pursue the next step.

But I always felt it was unlikely.

This is something I can't even talk to my parents about, or to anyone else.

The light in Lin Mu's eyes dimmed little by little, and her originally rosy cheeks now appeared somewhat pale. She turned around, leaned against the dressing mirror, and slid weakly onto the carpet.

With her knees bent, the girl buried her face between her knees, shrinking into a small ball.

The most agonizing part of first love is that it's a state of innocent confusion.

She could feel elated by a single word from him, as if the world were full of flowers, and then fall into despair with just a glance from him, feeling like the worst person in the world who doesn't deserve to be loved.

While feeling anxious and fearful of loss, I felt like every little thing was a threat.

Moreover, she didn't even have time to savor this feeling, because Shen Nianqiu was about to graduate.

"Qianqian..."

Lin Mu's voice was muffled from inside his knees, with a slight nasal tone.

She even thought it would be great if reality were just like the lie she told in front of Teacher Shen. If there really were such a thing as a marriage between wealthy families, and if they had to get married as soon as they graduated, then she wouldn't have to worry about him every day and keep trying to guess what he was thinking.

The girl was always clear about one fact: the events described by Zhu Wenyun based on her diary were completely different from what she had just written. In some ways, her thoughts were probably similar to Shen Nianqiu's.

I never think of you when I'm helpless or sad, as if doing so would make my longing seem impure and insincere.

Actually, I'm thinking of you every single moment.

I don't want to use the guise of liking you to openly give, take, and possess, and then pretend to be nonchalant and tragic by giving up.

It's about wanting to give, take, and possess, and not wanting to give up.

I want to build a long-term relationship with you because feelings driven solely by desire are bound to be short-lived. It's like chewing sugarcane; once you've extracted the sweet juice, you'll want to throw away the pulp as soon as possible.

...We're definitely going to have a long-term relationship, right? So let me—

I'm still the same person who gets shy when discussing biology with Qianqian. Even what I told Weiwei back then was all a lie. But humans are really strange in this respect.

They can say things like "I love you so much I'd die"—things that involve life and death—but they always find themselves stuck in the throat when it comes to more common, straightforward words.

Spring, which has already arrived, and summer, which is just around the corner, are really not good seasons.

Childhood sweethearts will dress more casually, showing off their arm muscles. They'll sweat during PE class, and there will probably be more physical and skin-to-skin contact between them. But I won't be able to take a bath in the tub every day anymore.

In late April, the early admission exam for the special admission class of Guoning Middle School's senior high school was just around the corner. The tree-lined path outside the exam hall was already filled with a dense crowd. Parents looked solemn and whispered their final words of advice to their children. Most of the candidates looked tense, and an atmosphere of anxiety and depression permeated the morning air.

Against this backdrop of noise and anxiety, Chen Xi's appearance seemed somewhat out of place. However, her cool and aloof demeanor was completely shattered by the presence of her best friend, who was simply there to watch the excitement.

"There are so many people! Wasn't it said that only the top 100 in the grade could participate?"

"Because there are also top students from Jinzhong and other schools, there should be more than 200 people in total, but only 30 or 40 will be admitted, so the competition is quite fierce."

"But Xiaoxi will definitely be fine, right?"

"Yes, and I want to get first place in the whole city."

The girl's confident speech quickly attracted the attention of the parents and students around her. The students from Ningzhong glanced at her and, after recognizing Chen Xi, looked away. They didn't forget to tell the parents next to them that she was the top student in their grade. Of course, they also had to add, "She's Chen Junqian's sister." This immediately drew a chorus of exclamations of realization, mostly along the lines of "Their family has really good genes" and "I think it's because of their parents' good parenting style."

Gu Linguo, listening nearby, also curled her lips. These two weren't related by blood at all, so what was the point of talking about good genes? Therefore, she leaned over and whispered a complaint to Chen Xi:

"Speaking of which, when does Xiaoxi plan to tell others that you and the senior are not biological siblings? But I also think that sometimes it's more convenient not to say anything."

"Hmm...it should be this year, around the start of the next semester?"

Is it really that accurate? Why?

"Because I plan to skip a grade, I want to be in the same class as my brother."

Taking a deep breath, Chen Xi decided to tell Gu Linguo the news, even mentally preparing herself to be stared at with the same look Gu Linguo had given her that day. However, Gu Linguo's reaction was calmer than she expected; she simply nodded subconsciously.

"Oh, that's great. It feels like you're dealing with a transfer student. Go, Xiaoxi!"

Somewhat taken aback, Chen Xi wanted to ask a question, but for a moment she didn't know what to say. She couldn't very well ask directly, "Isn't Lin Guo angry?" As the announcement came over the loudspeaker asking candidates to enter the examination hall in an orderly manner with their admission tickets, she could only take her stationery and enter the examination hall.

For most candidates, the two-day exam was a grueling ordeal, akin to dehydration. But for Chen Xi, it was more like a methodical daily practice. She completed all the questions ahead of schedule for each subject, allowing ample time for review. Her past efforts and time had not been in vain; some of her fellow test-takers even whispered among themselves after the exams:

"Who is that girl sitting by the window? I noticed that she always starts twirling her pen halfway through writing, without showing any sign of nervousness on her face."

"Don't even mention it. I was sitting behind her, and the speed at which she wrote the last big physics problem made me completely lose my composure."