I turned reality into a romantic comedy.

"it is good."

After receiving a positive reply from inside, Chen Junqian walked in. He was still wearing an apron, as if he had just been cooking. He exuded the aroma of seasonings and the steaming smell of a wok, looking every bit the handsome young man who prefers a domestic life. It's just a pity that his life's ambition is not to become a househusband like Hachiman Hikigaya.

Because the college entrance examination requires the school to be used as the examination venue, Chen Junqian and other high school students naturally have a holiday. They will have another holiday after the middle school entrance examination, and then it will be summer vacation. He also took advantage of the holiday to come to Lin'an to accompany his classmates to take the exam.

"This light rain was quite pleasant. Last night, lying in bed listening to the rain hitting the window was a bit relaxing, like white noise in the environment."

This is a lie.

In fact, he was checked up on countless times by his childhood sweetheart last night. Although Mu Mu's voice sounded like ASMR, sometimes faint and sometimes timid.

When did my younger brother get up?

"Around six o'clock."

"So early?"

"I was worried you wouldn't have an appetite when you woke up, so I went out to buy some ingredients to cook. Sister, go wash up first, and I'll bring it over for you in a bit. There's porridge and noodles, you can eat whichever you want."

As a competent male protagonist in a romantic comedy, or rather, a competent chef, Chen Junqian always remembers everyone's preferences and dietary restrictions clearly. For example, Shen Nianqiu, like him, doesn't like cilantro, likes to add a little vinegar when eating noodles, wants to drink millet porridge when her stomach is upset, likes more tomatoes in scrambled eggs with tomatoes, likes vegetables to be crisp, and doesn't like them to be stewed too mushy.

With a recipe list almost tailor-made for everyone, coupled with culinary skills comparable to those of a two-dimensional male protagonist, Shen Nianqiu's mood in the morning was naturally completely drawn to breakfast. There's no way around it; who says "Food Wars!" isn't a romantic comedy? The female protagonists and various classic scenes are endless, so Yukihira Soma was naturally included in the list by the system. It's just that being multi-talented only gave him a small portion of the experience; otherwise, Chen Junqian was really afraid that he would eat so much that his clothes would burst off.

Even so, Shen Nianqiu's breakfast was still very satisfying, both in terms of her stomach and her mood. After sitting and watching for a while, Chen Junqian turned around and checked the file bag on the table. He took out her admission ticket and ID card one by one to confirm them, and checked the examination room information twice before putting the 2B pencils, black ballpoint pens, erasers and rulers in order.

"Wasn't it checked yesterday?"

Shen Nianqiu asked this question while holding a spoon in her mouth.

"It'll be more reassuring to watch it again."

"My younger brother is more like a test-taker than I am, as if he has taken the exam himself."

"No, I'm waiting for my sister to help me go through the process again two years from now. If I can't sleep at night, I'll definitely ask my sister to come and comfort me."

"You were already eighteen years old back then."

"Heh heh, a man is a boy until he dies."

Having spent so much time with Gu Linguo, Chen Junqian, like his sister, had almost caught her strange verbal tic and tone of voice. However, Shen Nianqiu seemed to enjoy his banter and antics, and appeared much more relaxed.

They left the hotel at 7:40.

The rain had subsided, but the air was still damp. The streets of Lin'an were washed clean, and the plane tree leaves along the roadside shone brightly. The hotel was not far from the examination center and was chosen by Chen Junqian after looking at many places in advance.

A large crowd had already gathered outside the school gate: parents holding umbrellas, volunteers busy maintaining order, students in school uniforms, relatives taking photos, and police cars and ambulances parked not far away. Together, they created a lively atmosphere unique to the college entrance examination. Some parents kept reminding their children to check their documents, while others seemed to have already sent their children inside and were standing by with their hands clasped together, looking even more nervous than the students themselves.

Shen Nianqiu stood at the edge of the crowd, looking at the scene before her. Her heart began to race. Chen Junqian noticed her nervousness and didn't speak immediately. He simply put away his umbrella and handed her the file bag.

"Exam admission ticket".

"I'm here."

"ID card."

"exist."

"Pencil case".

"Also there."

After being bombarded with questions by Chen Junqian, Shen Nianqiu couldn't help but chuckle.

"You're playing the role of a parent sending their child to the exam."

Chen Junqian paused, not responding to the joke, but simply looked at her and said:

"Then I'll be your family today."

Even though it was just a matter of changing "parents" to "family members," Shen Nianqiu felt a tremor run through her body. The surroundings were too noisy, but his voice was clearly conveyed, like a quiet space carved out from all the noise. The parents in the documentary would also stand outside the school gate, carrying lunch boxes, watching their children walk into the examination hall. Their days and nights were filled with the college entrance examination, a heavy burden that seemed distant to her at the time.

Now she has someone watching over her.

"I'm going in."

"Okay, I'll wait for you outside."

Shen Nianqiu gripped the file bag tightly and turned to walk towards the school gate.

The Chinese exam went more smoothly than she had imagined. When she first received the paper, she was still a little dazed and checked her name and examination number twice. But when she actually opened the paper and saw the familiar words and questions, she gradually calmed down. Modern text reading, classical poetry recitation, language application, and composition—all the content unfolded under her pen as if she had taken countless mock exams.

The essay topic for the Zhejiang College Entrance Examination that year was "Virtual and Reality".

Shen Nianqiu almost forced herself to write down her own experience of successfully meeting her online lover in real life. The main reason was that the moment she saw the title, many of Zhu Wenyun's words had already resurfaced in her mind. But this was not a writing competition or a submission site for a youth novel. If it were the college entrance examination, it would be better not to use such obviously easy-to-fail material.

When the bell rang, she put down her pen and let out a long breath.

As Shen Nianqiu stepped out of the examination hall, the sun had already pierced through the clouds. The crowd at the school gate was even denser than in the morning. People kept asking her how she did on the exam and what she wrote in her essay. Some were even comparing answers with their classmates as they walked. Shen Nianqiu subconsciously tried to avoid those voices and looked up to search for Chen Junqian in the crowd.

He stood in the shade of a tree not far away.

Holding a bottle of water and a small box of sliced ​​watermelon, he didn't call out to her despite the crowds around him. He just kept staring at the school gate, and the moment he saw her, he quickly walked over.

"Out."

Shen Nianqiu took the water and softly hummed in agreement. Chen Junqian didn't ask her how the exam went; he simply gave her a gentle hug, then released her hand and said:

"Let's go back first, lunch is ready."

When did you do it?

"Half an hour ago."

Didn't I tell you to get some rest?

"Cooking was also a break. I figured it was about time to go back, and I managed to avoid the hottest part of the day. There were even parents suffering from heatstroke at the entrance of the exam site."

When she returned to the hotel, three dishes and a soup were already laid out on the table. It was still the same kind of taste that made Shen Nianqiu miss it so much that she wanted to cry. She couldn't quite put her finger on it. Even though she hadn't eaten many of his meals in the past eighteen years, she always felt that this taste gave her a sense of déjà vu, as if she had traveled through time.

After the meal, Chen Junqian moved her phone further away.

"Alright, it's time for my sister's lunch break now."

"Actually, I don't feel that sleepy."

"You still need to lie down for a while."

"There must be people discussing the essay topic online. By the way, this time the essay topic is 'Virtual and Reality'."

"Then you absolutely can't look at it. The math exam is this afternoon, and the Chinese exam has already been handed in. Even if we discuss it, we can't change the answers."

As Chen Junqian spoke, he tidied the table and even drew the curtains in the room for her. Shen Nianqiu was led to the bed in a daze. When she came to her senses, the blanket was already on, so she had no choice but to obediently close her eyes.

She could feel Chen Junqian stroking her forehead like he was coaxing a child, but unexpectedly, this simple gesture seemed to have a kind of reassuring magic. Shen Nianqiu didn't know when she fell asleep. When she opened her eyes again, bright light was already shining through the edge of the curtains, and Chen Junqian was still guarding her bedside, his eyes as concerned as when she closed them.

"The timing is perfect. Sister, wash your face, eat some fruit, and then we'll set off."

Mathematics is often the exam subject that is most likely to cause emotional breakdowns. So much so that many students, even before leaving the exam room after finishing the math exam, would run to their parents crying and saying things like "I bombed the exam." However, Shen Nianqiu still performed well. When she left, she verified all the steps of the last big question again before finally showing a satisfied smile.

That evening, Chen Junqian made her favorite mushroom and shredded chicken noodles. He made a pot of clear chicken soup, added shiitake mushrooms, button mushrooms and a few slices of ginger, cooked the chicken breast and shredded it into thin strips, cooked the noodles to the perfect firmness, blanched the vegetables until crisp, and placed two soft-boiled eggs at the bottom of the bowl.

"After the exams, I'll have some free time this summer, and I'm going to learn how to cook."

"If you want to learn how to cook, you can go to Wenyun."

"What, you don't want to teach me?"

"Of course not, it's just that I feel Wen Yun is more authoritative when it comes to taste. When I saw the dense list of dietary restrictions and preferences of the male protagonist in 'We Live in Guoning,' I didn't even realize that I'm actually quite picky about food. How should I put it, it's like the onlooker sees more of the game than the player."

Compared to Chen Junqian, who had to take care of six girls at the same time, Zhu Wenyun had clearly taken the specialization of focusing on only one person to the extreme. Her thinking had long since moved beyond the level of "the other person likes to eat this dish". Instead, she would naturally use this as an inspiration to develop or search for new cuisines, and then discover his hidden preferences and dietary restrictions.

After hearing Chen Junqian's explanation, Shen Nianqiu felt a sense of respect. She was learning to cook for Chen Junqian, so she immediately resolved to become Zhu Wenyun's cooking teacher.

The next morning, Chen Junqian made shrimp and vegetable porridge.

The shrimp were bought the night before and kept in the refrigerator. In the morning, they were peeled and deveined, and then cooked into porridge with chopped carrots, corn kernels, and greens. The porridge was light and refreshing. On the side was a small dish of crispy potato pancakes, sprinkled with a little salt and black pepper.

The comprehensive exam went more smoothly than she had expected. Perhaps it was the math exam the day before that gave Shen Nianqiu enough confidence, or perhaps it was the food that helped her. She felt that she was now fully in the rhythm of answering the questions. After leaving the exam room, Chen Junqian was still waiting for her in the same place.

Lunch was another simple yet comforting meal of three dishes and a soup, completely different from yesterday's. Shen Nianqiu mentioned that since there was plenty of time at noon, she wanted to watch him cook, so she watched the whole process. Watching him skillfully and gracefully handle the kitchen utensils, she suddenly remembered what Zhu Wenyun had mentioned about the study tour last year.

Back then, her younger brother must have attracted the attention of many girls. Perhaps that figure and that moment would become a memorable silhouette in their high school memories. Thinking of this, she couldn't help but hug this boy, who was sure to become, or even already became, someone's white moonlight, from behind.

"Junqian".

"Ok?"

"When our homeroom teacher showed us a documentary called 'College Entrance Examination' in our second year of high school, and it introduced Maotanchang in Anhui, you were the first person I thought of."

Chen Junqian looked up, seemingly unsurprised:

"I know."

"how do you know?"

"Because after you finished watching it, you said to me, 'Oh, Maotanchang is in Anhui. Is it very close to your place?' Then I said, 'Compared to Maotanchang, I feel that Hengshui has been promoted more in the past two years, and at least Hengshui Sports is really quite good.'"

Shen Nianqiu was stunned for a moment. She didn't quite remember saying those words, but Chen Junqian easily recited their chat history from a year ago. She had often looked through their chat history and even printed out many pages to make a journal as a gift for Chen Junqian.

“Actually, I think of my sister every time I introduce Guoning’s specialty walnuts to others.”

"Huh? Why?"

"Because pecans are basically only grown in this mountainous area across the country, namely Guoning and Lin'an."

"Ah, thinking about it this way, I'm actually a little glad that I'm in Lin'an. If I were any farther away, my brother might really have given up on meeting me in person."

"That's what they say, but even if you're in the farthest corner of the world, I'll still come to find you."

"No, no, it's too much trouble to be so far away. If we were closer, wouldn't the time spent on the road be the same as the time spent meeting? So I've already decided, I'll choose Shanghai for university."

Although Hangzhou has many good universities, considering that Lin'an will be converted into a district of Hangzhou in the next two years, Shen Nianqiu no longer wants to stay here. So Shanghai becomes the only option, with many key universities and relatively close to Guoning.

"Okay, then I'll take the Shanghai exam in the future."

Okay.

On the last day, the sun suddenly became very strong. Although it was still early morning, the light outside the window was so bright that it was almost dazzling. After Shen Nianqiu got up, she found that Chen Junqian had already prepared breakfast: chicken wontons, cold black fungus salad, and a cup of warm soy milk. The wonton wrappers were thin, and the filling contained pork, mushrooms, and a little bit of water chestnuts. They were sweet and fresh when you bit into them.

"It's the last match today, good luck, sister."

On the way to the examination hall, the shadows of the trees swayed gently on the ground. The area outside the school gate was still crowded, many candidates wearing the weariness and excitement unique to the final day. Chen Junqian handed her the file folder, this time not checking each item one by one, but simply repeating it with a smile:

"It's the last one."

"Yes, the last one."

Chen Junqian stood there and tidied her wind-blown hair again before finally letting go of her hand.