I turned reality into a romantic comedy.

"Don't you call me that every day?"

"You're different from everyone else, aren't you—"

Chen Junqian once saw a comment that said most female protagonists in anime have a strange habit of turning around, bending over, putting their hands behind their backs, and getting close to the camera while walking. Of course, this is a specific pose that serves the camera and the picture. But Gu Lingguo is the only female protagonist who puts the most thought into these little actions. You could even say that she spent a long time researching how to replicate those anime actions in reality without feeling awkward.

To put it simply, this kid is probably the best at sticking out his tongue that Chen Junqian has ever seen. Who knows how many times Gu Lingguo has practiced in front of the mirror in private, to the point that Chen Junqian actually sees a bit of the style of a certain junior from Iroha. However, there are no student councils in this school that allow him to support a puppet president.

On the other hand, if Ningzhong really had a student council president, it would probably be him.

"I'd also like to join the school's Youth League Committee. Would you agree?"

"If you don't think it will affect your studies."

"Getting into the top class would already be a great achievement, and seeing seniors every day might even motivate me to study harder?"

"Do I have some kind of buff aura?"

"Yes, you need to absorb energy regularly every day."

Chen Junqian and Gu Linguo walked all the way to the bottom of the teaching building before parting ways. The other person now looked a bit like Zhu Wenyun from elementary school, but compared to the solid twenty minutes back then, Chen Junqian had no doubt that their daily chat time had been extended to at least half an hour. So, Japan's technology is really advanced, with things like hypnotic rays, time-stopping, and invisibility potions.

Back in the classroom, the bell finally rang. Many students who had been catching up on sleep on their desks groggily opened their eyes and stretched, feeling that their sleep had been unusually long, which was a good way to replenish their energy. Although there were fewer subjects to study after the formal subject selection, the academic pressure in the special admission class was still considerable, especially for Lin Mu, who wanted to stay here indefinitely.

It was precisely because of this that after Chen Xi voluntarily came to be her deskmate, Lin Mu had been asking her for help. After all, although Chen Xi was a year younger than her, her academic performance was absolutely superior. In particular, thanks to her terrifying amount of reading from childhood, which far exceeded that of ordinary people, Chinese and history were almost no challenge for her. Especially in the former, the classical Chinese reading comprehension questions, which were the easiest to lose points in, were even easy to be tested with original sentences and paragraphs from various historical books that she had read before.

Watching the two sitting side-by-side in the front row studying, Chen Junqian suddenly recalled the day he taught Chen Xi, who was just a child, to read classical Chinese for the first time. He couldn't help but chuckle, drawing a glance from Zhu Wenjun, who was sitting next to him.

"What's wrong? Why are you laughing so happily?"

"It's nothing, I just thought about the days when I taught Xiaoxi to read classical Chinese. Actually, it wasn't like she could do it right away. Sometimes Lin Guo was there too. Thinking about it now, the two of them were really quite interesting."

"Tell me about it? Consider it a source of information for me."

"Hmm, that works too. Consider it a 'dark history exposure' segment."

During another break between classes, Chen Junqian enthusiastically recounted to Zhu Wenyun some interesting stories that happened several years ago when he was in elementary school.

"Actually, it was mainly Lin Guo. I still remember her translating '吾妻之美我者，私也' as 'If someone is prettier than my wife, please message me.' Then she translated '躬自厚而薄责于人' as 'If you are too thick-clothed, don't blame others for being thin-clothed.' And there was another time when she translated '当侍东宫' as 'You should go and serve the Crown Prince.' In this respect, I really didn't want her to choose liberal arts at the time."

Where is Xiaoxi?

"Xiaoxi was a bit unfamiliar at first, but she quickly got the hang of it. She is very familiar with the grammar and common words of various classical Chinese texts. The most memorable thing is that when she read the story of 'High Mountains and Flowing Water,' she translated 'Bo Ya's thoughts, Zhong Ziqi must obtain' as 'Bo Ya's thoughts are that he must obtain Zhong Ziqi.' Actually, it makes quite sense when viewed separately. I even said at the time that she really has the talent of Bo Ya and Zhong Ziqi."

Zhu Wenyun was also amused by the two examples Chen Junqian gave. She suddenly felt that Chen Xi's image was clearer in her mind. After all, although they had known each other for a long time, Chen Xi did not really communicate with anyone other than Gu Lingguo. Apart from occasionally bickering with Xu Youwei, they did not interact much.

"Is there anything else?"

"Let me think, there was a time when I was in third or fourth grade, she was really into the Three Kingdoms. She would always give me all sorts of questions to test me or have me test her. For example, she would write the names of historical figures and fill in their characters, or write the characters backwards and fill in their names. She would also find some riddles for me to guess. I remember once she gave me a riddle called 'borrowing light by chiseling a hole in the wall (guess a Three Kingdoms character)' and the final answer was Kongming."

"That's interesting."

"So you're really planning to write about the two of them in your next book?"

"After all, others have already written about it, and more than once. They've already written two single-female-lead novels, so I might as well write one with two female leads. It'll be good for accumulating experience for the future."

Knowing what Zhu Wenyun was talking about, Chen Junqian smiled. For Zhu Wenyun, this was probably the most important promise between the two of them. Even though nearly eight years had passed, she still kept it firmly in her heart and was waiting for the day when she could fulfill it.

"I feel like Wen Yun could also open a Guo Ning Universe, just like August Chang'an's Zhenhua Universe."

"It's so weird that the male protagonist is always in a universe of one person."

"It seems so."

"But that's enough for me, since I'm the author, right?"

A rare hint of playfulness appeared on her face as the literary-minded girl, resting her chin on her hand and turning her head to look at him, seemed to have been only ever gentle towards him since the summer after the Chinese character dictation competition that year. However, her next words immediately brought Chen Junqian, who was still somewhat inexplicably moved, back to his senses:

"Let's ask Ms. Shen for leave from tonight's self-study session and come to my house, okay?"

"What's wrong?"

"It's the premiere! 'We Live in Guoning' premieres tonight."

Zhu Wenyun spoke in a righteous and righteous manner.

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

Chapter Twenty-Six: Do you know why abortion is always depicted in teen dramas?

After no longer having to attend evening self-study sessions, Zhu Wenyun suddenly felt like she had returned to her elementary school days. After the school bell rang at around 5 p.m., she could clearly realize that the rest of the night, until the next morning when she went to school, was all her own time. As for homework, Zhu Wenyun was always the kind of student who would finish most of it at school.

Grandma had already eaten and gone for a walk. She would probably go to square dancing on her way, as usual. Zhu Wenjun stood alone in front of the kitchen counter, drizzling the last spoonful of osmanthus honey into a glass bowl. The neatly cut white cake was arranged into small squares, sprinkled with slightly yellowed almond slices. Next to her was a plate of bayberry cheese tarts that had just been taken out of the refrigerator, the edges of the flaky crust gleaming with a soft golden hue.

She brought out two transparent glasses filled with sour plum soup. Fine water droplets condensed on the glass walls. A few ice cubes floated in the deep red liquid made from dried plums, hawthorns, and dried tangerine peel, gently bumping against each other with her movements, making a crisp sound.

After carefully packing everything into her bag, Zhu Wenyun unconsciously walked to the mirror and looked at her reflection.

In domestic romance novels and TV dramas, there are often plots where the male and female protagonists skip evening self-study and make a grand escape in the night. However, Zhu Wenyun felt that running out in her school uniform at night was like shouting to every passerby, "We are students who skipped class." Although this situation seemed more like a rebellious act for the female protagonist, who is usually a top student, she would definitely need to dress up and wear nicer clothes if she were going on a date.

Zhu Wenyun did not invite Chen Junqian to her home. The reason was simple: the place was too small and it was not convenient to watch web dramas. After all, web dramas could not be broadcast on TV. If she used a computer, she only had her laptop for work. This was also an important part of the premiere. So Zhu Wenyun simply opened a hotel outside that could project the film.

Of course, what she really wants to do is another matter entirely.

When Zhu Wenyun arrived at the hotel, it was 6:30 in the evening. In this early autumn season, the sky was not completely dark yet. She stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window of the hotel room and pulled back a curtain. At this time, when her classmates had already finished eating and returned to their classrooms for evening self-study, she watched the traffic slowly merge into the neon-lit streets below.

The room wasn't particularly luxurious, but it was very quiet. Facing the double bed was a large projection screen. On the coffee table were the hotel's projection equipment and remote control. Next to it was a dark gray sofa big enough for two people to snuggle up in. She had arrived early and tested it several times to make sure the computer could project smoothly and that the comments wouldn't appear too small due to the screen ratio.

The coffee table was already filled with the drinks and desserts she had brought.

The doorbell rang quickly. Zhu Wenyun took a deep breath, slipped on her soft hotel slippers, and went to open the door. Chen Junqian, who was outside, had also gone home to change his clothes. After taking off his school uniform, he was wearing a simple white T-shirt, which made him look even more youthful. His hair was a little messy from the damp evening wind, and he was also carrying something in his hand.

"Here, take this as a gift for the premiere."

"You're bringing more things? Didn't I say just the person coming is enough?"

"I had plenty of time when I got back, so I made a dessert on the spot: a French chocolate lava cake. It's simple and convenient. Phew—you brought desserts too!"

Sensing the sweet aroma filling the room, Chen Junqian glanced at the coffee table before changing his shoes and walking in.

"Hmm, it seems we're on the same page? But I've also prepared drinks."

"By the way, didn't Junqian already see the finished product?"

"I was going to ask you that too. Isn't Yun one of the screenwriters? I didn't even go to school twice during the summer vacation, okay?"

"I only read the script and watched a few filming sessions; I haven't seen the final cut."

"That's great, we're both just ordinary spectators today."

After sitting down on the sofa, Chen Junqian handed Zhu Wenjun a glass of plum juice that had already been poured, then picked up his own glass and clinked it against hers. The ice cubes swirled in the glass, and the clinking of the glass sides produced a clear, crisp sound.

The first episode airs at 7:00 PM, and tonight there will be a three-episode back-to-back broadcast. Like "The Best of Us," "We Live in Guoning" will also have a total of 24 episodes, with each episode lasting about 45 minutes. Chen Junqian calculated these numbers in his mind because he knew that after watching the three episodes, it would only be a little past 9:00 PM, and the second period of evening self-study would only be starting.

It has to be said that, thanks to the fame of the original work and the pre-release publicity, Chen Junqian could clearly feel that, at least on the night of the premiere, the popularity of "We Live in Guoning" was higher than that of the previous "Dear Forever". The first episode had only been aired for two minutes when the screen was already filled with dense comments.

Ahhh, finally!

[Yun Duo reporting in! I've been looking at Teacher Wen Yun's works for several years now.]

[Anyone from Guoning here? I heard it was filmed on location at Ningzhong High School. I started crying when I saw the photo of the school gate.]

[I heard the author personally participated in the adaptation, so please don't drastically change it.]

[The previous adaptation was excellent, and I'm relieved that the original team is still here. The original novel is fantastic, everyone should go read it!]

Zhu Wenyun held her cup and quietly lowered the transparency and density of the comments a little. The main reason was that her real name appeared a bit too frequently. It could be said that this was due to the influence of her insisting on using the last two characters of her real name when she insisted on using a pen name back then. In addition, she wanted to see the final result the first time she watched it.

She originally thought she would be calm, after all, it had been more than a year since she finished writing the novel, and it wasn't her first work to be adapted into a web series. But this one was different for Zhu Wenyun, not only because the female lead in the series was based on her, but also because she had participated in almost every aspect of the adaptation. She had seen the actors wearing school uniforms similar to the characters in her writing, and she had also seen the long road lined with sycamore trees at Ningzhong High School surrounded by cameras and tracks.

But only now, looking at the dense barrage of comments, did Zhu Wenyun belatedly realize that this show was truly about to enter the nights of countless strangers.

Those summers, rainy days, playgrounds, old alleys, bus stops that originally belonged only to her and Chen Junqian, and many unspoken words, will be seen, guessed, liked, and even misunderstood by strangers.

When the opening theme music started, Zhu Wenyun subconsciously held her breath. The voice coming from the speakers was Shen Nianqiu's, a voice that both of them knew all too well.

With the edited visuals, the song sounds even more beautiful, and the comments section is filled with praise. Many people even came to watch the film after hearing the song first.

While watching the plot unfold on screen, Zhu Wenyun sipped her plum juice. Before she knew it, her cup was empty. But the next second, Chen Junqian naturally got up, opened the refrigerator in the room, took out the glass jar of plum juice, and poured it back for her.

This is probably why Zhu Wenyun has only written about childhood sweethearts since her debut.

Help! This feeling of destiny with my childhood sweethearts!

What experiences did the author go through to write with this kind of feeling?

Where exactly is Guoning? I really want to go and see it.

Zhu Wenyun stared at the comment "What exactly did the author go through?" and a strange feeling suddenly welled up in her heart.

What has she been through?

She had experienced the summers in Guoning, where the cicadas always chirped louder than elsewhere. It was then that she first invited him to drink her family's sour plum drink. She had also experienced the white fog at the school gate on a winter morning, when Chen Junqian rode his bicycle to the entrance of her alley, and the two of them went to find a stall selling roasted pears with rock sugar and sat down... Now she eats small steamed buns not because he can buy ten for one yuan.

Chen Junqian noticed that Zhu Wenyun had fallen silent as she watched. The only sounds in the room were the faint noise of the air conditioner and the prelude to the ending theme song of the series. The comments on the screen were still scrolling rapidly, as lively as a grand celebration that had nothing to do with them.

Zhu Wenyun looked down at the cup in her hand. The ice in the cup had almost melted, and the surface of the deep red plum juice glistened with a little water.

"I feel the changes are quite good. Although there are some changes, the pacing is good, and the actors' performances are also good."

The first exit broke the silence. Chen Junqian felt that a faint fragrance of incense had been lingering in the hotel room. Even though he had been there for several hours, he only noticed it now. It was probably because the aroma of desserts had masked it. This subtle herbal fragrance tantalized his senses, as if there was a plant-based allure in the air.

"Yes, everyone's feedback has been very positive."

Even though the crew's group chat on her phone was already filled with champagne and red envelopes, Zhu Wenyun still felt a strange, inexplicable melancholy in her heart. As a result, she unconsciously recalled what Shen Nianqiu had said to her a long time ago: "In your book, it's as if he only has this one girl by his side." That was roughly the meaning.

However, this point will become clearer after it is written and filmed. After all, even "The Best of Us" will set up a love triangle with a good student and a cool and roguish sports student, just like most domestic youth dramas, making everyone fall into a big discussion about whether Geng Geng and Yu Huai or Geng Geng and Xinghe Yu Shutian are the best couple. But her book is still a one-on-one storyline throughout.

And as it turns out, she is capable of handling both a full-length novel and a 24-episode web series adaptation.

The autoplay notification popped up, with ten seconds left on the countdown. Chen Junqian reached out and pressed pause, letting Zhu Wenyun, who was sitting next to him, lean against him. Only when he got closer did he realize that she seemed to have a little bit of light makeup on her face, which looked particularly beautiful under the warm light of the hotel room.

"Actually, I've always felt that Nianqiu made a mistake back in June."

"Huh? What did I say wrong?"

"That means the male protagonist in my books is based on you."

"Where is wrong?"

"You are not the prototype."

"what is that?"

Zhu Wenyun pursed her lips, finally raised her eyes, and looked at Chen Junqian seriously:

"You are the genuine article."

Chen Junqian was taken aback at first, then smiled: