Huayu: This top star doesn't play by the rules.

After exchanging a few words, Chen Chao and Li Yitong didn't linger and quickened their pace to catch up with the two people in front of them.

At this moment, Meng Ziyi had successfully snatched the phone from Chen Xingxu and, with his permission, began to look through the photos he had just taken.

Standing next to Meng Ziyi, Chen Xingxu, upon seeing Chen Chao and Li Yitong, feigned a helpless expression and shrugged at them, but the smile on his lips betrayed his true feelings.

Seeing this scene, Li Yitong suddenly spoke up again: "Actually, I'm quite envious of you."

Chen Chao was somewhat surprised by Li Yitong's sudden remark. "Envious? Envious of what?"

"I envy how quickly you can become familiar with anyone, as if you're never shy," she said softly. "I can't do that; it takes me a long time to become familiar with people."

After a moment of silence, Chen Chao didn't continue the conversation. Instead, he smiled and asked, "By the way, I noticed you switched to a different nut brand yesterday. Is it good?"

Li Yitong was taken aback by Chen Chao's somewhat abrupt change of topic, then laughed, her eyes curving into crescent shapes. "The taste is alright." After a pause, she added, "But it still doesn't have the same punch as the wall belt."

Chen Chao, who was surprised that Li Yitong was joking about this again, was stunned for a moment before he couldn't help but burst into laughter.

.......

Around noon, Chen Chao and his three companions headed to the Drum Tower as planned. This is a long-standing landmark in Ningbo, and the entire pedestrian street was filled with the aroma of various snacks.

Upon arriving here, Meng Ziyi was as energetic as if he had been injected with chicken blood. He dragged Chen Chao and the other two to visit each shop one by one, buying a portion of every kind of Ningbo snack they had never seen before, and then stuffing them into their mouths one by one, insisting that they all try them.

Chewing on the fried dough twist that Meng Ziyi had stuffed into his mouth, Chen Chao said somewhat indistinctly, "You can eat it yourself, don't force it into my mouth."

"No way! Good things should be shared!" Meng Ziyi refuted Chen Chao's words with great righteousness.

While munching on a skewer of grilled gluten, Chen Xingxu naturally stepped up to help his good friend in need. "She just wants us to get fat with her."

Seemingly having heard something unbelievable, Meng Ziyi stared at him with wide eyes, "What did you say?"

"I said the grilled gluten is delicious." Facing Meng Ziyi's gaze, Chen Xingxu made up a story without changing his expression. After all, Meng Ziyi was only forcing it on Chen Chao, not on them.

Seeing this scene, Li Yitong couldn't help but laugh so hard she could barely stand up straight.

Since the Drum Tower is not particularly far from the Bund, after Chen Chao and his three companions finished visiting the Drum Tower and rested for a while, they took a walk there to digest their food.

The breeze along the river carried a moist scent, and the old buildings glowed with an orange-red hue under the setting sun. Combined with the golden-red shimmering waves on the river, it was a perfect spot for taking photos.

Meng Ziyi pulled Li Yitong into various poses, while Chen Xingxu followed behind them, quietly acting as their personal photographer, responsible for capturing these beautiful moments.

Leaning against the railing by the river, Chen Chao looked at the gently rippling water and was about to express his feelings when his phone suddenly vibrated, interrupting his thoughts.

He took out his phone and glanced at it. It was a notification from a music platform. The song "Exchange of Lives," which he uploaded at the end of last month, had officially surpassed 500,000 plays.

This data is impressive enough for a completely unknown newcomer.

I casually opened the comments section and a constant stream of new comments flooded in. Some people asked who he was, some said they were looking forward to his next song, and some said they had listened to the song on repeat many times.

Scrolling down the comments, a long review quickly caught his eye: "This song really reminds me of someone. If I could exchange my life, I would go back to when he was still alive. Unfortunately, there are no 'ifs,' but thank you for this song, it made me cry."

After staring at the comment for a long time, Chen Chao remained silent for a while before leaving the comment section and putting his phone away.

"Chen Chao! Chen Chao! Come over here to take pictures!" Just then, Meng Ziyi's familiar voice reached his ears. Chen Chao looked in the direction of the voice and saw Meng Ziyi waving at him from not far away. Li Yitong was standing next to him, her smiling eyes charming. Chen Xingxu was holding up his phone, with the camera pointed directly in his direction.

In response, Chen Xuan waved back, smiled, and strode towards them.

Without much hesitation, Meng Ziyi reached out and pulled Chen Chao to her side, quickly arranging their positions: "Tongtong, you stand here; Xingxu, you stand there. That's it, get ready!"

As the photographer for this trip, Chen Xingxu held up his phone and spent most of the day adjusting it, but still couldn't find a suitable angle.

"Are you done yet?" Seeing him dawdling, Meng Ziyi couldn't help but urge him on.

".....Alright, alright."

With a click, the beautiful scene of the four people by the river at sunset was captured. The river breeze gently rippled across the surface of the river, and the setting sun cast long shadows of the four people, overlapping on the ground.

In the photos, Meng Ziyi smiles with her eyes crinkled, Li Yitong has her signature crescent-shaped smiling eyes, Chen Xingxu deliberately strikes a cool pose, and Chen Chao wears a lively and bright smile.

.......

That evening, Chen Chao and his three friends found a decent local restaurant to eat at, based on online guides. After ordering, Meng Ziyi couldn't help but start chattering about their experiences that day.

After finishing their meal, the four of them took a taxi back to the hotel. In the car, Meng Ziyi, who had been full of energy all day, fell asleep against the window, her head nodding off.

Li Yitong sat next to Meng Ziyi, supporting her to prevent her from bumping her head, while Chen Xingxu sat in the passenger seat with his hat pulled low, it was unclear whether he was asleep or lost in thought.

Looking at the night view flashing by outside the window, he suddenly had a strange feeling; it seemed like he hadn't felt this relaxed in a long time.

In his past life, he basically lived a monotonous life, going back and forth between three points every day. Even when he occasionally met up with friends, the topics of conversation couldn't help him relax. But now, with these people, he seemed unusually relaxed for some reason.

After driving for several tens of minutes, the car slowly came to a stop in front of the hotel. After paying the bill, Chen Chao woke up Meng Ziyi, who was sleeping with her head on Li Yitong's shoulder.

Slightly groggy, Meng Ziyi opened her eyes and only managed to mumble "We're here" before Li Yitong helped her out of the car.

Back at the hotel, the four said goodbye and went to their respective rooms to rest. Chen Chao, who was lying in bed playing on his phone after taking a shower, saw that Chen Xingxu had updated his WeChat Moments with a photo. It was a group photo of the four of them at the Bund, with no caption, just a picture.

As a good friend, Chen Chao naturally knew that this was already a very rare instance of Chen Xingxu "actively promoting" himself.