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

Hengdian in August was still as hot as a steamer. Almost a month had passed since Chen Chao returned from Shenzhen. For him, the final exam was not difficult at all. After all, with his current memory, he could basically memorize the answers by flipping through the book once before the exam.

However, a small incident occurred during the performance. The acting teacher asked him to improvise a scene of "reunion after a long separation." He subconsciously portrayed the way Yan Xun looked at Chu Qiao, which stunned the teacher for several seconds. In the end, he was given the highest score of the semester.

"Speaking of which, Ah Chao, you can pass your exams on the first try, right?" Lin Gengxin slumped in a lounge chair, holding a small fan and blowing it hard on his face.

He was still wearing his Yuwen Yue costume, with a dark stain around his collar from sweat, and his hair was disheveled from wearing the wig for too long. He didn't look like a male lead at all.

"An exam isn't a movie." Chen Chao took the chilled mineral water that Wang Yanlin handed him, unscrewed the cap, and took a big gulp.

He had finished filming his scenes for the day and had changed back into his black T-shirt and athletic shorts, revealing his tanned calves. He was leaning back in his folding chair, happily scrolling through his phone.

"By the way, what rank did you get in the final exams?" Wang Yanlin, who had also finished filming his scenes for the day, came over and asked curiously.

"third."

"Damn." Upon hearing Chen Chao's reply, Lin Gengxin couldn't help but roll his eyes. "You've been filming for half a year and you still managed to get third place? Back in school, I barely managed to avoid failing even though I attended classes every day."

"Sometimes the difference between people is greater than the difference between people and dogs." Patting Lin Gengxin on the shoulder, Wang Yanlin's tone was as deep as if reciting a Shakespearean line, "You have to learn to accept reality."

"Get lost." Lin Gengxin kicked out, but Wang Yanlin nimbly dodged it.

Watching the two bicker with a smile, Chen Chao was about to say something when he caught a glimpse of a white figure walking towards them. It was Li Lin. Today, she was wearing a beige dress, her long hair loosely tied back, and she was carrying that familiar white thermos in her hand.

During this period, she has changed several insulated containers, each containing different things, such as mung bean soup, plum juice, red bean and barley water, and white fungus and lotus seed soup. She has almost tried every type of refreshing dessert.

"What's today?" Standing up, Chen Chao walked over naturally and took the thermos from her hand.

"Mango pomelo sago." Li Qin's eyes crinkled with a hint of pride. "I made it myself. Try it."

"Sister Lin, you can make mango pomelo sago?" Hearing that there was something delicious, Wang Yanlin immediately abandoned Lin Gengxin and came over, imitating Chen Chao's mannerisms, calling out to Li Lin, "I want some too! I want some too!"

"Of course there's some for you." Smiling, Li Lin took the thermos back from Chen Chao and served each person a bowl.

However, when Chen Chao took the bowl, he noticed that there were obviously more ingredients in his bowl than others. He subconsciously looked up at Li Qin, who was serving soup to Wang Yanlin with her head down. The tips of her ears were slightly red, whether from the sun or something else, he didn't know.

"Delicious!" After downing half a bowl in one gulp, Lin Gengxin couldn't help but give a thumbs up. He also addressed Li Qin in the same way as Chen Chao, even though he and Wang Yanlin were both older than Li Qin. "Sister Qin, your skills are amazing. It tastes even better than the desserts sold in dessert shops outside."

"You're so sweet-talking." Li Qin smiled brightly, but her gaze couldn't help but drift towards Chen Chao. "Chen Chao, what do you think?"

"It's delicious." Chen Chao scooped a spoonful into his mouth, feeling the sweetness of the mango and the slight bitterness of the grapefruit melt on his tongue. The rich coconut milk coated the chewy sago pearls, and the cool texture slid down his throat. A happy smile appeared on Chen Chao's face. "It's even better than the white fungus and lotus seed soup last time."

Upon hearing Chen Chao's evaluation, Li Qin's smile brightened even more, but she immediately pretended to casually look away, lowering her head to stir the mango pomelo sago in her bowl: "I just made it casually. If you like it, I'll make something else tomorrow."

"Hey~ Sister Qin, you're too good to A-Chao." Wang Yanlin, who had already seen through everything, couldn't help but tease, "Speaking of which, we're all benefiting from A-Chao's success."

Her ears turned even redder. Li Lin reached out and slapped Wang Yanlin, "What nonsense are you talking about?"

"Okay, okay, I misspoke." Wang Yanlin raised his hands in surrender, but secretly winked at Chen Chao, who pretended not to see it and continued to drink his soup.

In fact, how could he not have noticed that Li Lin had been spending more and more time by his side lately, and the desserts she made were becoming more and more precisely suited to his tastes?

He had previously mentioned that he didn't like things that were too sweet, so the amount of sugar in the desserts Li Qin made was reduced significantly, making them more to his liking.

As a person with normal emotional intelligence, he naturally knows what this means, but he doesn't know how to respond yet, or rather, he hasn't figured out how to respond.

Although he and Meng Ziyi were not officially dating, in his heart they could be considered boyfriend and girlfriend. It's just that they lived a long distance apart and could only contact each other via WeChat every day.

He didn't want to disappoint Meng Ziyi, but he didn't know how to deal with Li Qin's increasingly obvious affection.

"Ah Chao, what are you daydreaming about?" Just then, Lin Gengxin's loud voice pulled him back to reality. "Want to play tonight? I've just started practicing a jungle hero, I promise I won't let you down."

"You said the same thing last time." Putting down the empty bowl in his hand, Chen Chao decided to put aside these irrelevant thoughts for the time being. "Then he gave away four kills in ten minutes."

"That was an accident! An accident!" Upon being told he wasn't good at video games, Lin Gengxin immediately stood up abruptly. "If I feed again tonight, I'll... I'll..."

"You'll treat the entire crew to Starbucks for a week." Before Lin Gengxin could even think of a punishment, Wang Yanlin had already filled in the blank for him.

"……OK!"

Watching the three of them playfully bickering, Li Qin smiled and sat down next to Chen Chao. They were so close that he could smell the faint scent of gardenias on her.

"Chen Chao," she called him softly.

"Um?"

"My scenes will wrap up in a week."

Although her tone was calm, as if she were talking about something ordinary, Chen Chao inexplicably sensed that she seemed somewhat sad.

I subconsciously turned to look at her. She was looking down at her fingers, her eyelashes drooping slightly, casting a small fan-shaped shadow on her eyelids.

"So fast?" Chen Chao's voice unconsciously softened as he stopped his playful banter with Lin Gengxin.

"It's not that fast." Li Qin looked up and smiled at him, a smile with an indescribable meaning.

"Yuan Chun's role wasn't that big to begin with, and thanks to you, my scenes have mostly been done in one take, so the progress is much faster than expected."

After a pause, she suddenly said softly, "Thank you, Chen Chao. You've been a great help to me during this time."

Those gentle eyes reflected Chen Chao's image, containing too many emotions he dared not look closely at. He was silent for a moment, then smiled and shook his head, "What are you thanking me for? We're friends."

"Yes, friend." Li Qin repeated the word softly, something flashing in her eyes, but it was quickly covered by her usual gentle smile.