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

"Oh?" Hearing Meng Ziyi praise his movie, Han Han couldn't help but smile slightly. "So, what do you like about this movie?"

"The sense of loneliness on the highway is captured exceptionally well." As a qualified student of the Beijing Film Academy, Meng Ziyi had watched this film during a film analysis session, so answering Han Han's question was not difficult for her.

"And this movie, in a poetic and fragmented way, tells us one thing: the process of growing up is a constant farewell to the past self. This process is often full of regrets, and there is no hope of ever seeing each other again."

Raising an eyebrow, Han Han was genuinely surprised that Meng Ziyi would give such an evaluation. He looked her up and down a few times, then turned to Chen Chao, "Your good friend is quite good."

Han Han glanced at the pastries on the table, then at Meng Ziyi, and suddenly said, "Since you're here to visit the set, how about playing a cameo role for fun?"

Upon hearing Han Han's words, Meng Ziyi stared wide-eyed in disbelief. "Really?"

"Yeah, just a minor role, only a few lines." Han Han waved casually and said with a smile, "I'll have Chen Chao take you to the assistant director this afternoon, he'll arrange everything."

"Thank you, Director Han!" After receiving a positive reply from Han Han, Meng Ziyi quickly bowed to him to express her gratitude.

After finalizing Meng Ziyi's cameo appearance, Han Han picked out a few local specialties from what Meng Ziyi had brought out, and then left the hall ahead of time to prepare for today's filming. Although the fog hadn't lifted yet, the preparations still needed to be completed first.

After Han Han left, Meng Ziyi began to demonstrate her social skills, distributing local specialties to Deng Chao and the others one by one. In just a few minutes, Meng Ziyi had won over everyone present with the local specialties.

Holding her boyfriend's arm, Sun Yi whispered in his ear, "I think Ziyi is quite cute."

Nodding in agreement, Dong Zijian glanced at Chen Chao and whispered, "I just don't know what her relationship with A-Chao is."

"Are you blind?" Hearing Dong Zijian's words, Sun Yi rolled her eyes speechlessly and gently pinched him. "Can't you even see that?"

He reached out and rubbed the spot where he had been pinched. Although it didn't hurt, Dong Zijian didn't dare to say anything more.

Sitting on the large single sofa in the hall, Deng Chao crossed his legs, sipped his health-preserving water, and watched Meng Ziyi move among the crowd, a meaningful smile creeping onto his lips.

After Chen Chao, who had also finished breakfast, came over and sat down, Deng Chao nudged him with his elbow and whispered, "You're something else, kid."

Chen Chao picked up his personal enamel mug, took a sip of tea, and said without changing his expression, "Brother Chao, what did you say? I don't understand."

"It's okay if you don't understand." Deng Chao patted his shoulder, his tone full of knowing wisdom. "Youth is wonderful."

.........

That evening, since Meng Ziyi was now considered a member of the film crew, Han Han arranged another room for her at the guesthouse where Chen Chao and the others were staying.

After thanking Han Han, Mencius happily went to Chen Chao's room to retrieve his luggage.

In the middle of the night, Chen Chao had just finished showering and lay down on the bed, about to play on his phone, when there was a gentle knock on the door.

As soon as he opened the door, he saw Meng Ziyi standing in front of the door, holding a pillow in her arms and wearing a cartoon pajama set. She was wearing slippers, and her toes were slightly curled up because of nervousness.

"Um..." She bit her lip, trying to make her tone sound more confident, "I'm a little scared living alone. This house is made of wood..."

Leaning against the doorframe, Chen Chao crossed his arms and looked at her, a smile involuntarily playing on his lips. "Didn't you say that Director Han arranged a really nice room for you?"

"That's fine, but—" Suffocated by Chen Chao's completely uncooperative words, Meng Ziyi decided to go all out, glaring at him, "I just want to stay here, is that not allowed?"

"You could have said that earlier." Chen Chao shook his head with a smile and stepped aside to make way for him.

Clutching her pillow, Meng Ziyi quickly slipped under him from the side, threw the pillow onto Chen Chao's bed, and then crawled into the covers, leaving only half her face and bright eyes showing.

Peeking out into the corridor, Chen Chao closed the door, sat down on his bed, and ruffled Meng Ziyi's hair. "You had to catch a flight so early this morning, were you tired?"

"I was a little tired," her voice came from under the covers, sounding a bit muffled. "But I'm so excited today, I had a cameo in Han Han's movie!"

Reaching out, Chen Chao pinched her cheek and said with a smile, "Once the movie is released, you'll be an actress who's been on the big screen."

Peeking out from under the covers, Meng Ziyi looked at him and suddenly laughed, "Then you'll have to invite me to the movies together."

"OK."

"I want to buy popcorn and cola."

"Don't you dislike popcorn?" Chen Chao raised an eyebrow and couldn't help but ask.

"I'd love to watch a movie with you." After saying that, she quickly pulled the blanket over her head and crawled into bed.

With a rustling sound, several pieces of clothing were thrown out from under the covers. Seeing this scene, Chen Chao understood, smiled, reached out and turned off the bedside lamp, and crawled directly under the covers.

"Chen Chao".

"Um?"

I really miss you.

—————————————————————————————

While everyone on set of "Duckweed" was enjoying themselves, undercurrents began to stir on the internet.

Sitting at the coffee table in the room, Ji Ran's fingers slowly scrolled across the mouse wheel, clicking on, screenshotting, and saving one marketing account page after another on the computer screen.

A Weibo account named "Entertainment Insider King" posted a message at around 11 p.m. The message was only a few lines long: "Recently, a certain newcomer with the surname C has been gaining momentum, getting roles as the second male lead in major dramas and movie resources. Do you believe there's nothing behind him? We're digging deeper, so stay tuned."

The accompanying photo on the Weibo post was of Chen Chao at the press conference for the start of filming of "Duckweed". The photo was deliberately darkened, making the originally sunny and bright young man look a bit gloomy.

Within half an hour of the Weibo post, hundreds of comments flooded the comment section. Some were paid trolls stirring up trouble, some were just casual observers following the trend, and of course, some were fans trying to clarify the situation.