After He Chao finished singing, there was a long silence before anyone spoke.

It was unexpected. No one had anticipated this.

Xu Qingqing had been watching a video on her phone, but she didn't pay attention to the content and four minutes had passed unknowingly.

"This can't be real," Xu Qingqing said, looking back. "Brother Chao, this is..."

She stopped in the middle of her sentence because she happened to see the way He Chao was looking at Xie Yu.

Xie Yu was the person in their class that no one dared to mess with. The curtains next to him were not tightly closed, and a ray of sunlight shone on his hair, making him look warm all over.

Xie Yu was someone who always seemed cold to Xu Qingqing, but now she saw a different side of him.

Liu Cunhao was the first to react, "It's the Prince of Love Songs, Brother Chao."

Wan Da held a bag of potato chips in his hand and said with his mouth full, "How about...how about another song?"

He Chao turned off the switch and handed the microphone forward, "I won't sing anymore, I'll leave some room for the rest."

The others followed suit and started asking for an encore, but He Chao really had no intention of singing anymore. After he handed the microphone back, he lowered his head and turned off his phone's music player. When he looked up, he found that Xie Yu was still staring at him. "Are you stunned? Is it because it sounds so good..."

After others finished praising him, he didn't stop there. He planned to brag even more in a flashy manner.

Before he could even finish his own self-praise, Xie Yu interrupted him with a smile, "Yes."

As the powerful singer didn't want to sing anymore, the students from Class 3 had no choice but to continue listening to Old Tang's nostalgic songs. Old Tang sang all the classic hits that evoked a strong sense of nostalgia, instantly making people feel like they aged twenty-something years.

After enduring two songs, they couldn't take it anymore, but didn't want to hurt Old Tang's confidence.

So, on the surface, everything seemed calm, but there were hidden undercurrents in the class group chat.

[Liu Cunhao]: Who can stop this?

[Xu Qingqing]: I can't find a suitable reason. Next!

[Luo Wenqiang]: Out of scope. Next!

Xie Yu watched them discuss for a long time, and finally, they found a strange reason to intervene.

Liu Cunhao raised his hand and said, "Teacher, I think we should be quiet and not disturb the driver."

The driver: "..."

Xie Yu was originally typing with one hand, felt it was an uncomfortable position, so he simply stopped and took out a pair of earphones from his pocket. "Want to watch a movie, Prince of Love Songs."

This fresh new title sounded a bit embarrassing to him.

He Chao took one of the earphones and said, "Forget it, you make it sound like I sing love songs to seduce people all day long. I've only sung for you...what movie is it?"

Just something he randomly downloaded.

Xie Yu never had much patience for this kind of thing and often fast-forwarded through movies without any emotional investment.

There was a small cinema in the Blackwater Street area that Dalei and and Da Mei used to frequent whenever they had some spare cash.

Xie Yu had been there once, spending an hour and twenty minutes inside with a blank expression, and leaving with the same expression.

As they walked, Dalei and Da Mei trailed behind, tears streaming down their faces. They were completely consumed by their emotions and couldn't pull themselves out of their despair. "It's just too painful. The terminal illness separated them..."

Xie Yu had been patient with them for an entire block, but he couldn't take it anymore. "It's just a script."

He Chao glanced at the opening credits, amused by the nonsensical and comedic style. The male and female leads looked familiar, and he felt like he had seen the plot somewhere before. After a moment of contemplation, he remembered, "I've seen this before. It's quite interesting."

Before he could finish his sentence, Xie Yu had already pressed the close button in the top right corner.

"...Why did you close it?" He Chao asked.

Xie Yu closed the video and then hooked his finger around the earphone cord, trying to pull it back from He Chao's side. "Haven't you already seen it," he said.

"I've seen it," He Chao lifted his hand to press down on the cord, preventing Xie Yu from pulling it away. He smiled and said, "But I didn't watch it with you."

Liu Cunhao sat on the side, feeling that something was off since He Chao started singing love songs. There was an indescribable atmosphere surrounding him.

Looking around, his gaze fell on the two big shots sitting together watching the movie, and he felt like he had found the source of the problem.

Finally, Liu Cunhao hesitated and patted Wan Da, asking, "Don't you think...there's something off about those two?"

C City was not far away, only a forty-minute drive.

The movie had only just begun, but the bus had already pulled into the parking lot near North Lake Park. Everyone gathered their things and got off the bus one by one.

It wasn't until the others had more or less alighted that Xie Yu got up and moved forward, supporting himself on the seats in front.

He Chao let go of his hand and, when no one was looking, he took the opportunity to drape his arm around his waist for a moment. Through the fabric, he felt a familiar warmth and asked with a mischievous smile, "Are you...going back this weekend?"

Xie Yu had originally been trying to squeeze out from between He Chao's knee and the row nefore them, but at the sound of his question, he paused and looked at him with a smile that was both knowing and teasing. "What are you thinking, boyfriend?"

What else could he be thinking?

They both knew what was on each other's minds.

"After we line up and go in, we'll take you all around the North Lake scenic area. After that, everyone can have free time," the tour guide announced through the microphone. "...Free time ends at 2 PM, so please make sure to gather on time."

The scenic area was by the lake, and after walking around the North Lake and hearing three different versions of related legends from the tour guide, everyone split up into small groups for free time.

A group of six people gathered on the side of the road.

"Where do you guys want to go?" He Chao asked.

Luo Wenqiang thought for a moment and said excitedly, "Let's go to the theater and see what shows they have."

Liu Cunhao wasn't interested in the theater and pointed to the upper right corner of the map, saying, "If you're a man, you'll go to the sniper range."

"No! The theater!" Luo Wenqiang retorted.

"Luo Wenqiang, you're not a man!" Liu Cunhao teased.

Xie Yu didn't care where they went, as he wasn't interested in anything.

Luo Wenqiang and Liu Cunhao couldn't agree, and team leader He Chao listened for a while, getting a headache from their argument.

He Chao then displayed his exceptional leadership skills and pulled out a candy from his pocket. As he unwrapped it, he said, "Alright, stop arguing. Let's play rock-paper-scissors, best two out of three."

It was a rather perfunctory solution.

During their argument, Wan Da carefully studied the map and finally found two small words in a corner: Haunted House.

Wan Da's eyes lit up and he asked, "There's a haunted house, should we go!"

"..."

Xie Yu noticed that He Chao's hand, which was holding the candy, was shaking.

"This is not bad, it's exciting," Luo Wenqiang disregarded the theater and leaned in to read the introduction of the haunted house project, reciting as he read, "...fierce ghosts continuously, various ways of dying, absolutely thrilling, making you scream."

He Chao didn't have a chance to dissuade them.

Liu Cunhao nodded, mainly because he thought the copy was well-written: "It seems interesting, let's go with this one."

"What do you think, Brother Yu?" After discussing it, Liu Cunhao turned to Xie Yu and asked, "How about we go to the haunted house?"

Xie Yu squatted on the side, intending to wait for them to argue for half an hour before speaking up. He didn't expect the dispute to be resolved so quickly. He looked at He Chao, who was calmly chewing on candy across from him, and found it interesting. "Okay then."

Team leader He who had completely lost his right to speak: "..."

Several team members happily held the map and walked forward. He Chao walked slowly behind them, muttering, "Have you ever seen someone sell out their boyfriend like you?"

"Have you ever seen someone as cowardly as you?" Xie Yu slowed down his pace and added, "...Stop talking about feudal superstitions."

He Chao had nothing to say: "No conscience."

Leaves fell on the road, and the crowd had dispersed, making the road appear empty and not as crowded as before.

He Chao was still lamenting about how his boyfriend was a white-eyed wolf* when Xie Yu suddenly stopped.

Then he heard the white-eyed wolf say to him, "Don't be afraid, I've got your back this time."

*T/N: Someone who betrays others even after receiving benefits from them.

These words sounded familiar to He Chao, reminding him of the incident in the dormitory building that was more like a farce than anything else. The Mad Dog had said he would teach them a lesson, but after the monthly exam, there was no news, probably because he was too busy with other things to remember.

He Chao couldn't help but laugh, crunching on the candy in his mouth and tasting the sweetness. Then he said, "Okay, big brother."

Although it was called a park, it was actually quite large in scale. Around this lake, a large area of land was developed for tourism, occupying a considerable area. Half a day may not be enough to walk around the entire place.

"Where are we? We've been walking for so long, we might even walk out of here," Liu Cunhao held the map and searched for the way. Although he wasn't the team leader, he still took on the responsibility. "This is too mysterious."

A few people wandered around the area until they finally spotted an inconspicuous entrance with six or seven people scattered in a queue around it.

There was a sign hanging next to it.

There were several red handprints painted on it. The red paint dripped down the fingers and the sign read two words: Help me.

"This is interesting."

"This must be it. Leader, let's hurry and buy tickets!"

When it was time for He Chao to buy the tickets, he almost asked for five.

"Six tickets," He Chao bent down and looked inside the ticket window. When the six tickets were handed to him, he took them and said, "Thank you."

As He Chao was about to go, the ticket seller asked casually, "Which school are you guys from?"

"We're from No. 2 High School," He Chao replied.

"Which No. 2 High School? The one from our city?" the ticket seller asked. "No, it's in City A. Liyang No.2 High School, with a beautiful environment, strong teaching staff, and has been around for over 60 years..."

He Chao looked like he could talk to the ticket seller about the history of Liyang No.2 High School for half an hour.

"Buddy," Xie Yu leaned against the wall and looked at him, "you can go to the enrollment office for a job after this."

"..."

Wan Da and the rest were also getting impatient. They were about to reach the front of the line for ticket inspection, but they still hadn't gotten their tickets yet. "Leader, are you done chatting? We need to speed up, the ticket inspection is about to reach us."

Just as the group in front of them finished their ticket inspection and entered, a few minutes later, a girl's terrified scream echoed from inside.

The screams were intermittent and lasted for more than ten minutes.

Just listening to it made their scalp tingle.

As the screams inside slowly faded away, a black curtain in front of them was pulled open by someone, revealing a gloved hand that reached out from behind the curtain and said in a hoarse, aged voice, "Tickets."

Little did they know that this ticket collector was just the first surprise.

Xie Yu handed over the tickets, and then they all bent down and crawled through the curtain. As they lifted their heads, they saw a face twisted and contorted, with a strange smile on its lips. It was a "ghost" holding the tickets in its hand.

This "ghost" was fully immersed in its role, cackling maniacally for a while.

Xie Yu remained cold and indifferent: "..."

He took a quick glance around the haunted house. There was nothing particularly special about the structure, just a pitch-black space with skulls and skeletons hanging on the walls, barely visible in the dim light.

And there was also the "female ghost" sitting on a chair in front of them.

She wore a red dress with long hair cascading down to her knees, creating a strange atmosphere with the collision of black and red.

As they walked in, the once still objects suddenly began to move extremely slowly.

The sound effects and lighting were well done, but the content lacked originality.

After taking only a few steps, Wan Da couldn't help but sigh, "How boring."

Luo Wenqiang replied, "I feel nothing inside, and even feel like laughing."

Liu Cunhao suggested, "Shouldn't we show them some respect? Maybe scream a few times symbolically? Otherwise, they will lose face."

Although this kind of performance seemed particularly stupid, Xie Yu thought for a moment and felt that some idiot might actually be scared.

So he reached back and groped in the air before finally grabbing He Chao's hand.

Before this, He Chao had never played this game before. The words "haunted house" and all the various scenarios he had imagined in his head had scared him. But after actually going inside and seeing it for himself, he wasn't scared by the masks that made people look like ghosts.

However, the feeling of his little friend holding his hand and leading him around was really enjoyable.

"I'm really scared," He Chao emphasized.

Xie Yu said, "Do you want me to take off their mask and show you? You can choose which one you want to see."

"..."

He Chao didn't doubt that Xie Yu was capable of doing something like that.

Afraid that Xie Yu would actually go and tear someone's mask off, He Chao said, "It's okay, I think I can hold on a little longer."

When they left the haunted house, it was already close to noon.

No one continued to debate whether to go to the theater or the shooting range. They just wanted to find a place to sit down and eat something.

Liu Cunhao glanced at the group and said, "Brother Qing said that the leisure area is too crowded and there's no place to sit. She asked if we want to have a picnic at her side."

"Where is she?"

"Just ahead of us, not far away."

As they approached, they saw Xu Qingqing and her friends were about to play Truth or Dare. They had just opened the enhanced version they bought at the mall and quickly scanned the punishment section.

"This is too cruel. If you draw the wrong card, you're done for," Xu Qingqing said with a laugh as she looked up and saw them. "You guys came just in time. Want to play with us?"

He Chao asked for two newspapers to sit on and handed one to Xie Yu. "Old Xie, want to play?"

Xie Yu replied, "Anything."

"But if you play, you can't Dare," He Chao warned.

Xie Yu didn't understand. "Huh?"

He Chao explained, "What if you're asked to do something physical with someone else?"