The table fell silent, fracturing into two icy halves as the rest of the actors filed into the auditorium and took their seats. While waiting for the hustle and bustle to settle down, Xia Ruyun, Li Feiling, Chu Changfeng, and the other supporting male lead, Ma Xiaotian, all fielded a couple of greetings from other cast members.
While Li Feiling greeted each person with an exuberant smile and charming warmth, Chu Changfeng kept a cordial smile on his face as he extended his hand outward. His voice scraped against the gravel as he murmured a quiet, but kind greeting to everyone. “Nice to see you again.” “Looking forward to working with you.” “Looking wonderful today, and nice to see you.” “Let me introduce you to Xiaotian.”
Without too many people coming to greet her, Xia Ruyun kept Chu Changfeng in the corner of his gaze. After every interaction, his face would cool down a couple degrees, but a sip of tea, and a slight lick of the lips later, he’d fix his expression just in time for the next person to arrive.
He seems... nice? But something’s just faintly unsettling. He seems different from what Feiling described him as though.
As her attention wandered over to Li Feiling, she flashed a slight smile. Not a second later, Li Feiling flashed a smile back before following it up with a wink. Choking on her spit, Xia Ruyun coughed and looked away. Her legs shifted under the table. To hide the smile tugging at her lips, her hand covered her lips as she averted her gaze.
In an unfortunate stroke of luck though, her turning away from Li Feiling caused her to meet Chu Changfeng’s leer. She had no idea how long he had been staring at her, but now, with imperceptible glee flickering across his face, he leaned in closer. “Hey, Xia Ruyun, are you okay?”
She fell silent for a couple seconds. Her lips tightened as she stared at Chu Changfeng. “... I’m fine. Thanks for asking.”
“Is that so?” Chu Changfeng raised his eyebrows and propped his chin on his hands. “Glad to hear that. I’m hoping you have a smooth re-entry into the entertainment industry, best of luck.”
Xia Ruyun’s skin tingled as the temperature of the room seemed to drop. She nodded and answered with an “Ah... thank you,” before disengaging and looking away. As she swept her eyes across the auditorium, a sense of incongruity welled up in her chest. People milled around the area like robots, switching from table to table as introductions dragged long, and waiters weaved among the cast members to hand out a never-ending stream of refreshments.
A bustling, joyous atmosphere sparked by everyone’s excitement to kick off the grand project filled the room, but as Chu Changfeng’s gaze lingered on her, she couldn’t help but feel her heart begin to pound. His gaze twinkled, dancing between judgement, kindness, interest, and a number of other indecipherable thoughts. As he stared, the grand walls and arched ceiling of the auditorium seemed to collapse inward. They loomed over her like monsters waiting to trap her.
He gives such a... conflicting vibe. Mysterious for sure, but who is he? I don’t... feel anything wrong with his words. He hasn’t said anything weird. But why does he make my gut feel so vehemently wary?
“It’s okay, I’m here,” Li Feiling’s quiet voice pierced Xia Ruyun’s thoughts. She reached over under the table and grabbed onto Xia Ruyun’s hand. Her stare sharpened into an invisible sword as she used her eyes to tear into Chu Changfeng from across the table.
Xia Ruyun mustered a weak nod. Her icy hands stopped trembling when Li Feiling’s warmth, like a life-saving elixir, rushed through her arms and pulsed into the rest of her body. She gave Li Feiling’s hand a squeeze and leaned back into the cushioned back of the chair.
I’m glad she’s here...
By now, director Feng Wei and his assistants had walked onto the stage. The assistants stood around him in a half circle flipping through papers. They handed him the relevant ones while fielding a couple more last minute questions from the managers who had walked up to them. Feng Wei, however, sat with his legs dangling off the stage’s edge. Leaning back and propping himself upright, he took a mental note of who had sat where. His eyes, though, lingered on a few in particular. The movie queen, the returning singing queen, the emperor of the screen, and others who he deemed... important.
“Wrap up the questions soon if you can,” The director leaned back, his hair bun shifted a bit as he did, and his wavy long bangs dangling off one side of his face swayed as he addressed his assistants. “I want to get this show on the road. We have a lot to do today.”
A minute later though, as the assistants continued to get plastered by question after question, he waved his hands to shoo the managers off. “Let’s actually just end it here. Ask me later. I have an email. Or when we’re taking a break. C’mon, c’mon, go back to your seats and help your clients. I can practically hear my ears falling off my head, I know it's counterintuitive, but that’s how your questions are too.”
“... Fine.”
“I’ll come talk to you later, thanks for answering what I asked so far.”
“Though you are a young blood, you should still pay attention to your manners.”
“Pft, I couldn’t care less. I’m getting lectured by you, since when were you the supreme authority on manners? I’m here to get work done, get money in my bank account, and get my name in lights,” Feng Wei shrugged. “Sorry that you aren’t on the grind that I am.”
Twirling a coin between his fingers, he left the rest of his money-focused ideals unsaid as the agents returned to their seats. A couple coin flips later, Feng Wei let out a sigh of satisfaction. “Heads... and heads. Today's going to be a good day.”
He reached out, opening and closing his hand a few times. An assistant hurried over and put a microphone in his hand. Glancing it over, he nodded in satisfaction before resting his palm on its head.
Pat. Pat.
A heavy blanket of silence descended on the auditorium, dispelled in small patches by a few actors wrapping up their conversations. Before long though, everyone’s eyes had turned to Feng Wei. “Welcome, welcome. Are we excited to get this show on the road? Actually, don’t answer that, because I don’t care enough to get interrupted right now. I’m excited and I’m in charge here.”
He reached over to his side and picked up a copy of the agenda he had made. “I honestly am not sure how closely I’ll follow this... so yeah, don’t worry about this agenda too much. There’s just a few things I want to make sure we do get done today. Namely, some cast bonding ice breakers, a script reading, and some costume fitting. Shooting will start in a couple days, so we definitely do not have a lot of time.”
Tossing the agenda behind him, he propped one foot up onto the stage and let the other continue dangling. The agenda, fluttering the air, descended like an autumn leaf while he waved for his assistants to come over. “I have the scripts here all printed out for the first few episodes and I’ll send out digital copies to everyone later. The scripts for the final few episodes are still being finalized. For now though... ice breakers!”
Feng Wei clapped his hands. He put the microphone onto the stage and leapt down from the stage. He motioned around mid-air to draw out a semi-circle in front of the stage. “All the tables in this area, can you all get up and drag them off to the sides? Let’s create a bit more of an intimate environment here.”