Our Tender Harmony

She’s thin...

Li Feiling thought as she wrapped her arms around Xia Ruyun. Her outfit concealed it well, but Xia Ruyun seemed... too thin. While half her brain occupied itself about how to make Xia Ruyun eat more, the other half mentally cussed out Chu Changfeng. She shot a death glare at the man who had come to a stop in front of her.

Chu Changfeng, undeterred, just raised his hands and played innocent. He glanced around, seeing no one nearby, took a step closer and leaned into Li Feiling’s ear—purposefully on the side away from Xia Ruyun. His whisper, like the tendrils of the devil, snaked their way over. “No need to be so fierce... both of you at once would be good too.”

“You lecherous pig,” Li Feiling snarled, her gaze sharpening as she pulled Xia Ruyun a step back. “Don’t pull any tricks during filming. I’m watching you.”

“I’d never,” Chu Changfeng laughed with a languid smile. He winked before walking away. “The offer for dinner’s still open whenever, Ruyun. You as well, Feiling. It’s been so long since we’ve eaten together.”

Li Feiling rolled her eyes.

Let’s keep it that way.

If only he wasn’t the main investor who had embedded all of his people in the crew... I’d tear his ass a new crack. We could start calling him Chu ‘Plus-Shaped Asscrack’ Changfeng.

Grinding her teeth, she unconsciously squeezed Xia Ruyun, only stopping after getting a few frantic taps on her shoulder. “... Oh, sorry...”

“No... worries...” Xia Ruyun caught her breath, holding onto Li Feiling’s shoulder to support herself. “I can tell your training for the last movie really paid off.”

As they walked to a table in the corner though, murmurs about their interaction with Chu Changfeng swept through the entire hall like a fire through unkempt dry brushlands. Ma Xiaotian, who many considered Chu Changfeng’s protege, kept his head down as everyone else at his table burst into excited murmurs.

“Damn... that’s charisma right there. Four women? At once? A movie queen and a singing queen?”

“That’s why he’s the movie king. Kings trump queens after all.”

Despite his best efforts, as others began rocking his shoulders and saying “Bro, you’re just like that! That’s gonna be you in the future!” Ma Xiaotian broke into a smile. As he looked over towards Li Feiling and Xia Ruyun, he couldn’t help but imagine a future with both draped over his shoulders. One on the left and one on the right. A flicker of jealousy ran through his eyes as Chu Changfeng’s smirk flashed in his mind.

He clenched his hand into a fist, before relaxing it. Looking around the table, he feigned nonchalance and shrugged. “I don’t know, don’t you guys think Chu Changfeng’s methods are too heavy-handed? I feel like I’d be a lot more subtle about it. No need to pin someone against a wall in public.”

“Ahhh, the master of subtlety, Ma Xiaotian!” A nearby actor laughed. “You’re the only one who can say this. To us, if it works, it works. Chu Changfeng is getting more women than the rest of us.”

“You’re just virtuous, don’t let yourself get tainted, Xiaotian,” Another actor snapped his fingers. “This is why you’re going to be able to surpass all of us. You’re the movie prince after all.”

Ma Xiaotian felt a vein pop in his mind as the title ‘movie prince’ began getting repeated around the table. He forced a smile and just nodded. “I’ll try my best to live up to all your expectations.”

Movie prince?

Hah?

What a deplorable title. I’ll take everything you know, Chu Changfeng, and show you how weak you are. You’ll beg as those women will be mine.

As the hatred and jealousy flickered in his eyes, it consumed him. It flashed across his face, and at that moment, he didn’t notice Chu Changfeng’s gaze from a few tables over. Chu Changfeng, watching Ma Xiaotian’s eyebrows furrow, then relax, curled his lips upward.

Oh?

Fix your expression all you want... I can see right through you.

“Is something wrong?” Han Jingyi’s concerned voice broke Chu Changfeng out of his thoughts.

“That Ma Xiaotian doesn’t match up to you at all!” Liu Fangjie followed up with a fawning compliment. She put her hand on Chu Changfeng’s thigh, leaning forward and looked up at Chu Changfeng. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing at all,” Chu Changfeng sat back in his seat. He looked between the two women sitting on either side of him with a smile. As he readjusted though, he moved Liu Fangjie’s hand off his leg with a light brush. “You two are far better company than them.”

“What about Xia Ruyun and Li Feiling then?” Liu Fangjie pressed on, unfettered as she sidled up closer to Chu Changfeng. “What was the meaning of your actions earlier?”

Han Jingyi felt her smile stiffen as she watched Liu Fangjie close the distance once more to ambiguous territory. Her curiosity, though, won out, and she leaned closer to listen to what Chu Changfeng had to say.

“Ahh... those two,” Chu Changfeng chuckled, lowering his voice to have the two women lean closer. Reaching up, he patted Liu Fangjie on the head while also pushing her back to keep her from pressing her body against him. “Don’t worry about them too much. Feiling and I are just... old childhood friends. Ruyun, on the other hand... is just someone I admire. I’ve been meaning to talk to her, but she kept ignoring me, so I had to resort to that.”

With his words, the women leaned away. Han Jingyi, pausing, looked between Li Feiling and Chu Changfeng before falling silent and picking at her food. Liu Fangjie, on the other hand, broke into a wide smile and began chattering with the other people at the table. As she chatted, she’d look over to Chu Changfeng every few sentences just to see if his attention was still on her.

Chu Changfeng, as a result, kept his gaze in her general direction.

Obviously I’m not going to say you two are just playthings. You all are just practice dummies. So I can better please Li Feiling. Liu Fangjie’s easy. I already have her wrapped around my finger. Han Jingyi, on the other hand, seems to have caught on a little...

A few solo conversations where I present a more genuine side should convince her that the rumors were all fabricated though...

So with those two situated, Xia Ruyun.

She’s too close to Li Feiling.

I need to break her. That way Li Feiling will only look at me. She’ll come to me. Depend on me.

An idea flashed through his mind, and his eyes glimmered as a trace of liveliness seemed to return to Chu Changfeng’s otherwise perpetually frigid eyes. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Li Feiling and Xia Ruyun chat, licking his lips as a grin tugged at his lips.

I can’t wait for filming to start.

Chuckling, he sat back up straight as Liu Fangjie shot a quizzical look in his direction. “I just thought your joke was quite funny.”

“Really?” Liu Fangjie’s eyes brightened. “I managed to make you laugh?”

“Yeah, is it that strange?” Chu Changfeng raised an eyebrow. “You’re quite funny.”

Perking up, Liu Fangjie turned back to her conversation, her voice louder as she began cracking a joke every other sentence.

“... Like, he then came over to me, and tried to kiss me! Like eww... you know? I was the school flower. I had already been in advertisements, and he was just a middle of the pack type of guy. Who do you think you are?”

Han Jingyi, sitting at the table, just felt the back of her head throb.

Not one of Liu Fangjie’s jokes has been funny...

I really went to acting school for this?

Stay strong Jingyi, you need to do well in this role. Don’t offend Chu Changfeng.