Gatherings among celebrities usually take place in highly private and discreet private clubs.

This time, the meeting spot for the “Qin Fengfeng” group was a very famous private club in City B. The club’s owner was reportedly also someone from the industry, who paid great attention to security and privacy. Many celebrities in the circle chose this place for get-togethers.

Perhaps because the staff had seen so many stars, when the waiter saw Rong Xu and Wen Xuan, there was no sign of surprise. Instead, he lowered his head calmly and led the two straight to the private room. When the door was opened, Rong Xu was suddenly stunned — inside, four people were sitting around a table… playing Mahjong.

…Yes, playing Mahjong.

Lin Xuan was still shooting in Province Y, so he couldn’t possibly be back in City B. Thus, only five people attended this meeting in person. Besides Wen Xuan, there were Xia Muyan, Chu Qi, James Trant, and Hugh Leslie.

When Rong Xu saw these male and female idols from his fans’ eyes holding Mahjong tiles and then looking at him, his mouth twitched slightly. For some reason, he felt like… something had just shattered.

Wen Xuan laughed and said, “Alright, alright, whoever wins today will treat everyone to dinner.”

And she didn’t feel anything was odd about that at all!

However, because Mahjong is such an intimate game, Rong Xu gradually relaxed and no longer felt distant from the others.

As the saying goes, the Mahjong table is the easiest place to build rapport. Just one minute after Rong Xu arrived at the private room, the game ended with Chu Qi losing the round and having to pay.

Chu Qi immediately stood up, pulled out a chair, and said, “No more, no more. I’m out of luck today. Let me switch with someone else. Rong Xu, you know how to play Mahjong? Come, come, come, help me break the momentum of these guys. Mahjong is a national treasure of Greater China, and letting these two blond, blue-eyed foreigners win — what’s that about?”

Hugh smiled and took the money, ignoring Chu Qi completely.

Rong Xu smiled lightly and nodded, “Well… I’ll give it a try then?”

That ‘try’ lasted half an hour.

From start to finish, Rong Xu never won a single point, but strangely enough, he only lost a couple of rounds. Within half an hour, Xia Muyan became the biggest winner in the room, constantly winning money and making James and Hugh pay for the table, much to Chu Qi’s delight.

After Mahjong ended, the six of them sat down by the table to eat.

Rong Xu had met Xia Muyan before when filming Black Cloud, and had acted opposite her once. As for Chu Qi, James, and Hugh, they all had cameo roles in Black Cloud as well, but none of them had scenes with Rong Xu. So, they shot separately in Group B while Rong Xu was in Group A, meaning they had never met before.

However, after that Mahjong game, everyone quickly became familiar. Rong Xu didn’t say much, but Wen Xuan and James were very talkative, filling the room with laughter, while Rong Xu just smiled quietly and listened.

After dinner, they played another round of Mahjong. This time James and Hugh, afraid of losing again, didn’t join in. So the table was Rong Xu, Wen Xuan, Xia Muyan, and Chu Qi.

Four Chinese players are much more careful and strategic than the two foreigners who rely mostly on luck, and their pace was slower. James and Hugh sat nearby drinking coffee and chatting with smiles.

Rong Xu spent the entire afternoon playing Mahjong. He didn’t win much, but didn’t lose much either. Unlike Wen Xuan, who dominated the game, or Chu Qi and Xia Muyan who were unlucky and lost big.

That evening, they had another dinner, and this time, the “Qin Fengfeng” group finally talked about the purpose of the group’s establishment.

Wen Xuan sipped chicken soup and asked, “By the way, didn’t Qin Cheng visit your set recently, Xiao Xu? The one filming Silent by Director Xu. Didn’t your second male lead get into some trouble? He was messaging him that day, and I asked him to help support.”

When Rong Xu heard “help,” he suddenly stopped moving his chopsticks.

Next to him, Chu Qi suddenly remembered, “Yeah, I heard that second male lead was just sued recently. That guy’s pretty gutsy. In all my years in the industry, there are fewer than three people more despicable than him.” Chu Qi said with a loud laugh.

This music veteran was just over 40 years old. His looks weren’t especially handsome, but his voice was very moving. Yet his personality was the exact opposite of his delicate voice—rough and bold.

James chewed a piece of vegetable and awkwardly asked in Chinese, “Was his name something… Xiang?”

Xia Muyan smiled gently, “Lu Xiangbo.”

Wen Xuan helplessly threw up her hands, “You still remember his name? I already forgot what that guy was called. Director Xu is pretty tough; Lu Xiangbo won’t have a good outcome. If it were Director Liu, maybe he’d still show some mercy. But Director Xu… he’s stubborn, very stubborn. I guess Rong Rong knows that too, right?”

Everyone’s eyes turned to Rong Xu. The exquisite and handsome young man was biting into a big chicken drumstick! When he heard his name, he raised his eyes and looked at the other five at the table with clear, bright eyes like an innocent child.

The room fell silent.

After a moment, Wen Xuan raised her right hand to cover her face and sighed, “In our group, we actually got someone even better at playing cute than Lin Xuan, and he even snatched the chicken drumstick while we were talking…”

Taking a bite of the chicken, Rong Xu politely finished the piece, then smiled faintly and looked at the helpless Wen Xuan, softly saying, “Sister Xuan, I remember… at my age, I should be the first to grab the chicken drumstick at this table, right?”

He smiled, showing a row of white teeth.

The light shone on Rong Xu’s light-colored hair, casting a brilliant golden glow. Wen Xuan was slightly stunned, her beautiful eyes trembling. Taking the opportunity, Xia Muyan grabbed the other chicken drumstick and said seriously, “Rong Rong has a point. I’m nine months younger than Sister Xuan… I should be able to take a chicken drumstick too, right?”

This wasn’t a question, because she had already put the other chicken drumstick into her bowl.

Wen Xuan immediately came back to her senses, lightly snorted, “You’re something, Xia Muyan,” and the two top actresses started playfully bickering, creating a lively atmosphere.

At 8 PM, Xia Muyan, going in the same direction, drove Rong Xu home.

On the way, they talked about several movies coming out soon, and about Rong Xu’s The Lost City releasing next month. When saying goodbye, Xia Muyan smiled warmly and seriously said, “I’ll definitely watch your movie. It feels like a really good one.”

Rong Xu nodded and blinked lightly, “Then I’ll thank Director Yuan for your praise on your behalf, Sister Xia.”

Back at the apartment, it was still empty. Rong Xu quickly washed up and went to the home theater, taking out a classic movie starring James Trant to watch.

In the movie, this Hollywood superstar was agile and smart, radiating masculinity. There was nothing he couldn’t do — as long as you believed in him, even the toughest challenges could be solved easily.

But when Rong Xu recalled James from this afternoon…

“Hmm, somehow he seemed… lively?”

After thinking for a while, Rong Xu settled on the word “lively.” After all, this “old driver” who told a joke every ten minutes, often dirty jokes, could only be described as lively in a positive sense.

Before going to sleep, Rong Xu called Qin Cheng. After chatting a bit, they said goodnight.

Rong Xu still didn’t tell Qin Cheng about the “Qin Fengfeng” group. Just as they were about to hang up, Rong Xu casually smiled and asked, “I’ve never met your friends. What kind of people are they? I remember you and Wen Xuan have a pretty good relationship?”

Back then on the Black Cloud set, Qin Cheng had introduced Wen Xuan to Rong Xu.

On the other end of the phone, the tall and handsome man was walking under the plane trees boulevard. Suddenly hearing this, Qin Cheng stopped. He raised his head, his gaze passing through layers of plane tree leaves to the vast blue sky, and after a long while, he chuckled low and said, “I can’t really say.”

Completely unexpected, Rong Xu was surprised, “What do you mean you can’t say?”

The man’s low, magnetic voice crossed half the globe and entered the young man’s ears steadily: “They’re not really decent people. Don’t bother with them.”

Rong Xu: “…”

Haven’t you heard the saying — ‘birds of a feather flock together’?

If they’re not decent, then what about you…

Rong Xu hung up silently, thinking to himself that Wen Xuan, Xia Muyan, and Chu Qi were actually quite easy to get along with. James and Hugh were also very kind and humble, with no superstar airs at all. So how did they become “not decent” in that one man’s words?

With this doubt, Rong Xu closed his eyes, and soon, the quiet room filled with the sound of his steady breathing.

Meanwhile, what Rong Xu definitely didn’t expect was that the “not decent” three-time Golden Horse Best Actress, Wen Xuan, was currently frantically spamming the “Qin Fengfeng” group chat—

[Wen Xuan: OMG! So cute! Really so cute! Rong Xu is totally my type!!!]

She kept flooding the chat, but at this late hour—past midnight—no one paid her any attention. Yet Wen Xuan didn’t feel ignored at all; on the contrary, she was full of excitement.

[Wen Xuan: Such a delicious fresh young guy, so tender, simply amazing! Even better looking than the ones I dated before, and with such a good temper. No way, I really can’t take it anymore. I feel like I have to do something.]

Seeing this message, someone finally couldn’t help but ask:

[Xia Muyan: …I remember you were still dating that Polish male supermodel last month, weren’t you?]

[Wen Xuan: We broke up last month, don’t mention it. That guy was way too possessive.]

[Xia Muyan: …]

[Wen Xuan: Speaking of which, Qin Cheng actually has good taste.]

The elegant and gentle Best Actress was stunned upon reading this line and replied: [How so?]

[Wen Xuan: Back when we were shooting Black Clouds, Qin Cheng introduced Rong Rong to me and specifically told him to stay away from me, saying I like guys of his type. Honestly, at that time, I barely spoke to Rong Rong; I’m not the kind of person who falls for looks. But today I realized Qin Cheng does have some merits, at least this one thing he said was absolutely right… I just like guys like Rong Xu! Handsome and cute! I’m adding Rong Rong to our group chat now.]

[Xia Muyan: …]

So, at 2 a.m., when everything else was still asleep, Rong Xu was quietly added into a group chat.

At that moment, Rong Xu had no idea he had already made it onto the pursuit list of a certain Best Actress. As for how harshly this actress would later be dealt with by the “nemesis” of their group, that was a matter for the future and can be set aside for now.

Three days later, after a brief holiday, Rong Xu officially flew to S City to participate in a variety show to promote The Lost City.

Three months had passed since the last time Rong Xu saw Director Yuan, Bai Xiwen, and Ren Shuzhi. They hadn’t changed much, but Ren Shuzhi seemed more distant and cold toward Rong Xu. She greeted and said hello as usual but showed no sign of lingering or bothering him.

In the dressing room, Luo Xi was surprised and said, “Xiao Xu, I remember Ren Shuzhi called you once when filming was about to wrap up, right? Why is she suddenly like this, so strictly business now?”

Rong Xu smiled, “Should I have some other attitude toward her?”

Luo Xi quickly shook her head, “Of course not! We won’t bother with her. I heard she’s recently collaborating with a British singer and released a duet CD. A friend of mine who is an assistant director lives in their neighborhood and told me they didn’t go downstairs for a whole week; meals were all delivered by assistants.”

Hearing this, Rong Xu suddenly looked up, surprised, staring at Luo Xi.

Luo Xi said solemnly, “Don’t you also think that’s kinda… odd, Xiao Xu? She came to the hotel in S City last night and went to Ma Qi’s room at midnight, and then that kind of thing happened… really…”

Rong Xu shook his head heavily and, after a while, seriously said, “No, I’m just surprised that Xiao Xi, you even know this kind of gossip. Maybe… you chose the wrong career. You should be a full-time paparazzo.”

Luo Xi: “…”

Rong Xu wasn’t joking. Before this, he never realized Luo Xi was so good at social networking.

He knew Luo Xi was popular on set and knew many crew members, often chatting and laughing with them. But after wrapping the film, Luo Xi kept in touch with them and even controlled relationships so well that she knew about “the queen of pop and a British fresh young guy staying locked in her house for a week.”

To meet someone is hard, but not impossible.

To maintain a friendship with someone requires time and energy.

Every time Rong Xu acted in a film, the number of actors and crew was at least hundreds. Luo Xi, over several films, had accumulated contact with thousands of people, and yet she could chat happily with them and get all this juicy gossip.

This was a kind of skill—an impressive one.

Rong Xu frowned lightly, thought for a moment, and smiled: “Xiao Xi, this year’s New Year’s gift to the media will be handled by you.”

Luo Xi was stunned, then happily nodded, “Sure!”

Celebrities and media are inseparable. Celebrities need media coverage to increase exposure, while the media often need celebrities to create hot topics and attract audiences. During New Year, stars with some status give gifts to media friends as thanks for their support over the year.

This kind of thing isn’t bribery—if a star had a big scandal, media would immediately turn and put them on the headlines—but this gesture is a necessary courtesy. If you ever make a small mistake, the media might show some leniency.

After entrusting this matter, the production team soon invited Rong Xu on stage.