Chapter 163 Artists and Agents
Li Zhibai's phone call caught Chen Biqiu and Li Zhenzhen completely off guard.
He actually doesn't get along with Ma Zhiyuan? And they don't even want to appear on the same show?
If we don't consider Ma Zhiyuan, then we're not just considering Lu Yanhe, but also Li Zhibai.
In terms of popularity and buzz, Ma Zhiyuan, who is currently very popular, is undoubtedly more popular in the past six months. However, Li Zhibai is not to be underestimated. He debuted more than a year earlier than Ma Zhiyuan and is equally impressive.
For Chen Biqiu, choosing between Lu Yanhe and Ma Zhiyuan was easy, but choosing between Li Zhibai and Ma Zhiyuan was not so easy.
Making a choice between Li Zhibai, Lu Yanhe, and Ma Zhiyuan would be even more difficult.
Chen Biqiu and Li Zhenzhen fell silent, staring at each other, neither speaking for a long time.
This situation is something they never expected.
Although Chen Biqiu and Li Zhenzhen were somewhat annoyed, they did not blame Li Zhibai for causing them trouble.
On one hand, both of them are seasoned veterans in producing shows. Managing artists is always a major headache for any production team. In the entertainment industry, relationships between artists are incredibly complex; one might clash with another, or someone might have a problem with another—there are just too many trivial matters.
On the other hand, they also knew they had no grounds to blame Li Zhibai for this.
As more and more similar incidents are exposed, a trend has emerged online: if an artist makes too many demands, it's seen as the artist being arrogant and taking a high salary without doing any work.
But this depends on the situation.
For example, some galas want to invite two celebrities to participate, but both sides adopt an attitude of either one being the only one who can participate, which seems to put the organizers in a difficult position.
So, was the organizer the victim in this incident?
Many people would think that way.
But netizens just gossiped and commented.
Those who actually work in this industry cannot take this opportunity to stand on a moral high ground and condemn these artists.
It's not like we're doing charity or public service. Whether people want to come or you want to invite them is a matter of mutual consent.
If you don't like this kind of person, then you shouldn't invite them.
You can't just throw a party and insist on bringing together two people who never meet to make a good impression on you, can you?
Why blame people for making unreasonable demands when they don't come?
Since you're inviting them and they've set conditions, the rest is quite simple.
You either meet the conditions or you don't.
They laid out the unpleasant truth upfront, didn't stab you in the back, and didn't force you into a corner before asking if you'd jump off a cliff.
Either agree to their demands and cooperate.
If they can't agree, then this collaboration will fall through.
Those who should truly be condemned are the ones who, after the money has been paid and the contract signed, suddenly go back on their word and make unreasonable demands, refusing to appear unless their demands are met.
It's better for Li Zhi to make his mistakes beforehand than to wait until the contract is signed and the show is about to start recording before making his mistakes.
-
After hanging up the phone, Li Zhibai said to Lu Yanhe and Yan Liang, "Alright, I've said what I needed to say. If they really want to invite Ma Zhiyuan, then I won't go."
"Are you really not going?" Yan Liang asked.
Li Zhibai: "I won't go. If we really fight on the show, Zhou Pingan will be furious."
Yan Liang thought for a moment and nodded, "Then I won't go."
Li Zhibai glanced at them and said, "Tell me, between me and Ma Zhiyuan, who would they choose?"
Lu Yanhe and Yan Liang both hesitated and remained silent.
Although Li Zhibai is a friend and Ma Zhiyuan is an enemy, one should still be honest with oneself.
Ma Zhiyuan was indeed more famous than Li Zhibai.
If acting is about acting skills and suitability for the role, then variety show recordings basically only consider whether the artist is popular or not.
What they didn't know was that Li Zhenzhen was genuinely judging guests on the show based on whether they were compatible with each other.
Seeing their reaction, Li Zhibai immediately said "Hey, hey, hey" twice, "Damn, are we still friends?"
“We’re friends, of course we’re friends,” Yan Liang said immediately. “But we still need to be realistic, Brother Bai. Our popularity is indeed a little bit behind that bastard’s. You need to work harder to catch up. You’re just too lazy, which is why that bastard got the upper hand.”
Li Zhibai looked at Yan Liang speechlessly.
Yan Liang chuckled, "Old Lu, don't you think so?"
Lu Yanhe coughed twice and said, "I'm thirsty, I'm going to get a glass of water."
He quickly got up and left this place of trouble.
Yan Liang: "..."
Yan Liang: "How cunning!"
-
The question of whether Chen Biqiu or Li Zhenzhen would choose did not trouble Li Zhibai too much.
He was naturally lazy and didn't care much about his work.
On the contrary, Zhou Ping'an received the news on Wednesday and learned that Li Zhibai had lost his temper, which made him so angry that he rolled his eyes.
Zhou Ping'an suppressed his anger and didn't utter a string of curses at Li Zhibai, but that was pretty much the gist of it. His earnest persuasion only made his expression turn somewhat ferocious.
"Are you stupid? If Ma Zhiyuan participates in this show with you, it's bound to be a hit. At a time like this, who cares who Ma Zhiyuan is? Even if you're mortal enemies, you'd pretend to be friends to record a show!" Zhou Ping'an said. "Do you think Ma Zhiyuan just wants to record a show with you?"
Li Zhibai's eyes lit up, and he asked disdainfully, "He doesn't want to agree to anything. They were the ones who approached me first. He didn't want to record the show with me, so he refused."
Looking at Li Zhibai's reckless attitude, Zhou Ping'an felt like giving him a beating.
But that's all I can do now.
"Don't you even think about why he didn't refuse?" Zhou Ping'an glared at Li Zhibai with exasperation. "You keep saying you want to drive Lu Yanhe away and teach him a lesson, but who doesn't know what you're really up to?"
"Wait, what did you say?" Li Zhibai suddenly interrupted him.
Upon hearing this, Zhou Ping'an assumed Li Zhibai had finally realized what was happening, and said calmly, "Finally realized? That Ma Zhiyuan is cunning; he knew you were here, so he wanted to—"
"You mean Ma Zhiyuan is going to drive Lu Yanhe away?" Li Zhibai interrupted Zhou Ping'an, impatient with what he had to say, and asked again.
Zhou Ping'an stared wide-eyed: "Is that the point?"
Li Zhibai: "Otherwise what?"
Zhou Ping'an was somewhat annoyed. "You should be thinking about yourself."
"If I only consider myself, I don't want to record this show at all," Li Zhibai said nonchalantly. "Who would want to live with strangers?"
Zhou Ping'an: "This is a job. You have to pretend to be happy even if you don't want to. If you really chose a job based entirely on your mood, then you wouldn't need to work. With your spoiled attitude, what kind of job would you even consider?"
The more confident and assertive Li Zhibai was in his rebuttal, the more speechless he is now.
Li Zhibai also knew his own faults. Zhou Ping'an was absolutely right. He had a spoiled young master's temper, was picky and choosy about everything he did, and complained about this and that.
He sighed and said, "Brother Ping An, I assure you, there are only a few people like Ma Zhiyuan that I dislike and don't want to work with. Do you want to see me fight with him on the show?"
He looked at Zhou Ping'an with sincere eyes, hoping that Zhou Ping'an could feel his true emotions.
He wasn't exaggerating at all.
Seeing Li Zhibai's reaction, Zhou Ping'an didn't know what to say.
-
On the other hand, Ma Zhiyuan was somewhat smug and self-satisfied.
Although Chen Biqiu and Li Zhenzhen did not agree on the spot, he did not think anyone would choose Lu Yanhe over him.
They're not stupid.
When Lu Yanhe finds out he's been kicked out of the game, he'll definitely be furious, right?
Thinking of this, Ma Zhiyuan felt a surge of pleasure.
However, before Ma Zhiyuan could be smug for long, Lin Suyang came knocking on his door.
"Why are you here?" Ma Zhiyuan asked Lin Suyang in surprise.
When MX was first established, the company assigned Lin Suyang as their manager. Lin Suyang lacked experience, and due to Feng Zhi's situation, the company initially didn't have high hopes for MX. However, MX became an instant hit despite these circumstances. Lin Suyang was the one who guided MX from beginning to end, becoming a key figure in their success.
Ma Zhiyuan was the leader of MX. In the beginning, he and Lin Suyang communicated a lot, often sitting together to talk about what MX should do and what aspects they should focus on for promotion. Later, Ma Zhiyuan had more and more work of his own, and Lin Suyang also had more and more responsibilities. Everyone was rushing to meet with announcements almost every day and was extremely busy, so they had less time to communicate.
After the chaotic period following their rise to fame subsided and things gradually returned to normal, the two had grown quite distant. They even had several disagreements due to differences in their understanding and positioning of MX.
Lin Suyang looked at Ma Zhiyuan, took a deep breath, and asked, "You met Chen Biqiu yesterday? Did you discuss a new program he's producing?"
Ma Zhiyuan glanced at Lin Suyang with slight surprise and said, "Your information comes pretty quickly. Who went to tattle on you so fast?"
"Ma Zhiyuan, do you even know I'm your agent? Do you think this is as simple as tattling?" Lin Suyang's forehead veins bulged, his teeth clenched, suppressing his anger. "You bypassed me to contact program producers privately, and even offered to participate in their program. Where do you put me?"
Lin Suyang's question made Ma Zhiyuan frown.
"What do you mean I bypassed you and contacted the program producers privately? I met them at the company, knew they had a program, and I just mentioned that if the conditions were right, I was willing to participate in their program. I didn't sign a contract with them directly, nor did I discuss payment. A simple contact makes you so wary. Aren't you being too petty?" Ma Zhiyuan spoke very rudely to Lin Suyang. "I know we're famous now, and you're always worried that you can't control us, insisting on having us all under your control. But don't you think about it? Can't I even have a chat with a few program producers?"
Ma Zhiyuan righteously absolved himself of any responsibility, but Lin Suyang knew him very well.
This kid became famous overnight at a young age, and he's become arrogant and dismissive of everyone. He doesn't take him seriously anymore.
This isn't the first time something like this has happened.
I take on some jobs outside and bring them back to him. Sometimes, when my work conflicts with his arrangements, I ask him to change them.
Just a quick chat?
Lin Suyang looked at Ma Zhiyuan and asked, "So if I don't agree to you recording this show, is that okay with it? It's just a simple chat, isn't it?"
A clear, deliberate sneer appeared on Lin Suyang's face.
Pressed by Lin Suyang, Ma Zhiyuan remained silent for a moment, then, as if remembering something, looked at Lin Suyang and asked, "Do you know why I'm interested in this program?"
"Why?" Lin Suyang wanted to see what Ma Zhiyuan had to say.
Ma Zhiyuan said, "They approached Lu Yanhe for this program, and I told them that I would join as long as they kicked Lu Yanhe out."
Lin Suyang never expected this answer.
"Lu Yanhe?"
“Yes.” Ma Zhiyuan’s lips curled up in a sarcastic smile. “Unlike some people, I can’t protect my artists. I just said a few words and offended Lu Yanhe, and he actually made his artist stop working. What kind of manager is that?”
Lin Suyang's face turned ugly in an instant.
Are you mocking me?
“Yes.” Ma Zhiyuan looked at him coldly. “Without MX, what are you? Shouldn’t you cherish the opportunity to become an artist like us? How did you treat Wei Zhuoran? It’s heartbreaking.”
Lin Suyang took a deep breath and clenched his fist.
-
On Wednesday morning, Lu Yanhe walked into the company building early in the morning, preparing to go to the rehearsal room.
At the elevator entrance, MX and his group unexpectedly appeared at this time.
Lu Yanhe originally wanted to wait until they went up before going over to avoid them meeting, but Qu Yousong had already seen him and turned to say something to Ma Zhiyuan.
Ma Zhiyuan looked over.
Then we can't back down, otherwise it will seem like we're afraid of them.
Wei Zhuoran was not there, and work had stopped. Ma Zhiyuan told him about this.
As soon as Lu Yanhe approached, Ma Zhiyuan and the others gave him an unfriendly look.
Lu Yanhe thought to himself, if Li Zhibai were here, he would definitely snap back, "What are you looking at? Are you looking at your dad?" But he wasn't Li Zhibai, so he could only fantasize about it in his mind.
Of the group, only Chen Jing looked at Lu Yanhe with some unease, seemingly wanting to express some goodwill to him, but not daring to.
-
An awkward atmosphere permeated the air when Qu Yousong suddenly looked at Lu Yanhe and asked, "Are your college entrance exam results coming out soon?"
Lu Yanhe glanced at him thoughtfully, but said nothing.
Qu Yousong: "Are you mute? You won't speak."
Lu Yanhe curled his lips into a smile. "Who are you? Do I need to talk to you?"
Qu Yousong laughed and said, "You've really become arrogant. I've never seen you dare to talk like this before."
"I learned it from you guys," Lu Yanhe laughed. "If you're not arrogant, others will be arrogant in your place."
Qu Yousong's smile turned cold.
He nodded. "It seems that the top students who get into Zhenhua and Yuming are indeed different. Their confidence in speaking is unmatched by ordinary people."
Ma Zhiyuan sneered and said, "I'd like to see if you can pass the exam. You're making such big promises, do you really think you're a top student?"
Qu Yousong said with a smile, "Old Ma, you can't say that. He's a real academic genius. He broadcasts his studies every day. He's one of the best in the entertainment industry!"
"What a fucking pretentious guy!" Ma Zhiyuan said disdainfully.
There will be more later, but I'll update this chapter first.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
