Chapter 168: Workplace emotional management

Lu Yan He found it hard to imagine that an artist and an agent would fight.

Even when they were in Wind Zhi, their relationship with Zhou Ping'an was so bad that there was no direct conflict.

The occurrence of such a thing can be said to be a scandal of Star Entertainment.

Yan Liang saw the news in a group chat, which also meant that this matter must have spread.

"Has it spread online?" Lu Yan He asked Li Zhibai, who was searching for relevant news on Weibo.

"Haven't seen it yet." Li Zhibai shook his head.

Lu Yan He put down his phone and said: "I haven't seen any discussion about this online for the time being, it should be kept secret for now."

Li Zhibai curled his lips and said: "This matter can't be kept secret, there are so many people in the group chat."

Ma Zhiyuan is so popular, any disturbance related to him is easy to get on the hot search. Now that there is no relevant news online, it only shows that no one has spread it online for the first time.

Now those who know about this are people from Star Entertainment, most of whom still have the confidentiality ethics of practitioners.

But it's only a matter of time before it spreads online.

"This matter is a big deal," Li Zhibai said, not thinking it was a big deal, gloating, "Ma Zhiyuan fought with his agent, haha, if this matter is exposed, I want to see how they plan to explain this matter."

Yan Liang: "Keep your voice down."

If Li Zhibai continues to shout, everyone in the whole restaurant will look over.

Li Zhibai didn't care at all about this being known by others. Deep in his heart, he even hoped that more people would know about this.

But if this matter was spread from him, it wouldn't be good either.

Li Zhibai lowered his voice, but the gloating look on his face didn't decrease.

"After this happens, you say, will Lin Suyang continue to manage Ma Zhiyuan in the future?"

"This depends on how the two of them say it later. If they can shake hands and make peace, then continuing to cooperate is also normal. After all, Lin Suyang has been his agent since Ma Zhiyuan debuted. But if the

Lu Yan He thought about the program *Young Days* and asked, "Then why did they get into a fight? Did anyone say?"

"No," Yan Liang shook his head.

This incident became the side dish for the three of them during lunch.

They ate and chatted, and before they knew it, they had finished their meal without finishing the conversation.

Deputy General Ma Zong had a massive headache.

He looked at Lin Suyang and Ma Zhiyuan, who were sitting in front of him, one on the left and one on the right. The former had injuries on his face, and his left eye was swollen—it was clear he had been hit hard by a fist. The latter had a look of rebellious hostility; while he had no wounds, he also showed no sign of remorse.

"You two are quite something, aren't you? A popular artist and an agent, getting into a fight in front of so many people! Do you think your lives are going too well right now, is that it?"

Deputy General Ma Zong couldn't help but reprimand them.

"Ma Zhiyuan, have you forgotten your status?! You are an idol. Once word of you fighting gets out, your image will be ruined!" Deputy General Ma Zong scolded him angrily. Seeing that he still had a defiant, self-righteous look on his face, he became even more furious. "Don't think that just because you're popular now, you'll be popular for a lifetime. Once the media labels you a disgraced artist, it will be too late to apologize!"

Only then did Ma Zhiyuan show a hint of unease.

But he was still unconvinced. He glared at Lin Suyang and said, "This can't be blamed on my impulsiveness. If he hadn't intentionally made me lose face in front of others, I wouldn't have been impulsive!"

Lin Suyang took a deep breath.

Deputy General Ma Zong: "Is his being wrong a reason for you to throw hands? Back then, among so many trainees, who picked you and let you debut as a member of MX? And who praised you for being all-around and made you the leader?!"

Before MX debuted as a group, the company held several rounds of selection and assessment, and the current members were the ones who remained. Lin Suyang had accompanied everyone through the entire process, and every person finally chosen had been recommended by Lin Suyang. The reason he had such a big say in MX's career was that every step MX had taken since their debut had his support behind the scenes.

Even if Ma Zhiyuan didn't admit it, the company had to acknowledge that Lin Suyang was one of the major contributors to MX's rise to fame.

Ma Zhiyuan took a deep breath and said, "I know. If it weren't for him when MX first debuted, we might not have become popular so quickly. But if it weren't for us working hard, could an agent like him, with no experience and no connections, have made others popular so quickly? Everyone says he sacrificed a lot, but who didn't? We run promotional activities every day and prepare for stage performances. When it's tough, we don't sleep for more than five hours a night for a month straight. Why do you all think he is the biggest contributor to MX's popularity?"

Ma Zhiyuan's face was full of doubt as he pointed at Lin Suyang and questioned him.

Lin Suyang's face flushed red, and he looked at Ma Zhiyuan in disbelief; he never expected Ma Zhiyuan to say such things.

This was almost like trampling his face into the ground.

Deputy General Ma Zong also looked at Ma Zhiyuan in disbelief.

Before this, he had only thought that Ma Zhiyuan had a young person's temper—having become famous overnight, he was self-important, looked down on the world, and didn't take anyone seriously.

Now, after hearing these questions from Ma Zhiyuan, he realized that Ma Zhiyuan's problems were even bigger than he had anticipated.

"Do you feel that Lin Suyang is no longer qualified to be your agent?"

"He is not qualified to be the agent for our MX!" Ma Zhiyuan said emphatically. "If it weren't for him, our MX could have developed even better! And become even more popular!"

Lin Suyang stood up abruptly.

"Fine, Ma Zhiyuan. From today on, I will no longer be your agent!" He glared at Ma Zhiyuan. "For someone as opinionated as you, I'll wait and see how long you can stay popular!"

Lin Suyang walked angrily out of the office.

"Lin Suyang!" Deputy General Ma Zong shouted in shock. "What are you doing? He's being unreasonable, are you going to be unreasonable too?"

Lin Suyang stopped and turned to look at Deputy General Ma Zong.

"Mr. Ma, I've told you before that Ma Zhiyuan is young and rebellious, and he doesn't listen to instructions. I don't have the ability to continue managing him. You said that MX has only been popular for a year and that it's a critical period for their career development, so you asked me to keep managing them. I did, but I never expected that today, I would end up managing an ungrateful wretch!" Lin Suyang gave Ma Zhiyuan a cold look. "I am indeed a newcomer, and I was lucky to be able to produce a popular group on my first try as an agent. But I have no need to endure an artist who hasn't even been in the industry for two years, especially... an artist I personally helped make famous. I can't stand this kind of backstabbing. Whoever has the ability can take over!"

After saying this, Lin Suyang opened the door to Deputy General Ma Zong's office and stormed out.

Deputy General Ma Zong stared at Lin Suyang's back, speechless for a moment.

In all his years of working, this was the first time he had seen an agent so impulsive, giving up on an artist he had built up with his own hands just like that.

Seeing this, Ma Zhiyuan even said, "Mr. Ma, you saw it too. Can he continue to be our agent with a temper like that?"

His face was full of disdain.

Deputy General Ma Zong looked silently at the defiant Ma Zhiyuan and said nothing.

Li Zhibai drove Lu Yan He and Yan Liang to the company himself.

There was no other reason; he just wanted to watch the show in person.

As soon as their car pulled into the parking lot and they found a spot, before they could even park, they saw Lin Suyang walking out of the elevator lobby in a rage, heading toward a gray sedan.

"Uh, is he leaving already?" Li Zhibai said with some regret. "We didn't even catch the fresh part of the show."

Lin Suyang got into the car, and as soon as it started, he drove out without hesitation.

Because Li Zhibai's car was blocking him, he even honked his horn in annoyance.

Only then did Li Zhibai pull the car into the spot.

Lin Suyang stepped on the gas and left.

"He's pretty angry," Li Zhibai remarked.

Lu Yan He felt the same way.

"Did he quit in a fit of anger? What about Ma Zhiyuan?"

The three of them got out of the car and prepared to go upstairs.

"Why are you three here?" Chen Ziyan's voice suddenly rang out behind them, startling all three of them at once.

"Oh my, Sister Ziyan, why did you pop up out of nowhere? Like a female ghost!" Li Zhibai blurted out subconsciously.

Chen Ziyan swung the bag in her hand and "clunked" it against Li Zhibai.

"You actually called me a female ghost?"

Li Zhibai immediately took a step back to dodge.

"And a female ghost with a bit of a temper, too," Li Zhibai muttered.

Chen Ziyan rolled her eyes at him and looked back at Lu Yan He. "Didn't you say you were resting? Why are you at the company again?"

Lu Yan He stammered, embarrassed to say he was here to watch the show.

Yan Liang, who also cared about his image, quickly lowered his head, not daring to look Chen Ziyan in the eye.

Only Li Zhibai immediately offered an explanation.

"We're just here to watch the excitement."

Chen Ziyan looked at the three of them in surprise. "You guys have enough free time. Such a small matter and you come running over here? Li Zhibai, are you that free? Don't you have promotional activities to run?"

"I've been running them every day for the past while; I'm about to fall apart from exhaustion. I need to rest for a few days," Li Zhibai said. "Isn't it time to record the new program soon? I'm taking this chance to rest a bit."

At this moment, the elevator arrived.

Someone came out, and after they exited, the four of them went in.

"Sister Ziyan, you're more experienced. How do you think this matter between Lin Suyang and Ma Zhiyuan will be handled?" Li Zhibai asked gossiping. "Will Ma Zhiyuan be disciplined?"

Chen Ziyan: "What are you thinking? In the end, Lin Suyang will definitely be the one to bow his head. He is the agent, and protecting the artist's interests is his duty. To prevent this from causing further negative impact, he won't sit by and let the blame for this incident fall on Ma Zhiyuan."

"Then... will Lin Suyang continue to be MX's agent?"

"Why wouldn't he?" Chen Ziyan said. "MX is a group he built from the ground up, and they're currently popular. Why wouldn't he manage them? To let someone else pick the peaches?"

"But maybe Ma Zhiyuan will refuse to let Lin Suyang be his agent no matter what."

"That's not up to him," Chen Ziyan said. "The company won't tolerate an artist being this arrogant. He hasn't reached the level where the company would make concessions for him."

As she finished speaking, the elevator doors opened, and more people entered.

The person who entered this time was Zhou Ping'an, and he was stunned when he saw the four people in the elevator.

His first reaction was: Why are Li Zhibai and Yan Liang with Chen Ziyan?

"You guys are—" Zhou Ping'an looked at them hesitantly.

"Ran into each other in the parking lot." Chen Ziyan saw right through what Zhou Ping'an was thinking and said immediately, "Are you going upstairs?"

This floor was where Zhou Ping'an's office was located.

Zhou Ping'an nodded: "Mr. Ma asked me to come up."

Chen Ziyan: "Oh, at this time? Isn't he going to handle the conflict between Ma Zhiyuan and Lin Suyang?"

"Maybe it's already been handled," Zhou Ping'an said. "They were called in half an hour ago."

Chen Ziyan smiled.

"To think something like this would happen."

Zhou Ping'an: "Lin Suyang has only been working for a few years; it's not surprising he couldn't control his temper."

He glanced at Li Zhibai and Yan Liang and said, "No matter what happens, Lin Suyang shouldn't have had a direct conflict with Ma Zhiyuan in front of so many people."

"Indeed."

At this time, the floor with the rehearsal rooms arrived.

Li Zhibai immediately said they were getting off.

Once the three young men left, only Zhou Ping'an and Chen Ziyan were left in the elevator.

Chen Ziyan: "Don't be nervous. I have no intention of poaching your talent."

Zhou Ping'an smiled immediately and said, "I know. Why would I worry about that?"

"Just a joke." Chen Ziyan smiled slightly. "If you encountered an artist like Ma Zhiyuan, what would you do?"

"Leave him on the shelf for a while, let him realize his own worth, and he'll be obedient afterward," Zhou Ping'an said without hesitation. "Ma Zhiyuan having a high ego and a big temper isn't a one-day thing. Lin Suyang didn't manage him well from the start. How can an artist be allowed to participate in discussions about what work to take or what path to follow? He wanted to be democratic and let everyone offer their opinions, and then he let the artist's ego grow. That's Lin Suyang's own fault."

Chen Ziyan: "But there's no denying that MX is indeed very popular right now."

"Popular, sure, but it's only been a year, and they're already infighting. How much longer can they stay popular?"

As they spoke, the elevator arrived.

The two of them walked out together.

Chen Ziyan said: "Yan He is going to record *Young Days* with Li Zhibai and Yan Liang. You should have already talked to Chen Biqiu and the others on your end. Shall we meet up later to chat about this program?"

"Sure," Zhou Ping'an nodded immediately. "Then I'll go find Mr. Ma first."

"Mm."

The two of them remained cordial from start to finish, with no trace of the previous falling out or arguments.

That's how it is in the workplace; as long as there is no conflict, there can be no enemies.

Especially for two veterans like them, emotions are mostly weapons, not the emotions themselves.

When there's no need to attack, they never display emotions.