Chapter 731: The Dinner

Zhang Guang had been staying with the film crew the entire time.

His communication with Gu Cheng was not continuous; Gu Cheng was called away to film from time to time, so he could only talk to him during Gu Cheng’s breaks.

By the time they finished talking, Jin Li had already finished filming three action scenes.

When dinner time arrived, Zhang Guang happened to be there, so Jin Li wanted to invite him to a meal to thank him for how he had looked after her previously.

Yes, looking after her, not looking after Gu Cheng.

Jin Li knew that Sui Lingfang had no experience as a manager for an A-list artist, so after she became popular again and solidified her status as an A-list artist,

Sui Lingfang specifically asked Zhang Guang for advice on many things, such as how to negotiate contracts for artists, how to plan business schedules, and what attitude to take toward partners.

Zhang Guang did not hold anything back and taught her almost everything he knew.

When Sui Lingfang chatted with her before, she had mentioned this many times, saying she wanted to thank Zhang Guang.

If it weren't for his reminders, she would have had many more shortcomings.

It could be said that everything Sui Lingfang knew about being a manager for an A-list artist was taught to her hand-in-hand by Zhang Guang.

Now that she had grown, the two of them would still frequently communicate about industry secrets.

Especially news that was highly likely to explode and affect the careers of their own artists; once they knew, they would tell each other.

Jin Li heard Sui Lingfang mention this often, so she silently kept this in her heart.

Regardless of the reason Zhang Guang had for teaching Sui Lingfang,

as Sister Fang became more mature and tactful in her dealings, learned how to communicate with various contractors with the attitude an A-list artist should have, and grew increasingly capable of selecting contracts...

the person who ultimately benefited was her.

Jin Li had previously asked Gu Cheng if he had specifically said anything to Zhang Guang to make him teach Sui Lingfang well.

But Gu Cheng said no.

He and Zhang Guang rarely talked about private matters outside of work.

Moreover, he did not know that Sui Lingfang needed Zhang Guang's help.

Because in his view, every contract Jin Li took and every step she took was very correct.

Gu Cheng had always felt that it was because she had a good eye, plus the good planning Chenxi Entertainment had for her, that she never made mistakes.

It was only when Jin Li asked about this and brought up their own manager that Gu Cheng realized that Zhang Guang had actually been doing so much for Jin Li in silence.

The two discussed it for a while.

They both felt that if Zhang Guang wasn't interested in Sui Lingfang, then he must think highly of Jin Li as an artist and wanted to build a good relationship in advance.

This "interest" didn't necessarily mean romantic feelings; it could also be an appreciation for Sister Fang's abilities, not wanting to miss out on a seedling who could become an excellent manager.

After discussing it back and forth, the two agreed:

Even if Jin Li hadn't had much contact with Zhang Guang, only nodding acquaintances, and only spoke a few words when they occasionally met, she still indirectly owed Zhang Guang a favor through her manager.

Coupled with the fact that the two were dating and their managers were helping to cover for each other, Zhang Guang had also done a lot and suggested many crisis public relations methods.

Therefore, it was only right for Jin Li to treat Zhang Guang to a meal.

This was a very normal social interaction.

After all, the relationship between the two artists was truly extraordinary, so it was normal to figure out the preferences of each other's managers and get along well.

Jin Li mentioned this to Gu Cheng, and Gu Cheng mentioned it to Zhang Guang, who readily agreed.

He personally admired Jin Li very much as well.

He even wanted Jin Li to give Gu Cheng more guidance and pick a good script for him.

It was a pity that Jin Li had always wanted to treat Zhang Guang to a meal, but they never had the time.

Often, when she had time, Zhang Guang didn't.

When Zhang Guang had time, she didn't.

After all, they weren't a manager and artist brought along together, so schedules were never that easy to arrange.

Unexpectedly, they ran into Zhang Guang in the film crew this time, and since everyone happened to have time, they simply got together for a meal.

There was no need to go to any grand place; there were many restaurants near the film city.

Jin Li had Chen Qin book a relatively high-end private room.

When they said they were eating, they were really just eating, chatting casually about their recent situations and what big things had happened lately.

Because celebrities are exposed to a relatively closed environment and only see those few people every day, celebrities and their managers often end up becoming like family.

Ahem, there are also many male celebrities who marry their own managers.

Gu Cheng and Zhang Guang had a good relationship, and every member of Three Month Sky also had a good relationship with Zhang Guang.

From the conversation, Jin Li could also feel that Zhang Guang was a person with great affinity.

He was the type who easily gained the trust of others.

Jin Li looked at Zhang Guang's physiognomy and said, "Even if you didn't work in entertainment management, you could still have a very good development in other industries."

Zhang Guang was a bit surprised. "Really? But I founded Guangyue Media two years ago, and I felt that I was not up to the task."

Jin Li smiled. "That's because you took the wrong direction. You are not suitable for being a manager; you are suitable for dealing with people face-to-face and communicating with the grassroots."

"You are not suitable for controlling the general direction of a company's development, but if you are sent to push a certain matter forward, you are very suitable. As long as it involves dealing with people, it is very suitable for you."

Zhang Guang pondered for a while and asked very seriously, "Then is it too late for me to withdraw from the management team now?"

"Indeed, I also feel that I am not very suitable for managing a company; it gives me a headache. Managing people is about the same."

Gu Cheng couldn't help but speak up. "Brother Guang, if you withdraw from the management team, who will manage Guangyue Media?"

Zhang Guang said huffily, "Let one of you four inherit it. I see that one or two of you have your minds drifting; you don't want to be stars, you just want to retire and live in comfort."

"The company can just be handed over to you to practice your skills. Whether it develops better or becomes increasingly dilapidated, it's all fate."

Gu Cheng stopped talking.

Jin Li said with a smile, "Brother Guang, if you really want to withdraw, it is definitely not too late."

"But you have stayed in the entertainment industry for so long and know the industry rules very well, so you don't need to innovate at all; you just need to follow what is done within the industry."

"Managing an entertainment company is not a difficult task for you."

"Because the development of Guangyue Media is not large, even if you are the president, you have never been separated from the grassroots and have always been dealing with people."

"This way you can better control Guangyue Media. As long as a tiny bit of something goes wrong, you can nip the problem in the bud."

She paused and said affirmatively, "So you didn't take the wrong step by starting your own entertainment company."

Zhang Guang was overjoyed by what Jin Li said.

He regretted it.

Before, when he decided to start a company, why didn't he specifically ask Jin Li and ask her to give some advice?

Look, how well she speaks.

And not only can she speak, but she also has reasons and evidence.

Zhang Guang said with a smile, "Jin Li, if you have any contracts you are unsure about in the future, if Sui Lingfang doesn't have time to look at them for you, you can bring them to me, and I will help you look at them."

Jin Li also smiled. "Thank you, Brother Guang, but I think you probably won't have this opportunity. Sister Fang has been improving all the time; she is already a very excellent manager for A-list artists."

Zhang Guang: "Then besides references on management, you can also talk to me about other things. If someone treats you badly, just tell me, and I will help you teach them a lesson."

Gu Cheng: ...

How did this unprovoked disaster come to him?

The three of them left the private room happily, laughing and talking.

There were only a few good restaurants near the film city, and every day many film crews started work, with each crew stationed with hundreds of members.

Adding up dozens of film crews, this was not a small number.

So the scene of Jin Li, Gu Cheng, and Zhang Guang laughing and talking as they left the shop was seen by many people.

People who didn't know much about the gossip of celebrity romances, seeing this scene, their first reaction wasn't that Jin Li and Gu Cheng were really a couple and were familiar with each other's managers, but—

Is Guangyue Media trying to poach Jin Li?!

When celebrities date, as long as it doesn't affect their careers, it's considered a small matter.

But if a celebrity wants to jump ship to another company, that's a big deal.

This involves career planning!

Going to a new company and arranging a new development route, the celebrity might not be able to adapt, and the fans might not buy it.

So every A-list celebrity's job-hopping is carefully considered, and they only jump ship after confirming that this company can take them to a higher level.

Otherwise, even staying in the original company or starting a personal studio is better than job-hopping.

This scene of the three laughing and talking was also discovered by paparazzi lurking in the film city.

Some paparazzi were new to the industry or had switched to the entertainment section from other fields and didn't know much about the two's romance, so their first reaction was also job-hopping.

This paparazzo even successfully convinced two other paparazzi.

These two paparazzi initially thought it was because of the romance, which was why the three of them were so familiar with each other.

As a result, after discussing it, both of these paparazzi felt that the possibility of job-hopping was the greatest.

"Chenxi Entertainment's development in recent years is very good, but anyone with eyes knows that it is entirely dependent on Jin Li to lead the way."

"As for Qiguan Mingzhu and Xi Mengze, the arrangements are mediocre, with no merits or faults."

"If it weren't for the fact that the latter two celebrities were lucky and each participated in a hit variety show—not knowing it would be a hit before participating, but it became a hit after airing—their popularity last year wouldn't have been so high."

"Otherwise, according to the contracts arranged by Chenxi Entertainment, at most it would just maintain their popularity without declining, with no possibility of going further. The development momentum of these two is far less good than Jin Li's."

"That sounds reasonable, but not every celebrity has the opportunities like Jin Li. Many celebrities reach the A-list and have no potential to move forward; the A-list is their ceiling."

"Moreover, A-list celebrities are also divided into high and low. Qiguan Mingzhu and Xi Mengze are already considered middle-tier among A-listers and won't fall easily."

"But if they jump ship to Guangyue Media, under Zhang Guang's operation, do you think Jin Li, Qiguan Mingzhu, and Xi Mengze have the possibility of going further?"

"Is staying at Guangyue Media more promising than staying at Chenxi Entertainment?"

"And when it comes to idol traffic hype, Guangyue Media is as experienced as it gets."

"Three Month Sky still occupies the top of the top traffic list to this day. Jin Li and those three, all coming from an idol group background, should be able to feel the power of that manager at Guangyue Media even more."

The two paparazzi looked at each other, completely convinced by this paparazzo's logic.

They also had an idea in their hearts: the romance between Jin Li and Gu Cheng had been hyped up to the point where everyone knew about it.

Even if neither of them had publicly admitted it, in the hearts of many netizens, they had already defaulted to the two being a couple.

Continuing to release revelations about their romance was meaningless.

But if they released the news that "Jin Li is suspected of wanting to jump ship," that would definitely become a hit news story.

They did it as soon as they thought of it.

Based on just a few photos of them laughing and talking, the paparazzi compiled a little story about job-hopping for the three's meeting.

Once released, it immediately rushed to the hot search and landed on the top of the list!

Not to mention what netizens would think after seeing it, even the people in the "Desperate Counterattack" film crew felt something was a bit wrong when they saw this news.

Because when these three left, almost everyone in the film crew witnessed it.

The three did not cover anything up; as soon as Jin Li came down from the wire, changed her clothes, and didn't even take off her makeup, she left.

The atmosphere of the three at that time was very harmonious, just like a family.

So some celebrities discussed in private—

"Did Jin Li go to meet the parents?"

Zhang Guang brought Three Month Sky to popularity single-handedly, and after coming out of Tianding Entertainment, he also partnered with Three Month Sky to found Guangyue Media.

It is not an exaggeration to say that he is comparable to a parent of Three Month Sky.

The people in the film crew were completely conquered by the invisible pink bubbles between Jin Li and Gu Cheng.

Every day was a day of happily shipping the CP.

Except for the scene where Xiao Yue used her ability for the first time and was discovered, Jin Li filmed all other scenes with Gu Cheng, which gave many people who secretly followed this CP a feast for the eyes.

So when this news came out, the first one to not believe it was the "Desperate Counterattack" film crew.

Not long after Zhang Guang left the film crew, Sui Lingfang called.

He happened to be about to talk to Sui Lingfang about the Yakun Watch endorsement, but he didn't expect to be met with Sui Lingfang's question:

"You went to the 'Desperate Counterattack' film crew to visit Gu Cheng; did you also bring along a plan to poach Jin Li?"

Zhang Guang hadn't seen the news, so he didn't know what had happened.

Hearing this, he was equally puzzled and asked, "Poach Jin Li? Why would I want to poach her?"

"Guangyue Media has these four great Buddhas of Three Month Sky, and they are already suppressing me so much that I can't breathe. If I go to poach Jin Li, that would mean I don't want to work anymore."

"Jin Li can top two Three Month Skys by herself. Guangyue Media currently doesn't have so many resources to feed her, and I can't offer a contract as generous as Chenxi Entertainment's."

Sui Lingfang said quietly, "Listening to you, it's not that you don't want to poach her, but that the cost is too high, and you are deterred."

Zhang Guang gave a sheepish smile. "That's Jin Li, after all. Her investment vision is 100% accurate, and the scripts she picks are guaranteed to be hits. Everyone must have had the thought of poaching her."

He changed the subject. "But don't worry, ever since I founded Guangyue Media, I haven't had this thought. The company is too small to accommodate a great god like Jin Li."

Sui Lingfang felt relieved and asked on the surface, "What was the matter with you going to the film crew this time?"

Zhang Guang: "For the Yakun Watch matter. Gu Cheng is about to be upgraded, so I talked to him about some details."

"Jin Li said that I have been teaching you and that she has indirectly received my care, so she invited me to a meal. Gu Cheng was also at that meal."

Sui Lingfang was truly relaxed now. "So that's the reason. The paparazzi really know how to spread rumors."

"My boss is currently unable to eat or sleep, just waiting for me to call you to get to the bottom of it."

Zhang Guang frowned. "What exactly happened?"

Sui Lingfang: "You'll know if you look at the number one hot search. Everyone thinks you want to poach Jin Li to Guangyue Media."