Chapter 498

Speak of the devil and he shall appear.

Sanyuetian was about to go find Brother Guang, but Brother Guang called them first, telling them all to stay at the villa that night and not run around, as he was coming over to go over their schedule with them.

After Zhang Guang hung up the phone, he looked at Qiguan Mingzhu in the car and asked: "Have you really decided? You don't intend to stay at Tianding to develop?"

Qiguan Mingzhu smiled: "Brother Guang, we were never together to begin with, so how can there be talk of staying?"

Zhang Guang understood in his heart that she had never taken Tianding to heart at all.

These few months of getting along still hadn't been able to move Qiguan Mingzhu.

Brother Guang thought about it and felt that it was actually quite good that she wasn't staying; Tianding Entertainment was changing its management this year, and the internal situation was precarious, so absorbing stars into it carried risks.

Zhang Guang suddenly thought of something and asked Ji Qinglian: "Have you felt any unusual atmosphere in the company recently?"

Ji Qinglian shook her head: "No, I basically don't stay at the company."

Zhang Guang nodded, pondering Ji Qinglian's way out.

If he continued to be a manager and remained at Tianding Entertainment, protecting Ji Qinglian would be no problem.

But if he left the company due to some force majeure, then Ji Qinglian...

Zhang Guang thought of the contract she had signed with the company, and his tightly furrowed brows suddenly relaxed.

Even if he wasn't at the company, Ji Qinglian seemed to have no issues.

The contract she signed with the company was very special and was subject to very few restrictions from Tianding; Tianding Entertainment had negotiated with great sincerity.

At the time, the company wanted to rely on Ji Qinglian to win over the other members of Pink Girls, but they couldn't offer a very generous profit-sharing ratio, so they gave her great autonomy.

This autonomy manifested in the fact that even though he was Ji Qinglian's manager, he couldn't arrange engagements for her at will; she had to personally sign various contracts.

If the manager closest to the artist couldn't make decisions about the artist's engagements, then the company was even less likely to intervene directly.

To be honest, Ji Qinglian's contract was even better than Sanyuetian's current one; Sanyuetian's was still the old contract from several years ago, when they were still developing and needed the company's support.

As long as Brother Guang was willing to be thick-skinned, he could sign engagement contracts on behalf of Sanyuetian.

But Zhang Guang wanted a long-term partnership with his artists; only when some important contracts came up and Sanyuetian couldn't make it back in time would Zhang Guang sign on their behalf.

Zhang Guang said: "Let's have a meal together. After twelve o'clock, Qiguan Mingzhu's contract with Tianding will officially end."

Qiguan Mingzhu raised an eyebrow: "I thought you would continue to try to persuade me."

Zhang Guang smiled: "Persuasion depends on the person. You have no intention of staying at Tianding Entertainment at all, so no matter how I persuade you, it's useless. It's better to dissolve cleanly and leave you with a good impression."

He joked: "Maybe in the future, I'll need you to give me some resources."

Qiguan Mingzhu agreed immediately: "You've been very responsible as my manager these past few months. Although you arranged a lot of engagements, with the captain helping to shoulder the load, I was still quite happy.

If you have anything you need our help with in the future, just come to me; I'll help if I can!"

Zhang Guang thought to himself, if Qiguan Mingzhu's personality weren't so laid-back, she would actually be quite compatible with him.

He liked talking to straightforward, smart people.

After dinner, Zhang Guang sent them back to their apartment.

Qiguan Mingzhu had another place to live, but she said she wanted to sleep with Ji Qinglian tonight, so Zhang Guang sent them both over together.

After Zhang Guang left, Qiguan Mingzhu immediately said: "Don't you think Brother Guang was a bit strange tonight?"

Ji Qinglian was scrolling through today's trending topics and said nonchalantly: "No, isn't it quite normal? He didn't cry, make a scene, or threaten to hang himself just to keep you."

Qiguan Mingzhu rolled her eyes: "You know that's not what I mean."

"Starting a few days ago, he became a bit strange. Before, he would probe me once a day and advertise Tianding Entertainment as the industry leader several times, but today?

Not only did he not say a word for his former employer, but he also said he might need me to introduce resources to him in the future. Don't you think it's very strange? He's a manager; what resources could I possibly introduce to him?"

Her brain was spinning fast at this moment, constantly guessing and analyzing: "Resources for artists? It wouldn't be engagement resources; I couldn't possibly contribute my own resources to the artists he manages. So it can only be artist-related.

But aren't the artist resources he has now good? He has a popular team, Sanyuetian, and you're under him. As long as Tianding isn't stupid, it's impossible for them to reassign the artists under him to someone else, unless..."

"Tianding has gone bankrupt!"

"He's going to jump ship."

Two voices sounded at the same time.

Qiguan Mingzhu looked at the calm Ji Qinglian and said in surprise: "I thought you couldn't sense anything at all. How did you know he was going to jump ship?"

Ji Qinglian smiled faintly: "I said I had a premonition; do you believe me?"

Qiguan Mingzhu: "I don't!"

Ji Qinglian continued to keep her head down, scrolling through the trending topics on her phone, and said: "Actually, it's easy to analyze. Zhang Guang has mentioned more than once in front of us that the new public relations department head has set their sights on Sanyuetian and always wants to intervene in Sanyuetian's engagements.

He also mentioned to us that Tianding's internal situation is unstable recently, with factions everywhere; stars want to foster power, and factions want to foster stars to gain more engagement resources.

Plus, Zhang Guang has been called to the company for meetings constantly recently, and there are all sorts of rumors in the company. Several managers from Tianding Entertainment have added me on WeChat privately to ask how I'm doing, so I guessed he might be jumping ship."

Qiguan Mingzhu pondered for a while and shook her head: "That's not quite right."

Ji Qinglian: "How so?"

Qiguan Mingzhu: "If he were really going to jump ship, the company couldn't possibly let him continue to handle my engagement arrangements so confidently; they would have replaced him with another manager to take us on at the first opportunity.

Zhang Guang is about to jump ship, and my contract hasn't been signed yet; Tianding would definitely be worried that he might poach me privately."

Ji Qinglian frowned slightly, "Yeah, so what is Tianding trying to do, and what is Zhang Guang thinking?"

Qiguan Mingzhu shook her head: "I don't know, but you need to be careful. You only signed your contract with Tianding Entertainment last year; it's not easy to jump ship."

Ji Qinglian thought for a moment and smiled indifferently.

"I'm not worried. If Tianding is very turbulent due to a change in management, I actually feel that Tianding will value me even more, and my engagement resources will be even better than before."

Although top stars like her no longer need to rely on the company to get engagement resources, Tianding Entertainment is a first-tier company and has a batch of high-quality engagements in its hands.

Not needing to rely on the company for resources is one thing, but whether the company gives them is another.

If the company is willing to give them to her and support her, who would turn away wealth delivered to their doorstep?

Qiguan Mingzhu asked curiously: "Are you that confident?"

Ji Qinglian said lightly: "I'm not a homegrown star cultivated by Tianding; my ties to Tianding aren't deep. I was just poached by Tianding.

My influence doesn't rely on Tianding to maintain operations. As an artist in Tianding with shallow ties, one word from me is more effective than a hundred words from an artist cultivated by Tianding."

Qiguan Mingzhu understood and gave her a thumbs up.

"If Tianding makes you unhappy, you can just complain about it, and the fans will stand up for you and criticize Tianding's management change behavior.

So you don't need to fear Tianding's turbulence; turbulence will only allow you to gain greater benefits. As long as you have any dissatisfaction, Tianding will have to find a way to make you shut up."

But to make a mature, influential artist shut up.

That's not done by using the tactic of cutting off engagements like they do with newcomers.

Only by using greater benefits can one firmly bind Ji Qinglian to the same chariot!

Qiguan Mingzhu thought to herself, the captain really should go act in a palace drama; she bets she could make it to the end and seize the throne in one fell swoop.

Zhang Guang arrived at Sanyuetian's villa.

As soon as he walked in, he heard a burst of musical rhythm; those who didn't know would think they were throwing a rave late at night, and only those in the know understood they were preparing for their final concert.

Zhang Guang opened the door and walked in, and the music stopped abruptly.

It was as if this door was the gateway connecting reality to a fantasy world; when the door was opened, everything ceased to exist.

Zhang Guang was stunned for a moment, then joked: "I know you value me, but there's no need to pause the music specifically to welcome me. I'm a bit startled, thank you."

Chen Lin put down the guitar in his hand and took out a small plastic microphone with a serious expression.

No one knew which children's toy it had been dismantled from; the comedic effect was delightful.

Chen Lin: "We have more important things to ask you; we agreed to only rehearse until the moment you arrived."

He handed the small plastic microphone to Luo Yi, who had just sat down nearby.

Luo Yi rubbed his slightly sore shoulders, took the microphone, and said: "It's just as well to stop; we've been rehearsing for two hours, and it's getting a bit tiring."

Gu Cheng sat down and silently took the microphone Luo Yi handed over, "We would have stopped even if you hadn't come; since you're here, we might as well take a break. To maintain the seriousness of the meeting, I won't slack off and do practice problems."

Zhang Guang's mouth twitched, "Should I say I'm honored?"

Gu Cheng paused as he was about to hand over the microphone, raised an eyebrow, and said: "You're welcome; this is the best treatment for a manager."

Zhang Guang:...

Yan Xingdong took the microphone Gu Cheng handed over, pointed to the opposite side with a serious expression: "Sit down first; we have a few ideas we want to talk to you about."

Zhang Guang:...

Damn, I really want to run, what should I do??

He first inspected the surroundings earnestly, seriously, and meticulously, checked several blind spots, opened various closed cabinets, and after confirming there were no hidden cameras or recording pens, he breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Zhang Guang sat opposite the members of Sanyuetian and said speechlessly: "Looking at you all like this, I thought you were filming some variety show. Can you be normal?"

Yan Xingdong still had a serious expression: "I hope you can treat this conversation with solemnity."

The next second, the microphone was handed to Zhang Guang.

Zhang Guang:...

He took the small plastic microphone very helplessly.

He had lost.

Lost completely.

Lost at the hands of Sanyuetian, whom he had personally cultivated.

Seeing Brother Guang take the microphone, a hint of a smile flashed in everyone's eyes; Chen Lin's mouth opened wide, and he almost laughed out loud.

He received a cold glare from Brother Guang.

Even if he didn't laugh out loud, one could feel his schadenfreude.

Yan Xingdong coughed a few times and took the initiative to bring up the topic.

"Before you go over the schedule with us, we have a few ideas we want to tell you first."

Zhang Guang listened attentively.

Yan Xingdong wasn't the type to dilly-dally and got straight to the point: "Tianding Entertainment is too chaotic internally. We want to go out and open a personal studio, and we also want you to jump ship with us. You open a company and act as our agent for engagements."

Every sentence in this paragraph contained a lot of information.

Zhang Guang frowned, and it was a good while before he spoke: "You..."

Chen Lin interjected at the right moment: "Please pick up the microphone."

Zhang Guang was speechless. When he first got the microphone, he thought there was some mechanism inside and wondered if it wasn't turned on; after studying it for a while, he realized it was just an ordinary little plastic microphone.

The sense of ritual in this company!

Zhang Guang raised the microphone and said: "When did you get the idea to jump ship? Why not choose to continue staying at Tianding Entertainment? Tianding is a first-tier company and can still provide you with many good platforms."

Just as he was about to hand over the microphone in his hand, Yan Xingdong took a purple plastic microphone out of a drawer.

Yan Xingdong: "This idea only came up recently. The reason it came up is that He Yan endlessly wants us to participate in the trash engagements he arranges.

If someone like He Yan, who is eager for quick success and only wants to cash out, becomes a senior executive at Tianding Entertainment, I don't think such a Tianding has a future. We unanimously don't want to develop in such a company."

He paused, "As for why we want you to jump ship with us, you should understand the reason. We four trust you the most, and we don't think we can manage our personal engagements well after leaving you."

Zhang Guang couldn't help but smile.

From the moment he walked in until he sat down, this was his first smile.

He said: "I came to find you this time because I also wanted to tell you about my plans."

"Senior management intends for me to serve as the director of the Tianding Management Department. This is a management position. Once I become the director, I will no longer manage any artists."

The members of Sanyuetian looked at each other; they had never heard Brother Guang mention this before.

Being a worker and being management are two different things.

If Brother Guang were still a worker, they could incite him to resign without any burden, but if he became Tianding's management...

Although Tianding is changing management now and the internal situation is very chaotic, a lean camel is bigger than a horse; no matter how much they toss and turn, Tianding won't fall out of the first-tier company echelon, and the annual profit is still quite considerable.

Gu Cheng suddenly asked: "Then do you want to stay at Tianding Entertainment?"

Zhang Guang: "Originally, I wanted to stay, but I discovered that if I stayed, the artists I once managed would be messed around by unprofessional managers, so I didn't want to stay anymore."

He smiled slightly: "I have the same idea as you; I want to leave Tianding and start my own business."

The members of Sanyuetian looked at each other and saw excitement in each other's eyes.

The next second, Chen Lin suddenly shouted, rushed toward Zhang Guang, and hugged him.

The others followed suit and rushed forward to hug Zhang Guang.

Everyone seemed to have unloaded layers of heavy burdens, laughing and playing happily.