Old Tian could imagine that once the news about Qi Hao's unauthorized gigs got out, his fans would feel so heartbroken for their idol.
And netizens would be extremely outraged.
If you say Qi Hao didn't do it on purpose, even Old Tian, who's been friends with Qi Hao for years, finds it hard to believe.
It's not like murder, so why escalate things so much?
Does he need to torture his management company this way?
The company... well, it hasn't really done anything unforgivably wrong.
This villain role is really suffocating.
Ziwen Mansion is truly plagued by bad luck to have to deal with someone like you.
However, recently Qi Hao has been acting weird frequently, and Old Tian is numb to it. Regardless of whether he wants to stay or not, what can he do?
He can only choose to continue supporting Qi Hao.
However, any commercial activity must be reported to Ziwen.
Especially in these final months before the contract expires, any inappropriate operation could potentially be used against them by competitors.
"Uh, did I hear right? Qi Hao is going to attend commercial gigs?"
The head of the artist management department at Ziwen looked at Old Tian, his head pounding. He completely didn't understand why any of this was happening.
The chairman called the general manager over and scolded him.
The general manager said he wasn't aware, so he called in the deputy manager, who during the last chat about Qi Hao endorsing spicy snacks, was take great pleasure in his misfortune.
However, now in front of the leadership, the deputy manager acted as if he knew nothing.
This mess ultimately fell squarely on the head of the artist management department.
Dammit, he already had two messes perched on his head, and now another one swooped down.
"Yes, something like the recent period."
Old Tian was just here to pass along the message.
Qi Hao has a very high level of autonomy, and his team can decide on commercial gigs.
"Why!" The supervisor's voice was hoarse.
There was no nuance to his words, just raw, tearful grievances.
According to the previous plan, besides organizing some bad endorsements for Qi Hao, making him do commercial gigs all over was also a strategy.
Moreover, it was necessary to schedule three gigs a day, making him do labor beyond his physical capacity.
They could also hire a marketing company to expose his scandals, attacking the artist's reputation.
The management company and the artist are almost one entity, so they more or less know some of the artist's unexposed scandals, and releasing them recklessly is an absolute destructive blow for the artist.
Who in the entertainment industry these days doesn't have some dirt?
If an artist can survive the company's exploitation, they can experience the sea of freedom. If unable to endure, they can either submit to the company's arrangement or fade into oblivion.
But!
Given the current online sentiment, the supervisor honestly didn't dare act recklessly.
He not only didn't dare, but also worried Qi Hao might sabotage himself — because the blame would still fall on him.
He really couldn't understand why Qi Hao acted this way.
"It's actually not that complicated, he just wanted to do it, and I couldn't stop him," Old Tian said awkwardly.
"Aren't you his manager? Haven't you been with him for ten years? Why can't you persuade him?" The supervisor was full of complaints, feeling extremely wronged.
Being misunderstood by the whole world isn't a pleasant experience.
"If I could persuade him, I would have done so already." Old Tian felt equally wronged.
He could understand the supervisor.
If this commercial gig thing blows up, it'll definitely create a new wave of public opinion.
Goodness, by then Ziwen will surely be hammered by netizens and fans.
The scapegoat... will probably be this guy again.
"Is there no way out?" The supervisor gazed at Old Tian with teary eyes, feeling like this job was about to say goodbye.
"I hadn't thought..." Old Tian felt quite embarrassed.
Look how you've driven this supervisor into such despair.
Although this supervisor usually isn't very capable and doesn't quite get along with others, at least he's a human being and has the right to be living.
"He's crazy!" The supervisor shouted in despair.
"On the bright side, in at most three months when our contract expires, you will be completely relieved, but I..." Old Tian pointed to his heart, painfully saying, "I still have to continue accompanying him in his madness. Who can understand my pain?"
"Three months..." The supervisor thought for the first time in his life that three months were so long, but then he suddenly had a flash of inspiration: "We don't have to wait three months, if you don't want to renew, we can terminate the contract now!"
Whoa, I'm really so smart.
Right now, if we announce the termination of the contract, then whether Qi Hao goes to confront a rival, endorses spicy snacks, or participates in any commercial gigs, it would have nothing to do with Ziwen.
The supervisor grew more excited the more he thought about it and immediately wanted to pull Old Tian to draft the contract.
"Hey, hey, there's no need; only three months left, there's really no need..." Old Tian hurriedly tried to stop him.
What on earth is this?
But the supervisor didn't listen to him at all, demanding Qi Hao be brought over to sign the contract.
For god's sake, hurry up and roll out!
When Qi Hao walked out of Ziwen Mansion with Old Tian, he still felt it was unrealistic.
It was so sudden.
The contract with the management company was smoothly concluded, but why do I not feel the slightest sense of reality?
And the signing was ridiculously fast.
The terms were entirely drawn up by Qi Hao and Old Tian.
Extremely smooth.
"Old Tian, how did you convince them?" Qi Hao decided to give Old Tian a bonus.
This morning, he was worried, worried that Ziwen might tear him to shreds and abuse him.
Assign him a lot of work.
Even make him accompany wealthy women for drinks.
What's scarier are those big shots with questionable preferences.
After ten years in the circle, Qi Hao often heard that some big shot was interested in him, and he would typically avoid them.
This time, perhaps... there's no escaping the disaster?
Who would have thought he'd be called over out of nowhere to sign a few papers, and then he'd be swept out the door.
Because the company breached the contract first—You can break up with me, but you can't break up with me early—the company didn't even bother with the payment for "Chinese Paladin 3," nor did they mention the commercial performance split.
"I didn't convince them." Old Tian looked up at the sky.
Today, there's no haze, just clusters of white clouds overhead, apart from being cold, there's nothing wrong.
When will these days ever end?
"Sigh, after all, a company where I've been for four or five years, suddenly having to leave, there really is a bit of reluctance..."
Qi Hao felt quite sentimental, turning his head to find even more sadly that there wasn't a single person to see him off.
In broad daylight, why was the door even closed?
"I'll go bring the car over, stay here, don't move." Old Tian didn't bother to say much.
The two got into the car and went home.
"I've already contacted the commercial performance for singing on stage." Old Tian tidied up his mood, talking as he drove.
"Not bad, not bad, I knew you were the most reliable, Old Tian." Qi Hao praised.
Although there's an unreliable system, we have the reliable Old Tian!
Balance it out like this, and everything is peaceful.
"Do you still remember Gao Yang?" Old Tian asked.
"I remember, is he out?" Qi Hao nodded vigorously, back in those days when he first debuted, he looked great, naturally attracting others' interest.
Once, while at a bar drinking with investors, a wealthy woman made a move on him.
That wealthy woman wasn't particularly attractive, so Qi Hao naturally rejected her.
Well, he had never gone along with anyone attractive either.
At that time, he was far from having the status he has now, nor was he as smooth, which embarrassed the investors.
Coincidentally, it was Gao Yang's venue.
This guy witnessed the situation in person and immediately came over to mediate.
His connections were great, respected in all circles, and even the investors had to show him face.
He declared that Qi Hao was his friend.
He said Qi was young, and hoped everyone would take care of him.
Although there wasn't a lot of interaction afterward, it was considered a favor to Qi Hao, and once Old Tian mentioned his name, Qi remembered.
"He never actually went in." Old Tian was speechless.
"I heard he went in, and haven't seen him for years, nor heard any news about him." Qi Hao was very surprised.
He once thought about finding out where Gao Yang was, considering bringing some stuff to visit him.
"In '02 he went into coal mining, recently Guo Jia is planning a coal restructuring, private coal mines are being nationalized, so he decided to return to his old profession." Old Tian explained briefly.
"Nightclubs and bars, right?" Qi Hao suddenly understood.
Actually, it wasn't entirely his fault, Gao Yang suddenly left the capital's circle back then, even his several locales were given to others, with rumors everywhere about him being arrested.
Who would have thought he went off to make a fortune in coal?
Indeed, these years have seen those in the coal industry making crazy money, with many becoming billionaires.
"Pretty much, I didn't talk much with him, recently he's set up a big venue in Sanlitun, plans to invite some celebrities for help, when the time comes, you just need to sing a song." Old Tian said.
Generally, such venues invite singers.
They can easily invite second- and third-tier singers, first-tier ones can also be invited if the price is right.
However, as a leading young actor like Qi Hao and a top-tier movie star, he typically wouldn't get involved in such excitement.
But who knows why Qi Hao is acting weird.
Now he's a patient.
"When?"
"Next weekend."
"That won't do, it's too late, ask him if this weekend's okay, just say I'm unavailable next weekend." Qi Hao's tasks have time limits.
The supporting roles limit is fifteen days, finding a supporting role with one line within fifteen days isn't easy.
Shooting a snack stick commercial—not necessarily a endorsement—was given fifteen days.
This stage performance is easier than the snack stick commercial, with only seven days given.
"That's Gao Yang after all, someone even respected in all circles, yet you're making him change the timing." Old Tian found it very troublesome.
"Then tell him, I'll sing two songs, only charge him one dollar." Qi Hao felt bad charging money, considering Gao Yang once protected his innocence.
But not charging anything makes explaining difficult to the system.
"Alright then." Old Tian pouted.
There used to be a saying, Qi Hao just needed to twitch his butt, and he could predict the color of his poop.
Now he couldn't understand him at all.