Actor: Thank you.

After Zhang Yuan finished his call with Du Hua, he looked rather unwell.

"What's wrong?" Cheng Hao, who had already applied lotion all over her body and was about to go to bed, leaned over and asked softly.

"It's nothing, just a little trouble."

"Kids who misbehave deserve a spanking," Zhang Yuan said, tossing his phone around.

"I'll take care of something first, then I'll rest later."

"Alright then." The kind older sister waved her hand helplessly.

I was just about to finish my workout and rest when something else started causing me trouble.

Du Huagang from Yuehua Entertainment called me, saying he had encountered some "minor troubles".

To be honest, the trouble wasn't that big, far less than what happened to Teacher Guo this time.

The degrees differ, but the troubles are similar.

The current situation of Yuehua Entertainment is quite simple: they only have one artist who makes money, Han Geng.

This is an artist that Du Hua went to great lengths to recruit.

Not only did they provide the other party with all their connections and resources, they also promised 3% of the company's equity.

Therefore, Han Geng's situation is similar to that of Feng Xiaogang and Hua Yi; he is a celebrity shareholder.

Mutually beneficial, no problem.

Zhang Yuan agreed with Du Hua's approach, since they couldn't recruit anyone otherwise.

And now the problem lies with Han Geng!

This person's character and integrity are questionable, but he is at least intelligent.

An artist's character is not a hard and fast rule. Zhang Ziyi's character isn't exactly great, but that doesn't stop her from being a top-tier actress in China.

Han Geng is also a top-tier artist, a top-tier artist who returned to China during the Korean Wave.

These days, South Korean celebrities are incredibly famous, and even those who have "studied" in South Korea are considered big stars.

Koreans have always considered their idol culture to be world-class and are very proud of it.

So much so that later Olympic bid videos featured a bunch of male and female groups singing and dancing, but they were directly rejected by the IOC.

This incident has completely broken the defenses of the Koreans...

As for Han Geng, as the "first person to return to China" and the "first person to rebel" in the Korean group, he has a rebellious streak and a rather explosive temper.

So, in a program a few days ago, this person simply walked away halfway through the recording.

This incident has now been dubbed the "strike incident" and is widely circulated online.

Du Hua heard about Zhang Yuan's "handling" of the TV station, so he approached him, hoping to get his help.

After all, he is also a shareholder.

The reputation of the only profitable artist has been damaged, which is detrimental to the company.

After listening, Zhang Yuan recalled for a moment.

This guy seems to do this kind of thing often; it happened more than once.

That means it's not a sudden problem, but rather a problem with personality or mindset.

So he inquired carefully about the origin of the matter.

This program is called "Celebrity Birthday Party," and it's a signature program exclusively produced by Enlight Media.

The content involves finding some big stars and inviting their fans to participate in the recording, turning it into a birthday party format, with programs, interactive elements, and other content.

Of course, they will also conduct interviews and ask questions.

It will definitely include gossip and romance.

Variety shows all have scripts, but the scripts don't cover everything. It's common for them to give the celebrities "little surprises," film their reactions, and create news.

The production team brought up the matter of him and Li Xiaolu without informing him beforehand.

It's that little deer who loves rapping.

This lady has loved music for quite some time now.

In the early years when she was at her peak, she was very individualistic, spending several months taking a break from all work to travel.

When she went to South Korea, she met Han Geng, who was not very famous at the time, and the two had a brief relationship.

However, neither of them admitted to it, only saying that they were friends.

Both of them have publicly stated that they wouldn't date someone from the entertainment industry...

As it turns out, most of Li Xiaolu's men were celebrities, and Han Geng eventually married a celebrity as well.

Just listen to those kinds of words and forget about them.

Han Geng's early experiences are somewhat similar to those of Teacher Guo.

She has a strong personality and good talent, but she suffered bullying and exclusion early in her career.

They all went hungry at some point.

In a place like South Korea where bullying is rampant, where would a Chinese person find a job? This was at the beginning of the century, so you can imagine how difficult it was.

Such dark experiences can sow the seeds of melancholy in a person, easily shrouding their personality in a layer of eccentricity.

It will erupt once certain points are touched.

He and Guo Degang were both hit on similar issues: falling out with media professionals.

He exploded as soon as the show mentioned Li Xiaolu's matter, and ended up storming off.

Then the program's producers used the Weibo account of the show "Big Name Birthday Party" to release a series of messages online about Han Geng acting like a big shot.

This includes being late, leaving early, arguing, swearing, etc.

Du Hua said she didn't believe Han Geng was so unprofessional.

Zhang Yuan said he didn't care. The facts didn't matter. What happened had happened. What mattered was how it was handled. Otherwise, why would you contact me?
He agreed and would contact the fiber optic company. He happened to know Wang Changtian, and they had previously collaborated on projects.

Just ask the other person to delete the Weibo post and stop mentioning it.

But he demanded that Han Geng come to see him in person, and that the matter not be so easily dismissed.

If we don't learn from this lesson, we'll repeat the same mistake in the future.

I can't accept causing any major problems that would cause my investment to go down the drain.

So he first called Wang Changtian and talked about the matter.

I told the other party that Han Geng is considered my artist and I apologize for what happened.

The other party has a good temper and said it's not a big deal, we can talk it out privately.

Du Hua was nervous and terrified, but Zhang Yuan made a phone call to his boss and it was all settled.

After finishing all that, he went to rest...

Three days later, Han Geng, sporting a Korean-style hairstyle, arrived at the gate of the Houhai Grand Courtyard with her manager.

After they rang the doorbell, the uncle who looked after the yard led them into the house and arranged for them to rest in the small tea room.

A few hours later, Han picked up the tea, which had long since gone cold, with some impatience.

"We came, but we saw no one!"

"grass!"

"I'm very busy, okay? You're wasting my time."

"gone!"

They kept grumbling and complaining, but they didn't actually move.

Zhang Yuan arranged to meet him in the courtyard, as usual, to intimidate the other party with the size of the house.

Most people would have two reactions when they see a large house in this area.

They think it's amazing, they envy it, and they feel they have to please it.

Another type is jealousy, inferiority complex, feeling upset, which evokes negative emotions.

Han Geng came from a poor family, so he clearly fell into the latter category.

"Yeah, the house is awesome, but they're making us wait around," his agent added with a smirk.

"If it doesn't work out, we'll leave."

"Tell Boss Du that we can't see him."

"Okay, shall we go?"

"go!"

The two encouraged each other to get up, and opened the door with resentment, only to find two towering men guarding the door.

A sharp gaze pierced through the sunglasses, looking directly into the hearts of the two men.

The two of them sat back down on their own.

The two bodyguards then closed the door again and continued to stand guard.

Several hours later, their stomachs were growling, and they were even preparing to eat tea leaves to stave off their hunger, when the door was finally pushed open from the outside.

"Definite integrals and indefinite integrals, ordinary differentials and partial differentials..." Zhang Yuan muttered as he walked in, rubbing his head.

I just finished a class with a top student from Tsinghua University's math department, and my head is throbbing.

In his entire life, apart from the blow he received on the set of "The Return of the Condor Heroes," he had never had such a headache.

As expected, mental damage is the real damage, with a much higher value than physical damage, and it ignores defense.

He had to start by brushing up on his advanced mathematics, and in order not to become the "idiot" that Qian Xuesen talked about, he also had to learn calculus.

Because mathematics is the foundation of all advanced sciences.

Like sand and soil in the construction industry.

But mathematics is also a very cruel subject, because most so-called geniuses, the chosen ones, after a lifetime of hard work, only save a few hours for some future genius among geniuses.

Or what might trouble an ordinary genius for years, decades, or even centuries is merely a pastime for the genius among geniuses in their leisure time.

For example, when Gauss was 19, he mistakenly took the century-old problem as homework and drew a regular heptadecagon overnight using a ruler and compass.

Gauss: When people are pushed to the limit, they are capable of doing anything, including mathematics.

Newton and other geniuses: No, they can't.

Even Newton couldn't solve this problem, but Gauss solved it in a moment of desperation.

When he found out the truth later, he was overjoyed and even had a regular heptadecagon carved on his tombstone after he died.

Even if I die, I'll still put on a show.

This incident is also documented in the racing industry; Zhang Yuan often chatted with the team manager while watching races.

Several managers in the racing circuit were once professional drivers. The reason they retired and became managers was that they met a genius on the track.

You need to ease off the accelerator and brake at corners, but they easily make it with full throttle, taking several seconds faster than you per lap.

This kind of firsthand witnessing of despair makes one realize how terrifying the word "talent" truly is.

What's even more frightening is that these drivers, who drove team managers to despair and forced them to retire, might only be second-rate drivers in F1.

Above that are top-tier drivers, and above those are even top-level drivers. And among those top-level drivers are legendary figures like Schumacher, Senna, and Jim Clark.

Qian Xuesen is undoubtedly a "phantom god".

An average genius can calculate an entire notebook without making a mistake.

Brilliant mentors can calculate a drawer full of drafts without making a mistake.

A person like Qian Xuesen could calculate a warehouse full of draft paper without making a mistake.

So impressive is he can do partial differential calculations mentally. Mental calculation and partial differential calculation—everyone recognizes these five words individually, but put them together, even if they're all Chinese characters, very few people would recognize them.

But for a "god-level" character, this is a basic skill.

Not only Qian Xuesen, but also Yu Min, Deng Jiaxian, and a bunch of unknown top scientists could do it.

The common sense of geniuses is different from that of ordinary people.

Mr. Yu Min also claimed that "I am not smart, just diligent."

When he said "not smart," he meant someone like Qian Lao.

When someone becomes truly capable, to be honest, ordinary people will think they're just showing off.

Zhang Yuan covered his head, realizing how much he had learned.

I didn't understand; I only knew that those people were gods. After studying, I realized that there are gods beyond gods, and gods are even divided into ranks.

I initially thought dealing with someone like Han Geng would be a real hassle.

After learning advanced mathematics, looking at it now, isn't it quite simple?
"What's wrong? Are you glued to the chair?" Zhang Yuan asked as he entered the room, noticing that the two of them didn't stand up to greet him.

We have to put on airs!
"Oh, hello, nice to meet you." The agent stood up and extended his hand.

Han Geng forced a charming smile and stood up.

Zhang Yuan didn't respond at all, nor did he shake hands; he simply sat down.

The two awkwardly withdrew their arms, intending to sit down again.

"Did I offer you seats?" Zhang Yuan asked at this moment.

He caught a glimpse of a violent glint in Han Geng's eyes.

"It's really uncomfortable, isn't it?"

"You're angry and upset, aren't you?"

“You’ve waited so long for nothing, without food or drink, and you won’t see me. When you finally do come, you’re acting strangely and showing no respect at all, isn’t that right?” Zhang Yuan said, word by word.

"Remember this feeling; you'll encounter it frequently in your work later."

"Think carefully about how to deal with this."

"Sit down now," Zhang Yuan said, gesturing to his arm.

"Also, what I just did was called being a diva." He glanced back and forth between the two of them: "Just like what you did on the show."

"I didn't," Han Geng immediately retorted.

"Is it true that people online say you were late?"

"No……"

"Is there any?"

"I'm on time," he replied somewhat guiltily.

Did you leave early?

"They forced me to do it..." the man raised his voice.

“My hearing is normal, you don’t need to speak so loudly,” Zhang Yuan said calmly, looking at him.

"What I'm asking is, did you leave early?"

"You need to answer my question accurately."

“Yes…” he said through gritted teeth, clearly quite dissatisfied with Zhang Yuan’s attitude.

"The fans who were invited to the event, just like you were, waited for several hours to record, but the result they got was not what they wanted."

"Even if you don't respect the production team, do you respect your fans and viewers?"

"What good does it do for you besides venting your emotions?" Zhang Yuan asked.

"I just asked about the rumors and the relationship."

“I get asked this dozens of times a year, and there are tens of thousands of articles online about me and other female celebrities, but I have never refused an interview or program recording on the spot.”

“In terms of star power, I’m way more famous than you,” Zhang Yuan said, frowning as he looked at Han Geng.

"If you can't handle these kinds of emergencies, then you're not qualified to be an artist."

Han Geng's forehead veins bulged as he spoke, clearly showing his dissatisfaction.

Zhang Yuan's assertive attitude provoked his rebellious nature.

Just like Teacher Guo, I refuse to accept this!

"When I signed the contract with the company, it stated that I could choose not to participate in work I didn't like," he finally managed to say after a long pause.

"So, you're now considering taking legal action against me?" Zhang Yuan laughed, seemingly pleased.

“That’s not what he meant,” the agent quickly interjected.

"It's best if that's not the case." Zhang Yuan licked his lips. "Because I'm a very law-abiding person."

"But if you are forced to abandon the law, then all you have left are weapons."

As soon as Zhang Yuan finished speaking, Brother Long and his assistant "peeked out" from outside the door and gave a cold look into the room.

“If you’re paid to do something, you have to follow the rules after you’ve received the notification fee. Even if you don’t like it, you still have to go through the process.”

"I've communicated with Fiber Optics this time and apologized to the other party on your behalf. I don't want this to happen again."

Han Geng remained unconvinced, feeling that he had done nothing wrong and why should he apologize on his behalf.

Apologizing is just being a coward.

Zhang Yuan ignored him, because the problem wasn't caused by him alone.

Simply put, these are two brilliant but foolish individuals, a pair of idiots fit for a museum.

His agent is named Sun Le, and he is not a professional agent.

He is Han Geng's old classmate.

The situation is similar to that of Zhang Ziyi and her older brother.

Zhang Ziyi isn't good enough, but her older brother is even more important, especially in international communication.

Han Geng and his agent are similar.

It was discovered that there was content in the script that was not marked, which was that the agent stopped the show and got into a heated argument with the director.

The argument stirred up Han Geng's emotions as well, and he stormed off in a huff.

An agent should be a peacemaker, not a lighter to set off firecrackers.

But this agent was requested and brought by Han Geng himself.

"An agent's responsibility is to serve the artist and resolve the problems and conflicts the artist encounters, not to create problems and conflicts."

"You argued with the director of the fiber optics, swore, and yelled, which was heard by the audience. Is that good for an artist's image?"

"And don't let it happen again." Zhang Yuan pointed at him.

"Otherwise, the company should consider whether it should change agents."

"Even according to the contract, the company cannot fire you."

"But life is unpredictable, and people are bound to suffer from minor illnesses or major disasters."

Upon hearing this, coupled with Zhang Yuan's utterly serious gaze, the agent swallowed hard.

He knew Zhang Yuan wasn't joking.

Was the talk about legal weapons just now a joke?

The two exchanged a glance, then smiled and nodded in assurance.

They had only been back in China for a short time and had not heard of Zhang Yuan's story, but his eyes were full of stories.

Before coming here, Du Hua had told them that they were shareholders of the company.

I initially thought he was a kind and approachable senior figure in the film and television industry, given his consistently polite and cheerful on-screen image.

Upon seeing the real person, however, I was filled with dread...

Those who can help me make money are artists; those who bring me trouble and may affect my ability to make money are enemies.

Zhang Yuan showed no mercy to his enemies.

Although he is kind, he can also castrate.

It all depends on whether the other party listens or not.

To manage subordinates, you must use swift, accurate, and ruthless methods; otherwise, they will all cause trouble for me, and I will be too busy dealing with these problems to do anything else.

"My demand is that you issue an apology and clarification on Weibo to settle this matter."

"Alright, now that we've finished talking business, let's have a meal together." Zhang Yuan suddenly adopted a relaxed and cheerful expression.

The contrast with what had just happened was so stark that neither of them could react for a moment.

In the middle of the night, the two, completely drunk, returned to their hotel to rest.

The next morning, the two got up, clutching their aching, hangover heads.

"yesterday……"

"very scary!"

They both nodded at the same time.

Before drinking, they were under a lot of pressure; after drinking, they became like brothers, leaving both of them completely confused.

This back-and-forth...

"What are you thinking?" asked the agent and old classmate.

"Well," Han Geng scratched his head.

He's a little undecided right now.

Even Du Hua, the boss, speaks of him with great respect. He resolved the fiber optic issue with just one phone call, clearly demonstrating that he is no ordinary person.

Han wasn't stupid; he had just returned to China and didn't want to get into big trouble.

"What they said makes sense; it's just a mention of a relationship," he muttered.

Upon hearing him say that, the old classmate rolled his eyes.

"Actually, he is a shareholder, and you are a shareholder too. You and he should be equals."

"He just debuted earlier than you, so he had an advantage."

"If we do well in the future, we won't be any worse off than him."

It's not that I'm afraid of bad things happening, it's that I'm afraid of a lack of good people.

Zhang Yuan threatened to replace him as his agent, and he was terrified on the spot. Looking back now, he realizes that greed overcame reason.

Without Han Geng, he wouldn't be much better than an ordinary person.

Just like, can Zhang Weiping still work without Zhang Yimou?
Sun Le was afraid that if his old classmate really did as the other party wished, he might be replaced one day, and then his golden rice bowl would be gone.
People always think of themselves first.

Therefore, this person believed that Han should not be allowed to completely side with Zhang Yuan.

"Yes!" Han Geng thought for a moment and realized, "That's right!"

His words immediately struck a chord with his old classmate.

He knows the other person too well.

Zhang Yuan didn't have time to deal with them. He felt he had said everything he needed to say, and if they still didn't listen, then it wouldn't be something that could be solved by talking.

At the same time, Teacher Guo called.

The time bomb I planted a while ago has finally exploded... (End of Chapter)