Chapter 71

  "I'm good friends with Luo Fei, that's true. When he gets into trouble, I get anxious and flustered, it's only human. But I know who pays my salary, I have basic professional ethics, I won't do anything unprofessional for personal reasons. Every word I just said, if there's any bias, everyone here has a keen eye, they can point it out to me right away. But you... " Li Jin lowered his head, looking down at Huang Wei with a hint of disdain, and asked slowly, "What are you doing here?"

  "What?"

  "If I'm not mistaken, only deputy department heads and above who are related to this incident have the qualifications to attend this meeting. Huang Wei, you're just an ordinary broker, why are you here?" Li Jin raised his eyes to scan the crowd, that gaze full of deep meaning was like a cold wind from the North Pole, finally landing on Huang Wei's body.

  "I..." Huang Wei subconsciously looked around for Xiao Pu, who had been in the room just a moment ago, but found that he had quietly slipped out at some unknown time.

  There are three agents in charge of the artist now, and Li Jin is the chief, deputy manager level, fully responsible for the overall planning of the artist. This time, because Li Jin was out of contact, Huang Wei took advantage of the situation to replace him, originally intending to kick Luo Fei away and then give Li Jin a "dereliction of duty" crime, pulling him down together. Who knew that at the critical moment, he actually appeared.

  "Huang Wei, who had come uninvited and sat down with a loud noise, was naturally not here to eat vegetarian food. He pursed his lips and smiled deeply, hiding his abilities and fame, saying, "Lei Shouxi forgot, I'm an agent, enjoying deputy manager-level treatment."

  "Being treated as a deputy manager level does not mean you are officially a deputy manager level." Li Jin slammed the file in his hand heavily on the table, and the snow-white paper scattered all over. "Huang Wei, you came uninvited, what do you want to do?"

  As soon as this was said, the entire conference room fell silent, and you could almost hear a pin drop.

  What does Huang Wei want to do?

  Isn't it obvious?!

  In the mountains without a tiger, the monkey claims to be the king. Li Jin is not around, Huang Wei is going to establish himself as the king.

  She had just mocked Li Jin for not distinguishing between public and private matters, but in an instant, her own small thoughts of using the company's name to benefit herself were exposed in front of everyone.

  Huang Wei's face turned red with rage and embarrassment, no longer the gentle and reserved demeanor he had just a moment before. His eyes wide with anger, he slammed his fist on the table and stood up, shouting: "What did I do?! Lei Jin, as Rong Fei's agent, you couldn't even get in touch with me after something so big happened, what right do you have to criticize me?!"

  "At the critical moment, losing contact was indeed my dereliction of duty. After the meeting, I will submit a self-examination report to Director Bei's desk, and no matter what punishment the company gives me, I will unconditionally accept it. However, Huang Wei," Lei Jin Chao took a step forward, he was already taller than Huang Wei, and standing like this made Huang Wei feel as if Mount Tai was pressing down on him, unable to breathe at all, "if you can't give me a reasonable explanation for why you're here, then please leave."

  "Li Jin, you..." Huang Wei still refused to give up.

  "I'll say it one last time, tell me why a mere ordinary broker like you dared to attend a meeting that only deputy managers and above are qualified to attend. If you can't answer, then get out." Li Jin paused for a moment before suddenly shouting loudly, "Get out!"

  Deathly stillness, a sheet of deathly stillness.

  The meeting room was packed, but there wasn't a single sound. Lei Jin's sudden outburst had shocked everyone, and they were all holding their breath, as if afraid that the slightest gasp would attract Lei Jin's gunfire.

  In such an eerie silence, Huang Wei was stimulated to the extreme but could not burst out, and one after another prolonged deep breaths seemed especially clear.

  One sound, two sounds, three sounds...

  After holding her breath for a long time, Huang Wei closed her eyes, gritted her teeth, and grabbed the documents on the table. She turned around and stormed out of the conference room in high heels, venting her anger.

  Li Jing smiled slightly and sat down. Bei Fuming suppressed his smile and handed over a glance, he raised an eyebrow and returned a knowing smile.

  Even if everyone knows what Huang Wei is thinking in her heart, as long as she has a brain, she will absolutely never say it out loud.

  "Xiao Li, you've analyzed so much, you must have a clear plan in mind." Lu Xiayun, the PR manager who had been silent since entering the room, broke the awkward atmosphere, "Tell us, how do you plan to respond to this crisis?"

  Li Jindan glanced at him faintly and didn't answer immediately.

  Dai Xu was indeed biased towards Huang Wei in the recent war of words, but without Lu Shao Yun's consent, she wouldn't have dared to be so blatant. However, Dai Xu and Huang Wei were close friends, which was an open secret. As for Lu Shao Yun... Li Jin racked her brains but couldn't figure out what she had done to offend him. In reality, she was older and basically a half-empty vessel, always keeping a low profile in her daily life. Although she had joked around with Lu Shao Yun before, their relationship wasn't that close, so he had no reason to target her.

  The only explanation is —— he was bored and loved to stir up trouble.

  So, men who work in public relations are really troublesome, as if they're afraid that the world won't be chaotic enough to show off their abilities.

  Li Jing's heart was secretly resentful, but she still had to put on a sincere expression, only feeling stiff and even her smile was not very natural.

  With that, hiding his signature smile, Li Jinqing cleared his throat and said: "The Public Relations Department should have already sent out a press release to the major media outlets. Next, I hope our two departments can work together to arrange some interview opportunities for Luo Fei so he can clarify the facts. Also, I've contacted Du She, and he's agreed to arrange for Luo Fei to appear on his talk show as soon as possible. The influence of Du She's current talk show is self-evident, and it should also have a certain effect in salvaging Luo Fei's popularity...

  "What you're saying is the usual response of the brokerage firm after an incident like this happens." Lu Xiao Yun interrupted him, his pen spinning a few times in his fingers before slapping down on the table. "Issuing statements to the media, going on talk shows, even manufacturing some sympathetic headlines and getting a few big shots in the industry to show their support - I'm more familiar with these tricks than you are. And to be honest, this incident seems like it's going to be huge, but it'll actually blow over in three weeks. Once the public's attention shifts, all the negative news will disappear. But here's the problem, Li Jin: we've still got two weeks until the finals. Can I trouble you to say something useful and help us get through these next two weeks?"

  After he finished speaking, he looked up at Li Jin, but Li Jin didn't respond.

  "Generally speaking, I don't think kicking out Luo Fei is a good idea." Lu Xiao Yun picked up the pen from the table and started twirling it on his fingertips again. "However, our final match can't afford to make any mistakes. What you said about offending the sponsors is something for later. The PR department and marketing department aren't just eating free meals, when the time comes and we really get into trouble, they will also come up with a way to deal with it. But right now, within two weeks, if things are still being gossiped about outside, then our final match might as well not be held, because no one will watch it anyway. So if you can't think of an effective solution to turn the situation around or even just put the incident to rest within two weeks, then personally, I think letting Luo Fei withdraw from the competition is still the simplest and most effective way."

  Finally, he lazily added a sentence: "Of course, this suggestion of mine is not mixed with any personal feelings, and it's completely from the company's standpoint."

  "It doesn't need two weeks, just one week is enough." Li Jin tilted her head and gave Lu Xiao Yun a cold glance. "Give me one week, before the four-three match, I will definitely settle this matter perfectly."

  As soon as this was said, everyone in the conference room, including Bai Fuming, showed extremely shocked expressions.

  Two weeks to settle the matter, Lu Xiao Yun was already having a hard time with Li Jin, what's wrong with Li Jin, actually taking the initiative to shorten the already tight time by half?

  It's not easy...

  "What good idea have you thought of?" asked Lu Xiayun.

  "I have a way, but I don't plan to tell you all until it's fully implemented." Li Jin turned his head and looked at everyone calmly and firmly. "I know this answer won't convince everyone, so if you believe in my ability, please give me a week's time to try to eliminate the impact. If this matter is not resolved before the semi-finals, I will persuade Luo Fei to withdraw voluntarily."

  The conference room was still quiet as a tomb, but unlike the previous silence, this time, distrustful glances were exchanged among everyone.

  Li Jinsa didn't mind whether the gaze was sarcastic or questioning, he said, and then calmly turned his head, continuing to meet Lu Xiayun's line of sight with an equally calm gaze.

  In fact, his heart had already stirred up a huge wave.

  Too weird.

  Li Jinxiang thought, Huang Wei was against himself, that was understandable, but Lu Xiayun, why was he?

  What's meant by "bored and loves to pick on people" is just a joke, Lu Xiuyun being so hard on himself must have his reasons.

  But why is it?

  "What are you kidding?" Before Li Jin could make sense of it, Dai Xu sneered, "Do you think everyone will waste a whole week on your words? What if a week passes and you really haven't accomplished anything? Who's going to compensate for the wasted time? And what if things get worse? You're being too..."

  "OK." Lu Xiao Yun stretched out his hand to stop Dai Xu from continuing, "OK, one week is just one week. The PR department will follow the original process for emergency PR handling of this incident and provide you with corresponding assistance. However, as Dai Xu said, if after a week your efforts are ineffective, then responsibility cannot be shirked, at that time, please take the blame and resign."

  The conference room suddenly erupted into a burst of hushed and suppressed whispers.

  Everyone is hesitant to speak up on this matter, mainly because it's the first major crisis since Art Song Company was founded. If the crisis is handled well, there might not be any credit to gain, but if it's mishandled, it would be a huge loss of face and even job security. So everyone is playing it safe, letting the artist management and public relations department fight each other. But now that one side has forced the other to apologize and resign, it's beyond what everyone expected.

  In an instant, the crowd in the room was divided into two factions. One faction thought that Li Jin wasn't so stupid and didn't need to lose his hard-earned job for just one artist. The other faction, which actually consisted of only Bei Fuming, believed that Li Jin was born a fool.

  And this fool did not disappoint Beifeng Ming's trust, almost without hesitation, he cut off the iron and responded: "No problem."

  Everyone let out a sigh of relief at the same time.

  It's all good now, someone will take responsibility for this trouble, I'm safe now.

  "I'll be looking forward to it then." Lu Xiao Yun seemed to be very satisfied as well, he straightened his back and said to Bei Fuming, "Director Bei, if there's nothing else, we'll take our leave first."

  Bei Feng nodded slightly, and then the people in the conference room stood up one after another and filed out.

  In the vast conference room, only Bei Fulong and Li Jin were left.

  "Now you know who is behind Ba Xiao Pu, right?" After a long silence, Li Jin smiled and said.

  Bei Feng shrugged his shoulders, half in frustration and half in anger, and sighed: "Shu Mu."