"Don’t go too far! Don’t think you can make me give in like this!"

Ma Wangxi clenched his fists, grinding his teeth!

"I’m going too far? I think you two just don’t get the situation. Do you feel like I’m forcing you, like you’ve suffered some huge injustice?"

Lin Yi smiled. "Then let’s not talk anymore. When it comes to dealing with people like you, I’ve got plenty of ways."

After he finished, Lin Yi looked at Tang Wuqiang.

"People like this, don’t keep them. Just fire them."

Tang Wuqiang nodded and called his secretary in.

"Notify HR and fire these two."

"Got it, President Tang."

Tang Wuqiang waved his hand impatiently. "You two go back and process your resignation."

Facing this decision, the two of them were dumbfounded.

In this whole thing, they’d always felt they were the victims, that the other side was squeezing them.

Only now did they realize they had no room to bargain at all.

"President Tang, please, give me one more chance. We’ll go back right now and persuade my mom. We’ll never let her bang on things again. We’ll apologize to all the owners in the compound, we won’t dare do it anymore."

"Don’t say this to me."

The Ma couple looked at Lin Yi like they were looking at a savior.

"Comrade Journalist, we realize our mistake now. Please give us one more chance. Something like this will never happen again."

"If you knew it would come to this, why do it in the first place? You both know full well this behavior is immoral, but you think you’ve got an iron rice bowl and look down on ordinary residents in the community, so you went and pulled this kind of stunt. I’m ashamed on your behalf."

The two were scolded until their faces burned red. They hung their heads without a word, like elementary school kids being disciplined.

"I’m a journalist. My job is to resolve problems and conflicts. Since you’ve realized your mistake, this matter ends here. As for whether you can keep your jobs, that depends on how you behave from now on."

"Thank you, thank you. We’ll never do anything like this again."

Lin Yi checked his watch. "Let’s meet at your compound at two in the afternoon and wrap this up."

"Okay, okay, we’ll definitely be on time."

Lin Yi stood up and shook hands with Tang Wuqiang, exchanged a few polite words, and left.

Back in the car, Lin Yi headed toward the TV station, planning to find something to eat, then take Zhao Yuhuan to Red Square Community.

As for whether the Ma couple could keep working, the answer was obviously no. They just wouldn’t be fired immediately. There’d be a transition period, then they’d find a suitable reason to let them go.

Near the office, Lin Yi found a noodle shop, grabbed a quick bite to fill his stomach, then went to the building entrance and called Zhao Yuhuan.

After waiting about ten minutes, Zhao Yuhuan came jogging out of the building and got into Lin Yi’s car.

"Lin Bro, I’ve thought of a way, but it’s not exactly proper. We could find someone to knock on their door, pick the middle of the night so she can’t sleep either, see who can outlast who."

"That method might work, but we’re journalists; it’d be inappropriate for us to pull something like that." Lin Yi said with a smile:

"But you don’t have to think about it anymore. I’ve already handled it. We’re just going to Red Square Community now to wrap things up. This matter’s basically solved."

"Huh? You already fixed it this fast?"

"Of course."

Lin Yi drove leisurely to Red Square Community and contacted Wang Xu at the same time.

"Comrade Journalist, have you come up with a solution?"

"It’s all settled. See if she was banging on anything this afternoon."

Wang Xu’s eyes lit up. He’d passed by Building Four at noon and really hadn’t heard any banging.

"Man, you guys are something else. It’s only been a day and you’ve already solved it."

"Talk sense, appeal to emotion, lay out the reasoning—it still works. We’ll head over now and wrap up this episode, and this will be done."

"Okay, okay, let’s go together."

Very soon, the three of them arrived at Li Hongjuan’s place. This time, as soon as they knocked, the door opened.

The whole family’s attitude was very warm. Li Hongjuan came up and apologized right away:

"Comrade Journalist, I realize my mistake. I shouldn’t have used my age to throw my weight around. The basketball court is a public area; we can’t just use it for our square dancing. I’m willing to apologize to all the residents in the compound."

Li Hongjuan’s change in attitude left Wang Xu a bit baffled, but the outcome was good, and that was what mattered.

Off to the side, Zhao Yuhuan quickly picked up her phone and recorded the whole scene.

"As long as you can see your own problem, that’s enough."

Lin Yi looked at Wang Xu. "Anything you want to add?"

"Record an apology video. We’ll post it on the community’s public WeChat account, and this will be considered resolved."

"Okay, okay."

After that, the family of three faced Zhao Yuhuan’s camera and made a solemn apology, and the matter was brought to a close.

Once the incident was handled, the two of them drove back to the TV station. Zhao Yuhuan’s face was full of excitement.

"Lin Bro, I feel like this episode is going to be super explosive. Forget a month; just this one video alone might get our followers past ten thousand."

"Judging purely by video quality, I think it’s fine. But a brand-new account doesn’t get traffic. Banking on a single video to blow up is extremely, extremely difficult. We still need to shoot a few more episodes in a row, then it won’t be a big problem." 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"I’ve thought it through. We’ll split this episode into three clips and post them over three days to keep the audience hooked. That way we’ll gain followers faster."

"You’ve already grasped the true essence of the internet."

Lin Yi wasn’t in a rush. By the time they drove back to the office, it was already close to five in the evening, about an hour before clock-out.

Back at their desks, Zhao Yuhuan started editing right away. Lin Yi watched beside her, occasionally offering his own ideas.

Just then, Li Xiao walked over and said, "You two finished shooting your material this fast?"

"We just casually shot one episode to test the waters and see how it does."

Li Xiao stood next to them and watched for a bit.

"The content’s pretty good. Stuff like this is the most eye-catching. The only tricky part is how to actually resolve the issue."

"Lin Bro already took care of it. They apologized. Problem perfectly solved." Zhao Yuhuan said with a grin.

Li Xiao patted Lin Yi on the shoulder.

"You’re not bad, kid. You’ve got some skills."

"Just got lucky. No telling how it’ll go in the future."

"The first step is always the hardest. For this type of account you’re running, once you’ve got followers, nothing else is a problem. Those people who love to make a scene—when they’re under public pressure, they definitely won’t be able to take it and will be forced to apologize. So you two just work hard and build the account up."

"Got it."

Seeing how lively things were around Lin Yi’s desk, 18’s expression turned very dark.

"Little Chen, let’s go shoot some material too. We have to make sure our progress overtakes theirs."