Who Needs a CEO? I Choose Stardom

But she wouldn’t say any of that.

”Also, it’s already September. The October issue should be on sale in the latter half of the month, right? How come the cover hasn’t been shot yet?”

Covers for these months were usually prepared several months, or even a year, in advance. For the schedule to be this tight, something felt off.

At this, Wei Shuojie started to laugh. ”The original cover was shot long ago, of course. But the girl on it had a major scandal! The one who was trending a couple of days ago, you didn’t hear? She got beaten up by the guy’s wife in a hotel, and the police even issued a notice. The magazine isn’t owned by her family, so of course they had to replace her.”

It wasn’t easy for the magazine to find a suitable replacement on short notice. Any artist with a bit of fame has a packed schedule, and it’s not easy to free up time.

They had just gotten lucky with the timing.

Ni Bingyan didn’t like to go online and had been busy filming for the past two days, so she really hadn’t heard about it.

”Alright, leave all this to me. I’ll do my best to find you good opportunities, and you just focus on your acting! When you win an award or two and your influence grows, the Big Five will be begging you to shoot their covers! Even for their main issues, I’ll make them wait!”

’A bunch of snobs, looking down their noses at everyone!’

The fashion world is brutally pragmatic. The treatment an agent receives is directly tied to the star they manage. She had once managed a triple-award-winning actress; now, she was the agent for a third-rate actor. The difference in treatment was stark.

Wei Shuojie found it hard to accept this disparity, but she didn’t want to show it in front of Ni Bingyan.

Ni Bingyan had always been sensitive and had noticed it long ago, but she pretended not to.

”Okay, Sister Wei. I’ll definitely work hard. For now, I’ll have to trouble you to bear with more.”

Wei Shuojie was deeply moved that her efforts were seen and appreciated.

”Don’t worry, your Sister Wei is more than capable!”

Back then, helping Sun Lizhi climb up from the bottom was much harder than this.

At least Ni Bingyan could already land lead and second-lead female roles; she didn’t have to climb up from the very bottom, and she wasn’t a total rookie just starting out.

”Of course! My admiration for you is like a mighty river, flowing endlessly!”

Ni Bingyan laid on the flattery thick, and Wei Shuojie laughed out loud. ”Oh, stop it!”

That night, the two of them discussed the plan in detail. Early the next morning, Wei Shuojie came to pick her up.

In a hurry, Wei Shuojie parked the car at the courtyard gate and waited.

Her phone buzzed. A moment later, the courtyard gate opened.

Ni Bingyan emerged wearing light makeup, her recently permed, wavy long hair draped over her shoulders. She was dressed in a pale yellow qipao and carried a dark green clutch.

The qipao had no pattern, only trimmed with goose-yellow and dark green silk satin. The clutch, however, featured an intricate Kesi-tapestry lotus pattern and was inlaid with large pearls. The contrast between simplicity and complexity was particularly striking.

She naturally possessed the noble air of a well-born lady, and this outfit amplified that feeling.

As soon as Ni Bingyan got in the car, Wei Shuojie couldn’t help but praise her. ”Not bad~”

”Isn’t today’s theme ’Autumn Retro Chic’? I wanted to give the photographer some inspiration.”

Ni Bingyan had always been a very considerate person. She had gotten a lucky break this time, and she also had a little scheme to win over Chief Editor Sang. Thinking about how the magazine was in a desperate crunch and today’s shoot would surely be rushed, she had done a lot of prep work on her own to avoid holding things up.

”You’re very thoughtful.”

Seeing that she was settled, Wei Shuojie immediately drove off.

Ni Bingyan glanced in the rearview mirror, thought for a moment, and then took out a newly bought maple-colored lipstick to apply a light layer.

’Good, that gives it more of an autumn vibe.’

Wei Shuojie just smiled.

’It’s a huge plus for an artist to have good taste. The worst is managing a tacky dresser; even if you get them on a Big Five cover, they’d still be mocked by netizens as a fashion disaster.’

The cover shoot was at a studio on the East Fifth Ring Road, just two streets away from the agency.

Wei Shuojie was familiar with the location and got her there twenty minutes before the scheduled time.

But Wei Shuojie didn’t take her upstairs right away. Instead, she sat in the car and waited until someone from the magazine called to hurry them along before taking her up.

”You can’t seem too eager, or it’ll make you look cheap.”

Letting them call to hurry you once was just the right amount of polite power play.

Wei Shuojie instructed in a low voice, and Ni Bingyan nodded in agreement.

The two went upstairs and arrived at the designated studio. The people from the magazine were already there. When they saw them, they greeted them one after another with ”Sister Wei” and ”Teacher Ni.”

Ni Bingyan didn’t know what she had done to deserve being called ”Teacher,” but she knew it was a custom in the industry, so she just smiled and nodded.

The chief editor, a high-society lady, looked to be only in her early thirties and had a very gentle demeanor. But Sister Wei had said her son was already sixteen, so she definitely wasn’t as young as she appeared.

Seeing them arrive, Chief Editor Sang immediately came over to greet them.

She introduced herself as Sang Mu, a rather unique name. Ni Bingyan committed it to memory instantly.

Seeing that everyone had arrived and they were about to start working, Chief Editor Sang tactfully stepped aside to speak with a tall young man whose back was to them.

There were several outfits to change into and makeup looks to create, so the one-day schedule was very tight. All the staff moved quickly.

It was Ni Bingyan’s first time doing this kind of work, so she didn’t dare to be careless. She handed her clutch to Wei Shuojie and immediately followed the staff.

A whirlwind of makeup, a whirlwind of wardrobe changes, a whirlwind of shooting. A quick boxed lunch at noon. The entire day, she felt as if she were strapped to a war chariot, constantly charging forward.

Ni Bingyan lacked experience, but she was hardworking and a quick learner. After getting over her initial nervousness, she soon found her groove.

Throughout the entire shoot, she kept feeling a particularly intense gaze on her, but she couldn’t be sure, as there were just too many staff members on set.

When she asked Sister Wei about it during the lunch break, Sister Wei just assumed she wasn’t used to her first cover shoot. She offered a few words of comfort and then proceeded to share various practical tips with her.

By the time the shoot was over, it was already seven in the evening. The magazine treated them to dinner, which finished at nine.

Wei Shuojie drove her home. While still on the road, Ni Bingyan was so exhausted she fell asleep, completely forgetting about the matter.