Who Needs a CEO? I Choose Stardom

The next day, Ni Bingyan did as she said and asked someone to find a highly experienced lawyer to review the contract.

After reading the contract, the lawyer told her there were no issues. In fact, not only were there no issues, but the terms were also extremely favorable to her.

Ni Bingyan was instantly relieved and scheduled another dinner with Sang Yuan to sign the contract.

Sang Yuan was keen on making this happen and didn’t care about the returns, so the contract signing went incredibly smoothly.

Wu Huijuan kept a close eye on the two of them the entire time. Seeing that they were just talking politely and that Sang, despite his obvious fondness for her junior sister, never crossed any lines or made a single flippant move, she gradually relaxed.

Plenty of boys had liked her junior sister since they were young, so she was long used to it. As long as they had no malicious intentions, their ”family” wouldn’t interfere.

To back up his lie, Sang Yuan actually attended an economic forum in Shanghai hosted by the City Government.

When the organizers learned he was coming, they even invited him to give a speech.

So, he spent another hour writing a speech and went on stage to deliver it.

After all that hassle, he returned to Beijing, and even Xiao Zhao felt exhausted for him.

But then again, with a great beauty dangling as the prize, all the exhaustion was worth it!

’The boss has finally seen the light! He knows how to chase after a beautiful woman now. Old President Sang is probably going to weep with joy.’

Whether Old President Sang was weeping with joy or not, Xiao Zhao had no way of knowing.

He knew exactly what kind of person his boss was.

He wouldn’t dare breathe a word about his boss’s affairs to anyone, not even his own parents.

As usual, Sang Yuan couldn’t be bothered to guess what Xiao Zhao was thinking. Arriving back in Beijing at six in the morning, he skipped going home and went straight to the office.

With his wife’s ten million yuan in hand, he had to plan carefully how to achieve the maximum rate of return.

It had been a long time since he’d been this passionate about making money.

He was serious about making money for his wife.

While Sang Yuan entered crunch mode, Ni Bingyan’s days weren’t much easier.

Perhaps because the schedule was too tight, Chen Zhiwen had been rather irritable lately, lashing out at people at the drop of a hat.

Ni Bingyan understood him. After all, he was a detail-oriented director who preferred to produce meticulous work at a slower pace. Forcing him to take on a rush job like this was indeed torture, especially with his wife about to give birth.

But she didn’t enjoy being yelled at.

So, to minimize the verbal lashings, she put in 120 percent effort to prepare.

While she was busy, she had no idea that her two consecutive evening meetings with Sang Yuan had already been captured by the paparazzi.

Which production was the hottest in the industry recently?

Undoubtedly, it was the cast and crew of *Breakup*.

The movie had just started filming when the huge scoop about Luo Susu’s marriage and pregnancy broke, immediately followed by rumors that An Xin had left Xiongdi Media to start her own agency.

Even if just to cast a wide net, the paparazzi would naturally send people to keep an eye on things here.

It wasn’t that Ni Bingyan hadn’t learned to be more cautious. It was a dinner party of six people, she had brought her senior along, and they were discussing business. Even if the paparazzi spun the wildest of tales, there was nothing they could really say about her.

However, the paparazzi’s shady tactics weren’t limited to leaking stories online for clicks.

Their more traditional method was to trade the information for a public relations fee.

And so, the day after the two signed their contract, Wei Shuojie received an email from the paparazzi as soon as she got to her office.

The paparazzi’s asking price wasn’t high—twenty thousand yuan, just to ”make a friend.”

There was no way Wei Shuojie would sweat over twenty thousand yuan. She transferred the money immediately and received the photos from the paparazzo.

Both sides abided by the unwritten rules of the game.

Wei Shuojie didn’t report the paparazzo for blackmail and provoke him into fabricating a story, and the paparazzo didn’t hold onto the photos to extort more money, instead mailing the camera’s memory card over directly.

One could say it was all very amicable.

When you’re in the same industry, showing mutual respect is standard practice.

Pulling an all-nighter to take photos is hard work, so the money was like treating them to a cup of tea.

If they accepted the ”tea money” and still caused trouble, the next thing the paparazzo would receive wouldn’t be cash, but a court summons.

With the memory card in hand, Wei Shuojie didn’t question her artist. Instead, she dressed to kill, took the developed photos, and headed to Yuan Yan Venture Capital.

She was a queen, radiating confidence. The bold, regal shade of lipstick she had just bought suited her perfectly.

Some people have a presence that makes others give them a wide berth the moment they appear.

The receptionist at Yuan Yan Venture Capital was undoubtedly a rare beauty, but upon seeing Wei Shuojie, her knees still bent slightly out of instinct. ”Ma’am, who are you looking for? Do you have an appointment?”

Wei Shuojie didn’t make things difficult for her. She just smiled, waved her hand, and walked over to a nearby sofa to sit down before pulling out her phone to call Sang Yuan.

Sang Yuan was completely engrossed in making money when he received Wei Shuojie’s call saying she was downstairs. Not daring to slight her, Sang Yuan went down to greet her personally, causing the company’s employees to glance over again and again.

’This woman is fashionable and beautiful, but she looks a bit old. She can’t be the boss’s girlfriend, right?’

For a financial magnate who was about to turn thirty to have zero romantic scandals was strange to everyone. Seeing the boss act so familiar with a woman for a change, their imaginations ran wild and wouldn’t stop.

”Sister Wei, is there something you needed to see me about?”

They had only met twice because of *Demon Suppression Tower*, so they weren’t close personally. With his mind completely preoccupied with making money, Sang Yuan was in no mood for pleasantries.

He led her into his office, and after his secretary served tea, he directly asked about the purpose of her visit.

Wei Shuojie pursed her lips, ignored the tea, and directly pulled out an envelope to show him the photos.

”Oh? What’s this?”

Sang Yuan wasn’t afraid of her. The only reason he deferred to her was out of gratitude for her hard work and genuine care for his ”wife.” If she really pissed him off, he wouldn’t hold back for old times’ sake.

”President Sang, I think we need to have a serious talk.”

After seeing the contents of the photos, Sang Yuan frowned. ”You had me followed?”

Wei Shuojie was speechless. She pulled up her transaction history. ”I bought them for twenty thousand yuan. Otherwise, you’d be seeing these photos all over the gossip blogs right now.”

Her artist was getting more and more popular, which meant more and more paparazzi would be watching her. It wouldn’t be possible to successfully manage the PR every single time.

She came here to give him a warning: don’t ruin Ni Bingyan for the sake of his own selfish desires.

”Oh? Are you here to get reimbursed? No problem.”

But Sang Yuan just picked up his checkbook and wrote her a check. ”Here’s a million. Keep the change for next time.”

His two dinners with Ni Bingyan had been completely aboveboard, but his intentions were not. So, for a mere twenty thousand yuan, he was more than happy to pay, and even willing to give more.

It had to be said, he was doing this deliberately just to provoke her.

She had come all this way to antagonize him, and he was no saint.

As expected, Wei Shuojie was furious. ”Do you think I came here for money?”

”What else? I don’t recall ever privately inviting a lady for tea.”

Sang Yuan sat back in his executive chair, leaned back slightly, and crossed his legs, the arrogance of a man born to wealth on full display.

’See? All that friendliness before was just an act. The moment his sinister intentions are exposed, the ugly face of a capitalist is revealed.’

The tension between them was palpable.

Wei Shuojie’s aura was just as strong. She looked at him as if he were a little kid playing grown-up.

”I know your family is powerful and you don’t care about money, but I came here today to talk about something else.”

’Playing dumb, are we? Fine, I’ll just say it directly.’

”What ’something else’? As I recall, you’re just her agent, not her mother. Do I need your approval to pursue her?”

Wei Shuojie went straight for the jugular, and Sang Yuan didn’t back down.

He could let other things slide, but asking him to give up on Ni Bingyan? Impossible!

”With all due respect, the two of you are not a good match. When you’re all fired up with passion, of course you think our Bingbing is wonderful. But once the novelty wears off, our Bingbing will suffer a devastating blow! Her career might even be ruined because of you. How can you be so selfish?”

It’s no wonder Wei Shuojie had come to confront him.

Honestly, if she were twenty-five and being pursued by a well-rounded elite like Sang Yuan, she probably would have said yes within two months.

She didn’t dare bet on how long Ni Bingyan could resist.

She wasn’t doing this because she couldn’t bear to see her artist find happiness. Rather, she had seen too many similar tragedies and was afraid that the young and impressionable Ni Bingyan would fall for the temptation and suffer greatly.

She had come to protect her cub.

To tell him to leave her alone.

Suddenly, Sang Yuan was no longer angry. He sat up straight, his tone sincere.

”Sigh, Sister Wei, I know what you’re worried about, but words are cheap. No matter how I promise not to hurt her, you won’t believe me. How about this: you go and persuade her to marry me. I’ll start liquidating my assets right now and go to Qingcheng Mountain to formally propose. As for the wedding, I’ll listen to whatever my father-in-law wants. I won’t even do a prenuptial agreement. Half of everything I earn will always be hers, and if I die, my inheritance will go to her too. How does that sound? If you’re willing, I’d like to get married by the end of the year, just before my thirtieth birthday. I was also planning...”

Wei Shuojie was completely stunned!

What kind of nonsense was this?

’I must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed today. I must be hearing things.’

”I have something else to do, I’m leaving!”

Terrified by his words, she beat a hasty retreat. Even after she was downstairs, Wei Shuojie was still shaken.

’Is this Sang Yuan crazy? He’s actually planning to marry our Bingbing?’

It wasn’t that she looked down on Ni Bingyan, but she knew all too well the nature of these wealthy, powerful families.

He might be willing, but would his family agree?

In the end, wouldn’t it be our Bingbing who gets hurt?

Besides, rich people like him own countless companies. To avoid stock market turmoil in the event of a divorce, they always sign prenuptial agreements. But he wasn’t planning to sign one? That’s the kind of move you make when you’d rather die than divorce!

Our Bingbing has only met him a few times. Where would this deep affection have come from?

And getting married with no chance of divorce... that’s terrifying!

’This Sang Yuan seemed so normal, but who knew he was actually a psycho?’

She never imagined the conversation would end like this. Wei Shuojie decided to retreat for now and think things over carefully.

But before she could figure anything out, she received an invitation from her mother the very next day to go shopping together.

Accompanying them was an ”auntie” with the surname Shui.