Who Needs a CEO? I Choose Stardom

”FUCK! You shameless bastard, if you’re going to cheat, can’t you at least keep it under wraps? Did you have to expose yourself in the middle of the night and make me wake up to work overtime?! Scumbags can go to hell! AHHHHH!”

In her nine-square-meter rented room, Chen Yajing hung up on her editor-in-chief and couldn’t help but flop onto her pillow, butt in the air, frantically rubbing her head in a total meltdown. She didn’t stop until her long hair was a bird’s nest, then she threw back the covers, cursing, and sat up.

She blindly fumbled for the black-framed glasses by her pillow and put them on. Chen Yajing pulled on a coral fleece pajama set and sat on the edge of her bed in a daze for a few seconds, but ultimately resigned herself to her fate. She got up, took a sip of cold water, and opened her laptop to start writing.

As a recent graduate who had just passed her probation, she knew she was the one who had to do the dirty, tiring work. She’d known that for a while.

A graduate from a regular tier-two university with a degree in Chinese, she’d had a hard time finding a job at a magazine. She was assigned to the new media department, responsible for writing about the ins and outs of the entertainment industry. Every day, it was either this celebrity outshining that one, or that one feuding with another. It was either so-and-so’s outfit being amazing and chic, or some other person’s haute couture gown looking like it came from a cheap photo studio—a major fashion fail...

She was actually sick of working overtime every day, writing this bullshit just to grab people’s attention.

Especially when a huge scandal like this broke. Even at three in the morning, she had to get up and write an article to ride the wave of popularity.

If her take on the story wasn’t good enough, she’d get flamed by netizens, who were quick to curse out the writer and their entire family. But if she went too far and triggered a lawsuit, her editor-in-chief would tear her a new one, acting like menopause had hit twenty years early, and dock her pay on top of it all.

But her academic credentials weren’t impressive, and she wasn’t pretty enough. It had been genuinely difficult to find this job and survive the probation period, so she really didn’t want to look for another one anytime soon.

So, what else could she do?

Time to work overtime!

Chen Yajing’s hands flew across the keyboard. An article that would make readers exclaim, ”Holy cow!” was born. She sent it to her editor, who replied with an ”OK” emoji. Her overtime for the night was finally over.

She picked up her phone and saw it was already four in the morning.

She had to be at work at eight. To save money, she rented a place far away, with a one-hour commute. Washing up and eating breakfast took another half hour. That meant she had to get up just after six every day. She could only get a little over two hours of sleep now. ’Sleep my ass!’

Yawning, Chen Yajing scrolled through her phone, dark circles already forming under her eyes.

Due to the nature of her job, she often browsed Weibo for inspiration. Once inspiration struck, she could whip up an article to turn in within ten minutes or so.

”They get paid so much, yet none of them act like decent human beings. So glamorous on the surface, but so filthy behind the scenes. It’s just...”

Muttering to herself, Chen Yajing pulled a bottle of Coke from under her bed and twisted it open.

Like countless other young people struggling in the city, she earned a mediocre salary, shared a decent-sized apartment with others, and lazed around at home, her speech peppered with ”awesome” and ”fuck.” But when she went out, she was a goddess with exquisite makeup and a stunning outfit—a classic modern-day professional.

While she had to compromise and swallow her pride to make a living, online, Chen Yajing never hesitated to voice her opinions and express herself.

Yawning nonstop, she kept scrolling and stumbled upon a few photos.

In a pond where withered lotus stems still stood, the water had been drained. A girl in thick, one-piece waders was holding freshly dug lotus roots, her smile radiant.

The Weibo account had very few followers. She had no idea how it ended up in her feed, but there it was.

’Big data is truly magical.’

The girl was very pretty. Chen Yajing clicked to get a better look, then with a flick of her finger, she swiped past it.

”Wait, isn’t that Ni Bingyan?”

*Children of the Mountains* was a recent hit, and everyone who saw it felt compelled to say something about it. With so much online discussion, Ni Bingyan, who played Liang Hongying, had become well-known.

Realizing this, Chen Yajing swiped back.

”It really is her, but without makeup. She looks a bit different. This picture is hilarious! Did she go rolling in a mud pit? Her whole face is covered in sludge. That’s some serious dedication! I almost didn’t recognize her.”

’What is she doing?’

Chen Yajing suddenly felt a surge of energy.

She knew of the actress Ni Bingyan. As a gossip columnist who spent her days digging up dirt on celebrities, she’d never found any material on her. Ni Bingyan was a rare clean stream in the entertainment industry.

You had to hand it to a professional. In no time, she had figured out the origin of these photos.

It turned out a regular foodie patron had attended a winter lotus root digging event at Ni Family’s Private Kitchen. He happened to run into the owner’s daughter, who was back for a visit. Since it was a rare encounter, he snapped a few photos to show off on his Moments.

She was a celebrity, after all, and also a young girl he had watched grow up. It was perfectly normal for him to casually document her playful antics.

And then, this foodie’s Moments feed turned out to be as private as a sieve. Someone quickly stole the pictures and posted them on Weibo.

Since it was posted in the middle of the night, not many people saw it, so it hadn’t started trending yet.

For once, upon seeing something like this, Chen Yajing didn’t have the heart to write an exposé. Instead, she opened her own Weibo account, attached the photos she’d found, and quietly joined in on the gossip: [For real, she has absolutely no idol baggage. You don’t see many people in the entertainment industry living this freely. Hahaha, that last picture, I just can’t stop laughing!]

But she couldn’t fight off her drowsiness. After posting on Weibo, she snuggled back under the covers.

”I’ll just close my eyes for a bit, just a little while...”

She drifted off to sleep, but she forgot that many of her friends on Weibo were also in the industry. She was tired from overtime and had decided to let it go, but others hadn’t.

There were the more competitive types, the ones who would wake up, grab their laptops to write an article in bed before even washing their faces, and then head to work. How could they pass up material like this?

And so, at eight o’clock, when most people were starting their workday, Wei Shuojie had just sat down at her desk and turned on her computer. A photo of Ni Bingyan looking like a little mud monkey popped up in the bottom right corner. She clicked on it, and the headline read—”I’m dying of laughter! This is Ni Bingyan, can you believe it?”

Wei Shuojie’s eyes widened in horror!

’Didn’t she say she was going home for a vacation?’

’First she runs off to Hengdian and ends up at the police station, and now she’s jumping into a pond to dig up lotus roots to eat?’

’The police station incident was fine. She hadn’t committed a crime, and at least she knew enough to dress nicely. Even in candid shots, her beauty held up. But what the hell is she wearing now?’

’Thick rubber waders!’

Fighting the tremor in her hands, Wei Shuojie quickly clicked to the next picture.

’Great. She’s still smiling!’

’Her face is covered in black mud, with only the whites of her eyes and her teeth showing, and she still has the nerve to smile!’

’In just one night, she and that glorious face of hers have been laughed all the way to the top of the trending list! From now on, when people watch her movies and shows, how are they going to get this image out of their heads? It’ll completely pull them out of the story!’

’Honestly, she’d achieved a whole new level of unbelievable.’

Wei Shuojie could feel her blood pressure rising.

’Even if an actress isn’t relying on fan-driven popularity, she still has to maintain her image!’

’On a normal day, if her makeup is even slightly off, the unscrupulous media will jump on it, mocking that so-and-so’s face is collapsing, wondering if she got too much Botox, that she’s finally showing her age, that she isn’t taking care of herself...’

’Once a female celebrity loses her looks, her career is basically over. It’s one thing to sacrifice your appearance for a role in a movie, but to do this in your private life, and get photographed? And not only get photographed, but have it spread all over the internet!’

’This is unbelievable!’

’Couldn’t you at least have washed your face after getting your body dirty?’

’At least then you could have gone for the ”rising from the mud, yet unstained” aesthetic. You could have spun it into something beautiful from a different angle.’

Without even taking a breath, Wei Shuojie immediately contacted the PR department.

’There’s no other way. We’ll just have to spin it as her not having any ”idol baggage.”’

After buying milk tea for the PR team, Wei Shuojie watched them handle the situation while trying to stifle their laughter, and she couldn’t help but crack a smile herself.

”The kid’s young and was spoiled growing up. She’s never been through anything, so she doesn’t know how serious this is. Sigh! And we’re the ones left to clean up her mess.”

”I’ve seen little kids get covered in mud from playing, but I never thought I’d see a grown-up baby do it, hahaha!”

Someone couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing, and the office was instantly filled with merriment.

”Alright, alright! Can’t even this warm milk tea shut you guys up? It’s not that big of a deal. Sigh, I really never saw this coming. You all know how serious she usually is. I never expected her to have such a mischievous side.”

”Haha, you’re right, Sister Wei. Quick, give her a call and see if she caught a cold.”

Everyone winked and nudged her on, clearly hoping to watch the show.

Wei Shuojie wasn’t about to let outsiders laugh at her expense, so she refused outright.

But she couldn’t resist sending a WeChat message: [Remember to be mindful of your image from now on. Getting laughed onto the trending list... you’re really something else.]

Just when she’d decided to let it go, the other side received the message and immediately started a video call.

’Should I answer it or not?’

Sister Wei glanced around the room. Everyone had stopped what they were doing.

’Fine. If I don’t answer, this bunch will just slack off, and that trending topic is still up there!’

’Let’s just see what kind of trouble you’re trying to stir up now!’