Who Needs a CEO? I Choose Stardom

Cao Yongji must have had a high luck stat since the day he was born.

He drew ten questions in a row, all of which he knew how to answer. They were difficult ones, too, which shot his score to the top of the leaderboard. He knocked out the previous winner, a university teacher, and successfully remained on stage.

He was the fourth challenger. If the next contestant, the taxi driver, couldn’t win, he would advance to the next round.

Ni Bingyan secretly rubbed her hands together.

’Now I have another reason to take first place.’

’I really want to get up on that stage and compete!’

’If Cao Yongji makes it to the final round, will he be especially surprised to see me? Completely shocked?’

It had to be said, Ni Bingyan had a mischievous sense of humor. She often wasn’t interested in the things other people found fun, and the things she found fun, others would likely consider childish.

The taxi driver was a single mother.

”My husband was a firefighter. Many years ago, he was killed in the line of duty, leaving me to raise our child alone. I had no older family members who could help, so from the time my daughter was eight months old, I brought her with me while I drove my taxi. She started elementary school this year. I’ve been living like this for six years now.”

As expected of CCTV, no program was complete without a tear-jerking segment.

The taxi driver recounted her story with a warm smile on her face, but it made everyone’s heart ache.

Raising a child is hard enough, but she also had to endure the grief of losing her husband while working to support her family with her child in tow. One could only imagine how difficult it must have been for her.

As soon as the taxi driver’s introductory video played, many in the audience began wiping their eyes.

They cried for her tragic experience, for her well-behaved child, and for her unyielding perseverance.

”As my daughter got older, other people’s kids were attending all sorts of early education and enrichment classes, but I didn’t have the money to send her. After giving it a lot of thought, I started playing classical poems for her during the breaks between fares. As she grew and started preschool, I would drop her off at school every morning, then pick her up after and continue driving my taxi. Our daily routine in the car became listening to and discussing classical poetry. After so many years, it has become an indispensable part of our lives.”

”’The sorrow of parting is like the spring grass; the farther you go, the more it grows.’ Whether it is a parting in life or a separation by death, it is unbearable for those in love. Fortunately, you have a lovely child by your side, accompanied by the profound beauty of poetry. You are a wonderful mother. With you teaching her by word and by example, your daughter will surely grow up to be someone her father would be proud of!”

It had to be said, Miss Dong’s skill as a host was truly profound. Her words brought the driver to tears, and the audience erupted in thunderous applause.

”I will. I definitely will.”

Once the taxi driver had composed herself, the challenge began.

”Now for the first question. Please find a line of poetry from the nine jumbled characters on the screen.”

”First, let’s have our Hundred-Person Corps answer!”

Upon seeing the question, the first thing that came to most people’s minds was the line, ”Fear no floating clouds that block the eye,” but that was clearly not the answer.

With that first idea stuck in their heads, trying to think of a different line of poetry became unconsciously more difficult.

Ni Bingyan thought for a moment and came up with the answer: ”Floating clouds, a traveler’s thoughts.”

The taxi driver had clearly put in the effort. After thinking for a long time, she wiped her forehead and finally managed to answer correctly.

”Congratulations, you’ve earned 17 points!”

”That is a line from Li Bai’s ’Seeing a Friend Off.’ ’Green mountains line the northern wall, / White water flows ’round the eastern city. / Here we part from one another, / A lone tumbleweed on a journey of ten thousand li. / Floating clouds, a traveler’s thoughts, / The setting sun, an old friend’s heart. / We wave our hands and go from here, / As our parting horses sadly neigh.’”

Teacher Meng came on stage again to explain.

”Li Bai, as we all know, loved to travel, see the sights, and roam the world with a sword at his side. He’d gather his friends at the drop of a hat for a spontaneous trip. He went to many places and knew many people—you just couldn’t hide his extroverted nature! He was a true social butterfly!

”In ancient times, travel was difficult, and as the poem goes, ’to meet is hard, to part is also hard.’ The importance they placed on seeing friends off is something we can hardly imagine today.

”Li Bai was no exception.

”Every day, he was either seeing someone off or being seen off himself. He hated parting every single time! So, he wrote poems to commemorate the occasions.

”When we think of Li Bai’s farewell poems, what’s the first thing that comes to mind?

”Is it ’Though the Peach Blossom Pool is a thousand feet deep, / It cannot match Wang Lun’s love, seeing me off.’?

”Or is it, ’What has left me, yesterday’s day, cannot be kept; / What has troubled my mind, today’s day, brings much sorrow.’?

”Have you heard, ’Go and ask the east-flowing river, / whose parting sorrow is longer?’ He wrote that!

”Have you heard, ’My old friend bids farewell to the west at the Yellow Crane Tower, / Down to Yangzhou he goes in the third month’s smoky flowers’? That’s right, he wrote that one too!

”And also, ’Still I cherish my homeland’s waters, / escorting my boat for ten thousand li.’ Even if no one was there to see him off, in his heart, the waters of his homeland were there, reluctant to let him go, escorting him for thousands of miles!

”He could take a single theme and make it blossom in a hundred different ways.

”Truly worthy of the title ’Banished Immortal’! Truly the ’Poet Immortal’! The romance he brought with him from the High Tang is utterly unique! I love such a fascinating poet. Reading his poems always feels like having a conversation with an interesting soul. I wonder, do you all feel the same?”

The usually gentle Teacher Meng couldn’t help but become impassioned when speaking of Li Bai. Her words sent a thrill through everyone present, as if by reaching out a hand, they could touch the timeless, magnificent splendor of the High Tang Dynasty!

How could anyone not love such poetry?

How could anyone not adore such a fascinating poet?

’Of all the commentary since filming began, this segment ranked number one in my book!’

Miss Dong said nothing, only smiling and applauding. After a long moment, she spoke, as if reluctant for it to end:

”After hearing Teacher Meng’s speech, I almost want to ask her to give another. Unfortunately, our time is limited, and we must move on to the next question.”

The applause from the audience had just died down, but at her words, it immediately swelled up again!

Clearly, everyone couldn’t have agreed with her more!

The atmosphere in the studio turned joyous. The taxi driver successfully answered five questions in a row, but unfortunately, she was eliminated on the sixth question and had to leave the stage dejectedly.

”Cao Yongji, as the contestant with the highest score, do you have anything you’d like to say?”

Miss Dong feigned a serious expression.

Smiling, Cao Yongji rose from his seat and walked to the contestant’s podium.

”Wow! I’m so lucky!”

His smile was as goofy and honest as ever, but his words made everyone crack up.

”’New talents arise in every generation, each leading the way for hundreds of years.’ Haha, don’t sell yourself short!” one of the judges couldn’t help but call out.

”The challenger with the highest score has been decided. Now, let’s see who among the Hundred-Person Corps had the highest number of correct answers in the shortest amount of time.”

Lights flashed over the Hundred-Person Corps’ section. Three people had answered every question correctly.

Out of one hundred lights, only a lonely three remained lit.

”There are three people who didn’t miss a single question! They are: university student Li Wenbo, retired worker Yu Huilan, and... actress—Ni Bingyan!”

”And who had the fastest time?”

The three stood up one by one. As Ni Bingyan slowly rose from her seat in the corner, a collective gasp of ”Whoa!” swept through the studio!

The Hundred-Person Corps was a dense crowd of people. Aside from those paying close attention, most of the audience had their eyes glued to the main challengers. They never expected to find someone like her hidden among the Corps!

What a surprise!

But after the initial surprise, a wave of doubt followed. ’An actress? She got a perfect score?’

Quite a few people in the audience had been trying to answer the questions throughout the recording, but getting a perfect score was exceedingly rare. In the eyes of many, actors were just pretty-faced slackers, so how could they not question Ni Bingyan’s dazzling results?

’Could it be... that the show is rigged?’

While most people were filled with doubt, Cao Yongji was simply stunned for a moment before he covered his face and turned away.

’Oh, I’m so dead. I was bragging right in front of her. I really hope she doesn’t call me out on it later.’