Who Needs a CEO? I Choose Stardom

Because of what happened this morning, the first thing Ni Bingyan said when she saw Wei Shuojie was, ”Sister Wei, can you line up more work for me before the New Year?”

There were still two and a half weeks until the Lunar New Year. Aside from the film channel interview, all she had left was the Chili Channel’s Spring Festival Gala. ’This is just too lazy!’

Wei Shuojie was accompanying her to CCTV today. The moment they met, before she even had a chance to go over their work, she heard this and was stunned.

”Are you in desperate need of money? Is something wrong at home? Or did something happen to you?”

An artist’s income was usually tied to their workload. When an artist suddenly demanded more work, it was either because they were nursing a broken heart and needed a distraction, or they were in some kind of trouble and desperately needed cash.

Since Ni Bingyan was single, a broken heart was out of the question, which was why Wei Shuojie’s first reaction was to think along those lines.

”No, it’s not that! I’m perfectly fine!”

Seeing the misunderstanding, Ni Bingyan rushed to deny it.

”Then what’s gotten into you? Weren’t you the one who said you wanted to set aside some time at the end of the year to be with your family?”

Wei Shuojie rolled her eyes. ”I was thinking that ever since you signed with me, you’ve barely had a break. Right after the New Year, you have to join another production. After you finish filming *Demon Suppression Tower*, you’re moving seamlessly on to *Soul Ferryman*. You won’t get any real time off for the entire first half of next year, so I agreed. And now you’re backing out?”

Wei Shuojie had planned to travel abroad with her family for the holiday and had already bought the tickets. Never mind whether she even wanted to work overtime—where was she supposed to find good opportunities on such short notice?

She was a newly-crowned Best Actress, after all. She couldn’t just take any gig that came along.

She had to accept high-caliber projects that would be beneficial to her future career!

”I just feel that ’an idle youth, a needy age.’ It’s better to be diligent. My dad’s busy with the Sichuan and Chongqing New Year’s Goods Festival, so he’s probably even busier than I am. If I go home early, I’ll have nothing to do, and I can’t possibly stay at my grandma’s for that long.”

’Of course, Ni Bingyan was too embarrassed to admit she felt so insecure that she didn’t dare to even think about a brilliant young man, which was why she wanted to earn more money.’

’In her eyes, money was what gave a woman confidence.’

’Only when she had money in hand and could live a respectable life on her own terms would she have the courage to even consider a relationship.’

’If Sister Wei knew what happened this morning, she would definitely say Ni Bingyan was overthinking things.’

’He was just being polite, and she was the one taking it to heart.’

’But you can’t hide it when you like someone. Sang Yuan liked her—she wasn’t an idiot. She might not have noticed at first, but over time, she started to see the signs.’

’She hadn’t accepted him, not only because he hadn’t confessed, but also because plenty of people liked her, and quite a few were actively pursuing her. Last month alone, she’d received confessions from seven different rich heirs.’

’Compared to them, Sang Yuan was simply more capable, wealthier, and more her type, aesthetically speaking.’

’There was no rule saying she had to return someone’s feelings just because they liked her.’

’Wealth and power weren’t her criteria for choosing a partner.’

’After all, she had no ambition to marry into a rich and powerful family.’

’She wanted to work harder simply because she was afraid of meeting someone who truly made her heart race, only to feel she wasn’t good enough for him.’

’As for whether that person was Sang Yuan, she couldn’t say for sure.’

’In any case, she didn’t have those kinds of feelings for Sang Yuan right now.’

”You have a point. I’ll start looking for something right away.”

Every time Bingyan took a break, she would inevitably stir up some kind of trouble. Wei Shuojie was starting to get a little scared of it.

Wei Shuojie had already been thinking about increasing Bingyan’s workload anyway. Now that Bingyan had walked right into it herself, how could her agent possibly let the opportunity slip by?

It was just a bit more work. While Ni Bingyan was earning money, she was also getting her commission. If the one doing the actual labor wasn’t complaining, why would she turn her nose up at cash?

This was the reality for young people these days: either you get crushed by the competition, or you crush them.

As her agent, Wei Shuojie was deeply gratified that Ni Bingyan had the drive to crush the competition, and she readily agreed.

”You’re the professional in this area, I trust you. It’s just... I’m sorry to trouble you with this.”

Suddenly backing out of their agreement and creating more work for her agent out of the blue, Ni Bingyan felt quite embarrassed.

”What’s the need for such words between us? The more diligent you are, the happier I am. If you really decided to just lie flat and be a slacker, *that’s* when I’d start to worry!”

Wei Shuojie opened the email app on her phone, scrolling as she spoke. ”Besides, you’ve been getting tons of work offers lately. I’ve already turned down a lot of them, but there are still plenty left in my inbox. It’ll take some time, but I’m sure I can find something suitable. The New Year is right around the corner, so let’s lock a few things down quickly.”

Just as they settled the matter, they arrived at their destination.

As usual, Duanmu Li waited in the car while Wei Shuojie accompanied her upstairs.

Ni Bingyan had received the interview outline a couple of days prior, so she knew exactly what questions to expect. She already had a general idea of her answers and had gone over the more sensitive topics with her agent, so the recording session went off without a hitch.

After she finished recording the show, she got a call from her cousin, who said her flight was arriving at 4:30 PM.

Ni Bingyan never liked to bother others with her personal affairs, so she first went home to change her clothes, then drove to the airport to pick her up herself.

Her cousin, Lu Yao, was a lively girl who had inherited her aunt’s round face. When she smiled, she revealed a pair of small, sharp canine teeth that were quite adorable.

She had fallen in love with the sweet and cute Lolita fashion style back in middle school and still loved to dress that way for everyday life.

Ni Bingyan, bundled up tightly against the cold, stood at the arrival gate, her eyes peeled. It didn’t take long before a cascade of layered pink ruffles came floating out of the crowd.

A closer look confirmed it—who else could it be but her cousin?

”Yaoyao, over here!”

Ni Bingyan waved her phone as she called out. Lu Yao heard the voice and looked over. Seeing that her cousin had come to pick her up personally, she bounced over in excitement.

”Sis! You came to pick me up yourself! I thought you’d send your assistant!”

Ni Bingyan had only messaged that she’d be picked up, not who would be doing the picking up, so Lu Yao had naturally assumed her famous cousin wouldn’t come to a crowded place like an airport.

”Why would I have her come for a personal matter like this? It’s not like I don’t know how to drive.”

Duanmu Li was her work assistant, not her personal assistant. It was one thing for her to be there during a job or on set, but during her personal time, it was best not to bother her.

Lu Yao just smiled.

’It seemed either her understanding of celebrities was a bit skewed, or her cousin was just different from the rest.’

”Aren’t you cold, wearing so little in this weather? I’ve got a coat in the car. You should put it on before we head outside.”

It had snowed again last night, so when Ni Bingyan saw her cousin wearing only a dress with stockings and leather shoes, she couldn’t help but fuss over her.

”So cold! Oh my god, Sis! The temperature difference between the north and south is insane! It’s in the sixties back in Yangcheng right now!”

The two of them walked toward the exit, lugging the suitcase. It got colder with every step, and Lu Yao couldn’t help but stomp her feet.

”Why didn’t you check the weather before you left? You’re such an airhead!”

The two were as close as sisters, so their teasing was naturally merciless.

”Hey, I’ve never been this far north before! Besides, I came here to rely on you, didn’t I? You’re not going to just stand by and watch me freeze to death, are you?”

’Her cousin never missed a single holiday when it came to giving out big red packets, and often sent them just for fun. Buying her a few clothes would be a piece of cake!’

’Besides, even if her cousin didn’t buy them for her, she could just buy them herself. It wasn’t like she was broke.’

’A kid who had yet to experience the harsh realities of the real world didn’t think this was a big deal at all.’

Ni Bingyan sized up her cousin’s height—Lu Yao only came up to her chin. ”You won’t be able to wear my clothes. Oh, well. Come on, I’ll take you shopping!”

Ni Bingyan put the suitcase in the trunk and waved Lu Yao into the car.

When they were children, her older cousin often stayed over at their house. Whatever she and her brother had, her cousin had too. Lu Yao had always thought of her as a real sister.

Hearing this, Lu Yao grinned and hurried to catch up. ”In that case, I’ll have to pick out a few outfits! Hehe.”

Ni Bingyan had just settled into the driver’s seat and was about to fasten her seatbelt when she saw her cousin standing outside, furiously tapping at her phone. She couldn’t help but frown. ”What’s wrong?”

Lu Yao’s face lit up with joy, and she couldn’t help but jump. ”Oh my gosh, Brother Fei Fan is landing in ten minutes! What a coincidence! Sis! I can’t believe I ran into such good luck! Can I go greet him at his gate? The last time I saw him was two months ago! Just for a little while! Sis! Sis! Sis! Half an hour at most, please let me go! Please?”

Ni Bingyan really wanted to say no. But this was her own cousin; no matter how much of a pain she was, she couldn’t exactly beat her up in public, could she?

Besides, her cousin was in an unfamiliar city; Ni Bingyan wouldn’t feel right letting her go alone.

’Good thing I bundled up today.’

Ni Bingyan sighed. ”Fine, go ahead! I’ll wait for you nearby. Just don’t take too long! If we’re too late, we’ll miss our reservation for that big feast!”

”Okay, okay! You’re the best, Sis!”

Lu Yao cheered and ran off happily, and Ni Bingyan quickly locked the car and hurried after her.

’No matter how annoying this was, she only had one cousin like her. It’s fine, it’s fine.’

’You have to look on the bright side! Otherwise, how could you get through the day?’