Who Needs a CEO? I Choose Stardom

[Just from the looks of it, the living room alone is bigger than my entire house. You can even see part of a staircase around the corner. Jingjing’s family must be loaded.]

Some people silently marveled at the streamer’s wealth, while others were still admiring the painting.

Without a doubt, it was an outstanding piece of art.

[Hey? Has anyone noticed? The signature and seal on the painting?]

Seeing that someone had finally noticed the same thing, another person immediately replied: [Looks like Ni Bingyan?]

This comment immediately drew more attention.

But after a closer look, many people’s first reaction was that it couldn’t be possible.

[No way, right? Didn’t she just win Best Supporting Actress at the Jinxiang Award not too long ago? A person’s energy is finite, and celebrities are so busy. How could she possibly have time to paint, let alone paint this well?]

[I agree. It’s probably just someone with the same name. Her name isn’t very common, but with over a billion people in our country, how could there not be a few others who share it?]

[Yeah, exactly! I’ve never heard that she could paint. If she had this kind of talent, it would’ve been hyped to the heavens back when she debuted! How could there have been zero buzz about it?]

Actresses were always chasing clout, stirring up drama out of nothing. How could one possibly pass up such a perfect opportunity for publicity?

Suddenly, a line of bold text accompanied by a gift effect appeared in the middle of the screen—[I think I’ve seen this painting on her executive agent’s Weibo!]

Ni Bingyan’s official Weibo account had over thirty million followers, and since she had never bought any, a large percentage of them were active.

With that many fans, they could turn up anywhere.

For instance, right here in this live stream was one of Ni Bingyan’s die-hard fans, who followed not only her official Weibo account but also those of her assistant and executive agent.

The painting looked familiar, and after a moment’s thought, the fan recognized it.

[Where? Where’s the Weibo post?]

[Holy shit! Is it for real? I dare you to swear on it!]

[Hang on, let me look for it. I remember it was from a while ago. But I still recall what the post said. He was complaining about how intense Bingbing is, saying you can’t even slack off when working with her, and that the pressure was huge or something.]

Hearing the user speak with such conviction, the crowd grew expectant. Sure enough, it wasn’t long before another comment from the same ID appeared:

[Found it, found it! I’ve posted a screenshot to my feed. Go see if it’s the same painting!]

In an instant, the amateur detectives in the stream had already shifted their focus elsewhere.

When they saw the photo taken by Wang Biao, everyone couldn’t help but silently give a thumbs-up to the fan who had led the charge.

The photo had likely been taken in a break room on set, probably during a lull in filming, because Ni Bingyan was in costume with a waterproof apron over it, still wearing her stage makeup as she painted.

Wang Biao had taken the picture from her side and slightly behind her. Peeking through the gap under her arm, one could see a corner of the painting on the table—it was the head of the large rooster under the persimmon tree.

The rooster’s haughty expression was unmistakable!

Anyone who wasn’t blind could tell that the piece Ni Bingyan was working on in the photo was the exact same one hanging on the wall in the live stream.

”Hey everyone, sorry about this! I wore a pair of Martin boots today, and the laces are in a dead knot. Ugh, taking off my shoes is harder than finding a boyfriend! I can’t even!”

Chen Yajing stayed bent over for a moment longer, all to set up this joke—it was the opening gambit she had long planned for the stream.

She had expected the chat to be flying by now, but when she looked closely, she saw that despite having over ten thousand viewers, the comments were scrolling by incredibly slowly. Most were just from newcomers saying hello.

’It’s over. The stream is bombing. Am I going to lose followers over this?’

’The initial hype has died down, and my recent video views have been dropping. If this stream is a bust, too...’

She had promised her parents that if she couldn’t make it as a content creator, she would either get a real job or go work for the family company.

Right now, she wanted neither of those things.

The thought of it was frustrating.

Just as her frustration peaked, she saw the comment section suddenly explode with activity.

[Holy shit!]

[Holy shit!]

[Holy shit!]

...

”What’s going on, darlings? What happened? All I did was change my shoes; what did I miss?”

’As long as there’s buzz, it’s a good thing. It doesn’t matter what they’re saying. If I just keep my cool, I can turn this around.’

As she spoke, Chen Yajing turned around with her phone, panning the camera across the living room.

Her family’s apartment was huge and beautifully decorated. She’d claimed she was going to ”roast” it, but that was just a subtle way to flex her wealth and build a persona to attract more followers.

But just as she was about to start roasting the dining table her mom had chosen, she saw the comments flooding the screen—[We want to see the painting!]

”The painting? What painting?”