Who Needs a CEO? I Choose Stardom

”More cumin~ Oh~ That’s too much~ I said more, but not *that* much!”

”Salt! Salt! If you don’t salt it right, can you even call it barbecue?”

”I wanted it medium-well, not well-done! And definitely not medium-rare! Buddy, if I knew how to grill, I’d tell you to move over and let me do it!”

...

Hearing them take passive-aggressive digs at Li Yiru again, Ni Bingyan forced a smile. ”Do you guys have to be such drama queens?”

’They can’t even get through a barbecue without complaining.’

Seeing her smile less and less these past few days, clearly getting too deep into character, Gao Junhui sighed and said helplessly,

”We don’t want to! But filming this show is so damn stressful! We’re stuck in a funeral home day and night, listening to crying and smelling incense and joss paper, not to mention getting chewed out all day until I can’t even hold my head up! If we don’t vent a little, I’m afraid we’ll need a therapist before we even wrap. Ugh~ It’s just insane~ Seriously, I regret taking this role so much. I’d rather go back to playing overbearing CEOs!”

The male lead, Gao Junhui, had fair skin, a tall, trim figure, and a handsome face that fulfilled every woman’s fantasy of an overbearing CEO.

He had played his cards right; he’d played this type of role since his debut and became a massive star. But he was already thirty-five this year and still playing overbearing CEOs.

He took this role precisely to break out of his mold.

It was safe to say his determination to shed the ”King of CEOs” typecast was unshakable.

But barely a week into filming, he was already saying such disheartening things, which just went to show how difficult this production was for the actors.

In the show, he played a forensic medical examiner at the funeral home who, along with the female lead, supported and comforted each other at work, eventually falling in love.

In reality, however, he and Ni Bingyan had just become buddies.

After all, with a ’queen of celibacy’ like Ni Bingyan who never gave off any romantic vibes, any normal person who spent enough time with her wouldn’t even think of pursuing her.

”When you’re accepting awards for this role, you’ll realize that having such a strict director is a good thing.”

Playing overbearing CEOs was a quick way to make money and gain fans, but there was one downside: winning awards was genuinely difficult.

In the dozen or so years since his debut, he hadn’t even come close to any major awards.

Hearing Ni Bingyan’s words, Gao Junhui didn’t say any more. He picked up his beer can and clinked it against the one held by Shen Xiao, who played the driver.

Clearly, he agreed with what Ni Bingyan had said.

”Bingyan, the shrimp are ready.”

”Thanks, Xinran.”

Cui Xinran played her junior apprentice in the show.

Besides the two of them as Funeral Masters, the funeral home in the show also had a master, played by Jin Jing. Since Jin Jing had a young child and lived nearby, she would go straight home every day after filming wrapped.

”I’ll have a couple too.”

Tong Mengxue, who played the funeral emcee, hadn’t said a word until now.

Seeing her hold out her plate, Ni Bingyan picked up two shrimp for her.

”Want some dipping sauce?”

”No, I’m good. Thanks, Bingyan.”

Tong Mengxue waved her hand, took a sip of her beer, then sighed and started peeling her shrimp.

The last scene before they wrapped for the day was a farewell ceremony for a family of three. Because it was an ensemble scene with many actors, a lot of lines, and high demands from the director, they didn’t get the take until after nine o’clock.

By the time they finished, Tong Mengxue’s face was stiff.

She had been chewed out way too brutally!

The pressure of filming this show was immense, but the main actors were all easygoing young people. Coincidentally, since they all lived in the eastern part of the city near the airport, they didn’t want to waste so much time commuting. So, they decided to book rooms at a hotel here together.

After toughing it out until wrap time, the mentally exhausted actors liked to get together for a meal.

If they wrapped early, they’d have dinner together. If they wrapped late, they’d have a late-night snack.

Since they all had to face the same demon director, the five of them had bonded over their shared enemy and become good friends in less than a week.

Tonight, they had wrapped late, so it was the perfect time for some drinks and barbecue.

As they ate, the gathering turned into a complaint session.

The director’s temper was just too explosive! And the plot was too depressing!

”The first day, when we went to tour the funeral home, I saw her riding a heavy motorcycle and knew she was probably a wild one. WAHHH, I just didn’t expect her to be a tyrant!”

After half a can of beer, Tong Mengxue ate two shrimp, two pieces of chicken, and two slices of potato, then refused to open her mouth for anything else. Fueled by the alcohol, she just started sobbing.

Shen Xiao looked like a taciturn tough guy, but he was actually very soft-hearted. Seeing her cry, he handed her a tissue.

Cui Xinran kept grilling; it was her favorite way to blow off steam.

As an actress, she didn’t dare to stuff her face. In her own words, this way she could at least enjoy the smells, which was comforting. Besides, seeing others eat what she grilled gave her a sense of accomplishment.

Seeing Tong Mengxue using alcohol to vent again, she poured her a cup of plain tea. ”Stop drinking. If you have too much, your face will be puffy tomorrow.”

Cui Xinran was the ’kawaii’ type, with a round face, round glasses, and big eyes, and she had a very sweet voice. But she had a flaw: she was very direct, sometimes to the point of not considering others’ feelings.

Fortunately, Tong Mengxue wasn’t the type to misinterpret good intentions. When she heard the comment about her face getting puffy from drinking, she wasn’t offended at all; in fact, she was grateful.

”I’ll stop after this can.”

Spitting out a shrimp leg, Tong Mengxue sighed again and slipped into her usual artsy-young-woman mode. ”Romain Rolland once said that life is an arduous struggle; you can never afford to rest, or else everything you’ve painstakingly gained, inch by inch, could be wiped out in an instant. My friends, I feel that sentiment so deeply! So, so deeply!”

Ni Bingyan had a lot of scenes, and to stay in the right state for filming, she let herself remain immersed in the story. Right now, she was just quietly eating, not saying much.

She worked out year-round, so her appetite was much bigger than the other two women’s. She didn’t stop until she had polished off half a plate of shrimp and another half-plate of vegetables.

This movie had few main characters but many supporting roles and extras. The assistant director in charge of coordinating the actors was Li Yiru’s father’s go-to AD. He was experienced and capable, and this time he was here as an ’uncle’ to help out his ’niece’.

With him smoothly handling all these matters every day, the entire filming process was spared a lot of trouble.

This was the advantage of being a ’second-generation’ kid.

With fewer daily hassles on set, the pressure on the actors came mainly from the demanding filming content and the director’s bad temper.

This movie was difficult to begin with.

And on top of all that, Ni Bingyan also had to adjust her acting habits from television to film.

Generally speaking, movies have simpler plotlines, stronger causality, more scenes, and a faster pace. In contrast, TV dramas have more intricate plots and complex character relationships. They primarily use dialogue to drive the story and delve deeper into interpersonal conflicts. As a result, the acting approach for each is different.

”Sigh. Everyone used to call me a grinder, but on this set, for the first time, I finally know what it feels like to be unable to keep up with the grind.”

After the meal, the negative energy that had built up throughout the day had mostly dissipated.

Only then did Ni Bingyan let out a sigh and offer her own opinion.

The moment the words left her mouth, everyone stared at her, speechless.

’Does she really think we don’t know? This girl works herself to the bone filming every day, then goes back to the hotel to lift weights. She’s not human!’ everyone thought.

”What are you all looking at me for? I was exhausted. I’m just starting to recover now!”

’It’s not that I was being antisocial by not talking earlier~’

Ni Bingyan always adhered to the principle of efficient socializing. She didn’t like to chatter on with nonsense, but she also wouldn’t stand around like a block of wood, completely detached from the group.

Everyone grumbled to themselves, ’So ”recovering” means it’s time to head back to the hotel and hit the gym?’

”Let’s go, let’s go. Back to rest. We have more than a dozen scenes to shoot tomorrow!”

Even the quiet Shen Xiao couldn’t stand her natural-born humblebragging.

”Okay, I’ll go settle the bill. It’s finally my turn today.”

Ni Bingyan paid them no mind, pulling out her phone as she headed to the front counter.