Who Needs a CEO? I Choose Stardom

”A mad dog should be locked up at home, not let out to bite people. Got it?

”Now that its head’s been bashed in and it’s in agony, it finally knows it was wrong?

”Heh, too late for that~”

*Rainy Days with an Umbrella* was already in theaters. As for *Soul Ferryman*, which was being aired as it was filmed, its popularity had prompted investors to pour in more money and extend the series by four episodes. Because of that, filming wouldn’t wrap for a few more days.

In the August weather, Guozigou was unbearably hot. By ten in the morning, the cement ground was hot enough to scorch your feet. Walking under an umbrella, Ni Bingyan cursed the thin soles of her shoes.

After finishing a scene, Ni Bingyan wiped the sweat from her brow and returned to her RV, where she saw Wei Shuojie sitting on the living room sofa, on the phone.

Although her voice was gentle and she still had a smile on her face, Ni Bingyan knew that the person on the other end of the line must have their hair standing on end after hearing those words.

Wei Shuojie was famous for being protective of her own, not to mention petty and vindictive. The day of the show recording, when Tang Li’s manager heard her offending people left and right on stage, he knew they were in for it.

And sure enough, after Ni Bingyan threw some shade at her, Wei Shuojie snatched the October cover of *Fashion* that Tang Li had originally secured.

For Tang Li, an opportunity like this was once in a lifetime. When she got the news, she cried until her eyes were swollen. If her manager hadn’t desperately held her back, she probably would have started a livestream to curse them out.

The manager had originally thought that since Ni Bingyan had already gotten her revenge, they were even. The artists had settled things between themselves, so there was no need for the managers to get involved.

He never expected that after ten days of silence, Wei Shuojie would strike, and stab him so viciously.

”Sister Wei, we’re all in the same business. We see each other all the time. There’s no benefit to anyone if you take things this far. You know how rare an opportunity this cover is for our Lili. Could you please be merciful...”

Wei Shuojie cut him off mercilessly.

”My Bingbing has always been an honest person. She never gets involved in that smear campaign nonsense, and she never says a bad word about anyone. How you acted on the set before, and how we acted—I’m sure everyone can judge for themselves. Let me make this clear: you guys started this! You want to step on my head to climb up? You should’ve checked if you had the skill for it first! I don’t bully people, but if someone wants to bully me, that’s absolutely impossible!”

Seeing Wei Shuojie wave her off, Ni Bingyan went to wash her face.

The sound of splashing water couldn’t drown out the suddenly raised voice from the living room:

”Explain? Hah! If you wanted to explain, why didn’t you do it sooner? I gave you a chance, but you threw it back in my face. And now you’re blaming me? Don’t! Just don’t! I can’t bear you calling me ’Sister’! Stop, just stop! I can’t be bothered to listen to your excuses!”

Ni Bingyan dried her face, patted on some toner, and came out to see Wei Shuojie angrily hang up the phone.

”Tang Li?”

”Her manager. Tsk, another clueless fool. No wonder he’s been in the business for over a decade and still hasn’t amounted to anything.”

Wei Shuojie grumbled casually and then dropped the subject, pulling out a contract.

”Come on, I came over today because I have good news for you.”

Seeing her avoid the topic of the phone call and just beckon her over, Ni Bingyan walked over and sat down across from her. ”What good news?”

”Once you’re done filming here, you’re shooting the October cover for *Fashion* on Friday.”

The two had been working together for a long time now. Wei Shuojie knew where her bottom line was, and Ni Bingyan didn’t want to miss out on good opportunities because of red tape. They had agreed that in situations like this, Wei Shuojie could sign the contract directly.

”*Fashion*?”

Ni Bingyan was a little surprised.

Ever since she won the Best Actress award, many magazines had approached her for cover shoots, but Wei Shuojie had turned her nose up at even the top five secondary publications, holding out for the five major ones.

However, the magazines had been hesitant.

From the beginning of the year until now, first came the explosive popularity of *Breakup*, which won her a Jinxiang Award for Best Supporting Actress. Then, two TV series with massive national appeal were released. Add to that the incident with Tang Li, and Wei Shuojie had finally secured *Fashion*.

”This is a great start. Keep it up! We’ll do even better next year. And the year after that, they’ll probably be begging us to be on their cover.”

Wei Shuojie’s face was brimming with a joy she couldn’t suppress!

Over the past year, Ni Bingyan’s diligence had made Wei Shuojie’s confidence soar.

’I really didn’t misjudge her!’

Last year, she was still calling in favors for a spot in a supplementary issue of *Beauty*. This year, she was on the October cover of a major publication. Once the three films—*Demon Suppression Tower*, *Inheritor*, and *Zui Sheng Building*—were released over the next two years, as long as they didn’t bomb at the box office, Ni Bingyan would be a massive star the year after!

The entertainment industry is just that realistic. Or rather, society is just that realistic.

People and things with value are loved by all. Those without value will eventually be cruelly discarded.

”Okay, let’s keep working hard together!”

Ni Bingyan had seen all the sweat Sister Wei had poured out for her. It was her good fortune to have met such a compatible partner.

”I wonder if the grapes at home are ripe yet. When I go back in a few days, let’s have a barbecue party at my place. You can bring Xiao Zhi and the others, and Brother Biao and Sister Li should bring their families too. We’ll have a big celebration.”

Wang Biao and Duanmu Li were sitting in the driver’s cabin playing cards. Hearing himself mentioned, Wang Biao smiled and agreed.

”I’ll bring my wife, Sister Wang, over next time. You can try to reform her and get her to stop being such a slacker.”

Ni Bingyan laughed. ”If one way doesn’t work, another will. Maybe Xiao Kui just doesn’t like studying, you know? Perhaps if she tries a different path, she’ll succeed right away. Brother Biao, you shouldn’t be so anxious all the time.”

”I hope so!”

But Duanmu Li said, ”I’m a single pringle, where am I supposed to bring a plus-one from? My brother did say he’d bring you all some crabs in the fall, but it’s not time for crabs yet!”

It was rare to see her say so much, so Ni Bingyan sidled up and threw an arm around her neck. ”Then you should hurry up and find one!”

It was scorching hot, and no one liked having someone clinging to them. Duanmu Li pushed her a couple of times, but when she couldn’t move her, she started mimicking Ni Bingyan’s words from the show in a high-pitched voice:

”Me? When I look for a partner, first, I have to find someone responsible. Second, it has to be someone I like. And also, it has to be someone my daddy likes too~”

Duanmu Li’s father had passed away long ago; she was just saying it to tease Ni Bingyan.

Seeing her about to raise her hands to make a heart shape above her head, Ni Bingyan completely lost it, and the two dissolved into a fit of playful laughter and roughhousing.

”Oh, right, I almost forgot. The proofs for the art album are out. Since you’re always running around, the publisher sent them to the office. I brought a set for you. Take a look and see if there are any problems. If there’s anything you’re not happy with, they can revise it. If it’s all good, they can go to print and release it.”

Wei Shuojie pulled a brown paper bag out from under the table. Opening it, she took out four sixteenmo-sized art albums.

Ni Bingyan took them and saw that the tea-brown covers had a certain classical charm.

The top volume featured a painting of Wangcai chasing his tail in a circle on the cover. To the right was written—*The Art of Ni Bingyan: Encounter*.

The next volume’s cover had a funny picture of Bai Jing, with the words *The Art of Ni Bingyan: Sights* written to the right in the same font and format.

The one after that had a cover with an ink wash painting of a withered lotus, titled *The Art of Ni Bingyan: Ink Wash*.

The final volume’s cover was a collage of four paintings: spring peaches, summer lotuses, autumn persimmons, and winter oranges. The title was *The Art of Ni Bingyan: Four Seasons*.

The bottom half of the albums was encased in a hardcover slipcase. The binding was exquisite and the printing meticulous. It was obvious at a glance that the publishing house had put a lot of care into it.

Looking at the contents, the image quality was sharp, the layout was well-done, and there wasn’t a single mistake in the small text and captions.

Ni Bingyan’s heart swelled as she looked at them. She stroked the albums in disbelief. ”So fast?”

’Doesn’t everyone online say it takes several months?’

It’s only been a little over a month, and the samples are already out.

”Starlight Publishing House is an established publisher; they’re very familiar with the process, so of course it’s fast. Besides, this art album of yours is guaranteed to be a huge hit. Once it’s published, they’ll be making money hand over fist—it’s no different from robbing a bank, but without the legal risk. Of course the publisher is going to rush it!”

”Okay, I’ll check it today after work. If there are no mistakes, they can go to print.”

Seeing her flipping through the albums, unable to put them down, Wei Shuojie couldn’t help but smile. ”You were so dead set against publishing before. Now you see how happy it makes you, don’t you?”

Ni Bingyan just grinned foolishly and didn’t say a word, pretending she hadn’t heard.

Confidence isn’t built in a day. Wei Shuojie didn’t press the issue and continued with the arrangements.

”As soon as this show wraps, you’ll stay home for a while, organize your essays, and submit them to the publisher for review. If there are no issues, they can be published. This process is slower, so it probably won’t be on the market until the end of the year.”

”Okay. I’ll type up the manuscript and format it a bit. Maybe that will significantly reduce the workload for the publisher, and it can be released before the end of the year.”

Having seen her own art albums, Ni Bingyan was now especially looking forward to her essays being published.

”With your one-finger typing style? Forget it. It’ll take you forever to get it done. Any clerk at the publishing house can type faster than you. Don’t waste your time.”

”The tables have turned! I’m not the person I used to be! I’m a super-fast typist now! If you don’t believe me, watch!”

Seeing her about to grab the laptop from the shelf, Wei Shuojie quickly stopped her.

”Whatever you want! It’s fine if that one’s a bit late anyway, we’re not in a rush. Even if you finish it, the publisher might still wait for the right time to release it!”

”Mm.”

Ni Bingyan agreed. Just as she was about to go back to looking at the art albums, she thought of something and asked Wei Shuojie, ”Sister Wei, are there any extra copies of these proofs? Can I have a few more sets?”

”Just have Xiao Li make a trip to the office later. I have a huge pile of them in my office, and I was just wondering what to do with them!”

The publisher had already considered that she would be giving them away as gifts, so they had prepared several sets when they sent them over.