Who Needs a CEO? I Choose Stardom

’So this is what he’s like with his friends.’

’He doesn’t put on any billionaire airs at all; he’s no different from a regular person.’

Unlike Jiang Sheng, Sang Yuan didn’t make friends based on family status, but on whether they clicked.

Jiang Sheng’s friends were mostly the sons and daughters of the elite from his own social circle.

One day it was throwing a party, the next it was buying a yacht. If you bought a pink diamond at an auction, I had to buy a blue one, or I’d lose face the second I walked out the door.

Sang Yuan’s friends, on the other hand, came from all walks of life, and he had met most of them when he was a student.

He had always been low-key, never pursuing luxury in his clothes or belongings, so he looked no different from his classmates. Whenever he met someone he clicked with, they would become friends before they knew it.

Years after graduation, some classmates only found out about his family background when they saw news of him attending a Jia Cheng board meeting with his parents.

Later, when they saw him on the financial news and learned that he had founded Yuan Yan Venture Capital, the class group chat—aside from playfully demanding he send out red envelopes for everyone’s amusement—was just a long stream of ”Yuanzi is a badass!”

That’s right. No matter how successful he became, in his classmates’ hearts, he was still ”Yuanzi,” the youngest in their class. With his sworn brothers, he still had to follow the age ranking and call the older ones ”Big Bro.”

The elite education he received was different from the Western style.

Aside from being kept close by his elders from a young age and learning from their words and actions, his academic path followed the traditional Chinese route.

He passed the high school entrance exam to get into the best high school, then passed the college entrance exam to study finance at Beijing University. During his sophomore year, he spent a year abroad as an exchange student to get adjusted. Finding it interesting, he then applied to a school he liked and pursued his graduate studies overseas.

After finishing his master’s degree, he decided Wall Street and the like weren’t all that interesting, so he returned to China, took up a position at the family company, and contentedly settled into his work.

According to Sang Jingwen, even the best institutional education couldn’t compare to the company of one’s parents and family.

There was too much flash and frivolity in Western-style elite education. It was far better to learn practical experience and worldly wisdom from one’s elders. At least their success was proven, whereas much of what professors in academies taught was just armchair theorizing.

As for networking, only ordinary children needed to go to school to make connections with their peers.

It was no wonder Sang Jingwen was so proud.

When his son, barely in his twenties, attended official events with him, media press releases described them as attending ”together,” as partners. Other people’s sons, brought along simply to gain experience, were described as being ”in tow.”

In terms of capability, his peers in their social circle weren’t even in the same league.

That was why Sang Yuan never had to consider ulterior motives when making friends; he only had to see if their personalities clicked.

His classmates from university and grad school might still occasionally ask for his help since they were in the same industry, but his high school friends worked in fields completely unrelated to his own.

With no conflicts of interest, and everyone holding down good jobs, it was safe to say that in all these years, none of them had ever asked him for help—except for two from less well-off families who had borrowed money when they were short on cash to buy their first homes.

On the contrary, it was Sang Yuan who more often turned to his brothers for help.

After all, it helps to have friends in high places, and his sworn brothers were all highly capable leaders in their respective fields.

To give Ni Bingyan a little more confidence in their future together, he had even asked his single friends to cooperate by pretending to be away on business trips so they wouldn’t be there.

Thus, Sang Yuan was completely confident about today’s get-together.

”Want some water?”

Sang Yuan wasn’t one to be glued to his phone, chatting endlessly. Instead, he was always paying attention to Ni Bingyan’s needs.

Noticing her unconsciously lick her lips, he guessed she was thirsty. He immediately took out a pink tumbler with a straw and brought it to her mouth.

The hot water he had poured in the morning was now perfectly warm. Inside was a slice of fresh lemon, just the way she liked it.

Ni Bingyan smiled, took a sip, and asked him,

”Do they have any pet peeves? Is there anything I should be careful about?”

Now that she had a boyfriend, she was about to be introduced to his social circle. Since this was a first for her, Ni Bingyan found herself growing anxious without even realizing it.

This anxiety was even worse than what she felt about meeting his parents.

After all, she was already familiar with Sang Yuan’s family. Although adjusting to the new dynamic in their relationship would take time, it wouldn’t be too difficult. His friends and their families, however, were complete strangers to her.

Sang Yuan gave a resigned sigh and began to tell her about each of the friends who would be there today.

”The oldest, he’s a police officer named Qin Dong. His wife is an officer, too. They have a three-year-old son named Lele.

”The second oldest is a lawyer, Wang Cheng. His wife is an accountant, and they have a chubby eight-month-old daughter named Guoguo. I went to her one-month celebration by myself. For her first birthday banquet, I finally won’t have to go alone.”