Who Needs a CEO? I Choose Stardom

The next morning, Ni Bingyan got up and followed her usual routine: listening to the news, working out, making breakfast, eating, and feeding the dog. Once she was done, she went upstairs to organize her manuscript.

She had a good memory, so once she got used to the keyboard layout, her typing became very fast. Plus, since she was just transcribing a manuscript into a digital file and didn’t need to brainstorm, it was even quicker.

She estimated she’d be done in a few more days and could hand it over to the publisher.

Sometime during her work, Sang Yuan stopped by. He brought her a fresh horn melon, told her not to go out today, and then nonchalantly headed off to work.

Before he left, Ni Bingyan gave him a hug. Her eyes twinkled with adoration as she said, ”You’re so amazing! I have to work hard to become as outstanding as you!” Sang Yuan was so happy he could barely think straight.

Even though he knew this was one of her usual tricks, Sang Yuan fell for it every time.

Especially when he saw other people’s wives scolding their husbands—”How can you be so useless? You can’t do anything right, and you eat everything in sight!”—the contrast made his own happiness multiply again and again.

Having filled Sang Yuan with fighting spirit with just a few simple words, Ni Bingyan returned to her study and buried herself in her work.

A little after eleven, her eyes started to feel a bit sore. Ni Bingyan went downstairs to give Wangcai some water and washed the horn melon. Just as she was about to cut it up and eat it, the phone rang.

Seeing it was the guardhouse landline, Ni Bingyan answered, ”Hello?”

”Ah, Miss Ni, you have a package. Are you home?”

”Yes, I am! What package? I haven’t bought anything.”

To ensure privacy and security, the residential community’s management offered a package receiving service. Residents could just use the guardhouse’s address and phone number, and once an item arrived, the property manager would deliver it to their home.

Ni Bingyan wasn’t very reliant on electronic gadgets. She preferred shopping at brick-and-mortar stores over online shopping, so she rarely received packages.

”The package hasn’t been opened, so we’re not sure. Is it a convenient time for you to receive it? If so, we’ll have someone bring it over to your house right away.”

’Whatever it is, I’ll know once I see it.’

Ni Bingyan agreed. A short while later, a property management employee drove up on a small three-wheeled cart to deliver it.

”What a huge box!”

Ni Bingyan exclaimed in surprise and leaned in to look at the shipping label on the box.

”From Qianxi? I don’t know anyone from there.”

There was no specific return address, and the sender’s name didn’t look like a person’s name. Holding a box cutter, Ni Bingyan felt a little hesitant to open it.

After all, she had just officially announced her relationship. It would be terrifying if some crazy stalker fan sent her all sorts of strange things.

Seeing her hesitation, the young property management employee quickly figured out why. He immediately smiled and reached for her box cutter, ”Let me open it for you!”

”It’s okay, I’ll do it myself! Thank you for your trouble!”

’What if there’s some kind of acid-spraying device inside? I can’t let someone else get disfigured.’

’This is my problem, I have to handle it myself.’

Seeing her refusal, the employee didn’t press the issue. He declined Ni Bingyan’s offer of some grapes and left.

Ni Bingyan closed the courtyard gate, went to the storage room to find a large pot lid to use as a shield, and put on a pair of rubber gloves. Only then did she approach the cardboard box and carefully slice open the tape.

When the box was open, she found it was filled with letter after letter.

Old-fashioned, ochre-colored envelopes were tied into bundles with red yarn. At a glance, there had to be several hundred letters in the box.

Holding up the pot lid, Ni Bingyan gently rummaged through the letters. She saw one on top that wasn’t tied with the others and opened it first.

”Dear Miss N:

Hello!

Please forgive me for writing to you so abruptly.

I am the principal of XX Hope Primary School in XX County, XX City, Qianxi Province. Today is the first anniversary of our school’s establishment.

To teach the children to be grateful and to understand that the opportunity to learn is precious, we held an activity on our school’s anniversary for the children to write letters to you.

Since we don’t know who you are or where you live, we entrusted the Youth Development Foundation to forward these letters. We hope this will not cause you any trouble...”

Ni Bingyan took off her gloves and used them as a cushion to sit on. She tossed the large pot lid aside and couldn’t help but start reading right there in the shade of a tree.

These were letters from all the students and teachers of a Hope Primary School she had donated. Each letter was sealed in its own envelope with the sender’s name and class written on the front. To save on postage, there were no stamps.

All the letters had been carefully organized and bundled together by grade and class.

The younger children couldn’t write many characters. Some had typos, and others used pinyin. Every character was like a dancing musical note.

Through these words, Ni Bingyan could almost see their determined faces.

One letter was from a fifth-grader named Wei Jiajia:

”Miss N:

I’m back in school again. I always practiced the characters I learned before by writing them on the ground, so I still remember them. Because of that, starting fifth grade hasn’t been too hard for me.

My mom finally gave birth to a little brother. She has to be busy taking care of him, and I have to be busy taking care of myself.

I know that only by studying hard will I have a bright future.

So thank you.

Our teacher says that fate is heavy, and our fates are especially heavy.

But I feel like I have the courage to challenge it now.

Because life is heavier than fate.

Wei Jiajia

Month X, Day X, Year X”

As Ni Bingyan read through them one by one, she knew that the children had written all these letters themselves.

The older children could at least express themselves. Regardless of whether the format was correct, they could more or less use words to describe their thoughts and feelings.

As for the first-graders, because there were no kindergartens in the mountains, the children started school late, and many were illiterate. Inside their large envelopes, there were all sorts of strange and wonderful things.

Some contained a button, some a pretty little stone, some a leaf, and one even had a piece of a white steamed bun.

After reading through all the letters, Ni Bingyan was overwhelmed with emotion, but she didn’t feel like talking to anyone about it. Instead, she logged into her anonymous ”tree hole” Weibo account and posted a photo.

[A gift from the Big Mountain. I hope all these Children of the Mountains have a bright future. box_of_letters.JPG]

Sang Yuan was supervising workers laying down carpet when his phone chimed with a DING-DONG notification. He took it out and saw that she had posted on Weibo again.

Seeing what it was about, Sang Yuan smiled and liked her post, then went back to checking on the carpet.

When Ni Bingyan visited yesterday, Sang Yuan had naturally noticed her embarrassment. Now, with a thick carpet laid down, there would be no more CLACK-CLACK sounds from high heels.

After the workers left, he called over the head of the logistics department and asked about the company’s charity plans for the year.

When he learned that many of the plans had not yet been implemented, he immediately frowned.

”We are a company with a conscience. We won’t last long if we only focus on short-term profits. We must have a sense of social responsibility. Children are the future of our country. Ensuring they have good learning conditions is a major initiative, no less important than our company’s most profitable project. I expect you to handle this well, understand? Don’t drag your feet! Get it done immediately!”

’The boss came to the company first thing in the morning, which was already ridiculous enough. Now it’s even more ridiculous—he’s having thick, high-end carpets laid in all the company’s hallways.’ The head of the logistics department’s heart was bleeding from the expense.

’And now he’s rushing the charity work, as if he can’t rest until all the money is spent!’

’But it’s only August!’

’There are still four months left in the year.’

’What’s the rush?’

The joys and sorrows of the world are never the same. President Sang wanted to stay in sync with his wife, while his employee’s mind was filled with nothing but saving money.

”Old Wang, you can’t think like that! When money needs to be spent, it needs to be spent. You can’t be so stingy!”

”No, Boss. I just feel that this carpet is... unnecessary.”

Old Wang had been with him for thirteen years, which was why he was entrusted with managing the company’s purse strings. As such, he wasn’t one to keep his thoughts to himself.

”I know you think the carpet is too expensive and a hassle to maintain. But once it’s laid, people can walk around without making noise and disturbing others. Isn’t that great? Striving to make the work environment more comfortable for our employees allows them to create greater value. Don’t just fixate on these little things.”

’The boss is using company funds for personal reasons.’ Old Wang nodded numbly, pretending not to notice.

’Probably everyone else in the company is happy, and I’m the only one worrying.’