Who Needs a CEO? I Choose Stardom

Because the Ni and Lu families were close and got along exceptionally well, Sang Yuan was very invested in Lu Xun’s wedding.

The three of them arrived at the Lu family’s home a day early. This time, instead of flying, they organized a whole motorcade.

The journey from Qingcheng Mountain to Songxi took over ten hours of driving. Including breaks along the way, the group traveled for a full day and a half.

Not only were the drivers exhausted, but the passengers were too.

But no one complained.

Everyone knew, with a silent understanding, that Ni Guangli would probably never dare to fly again for the rest of his life.

He, however, wouldn’t admit it.

To make his decision seem reasonable, he even came up with an excuse:

”We have so much stuff, flying would be a hassle, wouldn’t it? This way, we just pack it all in the trunks, and one trip does it.”

With a tacit understanding, everyone praised him for being so thoughtful.

The motorcade’s arrival in Songxi Town caused a sensation.

After all, no matter how dusty they were from the road, it was clear this was a fleet of luxury cars.

The Lu family got word and were all waiting at the entrance to the town. Besides them, a large crowd of neighbors had gathered to watch.

This motorcade had been secretly photographed all the way from Rongcheng City. Once people realized it was the Ni family on the move, it instantly blew up the trending topics online.

The townspeople loved scrolling through short videos and had been looking forward to this. Of course, they had to come get the gossip firsthand and, while they were at it, pull out their phones to post a clip.

When the old madam saw Ni Guangli get out of the car in one piece, she couldn’t hold back her tears. She rushed up, grabbed her son-in-law’s arm, and started to cry.

The old master’s eyes reddened as well, but he simply gave a slight nod. ”It’s good that you’re here.”

Everyone had kept the previous incident from them, but it wasn’t like they couldn’t read. A quick search online was all it took for them to find out.

Afraid of worrying the family, they had to pretend they didn’t know. Now, seeing him in person, they could finally feel at ease.

After the pleasantries, Ni Guangli saw Lu Xun and changed his tune:

”A Xun, my boy, take a look at the wedding cars your uncle got for you. Impressive enough?”

Songxi was a small place. The Lu family had some nice cars, but assembling such a uniform fleet wasn’t easy.

A moved Lu Xun hugged his uncle, thanking him for his thoughtfulness, then looked behind him.

But the person who emerged was not his cousin, but his cousin’s boyfriend.

Bringing him to such an important event—the Lu family understood the implication immediately and was incredibly enthusiastic toward Sang Yuan!

Everyone returned home. With no outsiders around, Sang Yuan presented his gifts one by one, delighting the entire family.

After dinner, upon learning that Bingyan’s aunt and uncle still had last-minute preparations to make for the wedding tomorrow, Sang Yuan immediately followed them and quietly began to lend a hand.

How could they let an honored guest do chores?

The aunt doted on Ni Bingyan, and by extension, found her boyfriend especially pleasing to the eye. Naturally, she was the first to object.

”Your uncle and I will be done in a bit. A Yuan, go hang out with your cousin!”

Sang Yuan smiled slightly.

”Auntie, I should get some experience. It’ll be useful later. Just pretend I’m not here.”

He said it so frankly that it made all the elders laugh so hard they couldn’t close their mouths!

Especially Ni Guangli, who stood under the eaves with his hands on his hips, laughing as he promised him:

”Then you’d better learn fast! Once you’ve got it down, our family will host one too!”

”Yes! Dad! I’m all yours! You can’t go back on your word!”

Sang Yuan ran over dramatically, about to hug his waist and act cute.

After dinner, many neighbors came over and gathered in the Lu family’s courtyard to chat. Seeing how well the two of them got along, everyone was utterly astonished!

They’d only ever heard of fathers-in-law who couldn’t stand their sons-in-law. How was this son-in-law so good at pleasing his father-in-law?

Everyone in the area knew that the Old Lu Family’s wealthy son-in-law—Ni Guangli—seemed friendly and able to chat with anyone, but was actually very hard to please.

’This handsome guy has some serious skills!’

Ni Bingyan covered her face as she walked into the house and complained to her cousin:

”I’ve never seen him like this before! How can such a serious person come to our house and immediately start acting so weird? Is he really not embarrassed?”

A domineering CEO outside, he instantly turns into a goofy husky at home. The change in style was truly bizarre.

But her cousin, as an onlooker, saw things clearly:

”What do you know? It’s called winning over the elders! Don’t you see how much the family likes him?! They can’t wait to get my brother’s wedding over with so they can hurry up and plan one for you two!”

Listening to the cheerful chatter outside, Ni Bingyan whispered into her cousin’s ear, ”Actually, I’m a little scared.”

”Scared of what? He doesn’t seem like the type to beat his wife.”

Ni Bingyan gave her a look that said, ’How can you be so sweet and naive?’

”There are things far more terrifying than domestic violence! I’m afraid he’ll have a change of heart before long. The nicer he is to me now, the meaner he’ll be to me later! It’s one thing when you’re just dating, but what if you’re married with kids and your husband turns out to be unreliable? How would you even go on?”

Ni Bingyan felt that one’s best years should be spent building a career.

’Only by becoming better myself can I be worthy of such a good man.’

’Otherwise, even if I’m lucky enough to have him head over heels for me now, what happens when he comes to his senses and regrets it?’

’Once I become strong enough, I’ll at least be in a secure position, able to advance or retreat as needed.’

’Right now, I’m just not good enough!’

Lu Yao was dumbfounded. ”Sis, you’re already thinking that far ahead?”

She found it a little terrifying.

Her cousin was only a few years older than her. Right now, her own mind was filled with romantic fantasies about dating; she hadn’t even considered the concept of marriage, let alone having kids.

’But here my cousin is, probably already considering what kind of urn to use at the end of her life...’

’I guess the brain wiring of a normal person and an overachiever are just fundamentally different.’

’How else could I not quite understand what my cousin means?’

Ni Bingyan gave her a ”you silly little goose” look and ignored her.

Helpless, Lu Yao took out the comic she had drawn to show her.

”Sis, do you think this could be published?”

She had typeset it herself, then printed and bound it with her own printer.

Ni Bingyan looked through it carefully, thought it was quite good, and gave it high praise, patting her chest as she promised:

”If you want to do it, just give it a brave shot. Don’t be afraid of poor sales—even if you just keep it for yourself, that’s great too! You have no idea how happy you’ll feel when you hold a professionally published book in your hands!”

”Here, show me.”

Lu Yao immediately pulled a picture book from under her pillow and, with a THWAP, placed it in Ni Bingyan’s hands.

Ni Bingyan looked down and saw it was one of her own art books.

Ni Bingyan gave a mischievous laugh and changed the subject:

”So, *The Four Seasons* is your favorite?”

Lu Yao shot her a sideways glance but didn’t press the issue.

”Yeah. I can see your love for life in it, and it’s full of sincerity. It’s really amazing! Your technique is great too, but most importantly, there’s this sense of positive energy. I really love the mood in your art! Hey, you know what I’m trying to say, right?”

Hearing such direct praise for the first time, Ni Bingyan blushed a little.

”Oh, it’s not that good. Do you want to hear what I was thinking when I painted them? I can tell you about my creative process.”

Lu Yao smiled and praised her, ”You’re so nice, cousin. So warm, just like my favorite novelist.”

Ni Bingyan nodded. ”We both have to do well!”

As the two of them flipped through the art book, the mention of her favorite author prompted Lu Yao to ask:

”When is *Demon Suppression Tower* coming out? I really want to see if they butchered the adaptation or not!”

”Don’t worry! Sang Yuan invested in the movie specifically to get the original author onto the screenwriting team. It’s definitely not a butchered adaptation. Barring any surprises, it’s scheduled for National Day. When you’re on break, you can go watch it three, four, five times and set an example for the other fans!”

Lu Yao laughed and lunged over to tickle her. ”I haven’t been a stan in years! Stop making fun of me!”

A while ago, Han Feifan’s career tanked; he was arrested and sent for re-education. This part of her life had become Lu Yao’s cringey past. Now, even hearing the word ”fan” made her paranoid.

The two cousins, who hadn’t seen each other in a long time, were happily playing together, but Ni Guangli had taken his prospective son-in-law out for a stroll.

In his words, the long car ride had been too stuffy. The mountains and water here were beautiful, perfect for a walk.

’The Lu family is a big clan. So many aunts and uncles, and many of them haven’t even met my wonderful son-in-law yet!’

Sang Yuan carried a big, bright red drawstring lucky bag. He always stayed half a step behind Ni Guangli, and whenever a child called out to him, he would immediately pull out a red envelope.

”It’s our first time meeting, and we came in a hurry, so I didn’t prepare any gifts. Go buy yourselves something you like!”

WOW!

The children were ecstatic, crowding around him and asking incessantly, ”Brother-in-law, when are you coming back?!”

Sang Yuan was in high spirits but put on an obedient expression. ”Oh, that depends on my dad! I don’t know the way without him leading me!”

He was playing the part of a new son-in-law to a T.

It was as if he had amnesia—not only did he forget he wasn’t married, he probably also forgot he wasn’t even engaged.

Ni Bingyan saw that they were still showing off late into the evening and hadn’t come home, so she went out to find them, just in time to see this scene.

’I’m doomed. This thick-skinned guy! Conquering her dad wasn’t enough, now he’s not even sparing the relatives on her grandma’s side!’

’If I were to marry someone else, I’d probably never be able to explain it to my friends and family.’

’What a weirdo!’

Seeing her dad, glowing with pride, telling people how his son-in-law had tricked him into getting a check-up at the hospital, which ended up discovering his kidney stones, Ni Bingyan sighed and didn’t correct him.

’Right now, he’s racking his brains trying to marry me. I’d like to see just how many years he can keep this up without having a change of heart!’