Who Needs a CEO? I Choose Stardom

”Hello? Dad? Have you eaten?”

After taking a week off, the crew had been busy filming scenes for other actors. There weren’t many scenes that didn’t involve the female lead to begin with, so now that she was back, she had to work nonstop on set to make up for lost time.

Ni Bingyan arrived at the film set first thing in the morning and had been busy ever since, barely having time to take a few sips of water.

Ever since her dad bought her an RV, she had started following the example of other celebrities and hired a private cook to prepare her meals on set.

After wrapping up for the day, she could return to her RV and immediately dig into a delicious meal. Her happiness meter was maxed out; she was truly easy to please.

Today, the cook had made her stir-fried shredded beef with young ginger, a dish that went perfectly with rice. She was just starting her second bowl when a call came in from Ni Guangli, which she found a little odd.

He usually loved to video call, claiming he needed to see his daughter from time to time just to feel at ease.

’It wasn’t a big deal.’

’Just as someone who loves a rich feast might occasionally crave a simple dish, maybe her dad just felt like making a regular phone call today?’

Ni Bingyan didn’t think much of it.

”I’ve eaten. What about you? Have you eaten? You went straight back to the set after returning. Are you busy?”

A few rival actresses had joined forces to launch a top-tier smear campaign against Ni Bingyan. But then, during a single livestream, Ni Guangli happened to mention that Bingyan hadn’t used her real name when making donations. The ”Sherlock Holmeses” among her fanbase immediately went to work and dug up Ni Bingyan’s secret Weibo account.

The content was so rich that fans who’d seen it joked they could produce an entire variety show based on her posts alone.

Netizens who stumbled upon it felt like they had discovered a massive treasure trove!

It wasn’t just her fans who were pleasantly surprised; even casual internet users found it fascinating!

It felt just like secretly peering through her window late at night!

What a rush!

Who knew the real Ni Bingyan was actually like this?!

[Unveiled: The Unknown Side of Ni Bingyan...]

[Shocking! Is This Who Ni Bingyan Really Is?!]

[Unbelievable: Ni Bingyan Does This Every Day!]

...

Clickbait accounts of all kinds swarmed in, and #NiBingyansSecretAccount# immediately shot to the top of the trending topics!

Now, it didn’t matter how many trolls the ”Avenger’s Alliance” sent after her; it was useless.

Against the vast ocean of real netizens, the efforts of paid trolls were like a praying mantis trying to stop a chariot—a surefire way to court their own doom.

Ni Guangli’s conscience pricked him.

He’d already caused trouble by letting one secret slip, and before that was even resolved, he’d accidentally revealed another.

He recalled the Weibo posts he had just seen.

Especially the one she wrote after getting a boyfriend...

Even he, her father, found it hard to look at, so it was no wonder that regular netizens couldn’t handle it. In just three short hours, the post had racked up over a hundred thousand comments. ’Don’t these people have anything better to do?!’

SIGH!

’The Old Ni family’s century of pristine reputation... ruined after all.’

”I’m not that busy! It’s work, and you have to be professional. Remember I told you I hired a cook? She made stir-fried beef for me today, and it was so delicious! I’ve already had two bowls!”

Ni Bingyan was truly good to her dad; she only ever told him the good news, never the bad.

”Busy is good, busy is good. Young people should focus on work and spend less time online...”

The moment he said that, Ni Guangli wanted to slap himself. He immediately tried to backtrack.

”You know our family’s gardener, Old Pang, right? His son got so addicted to video games that his wife left him. So, you know, don’t play video games.”

Ni Bingyan found this even stranger.

’Just a little while ago, Dad came all the way to Beijing to take me clubbing, saying that young people need to learn how to have fun to live life to the fullest, didn’t he?’

’If I hadn’t stopped him with all my might, he was even planning to buy me the latest gaming console!’

’Could it be... Dad misses me, but he’s too proud to say so directly?’

It had been a long time since they’d last seen each other, after all.

’My dad is the proud type; he’d never admit it.’

’And he’s too scared to fly right now...’

Thinking she understood what her father was getting at, Ni Bingyan felt a pang of guilt.

”Dad, I’ll work really hard and try to make time to come back and see you soon!”

The last thing Ni Guangli wanted right now was to see her—he didn’t even dare to video call. On top of that, he was still under observation at the hospital. Hearing her promise, he instantly panicked.

”Why would you come all the way back here? Just stay put! Try to fly as little as possible. It’s safer!”

Hearing this, Ni Bingyan sighed but agreed.

”Dad, I bought you a couple of belts at Fashion Week that are perfect for summer. They’re being delivered, so keep an eye out for the package!”

”Alright! Will do!”

As Ni Guangli agreed, he heard someone on the other end call out, ”Teacher Ni, it’s time for a makeup touch-up!” Knowing she was busy, he promptly hung up.

Still feeling uneasy, he decided to call Wei Shuojie to give her a heads-up.

Wei Shuojie, a woman approaching fifty, was still suffering from severe jet lag. She was so exhausted that she had skipped lunch and was still lying in bed.

When the call came and she saw it was Ni Guangli, she was instantly wide awake.

”Hello? Mr. Ni, is there something you need?”

Ni Guangli could tell from her voice that she had just woken up and felt rather embarrassed.

”Ah, Xiao Wei, I’m sorry to bother you while you’re recovering from jet lag. There’s something I need to tell you about Bingbing.”

Wei Shuojie sighed. She assumed he was about to bring up Ni Bingyan’s charitable donations and was just about to tell him that she already knew and it wasn’t a big deal, when she heard his remorseful voice.

”I... my tongue slipped during my livestream, and now... netizens have discovered Bingbing’s secret Weibo account...”

”What?!”

Wei Shuojie shot upright in bed.

’A secret account?’

’A secret Weibo account?’

’Ni Bingyan has a secret Weibo account?’

’The woman who lets her phone die all the time without so much as a glance actually has a secret Weibo account?’

She figured she must have slept in a weird position last night and was now hallucinating.

Swinging a long leg over, she quickly rolled onto her other side.

But when she realized what she was doing, a sense of dread washed over her, and she shot up into a sitting position with a SWISH!

”I had no idea she had a secret account, and I didn’t know netizens were so resourceful! It was just a coincidence. I saw so many people slandering her online, so I went live to tell everyone that Bingbing didn’t commit donation fraud, she just didn’t use her real name for the donations. SIGH. Who knew they could dig up her Weibo account from that?”

Wei Shuojie’s voice was trembling. ”What... what did she post on her Weibo? And also, people are attacking her for doing charity? Who’s that brainless? Are they asking for public humiliation?”

Ni Bingyan’s Weibo posts were completely unfiltered, and Ni Guangli was too embarrassed to describe them, so he only told half the story.

”Oh, nothing much. Just some posts about her study progress and things like that. As for the people slandering her last night, I’ve realized it seems to be an organized attack. But don’t worry, I’ve already hired a lawyer and we’re gathering evidence. I guarantee you, not a single one of them will get away with it! They’re dead wrong if they think the internet is a lawless land!”

Wei Shuojie wasn’t about to take his word for it. After getting Ni Bingyan’s user ID from him, she immediately hung up and rushed to see the disaster for herself.

Scrolling in chronological order, she saw the first post was a casual snapshot from New York. The caption was full of excitement, which seemed normal enough.

’What the hell is this?’

’Has she not seen a man in ten thousand years?’

The more Wei Shuojie scrolled, the angrier she became.

’She really treats netizens like her closest friends, doesn’t she! She’ll say anything!’