Who Needs a CEO? I Choose Stardom

Many of the film critics invited to the premiere were hired shills. At the end of the day, it was all just business.

They took the money, so naturally, they found all sorts of creative ways to praise the film.

At first, Ni Bingyan was quite excited reading them. The praise made her feel light as a feather. After all, it was her first time playing the female lead, so she cared a lot about the audience’s opinion.

It took her a good while to figure it out.

Her name had been submitted for the Outstanding Actress award at the Huabiao Awards. It was most likely her agency getting involved to build up hype for her. Looking at these reviews, eight out of ten were praising her acting.

Her acting was good, and she certainly had a natural flair for it, but it hadn’t reached a sublime level. It wasn’t so incredible that she deserved to be praised to the high heavens.

Once she realized this, the initial rush of excitement quickly faded, and she cooled down.

Back in her trailer, she quickly washed up and went straight to sleep. She wasn’t tossing and turning with anxiety at all, which meant Wu Huijuan and Duanmu Li never got the chance to offer the comforting words they had prepared.

The next day, at seven sharp, the assistant director’s assistant came knocking on her door for her makeup call.

”Ma’am, filming for the first scene starts at eight on the dot. We have a lot of scenes today. It’s a tight schedule and a heavy workload, so please bear with us!”

The young assistant was a smooth talker. His voice was just right, not too loud and not too soft. Wu Huijuan turned off the stove, opened the door to the RV, and while scooping noodles into a bowl, craned her neck to tell him:

”She didn’t get back until after three last night. She’s had less than four hours of sleep. Let her sleep a little longer. I’m keeping an eye on the time! We won’t mess up the schedule!”

They were filming indoor scenes today, and the parking lot was close to the soundstage. The makeup for this film didn’t take much time, so sleeping in a little longer was perfectly doable.

Just as the young assistant was about to leave, he saw Ni Bingyan push open the interior door and walk out, rubbing her eyes. She had obviously been woken up by the commotion.

”It’s fine, Sister Wu. The first scene today is about being pestered by a suitor after finishing a night shift. Being tired and listless is actually perfect for it. I can come back and sleep during a break when they’re filming someone else.”

They wouldn’t have her filming all day without a single break, anyway. The second female lead didn’t have that many scenes.

Wu Huijuan agreed, then asked her, ”What do you want for breakfast? I’m having noodles.”

She then turned to the young assistant. ”Have you eaten yet? Want to join us for a bite?”

The young assistant smiled and waved him off. ”I still have to go get Sister An. See you later!”

Usually, for makeup calls, they wake up the actors with lower status first to let the big stars sleep in a little longer. It was perfectly normal for them to call Ni Bingyan before An Xin.

”See you!”

They saw each other every day, so they were already familiar faces. Ni Bingyan waved for him to go on ahead, then went into the bedroom to comb her hair and wash her face. Halfway through, she remembered she hadn’t said what she wanted for breakfast and shouted to Wu Huijuan, her face covered in foam, ”Sister Wu, I’ll have noodles too! Mildly spicy, no garlic.”

”Got it!”

Sister Wu agreed, but couldn’t help but mutter, ”This acting business really is tough. You never eat or sleep well. At least we’re in the city here, where it’s easy to buy groceries. If we were out in the middle of nowhere, I bet we wouldn’t even be able to find fresh vegetables.”

Ni Bingyan pretended not to hear.

’What isn’t hard work these days?’

’At least acting is a high-paying profession. It’s hard work, sure, but the pay is great!’

’How many people work hard all year and still have to go into debt just to support their families!’

’You have to be grateful for what you have.’

Once an actor joins a production, it’s difficult to maintain a regular schedule.

Filming itself is often affected by all sorts of factors, causing wrap times to be delayed indefinitely. Then there’s the makeup. Modern dramas are fine since they don’t take much time. But if you were filming a historical drama and had the first scene of the day, you’d probably have to be up by 4:30 AM.

After breakfast, she arrived at the set looking exhausted. When she came out from hair and makeup to see the director, he cracked a rare smile. ”See? I told you today was perfect for this scene. Look at her, all listless and drained. Doesn’t she look exactly like someone who just got off a night shift? Huh? Shen Bingyi? How are you feeling?”

Ni Bingyan laughed, and even the dark circles under her eyes seemed to become endearing. ”I’d love to go back and sleep until this afternoon! But I’m guessing you wouldn’t let me!”

Chen Zhiwen lightly tapped her arm with a rolled-up script. ”In your dreams! Let me tell you, you have eight more scenes today! And you want to sleep until the afternoon? You can go home and sleep all you want after we wrap.”

”Aaargh!!”

Ni Bingyan pretended to collapse in despair.

Zhou Dawei gave her an exasperated push on the back. ”What are you caterwauling for? Sister An and I have a full twelve scenes today.”

Ni Bingyan shot back with theatrical exaggeration, ”The day I get to play the male lead, I’ll gladly do twenty-two scenes a day!”

Everyone laughed.

An Xin also shook her head with a smile. ”Stop messing around and let’s get ready. The sooner we finish, the sooner we can rest. We’re not far from wrapping. Let’s power through it!”

It had to be said, An Xin was a very positive person. When things got tough, Ni Bingyan would occasionally complain or crack a joke to lighten the mood, but An Xin would always just watch quietly, looking very serious.

’When I first met her, I thought she was being fake,’ Ni Bingyan reflected. ’But over time, I realized she’s just a genuinely positive person. It’s actually quite nice.’

Hearing her speak, Ni Bingyan got serious as well.

’The wrap party!’ she thought. ’May it come soon! This shoot has been absolute agony!’

**

Thanks to everyone’s hard work, the movie finally wrapped one week later.

At the wrap party, Zhou Dawei happily downed a dozen beers and was eventually dragged away by his wife, who had him by the ear.

An Xin was picked up by her husband right after dinner. She hadn’t seen her child in a long time and missed them.

Ni Bingyan, however, stayed to chat with the director until the party ended. It had to be said that Chen Zhiwen was a man of great learning, and listening to him speak was always enlightening.

By the time she returned to her hotel, she was a little tipsy.

Before going to bed, she got a call from Peng Huan. Peng Huan said her current job would be finished in two days and asked how long Ni Bingyan’s vacation would be.

Peng Huan certainly hadn’t forgotten her promise to go to Bingyan’s hometown with her for some good food.

”I’ll probably get about a week off. Then I have to go to Chili Channel to rehearse for a skit.”

After the skit rehearsal, the Huabiao Award ceremony is next week. Then at the end of the month, there’s a fashion gala. Since she’s the spokesperson for D Family’s lipstick line, she was invited to walk the red carpet. She would have to prepare meticulously and vie for the spotlight.

”So, are you going back to Beijing? I’m in Hengdian right now. Where should I meet you the day after tomorrow?”

Peng Huan’s tone was cheerful, suggesting her current job was a relatively easy one.

Ni Bingyan’s eyes lit up. ”Why should you come to me? I’ll come straight to you! I can see who else is filming there and pay a few set visits while I’m at it.”

’When everyone gets busy, you might not see each other for months. For those you’re close with, you have to visit them on set to maintain the relationship, right?’

’Who knows, maybe someone will introduce me to a job opportunity next time?’

”Okay.”

Having made their plans, Ni Bingyan didn’t linger in Shanghai. She shipped two of her suitcases back to Beijing, asking her building’s management to hold onto them for her. Then she traveled light to Hengdian to find Peng Huan.

Zhou Jin was studying at the Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, so Sister Wu planned to stay a few more days and wait for his school break to go home with him. Duanmu Li had already left for her vacation. So, Ni Bingyan, bundled up to avoid recognition, set off alone.

When she arrived in Hengdian, Peng Huan came to pick her up. They hadn’t seen each other in a long time, and the first thing Peng Huan said upon seeing her was that she had gotten thinner again.

Ni Bingyan naturally launched into a litany of complaints.

”That film crew was demonic, I’m telling you. If you ever want to lose weight, that’s the place to go. I’ve lost at least four pounds since I started. Tonight, we absolutely have to eat something good to replenish our strength.”

”What are you in the mood for?”

”I’ll figure it out later. I honestly don’t know what I want.”

”I’ll order you some Pagoda Pork. I guarantee it’ll be so rich it melts in your mouth!”

”Oh, we can’t be that indulgent.”

Peng Huan led her back to the hotel. When they passed the door to Peng Huan’s room, she didn’t even wait for Ni Bingyan to go drop off her luggage, excitedly pulling her inside. ”Come on, I got you a present! Come and see if you like it!”