Who Needs a CEO? I Choose Stardom

After she sent the recording, Old Sun immediately gave his son a beating. Early the next morning, the father and son pair showed up at her door to apologize.

It was hard to say if their attitude had changed so quickly because the auditors had started going through their books.

Ni Guangli was still furious and didn’t even let them through the front gate, dead set on drawing a clear line between them.

The father and son were at their wits’ end. They lingered outside the Ni family’s gate for a long time, but seeing that Ni Guangli’s stance hadn’t softened, they had no choice but to leave.

To Ni Bingyan, this was just a minor incident. Once it was over, it was over.

The holiday was over, and a new job was starting. That was what she truly cared about.

For this year’s Spring Festival Gala on Chili Channel, the production team had arranged for her to perform a skit with several other artists from Sichuan.

The skit was an interesting one, titled ”Matchmaking.”

Ni Bingyan would play a single young woman who goes on a series of blind dates with three weirdos. The whole thing was packed with non-stop jokes and punchlines, perfect for watching while snacking on sunflower seeds during the New Year.

The first blind date was a mama’s boy.

The mama’s boy looked decent and seemed reliable enough, but it turned out that every other sentence out of his mouth was ”My mom says this” or ”My mom says that.” Whenever he needed to make a decision, he was completely lost, meekly piping up every now and then with, ”Hang on, let me ask my mom.”

The date was obviously a failure, which then provided an opportunity for Ni Bingyan’s character to roast him, questioning why a guy like that couldn’t find a girlfriend.

Her final line summed it up perfectly: ”It’s always ’my mom says this, my mom says that.’ Why don’t you just go live with your mom? Why bother looking for a wife?”

The second was a cheapskate, who arrived at the date and immediately slumped into a lazy slouch on the sofa.

He was an elite with a good income, but his vision for married life was this: going Dutch on meals, going Dutch on shopping, going Dutch on raising kids, and even going Dutch on supporting their parents. Everything had to be split fifty-fifty.

In short, they’d manage their own incomes and split all household expenses down the middle.

Yikes! Just reading the script made Ni Bingyan’s blood boil. If the actor’s performance was explosive, it would definitely make the audience furious!

’Who the hell would want to get married if this is what it’s like!’

’Running into someone like that on a blind date is just the worst luck!’

The problem was, there were a lot of people like him out there.

Ni Bingyan’s final line for this character was also a classic: ”Then let’s go Dutch on having kids, too! You give birth to the arms, and I’ll give birth to the legs! And don’t you dare say it’s too much trouble. I mean, your family has a throne waiting for an heir, right? If we don’t do it this way, how will you ever feel involved in this marriage?”

The third was a narcissist.

The narcissist started every sentence with ”With my looks,” ”with my education,” ”with my family background,” ”with my job,” and so on and so forth, acting as if anyone who went on a date with him was getting the deal of a lifetime.

”Oh! I think a great man like you should be saved for your mother. Please, please! Don’t waste yourself on someone like me!”

’No idea which genius wrote this script.’ Just reading it made her laugh out loud! She flipped to the cover and, well, what do you know, it was an old acquaintance, Lu Yi—the one who wrote the screenplay for ”Breakup.”

’No wonder it felt so familiar.’

Due to the long-term preference for sons in China, the gender ratio was imbalanced. Nowadays, difficulty in finding a partner had become a societal problem in most regions.

Many people reached middle age with a car, a house, and even children of their own, only to be plagued with worry over their kids’ marriages.

Performing a skit like this on the Spring Festival Gala was a way of meeting the demands of the times.

Since the gala was broadcast live, there would be three rounds of rehearsals before the official show to prevent any on-air accidents.

There was still about a month to go, so there was no rush. The main purpose now was for the actors to meet, get to know each other, do a simple run-through, and finalize the script.

Ni Bingyan had been worried that the actors playing the blind dates would feel the skit portrayed them in an overly negative light. But when they met, she discovered that all three were local comedians who had been active on screen for years.

They only cared about whether it was funny enough, not whether the characters were positive. After all, even if they played a negative role, their performance would make people roar with laughter, so there was no risk of it hurting their own image.

The four of them got along well. Someone from Chili Channel led the rehearsal, and after they finished, they had a meal together. Then, Ni Bingyan went home with the final version of the script.

「The next day, she returned to Beijing.」

Weibo Night was about to be held in the city, and Sister Wei told her she had won some ”Breakthrough Actor of the Year” award. She was quite happy at first, but when she asked, it turned out a total of six people had received the same award.

She inquired further about the list of winners and, my goodness, it seemed anyone who attended and had a similar level of fame got an award.

’Oh well.’ The event was basically just one of the entertainment industry’s year-end parties. It was all for fun and held no real prestige.

’Walking the red carpet in a formal gown in sub-zero weather... just thinking about it is exhausting.’ But to increase her commercial value, she still had to brave the cold wind.

The two hadn’t seen each other in a long time. As soon as they met, Wei Shuojie pulled out a stack of photos and handed them to her.

”Here, for you. Twenty-five thousand.”

”What twenty-five thousand?”

They hadn’t seen each other in ages, and she hadn’t expected this kind of opening. Ni Bingyan felt a little caught off guard.

”Paparazzi photos, what else?”

”Why would paparazzi be tailing me?”

”Who knows? Maybe it’s because everyone loves the ’little mud figure’ and wants to see more news about her!”

Ni Bingyan felt a little awkward. How was she supposed to know that digging for lotus roots at home with family and friends would make her a trending topic?

She picked up the photos and saw they were of her blind date with Sun Yaowei.

Ni Bingyan couldn’t help but find it funny. ”My dad arranged a blind date for me. It was in broad daylight, out in public. I was perfectly open about it, not sneaking around. What’s there to take pictures of? Don’t other people go on blind dates?”

”The problem is, when other people go on blind dates, it’s not news. When *you* go on a blind date, it *is* news! If we hadn’t taken it off the trending list so quickly, who knows what people would be saying about you right now!”

”I have no intention of getting into a relationship. It’s just that my dad was so insistent I couldn’t refuse, so I went to meet him once. Ugh! Why don’t you talk to my dad? I mean, why am I going on blind dates at 25?”

Wei Shuojie was only showing her the photos as a reminder to be more careful and not give anyone anything to use against her. She had no intention of holding it against her.

After all, having coffee with someone in broad daylight wasn’t exactly a scandal.

”You shouldn’t take vacations anymore. Look how much trouble you’ve caused me these past few days. First, you were rubbernecking and ended up at the police station. Then you turned into a ’mud figure’ digging for lotus roots. Now you’ve run off on a blind date and gotten photographed! Sigh, what am I going to do with you? I’d better just schedule your work more tightly from now on! Why does someone so young need a vacation anyway?”

Seeing her exasperation, Ni Bingyan laughed.

”So, this is really your fault. When I was busy on set, none of this crap ever happened, right? You should hurry up and get me more work. I love working! I want to work every day and I absolutely hate vacations!”

Duanmu Li and Wei Shuojie, who had come to pick her up, couldn’t help but chuckle at her roguish act.

”For the Weibo Night gown in a couple of days, do you have any ideas?”

”Don’t I still have a few new qipaos? What do you think about wearing one of those? If we try to borrow a dress now, we won’t get anything good with my current status. The patterned Yun brocade shouldn’t be beneath the occasion.”

”That one is too precious. Let’s save it for the Huabiao Award ceremony. For Weibo Night, we’ll borrow a dress from a brand. An event like this is all about showcasing commercial value. Just think of yourself as a display rack for products. I’ll borrow not only a gown but also a set of jewelry. If it looks good, you might land an endorsement deal with a jewelry or high-fashion brand at the start of the year.”

”Okay.”

After settling the matter of Weibo Night in a few sentences, Wei Shuojie asked her another question.

”The Bai family has invited you to be the spokesperson for their sportswear brand. Do you want to take it?”

The Bai family was in the apparel industry. ’This must be the compensation Bai Jian mentioned before.’

”Of course I’ll take it. Why wouldn’t I? The brand has high public recognition, so it’s not a step down for me.”

”If you agree, we’ll go sign the contract and shoot the promotional video while we’re at it.”

”Okay.”

It was the end of the year. Besides a few odds and ends, there wasn’t much else to be busy with.

’Sigh, I’m so bored!’