Who Needs a CEO? I Choose Stardom

Because of these twenty-odd pieces of spiced beef jerky, Ni Bingyan felt a touch of warmth permeate the cold winter night.

This feeling... it was pure bliss!

Just as no one could refuse a thick, padded coat when freezing, no one could turn down delicious food when starving.

Sang Yuan always did things in a way that perfectly suited her. He came over just to give her the beef jerky, and without another word, he turned and left.

Leaving Ni Bingyan standing there, clutching the small kraft paper bag, her smile growing ever brighter.

”He’s such a good person! Yesterday, I just mentioned offhand that I’d be starving all day today because of the red carpet. I even said he didn’t look like someone who could cook and that he should just stick to peeling garlic. I never thought...”

’To think he’d prepare such a surprise for me.’

’This is actually a great idea. Next time I walk a red carpet, I can bring a small clutch and pack some for myself.’

Compared to the fragrant beef jerky, the sweet chocolates suddenly lost all their appeal.

”Wait, wait, wait, what did you say? Peeling garlic? What garlic? You two...”

Wei Shuojie’s face was a mask of shock!

If it weren’t for the inappropriate setting, she would have grabbed Ni Bingyan and shaken her with all her might! Just to shake the water out of her brain!

’Your career is on the rise, girl! Seriously! What are you doing?’

’Telling me to my face that you have a clear head, that you would never consider getting into a relationship, that you’re going to focus on your career... and then you turn around and start cooking meals together behind my back?’

’Even blind dates don’t move this fast, do they?’

’Could it really be a case of proximity breeding affection?’

’She knew Sang Yuan had a lot of smooth moves, but it hadn’t even been a few days. How could things have progressed this far already?’

’And this girl doesn’t seem like the type to be lovesick, either.’

’Truth be told, if they were seriously dating with marriage in mind, she wouldn’t have any objections. But hiding it from her—what was that supposed to mean?’

’Did the news have to break before she, the manager, was deemed worthy of being informed?’

Seeing her expression, Ni Bingyan knew exactly what she was thinking.

She hadn’t wanted to say anything, fearing it would create a rift between them—with Granny Sun’s situation being a cautionary tale—but now she had no choice but to explain.

”Sigh! Last night, not long after I left home, I ran into him. When he found out I had a meeting with you-know-who, he stopped me and told me something was off about that person. Of course I had to call you to check before I’d believe it!

”But that’s not something you can discuss in the middle of the street, right? So I went home to call you and brought him along as a witness in case you didn’t believe me. But as soon as I told you, you believed me without hesitation, so I didn’t need him anymore. And since the matter involved his friend’s privacy, I didn’t bring it up again afterward.

”Since the dinner meeting was off, I had to cook for myself! And think about it, we’re neighbors. I couldn’t just have him stand there and watch while I cooked and ate, could I?

”Besides, he also happened to want to discuss my investment returns with me. I couldn’t just say, ’I’m about to eat, you should leave now,’ could I?

”So that’s what happened. You know what he’s like; he never likes to owe anyone. He had a meal at my place, so he gave me some beef jerky in return. Perfectly normal.”

As she spoke, she popped another piece into her mouth.

’And you know, it tastes amazing! It’s so fresh, too. It must have been made today.’

It was a perfectly logical and irrefutable explanation!

What was clearly an ambiguous, romantic situation had been explained away by her so logically that there wasn’t a single flaw to be found.

If Ni Bingyan had an affection meter floating above her head, it would definitely be flashing ”+1, +1, +1” right now. Wei Shuojie was at a loss for words.

’If she were to point out that no one would go out of their way to deliver such a small return gift,’

’this simpleton would surely argue, ’See? That’s why he’s so shrewd! A small handful now seems incredibly precious. At any other time, how could he possibly give less than a couple of pounds? He saved money, didn’t he?’’

’She might even praise him with, ’As expected of my Treasure Basin! He’s the best at getting big results on a small budget!’’

She had to admit, this guy Sang had some impressive moves.

Anyone could see his intentions, yet the person involved always managed to find a reasonable explanation, not seeing anything wrong with it at all.

’Oh, whatever. If the frog in the pot has no complaints, why should she, an onlooker, be so anxious?’

’Come to think of it, being seriously pursued by someone with such excellent qualifications wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.’

’Who knows? She might even trend on social media for getting married and having a baby one day.’

Wei Shuojie had come to terms with it.

A good marriage could be beneficial for one’s career. She had no issue with a healthy romantic relationship; what she feared were disastrous entanglements.

The only condition was that they didn’t hide it from her and leave her in a passive, reactive position.

”Alright, stop eating. You’ll get meat stuck in your teeth. Aren’t you worried about that? You still have to go on stage to accept an award!”

”Hehe, don’t worry, don’t worry! The beef is cooked until it’s quite tender. It’s still chewy, but it doesn’t get stuck in your teeth. It’s not dry at all! Delicious! Here, you try one.”

”No, thanks. You should keep them for yourself!”

Seeing her so much more lively, Wei Shuojie sighed in resignation. ’She’s still so young, after all! A little snack is all it takes to make her beam with joy.’

After successfully networking with Sister Wei, she returned to her seat. Not long after, the gala began.

The hosts on stage bantered playfully as the awards were presented one by one. The cameras constantly swept across the audience, showing a particular fondness for Ni Bingyan’s section because she was sitting there.

She had no idea what the two starlets on her left and right were thinking. They had ignored her greetings earlier, but now they were putting on a show of sisterly affection, leaning toward her from time to time to create the illusion of whispering in her ear. In reality, they didn’t say a single word to her. It was more disgusting than swallowing a fly!

”Say, don’t the three of us look like an Oreo?”

At first, the two starlets didn’t understand. Then they glanced at their own somewhat tan arms, compared them to Ni Bingyan’s snow-white skin, and almost lost their composure!

’They wanted to curse her out, but the occasion was all wrong.’

All they could do was scoot away from her, no longer daring to deliberately cozy up.

’Alright, peace and quiet at last. Now I can snack all by myself without feeling guilty,’ Ni Bingyan thought, covering her mouth with her hand to hide a smug little smile.

The Weibo Night event had a bewildering number of strange awards. After shutting down the two starlets, Ni Bingyan reluctantly finished her beef jerky. She waited so long she was about to doze off before she finally heard her name called.

She received the ”Breakthrough Actor of the Year” award. Sharing this breakthrough with her were five other people—three men and three women in total. It was so many it felt like they were being given out wholesale, with no real prestige at all.

Ni Bingyan perked up and went on stage, collected her trophy, and came back down. There wasn’t even a segment for an acceptance speech. All the preparation she’d done was a complete waste.

Everything went smoothly after that. When the event ended, Duanmu Li came to pick them up, bringing along takeout containers of small wontons. Clutching the empty kraft paper bag, Ni Bingyan got in the car, SLURPED down a bowl, and then settled back comfortably in her seat, dozing all the way home.

She had endured a full day of being cold and hungry and was utterly exhausted. When she got home, she did a quick wash-up, didn’t even shower, and fell straight into bed.

The next day, she had no work. She woke up early, finished her chores, and was sitting under the eaves of the first floor, reading a book in the sun, when she noticed the fruit trees in the yard were a bit overgrown. On a whim, she found some shears and decided to give them a good pruning.

The maintenance booklet from the landscaping company had said that December, when the fruit trees were dormant, was the best time for winter pruning.

Removing the excess branches would allow the trees to concentrate their nutrients for flowering and fruiting the following spring.

She trimmed the messy shoots that had sprouted in the fall, then used a small wheelbarrow to take them out to be thrown away. Her next-door neighbor, Uncle Wang, happened to be returning from a walk and saw her. After asking what she was doing, he came into her yard for a look. He thought her method seemed very scientific and didn’t hesitate to ask for her help in giving his pomegranate tree a good pruning as well.

Ni Bingyan happily agreed, hoisting a ladder and heading next door. She chatted with the old man as she trimmed the branches.

”Where have you been lately, Uncle Wang? The other day, I promised to help you pick your pomegranates, but I got busy with work and had to rush off to film out of town. I didn’t get a chance to do it. When I came back, I found out Sang Yuan had already picked them for you. I wanted to come over and apologize, but I saw no one was home.”

”Ah, I’m getting old. I caught a cold a while back and didn’t think much of it, but it turned into pneumonia. My son was worried and insisted on taking me to the hospital. He stayed with me for a long time and wouldn’t let me come back until I was completely recovered.”

Uncle Wang complained, but he had a smile on his face. It was clear that being sick had given him more time to spend with his family, and he was actually a little happy about it.

”Oh my! You really have to be careful in the winter!”

A section of the Wang family’s courtyard wall was also a metal fence, but unlike hers, it wasn’t covered with climbing plants to block the view. Someone passing by outside the yard saw Ni Bingyan helping Uncle Wang prune his fruit tree and called out to her, leaning on the fence:

”Hey! Bingyan! Did you know? You’re trending online!”

Ni Bingyan didn’t think much of it, replying demurely, ”Mhm! I know! I prepared for it meticulously, so it’s not a surprise.”

’On the way home last night, Sister Wei had told her that with how drop-dead gorgeous she looked, netizens would definitely be buzzing about it today. Wasn’t it perfectly normal to be trending?’

The woman stared at her in disbelief. ”You prepare for this kind of thing in advance? Have you female celebrities really gotten that competitive?”