Who Needs a CEO? I Choose Stardom

”It’s not that I’m trying to be mysterious, Grandpa. Look, the little ones are still here listening! We can’t talk about that kind of stuff here.”

When making small talk, adults could usually find ways to discuss things not meant for children’s ears. If all else failed, they could just drop the topic. It was just chitchat, after all. But he was hinting they should talk somewhere else.

Reading between the lines, the old man suddenly realized that his grandson, after working so hard to get on his good side and make him happy, had deliberately brought up this topic during their chat. He was clearly up to something.

’No wonder! This kid isn’t the type to make small talk. Why would he suddenly start gossiping like this?’

’This little rascal! He has something on his mind but won’t say it directly. Is he trying to play games with his own grandpa?’

”Come on, let’s go over to your grandpa’s.”

There were a lot of guests at the Shui Family’s house today. The Sang Family lived right next door, where it was quieter and better for a serious conversation.

As the Shui Family’s most successful grandson, he still commanded that much respect.

”Okay.”

Sang Yuan agreed and helped him to his feet.

Grandpa Sang saw his in-law signal him with a look and followed them.

The three of them went next door and into the study. The birthday boy spoke before he even sat down.

”Go on, spit it out. What is it you wanted to tell your grandpa? Your other grandpa is here too. If I can’t handle it, he’s here to back me up. We guarantee we’ll take care of it for you!”

Grandpa Sang was very tall and always smiled before he spoke. He was once known as the ”smiling tiger” of the Ministry of Transport.

Hearing his old friend and in-law teasing him like that, he chuckled and retorted good-naturedly.

”You old coot, Old Man Shui, what are you talking about? If you can’t handle something, there’s no way I could.”

Mr. Sang threw his hands up. He sounded like he was shirking responsibility, but he was actually subtly flattering his in-law.

The two had been partners for a lifetime and were very close. Sang Yuan, not wanting to listen to their daily mutual-admiration session, cut in.

”Grandpa, Grandpa, I haven’t even started talking yet! And here you two are, already making excuses. Forget it. If you don’t want to help, I just won’t say anything.”

”Just say it! You’re our most precious grandson. Your business is our business. Saying things like that is hurtful!”

Mr. Shui slapped the table, displeased.

”I’d like to hear just what it is you need our help with.”

Seeing their grandson wasn’t in the mood for jokes, the two men sat down with serious expressions.

”Here’s the thing. Your grandson has his eye on a girl he met a while ago. He wants to pursue her and make her his wife...”

After retiring, the two old men were very protective of their reputations. They were unwilling to get involved in ordinary matters, so getting them to go along with his plan wouldn’t be easy.

That’s why Sang Yuan led with this piece of good news.

His marriage prospects were not only a constant worry for his parents but an even greater one for his grandfathers.

On his mother’s side, there were four sisters, after all! But his paternal grandfather only had one son—his father—which meant he was the only grandson.

During New Year’s in the past, after a few drinks, Mr. Sang would get emotional and mutter, ”I just wonder if I’ll ever get to see my great-grandson before I die.”

Now, hearing this, the ”smiling tiger” Mr. Sang’s attitude changed immediately.

”What does the girl do for a living? What does her family do? How old is she? Where is she from? When can you bring her home for me to see? When are you two planning to get married? Your dad’s retired now, he’s got plenty of time. I’ll go talk to him tonight and we can plan...”

”Whoa, whoa, hold on! Grandpa, don’t get so excited! My mom knows about this, so you can just ask her later. What I wanted to talk about today is something else!”

Knowing that his mother was already aware of the situation, the two old men relaxed.

They had great faith in their daughter’s/daughter-in-law’s judgment. Any daughter-in-law she approved of was sure to be a good one.

Sang Yuan then told them about how Li Yi had tried to set a trap for Ni Bingyan.

”Bingyan is a really down-to-earth girl. All she does is bury her head in her work, never getting involved in any of that superficial stuff. But she’s young and too naive, so there are always people with bad intentions trying to take advantage of her. This time, I happened to be there and was able to stop it. But what if I’m not around next time? So, to minimize this kind of risk as much as possible, the overall environment needs to improve.”

”To be honest, that industry is a mixed bag. A lot of the people in it are poorly educated. Take those idols, for example. Many of them enter the workforce after elementary school. They probably can’t even read a script. It’s impossible to expect them to have high moral standards.”

As someone who was online a lot, Mr. Shui knew exactly how messy the entertainment industry was. He was getting in on some new drama every week or two. He felt like he was turning into a gossip fiend.

”Have you ever seen any industry issue official documents to regulate the personal character of its workers? Even the law doesn’t govern personal morality. Take cheating, for instance. Even if everyone condemns it, legally, it’s just a moral issue. You can’t really do anything to them.”

Mr. Sang stroked his snow-white beard, feeling that his grandson was being a bit fanciful.

”Besides, your grandpa and I have only ever worked in the transportation sector. Back when your parents’ factory first opened, they asked us to solve their logistics problems, and we could help with that. But this has nothing to do with our field. What could we possibly do?”

”It’s true that this isn’t your area of expertise, but between our two families, we have so many relatives and friends. Someone must have a connection, right? I’m not expecting you two to make it happen yourselves. I was just thinking that when you’re out playing chess or fishing, you could mention it in passing. When the time is right, things will naturally fall into place.”

’So he just sees us as support.’

Grandpa Sang sounded a little sour. ”You like that girl that much? To think so carefully on her behalf.”

”That’s right! You’re doing all this for her behind the scenes, but does she even know?”

’Don’t let it be one-sided!’

As expected of the cunning fox at the smiling tiger’s side, his maternal grandpa sensed something was off in just that short time.

”When a man does something, he just does it. Why would he need to discuss everything with a woman?”

Busted by his grandpa, Sang Yuan became a little flustered and angry.

”You’re all talk. You can pretend for a little while, but can you pretend for a lifetime?”

”Alright, alright. There’s still a house full of relatives. We’ll talk about this another day.”

’That old man sees everything clearly, but his biggest flaw is that he doesn’t know when to stop.’

’Young people care about their pride. It’s rare for him to like a girl this much, so what does it matter if she likes him back yet or not?’

’The younger generation will have its own fortunes. It’s best if we don’t interfere too much.’

’It’s rare for our grandson to ask us for help. We need to think carefully about how to handle this.’

Sang Yuan knew that men like them preferred to leave some wiggle room when dealing with matters and wouldn’t agree to things outright, so he wasn’t in a hurry.

After all, they were his grandfathers. If it was something they could do, they wouldn’t refuse him.

He accompanied the two old men back to the Shui Family’s house next door, chatted with relatives and friends, and soon it was almost time for dinner.

Sang Yuan once again tied on an apron and went into the kitchen.

Seeing him go off to cook, Mr. Shui waved his eldest daughter over. ”Su Lan, come here. I need to talk to you about something.”

Mrs. Sang had earned a lot of face in front of her friends and relatives today. Hearing her father call, she didn’t even ask what it was about and simply followed him next door.

She had assumed he had something to say that he couldn’t in front of her sisters, or that he needed her help with something. But when she walked in and saw her father-in-law was there too, she was surprised. ”You both wanted to see me? Is something wrong? You look so serious, it’s a little scary. Should I go get Jing Wen?”

She always discussed major family matters with her husband before making a decision. Seeing the two of them looking so solemn, Mrs. Sang thought it must be something serious and worried she couldn’t make the call herself, so she wanted to get her husband.

”No need. We just wanted to ask you something.”

The two old men explained, ”Yuanyuan just came to us for help. He said he wants to push for a major cleanup of the entertainment industry and get rid of the bad apples. That’s when we found out he’s taken a liking to an actress. Did you know about this?”

”He told you about that?”

As far as she was concerned, her son’s romantic fate was sealed. She didn’t see any problem with her future daughter-in-law being an actress.

”If he hadn’t told us, were you planning to keep hiding it from us? Were you not going to invite us to the wedding?”

When Grandpa Shui laid into his own daughter, his words were sharp.

”That’s not what I meant. It’s just that nothing’s set in stone yet!”

”Are you saying you’re not satisfied with the girl?”

Their grandson was already so old, and still not married?

Grandpa Sang thought his daughter-in-law’s standards were too high and that she looked down on the person his grandson liked.

”Oh! How could I not be satisfied? I’m very satisfied! The girl is wonderful in every way; the more I look at her, the more I like her. But your grandson isn’t trying hard enough! It’s been so long, and he still hasn’t won her over.”

”Alright, alright, how old is he? Can’t he learn to handle his own affairs? What are you worrying for? You have your son helping you out today, but you should at least go help set the table. Otherwise, your sisters will be all sour again.”

”Let them be sour. What’s there to be jealous about a son being filial to his mother? They don’t appreciate what they have and just spend all day envying what others have. What’s wrong with them?”

Her face was practically numb from smiling all day. Shui Sulan was feeling smug, so she dared to say anything.