Who Needs a CEO? I Choose Stardom

Ni Bingyan kept a regular schedule. Even though she got home very late last night, she still woke up on time this morning.

She probably caught a cold from walking the red carpet in a cheongsam in sub-zero weather yesterday. That, combined with the scare she’d had, left her feeling heavy-headed and with a scratchy throat this morning. Even a little bit of movement sent her into an endless coughing fit.

She had hoped to tough it out with her own immune system, but before long, a fever started. Guzzling water didn’t help. When she took her temperature, it was 38.6 degrees Celsius.

The situation was not looking good. She wanted to take some medicine, but it turned out she didn’t have any at home.

Feeling helpless, Ni Bingyan had a simple bowl of plain congee with some pickled radish, then drove to the pharmacy.

The pharmacy wasn’t far, just two streets away.

She bought some cough and fever medicine and took a dose right there in the pharmacy. After returning to her car and sitting for a bit, she felt her fever start to break. ’Since I’m out anyway,’ she thought, ’and we’re out of groceries at home,’ so she made a detour to a large, nearby fresh food market.

Many of the local elderly men and women sold their homegrown vegetables at this market, and they were much tastier than the greenhouse-grown varieties. Whenever she had time, she loved to come here to shop.

It was almost ten by the time she finished her shopping. Remembering her agent had told her not to go out for the next couple of days, she didn’t go anywhere else and headed straight home.

But when she got to the entrance of her residential complex, she saw a large group of elderly people gathered together. The security staff were holding riot forks and other equipment, surrounding several minivans and talking about something.

The complex was on the older side, and the road at the entrance wasn’t very wide. There were so many people that the road was completely blocked. She couldn’t drive through, so she had to pull over to the side and wait.

”Xiao Ni! Where have you been?”

She remembered her agent’s warning to avoid being photographed for the next few days, so she kept her mask on and didn’t get out of the car.

But soon enough, an acquaintance recognized her car and ran over to knock on the window.

Having been recognized, Ni Bingyan had no choice but to roll down her window and answer.

”Oh, Granny Wei! I caught a cold last night! We were out of medicine at home, so I went to buy some. My fever just broke.”

”I was wondering why your voice sounded a bit off. It’s nothing serious, is it?”

”It’s nothing, it’s nothing. I’ll be fine after a couple of pills! What’s all this commotion about?”

Granny Wei didn’t keep her in suspense. After the pleasantries, she explained, ”This morning, when Uncle Xu was walking his dog, he noticed a bunch of shady-looking people outside the complex. They were actually flying a drone into our neighborhood! So he got the security department, and Old Gu from security came out with his men. He knocked the drone right out of the sky with a dog’s frisbee, and that’s when the argument started, you see?”

Old Gu had worked here for many years, and Ni Bingyan had often heard legendary stories about him. She didn’t expect him to still be so skilled, even though he was pushing fifty.

”Didn’t anyone call the police?”

”They did. They should be here any minute.”

”Then it should be fine. This is a residential area. They probably aren’t allowed to fly drones here.”

Ni Bingyan poked her head out for a look. Seeing the road had cleared and the car in front of her had driven off, she was about to follow it in. But just before she did, she remembered something.

”I was at the Huabiao Award ceremony last night, right? I got home pretty late, and I saw a bunch of paparazzi outside then. You think it’s them?”

”They were here last night, too? Then it’s probably them! They kept insisting they were reporters, but when we asked to see their press passes, they couldn’t produce any. Who blocks a residential entrance all day, sneaking around taking pictures like that? They don’t look like decent folk at all.”

’If they’re paparazzi, then that explains it,’ Ni Bingyan thought. ’That’s just the nature of their job.’

”Who are they trying to get dirt on? Staking the place out all night and they still haven’t gotten anything?”

”Who knows...”

Granny Wei trailed off mid-sentence. She shot Ni Bingyan a cautious glance, then quickly told her to roll up her window.

”You go on inside! I’ll come find you later when things have quieted down.”

’So she suspects the paparazzi are here for me.’

When she came home last night, Ni Bingyan had practically brushed past them, but they hadn’t paid her any mind at all. It was obvious they weren’t there for her.

But saying that out loud would be a little embarrassing, so she kept it to herself.

”Haha! Thanks!”

After thanking her, Ni Bingyan had no sooner gotten home than Wei Shuojie arrived.

”What have you been up to? You weren’t answering your phone.”

Ni Bingyan was surprised to see it was her when she answered the doorbell. Hearing the gentle scolding about not picking up her phone, she reached into her pocket, only to find it empty. She then explained sheepishly:

”I had a fever this morning! I went out to buy medicine and forgot my phone. I just got back, and now you’re here.”

”Oh? Are you okay? Is it serious?”

Seeing Wei Shuojie reach out to feel her forehead, Ni Bingyan didn’t pull away.

”I took a dose of medicine. The fever’s gone down already.”

Ni Bingyan led her inside and picked up her phone, which she’d left on the dining table. Sure enough, there were several missed calls.

”Was there something urgent you needed me for?”

’When they parted last night, she said I didn’t have any work coming up and could take a few days off. For her to show up in such a hurry now, it must mean there’s a new job.’

Ni Bingyan’s guess was correct.

”Remember last night I mentioned we’d be taking on a public service announcement? I brought the script for you to look over. If you agree, we’ll shoot it. We can rush to get it done just before the New Year.”

Wei Shuojie handed her the script. She then glanced at the cold medicine on the table, poured herself a glass of water, popped a pill out of the pack, swallowed it, and sighed.

”My nose has been stuffy all morning. I feel like I’m coming down with something, so I’ll take one as a precaution.”

”Is that even the right medicine for your symptoms? You shouldn’t just take things randomly.”

”How could it not be? I just checked! Anyway, what do you think of the script?”

Ni Bingyan had already skimmed through the script. Knowing it was a project from the Publicity Department, she naturally had no objections.

”Sister Wei, your taste is as good as ever. When are we shooting this?”

”Three days after the contract is signed.”

”Will that be enough time? I don’t know if my cold will be better by then.”

”It’s fine. It won’t affect anything.”

Wei Shuojie finished the water in her cup. Seeing that Ni Bingyan had agreed, she stood up to leave.

But Ni Bingyan stopped her. ”I just bought some fresh shrimp this morning and was planning to cook it for lunch. It’s almost time to eat. Why don’t you stay and eat before you go?”

’The people from the government agency aren’t going to sign a contract with her during their lunch break,’ Ni Bingyan reasoned. ’It’s better to go after eating than to leave now.’

”But you’re sick, aren’t you? I didn’t want to trouble you.”

”What’s the trouble? Even if you don’t eat here, I still have to eat, don’t I?”

”Alright then! I’ll help you cook.”

”Deal. You can peel some garlic.”

The two of them cooked together, chatting idly as they worked.

Ni Bingyan brought up the matter of the paparazzi.

”I wonder if the drone caught anything. Staking out the place all night in this cold weather... must be tough.”

”You don’t know yet? The news about Li Yi broke. They’re all here staking her out.”

A lot of celebrities lived in the area, but Ni Bingyan hadn’t even considered Li Yi. After all, given her level of fame, having this many paparazzi after her was almost a compliment.

”I did think about checking the news when I woke up this morning, but then I had a fever and had to go out for medicine, so I didn’t get the chance.”

As they ate, Wei Shuojie explained, ”News broke that Zhang Wen Hong committed rape. The rumor is that Li Yi was the one who pimped for him, which is why the paparazzi are all over her now!”

”Zhang Wen Hong?”

Ni Bingyan was stunned.

’He just received an award last night! His downfall was way too fast!’

”Alright, just focus on studying the script. It’s best to worry about your own business. Just listen to what’s going on with other people and leave it at that.”

”Mm.”

Ni Bingyan nodded lightly.

’She wasn’t the type to gossip. Life is short; you have to spend your time on what truly matters.’