Who Needs a CEO? I Choose Stardom

It snowed last night, leaving a thin layer on the ground that melted at dawn.

She’d had to shoot a public service announcement late last night. By the time she got home, it was nearly dawn. She fell into a deep sleep and didn’t wake up until she checked the time—it was half-past two in the afternoon.

The weather was clear today. By the time she dressed and went downstairs, the bluestone slabs in the courtyard were already bleached white by the sun. But though the sunlight was golden and the sky a brilliant blue, the moment she opened a window, the wind bit at her face.

’What a classic winter scam.’

Ni Bingyan quickly shut the window and prudently retreated back inside.

’I just got over a cold. I can’t be reckless!’

The heating was cranked up, making the air so dry that eight glasses of water a day didn’t feel like enough.

She had just poured herself a glass of water and was starting to cook some noodles when she got a call from her maternal uncle.

”Bingbing! Have you been busy lately?”

After her mother died in childbirth, her father never remarried, so the two families had remained close. However, her uncle’s family lived in Guisheng, which wasn’t exactly nearby, so they rarely saw each other more than once or twice a year.

There’s an old saying that a maternal uncle is the most important relative. Since her mother had passed away so young, Ni Bingyan cherished this one and only uncle of hers.

Her uncle’s name was Lu Zigang. Whenever he introduced himself, he was guaranteed to be the coolest guy in the room.

And he certainly lived up to the expectations of Ni Bingyan’s maternal grandfather. He was a sociable man with a wide circle of friends, and wherever he went, there was always someone to welcome him.

”Uncle! I’m doing okay. Work hasn’t been too busy, so I’ll come visit you all once I get a break.”

Ni Bingyan hadn’t actually met him yet; she only knew from her memories that he was wonderful to his only niece. They had spoken on the phone and video chatted a few times, and her impression of him was great, so she was quite happy to get his call.

”Your cousin is getting engaged soon. If you have time, you should come. Your dad has already promised he’ll be here. Oh, and I heard from your dad, you won a Best Actress award a few days ago? Our Bingbing is truly something else!”

When the movie was first released, Ni Guangli had booked out a theater for his friends to watch it. When Lu Zigang got wind of this, he made an even grander gesture and treated all the employees of his factory to a free screening.

Ni Bingyan found this a little strange.

’The night I won the award, the family group chat exploded like it was New Year’s. Relatives were sending digital red envelopes one after another, and I spent a solid half-hour just grabbing them. My younger cousin even messaged me privately, cheering me on to win more awards so she could bask in my reflected glory.’

’My uncle knew about this ages ago. Why would he call and bring it up again now?’

’I just called Grandma and Grandpa yesterday, and they didn’t mention anything happening with Uncle’s family.’

”I’ve just made a little progress, I still have to keep working hard! Uncle, it must be time for the sugarcane harvest, right? Are you busy?”

Lu’s Sugar Factory had been a well-known workshop long before the founding of the PRC. It was nationalized afterward and later returned to the Lu Family. Her uncle was the third generation to run it.

Ni Bingyan didn’t feel it was right to ask directly, so she decided to probe around the issue.

”That’s a great attitude to have. You have to work hard to live a good life! We’re swamped at home right now! It’s the season for harvesting sugarcane and making sugar. This year, your cousin took the lead and brought in a new toffee production line. Since it’s the end of the year and every family will be buying sweets, sales shouldn’t be a problem.”

December was sugarcane harvest season. In addition to running the ancestral sugar factory, the Lu Family also managed a thousand-mu sugarcane plantation. Her uncle’s family was undoubtedly swamped.

After a few simple sentences, her uncle trailed off.

”Oh! Do you have enough people?”

Ni Bingyan cradled the phone between her head and shoulder, opened a drawer, and pulled out a bundle of egg noodles. She tore open the package, dropped them into the pot, and after a moment’s thought, cracked an egg in as well.

”The workers are all experienced, so don’t worry about that. What are you up to?”

”I’m making some noodles. I was shooting a commercial last night, and we needed a night scene, so I didn’t get home until almost dawn. I just woke up and figured I’d make a bowl of noodles.”

”Well, you should eat first then!”

Her uncle sounded like he had something to say but was hesitating. Ni Bingyan couldn’t stand the suspense and finally decided to ask first.

”Uncle, since when are you so formal with me? If you have something to say, just say it. Don’t make me keep guessing, you’re making me worried!”

”SIGH! I’m ashamed to even bring it up! But with Yaoyao acting like this, I’m just so worried...”

”What’s wrong with my cousin? I’m not a stranger, why would you hide it from me? If I can help, I won’t just stand by and do nothing! She’s my only cousin. Uncle, what’s on your mind?”

Ni Bingyan turned down the heat, her brow furrowed as she tossed a handful of drained spinach into the pot.

Her uncle had a son and a daughter. Her older cousin was a reliable young man who had graduated from college last year and was already working with his father at the sugar factory. Her younger cousin was a lively and adorable girl, a sophomore art student in Yangcheng.

’She’s always been so sweet and well-behaved. What could possibly have happened?’

’Did she get involved with the wrong person?’

’Dating these days is like playing the lottery; the odds of finding a good person are just too low.’

Ni Bingyan always had a pessimistic view when it came to romance, so her train of thought was understandable. But the situation was not what she imagined.

”SIGH. Since you’re asking, I’ll just say it, even if it is humiliating. Your cousin got obsessed with some idol this year, and lately, she’s been acting like she’s possessed. She’s constantly talking about ’boosting his rankings’ and ’driving up sales.’ Last month, she bought ten identical pairs of sunglasses. At least you can use those—even though they were expensive, we could give them out to friends and family. But this month, she started buying milk. I mentioned that it has a short shelf life and she couldn’t possibly drink it all. So what does she do? She opens the cartons one by one and dumps the milk into a drain, filming it to post on Weibo like some kind of idiot! She won’t listen to a word we say. Your aunt is so stressed out and furious that she’s been too sick to get out of bed for the past two days...”

”What? Who is this idol that has her so captivated?”

Ni Bingyan was stunned!

’How completely obsessed do you have to be to do something so idiotic?’

’Her own cousin is in the industry, so you’d think her perception wouldn’t be so skewed!’

”They say his name is Han Feifan or something. I have no idea what he even does. I’ve never heard of any of his work, but he has an endless stream of endorsements! Every single month there’s a new one. Your cousin’s living allowance has tripled this semester, and she still complains it’s not enough. She’s constantly hitting up her brother and grandmother for money. Last night, your aunt and your grandmother compared notes—turns out she’s coaxed over four hundred thousand yuan out of them in the last six months!”

’Her uncle’s sugar factory probably only cleared a few million a year in profit. For her to spend that much in six months, with over four hundred thousand of it coming from her grandmother... that was a serious problem.’

’It’s hard to guard against a thief in your own family. No wonder her uncle was so frantic and ashamed, and reluctant to talk about it.’

”I’ll call her right now. This is completely unacceptable!”

’Counting the days, her cousin Lu Yao should still be at school, not on break yet.’

”Wait, don’t rush into it. Listen to me first. It’s not that your aunt and I didn’t think about asking you to talk to her. But she won’t listen to reason, so don’t waste your breath. You’re busy enough as it is. Your aunt and I... we’ve come up with an idea...”

Hearing her uncle say, ”Here, you tell her,” Ni Bingyan obediently called out, ”Auntie.”

Her aunt was a warm, forthright, and kind person. When she was little, her uncle would have her over to Guisheng for summer vacation every year, and her aunt had treated her like her own daughter, always making sure she got a share of whatever her cousins had.

Hearing that her aunt was too upset to even get out of bed, Ni Bingyan put everything else aside to check on her. ”Auntie, please don’t be so angry. It’s normal for kids to act foolishly sometimes. She’ll come to her senses eventually. Don’t ruin your health over this; no one can take that burden for you!”

But right now, her aunt’s mind was completely occupied by her ”brilliant plan.” With a mission to focus on, who had time to be angry?

”I’m fine, I’m fine! Just listen to me...”