Who Needs a CEO? I Choose Stardom

”Oh, no, it’s fine. It’s not a big deal. Let him handle it himself!”

The words had barely left her mouth when Mrs. Sang remembered it wasn’t something she should be telling Ni Bingyan. She quickly laughed and brushed off the offer.

After the refusal, she felt she’d been too abrupt and quickly tried to smooth things over.

”He’s a grown man now, and very prideful. If he found out I was going around telling people his business, he’d definitely be angry with me. But enough about him. Where are you off to?”

No one enjoys being presumptuous, and Ni Bingyan had indeed felt a little awkward. Hearing Mrs. Sang’s explanation, she understood.

Aside from a total mama’s boy, what grown man would want his mother interfering in his private life? Especially someone like Sang Yuan, who was so decisive and capable. If he knew his mother was discussing his personal business with a neighbor, he’d surely be upset.

So Ni Bingyan simply moved past the topic and replied to Mrs. Sang with a smile, ”The sun is so lovely today, I just came out for a walk to enjoy it. Nothing special.”

”Oh! Of course, you go on with your walk! I’ll be heading home.”

Mrs. Sang had been a career woman her entire life and rarely engaged in idle chatter. Every time she ran into Ni Bingyan, she wanted to chat for a bit but never knew what to say, which inevitably led to these awkward moments.

It wasn’t just Ni Bingyan who felt it was stilted; she felt quite unnatural herself.

As Ni Bingyan walked away, Mrs. Sang smiled, stroking the cat’s back as she headed home.

”Poor thing, making you come out in this cold. You’ve worked hard.”

They didn’t have a dog, so to make the ”chance encounter” seem less forced, she had no choice but to rely on the cat, making it pretend it had a peculiar love for going on walks.

It had to be said, the family cat was a better actor than she, the lady of the house, was. Every time the neighbors saw it, they would praise it for having such a unique personality.

When she leisurely arrived home, she saw the housekeeper trimming vegetables in the kitchen, but her son was nowhere in sight. She headed upstairs, and just as she expected, she heard him on the phone as soon as she reached the hallway.

”Thanks so much, Sister Wei. The people I hired a couple of days ago were completely unreliable. It was a close call; we almost ended up at the police station...”

Hearing the smile in his voice, Mrs. Sang knew the problem was solved. She couldn’t help but shake her head as she quietly slipped away.

’This silly boy! He doesn’t even understand that some jobs are best left to professionals. Thank goodness it was resolved quickly before it became a complete farce.’

With that thought, she returned to her bedroom and called her father.

Mr. Shui was in the middle of a chess game at the retired officials’ activity center. When he saw his eldest daughter calling, he knew it must be important—she wasn’t one for idle chitchat. He quickly signaled for his friend to pause the game and answered the phone.

”Su Lan! What’s the matter? I’m busy right now!”

Seeing him glance at the chessboard while on the call, his old friend rolled his eyes. He stood up and walked away. ”Do you really think I’m the type to take back a move? You have to keep an eye on me even while you’re on the phone!”

To defend his honor, the old man rolled his eyes back at him, then stood up, walked over to a window, and found a chair to sit in.

”Dad! How’s that thing you promised Yuanyuan coming along? You have no idea, the boy’s gone completely obsessed! A few days ago, he hired a bunch of paparazzi to expose that group of good-for-nothings. But he ended up hiring a bunch of amateurs! Blocking the entrance to the neighborhood was bad enough, but they also flew a drone into the complex! They got caught by security, and he almost had to go down to the station to bail them out. I mean, can you believe it? How utterly humiliating!”

”Oh? A sharp kid like him could do something so foolish?”

This grandson of his was good at everything. Growing up, he had never given the adults a single thing to worry about. Who would’ve thought he’d have a day where he’d do something so silly?

’Heh, that’s actually quite amusing!’

The old man didn’t seem concerned in the slightest.

”Oh, stop laughing! He’s just a clueless young man who’s never been in a relationship; of course he’s going to be a little clumsy. If he were perfect at everything, what hope would there be for the rest of us? All I want in this life is for him to successfully fall in love, get married, and have children. As his grandfather, you need to get a move on with what you promised. Get that policy implemented sooner rather than later. Otherwise, what’s the point of just exposing them? They’ll just lie low for a while, and once the heat is off, they’ll be right back to raking in money.”

”Alright, alright! They’ve already been discussing it in meetings. It’s just a matter of days now. I taught you from a young age to be more composed. Don’t be so impetuous all the time. You’re not young anymore; a hot temper won’t do you any good. I won’t even compare you to Jing Wen—at this rate, you’re not even as calm as your own son!”

There’s no such thing as a parent who doesn’t nag. As long as he was alive, he would worry about his children, even if those children were well into their middle age.

”Oh, Dad, what are you saying? It takes all sorts to make a world. How could everyone be the same?”

Having gotten a firm answer, Shui Sulan didn’t want to waste any more time. She said she would come see him in a couple of days and then hung up.

Sang Yuan had no idea what his mother had been up to behind his back. After hanging up with Wei Shuojie, he couldn’t help but bury his face in his hands.

He had never done anything so embarrassing in his entire life. Fortunately, it was just a small financial loss and not a major catastrophe.

It was such a relief that Sister Wei was willing to help him find a professional team.

With a great weight lifted from his shoulders, Sang Yuan’s usual calm expression returned. He had just stepped out of his study when he saw his mother coming down the stairs, beaming at him.

”Mom, you’re not busy today?”

Even though his mother was retired, she still had a lot of work to do. It was quite rare for her to be home on an afternoon like this.

”It’s the weekend, can’t I take a break? Even you know how to give yourself a day off! It’s not like I have a spendthrift son to support, so why should I work so hard?”

Sang Yuan chuckled at his mother’s words. ”Mom, what kind of talk is that? Are you saying you’re actually envious of other families with disappointing sons?”

Mrs. Sang immediately gave him a conspiratorial wink and leaned in closer. ”Tell me, are my grandchildren going to be ambitious? If they’re going to be ne’er-do-wells, I’d better start saving up more for them while I’m still young.”

Sang Yuan was exasperated. ”Mom, not this again!”

’Knowing I’m going to have two grandsons or granddaughters, who could possibly resist asking about them?’

”Well, you never tell me anything, so of course I have to keep asking! If you just told me a little more, I wouldn’t be so curious, and then I’d stop asking, wouldn’t I?”

”Sigh... Who can say for sure with these things? What if this life turns out differently?”

Shui Sulan, who had been smiling just a moment before, froze when she heard his words.

’That’s right. That whole premonition business is uncertain to begin with. What’s the point of thinking so much about it?’

’He hasn’t even brought home a daughter-in-law yet! What am I doing thinking about little grandchildren?’

At that thought, a wave of irritation washed over her.

”It’s a beautiful weekend, perfect weather, and other people are out there dating. What are you doing cooped up at home? You’ll be an old bachelor pushing forty before you know it, and you don’t seem worried in the least!”

’Weren’t we just having a nice conversation? How can she just flip out like that?’

’I’m only turning thirty next year! How does that make me an old bachelor pushing forty?’

Sang Yuan felt deeply wronged.

”I’d love to, but you don’t know what she’s like. If I dared to tell her I wanted to date her, I guarantee she’d start taking the long way around our house just to avoid me.”

Mrs. Sang let out a heavy huff. Ignoring him completely, she stomped down the stairs. THUMP, THUMP, THUMP.

’In her eyes, her son was just making excuses!’

’Xiao Ni is so easy to get along with! She can strike up a conversation with anyone. How could she possibly be that hard to woo?’

’He’s just not trying hard enough and making up excuses!’

’If this was an arranged match, it would be one thing, but this is the girl he picked out for himself!’