Who Needs a CEO? I Choose Stardom

Little Sang wasn’t so easy to schedule a meeting with.

He’d admit to things he’d done, but no one could pin something on him that he hadn’t.

”Please tell President Chen that this is all a misunderstanding. We have no prior grudges or recent conflicts, so why would I target him? I’m busy with work at the end of the year and don’t have time to meet for now. I appreciate his kind offer, and I’ll be sure to treat him to a meal once I’m free.”

His friend was just a messenger. After relaying the response, he didn’t press the matter, simply suggesting they get tea some other time before hanging up.

Sang Yuan sounded exasperated and wrongly accused on the phone, but his face darkened the moment he hung up.

’I can’t believe Sister Wei is so unreliable! She hasn’t even gotten the job done, and someone’s already come knocking—and it’s the wrong person entirely!’

’So precision strikes in the entertainment industry come with collateral damage?’

Since this had happened, he definitely had to call Wei Shuojie and demand an explanation. After all, he had paid for this service.

Wei Shuojie was on her way back from CCTV. When she got the call, she assumed he was asking for a progress report, so she tried to soothe him in a lighthearted tone:

”It’s not that easy to completely ruin someone with public opinion. You need to get rock-solid, irrefutable proof. President Sang, can’t you be a little more patient? It’s only been a few days. She’s like a frightened bird lately, hiding at home all day. We can’t get any dirt on her if we can’t even film her! The paparazzi need time to work.”

When Sang Yuan had first approached her, she’d asked him why an outsider like him was so intent on going after a minor celebrity.

Sang Yuan told her about Li Yi trying to invite Ni Bingyan to dinner to pimp her out, and Wei Shuojie immediately understood.

’This domineering CEO just can’t stand seeing the person he’s interested in being coveted by others!’

’Tsk tsk, he hasn’t even won her over yet and he’s already acting like this. If they ever become official, won’t he be a jealous mess all the time?’

’It’s just too much to watch!’

Understanding the situation, Wei Shuojie had agreed and found him a reliable team of paparazzi.

”Today, President Chen from Huanyue sent a message through a third party, inviting me to dinner. From the sound of it, he wants me to stop going after his company’s artist, Han Feifan. What’s going on?”

When Wei Shuojie heard this, she realized what had happened.

She never expected that something she had guaranteed with such confidence would go so wrong. Her face instantly flushed with embarrassment.

”There might have been a problem somewhere... I... hold on, let me ask them.”

But Sang Yuan was sharp. He could tell from her tone that there was more to the story.

”What exactly happened? Just tell me directly. Don’t waste time.”

Wei Shuojie had initially held back. For one, she didn’t want him to think she was using Ni Bingyan as a bargaining chip to deliberately set him up. For another, it involved the privacy of Ni Bingyan’s cousin, and it wasn’t a good thing to gossip about.

But now, with his unpleasant tone, she knew she couldn’t keep hiding it, so Wei Shuojie hesitated.

”Is there something you can’t tell me? If they could find me, don’t you think he knows you had a hand in this? Tell me the truth. Maybe I can even help. Otherwise, if they come after you, what are you going to say?”

The man was the boss of Huanyue. Even if Xingdi Film and Television was his rival, Wei Shuojie wasn’t the boss of Xingdi Film and Television. If Huanyue decided to get serious, Wei Shuojie might not be able to handle the pressure.

”Sigh... Well, the thing is, right after I hung up with you the other day, Bingbing came to see me...”

In the end, Wei Shuojie told him everything.

’Seeing how devoted he was,’ she figured, ’they might be family one day, so there was nothing that couldn’t be said. The job hadn’t been done right and he’d been confronted; he deserved to know where things went wrong.’

”Her cousin?”

As soon as Wei Shuojie mentioned it, Sang Yuan remembered.

Ni Bingyan only had one female cousin, and something similar had happened in his past life.

Only, without his meddling, Ni Bingyan hadn’t managed to get any dirt on Han Feifan. Her cousin had started the job as scheduled, only to discover it was a trap after she was already in.

Han Feifan’s studio used the pretense of hiring for winter and summer break jobs to attract pretty fans, allowing Han Feifan to ’select his concubines’ and even entertain his industry friends in exchange for resources.

At first, her cousin thought it was a normal job, but when she realized something was wrong, she managed to escape and went straight to Ni Bingyan.

From then on, her cousin would frown at the mere mention of chasing stars. Many years later, she would even try to talk his own daughter out of it when she saw her collecting celebrity merchandise.

The incident served as a cautionary tale for the entire family. Even when her cousin’s own children were several years old, her uncle’s family still brought it up.

Because Ni Bingyan was very close to this uncle and the two families saw each other often, he, as the nephew-in-law, had heard the story countless times.

’I can’t just ignore this. What if the butterfly effect kicks in and her cousin doesn’t manage to escape this time? What would I do then?’

”Put your side of things on hold for now. I’ll schedule a meal with President Chen and talk to him about this.”

Anyway, in a little while, a victim was bound to come forward and expose Han Feifan. There was no need for Ni Bingyan to make an enemy. Protecting her cousin was the priority.

Wei Shuojie didn’t really agree with Ni Bingyan’s methods either, but Huanyue had been a rival for decades. There was no way for her to mediate, which was why she had only agreed to help look into it first.

”Then I’ll let her know.”

”Hey, no need. Don’t sully her ears with this kind of filth. Just leave it to me. It’s not a big deal anyway.”

Fine. She’d run into a lovesick saint who insisted on dedicating himself to the cause. She couldn’t refuse on Ni Bingyan’s behalf, so she could only agree.

But after hanging up, she told Ni Bingyan about it anyway.

She was on the road and it wasn’t convenient to keep making calls, so she just sent a WeChat voice message.

Ni Bingyan was engrossed in the gossip of ancient poets and couldn’t pull herself away, so naturally, she didn’t see the message.

By the time she saw it, it was already the next day, after she had received a video call from her cousin.

”What did you say?”

”*Sob*, Sis, Brother Fei Fan’s studio suddenly said they aren’t hiring anymore, but last night I saw my senior’s social media feed, and she’s still posting the recruitment ad...”

(⊙o⊙)...

Seeing her cousin crying until the tip of her nose was red, Ni Bingyan was stunned.

’What kind of divine luck is this?’

Forcibly suppressing her joy, Ni Bingyan comforted Lu Yao, ”Hey, little sis, don’t be sad! Did they say why?”

”They contacted me and said they don’t need a graphic artist for now. *Waaaah*, they said they don’t need one, but they’re still recruiting...”

An idea struck Ni Bingyan. ”Little sis, you know how idols like them are. They’re very strict about photo editing. They often stay up all night for work, so they get pimples, dark circles, blackheads on their noses, all sorts of problems... I think maybe your professional skills just aren’t up to their standards yet...”

”Sis, my Brother Fei Fan is naturally handsome! His original photos barely need any editing!”

It was the stubbornness of a fan. Best to just ignore it.

Ni Bingyan continued to coax her, ”Alright! But I think it’s never a bad thing to study hard and improve your professional skills. It would be hilarious if, down the line, his photo editor turns out to be worse than you!”

”You have a point.”

Her cousin was comforted.

Ni Bingyan then asked, ”You wanted a winter break job, so are you a bit tight on cash? How about this: when your break starts, come be my assistant for a couple of months. I’ll pay you a salary. Who knows, maybe when you attend events with me, you’ll even run into your Brother Fei Fan!”

If you tell a naive girl who hasn’t seen the world that the entertainment industry isn’t what she imagines, and that her idol isn’t as perfect as he seems, she’ll definitely argue with you. Ni Bingyan wanted to take her out to see the world for herself, to let her see it with her own eyes.

No matter the industry, once you shatter the filter, you won’t be so blind anymore.

Lu Yao had spent so much money chasing her idol and was currently being lectured by her family. She was feeling resentful and wanted to earn some money during the winter break. Seeing that her older cousin was willing to take her along, how could she possibly disagree?

She immediately broke into a smile through her tears and agreed.

With her cousin’s matter settled, Ni Bingyan was about to call her uncle to let him know when she saw the message from Wei Shuojie.

She played it and listened, only then understanding how this sudden turn of events had come about.

’Oh no, I owe someone a favor now.’

As someone who hated owing people favors, when Ni Bingyan realized Sang Yuan had helped her, she knew she had to find a way to thank him.

But how could she find something he would actually like?

It was truly a vexing problem.