Who Needs a CEO? I Choose Stardom

”Hey, Cousin, I’m thinking of posting a comic on Weibo. What do you think?”

Lu Yao was an oil painting major, and most of the professionals she encountered looked down on comics, considering them a frivolous pursuit.

She wanted to achieve financial freedom, but her paintings didn’t sell for much. The concept artist field was also incredibly competitive. As only a sophomore, she couldn’t keep up with her peers and struggled to land high-paying commissions, so she had to find another way.

She wanted to post a comic online and publish it once she gained some popularity, but she felt like she was doing something wrong and was incredibly uncertain.

”That’s a great idea!”

Noticing her lack of confidence, Ni Bingyan praised her without a moment’s hesitation.

Then she asked, ”Have you drawn some of it? Let me see! I’ll be your first reader. I’ll give you my honest opinion, good or bad. If it’s good, we’ll post it online. If it’s not, there’s no shame in that. What do you say?”

Seeing that she made a lot of sense, Lu Yao handed over the tablet she had been hiding behind her back.

”So, Cousin, what do you think of my art? I did it on a graphics tablet. It doesn’t have the same texture as a canvas, but it’s convenient, and more than enough for a comic.”

Ni Bingyan took one look and saw that the comic had a traditional Chinese aesthetic. Beyond its classical elegance, it exuded a natural cuteness. The overall effect was stunning in a way that was hard to describe.

Art is inherently a medium of strong personal style. Her cousin had been drawing since she was a little girl and had long since developed her own voice. Even though she wasn’t formally trained in comics, her work looked quite professional.

Reassured, Ni Bingyan began to praise her with genuine sincerity. ”You draw beautifully. As long as you stick with it, you’re bound to make it big sooner or later.”

”Hearing you say that is such a relief. Cousin, take a look at the story. Is it interesting?”

The comic was in the typical vertical-scrolling format. This was the first Chapter. The cover featured a curvy girl in a red cheongsam. Scrolling down, the title was emblazoned on the screen—*My Cousin is a Superstar*.

”You’re drawing about me?”

Seeing her cousin staring at her wide-eyed, Lu Yao quickly hid her hands behind her back and let out a sheepish giggle.

’Heh, no wonder she’s been sucking up to me.’

Ni Bingyan said with a sigh, ”Stop grinning like that! You’ll laugh away all your brain cells. You don’t have many to begin with, what will you do if you squander them like this?”

”Cousin!”

’Calling me dumb is crossing the line!’

Lu Yao immediately pounced on her, wrapping her arms around her neck and bouncing up and down forcefully.

”Hey, get off, get off, let me look! Who drew this? Why is it so pretty!”

”That’s more like it!”

Lu Yao released her, leaning over and bracing her hands on the desk as her eyes also fell upon the screen.

After carefully reading through the content, Ni Bingyan’s brow furrowed. ”My daily life?”

”Don’t worry, I’ll make absolutely sure to hide my real identity!”

Afraid her cousin would object, Lu Yao quickly explained.

”No, that’s not it. I just mean, my daily life is so dull and boring. Will it really attract any fans?”

’Sister Wei always says my habits are like an old grandpa’s. Even though I don’t find my life boring, I guess most people would agree with Sister Wei, right?’

’My cousin has finally found her drive. I can’t be the one to crush it.’

’If she posts it and it doesn’t make a single splash, how discouraging would that be for her?’

”You have no idea! People are definitely curious about the daily lives of celebrities! This will for sure get views! And later, if it gets published, I’ll split the royalties with you fifty-fifty. How about it, Cousin?”

”The royalties are a minor issue. If you want to draw it, then draw it! But I am a little worried about you not controlling the content properly. What if you reveal something you shouldn’t and it leads to a lawsuit?”

’I have so many endorsement deals, and there will probably be even more next year. I can’t afford to be careless.’

Lu Yao giggled again. ”That’s why I have to show it to you before I post it! From now on, before I even start drawing, I’ll run the content by you first. I’ll only draw it after you approve. Once it’s done, I’ll show it to you, and I’ll only post it with your final approval. How does that sound?”

Afraid she wouldn’t agree, Lu Yao hugged her arm and whined playfully, ”I know a lot of your work is confidential, and I don’t want the audience to guess who my cousin is either. That’s why I’m planning to draw your everyday life! My winter break is about twenty days long, so I’ll update one Chapter a day. If it gets popular, I’ll come back during summer break to update the second season!”

Seeing that she had a solid plan and wasn’t just acting on a whim, Ni Bingyan agreed. ”In that case, there shouldn’t be a problem.”

”Then it’s a deal!”

As she spoke, Lu Yao reached for her tablet, but Ni Bingyan held on to it.

”This braised beef noodle soup is drawn so well. It looks absolutely delicious!”

It was enough to make one’s mouth water.

”Right? Right? Never underestimate a foodie! I actually published an art book back in middle school, filled with nothing but drawings of delicious food.”

”This could totally be a series! Why didn’t you keep going with it?”

”Don’t even get me started! It didn’t make any money, so the publisher gave up on it. I couldn’t possibly have my dad pay to publish it for me, could I? How embarrassing would that be? I figured it was better to just draw them and save them for a future opportunity.”

Ni Bingyan couldn’t help but laugh before asking her:

”Did you take a picture of the fish from lunch? You should draw our fish later, too! Your cousin’s cooking skills are amazing, it’s a pity no one else gets to try it. Drawing it for them so they can experience it is the next best thing!”

Ni Bingyan was thrilled to see her cousin find something to be passionate about.

’Following an idol is a huge time commitment. Anyone with even a slightly busy job can’t keep up with it.’

’I’ll support anything that stops her from chasing that idol with both hands. I’m even willing to spend time and cooperate fully to help achieve that goal.’

”I was agonizing over how to bring this up with you, and then I completely forgot during the meal.”

”No worries, no worries. We’re free this afternoon anyway. I’ll take you fishing in a bit. We can make the fish again tonight, and you can draw me fishing. How fun is that!”

Lu Yao’s eyes lit up. ”Now I have material for Chapter three! Cousin! You’re my guardian angel!”

”Come on, come on, go get changed. Being a cousin to just you is more than enough for me. No need to be an angel on top of that.”

With something fun to do, Lu Yao forgot all about the heartbreak of her idol’s downfall and immediately went back to her room to get ready.

She planned to finish the line art on the spot while her cousin was fishing, so all she would need to do later was add the color.

Ni Bingyan was a woman of action, and Lu Yao was still riding a wave of excitement. They were perfectly in sync and quickly gathered their things before heading to the lakeside.

Ni Bingyan loved fishing. Even in winter, she enjoyed bundling up in warm clothes, finding a spot sheltered from the wind, and casting a few lines.

The carp that met its tragic, braised fate today was one she had caught a few days ago.

The two arrived at the lakeside. Ni Bingyan set up her fishing platform, prepared the groundbait, mixed the hookbait, and then sat down quietly, starting to fish while reading a script.

Lu Yao sat on a bench slightly behind her, balancing the graphics tablet on her lap. She managed to get two sketches done before her hands became unbearably cold.

Drawing was a difficult business in this weather; wearing gloves was clumsy, but taking them off left her hands to freeze. After sticking it out for a little while longer, she finally gave up, took out her phone, and started taking pictures of her cousin.

’I’ll just have to draw from the photos when I get home!’

As a southerner, she wasn’t quite accustomed to the northern climate.

Ni Bingyan was very serious when she worked. She was used to studying on set, so she rarely paid attention to her surroundings while concentrating. On top of that, since it was just her own cousin with her, she was even more at ease.

No matter which angle she looked from, Lu Yao found her cousin beautiful. Once she started snapping pictures, she couldn’t stop!

She was especially meticulous whenever Ni Bingyan hooked a fish.

She didn’t know how to fish, so she wasn’t clear on what it looked like when a fish was on the hook. If she drew it wrong, experts who saw it would definitely roast her for it. It was better to put in the effort and be as professional as possible.

While taking pictures, she saw someone tag her in the fan group chat. Lu Yao paused for a moment, then tapped it open.

She hadn’t been online for the past two days, and she had also stopped her daily check-ins and data-boosting tasks for her idol. It wasn’t surprising that someone had tagged her.

[Yaoyao, didn’t you see our idol at the airport yesterday? Did you get his autograph? Did you get a picture with him? I’m so bummed I couldn’t be there! Why haven’t you posted any photos? It’s been a while, are you still editing them?]

Normally, she would have been showing off all over the group chat. She had mentioned yesterday that she was going to the airport to greet him, but then there was no follow-up. Of course the other girls she followed him with would be getting impatient.

Lu Yao let out a self-deprecating laugh. After some hesitation, she finally replied to the girls in the group: [I’m going to be busy from now on, so I won’t have time to keep chasing after our idol! I’m taking a break from the fandom for now. I hope he has a future full of success! And I wish all you sisters happiness every day.]

Then she decisively left the group.

The moment she left, friends who knew her well immediately sent her private messages. The most common question was: ”Yaoyao, what happened? Why did you suddenly quit just like that?”

She scrolled through the messages one by one.

Some blamed her: ”Didn’t we promise to always support our idol? How could you be a traitor?”

Others were malicious: ”Lord Yao, did you run out of money? Can’t afford to be a fan anymore?”

A staff member from the idol’s agency, who was in charge of managing the fan base, also reached out to express concern: [Are you running into some kind of difficulty?]

Lu Yao answered none of them.

With tears welling in her eyes, she took a deep breath and deleted all of these people from her fandom life.

After that, she opened Weibo, deleted her account, and registered for a new one.

Her old Weibo handle was ”Feifan’s Little Sweetie,” but her new one was ”Lu Yao Knows the Road’s Strength.”

’Time truly reveals a person’s heart!’

’I was too young and naive, after all.’

Her heart ached, and the words her cousin had spoken during their late-night chat floated back into her mind. ”What’s the point of chasing an idol? Instead of pinning your idealized fantasies on a person you don’t even know is good or bad, why not spend that time on yourself? Become the person you’ve always wanted to be. That kind of happiness is far more lasting.”

’That’s exactly what my cousin does.’

’She lives freely, happily, confidently, and elegantly... just like every other independent and self-reliant woman.’

’Thinking about it now, spending my family’s money to support someone like that, someone I didn’t even truly know... I was a complete and utter fool!’

’Even if I was going to spend money, it should have been money I earned myself!’