Who Needs a CEO? I Choose Stardom

”Yaoyao’s back? Why’d she just dump her suitcase in the yard and leave it?”

A short while later, her uncle, Lu Zigang, returned with her cousin, Lu Xun. When he saw the familiar suitcase in the yard, he knew his silly daughter was home.

He’d been worried sick about her lately, and seeing she couldn’t even be bothered to put her suitcase away properly, he couldn’t help but nag a little.

”Dad! Can you bring it in for me? I’m busy peeling winter bamboo shoots! I don’t have time!”

”You’re so scatterbrained all the time. It’s fine when you’re at home and have people to pick up after you, but what are you going to do when you’re on your own?”

”Guess I’ll just have to deal with it! What else can I do? I’d love to take you with me everywhere, Dad, but you’re the one who’s not willing, right?”

The father and daughter, one inside and one out, started bickering through the window.

They were both talkative and loved to joke around. Trading barbs the moment they saw each other was practically a family tradition. Everyone was used to it and just pretended not to hear.

Lu Zigang continued to grumble as he walked, but when he stepped inside, he saw two more suitcases in the main room.

Now, realizing his niece was also back, his grumbling turned into pure, delightful surprise.

”Bingbing is back too? Hasn’t work been busy lately? Goodness, you kid! You were in the house and didn’t even make a peep! I didn’t even know you were here!”

After arguing with her father, the original owner of this body had entered a long cold war with him. Afraid her mother’s family would scold her for it, she pretended to be busy with work and hadn’t visited for two years.

Ni Bingyan was trying to fish a phone out of a water vat with a long-handled strainer. Seeing her uncle enter, she quickly straightened up and called out, ”Uncle.”

”Hey!”

Lu Zigang answered, and seeing her trying to retrieve something, he hurried over and bent down to look. ”What are you fishing for in there?”

Before her aunt could speak, Ni Bingyan explained, ”Auntie’s phone accidentally fell into the vat. I’m trying to get it out to see if it still works.”

”This water is for cooking. Since a phone fell in, it’s best to change it out. You go rest. I’m stronger, let me do it!”

There was a faucet installed above the large earthenware vat. They usually kept it filled so water was always ready to be used, conveniently scooped out with a large dipper. Now, getting all the water out was pure manual labor.

Lu Zigang felt for his niece and quickly took the dipper, nudging her aside.

Although the Lu Family was quite wealthy, they had always lived in the town, and their lifestyle hadn’t changed much from years ago.

This water vat was ancient; it had been here since Ni Bingyan was just a few years old.

After the water was bailed out, the vat would need a good scrubbing. Her uncle wouldn’t let her do it, and she didn’t argue. She put down the strainer, went to grab a head of garlic from under the eaves, and sat down at the dining table to peel it.

As she peeled the garlic, she listened to her family chat.

”I heard from your cousin that you’re not chasing that celebrity anymore?”

The couple was most concerned about their daughter having gone astray. The moment they saw her, they started interrogating her.

The Lu Family’s kitchen was huge, separated from the large dining room by a sliding door.

As they were talking, her cousin Lu Xun and her grandmother came in. Seeing there was nothing else to do, they gathered around the dining table and started peeling garlic with Ni Bingyan.

With so many people watching, Lu Yao was a little embarrassed, but she cleared her throat and said:

”Wasn’t I just young and foolish back then? I have something serious to do now! I won’t make such silly mistakes anymore.”

Her aunt was a straightforward and expressive person who never hid her feelings from family. Hearing this, she immediately rolled her eyes.

”What ’something serious’? For you, the only serious thing right now is to study hard, find a good job after graduation, and if you can find a reliable boyfriend and get married without any fuss, that would be even more perfect!”

”Mom, don’t look down on me! I only started drawing comics a little over a week ago and I’ve already gained 300,000 followers! Tell me, am I awesome or what?”

Lu Zigang was actually very happy inside, but he couldn’t stand seeing his daughter get arrogant, so he decided to take her down a peg.

”Let’s not even talk about your uncle, who has over 100 million followers online. Even your cousin—I just checked yesterday—has over 13 million followers on her official account! You’ve barely taken the first step on a thousand-mile journey, so what’s there to be so proud of? When you can get a comic book published without your old man having to foot the bill, then you can come show off to us!”

Hearing her dad say that, Lu Yao got agitated.

”How can you even compare? My uncle is a huge internet celebrity, and my cousin is a superstar. They have massive fan bases! Of course it’s easy for them to gain followers! For someone like me who just likes to draw, the fan community is small to begin with. Gaining 300,000 in such a short time is already amazing!”

”Alright, alright! It’s better than getting into trouble! Be careful not to cut your hand! You’re so clumsy, I don’t know when I’ll ever be able to stop worrying about you.”

Seeing her mom was still nagging her in front of her cousin, Lu Yao felt mortified.

”Mom! Can’t you spare me some dignity in front of my cousin? When I start making money, I promise I’ll take good care of you. Just stop bringing this up all the time.”

’Always ”getting into trouble,” ”not doing anything serious”... it was really grating to hear.’

”I will talk about it! Why shouldn’t I? It doesn’t matter if you’re twenty, thirty, forty, or even eighty! As long as I’m alive, I’ll bring it up. I’ll talk about it every New Year, every holiday, and every family birthday! It’s the best way to make sure my future granddaughter doesn’t learn from your example!”

Lu Yao was utterly speechless.

”I don’t even have a boyfriend yet! And you’re already planning for your granddaughter!”

She quickly threw the peeled winter bamboo shoots into a basin, not even bothering to wash them, and fled.

Seeing her leave, presumably to go to her room and unpack, her aunt turned to Ni Bingyan with a smile. ”Bingbing is still the most reliable. As soon as you stepped in, the problem was solved!”

”It was actually a coincidence...”

Ni Bingyan then recounted what had happened at the airport that day.

”Sigh, it’s finally over! I just hope she won’t be so foolish again. Money is a small matter; you can always earn more. But if she had gotten hurt, her dad and I would have wanted to kill someone!”

Her aunt sighed, adding the ham to the wok.

”She’s doing fine now, so don’t be too hard on her. It’s normal to be a bit foolish when you’re young. I used to do plenty of things that made my dad hopping mad! All the bad things are in the past. This year, we only have good things left. We should be celebrating a happy New Year!”

With that, before they could continue talking about her cousin, she turned to Lu Xun.

”Bro, is your girlfriend coming to visit this year? What day is it set for? I want to see if I can make it. I need to at least get a look at her! I don’t want to run into my own future sister-in-law on the street and not even recognize her.”

Lu Xun, who took after his father and was tall and handsome, was a little shy about the topic of his girlfriend visiting. He turned the question back on her.

”You’re not so young yourself. Have you found a boyfriend? When is he coming to visit? Make sure to let me know. I need to get a look at him too, so I don’t run into my own future brother-in-law on the street and not recognize him!”

Their exchange made everyone laugh.

Ni Bingyan shot him a look and huffed, ”Shuren! You and your sharp tongue, you never let anyone have the last word. We’ll see what you do in the future! The second your wife gets mad, she’s going to pinch you!”

Because of his name, Lu Xun’s nickname was Lu Xun, after the famous author. Some people also called him Shuren, the author’s given name. Ni Bingyan, having grown up around here, often heard his classmates call him that and picked it up herself.

At that, everyone burst into laughter again.

Yes, all the bad things were in the past. All that remained were good things. It was time to have a joyful, happy New Year!