Who Needs a CEO? I Choose Stardom

Since getting Wangcai, she had fallen in love with painting dogs.

Puppies grow fast, practically changing day by day. Ni Bingyan drew a portrait of him every day and had now amassed a thick stack of them.

After finishing a video, Duanmu Li came over to get a drink of water. She saw that Ni Bingyan had finished painting and was now washing her brushes, so she leaned in for a closer look.

”The eyes in this painting are so expressive. Is he angry?”

Duanmu Li glanced under the table, intending to pick him up. But Wangcai let out a whimper, turned around, and showed her his backside.

”Whoa, Bingbing, what did you do to upset him?”

”I had just taken out my previous paintings to look at them, and he insisted on climbing onto my lap. I picked him up, and he nearly destroyed the whole lot!”

’It takes so long to finish a single painting! Especially the ones I’m really happy with. How heartbreaking would it be if the little guy tore them up!’

”He needs to be taught some manners, then.”

Wangcai immediately scrambled out from under the table, baring his little teeth at her in a fit of temper.

”Hey! You think you’re justified, do you?”

Duanmu Li wasn’t one to coddle him. She scooped him right up onto her lap and began her lecture.

”Do you think you were in the wrong?”

Wangcai just argued right back with a ”YAP, YAP, YAP!”

”Don’t you go picking up bad habits from the husky next door!”

There were several production crews on location, and some celebrities had also brought their dogs along. Every day when Ni Bingyan walked her dog, she ran into plenty of fellow ”pooper-scoopers.” Wangcai had slowly started making friends, and one of them was a husky.

This husky was notorious for its destructive tendencies. A mere two weeks after arriving on set, it had torn the brand-new sofa cover in its owner’s RV to shreds. And that wasn’t all. It also had a penchant for clawing at its owner’s stockings, leaving a trail of holes. But the moment its owner got angry, the dog would instantly surrender, rolling around and rubbing against their feet, making it impossible to stay mad, let alone punish it.

Lately, Ni Bingyan’s greatest amusement was watching her neighbor, the other pooper-scooper, suffer misfortunes.

Wangcai, however, couldn’t comprehend such complex human thoughts. Standing on Duanmu Li’s lap, his eyes fell upon the freshly finished painting on the table. The moment he saw the other dog in the picture, his temper flared.

Seeing him stretch out a furry paw to grab the still-wet painting, Ni Bingyan had a sudden realization. ”Don’t tell me he thinks I’ve got another dog?”

Duanmu Li took a closer look. Huh, it really seemed that way!

’That look on his face, like he wanted nothing more than to obliterate the dog in the painting... Tsk!’

Finding the scene amusing, Ni Bingyan was struck with inspiration. She immediately laid out a fresh sheet of paper and began to paint it.

’Getting jealous of his own portrait... how adorable~~’

’Having a pet really is therapeutic.’

Duanmu Li had been studying all day and wanted to relax before bed. When she saw Ni Bingyan painting, she started recording a video from the side.

”Look, here’s my boss. Still up painting at this hour!”

Noticing the camera on her, Ni Bingyan gave an embarrassed smile. ”Almost done! Just let me finish this.”

After putting Wangcai in his dog bed, Duanmu Li casually posted the video to Weibo and went to grab the stack of paintings from the shelf.

”How long has it been? You’ve already collected so many? Speaking of which, have you ever thought about publishing an art book? Or what about holding an exhibition?”

Ni Bingyan was completely absorbed in her work and paid her no mind, treating her words as if they were just a gust of wind.

Resigned, Duanmu Li returned to her bed and opened Weibo.

As an assistant, part of her job was handling publicity, which meant capturing interesting, everyday moments of Ni Bingyan’s life and posting them online to attract new, casual fans.

The video had just gone live, and a flood of comments had already appeared. Most were the usual refrains, like, ”I’m crying, someone prettier than me is also working harder than me,” and ”Wow! This is solid proof that Sister Bing only has eyes for Wangcai!”

After closing Weibo, she noticed a new group chat on her WeChat.

The group admin was Wei Shuojie, the members were Duanmu Li and Wang Biao, and the group name was ”Let’s All Try to Persuade Her.”

Wei Shuojie: [Topic as titled. Any good ideas? Let’s hear them.]

Worldly Affairs are Impermanent: [She’s completely stubborn. I tried persuading her for ages, but she won’t budge.]

Big Pear: [Sister Wei, Brother Biao, our Sister Bing is at it again, painting. She’s already filled half a box with finished pieces. Why don’t we try to convince her to publish another art book? In for a penny, in for a pound, right?]

Wei Shuojie: [...]

Worldly Affairs are Impermanent: [...]

Before the old problem was even solved, a new one had cropped up.

’Usually you can’t squeeze a peep out of her, but get her online and she’s suddenly a chatterbox!’

’Still, that’s actually a pretty good suggestion!’

Worldly Affairs are Impermanent: [I think Pear has a point. The problem is, how do we convince her? I really didn’t think she’d be so completely uninterested. Sister Wei, do you think she’s just being humble, or does she have low self-esteem? For someone so talented to have low self-esteem... how is anyone else supposed to live?]

Wei Shuojie: [It takes all sorts to make a world. How should I know why she turned out like this? Alright, it’s getting late. We need to come up with a plan, and fast.]

Big Pear: [Bingbing is really strong-willed. Once she’s made up her mind about something, no one can change it. But... I’ve noticed she agrees to most things her dad suggests. Should we try talking to her dad?]

Worldly Affairs are Impermanent: [If my daughter were that accomplished, I’d be ecstatic. Going to her dad will definitely work!]

Wei Shuojie: [I’ll give it a try, then. And don’t you two let this slip.]