Who Needs a CEO? I Choose Stardom

The overseas filming location for *Inheritor* was in Cambodia, at the estate of a wealthy ethnic Chinese tycoon.

The journey was long, requiring multiple changes of transport along the way. Ni Bingyan had left home just after six in the morning and met up with the film crew at the airport. It wasn’t until after ten at night that she finally arrived at their destination.

She wasn’t one to spend much time online to begin with, and now, exhausted from the long journey and well past her usual bedtime, she was so sleepy after a few quick bites of food that her eyelids felt glued shut. Naturally, she paid no mind to trivial matters.

And so, she had no idea that countless netizens back home were currently flooding Weibo with comments cursing her out.

Wei Shuojie, who had thought she could finally relax since Ni Bingyan was filming abroad, was forced to suit up for battle once again and wreak havoc on all fronts.

It was genuinely infuriating, but also genuinely thrilling.

To be honest, in her long career, personally taking down all kinds of trolls and haters was just part of the daily routine.

Ni Bingyan was usually so well-behaved that it left Wei Shuojie’s formidable talents unused.

The way this online mobbing came about was, one might say, quite surreal.

The previous night, after receiving gifts from her fans, Ni Bingyan had decided on a whim to do a live-streamed unboxing, hoping to kill several birds with one stone.

As it turned out, the effect was indeed excellent.

Not only did it attract massive attention, but *Demon Suppression Tower*, whose box office numbers had been flagging after half a month in theaters, actually got a second wind from the buzz and climbed back into the top three.

The marketing company, which had been on a tight budget, was overjoyed. The producer was so delighted he wished he could hire Ni Bingyan to shoot a *Demon Suppression Tower 2*.

Unfortunately, they hadn’t planned for a sequel; the movie had a definitive ending. Forcing a prequel or sequel now would be a blatant cash grab, and the original book’s fans would absolutely flame them to death for it.

This level of buzz was truly enviable!

The pop idols, in particular, were green with envy.

She had a full eight trending topics overnight, and countless netizens were still talking about it the next day.

If it had been anyone else, trending so crazily would have earned them a scolding so severe their own mother wouldn’t recognize them. But when it came to Ni Bingyan, people were practically singing her praises to the high heavens.

It had to be said, the world was truly unfair!

’Why is it that when we stir up trouble, we’re just desperate for fame, but when she does it, it’s all in good fun? And people even want to see what other funny messes she’ll get into?’

’Forget it, I’m not going to think about it. I’ll just get my agent to figure something out!’

’After all, this is what agents are for. They get paid the big bucks, so they’d better prove their worth.’

At the same time, countless idol agents, looking at the stupid faces of their own clients who were just blankly waiting for instructions, were absolutely livid:

”You idiot! Don’t you know how to emulate the successful? You can’t come up with new ideas, so now you need someone to teach you how to copy homework?”

It was just a live-streamed unboxing, wasn’t it?

Going from beginner to expert was so simple it could practically be done in one step!

They spent all day complaining their agents weren’t doing enough, but never thought to compare themselves to Ni Bingyan!

’You think I’m not good enough? You want a top-tier agent like Wei Shuojie? Are you even worthy?!’

’Worthy? Worthy of jack shit, is what you are!’

’Think about it. Ni Bingyan speaks several foreign languages. She goes abroad for one trip and can chat and laugh with people from different countries, making countless connections in the blink of an eye. They all work together to get her trending. Meanwhile, the ones I manage often can’t even read their own native language!’

’Dealing with these hopeless, clueless illiterates... Agents have every right to be pissed off too!’

But this is how the world works. Smart people have their smart ways to get by, and stupid people have their stupid methods.

”I saw my senior’s live stream yesterday and it suddenly reminded me that I’ve also received so many gifts from my dear fans. I’ve never properly thanked you all, so I thought I’d learn from my senior and do an unboxing too!”

Many who had graduated from the same school as Ni Bingyan, or worked at the same company, used this script. Calling her ”senior” or ”junior,” they were openly leeching off her connections for clout.

Although it was a bit cringey, it wasn’t enough to make people disgusted.

”I hear live-streamed unboxings are really popular lately? I don’t have any unopened fan gifts right now, but it was my birthday a few days ago, and I received some gift boxes from various brands. Want to see what’s inside?”

”Haha, I know you guys want them too. I found the same items for you! If you want them, just click the e-commerce link on my page to buy!”

These were the ones shamelessly riding the trend to sell products.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see it at a glance.

If you were interested, you could take a look and maybe place an order. If not, you could just move on. It wasn’t particularly annoying.

The most detestable ones were those who tried to climb higher by stepping on others.

You could say that in just one day, some people had gone from learning the ropes to completely f*cking it up.

For example, one of the assistants of a certain A-list male singer—who had no notable works to his name—dared to ”secretly” film his boss opening gifts.

The idea itself wasn’t bad. If designed well, it could have given off a special sense of authenticity.

The problem was, the assistant’s commentary was way too over-the-top, reeking of extreme vanity and materialism.

”Whoa! A limited-edition handbag from the C Family! There are only 100 of these in the whole world! So much more collectible than some handmade bag from a certain female star!”

”Oh my! Vintage cufflinks from 1871! Where did our dear fan find these? They must have cost a fortune!”

”And this limited-edition watch, did you guys know? Its previous owner was a prince from Dubai! As soon as our star puts it on, he has the air of a prince, right?”

The A-lister was used to this kind of life and used to his assistants fawning over him with such exaggerated praise. If the things he wore and used didn’t have some impressive backstory, he’d feel like he was losing face just by stepping outside!

It would have been one thing if they just hyped themselves up on their own live stream. But to drag Ni Bingyan into it and use her as a stepping stone? Could her Little Popsicles possibly tolerate that?

Absolutely not!

[I’m a woman whose time is worth millions, and I spent a whole damn week designing and handcrafting that bag from scratch, and you have the nerve to drag it through the mud? What’s even funnier is, how come the serial number on your ’limited-edition C Family bag’ is the same as my dad’s? The CEO of the company gave it to my dad personally. It can’t be a fake, can it?]

The first person to jump out and tear into the A-lister was none other than the fan who had sent Ni Bingyan the handmade bag.

Her Weibo account was verified with her real name. A quick search revealed she was the young daughter of a certain jewelry tycoon.

Ni Bingyan had been in a hurry the night before, so she hadn’t read the rest of the letter.

Who would have thought that someone who sent her idol a handmade bag would be a super-rich heiress who was genuinely passionate about handbag design, didn’t want to study jewelry design, and was planning to secretly switch her major behind her father’s back?

What was even funnier was that she had also, in the process, exposed the fact that the A-lister had received a fake.

Unlike Ni Bingyan’s genuine unboxing, the A-lister’s gift opening was staged. To prevent a PR disaster from unboxing something like a dead rat, all his packages were opened beforehand, re-sealed, and then opened again in a predetermined order.

This bag was unboxed first precisely because it was such a heavyweight item. It was meant to make the A-lister look good and maybe even help him scheme for an endorsement deal with the C Family.

But things went south right from the start. He was immediately exposed—the bag was a fake!

Now the A-lister had lost face, and his fans had lost even more.

Especially the fan who sent the bag; it was as if she’d been slapped across the face through the internet until it was swollen.

[You broke-ass bitch, who are you trying to be!]

’If you’re going to send a gift, send a real one!’

’You can’t afford it, but you still go and get a fake to send!’

’The key thing is, he received a fake bag and the A-lister didn’t even recognize it?!’

’He knows nothing about the brand’s products, yet he wants to be their spokesperson?’

The super-rich heiress who had sent the handmade bag had a fiery temper. The A-lister had accidentally provoked her, and she had ripped his last shred of dignity to pieces.

[As if I can’t afford a limited-edition bag! You think my handmade bag is inferior to that piece of junk limited-edition bag?]

Could a super-rich heiress with dreams of becoming a handbag designer possibly tolerate this insult?

Absolutely not!