Who Needs a CEO? I Choose Stardom

”Sang Yuan?”

’How could he be here?’

The man in the distance was dressed in a proper, navy blue, three-piece business suit, leaning in to listen to the person beside him. From her angle, Ni Bingyan could only see his back.

She worried for a moment that she was mistaken, but then she instantly recognized the special assistant, a man surnamed Chen, standing right behind Sang Yuan.

Ever since Xiao Zhao was reassigned, he was the person Sang Yuan most preferred to bring along for business discussions.

’Then it has to be him.’

She had never imagined she would run into Sang Yuan here. In that instant, Ni Bingyan felt like a student who had dozed off in class only to wake up and find the dean of discipline standing right in front of her.

She was a little flustered and felt a bit guilty.

She quickly glanced around, but halfway through turning her head, she came to her senses. ’What’s there to be flustered about? Why should I feel guilty?’

’It’s not like I’ve done anything to wrong him!’

Having sorted out her thoughts, Ni Bingyan immediately turned to Simone and said:

”I think I see my boyfriend. I feel like I should go over and say hello.”

’We’re both in a foreign country, yet we managed to meet in the same exhibition hall. This must mean we’re on the same wavelength!’

’What kind of divine romance is this?’

Simone had been pondering how to introduce the next artwork to her, but upon hearing this news, she became even more excited than Ni Bingyan herself!

”Maybe you can walk over, cover his eyes, and make him guess who you are!”

’Now *that* would be straight out of a romance novel!’

Ni Bingyan was speechless. Even if she were eighteen again, she couldn’t bring herself to do something like that!

’Leave it to the hopelessly romantic French!’

She had to admit, when it came to romance, they really knew what they were doing.

Even though Simone was already middle-aged, her mind was still full of a young girl’s fantasies.

But doing something like that clearly went against Ni Bingyan’s principles.

’In such a public place, and with my boyfriend in the middle of a discussion, how could I be so reckless?’

Ni Bingyan walked over at an unhurried pace. Little Chen saw her and was about to alert Sang Yuan, but a single look from her stopped him.

Little Chen had managed to successfully fill the shoes of the all-capable Xiao Zhao precisely because he was so perceptive.

As long as you always acted according to the boss’s wishes, it didn’t matter much even if your abilities were slightly lacking.

After all, the employees at Yuan Yan Venture Capital were all highly qualified. Anyone who could stand out and work by the boss’s side couldn’t be that far behind in skill.

She gently tapped Sang Yuan’s shoulder. Seeing him jump in surprise, Ni Bingyan grinned smugly. She first offered an ”excuse me” to his companion before smiling and asking Sang Yuan in a low voice:

”Weren’t you going to Belgium for business? What are you doing in Paris?”

She only asked because Sang Yuan had just told her about it during their video call yesterday. She was simply surprised.

The others who overheard couldn’t help but widen their eyes slightly. ’So this is how the two of them interact in private?’

’Even his staff follows her wishes with just a single look. Little Sang’s low status in this relationship is clearly set in stone!’

’If this part gets aired, the ratings are guaranteed to be solid!’

’My secret tip to Little Sang wasn’t in vain!’

Pei Jin struggled to suppress the upward curve of his lips, trying his best not to look too pleased with himself.

Little Sang had said this was a secret, after all.

And secrets should be taken to the grave.

Simone, who could understand a little Chinese, saw this and her eyes twinkled mischievously. Her mouth opened slightly as she whispered, ”Wow~.”

Alan couldn’t understand Chinese, but he only needed to look at everyone’s expressions to get the gist of the situation.

He already knew Ni Bingyan had a boyfriend, but he never expected him to be so impressive that even Mr. Martin spoke to him with such deference.

’Good thing I didn’t try to steal her away and humiliate myself in the process.’

’Staying in the friend zone feels pretty good right now.’

With this in mind, Alan smiled and stepped forward, offering a reserved, ”Hi~.”

’I’ve made a friend, so it’s only logical to become friends with her boyfriend too!’

The exhibition hall wasn’t suitable for a large group, so the full variety show crew hadn’t followed them in. Right now, it was just Pei Jin himself, shouldering a camera as he filmed.

Seeing the group, he didn’t get too close, filming from a distance to avoid capturing anything that couldn’t be broadcast, which would render the footage unusable.

Hearing her voice, Sang Yuan, as if possessed by the spirit of a Best Actor, turned around with a look of utter astonishment. The moment he saw Ni Bingyan, he beamed at the camera like a blossoming flower.

”What are you doing here? Weren’t you in London? Did you know I was coming here? Whoa! No way! We ran into each other just like this? This is us being on the same wavelength! It has to be!”

Little Sang had always been good at learning by analogy. His father, Mr. Sang, had passed down his wisdom: before going out, secretly check what your girlfriend is wearing so you can go out in a matching couple’s outfit. Now, his forcing the ”same wavelength” narrative didn’t seem out of place either.

The dozens of small countries in Europe combined weren’t much larger than China in terms of land area. Plus, with freedom of travel between most of them, it was perfectly normal to be in one country one day and another the next.

However, running into each other without any prior communication was not so easy.

Ni Bingyan just thought it was a coincidence. Seeing him acting like a complete love-struck fool, she couldn’t help but break into a wide grin, showing off her pearly whites!

After all, Sang Yuan was in Europe for business. In Ni Bingyan’s eyes, any normal person would prioritize work. There could only be one reason he was here: it was a business necessity.

Sang Yuan would never admit that it was precisely because his love-struck brain had taken over that he had arranged this business trip overnight as a cover.

Some people are just so stubborn. Even after they’re cremated and their bones are turned to dust, their mouths would still be hard.

For someone who loved fishing, catching *that thing* would probably leave them with a psychological scar for the rest of their life.

He was clearly scared to death but refused to admit it no matter what.

’At a time like this, as a ”24-filial-pieties” perfect boyfriend, I’d be a fool to actually believe her story and think she wasn’t scared at all.’

’She isn’t the kind of silly girl who gets swept up in love. To cultivate a deep relationship with her, besides the daily ’boiling the frog in lukewarm water’ approach, I have to seize every critical moment.’

[’If you’re not there when I need you, then in the long run, there will be no place for you by my side.’]

’This holds true for most women.’

Seeing Alan and Simone approaching, he subtly adjusted his position to stand right beside Ni Bingyan.

”Hello! I’m Ni’s fiancé. My name is Sang Yuan.”

With a slight lift of his lips—polite but not overly warm—he shook hands with both of them before introducing his own companion to the group:

”This is Mr. Martin, a friend of mine. He’s in the business of buying and selling art.”

After introducing Mr. Martin to everyone, he explained to Ni Bingyan, ”We just finalized a deal. It went well, so he introduced me to a new partner. Since that partner couldn’t travel, I made a last-minute trip to Paris.”

As for the specific reason they couldn’t travel, it involved someone else’s privacy, so it wasn’t appropriate to discuss it further.

Ni Bingyan nodded and then explained why she was there:

”Alan invited me to Paris to help him with a small favor. Since I didn’t have a specific destination in mind, I agreed.”

It wasn’t the right time to explain what the favor was, and Sang Yuan didn’t ask. However, his attitude toward Alan was now noticeably warmer.

Mr. Martin was very serious, falling silent after exchanging just a few words with the group. But even the most taciturn artists have to eat, and having the opportunity to build a good relationship with an art dealer was an excellent thing for Simone.

Therefore, she greeted Martin very warmly and was happy to lead everyone on with the tour.

Before, she was just hosting a friend’s friend and might not have been putting her whole heart into it. But now, wanting to prove her worth in front of Martin, she was eager to explain every single detail of her creative process.

The group of three had turned into a group of five, each with their own thoughts. With Simone guiding the conversation, however, everything went smoothly without any unexpected incidents.