Who Needs a CEO? I Choose Stardom

For those living far from home, how can they get an authentic taste of their hometown cuisine?

Thank goodness for the wonderful age of the internet.

Even if you’re a bit poor, as long as you’re diligent, you can buy the ingredients yourself and follow along with online tutorial videos.

Even if your cooking skills aren’t great and you can’t replicate it perfectly, just a hint of that familiar feeling is enough to bring happiness.

Those with a bit more money can just hop on a plane back home.

They can stroll down the old, familiar yet strangely different streets, visit the old shops from their memories, and catch up with friends they haven’t seen in ages.

Take in the sights, have a grand feast.

It feels like the meal contains everything, yet at the same time, it feels like so much has vanished without a trace, like sand slipping through your fingers—the tighter you grip, the faster it flows away.

But the truly wealthy are a different breed altogether.

Wherever they are, the taste of home can be there too.

They’ll find a large, unused house, invite close friends or important work partners, hire a top chef regardless of the cost, and have premium ingredients from their hometown air-freighted over.

The meat is butchered and cooked on the spot; sometimes, it’s still twitching when it reaches the table. The vegetables, still glistening with dew and dotted with soil, are sent to the kitchen where someone is specifically assigned to wash them.

Bok choy hearts and watery radishes, so crisp they CRUNCH with every bite!

In the dead of winter, after finishing the meat, you swish a few slices of radish and cabbage in the broth—oh, what a wonderful feeling!

”I only go to this trouble when I’m hosting distinguished guests. I don’t normally eat like this.”

When Yu Danqing teased, ”Old Zhao sure knows how to live,” Producer Zhao quickly waved his hands in dismissal.

He considered himself a very frugal person. He couldn’t bear to spend like this unless he was treating guests.

’Knowing how to live? That’s too much, far too much.’

As for the open secret that he hosted parties whenever he had a craving, there seemed to be no need to mention it.

”Thank you for your generosity, Uncle Zhao. I had a wonderful time today. Thank you for your hospitality!”

The meat was truly fresh. Ni Bingyan, who rarely ate so much, felt incredibly satisfied. Seeing everyone else singing praises, she chimed in as well.

Producer Zhao immediately chortled, ”It really didn’t cost that much. It was a bit of a hassle, but that’s nothing. To be honest, it probably costs less than what a young person spends on a single night out at a club, haha~”

Yuan Sian’s prized apprentice had been a wallflower for most of the evening. As they were about to leave, he finally found an opportunity to make an impression:

”Uncle Zhao, you truly understand how to live. A sentiment like this is the most precious thing of all.”

Producer Zhao walked them to the door. Hearing this, he chuckled and waved his hand dismissively. ”Not at all, not at all, it was just okay. I’m usually so busy I don’t even have time for tea. Where would I find the energy for this?”

He denied it with his words, but anyone with eyes could see how pleased he was.

He went from one person to the next, urging them to stay focused and get their tasks done quickly so as not to delay the start of filming. After seeing everyone off into their cars, he finally went back inside to sleep.

He was a little tipsy from the drinks and needed to rest here for a bit.

’Sigh, I’m getting old. The missus even nags me about having a single drink...’

When Ni Bingyan came out of the Zhao Family’s residence, she saw Duanmu Li and Pan Liang already waiting by the roadside.

After she got in the car, Duanmu Li asked where to, then stepped on the gas and hit the road.

Her Volkswagen had become well-known to her fans, making daily travel inconvenient. If it broke down, it would be even more disruptive to her schedule.

Using this as an excuse, the company had recently assigned her a luxury car.

Logically, the company should have arranged for this last year, but for some unknown reason, they had dragged their feet and taken no action.

But her superiors had said some nice things, so she decided not to quibble over it.

With some rare free time, she didn’t go anywhere else and headed straight home.

The two of them watched her lead her dog inside before driving away.

The incident with the anti-fan hadn’t been long ago, so everyone was on high alert lately. For her own safety, Ni Bingyan never went out wandering, except for work.

Once upstairs, she remembered the manuscript she hadn’t finished proofreading. She opened her computer and began to quietly work on it.

Speaking of which, ever since her artbook was published, the publishing house had been constantly urging her for the next one. She never expected it to be delayed again and again, to the point that it still wasn’t published.

The night passed uneventfully. The next day, she went to the company again.

She practiced dancing in the morning and worked on her deportment in the afternoon.

Her dance teacher was able to go out normally now, but since she couldn’t demonstrate the moves herself, she had found a student to stand in for her.

There were many movements that Ni Bingyan couldn’t understand just from the teacher’s verbal descriptions, but a professional dance student could grasp her meaning perfectly.

It was a pretty good solution.

Throughout the entire film, Princess Jiuli needed to perform two dances.

Ni Bingyan had already mastered the first dance, only needing to perform it occasionally for the teacher to correct minor details.

The second dance, however, was a sword dance.

Compared to the first dance’s charming and playful grace, which was alluring without being vulgar, this one required sharpness, decisiveness, and fortitude.

Without these qualities, a mere woman like her could not have done something like avenging her country.

The choreography was beautifully designed. While the final film edit might only keep a few highlight clips, she had to perform it from beginning to end during filming.

Naturally, she had to practice the full routine to maintain emotional continuity.

Since she knew the physical exertion would be immense today, she skipped her morning workout, cooked herself a lavish breakfast, and arrived at the company by seven.

After dancing for half the day, especially the sword dance which required brandishing a sword, by lunchtime she felt hungry enough to eat a horse!

”Why don’t you use a spoon?”

Tao Fei was accompanying her today. Unlike the quiet Duanmu Li, Tao Fei was talkative. Seeing Ni Bingyan’s hands trembling so much she couldn’t pick up food with her chopsticks, she brought her a spoon.

”Okay, thanks, Sister Fei.”

Ni Bingyan sighed, too preoccupied to talk, and resumed eating.

She was so hungry she felt faint.

The prop sword for the dance was custom-made at Director Mou’s request.

To achieve the right texture, the sword wasn’t a mere look-alike but was made of real metal, with a net weight of 800 grams.

You can imagine what it felt like to wield this sword for the better part of a morning.

”I’ve scheduled a massage at the wellness center. After lunch, go get your muscles loosened up, or it’ll affect tomorrow’s training.”

Because of her recent endorsement deal, she had already lost a few training days. Soon, she also had to go film a travel variety show. Such unnecessary delays were best kept to a minimum.

After lunch, she went for a massage. Then it was back to deportment training. After training, she had another massage. By the time she ate dinner and got home, she would likely collapse into bed, with no energy left to care about the premiere of Ni Bingyan’s World Travel.

However, the people in her residential community who knew her had already prepared sunflower seeds and peanuts and gathered in the activity room.

A brand-new, oversized smart TV from Jiacheng Electronics had been placed in the activity room, looking particularly impressive.

When Shui Sulan first retired, she could never seem to fit in with the group of middle-aged ladies in the community. Unexpectedly, just because her son had successfully won Ni Bingyan’s heart, she suddenly had something in common with them.

Now, they were always calling her ”Su Lan, Su Lan” at every turn.

Today was the day the show aired. Before it even started, people were constantly pinging her in the group chat. When she arrived at the activity room, they pulled her over to sit right in the middle.

”I saw the trailer, I’ve been waiting for this! Come on, come on! It’s about to start!”

Shui Sulan chuckled and sat down. Before she could say a word, the show began.