Who Needs a CEO? I Choose Stardom

Chapter 28: Chapter 26: Cannot Stand This Grievance

It all started when Bai Jian returned to the country.

As soon as she got back, her friends threw her a welcome party. That night, she saw her first love, Jiang Sheng, and remembered what her parents had told her about an arranged marriage, so she paid special attention to him.

The atmosphere that night was great. Their friends knew about their past and that their families were planning a marriage alliance, so they all created opportunities for the two of them to spend time together.

At the time, she thought it was a sure thing and was just waiting for Jiang Sheng to ask her out privately to take things to the next level.

But to her surprise, Jiang Sheng was busy for the next half a month. He didn’t even have time when she took the initiative to ask him to dinner.

As a woman, she had her pride. After he turned her down twice, she didn’t try again.

’It’s not a bad thing for a man to be ambitious,’ she thought. She heard he was so busy with a new project that he was sleeping at the office every day. She understood and decided to just wait quietly for him to finish.

Unexpectedly, even after the project was successfully completed, she waited and waited but heard nothing from him.

He didn’t ask her out, didn’t call, and was slow to reply to her WeChat messages, which made her feel extremely awkward.

Feeling wronged, she asked her parents if the Jiang Family had changed their minds about the marriage alliance.

But her parents told her that Brother Jiang was very enthusiastic, and Jiang Sheng had never voiced any objections.

Remembering they were each other’s first love and had shared genuine feelings when they were younger, Bai Jian decided to be a little more proactive and try one more time.

After all, their social circle was only so big, and Jiang Sheng was an excellent marriage prospect. At her age, it wouldn’t do to always be so reserved.

’Give him a chance, and give myself a chance.’

So, she had someone look into Jiang Sheng’s company’s charitable activities.

Now that she was back in the country, her parents had given her a few companies to manage. As was tradition, she was naturally expected to engage in charity work as well.

Faced with such a large donation, the receiving organization would definitely hold an event to express their gratitude, often attended by relevant officials.

As the company’s owner, she would most likely have to make an appearance. She wanted to discreetly arrange a "chance" encounter.

That way, she wouldn’t be embarrassed, and the two of them could meet smoothly.

’Whether this marriage is happening or not, I have to ask him face-to-face.’

When she learned that Jiang Sheng’s company was donating chickens to children in the mountains and potatoes and schoolbags to the city’s welfare center this year, she specifically arranged for her own company to follow up with a donation of high-quality clothes.

At the time, she even had a secret little thought about marital harmony, like a wife supporting her husband’s endeavors.

Unexpectedly, just as she was looking forward to their meeting, she happened to hear from a friend that while she was studying abroad, Jiang Sheng had been keeping a canary.

It was normal for a single man to have a female companion or two, but the problem was, judging from a photo, the canary’s back looked identical to hers!

This utterly disgusted her!

Just as she was feeling disgusted, she heard even more explosive news—the canary had dumped Jiang Sheng on the very night her friends threw her party.

She’d even bought a house and moved out overnight. So full of backbone!

Jiang Sheng, who had asked her out for coffee "some other day" that night, seemed to have developed amnesia ever since.

At first, she thought he was just busy. But when he didn’t contact her even after he was done, she knew something was wrong.

Worse, she found out that those potatoes were a product the canary was promoting!

Someone had intentionally obscured the facts, leaving out the part about it being for poverty alleviation. Furious and not bothering to dig deeper, she just thought, ’This canary is quite the schemer.’

’A perfectly good actress, not focusing on her real job, but copying influencers and selling products. Fine. But couldn’t she at least sell something high-end? She’s selling potatoes?!’

’It’s absolutely hilarious!’

’Putting on such a pitiful, destitute act right after a breakup, shamelessly scrambling for money... wouldn’t a certain someone’s heart just ache for her?’

Then she found out that Jiang Sheng had arranged for his company to donate the schoolbags as an add-on for the canary’s potatoes!

And she, the fool, had arranged for her own company to donate clothes, as an add-on to his add-on!

Bai Jian had never felt so humiliated in her life!

Her face burned, feeling worse than if she’d been slapped!

’I was so stupid it’s pathetic!’

’Me? A decent person, reduced to being the stick that breaks up a happy couple?’

’It’s not like I can’t find a husband! It’s not like I have to marry him! How could he humiliate me like this?!’

’If you don’t want the arranged marriage, just say so, right?’

’And this fake breakup.’

’Who are you putting on a show for?’

’If you have the guts, go ahead and marry your canary. See if your family accepts her!’

’Stringing me along over here while still being secretly attached to your canary over there—isn’t that just disgusting?!’

’Some actress from the entertainment circle, using her slight resemblance to me to manipulate my marriage prospect and turn me into a laughingstock in our social circle. She’s despicable!’

It wasn’t that she wasn’t angry with Jiang Sheng.

It was just that Jiang Sheng was an excellent prospect in every way, their families had deep business ties, and the marriage alliance was bound to happen sooner or later. It wasn’t worth ruining their relationship over a canary.

Bai Jian was about to explode with anger. After a moment’s thought, she decided to teach Ni Bingyan a small lesson, something she wouldn’t forget.

Her parents wouldn’t stoop to doing something like this, so she went to her aunt.

Her uncle had always doted on her and was a long-time investor in the film and television industry with extensive connections. When he heard what happened, he immediately contacted a friend working at Ni Bingyan’s agency and found out her work schedule.

Without a second thought, he immediately started causing trouble for her.

The whole affair was deeply embarrassing, so Bai Jian’s side was very secretive about it. Peng Huan asked everyone she could think of but couldn’t get any concrete information.

Ni Bingyan didn’t want her to worry, so she said she was tired and wanted to sleep, and that they could talk about it tomorrow.

Seeing that her mood was stable, Peng Huan figured there was no use rushing things and returned to her tent.

While she slept, Ni Bingyan lay stiffly in her own tent for half the night, not closing her eyes once.

It wasn’t entirely about this one role. The main thing was that someone held a deep-seated grudge against her, and she had no idea who it was. This time it was just the second female lead. Who knew if they would continue to cause trouble for her next time?

The more she thought about it, the more agitated she became. Besides, it was long past her bedtime. The wave of sleepiness had passed, and now she couldn’t fall asleep no matter what.

The next day, just as dawn was breaking, Peng Huan was woken up by her alarm. She unzipped her tent, poked her head out, and saw Ni Bingyan waiting obediently for her, not having gone down the mountain alone. Satisfied, she ducked back inside to get dressed.

By the time she had packed up, Ni Bingyan had already taken down her tent.

"You’re up way too early!"

Peng Huan yawned as she packed up her tent. Seeing Ni Bingyan, with dark circles under her eyes, come over to help, she couldn’t help but sigh. "You didn’t sleep at all, did you?"

Her skin was fair, which made the dark circles under her eyes even more pronounced. The whites of her eyes were bloodshot, too; it was obvious at a glance.

Ni Bingyan gave an embarrassed smile.

"Hey! It’s not that big of a deal! Is it really worth losing sleep over? Even if this falls through, I can get you a new job. I can’t say it’ll be better than this one, but it won’t be any worse!"

"You just focus on eating and drinking well! I’ll ask around some more! I refuse to believe I can’t dig up who’s behind this!"

"There’s nothing I hate more in this world than a little bitch who stabs people in the back!"

Ni Bingyan had agonized all night, wanting to call her father several times, but she was afraid of worrying him.

He was almost seventy. It was better to let him live his life in peace.

Seeing Peng Huan about to make another call, she quickly stopped her.

Yesterday, they had already asked all their close contacts and found nothing. Today, they’d likely have to ask people they weren’t as close with, which would inevitably mean owing favors.

"There’s no need, Sister Huanhuan. Just come down the mountain with me. I’m going to ask Producer Zhao."

After working together for so long, both Producer Zhao and Director Deng held her in high regard for her dedication and professionalism. Just asking for some information, not asking them to solve the problem for her, should be fine.

Peng Huan felt terrible about the situation. She figured Producer Zhao moved in different circles than her and would have an easier time getting information. Without being overly dramatic, she quickly finished packing and called for Ni Bingyan to head down the mountain.

The mountain wasn’t very high. The two of them had been walking for about ten minutes and had just reached the village entrance when Ni Bingyan’s phone rang.

Just as she was about to answer, the screen flickered and the phone died. It was out of battery.

"Ah, I forgot to charge it for a few days."

She didn’t use her phone much normally, so she often didn’t even notice when the battery was dead. But at a critical moment like this, it was so annoying!

She hurried back to the small courtyard where she was staying, grabbed her charger, and plugged it in. The moment it powered on, the phone started ringing again.

But the battery was too low; it rang twice and shut down again.

After this happened twice more, the call finally connected.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

Chen Zhiwen had been up all night and had finally gotten some information, only for his calls to connect and then immediately drop several times. It was driving him crazy! He couldn’t help but yell.

"Director Chen, my phone was dead. I just plugged it in."

Hearing the hoarseness in his voice, Ni Bingyan added in a small voice, "You were up all night?"

Chen Zhiwen was someone who had high standards for details. To put it simply, he was a bit of a perfectionist.

The reason he hadn’t slept wasn’t that he was particularly concerned about Ni Bingyan—after all, they had never worked together and had no real personal connection. It was because he couldn’t sleep with something unresolved hanging over his head.

If the director and producer have a good relationship, the film can be shot smoothly. But if they’re undermining each other, then there’s no point in even trying to film! Either he would have to leave, or the producer would.

He had personally chosen Ni Bingyan. To have her replaced just like that, even though it was phrased as a discussion, still didn’t sit well with him.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have gone so far as to lose sleep helping her find out what happened.

"Do you know Bai Jian? The person who passed the message to President Wang to have you replaced has the surname Yu. He’s her uncle."

Chen Zhiwen didn’t beat around the bush. He was dead tired, and getting this sorted out quickly was better than anything else.

Thinking about the information he’d spent half the night digging up, Chen Zhiwen was rather speechless.

’I never would have thought this girl, who seems so down-to-earth, was another one trying to marry up and become a phoenix.’

He was somewhat disappointed, but she was just a work colleague, not his future daughter-in-law. There was no need to be overly judgmental. Besides, she wasn’t involved with a married man, so it wouldn’t endanger the film’s release. There was no need to say more.

Compared to Ni Bingyan, he found Miss Bai, who was messing with his career over her personal relationship problems, far more detestable!

’It’s a shame she’s not in the industry, or I’d definitely teach her a lesson!’

When you cause trouble for someone, it’s normal for them to give you a bit of an attitude. Ni Bingyan didn’t mind Chen Zhiwen’s terrible mood; she just focused on the important part.

"Bai Jian?"

She never, ever would have expected the problem to come from her!

The two of them didn’t even know each other, and she had already made a clean break with Jiang Sheng long ago. ’Did this woman get her head slammed in a door?’

Ni Bingyan sat on the edge of the bed, so angry she had to rub her chest.