Who Needs a CEO? I Choose Stardom

Chapter 43: Chapter 39: The Reversal

In a bad mood, Ni Bingyan couldn’t bring herself to do anything. She simply grabbed her fishing gear and went to the lake.

It wasn’t yet seven, but an old man in a thick vest was already fishing by the lake. It was rare to see her this early. The old man didn’t make a sound, just waved from a distance to greet her, then nervously pointed at the lake’s surface, signaling for her to be quiet.

The line, "A traveler asks the way, he waves from afar, afraid to startle the fish, he doesn’t reply," surfaced in her mind. After waving back, Ni Bingyan crouched down like a thief and crept toward the other side.

The scene was a little amusing, but the smile died on her lips before it could even reach her cheeks.

The weather today was as gloomy as her mood. She wondered if it would rain later.

It was still early, and the mist over the lake had not yet dispersed. Taking a breath of the damp air, she could already smell the hint of autumn.

Ni Bingyan zipped up her jacket and stomped the mud off her shoes. A sudden, unshakable loneliness filled her heart.

’No matter what job you have, where you come from, whether you’re poor or rich, as long as you’re alive, there will be endless troubles.’

She told herself.

’Each difficulty is like a Big Mountain on the path of life, and crossing each one is an adventure.’

’If you get through it, the future isn’t guaranteed to be a smooth road. But if you fail, you’ll fall into an abyss.’

’Everyone understands the grand principles. Only when you’re in the thick of it do you truly understand how hard it is for the one involved.’

She was waiting for news from Wei Shuojie and didn’t feel like talking to anyone. She found a secluded spot, set up her aluminum fishing platform behind some bushes, mixed her bait, and, without even chumming the water, began to fish casually while scrolling through Weibo.

While she waited anxiously, Wei Shuojie had already arrived with Duanmu Li at Liu Yi’s hospital.

Liu Yi had undergone surgery overnight. The anesthetic hadn’t worn off yet, and she was fast asleep.

She had several older brothers who either held high-ranking positions in government or were wildly successful in the business world. They all had forceful personalities and had always looked down on their brother-in-law, Wei Hang. If it weren’t for their sister, who’d first thrown a fit to marry him and then stubbornly refused to divorce him after his affair, they would have made his life a living hell long ago.

It could be said that Wei Hang’s desperate refusal to get a divorce was largely a matter of self-preservation.

Upon receiving the news that their sister’s leg was broken, they all rushed over during the night.

Because it was the middle of the night and everyone had children to look after at home, the sisters-in-law, who usually preached about family harmony, hadn’t come. When Wei Hang saw his menacing brothers-in-law, his legs went soft with fear.

No matter how many times he insisted that Liu Yi had fallen on her own, they didn’t believe him. They were clearly waiting for their sister to wake up so they could hear it from her own mouth.

Facing the cold stares of the Liu family, Wei Hang looked dejected. He shrank into a corner, not daring to utter a peep.

The Liu family hadn’t liked him even before the wedding. After they married, although they helped him a lot with his career—even helping him achieve the status of Best Actor—their attitude toward him never softened much.

After they discovered his affair, they began treating him like he was invisible. The glare they gave him today was the first time they had deigned to look at him properly in years.

In this situation, forget scrolling through Weibo. When his agent called last night, one glare from the eldest brother-in-law was enough for him to quickly turn off his phone. He still hadn’t dared to take a single peek at it.

Just as Wei Shuojie and Duanmu Li arrived at the hospital, Liu Yi was waking up. She was telling her brothers that she had accidentally fallen. When she saw them come in, a smile immediately appeared on her weak face.

"Big Brother, I’m so grateful to Xiao Li and the others for bringing me to the hospital last night. Otherwise, I don’t know what kind of trouble I’d be in."

For a public figure, just going out for a meal can become news if they’re photographed. With her broken leg and the argument she’d had with Wei Hang earlier, if this got out, it would definitely become the talk of the town.

Liu Yi had always been low-key and disliked this kind of attention.

Hearing this, her brothers immediately came over to thank the two of them with enthusiastic handshakes. They also asked if they had eaten breakfast and offered to treat them to a meal.

Seeing them, Wei Shuojie, who was well aware of their power, was secretly delighted, but on the surface, she looked utterly distressed.

She sighed, declined the breakfast invitation, and said with a wry smile, "It wasn’t me and Xiao Li who brought your sister to the hospital last night. It was an artist under my management, Ni Bingyan. Xiao Li has changed positions and is now her assistant."

Duanmu Li had worked for Wei Hang for several years and knew the Liu family, so this quick explanation helped them clarify the relationships.

Duanmu Li was now Ni Bingyan’s assistant. When an assistant is out with their boss, it’s considered working hours by default. When the two of them encountered Liu Yi with her broken leg, even if Duanmu Li was the one who took her to the hospital, Ni Bingyan’s role could not be ignored.

Therefore, now that Ni Bingyan was in trouble, if they had even a shred of conscience, they couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.

"Oh? Is that so? After my sister is discharged from the hospital, our family must pay a visit to express our gratitude properly."

The Liu brothers were very polite. Their disdain for Wei Hang was purely because the man wasn’t worthy of their attention.

"There’s no need for thanks. To her, it was a small thing. The real trouble is that when she brought Sister Liu to the hospital last night, she happened to arrive around the same time as Brother Wei, and the paparazzi snapped a picture. Now, they’re just making things up online! Xiao Ni is young and has never dealt with anything like this. She’s hiding at home, too scared to even go to the set. She was supposed to fly to Xiang Province today to record a variety show, but after seeing the trending topic, they called and said they’re going to ’wait and see.’ Sigh!"

Many in the Liu family were in this industry; they didn’t need a detailed explanation to understand the implications.

A young actress already has few resources. To encounter something like this, she must be absolutely devastated.

’In the end, she suffered because of our little sister. We’ll have to make it up to her.’

But that wasn’t their main concern. They were all fixated on one question—their sister’s leg was broken, so why wasn’t her husband by her side? Why did he arrive at the hospital later?

’What had he been doing all that time?’

’What could possibly be more important than this?’

Ultimately, it was a family matter. The brothers were all very shrewd and didn’t bring it up in front of outsiders, but they were all taking mental notes.

Perhaps from being tormented for so long, he had developed an intuition.

Wei Hang couldn’t help but shiver, and then he let out a huge sneeze!

Meanwhile, Wei Shuojie had already pulled up the trending topic and was showing it to Liu Yi and the others.

She had originally intended to come last night. But with Liu Yi in surgery, she figured showing up then would seem too aggressive and wouldn’t win her any favors with the Liu family. So, she waited until daybreak.

’Besides, if a few more hours on the trending list could be traded for good resources, it would be worth it.’

Having stayed up all night, Wei Shuojie’s clothes were wrinkled, her hair was a mess, and her eyes were bloodshot. She looked particularly pitiful.

Liu Yi had just gotten out of surgery and was weak with pain. Hearing that something like this had happened, she anxiously tried to sit up. Her brothers, alarmed, quickly supported her and comforted her repeatedly:

"Don’t worry, don’t worry, your brothers are here! Our family will definitely handle this. We won’t let a good deed go unrewarded!"

"Ms. Wei, please don’t worry. I’ll contact my agent right now and see what’s going on!"

Hearing that he was trending, and most likely for something scandalous, Wei Hang was eager to contact his agent for crisis management, so he quickly jumped in to make his presence known.

"No need, Brother Wei. It wouldn’t be appropriate for you to make the clarification. It’s better to let Sister Liu do it!"

’If you’re anxious, you’re anxious. Can’t you just be open about it? You have to make up an excuse.’

’For such a coward, I have no idea how he even mustered the courage to cheat. Tsk tsk!’

They both had the surname Wei, but they weren’t related in the slightest. Before, they were merely acquaintances, with no real friendship to speak of. Besides, knowing his poor moral character, she naturally didn’t trust him to handle things.

If Wei Hang’s actions backfired, the dirt slung at Ni Bingyan might never be washed away.

He wouldn’t care; he might even gain a wave of publicity for free. But her Bingbing would be the one to suffer.

Wei Shuojie gave him a smile that didn’t reach her eyes and shut him down with a single sentence.

Wei Hang clutched his phone, hesitated for a moment, and then hid in a corner to turn it on.

The moment he turned it on, he was met with a huge pile of missed calls as messages swarmed in. Unread notifications from various apps flooded the screen in droves. His brand-new phone, which he’d only had for a few days, completely froze, causing a cold sweat to break out on his forehead.

No one else paid him any mind.

Liu Yi apologized sheepishly, then had Wei Shuojie take a photo for her before posting a clarification on Weibo:

[I must be getting old, to break a leg just from a fall. /laughing-crying emoji/ Thank you, @Ni Bingyan, for taking me to the hospital last night. Otherwise, I might have lost my leg! Lying in a hospital bed, showing injured leg.JPG]

Wei Shuojie immediately took out her phone, used Ni Bingyan’s official Weibo account to follow Liu Yi back, and reposted the message: [Anyone with a conscience would have stepped up in a situation like this. @Actress Liu Yi, it was nothing, no need for thanks~ And another reminder to the rumor-mongers: what you’re doing is illegal! We’ve already reported it to the police, and we believe there will be results soon.]

As soon as the clarification was posted on Weibo, the tide of the comments immediately turned.