Who Needs a CEO? I Choose Stardom

Chapter 56: Chapter 52: Cheng Man

The next morning, Wei Shuojie sent her a list of pointers on WeChat. Ni Bingyan was still silently memorizing them over breakfast.

By tacit agreement, neither of them brought up what happened last night.

The person who came to pick them up today was from *January Talk*. It was a young woman with a delicate, oval face, monolids, and a mole by the corner of her eye. Compared to the smooth and capable Xiao Wang, she was clearly much more green.

Sure enough, when they asked, she was a recent graduate from the Communication University who had just finished her probationary period.

Without the enthusiastic Xiao Wang’s passionate recommendations today, Ni Bingyan just grabbed a sandwich and a glass of milk. She stared at her phone all the way to the *January Talk* editorial office, only putting it away when they arrived.

After the usual preparations of changing clothes and doing makeup, it was time for the interview. Both of them were on high alert, worried the magazine might try to set a trap for them.

But the interview went surprisingly smoothly. The female host was warmer than her own mother. Ni Bingyan was still in a bit of a daze even after they walked out of the Mango TV building.

Back at the hotel, Ni Bingyan changed into more casual clothes. Wei Shuojie rented a car nearby and drove her out to visit a friend.

’She hadn’t expected the most important part of their trip to Xiang Province to be over so easily.’

In the car, both of them relaxed and began to chat.

Wei Shuojie said, "We should visit Liu Yi at the hospital later. As the saying goes, a hundred days to heal a broken bone. A broken leg is no small thing."

’It seemed Sister Wei also believed the Liu Family had put in a good word, which was why the interview had gone so smoothly.’

Ni Bingyan readily agreed.

"Who are we going to see?"

More than visiting Liu Yi, she was curious about the friend of Sister Wei’s they were about to meet.

"Cheng Man. She’s a graduate of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, a visual artist, and a fashion photographer. She often shoots for the top-tier magazines and is incredibly talented! She just got married and moved to Xiang Province last year, so she’s settled here now. Since I was coming with you for the show, I figured we could grab a meal with her. Don’t be nervous. We grew up together in the same compound. She’s my absolute best friend."

’Okay, so on top of having a famous director for an uncle, she also had a best friend who was a big shot in the fashion world. This agent of hers was full of surprises. No wonder even a fool like Sun Lizhi could become a triple-crown-winning actress.’

Thanks to what happened last night, Ni Bingyan was brimming with resentment for Granny Sun.

"Is there anything I should be aware of?"

"No, just be yourself. She’ll like you. She can be a bit aloof, but she’s actually very laid-back. There’s just one thing: she can’t stand people who are pretentious or petty, and especially not ’white lotuses.’ Whatever you do, don’t be passive-aggressive with her. If you have something to say, just say it directly."

’Well, just hearing that gave her a very strong, positive impression.’

’This woman must be an amazing person.’

Perhaps because she was in a good mood, Wei Shuojie elaborated:

"Her ex-husband was stolen by a ’white lotus,’ so she despises them more than anything. The kind who cry at the drop of a hat, use passive-aggressive remarks to stir up trouble... even if she has no personal beef with them, if she catches someone acting like that, she might just decide to mess with them."

’She really doesn’t hold back!’

Seeing her wide-eyed stare, Wei Shuojie laughed. "That has nothing to do with you. You’re a beautiful fool, which is exactly her favorite type."

Ni Bingyan, flustered by the teasing, stopped overthinking things.

"I’m plenty sharp! What’s so foolish about me?"

Wei Shuojie didn’t answer.

’Whether someone was a fool or not depended on the environment.’

’For a normal person, it would just mean they had good character and sound values. But to be like that in the entertainment industry? That was just being a fool.’

’Other actresses had endless tricks up their sleeves, but Bingyan was just focused on climbing the ladder, step by step. She had connections but didn’t know how to use them, and she wouldn’t take shortcuts even when they were available. If that wasn’t being a fool, what was?’

’But then again, it was often the fools who had the most stable careers. Those who were too clever might find fame for a moment, but it would never last a lifetime.’

’That was a truth she had only come to understand after meeting Ni Bingyan.’

The meeting spot was a garden cafe, a short walk from the parking lot.

After parking the car, the two of them started walking over. From a distance, they spotted a stunningly elegant woman leaning against an open window, idly chewing on a mint stick.

Seeing them approach, she immediately raised her camera and snapped a few quick photos. CLICK. CLICK.

"Don’t mind her," Wei Shuojie said. "It’s a habit of hers. Her fingers get itchy whenever she sees beautiful people or things."

Ni Bingyan was wearing light makeup, a pair of gray-blue straight-leg jeans paired with a white crop top, and a black blazer. She had straightened her long, black hair specifically for the interview, and now it was pulled back into a high ponytail. As she walked over nonchalantly, every move was a photo op: a turn of her head revealed a killer profile, a lift of her jacket a flash of a toned midriff. Tsk, tsk, those abs were something else.

Wei Shuojie felt a pang of envy, but not jealousy. After all, those abs were the result of persistent, hard work; they didn’t just appear out of thin air.

Cheng Man took a few shots, liked what she saw, and snapped several more in quick succession. To get a better angle, she even leaned the top half of her body out the window.

Thankfully, they were on the ground floor; otherwise, they would have been worried for her safety.

Ni Bingyan had done her share of cover shoots, so she immediately started striking a few natural poses, cooperating fully.

She’d lift an arm while turning to reveal a bit of her waist, or flick her hair back as she looked over her shoulder. Finally, she broke into a smile for Cheng Man.

But the moment she smiled, Cheng Man immediately lowered her camera and shouted from across the way, "Don’t smile! You’ve ruined the whole vibe!"

Startled by the shout, Ni Bingyan lost her composure.

’Oh, well. So much for that!’

Even as they walked up to her, Cheng Man was still lamenting.

"Ugh, that vibe you had—cool and fierce, but still feminine—it was perfect! I just love that kind of effortless, grand beauty!"

"Hello, Sister Cheng. I’m Ni Bingyan, the artist Sister Wei just signed."

Ignoring her muttering, Ni Bingyan politely introduced herself, shook the woman’s hand, and then sat down beside Wei Shuojie.

"Here, send them to me. I’ll post them on Weibo to solidify her fanbase. We need to at least get her follower count to ten million so she doesn’t fall too far behind the other starlets who debuted around the same time."

Wei Shuojie and Cheng Man were close, so she skipped the useless pleasantries and got right down to business, bustling with energy the moment she sat down.

She came prepared, opening her bag and taking out her laptop. If the photos weren’t quite right, she could touch them up on the spot.

Cheng Man clearly knew her well. As she transferred the photos, she started to chide her, "I knew it, you workaholic! We haven’t seen each other in ages, and you don’t even ask how I’m doing. It’s just work, work, work! Besides, what’s the point of solidifying that fanbase? Most of them are just casual followers."

"I’m this busy and I still make time to chat with you once a week. That’s how much I love you."

Wei Shuojie paid no mind to her complaints. "What’s wrong with work? I’m happy every single day I’m grinding! Besides, fans are fans. Where do you think Bingbing’s endorsements are going to come from? We have to show the ’brand daddies’ her value. Just yesterday, tons of people were asking for her lipstick shade! With a little strategic promotion... hmph, I’ll land her a lipstick endorsement in no time. As long as fan engagement is high, who cares if they’re real fans or not?"

She made no effort to hide her intentions from Cheng Man.

Their fathers had been colleagues at a film studio back in the day; Mr. Wei was a director, and Mr. Cheng was a photographer.

Later, during the wave of people going into private business, Mr. Wei opened his own studio to direct films, while Mr. Cheng switched careers and started a commercial advertising company.

To this day, the two men were still great friends, getting together from time to time to go fishing or play golf.

And even though Cheng Man was a few years younger than Wei Shuojie, they had practically grown up together and were extremely close.

Ni Bingyan couldn’t get a word in, so she just listened quietly on the side.

Wei Shuojie never mentioned things that weren’t set in stone, so this was the first time Bingyan had heard anything about a lipstick endorsement.

’She felt a flicker of anticipation but didn’t let it show.’

’She was, however, very curious to see the photos that had just been taken.’

But she restrained her curiosity and didn’t lean over to look.

The friends hadn’t seen each other in a long time, so they naturally had a lot to talk about.

With Ni Bingyan right there, they didn’t talk about anything else—they talked about Ni Bingyan.

"You have no idea how soft-hearted this girl is. When she was filming in Ning Province, she saw how hard life was for the people in the mountain villages, so she did a livestream to help them sell potatoes! Can you believe it? So then I go to line up an endorsement for her, and they bring up the fact that she sold potatoes. I go looking for a cover shoot, and they bring up the potatoes again! I was so furious! What’s wrong with selling potatoes? It’s not like they don’t eat potatoes!"

Even though Ni Bingyan knew Wei Shuojie was laying it on thick to get Cheng Man to help her out, she still felt a little embarrassed.

"Once the poverty alleviation ambassadorship is announced, everyone else will be the ones who are envious of me," she muttered.

Her quiet muttering made Cheng Man roar with laughter.

’Her agent was over here racking her brain to score her opportunities, and she was doing her best to sabotage the effort.’

’She really was thin-skinned.’

’In this industry, it was better to be thick-skinned to get by. Someone like her was just a complete fool!’

But this was exactly what Cheng Man liked. When she spoke again, her tone held a hint of genuine advice:

"What’s the big deal? Once her movie comes out, focus on getting her an award, and everything else will follow. She’s already playing female leads, isn’t she? Sister Wei, what’s the rush? What good is online traffic alone? The most reliable path is to shoot a few more signature films."

The words were sincere, but they held no promise of help.

’After all, she had no personal connection to Ni Bingyan and didn’t know her character. What if she turned out to be another piece of work like Sun Lizhi? How frustrating would that be?’

’To be honest, even though Sun Lizhi and Wei Shuojie had worked together for so many years, Cheng Man had never liked her. It was simple: as a wronged wife who had also suffered because of a homewrecker, she had a natural aversion to women who knowingly became the other woman.’

Wei Shuojie didn’t press the issue. Her main goal in bringing Ni Bingyan over today—aside from snagging some photos for Weibo—was simply to introduce them.

’Once some time had passed and Cheng Man saw what a good person the girl was, her righteous nature would ensure she’d help where she could. She wouldn’t just stand by.’