Who Needs a CEO? I Choose Stardom

Chapter 78: Chapter 73: You’ve Caused Me So Much Trouble

That night, after wrapping up work and returning to her van, her sister-in-law had cooked her a bowl of numbing and spicy wontons.

Tender, blanched spinach lined the bottom of the bowl, with plump wontons resting on top. She took a light sniff, and the fragrance of toasted chilies mixed with the rich aroma of ground Sichuan peppercorn powder shot straight to her head!

She picked one up and took a small bite. The soft yet chewy wrapper enveloped a tender, generous meat filling. On a cold winter night like this, a warm bowl like this was something she wouldn’t trade for the world!

Ni Bingyan ate with gusto. If she weren’t worried about gaining weight, she would have asked for another bowl.

Just then, Wei Shuojie suddenly sent her a message: [What do you think of Sang Yuan?]

Because she had set a special notification sound for her, Ni Bingyan noticed the message immediately. She picked up her phone to look, and the question struck her as a bit odd.

Exhausted from the long day, she didn’t overthink it. Assuming Wei Shuojie was asking about asset management, she took a sip of soup and replied directly: [I think he’s very professional. If you have some spare cash, you should consider hiring him.]

It was no wonder she thought that. The production schedule had been absolutely brutal lately, and the only thing that could cheer her up each day was talking about her precious money.

Sang Yuan seemed to know exactly what was on her mind. He would chat with her every night, skipping the small talk and getting straight to the point. He taught her a lot about finance, telling her where her ten million was invested, what the projected returns were, and how things were progressing. It often left her overjoyed!

What’s the best way to relieve stress? Getting rich, of course!

She had to admit, Sang Yuan’s professional knowledge was truly impressive, and he was a witty guy. He could make even the driest financial topics sound fascinating. She often thought, ’Some things really come down to natural talent. I could probably study for a lifetime and never be as brilliant as him.’

Wei Shuojie: "..."

She did have spare cash, but unfortunately, his company wasn’t open to the public.

[You haven’t noticed that he’s pursuing you?]

Wei Shuojie always preferred to be direct.

With so much work every day, she’d be exhausted if she had to beat around the bush for everything.

[Huh? No? We’re just interacting normally, aren’t we?]

’Where is this coming from?’ Ni Bingyan was quite surprised.

She figured Sister Wei didn’t really have a chance to get to know him. She was probably overthinking things because she knew they were collaborating recently and interacting more. So, she explained:

[He takes a ten percent commission on the profits! So he’s not just making money for me, he’s making money for himself too. He might not need this ten million, but who would complain about having more money? And ten million isn’t small change, Sister! Our relationship is purely professional. We only talk about business when we communicate. You’re overthinking it.]

’In front of me, he acts like he wants to get married before the year is out, but with Ni Bingyan, it’s a "purely professional relationship"?’

’It’s impossible that he’s got his family involved on his end but is still strictly maintaining boundaries and not showing any interest on hers, right?’

’Sang Yuan runs such a huge company, so he can’t be an idiot. The problem is most likely my own oblivious little deer.’

[You can’t still be that clueless, can you?]

This time, it was Ni Bingyan’s turn to be speechless. [Sister Wei, what are you thinking? It’s not like nobody’s pursuing me! On set, people send me flowers and chocolate all the time. Plenty of guys ask for my WeChat and then spam me with nonsense every day. How could I not understand romance?]

Her pride as a single woman had been offended. She sent another message: [Don’t look down on me. If someone was really pursuing me, how could a clever person like me not notice?]

There was one thing she didn’t say.

If she had really noticed Sang Yuan pursuing her, she would have kept her distance long ago. Why would she be learning from him every day? It wasn’t like she couldn’t afford study materials or tutoring classes.

Wei Shuojie still wasn’t ready to give up and decided to probe a little further. [Sigh, I just think he’s such a great catch. Any girl would be smitten. Look, he’s handsome, wealthy, has a sterling character, a clean private life, and his family is warm and easy to get along with. The key thing is, he’s young! If I were twenty years younger, I’d definitely be the one chasing him.]

’Aren’t you tempted at all?’

Reading this, Ni Bingyan finally understood. Amused, she simply sent a voice message: "I get it, Sister Wei. You’re worried I’ll get into a relationship and it’ll affect my work, right?"

With such an outstanding, unmarried young man in her circle, it was natural for someone with Sister Wei’s personality to get nervous.

*Sigh!*

’Damn you, Sun Lizhi! You’ve really made my life difficult!’

Believing she had seen through it all, Ni Bingyan once again tried to reassure Wei Shuojie. "Don’t worry, Sister Wei! I’m not a fool! Love has a shelf life. How can two people whose strengths are mismatched last long? Compared to romance, building a career is far more rewarding! Just work hard and find me some more good scripts, and I’ll work hard to act well. Maybe in a couple of years, I’ll even win a Best Actress award. We need to have ambitions, not just focus on trivial things like love and romance."

What she really wanted to say was, ’There are so many handsome men in the industry. If you’re going to worry every time a decent guy shows up in my life, won’t that be exhausting?’

But thinking about what happened with Granny Sun not long ago, she realized Sister Wei was just being "once bitten, twice shy." Ni Bingyan chose to be understanding.

Besides, her dad worried all the time that she would fall for the wrong person. As long as they didn’t get tired of it themselves, having one more person worrying about her was no big deal. It was just a matter of a few words, anyway.

In fact, she quite enjoyed the feeling of being cared for.

’What she said... actually makes a lot of sense...’

Wei Shuojie was immediately convinced.

Whether Sang Yuan could find a wife was none of her damn business! She was truly worrying for nothing. It was just an aftereffect of yesterday’s scare.

"Since your head is on straight, I won’t waste any more words. By the way, the event for the Poverty Alleviation Office’s Charity Ambassador is next Tuesday. I’ll send you the speech draft in a bit. Look it over, make any changes, and send it back to me. Let’s try to finalize it by tomorrow so you can start memorizing it."

"Okay, okay."

She was absolutely exhausted today. Now that she was full, she felt drowsy. Ni Bingyan didn’t want to say much more, so she just washed up and went straight to bed.

*

On the day of the Poverty Alleviation Office’s year-end conference, Ni Bingyan took the day off and flew back to Beijing early in the morning.

Wei Shuojie picked her up at the airport, bringing a formal outfit she had prepared.

Ni Bingyan wasn’t fussy and changed right there in the car.

They rushed all the way there, only to arrive at the conference venue an hour early.

"You can lie down for a bit. The makeup artist will do your makeup."

To handle this important event, Wei Shuojie had even brought along an experienced makeup artist.

When she woke up from a short nap, the makeup artist was holding a mirror in front of her. "Here, Sister Bingbing, what do you think? Is it suitable?"

It was light makeup that made her look quite dignified and elegant, perfectly suited for today’s occasion.

Ni Bingyan nodded, and Wei Shuojie also said it looked good. The two of them got out of the car and headed for the conference hall, leaving the makeup artist and Duanmu Li to do as they pleased.

This was only a one-day trip; they had to take a red-eye flight back to the film set that night, so her sister-in-law hadn’t come along.

It was Ni Bingyan’s first time attending such an official conference, and she was a little nervous.

"You’ve memorized the speech, right?"

The Poverty Alleviation Office just wanted to leverage her fame to draw more public attention to their cause and encourage participation. Her agent was handling the promotional coordination; all she needed to do was give a speech at the conference.

When it came to memorizing things, Ni Bingyan was a pro. Plus, Wei Shuojie had sent her the draft several days in advance, so she already knew it by heart.

She silently recited the speech in her head, and sure enough, her nervousness eased considerably.

The conference hall was enormous. A sea of people sat below the stage, where a row of leaders was seated. One speaker finished, then another, and before she knew it, it was Ni Bingyan’s turn.

Logically speaking, as an actress, she was used to all kinds of grand occasions, but this was her first time attending an official conference like this.

She hadn’t felt it while sitting in the audience, but standing on the stage, just about to speak, she could even feel her legs trembling.

At the critical moment, she was saved by her good eyesight.

She saw Jiang Sheng and Bai Jian sitting side by side in the audience.

Suddenly, Ni Bingyan was fired up!

’After transmigrating and taking over everything from the original owner of this body, it’s already bad enough I can’t help her get the man she liked. How can I let her be humiliated in front of her White Moonlight?’

’Absolutely not! I’d rather die!’

"Respected leaders, esteemed guests, and all comrades fighting on the front lines of poverty alleviation:"

"Hello, everyone!"

"My name is Ni Bingyan, and I am an actress. It is my great honor to have the opportunity to participate in the great cause of poverty alleviation."

"This past July..."

Watching Ni Bingyan stand on stage, smiling warmly and speaking with such emotion about her experiences with the poverty alleviation efforts, Jiang Sheng couldn’t help but clench his fists.

He hadn’t missed the glance she’d thrown his way just now. He’d also noticed how she’d looked away in a flash, like a cat that had scalded its paws.

He glanced at Bai Jian in the seat beside him, feeling extremely frustrated.

Because of what happened last time, he had realized that Bai Jian’s character was questionable and her temperament was quite spoiled and willful. A while ago, he had already completely rejected the marriage alliance between their two families.

The only reason they were sitting together now was that the organizers had arranged their seats that way. It wasn’t his choice.

’She must have misunderstood, right? She must think we’re together. She must be heartbroken.’

’It seems that after all this time, she still hasn’t moved on, just like him.’

’Some relationships, when you have them, feel as comfortable as warm water. It’s only after you’ve parted that you realize just how strong her presence was.’

’She’s been busy with work these past few months... Is she, like him, trying to numb herself with an intense workload?’