After Being Hopeless at Singing and Dancing, I Exploded in Popularity Due to My Appetite - Chapter 10

The trainees and mentors were all called into a huge conference room.

The production team set up large tables around the conference room, placing fruits and pastries on them, and had the 101 contestants sit in rows. The mentors sat in the center, looking at netizens’ complaints on tablets and having to respond.

Netizens, who had just flooded the official Weibo, saw this announcement. Anyone with a brain knew who this was for. Wasn’t “a certain contestant” the most controversial person on the show right now? Opening a livestream now definitely meant explaining and defending, hopefully followed by some tears, claiming to be a loyal fan of Lin Qianman, making everything perfectly clean.

But netizens had seen this kind of drama many times before.

Most of the time, it was “moon-landing porcelain-touching” (a term for intentionally creating a controversy with a celebrity to gain fame), followed by tears and claims of being “too excited.” The celebrity being “touched” couldn’t even get angry, because they weren’t on the same level, and getting angry would lower their status.

So, thinking of this, netizens grew even angrier. They resolved that no matter what Tao Nian said this time, they would nail her to the pillar of shame, resolutely boycott her, and absolutely not allow such a person to whitewash and debut!

“Got the popularity, and this show is dead [smile emoji].”

“[Smile emoji] Hurry up and flop! Beauty, run! This kind of show isn’t worth it!”

“Beauty, run! Go look at those directors with scripts waiting for you to film movies!”

If it weren’t for her studio manager calling her, Lin Qianman wouldn’t have known that Tao Nian had caused such a huge uproar online. As a film actress, at her current position, basically as long as she didn’t self-destruct, nothing could shake her status.

So, she didn’t care about this.

It was only after the manager analyzed it for her, bit by bit, that she understood that Tao Nian, at this moment, still needed public favorability.

Lin Qianman didn’t understand, but she trusted professionals, so she asked: “So what do I need to do?”

The manager was also very worried. Tao Nian had now signed with their studio, and Tao Nian didn’t manage anything herself; it was like signing a servitude contract. Lin Qianman also didn’t manage; she just said to give her the best conditions. The manager could only unilaterally decide the contract terms and had to negotiate with the production team about her artist’s treatment. Various procedures took a long time, making her dizzy with work.

Now, seeing the almost unilateral negative comments about Tao Nian online, she keenly realized that this was an opportunity for Tao Nian to break out of the bubble.

But the immediate priority was to explain. This livestream was a good opportunity.

The manager asked Lin Qianman: “So why did she do that?”

Lin Qianman: “…”

“She was hungry, and I smell good.”

Manager: “? Isn’t that what she said verbatim in the interview?”

Lin Qianman: “…Yes.”

But actually, the truth was just that simple and clear.

The manager didn’t know what to say for a moment, so she could only instruct Lin Qianman: “I’ll post something using your account, announcing the livestream, and casually explain that you and Tao Nian have a very good relationship. When you’re livestreaming, pay attention and be a little more intimate with her. Just let netizens know that’s your normal way of interacting.”

Lin Qianman nodded: “Okay.”

A little more intimate…

Actually, Lin Qianman was still a little intimidated.

As a mentor, she had to be with Tao Nian every day these past few days.

But being together every day hadn’t lessened her fear by half!

Now, she was constantly worried that Tao Nian would eat her if she got hungry, but she also remembered her mission, wanting Tao Nian to learn self-control and eat a little less.

This was truly contradictory.

Plus, she had to record the show, and she had endless worries every day.

Now with an added task, she was a little tired and asked Fang Wen, puzzled: “A little more intimate… how should I show that?”

Fang Wen was expressionless: “No need, just be your usual self.”

Lin Qianman: “What?”

Fang Wen became even more expressionless: “You’re already intimate enough on a daily basis.”

This time, it was Lin Qianman’s turn to be dazed: “…”

Fang Wen couldn’t help but whisper: “Actually, I think you should control yourself a bit. Otherwise, if so many of your fans see how attentive you are to Tao Nian during the livestream, your ‘cool golden gourd’ persona will collapse!”

Moreover, among her fans, there was a large group of female fans who usually called her “husband.” If she continued to treat Tao Nian like this, it was hard to guarantee they wouldn’t turn completely dark and become Tao Nian’s anti-fans on the spot.

Lin Qianman nodded distractedly, then asked: “Do I have a persona?”

Fang Wen: “You don’t have to.”

Lin Qianman nodded and went back to touch up her makeup.

Meanwhile, Lin Qianman’s studio reposted the livestream link from the official Weibo: “Did everyone watch today’s show? Met a very cute little friend on the show, haha. See you all later [cute emoji] [view image].”

Although they knew Tao Nian would be whitewashed during the livestream, and the studio would probably say some forgiving words for appearances sake, netizens still had some expectations, thinking they wouldn’t start saying their relationship was good before the livestream even began, would they? They wouldn’t be so soft and easily bullied, would they?

They clicked on the image without much hope.

It was a casual photo taken by Fang Wen.

A table full of food, with Tao Nian eating heartily, her cheeks puffed out. She was looking down but her eyes were lifted, trying to see something clearly. This angle made her eyes look big, showing pure joy. Behind her was the restaurant’s large, brightly lit lamp, and in the corner, a lucky bamboo plant.

Fang Wen deliberately didn’t focus, so the entire photo had a blurry, filtered feel, giving it a strong sense of story.

The most storytelling element was where Tao Nian’s eyes were looking in the upper corner. It was a hand holding a sheet of digestive tablets. The aluminum foil behind them also reflected the light, making the hands appear exceptionally fair, long, and beautiful, like jade.

These were Lin Qianman’s fans; how could they not recognize that it was Lin Qianman’s hand?

Everyone exploded.

After the initial joy of “Lin Qianman descending to participate in the show” passed, it turned into dissatisfaction with the bizarre show. They had already complained to the studio once for accepting such an unworthy, obscure, and pretentious talent show that didn’t match their sister’s caliber. Now the studio even dared to add fuel to the fire by saying such things?

If it weren’t for them letting their sister participate in such a show, how would such a beautiful woman have to endure such grievances?

The livestream hadn’t started yet, and they hadn’t found Tao Nian. So, they just gathered their anger again and attacked the studio once more.

Only a few pure passersby who came to watch looked at the photo, thinking to themselves that young people nowadays would latch onto anyone for fame, while quietly saving the picture.

Not to mention, these young people were truly good-looking.

Over two hours later, the livestream started on time.

A large number of netizens poured into the livestream room.

The director stood behind the camera and said that because they saw many online questions about the production team, mentors, and contestants, they decided to start a livestream to respond and also to thank the vast number of netizens for their support and love.

The comments section was dominated by “Lin Qianman,” with a few mentions of the other two mentors’ names, and one or two names of small online celebrities participating in the show.

The show had a total of four mentors. Lin Qianman knew she wasn’t good at singing or dancing, so she didn’t take on tasks beyond her capabilities. She was usually only responsible for the contestants’ daily lives. The other three mentors were responsible for the contestants’ singing and dancing stages.

Initially, the production team invited Huang Li to be a mentor, but Huang Li didn’t come, and then Lin Qianman, who had more popularity, came. So the director team simply invited a very professional veteran singer to be a mentor.

Because she was so professional, not many people knew her, and most fans were more supportive. The other two mentors were the same.

The production team tried their best to find a few “nitpicking” controversies and asked about them.

The three mentors responded very reasonably.

But no one cared.

The comments section had already exploded.

From the beginning of the livestream until now, twenty minutes had passed. Lin Qianman, after showing her full face once at the very beginning, had been sitting on the side. Viewers could only see her in the bottom corner of the screen.

But if zoomed in, she still looked good. Even though she was just sitting there, and the lighting wasn’t great, her looks were still striking.

If it were just like this, fans wouldn’t be angry; they would just be fawning over her. After all, the previous Lin Qianman never did livestreams.

But! Right next to Lin Qianman was Tao Nian, the one who bit Sister Lin!

Tao Nian was wearing the uniform training outfit for contestants, sitting next to Lin Qianman.

It was completely different from all the scenarios fans had imagined. She wasn’t chatting with Lin Qianman, nor was she pretending to be innocent and crying with red eyes, nor was she feigning innocence with wide “pure” eyes.

She was very earnestly eating the fruit platter on the table, not even glancing at Lin Qianman beside her.

Fruits contain a lot of fructose. Other contestants, to maintain their figures, would only eat one or two pieces of less sweet fruit, even if they ate at all.

Tao Nian was not like that.

She ate everything.

As soon as the livestream started, she finished the one in front of her. Except for a small pile of grapes, all the other fruits were eaten clean. After finishing, she looked left and right.

Zhang Jingyue saw what she was looking for and silently pushed her own fruit platter towards her.

Tao Nian took her fork and finished it in a few quick bites, leaving only the grapes.

She continued to look left and right, picking up a tart from another plate and eating it in a few bites.

Her mouth was stuffed full, her cheeks puffed out like a little hamster.

Most of the comments were still cursing her, with only one or two occasionally being swayed—”Why is she strangely cute… (I’m an ally, don’t scold me!)”

“No wonder Liu Xiaobai said she was simple… She does seem a bit simple when you look at her like this.”

Perhaps because she was looking around and not concentrating while eating, Tao Nian accidentally choked. But she still had the tart in her mouth.

The comments had just scrolled past a wave of “serves you right.”

Lin Qianman then picked up a bottle of milk, twisted open the cap, and handed it to Tao Nian: “Don’t rush, eat slowly.”

Because they were too far apart, netizens couldn’t hear what Lin Qianman said.

But, why was the action of twisting open the cap and handing it over so practiced?!

Netizens: “…”