After Being Hopeless at Singing and Dancing, I Exploded in Popularity Due to My Appetite - Chapter 17

Zhang Jingyue tried to bargain with the production team again, wanting to get another two hours of phone time.

She said it was because she wanted Tao Nian to watch Lin Qianman’s movies, but in her heart, she secretly wanted to watch it for a third time.

However, the production team sternly refused her request and told her to hurry up and train.

Zhang Jingyue: “…”

Her sad mood was gone now; all she wanted was to watch the beautiful celebrity’s movie.

She gave Tao Nian a look, trying to get Tao Nian to bargain with her.

But Tao Nian just blinked, not looking at her at all. She rummaged and rummaged in her pocket, pulled out a milk candy, tore open the wrapper, and put it in her mouth.

Noticing Zhang Jingyue watching her, Tao Nian gave her a confirming look, then rummaged in her pocket again.

Zhang Jingyue knew what she was trying to do from her movements. Zhang Jingyue patted her forehead helplessly and whispered to her: “I don’t eat candy!”

At this point, she felt a bit dejected.

She couldn’t eat candy at all, but these past few days, she had been eating with Tao Nian and Lin Qianman. Lin Qianman was truly compliant with Tao Nian’s every wish; whatever Tao Nian wanted to eat, Lin Qianman would provide. Watching all those delicious foods next to them, she couldn’t help but eat a lot herself.

And then, Tao Nian ate so much and so many snacks without gaining any weight, but she actually gained weight?

Gained weight?

Zhang Jingyue couldn’t help but glare at Tao Nian resentfully.

Tao Nian rummaged in her pocket for a long time but couldn’t find any candy. Just then, Zhang Jingyue said she didn’t eat candy.

But if you don’t eat candy, why are you looking at me?

Tao Nian looked at Zhang Jingyue, then at herself, and forcefully shoved the candy wrapper in her hand to Zhang Jingyue: “Can this be eaten too? Lin Qianman said it can’t be eaten!”

Zhang Jingyue: “…”

All you know is eating!

With her phone taken by the production team, Zhang Jingyue dejectedly followed Tao Nian to the training room, unable to resist telling her: “Do you know how beautiful Sister Lin is in the movie, oh my god, I really want to watch the movie.”

“But just now on the phone, Lin Qianman looked the same as she does in person.”

“Exactly! Because it’s a post-apocalyptic disaster film, Sister Lin didn’t even wear makeup, and she’s still so beautiful! But truly, in the movie, it’s a completely different feeling.”

She couldn’t help but stop, grab Tao Nian’s shoulders, and shake her back and forth: “You have to watch it!!!”

Tao Nian nodded: “Okay, I will.”

She sounded like she would go watch it, but her uninterested demeanor showed she actually didn’t particularly want to actively watch it.

Zhang Jingyue couldn’t help but feel a bit disappointed and asked her: “Don’t you feel excited looking at Sister Lin like that? She looks so good in that tattered military uniform! I feel like I’m falling in love with her!”

Tao Nian remained calm: “Oh.”

Zhang Jingyue, seeing her reaction, snorted and said nothing more.

When she spoke to Tao Nian, she treated Tao Nian as a normal person.

Normal people would find it normal to like Lin Qianman and normal to watch Lin Qianman’s movies.

But Tao Nian wasn’t normal. Tao Nian was puzzled, not understanding why Zhang Jingyue seemed to like that Qilin so much. She wanted to ask Lin Qianman, but being busy with practice, she hadn’t seen Lin Qianman for a long time.

Finally, one day she happened to see Lin Qianman on the road and went to ask.

She spoke with an innocent air: “Yueyue said you’re an actress! She said she really likes you! She’s watching your movie and is about to fall in love with you!”

This was a fact. Then she voiced her confusion: “Is the you in the movie not you?”

Lin Qianman didn’t know how to answer.

And Fang Wen, who was following behind Lin Qianman, started to have gossip shimmering in her eyes.

So, I was so blind at first to think Tao Nian liked my boss. Turns out, Tao Nian, this simple-minded sweetheart, doesn’t care about my boss at all. The one with unspeakable feelings for my boss is the quiet Zhang Jingyue!

But contestant Zhang Jingyue is only seventeen, that’s not allowed!

Fang Wen’s mind was racing. Over there, Lin Qianman had dismissed Tao Nian.

And in the practice room, the diligently practicing Zhang Jingyue was still unaware of what she had just experienced.

This episode also aired very quickly.

Regardless, the girls’ stages were still very good.

After watching the show, everyone was surprised to find that Tao Nian had made even greater progress compared to the last time. As they gathered to guess if Tao Nian was under some kind of seal that would gradually lift as the show progressed, and when she would finally show her true strength, a Weibo (vb) post also shot to the top of the trending searches.

A contestant eliminated from Idol 101 posted, claiming that the production team had shady dealings, and that some contestants were backed by capital, stepping on others’ dreams to climb to the top!

The post was very long. It started by recounting her lifelong dream of being on stage, then went on and on about how excited she was to join Idol 101, and then looked forward to the future, describing what would happen if she could stay on the show.

Finally, the tone shifted, saying it was a pity she was eliminated. If it were due to lack of skill, she would have nothing to say, but capital oppression and collusion between contestants and mentors was an injustice to other contestants, and she absolutely would not accept this elimination!

It had been said countless times before: this show was not popular.

Although many people watched after learning Lin Qianman was a mentor, they watched for Lin Qianman. They didn’t care about the contestants at all. Furthermore, with such a group of mentors, the contestants were indeed not very captivating to watch.

They weren’t as beautiful as Lin Qianman, their skills weren’t as good as professional mentors, and because of limited screen time, even if they had personal charm, they couldn’t display it. Everyone wasn’t very interested in the contestants.

So, when this post first hit the trending searches, below it, besides the contestant’s fans, everyone scoffed: “Why is this even trending? Is buying trending topics cheap now?”

Looking at the comments below, which were uniformly criticizing and mocking the production team, and praising this contestant in various flowery ways, it wasn’t hard for people to realize these were “water army” comments.

“Even so, even if this show really has capital involved, you were eliminated in the first round, so you can’t blame it on capital… you just weren’t skilled enough…”

“If it weren’t for this trending topic, I wouldn’t even remember you (dying of laughter).”

“Contestant and mentor collusion… you might as well just name Tao Nian and Lin Qianman directly, no need to be so subtle.”

“Hahaha, contestant Tao Nian and mentor Lin Qianman colluding, backed by capital, Tao Nian is the biggest shady deal!”

“Honestly, Tao Nian’s capital… I even suspect she came from the mountains and has never eaten before.”

“But then again, to be able to feed Tao Nian, such a family must be very rich (dog emoji).”

“The biggest shady deal, I just want to know how big her appetite really is…”

People’s perception of Tao Nian was very strange. When they first saw this trending topic, they were very angry. Although they knew the show was unpopular, trampling on others’ dreams was truly infuriating. Originally, everyone came wanting to see solid evidence of the production team’s shady dealings and then advocate for justice.

But there was no solid evidence, just words.

Netizens unhappily went to watch this contestant’s performance. Although she was in the middle of the team, it was clear that her performance was indeed a mess.

“…Never been so speechless. Is she seeing Tao Nian’s popularity and trying to follow her ‘black-and-red’ route (gaining popularity through controversy)?”

“But this sister isn’t as pretty as Tao Nian. Does she really think Tao Nian’s popularity is just because of her outrageous actions?”

“But this sister doesn’t have Tao Nian’s appetite either. I don’t really care about her face, I only care why she can eat so much!”

Everyone laughed for a bit, and then when they realized the contestant started deleting comments because she couldn’t handle the negative feedback, everyone increasingly appreciated Tao Nian.

“Tao Nian gets scolded, but she doesn’t delete comments!”

“Dying of laughter, how do you even comment on Tao Nian? She doesn’t even have a Weibo.”

Originally, it was just an eliminated contestant causing trouble for popularity, and everyone was surprised by this move. Then, because of the contrast with her peer, people started changing their perception of Tao Nian.

But in the afternoon, public opinion suddenly shifted direction.

A netizen screenshotted a picture of Tao Nian from the show’s daily activities. In the picture, Tao Nian was eating, and due to her bending over, the jade pendant hanging around her neck was exposed.

After zooming in repeatedly, it could be seen that it was a piece of jade of excellent quality.

The comparison picture was an official image from an auction house.

It was exactly the same as the jade around Tao Nian’s neck, priced in the six figures.

And Tao Nian’s private clothes, designer brands, often costing five figures.

Tao Nian wasn’t a poor, simple-minded sweetheart after all. She was a despicable, foul capitalist who stepped on others’ dreams to climb to the top!