After Being Hopeless at Singing and Dancing, I Exploded in Popularity Due to My Appetite - Chapter 21

Honestly, after deciding to take on the hot potato that was Tao Nian, Lin Qianman hadn’t been unprepared.

She had diligently studied some knowledge about child psychology and even consulted friends who owned pets on how to coax their “fur babies.”

But after meeting Tao Nian, Tao Nian was always silly and cheerful. Despite being in an unfamiliar environment, she quickly adapted, and the people she met were all very kind and caring towards her. She also didn’t seem to have any negative emotions.

Lin Qianman hadn’t expected her to actually feel like she had been “kicked down the mountain.” Looking at Tao Nian’s pouting expression, she suddenly understood the feelings of parents and inexplicably found her a little cute.

There seemed to be a passage about this in a book she had read before: children are very afraid of their parents’ disapproval, and if they are negated by their parents or family, they will lack confidence.

For the sake of the little Taotie’s mental health, Lin Qianman could only carefully explain to her: “Feng Jun didn’t abandon you; she just wanted you to learn some things. You can’t stay on Qingnan Mountain forever; you always have to come to the human world. The mortal world is developing rapidly now, and Feng Jun is afraid you’ll fall too far behind.”

Tao Nian was still eating her boxed meal, not looking at her at all.

Lin Qianman sighed: “Besides, on Qingnan Mountain, you were a mountain bully, lawless. Feng Jun wants you to learn restraint and letting go.”

Tao Nian glanced at Lin Qianman.

The little taotie probably wouldn’t understand, so Lin Qianman explained in more detail: “Only by knowing that many things can’t be had both ways can you learn to choose. When you can’t get what you want, you can only choose to let go. And because it’s hard-won, knowing what to cherish, you can then learn restraint. Feng Jun wants you to mature quickly.”

The Taotie was ultimately a fierce beast, greedy for wealth and food, and malevolent. Feng Jun couldn’t always watch over her and keep her confined to Qingnan Mountain. After finally raising her to adulthood and when she could learn, she quickly sent her down the mountain, wanting her to learn empathy. Not to mention protecting an area, at least not to commit evil deeds. To learn self-discipline and to restrain her instincts, just to be a little beast unlike a taotie.

Tao Nian had already finished another box of stir-fried noodles.

Lin Qianman earnestly urged: “Look at the other contestants; they come to participate in talent shows for their dreams, but sometimes they don’t get the results they want. Knowing when to choose and when to let go is very important. You need to know how people live to better integrate into this society. That’s what Feng Jun wants.”

The taotie stuffed a mouthful of noodles into her mouth, looked up at the sky, then at the ants on the ground.

She felt a little guilty.

Lin Qianman had spoken so earnestly for so long, naturally wanting a reaction from Tao Nian.

She pinched the back of the taotie’s neck, made her turn around, and asked: “Do you understand? Master is doing this for your own good.”

Tao Nian blinked, swallowed what was in her mouth, and blinked again.

This was her most normal state, unlike the temperamental person from earlier.

Lin Qianman narrowed her eyes: “So you did watch something, didn’t you? Where exactly did you learn that demeanor?”

Tao Nian innocently put a mouthful of noodles in her mouth, then a piece of lettuce, clamped her lips shut, and chewed, chewed, chewed.

After a while, she told Lin Qianman: “I heard Yueyue talking on the phone with someone.”

Lin Qianman: “…”

Thinking of how genuinely worried she had just been, and how many grand principles she had spouted, she suddenly felt a little unbalanced.

She tugged at Tao Nian’s cheek: “Did you understand what I just said?”

Tao Nian hummed, stammering: “Don’t understand.”

“Feng Jun didn’t abandon you.”

“I know!”

Because her cheeks were pinched by Lin Qianman, Tao Nian’s words were muffled, but she was visibly happy: “Master said there’s a lot of delicious food down the mountain! She said she wants me to live down here in the future, to get used to it.”

Lin Qianman: “…”

You’re quite obedient.

Tao Nian was not only obedient but also had strong learning abilities.

She observed Lin Qianman’s expression, mimicking how she had just spoken, and cautiously asked: “Are you angry? Why?”

Lin Qianman, imitating her earlier manner, snorted coldly and said nothing.

Tao Nian became even more excited. She reached out, intending to put the boxed meal she was holding into Lin Qianman’s hand, because she had been holding the boxed meal earlier.

But after offering it, she couldn’t bear to part with it.

Between reality and food, Tao Nian was quite distressed. After hesitating for a while, she gritted her teeth and placed the boxed meal in Lin Qianman’s hand: “Here!”

Hahaha, she actually managed to give the boxed meal to me as a prop.

Lin Qianman, seeing Tao Nian like this, almost couldn’t maintain her composure.

But Tao Nian had already concealed the reluctance on her face, and continued to imitate Lin Qianman’s worried and benevolent expression: “Why? Tell me.”

Lin Qianman couldn’t hold back anymore. She buried her face in her elbow, her back arched, shaking with laughter.

It was still cool at night, and Lin Qianman had a thin outer jacket draped over her.

Now, Tao Nian looked at the clearly visible section of spine beneath the two layers of clothing, and a thought suddenly flashed through her mind.

Ah, she’s so thin…

This thought came suddenly and without reason. Tao Nian didn’t know why she suddenly had such a feeling.

The Taotie’s simple-minded brain instinctively tried to rationalize this thought.

So the next thought was.

Too thin, biting her would get stuck in my teeth, right…?

Tao Nian seriously speculated about the texture of a thin Qilin. In her peripheral vision, she suddenly saw something added beneath her feet.

She looked closely.

Lin Qianman was still holding the opened boxed meal. Due to her movements, her arm and wrist trembled together, and the rice noodles in the box spilled out.

Tao Nian’s tears immediately fell.

Never mind how long Lin Qianman coaxed Tao Nian afterward or how many servings of rice noodles she promised to buy her.

In short, after Tao Nian finished those rice noodles and rubbed her stomach before returning to the dorm, Zhang Jingyue was still in the practice room and hadn’t come back.

Tao Nian didn’t know what was going on with Zhang Jingyue recently, but Lin Qianman, as a mentor, could see Zhang Jingyue’s nervousness and pressure. She also heard today that Tao Nian learned that demeanor from listening to Zhang Jingyue’s phone calls, so she guessed some things and told Tao Nian to pay more attention to Zhang Jingyue.

This really troubled the Taotie.

After returning to the dorm, she thought for a long time but didn’t know what to do. Finally, she racked her brains and came up with an idea.

Zhang Jingyue returned in the middle of the night, tip-toeing, took a quick shower, and went back to sleep. As soon as she sat on her bed, she felt something hard poking her.

She fumbled in the dark for the object on her bed.

It was a strip of digestion-aiding tablets.

In the darkness, Zhang Jingyue glanced at Tao Nian’s bed and smiled silently.

The next day, as Zhang Jingyue was practicing, a staff member came over and handed her a phone, saying someone was calling her.

Zhang Jingyue looked at the number, and with a cold face, hung up.

Tao Nian, who had been secretly observing Zhang Jingyue’s every move, immediately noted this down in her little notebook, planning to tell Lin Qianman later.

But because she wrote too slowly, Zhang Jingyue discovered her.

Zhang Jingyue looked at the person holding a small notebook, earnestly writing something, only showing her a black head of hair: “…”

Tao Nian seemed to have been writing in this little notebook all day today. It was fine before, but why is she writing while following me now?

She couldn’t help but ask: “What are you doing?”

Tao Nian couldn’t keep a secret. She simply had no concept of “this cannot be known by others.”

So she blinked and very honestly told Zhang Jingyue: “Lin Qianman said you’ve been under a lot of stress lately and asked me to watch you and tell her if anything happens.”

Zhang Jingyue was a little shy and touched. After a long silence, she whispered, “Thank you.”

Then she asked: “So what are you writing?”

“Oh,” Tao Nian held up her little notebook and said sincerely: “I said I couldn’t remember, and Lin Qianman said I could write it down in a small notebook.”

Zhang Jingyue narrowed her eyes, took the notebook, wanting to see what she had written.

Tao Nian let her look, her expression open and honest.

Zhang Jingyue looked at the little notebook, then at Tao Nian.

Tao Nian remained open and honest.

Zhang Jingyue looked at the notebook again and couldn’t help but ask: “What is this? Is this some kind of encrypted communication?”

The same sentence also came from Lin Qianman’s mouth.

Although she knew that Taotie used a brush for writing before and would be unaccustomed to a hard pen, she never imagined her handwriting would be so ugly. Lin Qianman looked at the crooked characters on the notebook and couldn’t help but ask: “What are all these?”

Tao Nian leaned over, pointed to the first line, and read to her: “A pancake, a bowl of porridge, a bag of pickles for breakfast. Didn’t eat the egg yolk, didn’t want spring onions in the pancake.”

Lin Qianman: “…”

Why did I even have expectations for her in the first place?

She only cares about these things. Shouldn’t I have known that already?