After Being Hopeless at Singing and Dancing, I Exploded in Popularity Due to My Appetite - Chapter 29

Tao Nian had no idea about the online comments, neither the previous insults nor the current arrogance of the CP (pairing) fans.

She carried a large box of strawberries, acquired during the advertisement shoot, back to the show.

The large box of bright red, plump strawberries looked particularly appetizing, sweet and tangy.

When Tao Nian laboriously carried the large box of strawberries back to her dorm, only Ding Yiyi was there.

Seeing Tao Nian bring back such a large box of strawberries, Ding Yiyi gasped in surprise and envy, then immediately, very practically, thought of a real problem: “Strawberries don’t keep well. If you don’t finish them today, they’ll go bad.”

Tao Nian ate a strawberry and looked at Ding Yiyi for a while.

She said nothing, yet seemed to say everything.

Ding Yiyi reflected on why she thought Tao Nian couldn’t finish them, but couldn’t find an answer. Just then, Tao Nian washed a plate of strawberries and offered it to her. She took two, repeatedly exclaiming how sweet they were.

Tao Nian ate several herself and also found them very sweet. She held the plate and placed five strawberries on each of her roommates’ desks.

These past few days, her teeth had hurt, and her roommates had taken good care of her, making her soft, easy-to-chew tofu, and tender tofu pudding steamed eggs. Her Master said one should know how to be grateful, and Lin Qianman also said one should know how to share.

Speaking of Lin Qianman…

Although Lin Qianman always teased her, she had also taken good care of her these past few days…

Tao Nian thought, then put some strawberries in a plastic bag, intending to give them to Lin Qianman.

She went to Lin Qianman’s room, but found Lin Qianman wasn’t there; Fang Wen was closing the door.

Seeing Tao Nian, Fang Wen was a little surprised: “Finished filming the advertisement?”

Tao Nian nodded.

Fang Wen: “…”

Why is she looking for my boss right after finishing the advertisement? Is there something going on?

Seeing Fang Wen silent, Tao Nian held up the plastic bag in her hand, offering Fang Wen some strawberries.

This person also buys me delicious loofah soup to drink; she is someone I need to be grateful to and share with.

Fang Wen took one and put it in her mouth, then asked Tao Nian: “Came to bring Sister Lin strawberries? Sister Lin is still in the practice room watching the contestants practice. You can put them in the room first.”

As she spoke, she pushed the still-open door a little wider, letting Tao Nian enter.

Tao Nian slipped through the crack in the door, looked around, trying to find a suitable place to put the strawberries. After circling twice, she couldn’t think of a good spot. So, she naturally thought of a place.

She often found the candy that Yueyue (Zhang Jingyue) put for her there! And it’s very secret, others can’t see it, but Lin Qianman will definitely feel it!

Tao Nian confidently placed the items down and followed Fang Wen downstairs.

That evening, Lin Qianman dragged her tired body back to her room. She sat on the sofa for a while, then remembered Fang Wen telling her Tao Nian had brought her strawberries. She struggled to get up and check the refrigerator.

She searched high and low but couldn’t find the “big, red, and sweet strawberries” Fang Wen mentioned. She looked around the table too but found no trace of strawberries. Logic told her she should search, otherwise, the strawberries would spoil overnight in this weather and attract bugs. But she was truly exhausted. Instinct prompted her to forget the strawberries and take a hot bath. She then directly lay down on the bed in her bathrobe.

When she lay down, there seemed to be something uneven under her head.

Perhaps the sheet under the pillow was wrinkled.

Lin Qianman frowned, deciding to ignore it and just make do for the night.

But that slight unevenness seemed to grow flatter and flatter, and conversely, a sweet smell gradually wafted to her nose.

Strawberries.

She had a very bad premonition.

But it couldn’t be that bad, could it?

Lin Qianman reached out incredulously, feeling under the pillow. She touched a hand full of juice, fresh, sweet strawberry juice.

…

Late at night, instinct told Lin Qianman to close her eyes and rest. But logic made Lin Qianman get up and change the sheets, duvet, and pillow, which were soaked in strawberry juice, for new ones.

She looked at the bag of strawberries, now crushed into liquid by her, which had caused her to be unable to sleep and toss and turn in the middle of the night. She closed her eyes in despair, starting to wonder if she owed Tao Nian something in her past life.

Perhaps in her past life, she was a heinous villain, and once, passing by Tao Nian’s house, she chopped down her walnut tree. This caused Tao Nian to have no walnuts to eat to nourish her brain, and now in this life, Lin Qianman has to bear this heavy consequence?

Although Lin Qianman knew she didn’t have a so-called past life.

But she always needed a reason, otherwise, she couldn’t convince herself why Tao Nian would be so…

Simple?

Simple is one thing, but why be simple enough to cause her so much trouble?

She was highly empathetic, and repeatedly self-suggested, surprisingly developing a sense of a weary old mother.

That night, she finally fell asleep amidst this self-suggestion and the cloyingly sweet strawberry scent.

In her dream, she wore a single black eye patch like a pirate, dressed in rags, holding a machete and chopping a tree. Tao Nian was a dirty, silly child, hugging her leg, crying and begging her not to chop down her walnut tree, her eyes pure and her cries piercing.

The content of this dream was truly too bizarre and morbid.

Lin Qianman woke up in the middle of the night, still vaguely feeling that terror, that fear of being dominated by strawberry juice, a walnut tree, and Tao Nian, who was crying while hugging her leg and trying to bite her.

She pulled out her phone and sent Fang Wen a message, telling her to plant trees when she woke up tomorrow. To plant walnut trees; the backyard at home was currently empty, to turn over the soil and plant walnut trees everywhere!

Not sleeping well at night was already enough to make Lin Qianman haggard.

The next day, she still had to face Tao Nian.

Tao Nian’s face had completely recovered; nothing could be seen anymore. In the morning, she staked out Lin Qianman’s door at her wake-up time, and when Lin Qianman opened the door, Tao Nian blinked and poked her head in, asking for today’s snacks.

This had become a habit during the past few days when her face was swollen and she had to restrict her diet. Normally, she couldn’t eat certain things, so she could only go to Lin Qianman to “quench her thirst by looking at plums.” Lin Qianman, afraid that she would be too hungry and bite her to death once her teeth recovered, prepared some soft bread for her every day, fragrant and sweet with a milky scent.

Previously, Lin Qianman had been very generous.

But today, the still somewhat sleepy Lin Qianman looked at Tao Nian, her mind automatically replacing this face with the silly child from her dream who was clinging to her leg, preventing her from chopping down the walnut tree.

Thinking of the sheets, duvet covers, and pillows still piled up in the bathroom waiting to be washed, Lin Qianman, feeling a bit petty, cautiously went into her snack storage area and gave Tao Nian a large bag of bread.

Tao Nian happily took the large bag, which was bigger than herself, and began counting the bread inside as she walked out.

One, two, three, four… nineteen.

Nineteen?!

Tao Nian turned back and stood at Lin Qianman’s door, knocking vigorously.

Lin Qianman thought it was Fang Wen bringing her breakfast and unsuspectingly opened the door.

Outside the door, Tao Nian held the large bag of bread, pouting angrily: “There’s one missing!”

Lin Qianman felt a fleeting moment of guilt and panic. But she quickly composed herself, her expression unchanged: “No, there are twenty.”

“There’s one missing!” Tao Nian’s voice got a little louder: “Today it’s nineteen!”

Lin Qianman, of course, knew it was nineteen, because she only gave nineteen. But she was calm, scanned Tao Nian up and down, and suspiciously asked: “Did you already eat one just now?”

“No!”

Tao Nian was always sensitive, firm, and particular about anything related to food. She reached out, asking Lin Qianman for the missing bread.

Lin Qianman insisted: “You definitely ate one secretly!”

“I didn’t!”

Tao Nian’s eyes widened, looking very aggrieved: “Master said to be grateful, I even gave you strawberries yesterday! And today you gave me one less bread!”

She shouldn’t have mentioned the strawberries. As soon as she did, Lin Qianman couldn’t help but rub her forehead: “Where did you put the strawberries?”

“Under the pillow!”

She said it so righteously and naturally that Lin Qianman began to wonder if she genuinely thought under the pillow was a normal place to put things.

She originally wanted to ask if she was playing a prank, but then thought, with her IQ, she might actually think that.

So Lin Qianman rubbed her brows, helplessly went back and got a bread, put it in the bag for Tao Nian, and told her: “Fruits should be put in the refrigerator.”

Tao Nian got her bread and, satisfied, was about to leave.

Lin Qianman called out to her, annoyingly reminding her: “Eat more walnuts.”

Tao Nian still remembered this person withholding her bread today and turned away angrily.

Lin Qianman watched this person, holding a large bag full of bread in one hand, while the other hand rummaged through the bag, counting the bread. When the bag slipped, she would lift her knee to push it up. Lin Qianman sighed.

There was always a period when this person would infuriate her, but she always had this ability to make people find her quite cute.

Just as Lin Qianman was watching Tao Nian’s receding back with a “motherly” mindset, Fang Wen came over with breakfast.

Seeing Lin Qianman staring at Tao Nian’s retreating back, and the doting, not-so-obvious but truly heartfelt smile at the corner of her lips, Fang Wen couldn’t help but start imagining again.

The current situation was like this: Zhang Jingyue, the underage rich little sister, likes Lin Qianman. Lin Qianman unilaterally likes Tao Nian. Tao Nian, an oblivious silly simpleton, only cares about food and sees Lin Qianman as a meal ticket. Tao Nian and Zhang Jingyue are good friends.

What a beautiful, forbidden romance!

Lin Qianman heard footsteps, withdrew her gaze from Tao Nian, and turned to look at Fang Wen.

Finding Fang Wen’s face blank, she coughed and knocked on the door, motioning for Fang Wen to come quickly.

Fang Wen snapped back to reality, quickly followed Lin Qianman into the room, put down the breakfast, and couldn’t help but ask: “Did you know you sent me a message in the middle of the night?”

Lin Qianman glanced at Fang Wen.

Fang Wen’s eyes were full of probing.

She had been Lin Qianman’s assistant for five years. Lin Qianman was a very easygoing artist; normally, she would just ask her to buy food, bring water to the set, organize clothes, pack luggage, and so on. If Lin Qianman wasn’t filming at night, then Lin Qianman wouldn’t message her at night.

Yesterday was the first time, and it was such a strange command.

Fang Wen woke up early that morning, saw such a message, and was completely stunned, suspecting it wasn’t Lin Qianman.

But then she thought, if it wasn’t Lin Qianman, who else would borrow Lin Qianman’s phone in the middle of the night to tell her to plant walnut trees?

The more she thought about it, the stranger it became. It made Fang Wen dazed, and now she couldn’t help but use polite language when talking to Lin Qianman.

Lin Qianman’s breakfast today was a vegetable salad. She ate a small florent of cauliflower and nodded: “It was me. Anyway, there’s nothing much going on here, go back and find someone to turn the soil and plant them.”

Then she immediately added: “Before you leave, buy some walnuts and send them over.”

Lin Qianman put down her fork and gestured to Fang Wen: “Lots.”

As soon as she said “lots,” Fang Wen knew who they were for.

Tao Nian.

A sense of “I knew it” dawned on her once more.

So, Tao Nian must have wanted to eat walnuts, which made Lin Qianman tell her to plant walnut trees in the middle of the night, then urge her to go back and plant them first thing this morning, and also buy some for Tao Nian to eat beforehand.

What thoughtfulness, what beautiful love!

Fang Wen wiped away non-existent tears and nodded: “Okay, I’ll go right away.”

Lin Qianman ate her meal and glanced at Fang Wen.

She felt her assistant was a bit off.

Fang Wen indeed left that day. Before leaving, she drove to buy two large boxes of thin-shelled walnuts.

That evening, when Lin Qianman gave Tao Nian walnuts, Tao Nian, following her habit from when her teeth hurt, opened her mouth and tried to gnaw on Lin Qianman’s arm.

But her teeth were fine now.

Lin Qianman dodged, not wanting her to bite.

But she was still caught, and Tao Nian gnawed on her fingertip.

By the time Lin Qianman pushed Tao Nian’s head away, her fingertip was already bright red and stinging with pain.

She was a little angry, but then thought, she had let Tao Nian get away with it before when her teeth hurt and it didn’t cause pain, which led to Tao Nian now thinking it was okay to gnaw even if not to bite. It seemed she couldn’t blame Tao Nian.

She could only swallow her anger, give Tao Nian a large box of walnuts, and then lectured her for a while, wanting her to understand that she shouldn’t bite or gnaw.

When she spoke, Tao Nian always nodded.

Her learning attitude was always good, seeming very serious and obedient.

But when it came to the Taotie’s instincts, even losing a tooth from biting hadn’t made her change. Lin Qianman knew she couldn’t let her guard down. So she could only hope that by talking to her every day, Tao Nian would eventually control herself a little.

After finally seeing Tao Nian off, she received a call from Wu Xuan.

His voice on the other end was sincere and honest: “I don’t have much work tomorrow, so I can free up some time. Are Tao Nian’s teeth better? Should I go see her?”

Lin Qianman: “…”

She suddenly wanted Wu Xuan to intimidate Tao Nian a little.

Author’s Note:

Tao Nian’s teeth: “In danger!”