After Being Hopeless at Singing and Dancing, I Exploded in Popularity Due to My Appetite - Chapter 36

Tao Nian, a newly adult Taotie with baby fat on her face and innocent, watery eyes, was now shedding tears and complaining about the pain of being bitten. Even Fang Wen, who was observing from the side, couldn’t bear to watch. She sympathetically offered Tao Nian a tissue: “It’s okay, it’s okay, it’ll be fine soon. It won’t hurt in a few days.”

Huang Li, who had brought food for Tao Nian and had been following her, apologizing throughout, was even more flustered and guilt-ridden when she heard Tao Nian complain about the pain. She promised Tao Nian: “I will never speak ill of you in front of Maomao again. I’ll teach him as soon as I get back today.”

However, Huang Li’s assistant didn’t know Tao Nian well. He had never met or interacted with Tao Nian before, and his only impressions of her were from the show. Now, hearing Tao Nian’s words, he was a little confused.

Although the scene had a touch of the prodigal son returning to the right path, an uncomfortably melodramatic feel, why would Tao Nian express herself this way? “Because the dog bit me and I know it hurts, so I won’t bite you.”

Hmm…

It’s a bit strange. Is Tao Nian also a dog that bites often?

This confusion wasn’t limited to Huang Li’s assistant. After the initial discussion about Huang Li’s dog biting Tao Nian, some peculiar people also emerged.

Actually, Tao Nian had many haters who constantly mocked her. But everything Tao Nian did was often hilarious, and even her fans found it amusing. Coupled with the fact that Tao Nian’s fans were very impactful, often with one fan being worth ten haters, and their comments about Tao Nian were even more scathing than the haters’, the haters didn’t have much of a presence.

However, in this incident, Tao Nian was entirely the victim, and most people were praying that Tao Nian, who had been bitten by a dog, wouldn’t suffer any complications.

So, the haters’ comments seemed a bit out of place.

“Haha, someone rushed to a popular show like a dog seeing a bone, and bit someone. Now, she’s bitten by a real dog. Isn’t this karmic retribution?”

“Laughing so hard, Tao Nian deserved to be bitten, she got what she deserved (tongue out).”

“I heard rabies has a 100% mortality rate, someone better be careful.”

These words were truly too malicious. Immediately, people retorted, and two factions clashed, creating a fierce battleground of words.

Then, another group of people, fueled by rebellious defiance, decided to become Tao Nian’s fans, just to infuriate those who couldn’t stand to see Tao Nian do well!

As for the initial wave of fans, those with the strongest rebellious streak who were now “Sweet Peaches,” everyone in the group chat was sighing: “How can this child be so unlucky? Others deliberately create a ‘beautiful, strong, and tragic’ persona to gain and solidify fans, but Tao Nian doesn’t even have an official fan group or a personal account, clearly not caring about that. Why is she still so miserable?”

This was one of the rare times the group mentioned Tao Nian without calling her “that silly person” or bringing up her funny, edited videos. The tone was still sympathetic and emotional, which made Liu Xiaobai somewhat relieved.

Another Sweet Peach said: “Perhaps she just is very miserable. Others, to gain fans, call 120 and go to the hospital for a cold, fever, or a scratch. This child had her tooth knocked out and was bitten by a dog, and she didn’t even say anything; it was actually exposed by paparazzi. Too miserable.”

“I have to say, this fan-abuse strategy is correct. Now, seeing this child so miserable, I actually feel a little sympathetic. She’s so miserable yet so optimistic, I’m totally in love.”

“Well, but, isn’t she optimistic? I always feel like she’s miserable every day, but also hilarious every day. She chipped a tooth, got it fixed, then chipped it again eating Jianbing at night. Who would have thought?!”

“Exactly,”

The atmosphere in the group had already started to veer off topic, so Liu Xiaobai posted the autograph Tao Nian gave her during the third public performance: “Who would have thought that a seemingly glamorous and brilliant female celebrity’s handwriting would be like this?”

The image showed a pink support banner as the background, with Tao Nian’s name written in black marker.

The Sweet Peaches in the group looked at the handwriting and fell into contemplation, clearly trying to figure out what to say.

“Ah, this…”

With her extraordinary typing speed, Liu Xiaobai almost made phantom keypresses on the keyboard before finally posting another message before anyone could comment on the handwriting: “Returning to simplicity! Unadorned and natural!”

Below that message were messages from group members who posted at the same time as her: “So ugly…”

“Too ugly!”

“Was this written with her left hand?”

“Written with her foot?”

“I feel like I’m looking at my kindergarten nephew’s homework.”

“This handwriting is the kind that a teacher would pull out during an exam and ask what was actually written.”

“I even suspect you picked up an ant off the ground, dipped it in ink, and let it crawl out these two characters.”

Sweet Peach: “Unfollowing, unfollowing, this handwriting is too ugly, I won’t be able to show off my idol’s autograph in the future! (laughing-crying emoji) (laughing-crying emoji)”

Liu Xiaobai: “…”

Although she knew everyone saying “unfollowing” was joking, Liu Xiaobai was surprised by the unanimous negative reviews. She repeatedly refreshed: “It’s not ugly! It’s returning to simplicity, unadorned and natural!”

Group members: “…”

“We agreed to be fake fans together, but you secretly put on fan filters.”

“High emotional intelligence: Returning to simplicity, unadorned and natural. Humor: Ant dipped in ink crawling everywhere. Low emotional intelligence: Ugly.”

“Hahahahahahaha, I’m dying of laughter. Why is everyone, from the idol to the fans, so miserable and hilarious?”

This conversation was screenshotted by someone and posted online. Because it was so absurdly funny, it was reposted by many entertainment bloggers. Coincidentally, the episode of the third public performance aired, and Tao Nian’s performance and the silhouette of the guest performer at the end also sparked discussion and reposts among netizens. All sorts of news mixed together, generating another wave of discussion.

And Tao Nian was also going for her second vaccine shot.

The rabies vaccine requires a total of five shots, on day 1, day 3, day 7, day 14, and day 28.

One shot was already painful, and she still had to get five more. Not only that, but she also had dietary restrictions and couldn’t eat chili.

Just thinking about it brought tears to the Taotie’s eyes.

The last time she got vaccinated was a sudden situation. The production team was very concerned about the health of such a popular contestant like Tao Nian, so they sent an associate director to accompany her, along with Tao Nian and Huang Li, a large crowd of people.

But this time, going for the vaccine was fully prepared. Only Huang Li, Lin Qianman, and Tao Nian went, accompanied by two cameramen. The few of them wore masks and went to the vaccination clinic.

Oh, Huang Li came along because Tao Nian was bitten by her dog.

Lin Qianman came along simply because, as a life mentor, she needed to constantly monitor the contestants’ physical and mental health.

The few of them went to the vaccination clinic. Because Tao Nian was photographed during her last vaccination, everyone knew she was getting the rabies vaccine and deduced she would come today. So, many people were waiting outside the vaccination clinic to take photos.

However, inside the vaccination clinic, it was the same as when Tao Nian last visited. The vast majority were new parents holding tiny babies, coming to get various vaccines. The tiny infants, one would cry loudly after getting a shot, and then all the babies in the room would start crying, impossible to soothe.

All that could be heard was a chorus of wails.

Tao Nian expressionlessly took her ID, got her slip, bought the vaccine, and went for the shot.

When the needle went into her arm, she originally wanted to cry out loudly too.

But in the next small room, they were giving hand-foot-and-mouth disease vaccines to babies. Just as Tao Nian opened her mouth, before she could even wail, a loud and tragic “Waaah!” came from the next room.

Then, many babies outside, who had just been soothed, started crying again, one after another.

Tao Nian: “…”

Tears welled up in her eyes, but she couldn’t let them fall.

Tao Nian expressionlessly held the cotton swab the nurse sister had placed on her pricked skin and walked out, sitting down on the chair next to Lin Qianman, looking aggrieved.

It really hurts.

Wuwuwu.

The accompanying cameraman behind her dutifully filmed Tao Nian.

Just then, a little girl who was queuing for her vaccination came over, gnawing on her finger. She stood beside Tao Nian, looked at her, then at the camera above her head, wiggling.

Tao Nian still had tears in her eyes, looking at the little girl, but didn’t speak first.

Lin Qianman smiled at the little girl, stood up to let the little girl sit in her chair, and asked her: “Little friend, what’s wrong?”

But the little girl didn’t sit. She still stood beside Tao Nian, gnawing on her finger and wiggling.

After a long while, she quietly placed her hand on Tao Nian’s knee. Her tiny hand was chubby and soft.

Tao Nian glanced at the little girl.

The little girl asked in a soft, childish voice: “Auntie, you’re so big, and you still have to get shots?”

Although the Taotie had lived for many years, if calculated by human lifespan, Tao Nian was only just an adult. Being called “auntie” at this age was not very appropriate for a girl.

Fortunately, Tao Nian didn’t understand these nuances and didn’t find the child’s address inappropriate. She just nodded aggrievedly at the child, still wanting to show her the wounds from the bite.

Lin Qianman, fearing she would scare the child, quickly covered the wound on Tao Nian’s arm to prevent the child from seeing it. At the same time, she very kindly explained to the child: “Because this Older Sister didn’t get her shots when she was little, she still has to get them now that she’s grown up. Don’t be like her; if you get them now, you won’t have to when you grow up.”

The little girl gnawed on her finger, seemingly thinking for a moment, then wiggled again and asked Tao Nian: “Does it hurt?”

Many things can be endured if no one asks, but once someone asks, one truly can’t hold back.

Tao Nian’s tears immediately fell! She nodded vigorously, wanting to speak to the little girl.

Just then, Lin Qianman quickly clapped her hand over Tao Nian’s mouth, and at the same time, very kindly told the little girl: “No, it doesn’t hurt. You’ll only be healthy if you get your shots, and then you’ll need fewer shots in the future.”

But the little girl had already seen Tao Nian’s tears; she didn’t believe Lin Qianman at all. With red-rimmed eyes, she nodded at Tao Nian, then ran back in the direction she came from.

Halfway there, she started crying, shouting “Mama” between sobs, saying Mama lied to her, and she didn’t want shots, shots hurt so much, she didn’t want shots.

The vaccination clinic, which had never been quiet, was once again filled with wails. The crying of infants, the anxious coaxing of parents, the tantrums of children refusing shots, the sounds of parents chasing their children to get vaccinated.

Amidst these sounds, Lin Qianman felt a vibration in her palm. She looked down to see Tao Nian, whose mouth she was covering, crying: “Wuwuwuwu.”

…How can she be so old and still cry because of a shot? And make other children cry too, isn’t that embarrassing?

Thinking this, Lin Qianman took out a tissue and, like a parent comforting a child, wiped Tao Nian’s tears: “Don’t cry, don’t cry. I’ll buy you candy later too.”