After Being Hopeless at Singing and Dancing, I Exploded in Popularity Due to My Appetite - Chapter 41

Fang Wen directed the studio staff to place the cardboard boxes behind the door, open them, and properly store the paper bags inside, intending to give these to the fans later when they left.

Tao Nian stared at the large cake in the center of the room.

It was Lin Qianman’s birthday today, and the production team had ordered a cake. Zhang Jingyue and other contestants had also made cakes, and Tao Nian had seen other cakes. But this cake was very beautiful, pink, and topped with a chibi figurine that looked like Lin Qianman.

Anyway, it just looked delicious.

The “Eel” fans watched Tao Nian stare at the cake without blinking, feeling bewildered and at a loss.

How to describe this feeling?

If Tao Nian had come over earlier and immediately approached Lin Qianman, acting all familiar, the Eel fans would definitely have thought she was a calculating person trying to flatter Lin Qianman and latch onto her. They would surely protest to Lin Qianman’s studio back home.

But Tao Nian had only glanced at Lin Qianman without speaking. It was Zhang Jingyue, who came with her, who cautiously greeted Lin Qianman and then the Eel fans. Only then did Tao Nian mimic Zhang Jingyue’s greeting.

Then Zhang Jingyue stood there, not looking around, not chattering, just maintaining a smile and watching Lin Qianman sign autographs with the fans.

This was how a normal contestant would behave.

But Tao Nian wasn’t like that. She was very natural. She didn’t put on an act in front of Lin Qianman, but both her behavior and the reactions of Lin Qianman, Fang Wen, and Zhang Jingyue indicated one thing.

They were very familiar with each other.

Lin Qianman finished signing a personalized autograph, rolled up the poster, and placed it on a nearby table. She then shifted her attention to Tao Nian: “Why are you here?”

She should be reviewing the theme song right now.

Zhang Jingyue, fearing Tao Nian might say the wrong thing, stepped forward to explain: “We wanted to bring you birthday presents, and we didn’t know everyone was already here.”

Indeed, the agreement with the production team was to arrive at 9:30 AM, and it was only 9:00 AM now.

Fang Wen had seen the fans arrive too early, so she brought them in ahead of schedule. She hadn’t even had time to properly put away the gifts for the fans.

This explanation seemed reasonable.

Then Zhang Jingyue stepped forward, offering Lin Qianman a box with both hands; inside was the cake she made herself.

Tao Nian followed closely behind Zhang Jingyue. Once Lin Qianman accepted Zhang Jingyue’s cake, Tao Nian reached out from behind her, excitedly extending her hand to Lin Qianman and quickly opening it.

The “Eel” fans stood on their tiptoes, eager to see what good thing she was giving Lin Qianman.

In her tender white palm, there was a perfectly round egg.

It wasn’t an egg-shaped gift box, nor anything egg-shaped; it was simply a brown, utterly ordinary egg. A smiley face seemed to have been drawn on the egg, but because she had held it in her hand for too long, the smiley face was smeared, and there was an ink stain in her palm.

Lin Qianman, however, smiled beautifully and reached out to take the egg: “Thank you.”

Tao Nian didn’t give it to her, avoiding Lin Qianman’s hand. She took the egg and rolled it back and forth a few times on Lin Qianman’s arm: “Roll it, and it’s another new year, with a successful career and good health!”

She didn’t know where she had heard that phrase, and she said it with a slight stiffness, like reciting lines. But because of this slight awkwardness, it sounded childish and sweet. Combined with her tender, beautiful face and bright, clean large eyes, she looked very cute.

The “Eel” fans: “…”

Honestly, it just looked silly.

Then they looked at Lin Qianman. Her arm also had a little ink stain, but she didn’t mind. Her eyes were already crinkled in a smile.

…Okay.

Actually, if such a good-looking and cute person did that to them, they probably couldn’t resist either.

Tao Nian rolled the egg twice, finally placing it in Lin Qianman’s palm, pressing it once, and cheerfully said, “You eat it!”

Lin Qianman looked at the egg and chuckled.

Tao Nian had come specifically to give Lin Qianman the egg. Now that she had given it to Lin Qianman, she looked at the beautiful, sweet-smelling cake again, and reluctantly turned to leave.

On her way back, her reluctance was palpable.

The “Eel” fans watched with a cold gaze.

She wasn’t reluctant to leave Lin Qianman; she was reluctant to leave that cake.

…

Well, how should one put it?

Tao Nian always did unexpected things.

The “Eel” fans were quite depressed.

Lin Qianman continued to sign autographs, listening to fans’ everyday troubles and offering advice and blessings. When it was time, she and Fang Wen distributed the pre-prepared gifts. Then, a chartered car took the fans back.

The “Eel” fans saw Lin Qianman’s VB (Weibo) post in the hotel. It was a simple birthday cake emoji, accompanied by a photo of a table. In the center of the table was the beautiful birthday cake, with letters from fans and some peculiar gifts beside it, as well as an egg with a smudged black smiley face.

Underneath this VB post were many birthday wishes from Lin Qianman’s industry friends. Further down were blessings from her fans.

Among the blessings from a few major fans, there was an ID called “Tao Nian Nian Nian Nian.”

The ID “Tao Nian” had already been registered, but everyone knew it was fake. Now, seeing “Tao Nian Nian Nian Nian,” they also thought it was just an ordinary netizen.

However, some people clicked in to take a look and discovered that it was actually a verified official account! It was Tao Nian herself!

“?!” Liu Xiaobai, who was super fast at internet surfing, immediately discovered this and quickly announced it in the “Sweet Peach” group, wanting all the Sweet Peaches to follow and comment, so that Tao Nian could see everyone’s enthusiasm and love for her.

Sweet Peach: “Ah, well, how to put it, is it confirmed to be her?”

Liu Xiaobai: “It’s verified, it’s her!”

“What should we comment?”

The Sweet Peaches racked their brains: “Before, when I commented on Sister Lin’s posts, I’d write long film reviews. What should I say to Tao Nian now? ‘Analysis of the Third Public Performance’s “Rooftop” Stage’?”

“Or ‘On the Impact of Girl Group Lighting and Camera Positioning on the Final Result’?”

Liu Xiaobai: “…”

Please stop.

Fortunately, because of the recent fourth public performance, there were now a few Huang Li fans in the group. They appeared and guided the Sweet Peaches: “Just say how much you like Tao Nian, or praise Tao Nian’s looks. This is her first VB post, so positive and upbeat comments are better.”

“How do we praise her?”

“Just, you know, ‘can be cool or sweet,’ ‘born idol,’ ‘popularity gap,’ ‘promising future’… All those are fine.”

“Ah, this…”

The Sweet Peaches all said: “This is too embarrassing. I’m very shy and can’t praise her at all. I just want to be a happy fake fan.”

Even as they said this, they still went to Tao Nian’s account to take a look.

Tao Nian indeed posted a VB message. The caption was a simple self-introduction: “Hello everyone, I’m Tao Nian.”

There was a photo below.

It was her ID photo taken when she went to register for the show with the recommendation letter Liu Xiaobai gave her. When this photo was taken, she had just come down from the mountains, had been hungry for two days, and suddenly found work, a turning point. Tao Nian was completely bare-faced, with her hair in a ponytail, her eyes full of yearning and expectation for the future.

Well, she was quite good-looking.

The exaggerated compliments naturally followed: “Wuwuwu, darling, you’re so beautiful.”

“Is it possible to be this beautiful just by eating all the time?”

“You look so tiny, I’ll buy you food!”

“Wuwu, wife, seeing you makes my tears flow from the corners of my mouth, falling three thousand feet straight down. I’m directly being taken by the scenic area to be an artificial waterfall, darling. Wuwu, darling, you must come and see; I don’t charge you for tickets, I’m not controlled by seasons. Whether it’s peak season or off-season, I’ll gush and gush. This is all my love for you, darling!”

“Ah, this…”

“Seeing your words, my feet directly dig a fantasy castle out of the concrete floor, and Balala Little Demon Fairy comes over to film. Wuwuwu, you must watch the movie when it’s released, my castle is not restricted by existing conditions. As long as you say a few more words, I’ll keep digging. This is all my admiration for you!”

“Ah, this. You said you were all illiterate fake fans. How many dictionaries did you two secretly eat to have such talent? I’m so angry I’m going directly to the bookstore to flip through your works one by one…”

“Kick all these silly people out! I said to be positive and upbeat!”

“Isn’t this positive? This is very positive—it’s just not very serious (sticks out tongue).”

The “Eel” fans, who had discovered Tao Nian had an account under Lin Qianman’s VB, flocked over and read the comments under Tao Nian’s VB, falling into deep thought.

When they noticed that some of the netizens giving Tao Nian silly, exaggerated compliments had familiar IDs, they felt a slight sense of crisis. They clicked on the IDs to take a look.

Sure enough, they were former “Eel” fans, who used to arrange movie viewings, write film reviews, make edits, and write fanfiction together…

They clicked into the homepage without much hope, and saw that these accounts still followed Lin Qianman’s fan club. Their posts in Lin Qianman’s fan club were calm, composed, and organized. Even the simplest praises of Lin Qianman’s beauty were eloquently written, often quoting from the Book of Songs.

As for their posts in Tao Nian’s fan club…

Chatting, rambling, sharing silly daily routines and Tao Nian’s silly anecdotes, hahahaha, a string of emojis.

The “Eel” fans: “…”

It’s just ridiculous.

At 5:30 PM, episode eleven of Idol 101 aired.

The show’s official account, as usual, posted a VB to promote it. Since they had invited guest performers this time, they also tagged the guests.

Tao Nian also posted a message, tagging her teammates and Huang Li.

Huang Li liked it.

This now truly made most people aware of Tao Nian’s official account.

Because they had been looking for it but couldn’t find it, and now it actually existed, everyone flocked to see it.

And then laughed hysterically in Tao Nian’s comment section.

Since Tao Nian didn’t have a phone, the studio just told her about opening the account, and didn’t give her full management of it. Fang Wen, however, held her phone and asked Tao Nian if she wanted to see the updates. Tao Nian was eating cake and didn’t seem to care much, so Fang Wen didn’t insist.

The beautiful cake that was used for photos and shared with fans had already been cut. It was a very large cake, and Fang Wen saved a piece when Lin Qianman was distributing it to everyone.

There was also a fruit cake distributed to the contestants on the show. The contestants, afraid of getting fat, only ate a symbolic amount, so Fang Wen saved a lot more for Tao Nian.

Fang Wen ordered many cakes. When she went to pick up the cakes today, the bakery gave Fang Wen a small red velvet cream cake as a gift. It was also very beautiful and fragrant, but too small to share, so Fang Wen gave it to Lin Qianman, and Lin Qianman saved it for Tao Nian.

Zhang Jingyue made a handmade cake for Lin Qianman and also a small one for Tao Nian.

So today, Tao Nian’s room had countless pieces of cake.

The cream was sweet and delicious, but too much was cloying. Although Tao Nian’s sense of taste wasn’t rich enough to distinguish these, others were also concerned about her, so as she ate, the follow-up cameramen started to stop her.

Coincidentally, Tao Nian had something on her mind, so she obediently put down the cake and stopped eating.

She turned around and went to find Lin Qianman.

Lin Qianman was putting away the gifts she had received, intending to have Fang Wen send them to her home. She planned to properly read the letters from her fans when she returned in a few days.

When she received the egg from Tao Nian, she was a little hesitant. When Tao Nian left, she told her to eat it, so it should be a hard-boiled egg.

But this was not only a hard-boiled egg, it was also a gift from Tao Nian, and held great commemorative value. Lin Qianman wanted to keep this egg just like the other gifts, and preserve it well.

But wouldn’t the egg go bad if left out?

It was at this moment that Tao Nian arrived.

Tao Nian looked at the egg in her hand, exclaiming exaggeratedly: “Why haven’t you eaten it yet?!”

Lin Qianman didn’t know how to explain her thoughts to Tao Nian.

Tao Nian then counted on her fingers, picking at the pads of her index finger: “I boiled a whole pot! This is the roundest one! I gave it to you, why aren’t you eating it?!”

Lin Qianman looked at Tao Nian’s action, feeling something was amiss. She rolled the “roundest egg from the pot” around in her hand and asked Tao Nian: “Where are the other eggs?”

“I ate them.”

Tao Nian said as a matter of course, then her voice became a little smaller: “The egg yolks from down the mountain are too choking. I never used to choke before.”

Lin Qianman: “…”

You never used to choke before, wasn’t it because the chickens, ducks, and beasts on the mountain were almost all eaten by you, and you couldn’t find more than a few eggs in a day, so at most you only ate five at a time?

Now you’re eating a whole pot at once, how could you not choke?

Thinking this, Lin Qianman didn’t say it. She just smiled and asked Tao Nian again: “What’s wrong with your hand?”

Tao Nian had deliberately been picking at her hand in front of Lin Qianman. Now, seeing that Lin Qianman had indeed noticed her, she immediately extended her hand to Lin Qianman: “I burned it boiling eggs for you!”