After Being Hopeless at Singing and Dancing, I Exploded in Popularity Due to My Appetite - Chapter 45

Tao Nian could eat in the cafeteria using her temporary staff card, but Lin Qianman’s meals were usually bought by Fang Wen from outside, offering more variety and better taste.

Sometimes Fang Wen knew Tao Nian would eat with Lin Qianman, so she would buy a lot. But most of the time, Lin Qianman and Tao Nian eating together was spontaneous.

Just like today, Fang Wen only bought food for Lin Qianman.

Lin Qianman didn’t eat as much as Tao Nian, so Fang Wen bought three dishes, one soup, a small bowl of coarse grain rice, and a fruit platter.

If Lin Qianman ate by herself, it would certainly be enough. Under normal circumstances, Tao Nian wouldn’t snatch food from Lin Qianman; she would use her own card to buy her meal.

Previously, Tao Nian would buy a lot of things. One tray wouldn’t be enough, so she would buy trip after trip, like a little hamster hoarding food, and then eat it all clean.

But not today.

Today, after washing her hands, Tao Nian sat opposite Lin Qianman, holding her meal card and counting on her fingers.

She couldn’t help but want to bite her fingers again.

But looking up, she saw Lin Qianman opening her meal box.

Stare…

Tao Nian put her hand down and continued counting.

After the little parenting lesson just now, Fang Wen also understood that all her worry, sadness, anguish, and empathy over the past two days had been misplaced.

She looked at Tao Nian, who was now intently watching Lin Qianman, and reminded her: “Aren’t you going to eat?”

She only ate a little less these past two days; is she starting to eat nothing at all today?

Fang Wen was very worried and urged her: “You should still eat something.”

Tao Nian was just counting money, feeling distressed about not having any, but also really wanting to eat. She hadn’t come to a conclusion. Now, hearing Fang Wen’s persuasion, her heart tipped to one side, and under Fang Wen’s worried gaze, she steadily retreated, finally going to buy a meal.

It was still three bowls of rice plus two small side dishes. She took a lot of free salted vegetables from the free serving area. The green-white salted vegetables with some chili oil were piled high on the rice, looking pitifully simple compared to others’ meals which were a balanced mix of meat and vegetables and looked very delicious.

Even though she knew that her imagination was just wishful thinking, Fang Wen couldn’t help but wonder if Tao Nian had gone through something? Was there a change in her family? Was she in urgent need of money?

Then Lin Qianman took a bite of her food and placed a piece of fragrant guo bao rou (sweet and sour pork), with both lean and fatty meat, onto the pitiful layer of salted vegetables in Tao Nian’s bowl.

Tao Nian had also loved guo bao rou before. Although Taotie’s sense of taste wasn’t acute, she could still discern good texture. The cafeteria had many dishes, and she would eat each dish once a day, so she could have guo bao rou every two days.

She should have had it yesterday, but yesterday she suddenly received terrible news and didn’t get to eat guo bao rou. Today, seeing the guo bao rou, her mouth watered uncontrollably, and she felt incredibly sad.

Ask me why, and I’ll say I regret it.

Ask me why, and I’ll say I regret it instantly.

Ask me why, and I’ll say money is really hard to earn and vaccines are really expensive.

Tao Nian poked the piece of meat with her chopsticks, then carefully took a small bite after a long pause. She stuffed some salted vegetables into her mouth, and with that small bite of meat, ate several mouthfuls of rice. Then she looked up at Lin Qianman cautiously, feeling very guilty but also very serious: “I now have 3,456 yuan and 32 cents. Let’s go get vaccinated.”

Fang Wen had been watching Tao Nian eat, feeling very pitiful and heartbroken. She thought Tao Nian must have something going on at home, making her desperately need money. Other contestants received calls from family members occasionally, but Tao Nian hadn’t contacted anyone in the two months she had been there.

Fang Wen couldn’t help but wonder what Tao Nian had experienced, what kind of oppressed little darling she was, and whether her original family was very unfortunate…

While Fang Wen was furiously imagining all this, she heard Tao Nian’s words.

Fang Wen froze.

The questions she had just imagined hadn’t been answered, and now Fang Wen was full of question marks again.

What is she saying? Why does Lin Qianman need to be vaccinated? What happened to Lin Qianman? Isn’t Lin Qianman her boss, so why doesn’t she, her assistant, know anything? Also, Tao Nian has so little money, why does she want to take her boss to get vaccinated? Her boss is clearly rich!

So this must be love, right? This is unspoken understanding, right? This is synergy, right?

Lin Qianman noticed Fang Wen was imagining things again; her assistant was just a bit strange.

However, the assistant wasn’t very important; clearly, Tao Nian, who wanted to take her to get vaccinated, was more important.

Lin Qianman finally understood why Tao Nian hadn’t been eating much these past two days.

Was it to save money to take her to get vaccinated?

Lin Qianman looked at the greasy layer of salted vegetables in Tao Nian’s bowl and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Although she herself was led astray by Feng Jun into thinking that childish question, it was indeed because she told Tao Nian that Tao Nian was acting this way.

Lin Qianman felt a little guilty. She picked up another piece of meat for Tao Nian.

After thinking for a moment, she looked at Tao Nian’s anxious, guilty, but clean and focused eyes, and picked up another piece of meat for Tao Nian: “Eat properly.”

Tao Nian lowered her head again and took a small bite of the guo bao rou.

Lin Qianman is so good.

The little Taotie’s eyes were about to well up with tears.

Before, when Maomao bit her, Huang Li took her to get vaccinated, bought her food, and even disciplined Maomao, confiscating Maomao’s snacks and toys for a year.

She had also bitten Lin Qianman. She didn’t have money to get Lin Qianman vaccinated or buy her food. Lin Qianman just talked to her, didn’t punish her by taking away her snacks, and now even gave her meat to eat.

Tao Nian was so guilty she was practically on the verge of tears.

Wuwuwu, I regret it immensely. Although Lin Qianman smells so good, how could I bite someone?

The Taotie opposite her was about to cry. Lin Qianman felt even more guilty. She pushed the entire plate of guo bao rou in front of Tao Nian and also pushed her own spare rib soup to Tao Nian: “It’s okay, actually, I…”

Tao Nian heard Lin Qianman’s voice and looked up at her.

Her large, innocent eyes were watery, with a hint of redness at the corners. Her long eyelashes were slightly damp, clumping together, making them look even curlier and more defined. She looked at Lin Qianman with such trust, a touch of grievance, and an inexplicable cuteness, as if she would believe anything Lin Qianman said.

Lin Qianman paused, the words she wanted to say stuck in her throat.

She suddenly thought of something.

It wasn’t as if Tao Nian would believe anything she said.

Tao Nian simply trusted her completely; she believed whatever Lin Qianman said. Unlike herself, Lin Qianman mostly didn’t believe in Taotie’s self-control, nor did she believe that a recently adult Taotie who understood nothing about human affairs would understand social norms. She would doubt, and seeing Taotie’s actions and words, she would wonder if Tao Nian was learning them somewhere or if she was tricking her.

Tao Nian wouldn’t be like that; she was completely sincere. If she believed it, she would do it.

Just like when she said they needed vaccinations, Tao Nian didn’t know, but she believed it because Lin Qianman said so, and foolishly ate only a little food, just to take her to get vaccinated.

Lin Qianman felt a sense of guilt, as if she were bullying a child.

Her voice softened, and she avoided looking into Tao Nian’s eyes: “Actually, I’m fine…”

Lin Qianman wanted to tell Tao Nian, “You shouldn’t bite humans, but biting us beasts is okay.”

But there were people eating all around them, and Fang Wen was sitting right beside them, not looking up but with her ears perked up, afraid of missing any bit of information.

Lin Qianman changed her phrasing: “You can’t bite others, but I’m fine.”

Fang Wen, with her ears perked up, afraid of missing any bit of information: “…”

Her chopsticks fell directly into her noodle bowl.

She still remembered that Tao Nian had bitten her boss before. Now, Lin Qianman was saying it was okay to bite her, but not others?

Fang Wen was in a daze, savoring this shocking piece of “sugar” (romantic moment) all afternoon.

In the evening, she noticed Lin Qianman, quite unusually, picking up her phone and Browse VB (Weibo); she was searching for Tao Nian.

Tao Nian currently had a lot of buzz, and fans were producing content daily. Lin Qianman scrolled for a while and found many Q-version drawings of Tao Nian.

There were also fans shocked by Tao Nian’s appetite, suspecting she was a pig demon, and drew a cute little pig head with Tao Nian’s facial features.

Fans commented “Saving picture” below.

After a burst of laughter, they then said: “Piggy Tao Nian looks cute too, but it feels a bit weird! Why can’t Tao Nian be a stronger, more majestic image?”

“Like a Taotie?”

“Hahaha, whose fierce beast looks like that?!”

This matter was said jokingly, but it actually touched upon a little bit of the truth. However, no one paid attention.

However, the artist did indeed sketch a line drawing of a Taotie character, also Q-version, with a round head, round eyes, a large mouth, and round, seemingly non-aggressive but very cute teeth.

Lin Qianman couldn’t resist saving this image, thinking of the Q-version Taotie plushie she had thought of before.

She could get the copyright and make a plushie! It needs a round tail like little wings on the back! It’ll definitely be cute!

Fang Wen watched Lin Qianman curled up on the sofa, scrolling on her phone, a smile constantly playing on her lips—a smile that was indescribable, unlike her usual cool, gentle, broad, or relieved smiles. It was a kind of…

It was an unexplainable, uncontrollable, genuine joy from seeing something she liked.

Lin Qianman just kept looking, her fingers constantly swiping, occasionally tapping the screen, as if saving something.

After a while, she suddenly put down her phone and sighed, unsure of what she had seen.

Normally, Fang Wen would have already left by this time, but because of Lin Qianman’s unusual behavior today, Fang Wen lingered until now. Hearing Lin Qianman’s sigh, she immediately leaned over: “Boss, what’s wrong?”

Did you encounter some setback in love or see some profound truth that gave you an epiphany? If so, you can completely trust me and tell me your troubles. I will be your most loyal and discreet strategist!

Fang Wen was just strange. Ever since that time Tao Nian chipped her tooth and Fang Wen looked at herself with a Buddha-like expression, she had been getting stranger and stranger. Had she been secretly reading pirated Buddhist scriptures online and gone crazy?

Lin Qianman looked at Fang Wen suspiciously but ignored her. She just spoke of her discovery: “Tao Nian has many fans. Although her fans verbally dislike Tao Nian, they actually all like her very much.”

“Of course, they’re fans, so of course they like Nian Nian. Nian Nian is very likable.”

Lin Qianman thought of what she had just seen and smiled: “I always thought idol talent shows relied on talent, and that Tao Nian’s votes were all due to her looks and popularity with the general public. But I never understood why Tao Nian had such general popularity. Today, I finally feel that personal charisma is really important. Tao Nian, she is…”

She is a person who deserves to be criticized and complained about, but she has her own logic to rationalize these irrationalities.

And she has great personal charisma.

That’s why she can quickly make friends in the show. Even though Zhang Jingyue is younger than her, she is still willing to spoil her.

That’s why Huang Li was so afraid of her at first, but later, even when Maomao bit Tao Nian, Huang Li wasn’t afraid of Tao Nian retaliating and even became good friends with Tao Nian.

That’s why Fang Wen is weird every day, but she pays more attention to Tao Nian than to herself.

Personal charisma is a very mysterious thing. Tao Nian’s charisma is not just her inexplicable logic, her innocent and pure eyes, or her delicate appearance.

It’s the kind of charisma where her words are very infectious, and her every move is very appealing. She has a very unique ability. Although she herself is not sensitive to emotions, she is very good at stirring up others’ emotions. And because she is sincere and pure, she will be happy with just one bite of food, so she can make others happy with her.

This is a rare and invaluable ability.

Lin Qianman thought of Tao Nian’s puppy-like wet eyes today, smiled again, and concluded: “Tao Nian is truly a very cute and likable person.”

Author’s Note:

Fang Wen (pinching philtrum): Dying from shipping.

Fan: Whose fierce beast looks like that?!

Lin Qianman: Mine does (not really)