After Being Hopeless at Singing and Dancing, I Exploded in Popularity Due to My Appetite - Chapter 50

Idol 101 was a show produced by Orange Entertainment Company. Now that the group had formed, the contestants signed another short-term work contract with Orange Entertainment. For one year, all work would be arranged by Orange Entertainment, and everything would prioritize the group.

Tao Nian and Xiao Nan were packed up and sent to Orange Entertainment. After meeting the manager who would be taking care of them for a while, they were then packed up again and sent to the large house the company rented for them, to prepare for tomorrow’s work with their teammates.

For a large group of nine, the company rented a small villa, even a bit bigger than Lin Qianman’s villa. Everyone had their own room, and there was also a very large shared walk-in closet with nine lockers for clothes and hats. There was also a very large gym. In short, it was fully equipped, and the conditions seemed quite good.

The contestants had all arrived, and there were many people coming and going in the villa. Assistants carried the artists’ clothes, putting frequently worn ones in their rooms and less frequently worn ones in the walk-in closet. They also placed some of the artists’ favorite dolls, ornaments, and paintings in the rooms, making them very cozy.

Since all the artists were female idols, it was more convenient for the assistants to be female. Therefore, among these nine assistants, Xiao Nan was the only man.

Xiao Nan was still bothered, not knowing how he had broken the water pump yesterday. Because he quickly learned how to bargain and cook, the auntie had praised Xiao Nan profusely, making him think he was a genius who could quickly learn anything. He inevitably felt a little conceited.

But yesterday, not only did he not learn, he even broke the perfectly fine water pump, forcing Tao Nian to find Lin Qianman halfway through her shower. Xiao Nan was a bit depressed.

With the team working together, Xiao Nan, as Tao Nian’s personal assistant, already had a relatively easy job. But when he arrived that day, he still looked depressed, and his work attitude was very poor.

Tao Nian herself didn’t have much. When she usually worked, whether it was for magazine shoots or variety shows, the crew usually provided clothes, and sometimes the styling was designated. Tao Nian herself had no preference for clothes; she wore whatever she could, even a 29.9 yuan T-shirt that had pilled. Fang Wen felt that since Tao Nian didn’t have a strong preference, there was no need to bring a lot; if worst came to worst, they could just buy new ones and send them over. So, she only brought a few coordinated outfits for Tao Nian. Tao Nian also had no hobbies or interests, no ornaments, no dolls; she just brought a not-so-large suitcase and a few cardboard boxes of snacks.

Anyway, Tao Nian’s things were quickly packed, and Xiao Nan had nothing to do, so he sat depressed on the sofa in Tao Nian’s room, resting his chin on his hand, wondering where he had gone wrong.

Feeling bored just watching the assistant tidy up the room, Zhang Jingyue came to find Tao Nian. She pushed open the door and saw a “thinker” sitting on the sofa, while the room’s owner was squatting by the bed, taking vacuum-sealed bags out of a cardboard box and counting the “tiger skin” chicken feet inside each bag.

From the artist to the assistant, there wasn’t a single normal person.

Since no one had paid attention to her, Zhang Jingyue coughed and called Tao Nian.

Tao Nian hadn’t seen Zhang Jingyue for five days and was a little surprised to see her now.

She introduced Zhang Jingyue to Xiao Nan.

Besides Lin Qianman, this name had also appeared in Tao Nian’s mouth several times. Xiao Nan smiled politely, completely different from his depressed and withdrawn demeanor just now, looking completely like an elite assistant.

Zhang Jingyue was a little confused, feeling that this assistant, like Tao Nian, was inscrutable. She even looked at him twice after Xiao Nan left.

Tao Nian took out a “tiger skin” chicken foot and shared one with Zhang Jingyue.

Zhang Jingyue took it and ate it, then mentioned Lin Qianman: “Did Sister Lin make this for you?”

“No,”

Tao Nian skillfully bit off all the claws of the chicken foot, then spat out the bones like a pea-shooter, answering vaguely: “The auntie made it.”

“Sister Lin’s auntie?”

“Yes, it’s delicious!”

Zhang Jingyue looked at Tao Nian with an envious and helpless expression. She had come here originally because she was bored and wanted to play with Tao Nian. Now, watching Tao Nian continuously eat chicken feet, and seeing that she was clearly going to keep eating until all of them were gone, she felt a bit of a headache. She racked her brains, trying to think of something they could do together, and finally came up with an idea! She asked Tao Nian: “Oh, right, I asked you to watch Sister Lin’s movie last time, did you watch it?”

Tao Nian bit off the palm portion of the chicken foot, chewed and swallowed it, then blinked and said: “Huh?”

That meant she hadn’t watched it.

Zhang Jingyue suddenly knew what she could do now. She put the chicken foot on the nightstand, ran to wash her hands, then took out her phone: “Then let’s watch Sister Lin’s movie now!”

Tao Nian suddenly remembered that she had promised Zhang Jingyue to watch Lin Qianman’s movie. However, during the show, it was difficult to get a phone and there wasn’t much time. Later, at Lin Qianman’s house, she spent her days eating, playing small games, and running around with Xiao Nan, so she surprisingly didn’t watch it. She had promised but hadn’t done it, and breaking a promise was bad.

Now, seeing Zhang Jingyue tapping on her phone, she curiously leaned over to look.

Lin Qianman had quite a few movies, some good, some not, and the copyrights weren’t all on the same platform. Zhang Jingyue thought of her favorite one, found the app, clicked play, and placed it on the bed: “Watch!”

The movie Zhang Jingyue found was a wuxia film, with Lin Qianman playing an assassin. In a war-torn era, she was raised by the head of a major sect. After mastering her blade skills, she was sent to assassinate the king of a country.

For the first hour, she mostly wore black, expressionless, moving through the night, fighting various people. Her movements were clean and swift, and her blade was deadly fast.

But there were also times when she failed. That day, she followed the king’s guards deep into the palace and was discovered. Under attack, she was stabbed with a sword.

The sharp long sword had just touched Lin Qianman’s body. The injured Lin Qianman in the movie hadn’t even made a sound, yet Tao Nian sprang up like a fish that had been stabbed, falling sideways, murmuring: “Ah!”

Zhang Jingyue, immersed in the movie, was now pulled out of it. She turned to look at Tao Nian.

Tao Nian’s eyes were filled with panic, pointing at Lin Qianman in the movie: “Lin Qianman is hurt!”

“It’s acting, the character is hurt.”

“Lin Qianman is bleeding!” Tao Nian pointed to the spot on Lin Qianman’s black clothes that had darkened from the blood, repeating: “Lin Qianman is bleeding!”

So, she had watched more than half of it, and still didn’t understand what this was?

Zhang Jingyue was a little speechless and explained to her that acting wasn’t real, Lin Qianman wasn’t hurt, and it wasn’t Lin Qianman’s blood, but a blood packet.

Tao Nian was half-convinced, so Zhang Jingyue had to find photos of special effects makeup from filming to show her. Only then did Tao Nian feel a little relieved, and she leaned forward to continue watching the movie.

In the movie, Lin Qianman, even when injured, hid in a tree, biting her collar and silently bandaging herself. She pressed hard on the wound with her clothes to stop the bleeding.

The night was deep and dark, the trees were hidden in the night, a pitch-black expanse, with only a little moonlight filtering through, illuminating a hazy silhouette.

Zhang Jingyue couldn’t help but press pause: “This phone is a bit small, let’s go out…”

She originally wanted to say “go out and watch on TV,” but before she could say it, she remembered the constant stream of people outside, and the living room might not even have space to step. So she asked: “Do you have a computer? Watch on the computer.”

Tao Nian shook her head, her eyes still fixed on Zhang Jingyue’s paused phone. Lin Qianman on the screen was still in the tree, in an awkward posture, looking up at the moon, but then looking down vigilantly at the base of the tree, like a bird about to take flight at any moment.

Tao Nian didn’t understand wuxia, nor did she understand the story of the movie or why those people were doing what they were doing. However, Lin Qianman in the movie was so different from the real Lin Qianman.

Zhang Jingyue returned with her own laptop, and while booting it up to find the movie, she told Tao Nian: “I really love this movie, truly. I really love Sister Lin’s collaboration with Director Zhang Yelou. Sister Lin under Director Zhang’s lens truly has a certain feeling! She’s just, so beautiful!”

Tao Nian didn’t respond, she just leaned over to glance at Zhang Jingyue’s laptop screen.

Zhang Jingyue had already found it and was adjusting the timestamp.

“They really collaborate a lot. Later, we’ll watch another one, I love that one too! Director Zhang’s movies truly have a unique style, and when she uses that style to film Sister Lin, it’s just incredible! No matter what the styling, she looks amazing! It’s that kind of perfect fit between the character and the story, you know? I think among all of Sister Lin’s movies, Director Zhang’s are the most beautiful, and she’s also collaborated with Director Zhang the most times. Sometimes I even feel like they’re soulmates, they really understand each other, the kind who have the same pursuit and will dedicate everything to film. I really want them to keep collaborating! Filming every day! Releasing a movie every month!”

Zhang Jingyue exclaimed, and after several sentences, she inadvertently glanced at Tao Nian.

Tao Nian was still looking at the phone. When Zhang Jingyue went to get her laptop, Tao Nian poked it, then dragged the progress bar, looking for shots of Lin Qianman. At first, when watching the movie, she was holding a chicken foot, taking a bite while watching. Now, the chicken foot was finished, and she didn’t get a new one; she just focused on the movie. When she saw Lin Qianman’s injury scene, even though she knew it was fake, she still leaned back as if she couldn’t bear it, her eyes filled with heartache.

Watching Tao Nian, like a silly person, lie on the bed pitifully, staring intently at her phone, searching for shots of Lin Qianman. When she saw Lin Qianman get injured, she reacted so strongly, yet Zhang Jingyue kept talking about Lin Qianman and another person. Zhang Jingyue was silent for a moment, her earlier enthusiasm instantly cooled. She suddenly changed her tone: “But it’s just a normal collaboration, after all, Sister Lin’s acting skills are truly formidable, she can play most roles, and Director Zhang is one of the best directors of this generation. It’s just a normal collaboration. As for suitability, any qualified actor and director can achieve that!”

Perhaps Zhang Jingyue’s change in attitude was too quick, and Tao Nian finally looked up from the small phone screen and glanced at Zhang Jingyue.

Zhang Jingyue put away her phone and placed the laptop on the bed: “Continue watching.”

She carefully looked at Tao Nian, resisting the urge to spoil the plot.

Time quickly passed. Zhang Jingyue finished the movie and couldn’t help but find her favorite clips of Lin Qianman again: “Look! This is a creator I really like; she’s really good at editing!”

It was the action scenes from the movie, accompanied by the movie’s dialogue and BGM, creating a different feeling from the wuxia in the movie itself. The last shot was of Lin Qianman’s back when she received her orders to go down the mountain. She was wearing a grey and white cloth garment, and the mountain path was covered in dark green moss.

Zhang Jingyue had watched it many times, and even now, seeing it again, she still let out a sigh of admiration in her heart. She looked at Tao Nian.

Tao Nian was a little airhead again; she just stared at Lin Qianman’s back on the computer, somewhat lost in thought.

Zhang Jingyue shook her head: “I told you Sister Lin has a lot of charm in movies. You should have watched earlier.”

After watching this, Zhang Jingyue opened another one. After finishing two movies, it was already nine o’clock. Zhang Jingyue checked the time: “No more watching, let’s go to sleep. There’s an interview tomorrow.”

After all, they had just debuted as a group. Although they weren’t very popular, they still had to do what was expected.

Tao Nian nodded innocently, looking very obedient and well-behaved.

Zhang Jingyue left with great peace of mind.

As soon as the door closed, Tao Nian took out her phone and, following Zhang Jingyue’s method, found Lin Qianman’s movies.

She had already watched two. One was a wuxia film, and the other was a court drama.

Now, Tao Nian opened a Republican-era film. Lin Qianman played a woman who used her beauty for survival, wearing a cheongsam slit up to her thighs, high heels, with vibrant red nail polish. Her usually cool and detached face had lipstick always applied outside her lip line, as if it had smudged after being kissed. When she spoke, her voice was always cutesy, and her eyes darted back and forth. She was a very seductive person. She had no offensive power. In that era, she was seized by a warlord and taken home, then developed feelings for the warlord’s daughter.

At first, it was just because she disliked this family, thinking the daughter might be able to help her. It was a very cliché and straightforward seduction, just like seducing previous clients.

The daughter didn’t like Lin Qianman but couldn’t resist her allure. Finally, on a rainy night, they ended up together.

Outside, the rain pattered. Inside the room, an oil lamp glowed dimly. Raindrops fell like beads from the eaves, the ground outside was soft with mud, and through the window, two figures were intertwined.

The next shot was inside the room. The lighting was dim. The warlord’s daughter lay on the bed, smoking, wearing a thin white nightgown. Lin Qianman sat on the edge of the bed, her hand grasping the woman’s disheveled hair, scattered across the bed. She gently brought it to her nose and sniffed. She curled her lips, and half of the red lipstick was gone.

Tao Nian inexplicably felt her mouth dry. She couldn’t help but lick her lips.

In the movie, the daughter’s eyes were cold. She provocatively blew a puff of smoke at Lin Qianman’s face, her voice sounding both sarcastic and self-deprecating: “Mama?”

Then, the perspective shifted to the daughter’s view, shooting Lin Qianman from below. In the dim light, Lin Qianman’s smile truly carried a hint of maternal kindness and tolerance, like a true mother. She placed the strands of hair back on the bed, stroked the woman’s face, and her voice was as sweet as honey, like a honey-laden marsh, luring people to step in, impossible to escape once they did: “Good girl.”

Tao Nian could no longer hear the dialogue. Her mind was filled with that one scene.

It was the same angle as when she was woken up yesterday and saw Lin Qianman. Only last night, Lin Qianman was properly dressed, without makeup, like an old mother blow-drying her hair, with a benevolent gaze.

No, mother…

Tao Nian’s mind was a mess, like countless ants crawling around. She didn’t know why this was happening, nor did she understand what this emotion was. She could only frantically lower her head, trying to concentrate and continue watching the movie.

Still that angle. Lin Qianman’s smile was inclusive, as if she could accept any of your conditions. The next moment, Lin Qianman’s hand touched the corner of the person’s mouth on the bed, and she lowered her head, leaving a kiss mark on the person’s nose.

Tao Nian seemed startled, her heart thumping, too loud for her to hear what Lin Qianman said in the movie. But she had already seen the subtitles.

Lin Qianman said, “Don’t you like it?” Without waiting for an answer, she blinked, her eyes full of allure. She knew her stepdaughter wouldn’t answer her question, so in her stepdaughter’s complex gaze, she gave another sly smile and said to herself, “You like it, right?”

Tao Nian sat up abruptly, knocking over the phone stand. The phone fell onto the bed, and Tao Nian covered it with her blanket.

But the sounds still came through the blanket. There were soft breaths, the rustling of clothes, and a faint sound of water.

The little Taotie, who had only ever known about eating, didn’t know these things. But at this moment, it was as if she understood something instinctively.