After Being Hopeless at Singing and Dancing, I Exploded in Popularity Due to My Appetite - Chapter 51

The next day was the first interview after the group officially formed. The manager had already gone over the questions with them and, that night, repeatedly emphasized the importance of getting a good night’s rest to ensure they were in top condition for their first activity tomorrow.

But Tao Nian suffered from insomnia.

She just couldn’t fall asleep.

Her mind was a jumble of Lin Qianman’s slightly upturned lips, her ambiguous, sugary sweet voice saying: “Don’t you like it?”

Like.

This was indeed a very unfamiliar word. Tao Nian had heard this word before. Fang Wen often said helplessly, “The only thing you truly like is probably eating.”

Tao Nian guessed that her feelings for food were “liking.”

So, is it something she can’t live without, something that would make her anxious if it were gone?

At 7:30 AM the next day, Tao Nian emerged from her room with two prominent dark circles under her eyes.

The little Taotie, who had uncharacteristically suffered from insomnia, vaguely concluded one thing: she not only liked eating, but she also liked sleeping.

Zhang Jingyue had already run five kilometers in the gym with her teammate Yang Ning. Now, she emerged from the gym, sweaty, and saw Tao Nian’s numb and exhausted face.

Zhang Jingyue’s heart skipped a beat. She wiped her sweat with a towel and walked towards Tao Nian.

Tao Nian was still standing by the door, holding her phone, looking dazed, lost in thought.

Zhang Jingyue walked over and patted her.

Tao Nian flinched, turned to look at Zhang Jingyue, and then yawned.

Yang Ning, seeing Tao Nian in this state, was also worried: “Nian Nian, did you not rest well yesterday? Why do you look so pale?”

Tao Nian wanted to speak, but before she could, she yawned again.

Yang Ning: “Are you having trouble adjusting to the bed? If you’re uncomfortable, you must say so, so you can adapt quickly.”

Zhang Jingyue gazed pointedly at Tao Nian.

Tao Nian yawned twice, her eyes now brimming with tears and bloodshot. She nodded: “Mhm.”

Then, under Yang Ning’s worried gaze, she said awkwardly: “I couldn’t sleep after watching the movie yesterday. I kept thinking about the plot.”

“Ah?”

Yang Ning was very sympathetic: “Was it a horror movie? Don’t watch horror movies at night in the future, they’re very scary. I used to be like that too after watching them.”

Zhang Jingyue still gazed pointedly at Tao Nian.

Tao Nian: “What’s a horror movie? It was Lin Qianman’s Hidden Blaze.”

Yang Ning paused, as if she hadn’t considered that possibility at all. After a brief silence, she said: “Oh, I see.”

Yang Ning was a dance academy student, one of the few skilled members in this obscure and unpopular group, with a delicate appearance and an introverted, meticulous personality. At first, seeing Lin Qianman’s extreme concern for Tao Nian, she secretly suspected Tao Nian and Lin Qianman had some unspeakable secret dealings.

Later, when she was on a team with Tao Nian and had closer contact with her, and saw how Lin Qianman and Tao Nian interacted, she began to feel that perhaps Tao Nian was just a junior Lin Qianman favored, and there was nothing to be jealous of regarding the care Tao Nian received from a senior purely by her charm. After coming to terms with it, her relationship with Tao Nian also became quite good.

Later, when she heard that Tao Nian was an artist under Lin Qianman’s studio, she thought Lin Qianman might want to promote Tao Nian, so she formed a CP with her to give her publicity.

But now… there were no cameras around, was she still marketing so earnestly?

Yang Ning sighed with emotion.

No wonder Tao Nian is so popular, she’s really dedicated.

Yang Ning talked to Tao Nian for a while, telling her to hurry and rest while she still had time, and to come find her if she really couldn’t sleep, as she had melatonin. Then she went back to shower and change.

Zhang Jingyue was still behind Tao Nian, wiping sweat with a towel. Seeing no one around, she asked pointedly: “Did you, by any chance, project yourself into the role?”

Tao Nian looked bewildered, completely clueless: “Project what?”

Zhang Jingyue: “…”

Tao Nian saw that Zhang Jingyue didn’t intend to answer her, and after a brief silence, she quickly dismissed the thought. Instead, she leaned in front of Zhang Jingyue: “Yueyue, what is ‘liking’? Why would Lin Qianman fall in love with Qi Zheng?”

Qi Zheng was the warlord’s daughter in the movie.

Zhang Jingyue couldn’t help but correct her: “It’s not Lin Qianman and Qi Zheng, it’s Ruyue and Qi Zheng.”

“Oh,”

Tao Nian responded, still looking at Zhang Jingyue: “Why?”

Zhang Jingyue actually didn’t know either. As a teenage girl, she hadn’t experienced any unforgettable love yet and was still naive about the relationship between the two characters in the movie. She just told Tao Nian what she had read in a film review: “At first, it probably wasn’t love. Ruyue just felt that Qi Zheng could help her achieve a better ending in a chaotic world, and Qi Zheng was just attracted to beauty. But later, they went through a lot together, learned about each other’s hardships and helplessness, and only then realized it was love.”

Tao Nian: “…”

Didn’t understand.

After Zhang Jingyue finished speaking, she looked at Tao Nian, and suddenly a light bulb went off: “If this story were in real life, you’d actually be playing Ruyue’s role. Being with Lin Qianman, you could have a smooth journey in the entertainment industry and a good ending. And Sister Lin would be attracted to your beauty.”

At this point, Zhang Jingyue leaned back strategically: “You’re both attracted to each other’s beauty.”

Tao Nian: “So, I need to wear those kinds of clothes and kiss Lin Qianman?”

Zhang Jingyue was just talking. Her imagination wasn’t as wild as Fang Wen’s. This was just a rare flash of insight. Now, hearing Tao Nian say that, she found it a bit amusing: “There’s no need for that. Don’t look at Sister Lin’s effortless performance in that role; actually, it’s very difficult to shoot such scenes with sexual tension without being vulgar. Many actors who tried to re-enact it before ended up looking like they worked in a brothel. Your eyes are very innocent; you can’t portray that kind of flirtatious allure.”

Tao Nian was even more confused. She was completely bewildered.

Zhang Jingyue saw Tao Nian’s expression and patted her shoulder again: “Don’t think about it anymore. You should go back and rest. The interview is at 2:30 PM, and makeup starts at 1:00 PM. You still have five hours to rest.”

Tao Nian wiped her face: “Xiao Nan told me to come out for food.”

“Where is he?”

Tao Nian yawned again: “I don’t know.”

Zhang Jingyue: “Why did Sister Lin find you such an unreliable assistant?”

Tao Nian: “I don’t know.”

Fortunately, Xiao Nan soon arrived with breakfast.

Zhang Jingyue, seeing Xiao Nan return, went back to shower and change.

Tao Nian returned to her room to eat.

For some reason, today, even the food didn’t smell very appealing.

Tao Nian sniffed.

The air carried the scent of food. Xiao Nan was a mountain god and naturally had a very natural fragrance. Plus, Feng Jun had lived on Qingnan Mountain for so many years, so Xiao Nan also carried a faint scent of Feng Jun. When she first met Xiao Nan down the mountain, she thought his scent was pleasant, but now, it didn’t feel like anything special.

It didn’t have Lin Qianman’s fragrance.

It seemed only Lin Qianman was the most fragrant, and only Lin Qianman was the best to bite.

Master couldn’t be bitten. If she bit Master, who was hot, she’d catch fire and then get hit.

Xiao Nan was a solid rock. Not only did he not smell as good as others, but if you bit him, he’d be full of mud.

As for Wu Xuan, just touching him chipped her tooth, and he carried a muddy, fishy smell.

Only Lin Qianman was fragrant, and she even had a little “ball” that was adorable. She was also very gentle and kind, easily forgiving Tao Nian for biting her before, tolerating her and reasoning with her, giving her delicious food and a place to live. And… she would even come to Tao Nian’s room at night to blow-dry her hair.

She also made movies, so beautiful, whether it was her back against the moon in the trees, or…

Tao Nian inevitably began to drift off.

Xiao Nan, who had expected to see Tao Nian happily devouring her meal when he bought it, now looked at the distracted Tao Nian, beginning to despair.

When Xiao Nan first applied for the assistant position, he thought he could still take care of all of Tao Nian’s small daily troubles, just like on Qingnan Mountain. For example, watching Tao Nian to prevent her from falling, stopping her from biting or eating people, cooking for Tao Nian, grooming Tao Nian, and playing with Tao Nian.

However, in the past few days down the mountain, he began to realize that these were just beautiful fantasies.

The roads down the mountain were very smooth; Tao Nian wouldn’t trip over vines anymore.

Lin Qianman had taught Tao Nian very well; Tao Nian no longer bit people.

He didn’t know how to use anything down the mountain; he no longer knew how to cook.

Tao Nian now had a makeup artist and friends; she didn’t need him to groom her. Nor did she need him to play with her anymore.

He had originally wanted to learn other skills but ended up just twisting a water pipe and even breaking the water pump, causing Tao Nian to go to Elder Lin’s room halfway through her shower.

He had already decided to learn from Fang Wen and become a qualified assistant, but now that he had even bought the food, Tao Nian surprisingly had no appetite, drifting off after just a few bites.

Could it be that he was bad at everything?

Xiao Nan took out his phone, attempting to call Fang Wen for help.

Lin Qianman had no work recently, so Fang Wen also had no work. She had stayed up late playing games yesterday and was still asleep.

There was no reply.

Xiao Nan then turned to message Lin Qianman.

Lin Qianman, who had finished her run and meal and was now reading professional books, heard her phone ring. She picked it up, then frowned.

Tao Nian took two bites of rice, then suddenly thought of how Lin Qianman ate in the movie.

Lin Qianman’s dozen or so Best Actress awards weren’t won for nothing. Different characters ate in different ways.

The assassin ate in the wilderness. Due to long journeys, her lips were chapped and pale, and she would shove a dry, hard bun into her mouth with water. Occasionally, she would find a tea house in the city, but it would also be simple dishes, and she would always eat with vigilance.

But Ruyue ate differently. She ate with Qi Zheng, charmingly putting food into Qi Zheng’s bowl with a sweet smile. She ate in small, delicate bites, and it was also very beautiful.

Tao Nian couldn’t help but imitate what she saw, trying different ways of eating.

Lin Qianman and Xiao Nan were on a video call, and Xiao Nan pointed the camera at Tao Nian.

What Lin Qianman saw was an affected Tao Nian, taking a bite of rice—eating normally took time; even a normal person eating a bowl of rice at a regular speed would take fifteen minutes. Tao Nian ate a lot, so it would take even longer. So, Tao Nian used to stuff her mouth full, chewing with bulging cheeks like a hamster. It wasn’t very formal table etiquette, but it had a natural cuteness. Now, however, it was different.

Now, she took a bite of rice. A tiny bite, perhaps a piece of bun the size of a fingernail, put it in her mouth, chewed slowly, then picked up a chopstick of green vegetables, slightly opened her mouth, ate it, and turned her neck with a charming curve.

But her eyes were clean and pure, as if she was completely unaware of what she was doing. This contrast was even more alluring.

Xiao Nan couldn’t help but ask Lin Qianman in a low voice: “What’s wrong with Nian Nian’s neck? Is it uncomfortable because it’s too thin?”

His thought was very simple.

When Tao Nian was still a Taotie, her neck was very thick, and she never had such awkward behavior. Now that she was an adult, her neck was thin and long, perhaps it was uncomfortable.

Xiao Nan didn’t know, but Lin Qianman did: “…”

So where did Tao Nian go? Who did she meet?

Neither Xiao Nan nor Lin Qianman on the other end of the phone spoke, watching Tao Nian affectedly swallow that mouthful of rice.

Just as Tao Nian slightly opened her mouth again, about to take another fingernail-sized bite of bun, Lin Qianman quickly spoke: “Nian Nian.”

Someone called her. Tao Nian looked up.

It was Lin Qianman.

Tao Nian opened her mouth, taking a full bite of the bun. Looking at Lin Qianman on the phone, she felt a little embarrassed, grunting for a long time before saying: “Sister Lin?”

Only when Lin Qianman got closer did she notice the dark circles under Tao Nian’s eyes. Could she really be unwell?

Lin Qianman’s voice became even softer: “What’s wrong? Did you not rest well yesterday?”

Tao Nian pouted, her voice cutesy: “Hmph~ I couldn’t sleep after watching your movie yesterday!”

Lin Qianman had also made horror and suspense films. Now, hearing Tao Nian say she couldn’t sleep after watching a movie, her first thought was of that movie.

Before she could offer words of comfort, she immediately remembered Tao Nian’s actions just now, and that cutesy, coquettish “Hmph~.”

She suddenly realized which movie Tao Nian had watched.