After Being Hopeless at Singing and Dancing, I Exploded in Popularity Due to My Appetite - Chapter 53

Honestly, that question was a huge test of emotional intelligence. Similar questions often pop up in interviews or games, and the person answering usually tries to play it safe. One wrong move and they’ll get roasted.

But the question still exists.

First, controversy brings buzz, and variety shows love seeing some drama.

Second, it’s perfect for artists to manufacture CP (couple) buzz and bundle market, where the real-life main characters “sprinkle sugar” and beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

It’s usually one of these situations.

Logically, Tao Nian’s definitive answer, naming a specific person, should fall into the second category.

CP hype.

However, both on and off the stage, chaos erupted.

Host: “Nian Nian, do you know what this question is?”

Another host chimed in: “It’s asking which teammate is the prettiest.”

“Why did you answer Sister Lin?”

That answer truly came out without thinking.

When Tao Nian saw the word “prettier,” she automatically substituted it with the synonym “good-looking,” and then she remembered what Lin Qianman had said before: “I don’t think you’re good-looking, but I am.”

Tao Nian herself was undoubtedly good-looking. Her reputation could quickly reverse, and she could even debut in a survival show, which absolutely required a refined and attractive face. Tao Nian was the most good-looking contestant on the show; no one else had told her she was good-looking to her face.

Except for Lin Qianman.

Lin Qianman also didn’t think she was prettier than Tao Nian; that remark was premised on the bite mark on Tao Nian’s arm and the fading scar on Lin Qianman’s forehead.

However, she was still the only one who had ever told Tao Nian that she was good-looking.

Tao Nian remembered it, so it just slipped out.

Now, being pressed by the host, she showed no sign of embarrassment, insisting: “She is good-looking.”

Host: “But Sister Lin is a mentor, not your teammate.”

This question is so strange.

Tao Nian began to wonder: “If she’s not my teammate, does that mean she’s not good-looking anymore?”

Zhang Jingyue, standing a little behind, helplessly pressed her hand to her forehead.

And Yang Ning, standing beside Zhang Jingyue, sighed quietly.

Tao Nian is truly dedicated. She hypes CPs regardless of time or place, always remembering to hype CPs.

The fans below erupted in an uproar.

This is clearly an AD Girls’ Group variety show, why are they always bringing Lin Qianman out?! Did Lin Qianman get an appearance fee for this?!

Not a teammate, but Lin Qianman is still good-looking.

The hosts stifled their laughter and began to smooth things over.

Tao Nian looked at the audience below, then at her teammates and the hosts on stage, completely bewildered. She didn’t understand what she had done wrong or said wrong.

Because Tao Nian was so unlucky, always drawing the lowest card, and the segment was scheduled to run for about another half hour, they had no choice but to exclude Tao Nian from the game and have her cue the segment, announcing the numbers her teammates drew.

Without questions, Tao Nian reverted to her usual listless, uninspired self.

After this game, the next one was Pictionary. Two by two, they were given a prompt, one person would draw it, and the other would guess the prompt based on the drawing.

Because the AD Girls’ Group had nine members, the hosts split into three, leaving only one host to play the game with the other three.

This arrangement had been decided beforehand, and Tao Nian was paired with Zhang Jingyue.

Zhang Jingyue had been studying art since she was a child and was very confident about this game.

In her imagination, after so many years of studying sketching, she might not be able to draw beautifully or artistically, but she would definitely capture the form. Coupled with her unspoken understanding with Tao Nian, she was sure they could win.

However, the production team clearly thought of this too, or perhaps Tao Nian had higher popularity and they wanted to give her more screen time. The host specifically called on Tao Nian to draw.

First prompt: the idiom “love as strong as gold and stone.”

Tao Nian looked bewildered.

Second prompt: the idiom “sharp-tongued.”

Tao Nian looked bewildered.

Third prompt: the food “strawberry cake.”

With one minute for drawing, Tao Nian held the pen and pondered for half a minute, then drew a square with a small circle on top.

This time, it was Zhang Jingyue who looked bewildered.

Relying on what she believed to be their unspoken understanding, the self-assured Zhang Jingyue gave a self-assured answer: “Building blocks?”

Of course, it was wrong.

Fourth prompt: the animal “cow.”

Tao Nian again thought for a brief moment, then drew a square with a long strip.

The self-assured Zhang Jingyue, relying on her self-proclaimed unspoken understanding, guessed: “Milk?”

Tao Nian paused, then desperately blinked to signal to Zhang Jingyue.

Zhang Jingyue looked at her in despair, babbling: “Strawberry milk? Chocolate milk? Banana milk?”

Time was up, and Zhang Jingyue saw the prompt.

Cow.

She was exhausted: “Let’s forfeit, baby.”

Zhang Jingyue was truly tired; she spoke weakly: “Others expend their hands playing games, you expend your teammates.”

This episode was recorded for five hours. Afterward, everyone had dinner together.

Tao Nian performed a simple personal talent in a later segment of the show – a personal mukbang (eating broadcast). Under the drooling gazes of her teammates, she ate a bowl of noodles in two minutes – actually, Tao Nian ate a lot, but slowly. That bowl of noodles wasn’t much, she quickly shoveled it into her mouth, then slowly chewed, until the talent performance of the person after her ended, she was still chewing the noodles in her mouth, hiding behind Zhang Jingyue.

Of course, she was caught by the camera and pulled out to be ridiculed.

At dinner that night, her eating style was, of course, joked about again. Every time she took a big mouthful and chewed slowly, like a little mouse, with no image of a girl group member. Others only ate a little, not daring to eat freely, even a cold cauliflower salad had to be rinsed in water to remove the seasoning. Only Tao Nian herself ordered a big bowl of white rice and ate freely.

Many jokes weren’t very funny at first, but repeating them made them funny.

Just like when Tao Nian lost her tooth before, if it was just the first time she lost a tooth, it would have been laughed at and moved on.

But Tao Nian’s face was swollen for a long time, and she lost it again while eating a pancake. Every time the audience saw her face, they were forced to remember that she lost her tooth, and it became funnier and funnier.

The hosts’ teasing was also for the show’s effect.

But Tao Nian didn’t know. She didn’t realize there was anything wrong with her eating style, and being constantly teased made her unhappy.

However, she was very sensible. Ever since she started working, she knew that this job, which paid five thousand a month, required her to keep smiling.

So, at least on the surface, she didn’t show her displeasure. She was just exceptionally silent during dinner.

When she returned at night, she called Lin Qianman.

That morning, Lin Qianman had called her, only wanting to tell her that the air in the city where the show was being recorded was dry and to tell Xiao Nan to bring a humidifier. Tao Nian didn’t answer, so Lin Qianman called Xiao Nan directly.

Xiao Nan answered the phone, and only then did Lin Qianman remember that Tao Nian only needed to stay in that city for two days for this show, and most of that time would be spent in the hotel and studio, so a humidifier wasn’t necessary.

So she was silent for a moment, then changed the topic and told Xiao Nan: “Tell Tao Nian to eat less and drink more water. The air there is dry, and it’s easy to get inflamed.”

After speaking, Lin Qianman briefly reflected on why she had called Tao Nian; it seemed completely unnecessary. Tao Nian now had an assistant, and she seemed to no longer need to be so meticulous.

She couldn’t come up with an answer, tried to explain it with “mother-daughter affection,” and then remembered that Tao Nian had already watched Hidden Blaze and had said those words to her two days ago. The mother-daughter relationship might have already “spoiled” in Tao Nian’s mind.

—She even thought Lin Qianman was attracted to her.

How could that be? She was a respectable person; she wouldn’t be attracted just by looks!

She was pure and innocent, not someone who couldn’t tell the difference between love and friendship. There was no need to overthink and convince herself.

The more Lin Qianman thought about it, the more speechless she became. She simply gave up, deciding to hand all these matters over to Fang Wen.

Then, throughout the day, Fang Wen, who was on vacation, received countless messages from Lin Qianman. From Tao Nian’s schedule to the weather in various cities, and preferences for different shows—all sorts of things. Lin Qianman told her to remember everything, then to instruct Xiao Nan, who would then instruct Tao Nian.

Fang Wen: “…”

She could just tell Tao Nian directly.

Is this what capitalists are like?

Shifting contradictions, exploiting employees, promoting unnecessary superficiality?

Regardless of what Fang Wen thought, Lin Qianman didn’t feel she had done anything wrong. She typed long, rambling messages to Fang Wen.

Fang Wen glanced at them, tutted in admiration, then forwarded them verbatim to Xiao Nan.

In the evening, Lin Qianman, who was worried that Tao Nian, having just endured a difficult flight yesterday, would have to rush back today and might not get enough rest, received a call from Tao Nian.

Because she was constantly teased about her eating during dinner, and she had to smile for work even when unhappy, Tao Nian uncharacteristically didn’t want to eat dinner. After only eating a little (meaning she finished all the dishes on the table), she returned.

Then she ate a late-night snack alone in the hotel.

When Lin Qianman answered the video call, she saw Tao Nian looking like a little hamster.

Lin Qianman had just showered and was now wearing plain white cotton pajamas. The pajamas were proper sleepwear, but Lin Qianman felt a little awkward for some reason. She attributed this to being in bed, a private location, which was why she felt awkward.

Then she felt that this logic was even more flawed, completely just self-inflicted discomfort.

She simply held the phone to her face, letting the camera focus on her face without revealing her pajamas: “What’s wrong?”

Tao Nian then tearfully complained, saying she was laughed at today because of her eating.

The little Taotie was laughed at for eating?

How could this be?!

Lin Qianman, who had always tried to persuade Tao Nian to eat less and exercise restraint since Tao Nian was bitten and then stopped biting people, had given up on that idea. Now, hearing that the Taotie was laughed at, she felt a strong protective instinct: “Who was it?!”

Lin Qianman’s voice even rose, sounding very angry. Tao Nian became a little happier, and, emboldened, she chewed with puffed-out cheeks: “They said I looked like a mouse.”

Lin Qianman looked at Tao Nian’s deliberately puffed cheeks: “…”

She wants to bend.

But there’s no need to convince herself, right?

She coughed, her voice now calm: “It’s nothing, probably for the show. Don’t listen to them, you’re very cute like that.”

Tao Nian was a little shy, but she didn’t show it. She remained calm, just a little happy, chewing, and asked: “You called me this morning.”

Talking about the one thing you shouldn’t.

Lin Qianman remained silent.

Tao Nian pressed on: “Was there something?”

Lin Qianman spoke against her true feelings: “I needed to talk to Xiao Nan; I already told him.”

Tao Nian visibly became unhappy: “Oh.”

Lin Qianman could, of course, see Tao Nian’s unhappiness, but…

Is there a need to convince herself? Is there a need to force herself?

But, she really feels eager, a little like bending!

Just as these two “elementary school chickens” were silently sulking, Lin Qianman was wavering between bending and not bending, and Tao Nian was oscillating between the happiness of Lin Qianman calling her cute and the unhappiness of Lin Qianman only calling her to find Xiao Nan, a new Weibo post appeared in the “QianNian” CP super-topic: “SZD!” (It’s true!)

Just three short letters, two hundred likes, and nearly a thousand comments.

Netizens treated this Weibo post like a WeChat Moments post, chatting everywhere in the comments section.

“It’s incredible! Five hours, that silly girl didn’t get any jokes, only initiated jokes three times, twice about Sister Lin! Is this not love?!”

“It is, sis! I’m shipping them so hard!”

Some fans who hadn’t gone to the recording looked bewildered: “What happened?! What did I miss?!”

“You missed a hundred million! You don’t know how sweet this show was!”

“Exactly, exactly! Even if people curse Tao Nian for bundling after the show airs, I’ll still say, let them get married!”

“How can it be bundling? It’s real! Tao Nian always says it without hesitation; you can tell she genuinely feels that way!”

Author’s note:

Lin Qianman: Schrödinger’s bending.

Tao Nian: Schrödinger’s happiness.

Netizens: 100% sweet!