After Being Hopeless at Singing and Dancing, I Exploded in Popularity Due to My Appetite - Chapter 58

The group variety show was recorded for five days. During these five days, previously conducted interviews and shot magazine covers were all released online, ensuring a daily presence so that fans wouldn’t unfollow them after they went to record a variety show.

Tao Nian had the most fans in the group, and usually, she was asked the most questions in interviews.

But Tao Nian also happened to be the most clueless among them. She couldn’t read the room, nor could she say pleasant things. Before her debut, every pre-interview for Idol 101 was a disaster.

Later, whenever she had an interview that involved evaluating others, Fang Wen would write her answers in advance.

After her debut, the interview answers were written by Zhang Jingyue’s assistant.

After all, the AD Girls’ Group’s work was now arranged by Orange Entertainment, so it wasn’t appropriate to ask people from Lin Qianman’s studio for help with these matters. Tao Nian’s own assistant, Xiao Nan, was not a reliable person. He knew even less than Tao Nian did.

Zhang Jingyue’s assistant took on everything.

She was originally an ambitious top student who had studied hard for many years and joined a large company, hoping to make her mark and forge her own era. Unexpectedly, she was suddenly assigned by the big boss to be the assistant to a little princess.

She wasn’t required to do the usual assistant tasks like carrying bags, luggage, or ordering food for artists. She was responsible for what a normal manager should do, such as writing interview answers and checking contracts for loopholes.

She initially wanted to refuse, but they offered too much.

In short, Zhang Jingyue’s assistant, in the task of writing answers to the same interview questions for two people with completely different personalities, gained full training. Whether it was her writing skills, her command of language, or her observation of human nature, she reached a new level.

Hmm… most importantly, her ability to write hilarious jokes made great progress.

Tao Nian was very cooperative, answering exactly what she was told.

It was just that there were too many interviews.

Tao Nian initially memorized the answers very seriously, but later, as more and more questions came up, the answers started to get mixed up. Then Zhang Jingyue told her to improvise and not to memorize all the answers to all the questions; some could be used universally.

For example, some platforms would ask what kind of life she lived when participating in the show as a trainee.

The answer to this question was: “Training every day, with many like-minded friends, it was very happy and joyful. Although I was very tired every day, I felt very fulfilled.”

Some would ask about life after debut.

The answer to this question was: “I have many announcements every day, most of my time is spent on the road and in different shows, and I’ve met many fans outside. I’m really grateful for everyone’s support.”

Some would ask how life after debut was different from before.

Tao Nian improvised: “When participating in the show, I needed to train every day, with many like-minded friends, it was very happy and joyful. Although I was very tired every day, I felt very fulfilled. After my debut, I have many announcements every day, most of my time is spent on the road and in different shows, and I’ve met many fans outside. I’m really grateful for everyone’s support.”

The interviews would be released soon.

Then the “Sweet Peaches” quickly discovered that Tao Nian’s answers were extremely similar.

#TaoNianIneffectiveInterview

When this tag trended on the hot search, Fang Wen was at Lin Qianman’s home.

She had been resting for a full half a month. A few days ago, because Lin Qianman threatened her and because she felt extremely sad (and life was very boring), she even went to a certain tourist city for a week.

Once her mood recovered (and life was no longer dull), she returned.

She posted the photos she took on her Moments (WeChat’s version of Facebook/Instagram stories), and found that assistants of other artists were very envious of her.

Assistant work was truly busy. Some assistants even had to take care of many unknown artists, like the other members of the AD Girls’ Group. Because they weren’t popular, their management company wouldn’t hire individual assistants for them; they had to share one assistant. Taking care of many artists every day, the assistant’s feet hardly touched the ground. Conversely, if an artist was popular enough, they would bring a group of assistants when going out, and even then, some would still act like divas and try every way to make trouble for their assistants.

Only Lin Qianman was an anomaly. She did what she could herself, at most asking her to carry luggage, buy food, and look after things during filming. She never cursed at her without reason, and her salary was high with good benefits.

Fang Wen understood. Fang Wen was deeply moved.

Fang Wen brought local specialties she bought to Lin Qianman’s home. She put the specialties that Lin Qianman would never use, could buy online, and would just gather dust, into Lin Qianman’s small storage room. Then, she comfortably freeloaded a meal. Afterwards, she diligently cleaned the corners that the robot vacuum couldn’t reach.

After cleaning, she collapsed on the sofa and played on her phone.

When she saw the trending tag with her alt account, she rushed to the study with her phone, wanting to show it to Lin Qianman.

She had already pushed open the door when she remembered what Lin Qianman had told her last time. Just as she was about to retreat, she heard a familiar voice.

Tao Nian answered seriously: “Why do I like to eat so much? It’s because I really like to eat!”

She seemed to have answered, and yet not.

The interviewer was also momentarily stunned, couldn’t help but laugh, and asked again: “That answer doesn’t seem to have any value. There must be a reason.”

Tao Nian: “It’s just that I like to eat. If I don’t eat, I’ll want to eat, so I eat.”

—The person who wrote this answer for Tao Nian was truly a genius. This answer truly inherited Tao Nian’s bizarre, outrageous, and unrepentant way of answering questions during the Idol 101 period, and it was even more amusing, implicitly adding to Tao Nian’s comedic persona.

This probably wasn’t too important.

What was important was, wasn’t it agreed that she had no feelings for Tao Nian and would focus on the script for a month before joining the crew for filming?

Didn’t she immediately go back to the study to read the script, delve into character settings, and write character biographies after eating? Wasn’t she researching?

Why are you still watching Tao Nian’s interview now?!

Tao Nian received the message when she was on the plane after landing.

It was a bank notification.

She had received a transfer, and her bank account balance was…

Tao Nian initially just glanced at it, then turned off her phone, wanting to continue eating her bread.

After another bite, she realized something, reopened her phone, and looked at the string of numbers.

One, two, three, four, five… Five digits?!

Enough to vaccinate eighty people!

Tao Nian looked at the message, stunned.

Zhang Jingyue saw she stopped eating, leaned over and asked: “What’s wrong?”

Tao Nian showed her the phone.

Zhang Jingyue glanced at it: “What’s wrong?”

Tao Nian: “It should only be three thousand!”

Four digits and five digits were the same to Zhang Jingyue. She said: “I don’t know either. Go ask Sister Lin.”

So Tao Nian excitedly called Lin Qianman, blurting out as soon as the call connected: “Wow! I now have more than a year’s worth of salary all at once!”

Lin Qianman had secretly watched Tao Nian’s edited videos all day today. Also, the blogger of the Q-version Taotie had messaged her, saying that the line art Taotie had been modified, refined, and colored according to her request, showing her the final version of the Q-version Taotie. They also cautiously asked if they could buy one if it was ever made into a plush toy.

Initially, when she first saw the Q-version little Taotie, she was very surprised and really wanted a Taotie plushie. But now that it could actually happen, Lin Qianman felt a bit awkward for some reason. She hadn’t figured out how to tell the blogger when she received Tao Nian’s call.

More than a year’s salary…

Tao Nian always had this ability to pull her out of character with just one sentence. No matter what the scenario, when encountering Tao Nian, she had to follow Tao Nian’s lead.

Lin Qianman helplessly said: “That’s your salary from the last advertisement you filmed.”

Tao Nian had already forgotten about that advertisement. Hearing Lin Qianman say this, she was still a bit confused.

Lin Qianman reminded her: “The milk advertisement.”

Tao Nian: “Oh! The boss who gave me a big strawberry!”

Lin Qianman: “…”

Thinking of that strawberry, Lin Qianman began to feel cold.

After a while, watching Tao Nian look delighted because she had money, she began to instruct: “You’ll have many places to spend money in the future. Save that money, and later you can…”

“Then I can buy a lot of jianbing (Chinese crepes)!”

Tao Nian counted on her fingers: “Eleven thousand three hundred…”

Lin Qianman: “…”

Tao Nian calculated for a bit, couldn’t come up with a round number, and simply gave up. When she put her hand down, she suddenly thought of another thing: “You also stepped on my jianbing last time! You haven’t given it back to me!”

Lin Qianman: “…”

Lin Qianman didn’t want to talk anymore.

I was wondering if I was gay, or if I was just emotionally manipulating myself into being gay.

All you care about is this one thing.

Isn’t it just jianbing? Here!

Lin Qianman sent Tao Nian a red packet: “Go eat jianbing.”

Tao Nian seemed unable to hear the coldness in Lin Qianman’s voice, happily accepting the red packet: “Then I’m going to eat!”

Lin Qianman looked at Tao Nian, and suddenly a wave of spite rose within her: “Then you ate so many things at my house!”

Tao Nian: “…Auntie made that!”

“Auntie bought the groceries with my money, and I paid Auntie for her to cook!”

Tao Nian looked like she had lost her parents.

Lin Qianman felt a little better. She looked at Tao Nian, picked up a pen, and pretended to write on a piece of paper: “Beef is 40 yuan per catty, fish is 12 yuan per catty, pork is 13 yuan per catty, various vegetables are, let’s say, 5 yuan per catty. The pastry you eat every day is 60 yuan per catty, various snacks… chicken feet are 15 yuan per catty, Auntie’s daily wage is 300… You lived at my house for five days, and you eat five catties of beef, four fish over five catties each, and lots and lots of pork and vegetables every day. Not counting rent, let’s just say 500 a day. You owe me two thousand five.”

Tao Nian: “…”

Lin Qianman felt satisfied: “Don’t talk about feelings, it hurts the wallet.”

The first recording location for the group variety show was in a famous tourist city, a popular spot for literary youth years ago. Facing a snow-capped mountain, the production team rented a guesthouse for them to operate.

Of course, they wouldn’t just have the nine of them. They were also provided with drivers to pick up and drop off guests, and a chef. The few young girls were responsible for attracting customers, confirming orders, constantly tracking guests’ locations, cleaning and decorating rooms, and chatting with guests casually. Occasionally, the production team would drop surprise tasks, but they weren’t difficult, and everyone could handle them.

As the leader, Tao Nian should theoretically be the guesthouse owner in charge of everything.

But the AD Girls’ Group was a bit different.

The leader, Tao Nian, was a naive and foolish person who knew nothing. She lacked common sense in daily interactions and couldn’t even take care of herself, let alone the other eight members.

Zhang Jingyue, the second most popular in the group, was a genuine princess. Her family didn’t want her in the entertainment industry, and she might go back to school at any time, so she couldn’t be the leader either.

So, it was basically as if there was no leader.

According to her positioning, Tao Nian was responsible for being beautiful and being pampered.

Everyone took beautiful photos with elaborate makeup every day, signed autographs and chatted with fans they met, and even when occasionally cooking, they looked pretty.

Only Tao Nian ran around like a lost puppy without a leash, drenched in rain.

Since descending the mountain, she had been on the road for the first few days, without any specific destination, just walking around and looking for crowded places.

Then she met Liu Xiaobai, was introduced to a job, and went directly to the “factory” for two months, coming out six times.

Losing a tooth, getting a tooth filled, getting vaccinated…

Later, after forming the group, she continued to live at Lin Qianman’s house.

When she started running promotions, she went to other cities, but she had no time to have fun. She was always on the road, moving from one place to another.

Now, she was finally in one place, with no strict rules.

Tao Nian was unrestrained and ran around everywhere.

But she wasn’t happy.

She was as sad as a little puppy that had been caged for years and suddenly abandoned.

Because of those two thousand five hundred yuan.

••••

Tao Nian still ended up giving the money to Lin Qianman.

She would never be happy.

She couldn’t figure out how she had spent half a month’s salary in five days.

It was utterly baffling.

She inherently didn’t understand this world well; she had seen very few things. She suspected Lin Qianman was tricking her, but she had no evidence.

So, on the first day they arrived at the guesthouse, Tao Nian began her exploration…

On the third day, a guest named Xiao Yi checked into the guesthouse.

She was a fan of Tao Nian.

Since the show began filming, the production team had stopped accepting new bookings to prevent fans from staying. The current guests were all people who had decided to travel and booked this guesthouse beforehand.

So Xiao Yi initially didn’t expect Tao Nian to be there.

She received a call from the production team saying that the guesthouse was being used for filming. If she didn’t want to be on camera, she could switch to another place, and the production team would cover all expenses.

The fan initially didn’t think much of it, thinking she might encounter celebrities, and still checked in.

When going through the procedures, seeing the members of the AD Girls’ Group, her hands already started trembling.

She whispered: “Are you recording a group variety show?!”

Just as she spoke, someone walked through the guesthouse’s main door.

Tao Nian had wrapped her head in a very rustic, gaudy towel, and was carrying a woven plastic bag, walking towards a corner of the guesthouse.

Xiao Yi curiously followed her.

She watched Tao Nian put down the woven bag.

The bag fell to the ground, filled with various kinds of vegetables.

After Tao Nian, the guesthouse’s chef also returned. He was carrying a black bag, filled with various fresh meats.

…How to put it.

The chef was wearing a black hoodie and jeans, carrying a black plastic bag, looking very presentable. Against the misty, snow-capped mountain in the background, the ambiance was perfect. Although he was a civilian, he actually looked quite handsome.

And the actual idol, Tao Nian, had a large red headscarf wrapped around her head, carrying a woven plastic bag back. Now she was squatting in the corner, a tiny, inconspicuous figure, only her red headscarf was brightly colored, like a vulgar big red flower…

True to Tao Nian. Her comedic persona remained intact.

And the squatting red flower, Tao Nian, was counting on her fingers.

Today, she went out to buy groceries. Beef was 45 yuan per catty, fish 10 yuan per catty, vegetables 4 yuan per catty, pork 18 yuan per catty…

She still needed to give Lin Qianman…

So much money!