After Being Hopeless at Singing and Dancing, I Exploded in Popularity Due to My Appetite - Chapter 60

Beautiful women always love beautiful women.

Friends and Xiao Yi were originally on vacation, but now they had suddenly become up-close celebrity chasers. Spending every day with Tao Nian, they wanted to follow her everywhere if they weren’t afraid of disturbing her filming.

When they went back for a nap at noon, the two lay on the bed, back to back, typing furiously on their phones.

They wanted to spoil, wanted to tell the whole world how beautiful Tao Nian was, and how sweet “QianNian” was.

But they couldn’t!

The two could only keep squealing in the fan group.

Her friend was the newest member of the Sweet Peach group. This new group had many who joined because of Tao Nian’s looks during the finals. Although their daily routine turned into “hahaha” after joining, sometimes, they would still look for beautiful pictures to praise their pretty sister.

So every time her friend started “ahhh-ing,” even though everyone didn’t understand why this newcomer was crazy every day, they would still cooperate and follow along, praising Tao Nian’s beauty.

But Xiao Yi was different.

She was an old fan from the first wave of fans who joined.

Her group was already three months old. For other artists, this period would just be the beginning of trust after becoming a fan. But for Tao Nian, it meant joining when she first appeared in front of the public, making it one of the earliest Sweet Peach groups. Everyone in this group had an old-timer mentality, seeing many newcomers and feeling relieved that Tao Nian had more and more fans, and that their beloved had been discovered by more people. But there was also a bit of awkwardness, putting on airs, trying to appear worldly.

Now Xiao Yi suddenly started “ahhh-ing” in the group every day, praising Tao Nian. But due to the non-disclosure agreement, she couldn’t post pictures, couldn’t say what Tao Nian did, couldn’t reveal what she did or saw. She couldn’t say anything, only give empty praises.

For the first time, the old Sweet Peaches calmly tried to reason with her, saying that they were old now, and not to act like she hadn’t seen the world. Tao Nian was beautiful, but she had seen it before, so she should calm down.

A day later, everyone finally got used to Xiao Yi’s occasional wails.

The group owner muted her.

Xiao Yi could only go to Weibo and scream “ahhh,” where she couldn’t say anything at all, only post a long string of “ahhhahhh” and finally praise how beautiful Tao Nian was.

Two days later, as a mid-tier fan among the Sweet Peaches, Xiao Yi lost half her followers.

Sweet Peaches: “…Just want to see jokes, don’t want to hear you blow smoke.”

Three days later, the first episode of the variety show recording ended.

Tao Nian was leaving soon. But Xiao Yi’s travel plans were still ongoing.

Before leaving, Xiao Yi went to Tao Nian for an autograph.

Actually, Tao Nian had already signed for her the day before and taken a photo together.

But Xiao Yi printed out the photo and wanted another autograph.

Tao Nian, of course, signed it for her.

The signature was as ugly as ever. Xiao Yi wanted to laugh, but also felt a little sad that Tao Nian was leaving.

When she was “squealing” in the group, it felt natural, but in front of Tao Nian, looking into Tao Nian’s clean, unpretentious eyes, she felt she still needed to maintain some composure as an old fan.

She gave Tao Nian a cheering gesture: “Work even harder in the future!”

Tao Nian nodded.

Her friend also made a cheering gesture: “Nian Nian, from now on, I’m your fan.”

Previously, Fang Wen told Tao Nian that what fans gave her was support and love, and these were priceless.

Tao Nian didn’t know this before. The few times she had met fans, it was always at the airport, where they would surround her, screaming and asking for autographs.

Tao Nian didn’t have much of a concept, she just knew “they are fans, they like me.”

But now, having lived with Xiao Yi and the others for three days and interacting with Xiao Yi, seeing the look in Xiao Yi’s eyes, she suddenly had a vague understanding of this feeling.

It was like watching someone cook. She couldn’t do anything herself, she could only watch the ingredients in the pot being seasoned, stir-fried over high heat, or simmered over low heat, eventually becoming a delicious dish. She might just be the one handing the seasonings, but watching all the while, she held all the anticipation for this dish.

She was probably the dish…

That sounds a bit off.

Anyway, she was the dish they were fixated on, eagerly anticipating, and pouring their emotions into. All she could do was probably make herself more delicious.

Tao Nian felt she understood. She nodded very seriously: “Okay!”

After the variety show recording was finished, she didn’t go back home. She stayed in a hotel for two days, then went to record another variety show.

This time, it wasn’t nine people together; Tao Nian went by herself.

It was a slow-paced variety show.

In short, several celebrities live together, eat, chat, and gossip. The production team occasionally drops tasks, like digging mushrooms on a mountain or planting a tree.

The variety show was called “Three Meals a Day.” Huang Li was a regular guest. Maomao (a pet dog) was also there.

So Tao Nian spent three days living a happy life of early nights and early mornings, no makeup artist (her daily makeup entirely applied by Huang Li), eating food cooked by a veteran actress, and walking Maomao after meals.

Tao Nian hadn’t seen Huang Li for over a month. Now seeing Huang Li and Maomao, the first thing she thought of was her last vaccine shot.

Lin Qianman had said she didn’t need it, but Fang Wen still insisted she get it, and the shot hurt so much.

She felt a little sad.

Huang Li was no longer intimidated by Tao Nian. She kept thinking about her and Lin Qianman’s relationship. She had asked Lin Qianman before, but Lin Qianman never answered. Now seeing Tao Nian, she wanted to ask Tao Nian what she thought.

Besides Huang Li, the show also had a fifty-something veteran actress, a big-name movie star, and an assistant-type male artist.

All of them more or less knew about Tao Nian and Lin Qianman. During their first meal, they playfully teased Tao Nian about her studio.

Huang Li asked this, and everyone at the table intently watched Tao Nian, waiting for her answer.

Tao Nian shoveled rice into her mouth and said the studio was fine.

Huang Li then asked about her boss.

Tao Nian put down her chopsticks and rattled off a string of praises for Lin Qianman. From Lin Qianman’s looks, how good she smelled, Lin Qianman’s versatility and knowing everything, Lin Qianman’s movies…

Then, when this episode aired, Tao Nian was dragged through the mud online.

Her manager’s worries before were not unfounded.

Idol 101 should have been a very obscure show. There had been so many idol survival shows, and there were no good new talents left. Moreover, it had always been said that idols and actors had their own distinct realms; originally, actors and idols should have kept to themselves.

But Tao Nian broke out. She became the only person to break out of such an obscure and unpopular show that only had buzz because of Lin Qianman. With a striking face and having signed with Lin Qianman’s studio, her future direction was film and television. She was bound to clash with other rising young actresses.

Many anti-fans of Tao Nian were lurking online, eager to spread rumors and curse even without actual flaws. If there was even a small point to pick at, they would relentlessly chatter.

Sure enough, as soon as Tao Nian’s episode of Three Meals a Day aired, many marketing accounts began subtly using other young actresses who had previously appeared on the show to disparage Tao Nian.

Some said Tao Nian had no sense of variety, was uncooperative, impolite to seniors, and always distant when greeting people. They speculated she thought she was popular and looked down on seniors. Not only did she not actively do work, but she even made Huang Li do her makeup, showing disrespect to Huang Li, and gave Huang Li a cold shoulder when they first met. They claimed she couldn’t compare to a certain guest in a previous episode, who was sweet-mouthed, brought appropriate gifts, helped with cooking and washing dishes, and got along very naturally with seniors.

Finally, they would hypocritically add that Tao Nian might be slow to warm up, and that everyone shouldn’t overreact, as both were recent hot celebrities in the entertainment industry and surely had their own merits.

Some said Tao Nian had a performative personality, and she acted too much, making her truly unsuitable for the show. They criticized her for saying the dog food smelled good and she wanted to try it when pouring it for Maomao, even though there were dishes on the table. They claimed it was too awkward, stating that people liked jokes, but this kind of joke was truly uncomfortable. They suggested she couldn’t compare to a certain guest in a previous episode, who had natural comedic timing and was interesting even when doing nothing, and everyone liked them. They advised Tao Nian to learn from that person, hoping people would like her more.

Others said that Tao Nian had been building a persona of an honest comedian, possibly after tasting success, so she continued with this persona. However, they claimed she forgot that the foundation for both idols and actors was character first, then skill. They asserted that Tao Nian herself was immoral, rising to fame by creating CP hype and artificial personas, and if she continued on this path, she would eventually face backlash. They urged her to learn from others, improve her moral character and skills, avoid superficial tactics, stop using others for marketing, and refrain from harming others, or she would ultimately harm herself and others.

Anyway, all sorts of marketing accounts appeared. It wasn’t the scattered kind from before, but a full-scale attack.

And they weren’t even targeting the same person. They were explicitly using Tao Nian to praise every single guest who had ever appeared on Three Meals a Day. It was as if Tao Nian had committed every conceivable evil, was full of schemes, and had engaged in murder and arson.

They even linked it to that very obscure group reality show that no one but fans would watch, saying Tao Nian was greedy and lazy, lacked wit, and had low emotional intelligence, but was a performative personality who loved to act. They claimed she was so obsessed with hyping her CP with Lin Qianman that her entire demeanor changed whenever Lin Qianman was mentioned. If Lin Qianman wasn’t brought up, she had no jokes, couldn’t respond, and had low emotional intelligence, like a programmed AI that only activated when Lin Qianman was mentioned.

The comments below were also chaotic, with everyone uniformly cursing Tao Nian.

“I didn’t like her since Idol 101. She can’t sing or dance, I don’t know why she debuted.”

“Me too, I never liked her. Those things weren’t even funny, it was too fake. Does anyone really not know that dog food isn’t for humans?”

“What’s with this comedian persona? She’s not funny at all, okay?! So awkward.”

“Her looks are just average! Who knows how many filters were added in the show? Anyway, I don’t get her looks, but her fans keep shutting others up and saying she’s beautiful. LOL, there’s no shortage of beauties in the entertainment industry.”

“She claimed there was no favoritism before, but then she signed with Lin Qianman’s studio. You say there’s no favoritism?”

“Reject this irrelevant celebrity using manipulative marketing appearing on screen!”

“Tao Nian, get out of the entertainment industry!”

This attack was fierce and almost instantly escalated. Before the laid-back “Sweet Peaches” even realized it, Tao Nian’s top search association had changed from “Tao Nian Comedian” to “Tao Nian Get Out of the Entertainment Industry.”