After Being Hopeless at Singing and Dancing, I Exploded in Popularity Due to My Appetite - Chapter 61

Wherever there’s competition, there will always be these messy things.

Lin Qianman had considered this possibility before and had thought through the key issues. The crucial point was that Tao Nian had no substantial works. As a talent show idol, her singing and dancing skills weren’t outstanding. She debuted by attracting fans with her personal charm, but for those who didn’t know or like her, “unknown” meant “non-existent.” Tao Nian simply had no talent but still debuted. And it was clear she would go into acting in the future, but since she hadn’t acted yet, people didn’t know how her acting would be and automatically lumped her in with those idols who had poor acting skills but were keen to deliver cringe-worthy performances in TV dramas.

Before, when everyone praised Tao Nian, those who didn’t know her would find her interesting and cute because of the praises. But when everyone started cursing Tao Nian, taking snippets from shows out of context to claim she was lazy, acted awkwardly, and put on airs, people who didn’t know Tao Nian and hadn’t watched the show easily formed a bad impression of her.

Moreover, the anti-fans clearly came prepared.

The group variety show was updated on Friday evenings at 7 PM.

They bought a trending topic, but when it actually aired, not many people watched it besides fans.

The target audience for this variety show was fans, and it was expected that the first episode wouldn’t attract new fans, so the platform didn’t pay much attention to it.

That very day, some people already complained that Tao Nian, as a leader, was inactive and a slacker, always running around and disappearing, and that she lacked wit and couldn’t even manage her own publicity. They also claimed she put on a sour face when she first appeared, already acting like a big shot even though she was still obscure.

However, not many people were saying this at the time. Clicking into these people’s profiles, it turned out they were fans of other group members.

Within the same group, individual fans rarely got along harmoniously. The nine members of the AD Girls’ Group were very harmonious among themselves; although not intimate, there were no arguments, cold wars, or clique behaviors. Overall, their relationships were akin to good colleagues. But fans always imagined things and inevitably got into arguments.

Especially since Tao Nian broke out and had the most fans. Although Tao Nian and the Sweet Peaches never said, “Everyone knows this group because of Tao Nian.”

However, if another group had a significant gap in popularity, such comments would emerge endlessly, and uninformed passersby would often say that Tao Nian was leading a whole group by herself, and might not even succeed. This made the fans of other members a bit sensitive and even less friendly towards Tao Nian.

The group members would comfort their fans by saying that the AD Girls’ Group members had very good relationships, but the fans didn’t really listen.

It was probably like, “My idol is truly suffering, she’s clearly being bullied in the group, but she still has to say insincere pleasantries. We must protect her even better!”

It was difficult to intervene in this matter. You couldn’t just ban accounts and silence people because other members’ fans said Tao Nian performed poorly, could you? That would only backfire.

Furthermore, Tao Nian’s fans were also excitedly sharing screenshots of Tao Nian wearing a red headscarf everywhere, and at least most of them were very satisfied, so they simply didn’t bother.

Over the next two days, marketing accounts began subtly spreading rumors that Tao Nian’s persona had collapsed after leaving Idol 101. They claimed she had previously gained popularity with a comedian persona, but in the group variety show, she often seemed to be overacting, and wasn’t as good as certain other people.

They continued to step on Tao Nian to elevate all her other teammates.

Then Three Meals a Day aired.

Suddenly, things escalated.

Those earlier marketing accounts’ comments and fans’ remarks were screenshotted and used as “evidence” that Tao Nian “lacked variety sense,” “acted like a diva,” “overacted,” and “her persona collapsed.”

Because the Sweet Peaches had always been very laid-back, they didn’t initially realize this was a targeted, planned, large-scale smear campaign. So when they saw negative comments, they still responded as before, either ignoring them or calmly explaining in the replies.

When the cyberbullies came into play, systematically flooding comments and liking negative remarks, the Sweet Peaches’ explanations were pushed to the very bottom.

Most casual viewers wouldn’t scroll through several pages of comments, so few saw the Sweet Peaches’ explanations.

As a video blogger, Liu Xiaobai knew from the moment she uploaded her first video that public figures would inevitably face scrutiny and speculation. Her videos often attracted trolls and haters, but she had long developed a strong heart. If there was a valid criticism, she’d improve; if not, she’d take it as encouragement. She simply ignored baseless insults.

But when she started to stan… especially Tao Nian…

Watching others curse Tao Nian every day, Liu Xiaobai would get agitated, wanting nothing more than to grab her keyboard and fight them.

But her fellow fans were all so laid-back. They were the type to snatch the keyboard from Liu Xiaobai when she was about to charge, put it aside, press the ready-to-charge Liu Xiaobai into a chair, and then slowly pour her a cup of tea, telling her to calm down and not stoop to their level. This forced Liu Xiaobai to calm down every time, and after repeated instances, her temper actually improved.

This time was no different.

Liu Xiaobai had just posted a ten-plus minute video of her work, which she had prepared for half a month. She was logged into her main account, planning to interact with a few fans later and organize a giveaway for some fan benefits.

While waiting, she checked the hot searches and saw that trending topic.

She hadn’t even clicked it open yet, just seeing the tag, and Liu Xiaobai already felt agitated.

She originally wanted to check the Sweet Peach group. But then she thought of the Sweet Peaches’ usual attitude and hesitated.

Not only did she hesitate, but she even anticipated what the Sweet Peaches would say.

—”Oh my, oh my, people are already starting to spread rumors and buy marketing to step on that idiot. Looks like she’s really popular now! People are getting jealous! Congratulations!”

Or:

—”Tao Nian’s performance really wasn’t that great this time… Sigh, others are cursing her so sincerely, I’m even a little swayed.”

Thinking this, Liu Xiaobai wiped her face and decided to ignore her fellow fans. She would go directly to the studio and ask how to handle it.

Even though Tao Nian’s current work was arranged by Orange Entertainment, the studio surely couldn’t just sit back and do nothing, right?

Contrary to Liu Xiaobai’s expectations—in fact, quite the opposite.

The Sweet Peach group was not so calm now; the atmosphere was even somewhat anxious.

Xiao Yi, back from her trip, was much calmer than she had been at the guesthouse. She had reverted to her previous laid-back, calm, even “fake fan” Sweet Peach persona.

So she could speak freely in the fan group again.

Her Weibo followers had also grown back.

Just as her trip ended and she returned home to start work, the group variety show premiered. After a busy day, she came home at night and watched her idol’s variety show, re-experiencing the two days she spent with her idol.

Although the show’s editing had some flaws, cutting out Tao Nian’s busy moments after playing—cleaning every nook and cranny of the guesthouse, delivering drinks to guests, helping buy groceries and cook, and finally her hardworking highlights as manager for half a day—all of it was gone.

While sensitive people might feel that this portrayal, where Tao Nian seemed to do nothing, could easily lead to her being criticized, considering the production team’s setting of Tao Nian as the “group favorite,” focusing on her being pampered and her comedic daily life seemed justifiable.

So Xiao Yi simply mentioned that the production team’s editing was problematic and would cause Tao Nian to be criticized for being dumb.

The Sweet Peaches below still laughed, teasing Tao Nian: “Production team: If she didn’t already show signs of being a bit dumb, I couldn’t have edited it that way.”

At that time, everything seemed wonderfully perfect, worth forgetting all unhappiness.

But now Tao Nian was truly being targeted because of it. Xiao Yi exploded.

She furiously typed in the group: “I told you the production team’s editing had some problems and would get Tao Nian attacked! Tao Nian isn’t like that at all!”

“Tao Nian was actually the earliest riser in the group, waking up around 5 AM every day to go to the market to buy groceries. The time she wore the headscarf was because she went too early, and the market aunties were wearing them because it was cold, so she asked for one too!”

“Later, on the day she was acting as manager, a tourist lost their ID. Although the idea came from someone else, Nian Nian was the one who kept running around to find it and took the tourist to the police station to get a replacement! Even though she didn’t know how, she tried very hard to do these things!”

“All of this! The production team cut it out! All for that stupid! ‘Group favorite’! And ‘useless beauty’ persona!”

Sweet Peaches: “…My focus might be off, but how do you know so much?”

Xiao Yi: “Because I’m the idiot who told Tao Nian, ‘You’re a little mushroom too’!”

Sweet Peaches: “?!!??”

So the Sweet Peaches sprang into action.

Although they were laid-back and didn’t understand, these things weren’t impossible to learn.

Everyone had clear roles. Some went back to rewatch the show, finding clips of Tao Nian and the chef returning from the market, and scenes of Tao Nian watering plants and weeding in the garden. They screenshotted these to refute the anti-fans.

Three Meals a Day was criticized for being diva-like, but in reality, Tao Nian got along very harmoniously with the seniors. Tao Nian couldn’t cook, but when the veteran actress cooked, she would stay in the kitchen with her, handing things and chatting.

Kitchen fumes are very harmful to the skin, so even during filming, the veteran actress didn’t cook often; most of the time, everyone took turns. But that day, hearing that Tao Nian hadn’t eaten enough, she specifically baked cookies for Tao Nian.

Some people specifically went to fight back against the anti-fans, presenting facts, reasoning calmly, and explaining politely.

The remaining fans were responsible for liking and sharing to make sure more people saw it.

Just as the Sweet Peaches were working hard, the studio also sprang into action. Although a laid-back and old-fashioned studio disliked these anti-fan battles, they weren’t completely helpless.

After understanding the situation, all studio members immediately became busy. They contacted Orange Entertainment staff, and then systematically removed trending topics, blacklisted terms, and screenshotted and reported marketing accounts that spread rumors about Tao Nian using backdoor deals and illicit means to gain resources, and anti-fans who used vulgar language.

While this incident was indeed led by anti-fans, the show’s editing definitely had issues.

The group variety show’s official Weibo quickly released some behind-the-scenes footage of Tao Nian, heavily praising her for being very serious, a qualified leader, and embodying the AD Girls’ Group’s team spirit.

In the behind-the-scenes footage, Tao Nian was never idle. When someone needed to plan the menu and go grocery shopping—a dirty, tiring task that required waking up early—before anyone else spoke, Tao Nian raised her hand and said, “I’ll go.” At five in the morning, when the sky was barely light, she would get up and go to the market. While buying groceries, she was well-behaved, but for some reason, she was very stubborn and insisted the vendor give her a head of garlic for free.

It should have been a very ordinary thing.

But Tao Nian, when buying vegetables, asked the vendor for free garlic, and when buying meat, she also insisted the butcher give her free garlic. The butcher, who had been selling pork for decades, was visibly flustered: “I don’t have garlic, how about I give you a piece of spare rib?”

Tao Nian insisted: “No, Xiao Nan said I need garlic!”

••••

Such a comedic dialogue wasn’t even in the main episode?!

The production team’s editing was indeed problematic!

Tao Nian was always oblivious to the complexities of online discussions.

That day, she was shooting a cover.

It was an inner cover for a rather prominent magazine.

The stylist had paired her with a pink floral dress and a very stiff denim jacket, asking her to project a feeling that was both sunnily playful for summer and coolly awkward for a girl.

Good heavens.

It was beyond Tao Nian’s comprehension.

So her performance wasn’t great.

The people in the photo studio didn’t know she hadn’t understood; they thought she was in a bad mood and uninspired because of the negative online comments.

So they stepped forward to comfort her.

One by one, they earnestly and confidently said: “Don’t pay attention to those people, they’re all paid trolls.”

“Everyone who becomes popular has to go through a phase like this; your future is limitless!”

“Don’t overthink it, you’re amazing!”

Tao Nian, who had no idea what was happening, looked at these people, then at the camera, and fidgeted with her fingers.

She just wanted to wrap her little head in a pink floral headscarf.