After Being Hopeless at Singing and Dancing, I Exploded in Popularity Due to My Appetite - Chapter 62

Because the studio reported them to the police.

They actually sued a few of the anti-fans who were particularly malicious online.

So all those meaningless, purely emotional insults were deleted.

What remained were reasonable comments about achieving equality within the group, rather than prioritizing Tao Nian over everyone else.

This was no longer the studio’s concern; this was something Orange Entertainment should worry about. Balancing the allocation of resources between the group and individuals, and appeasing dissatisfied fans, were their responsibilities.

The studio ceased its operations.

This outcome came so quickly that the Sweet Peaches didn’t even have time to do anything before they found their “enemies” were gone.

The Three Meals a Day production team and guests posted on Weibo, praising Tao Nian, saying she was very funny and brought them a lot of joy, hoping she’d visit often in the future.

The dog food brand also posted on Weibo, thanking Tao Nian for her praise and even inviting her to be an endorser, stating that their product development team would immediately start researching and developing cookies with the same flavor.

Sweet Peaches: “…”

Is this what it means to be a group favorite?

This focus seems a bit off.

It should be: who on earth wants dog food-flavored cookies?!

The Sweet Peaches had mixed feelings and could only like the posts and say thank you.

The studio didn’t want Tao Nian to constantly be on the hot search, so they intentionally suppressed some of the hype.

In the end, what actually trended was the dog food-flavored cookies.

Yes. Netizens had already dug up a brand of dog food-flavored cookies and even tagged the dog food brand, telling them to step up their game since novelty was gone, and they could only win on taste and nutrition.

There were actually dog food-flavored cookies?!

Whose ideal life among today’s youth doesn’t include a cat, a dog, and a flower shop? Some had previously been curious about the taste of their furry friends’ food. Now, discovering it actually existed, they immediately perked up, rushed to check, and quickly found the store to place an order.

After ordering, they went back to laugh and wonder who was such a genius to think of a cookie with that flavor.

At this point, netizens who had been following the gossip began to explain the whole story.

Netizens: “…”

What kind of development is this?

The Sweet Peaches shared the same confusion as the netizens.

Weren’t the anti-fans coming in strong, and everyone was attacking Tao Nian? How did it end up like this? How did a trending topic based entirely on rumors, disparagement, and forced associations, eventually turn into dog food-flavored cookies?

But no matter what, at least now netizens knew that Tao Nian’s last trending topic was an attack. And, that Tao Nian’s comedic persona was still intact!

Her comedic persona was like Lin Qianman’s “lucky charm” persona; she didn’t claim to be lucky and sometimes even had bad luck, but she just made her fans lucky!

Tao Nian was the same. She didn’t call herself a comedian. Sometimes, when she wasn’t “performing,” she even lacked wit and wasn’t funny. Other times, she might overdo it, but she always managed to make the final outcome super hilarious!

Liu Xiaobai didn’t expect things to turn out this way. But seeing Tao Nian’s crisis quickly resolved, and even gaining a new wave of fans, she breathed a sigh of relief and finished her work.

Then she logged into her alt account and lurked in the group.

The Sweet Peaches were now considering something.

Initially, everyone liked Tao Nian because of her comedic persona and her appetite. After being enlightened by the group admin last time, everyone also started talking about Tao Nian’s beauty.

However, her comedic persona was too deeply ingrained, and netizens clearly still saw Tao Nian as a comedian. But Tao Nian’s performance wasn’t consistently strong, which was why she was criticized this time.

The group admin, having learned from the painful experience, said: “From now on, let’s try to use the words ‘comedian’ less. Is Tao Nian’s beauty really that hard to talk about?”

Sweet Peaches: “…”

(Tao Nian wrapped in a red headscarf)

(Tao Nian eating like a mouse)

(Tao Nian squatting self-absorbed in a moss-covered corner)

(Tao Nian looking eagerly at dog food)

“What do you mean? Her beauty isn’t hard to talk about, it’s just that ‘comedian’ is clearly more… accurate.”

Group admin: “…”

Tao Nian’s cover shoot was eventually completed.

Tao Nian had been struggling to find the right mood. She had a very pure aura and good camera presence, but she couldn’t quite grasp more complex emotions.

Xiao Nan stayed with her, listening carefully to the photographer and trying to help Tao Nian find the right feeling.

Then, seeing that Tao Nian was still struggling, he came up with an idea.

The props team found a prop for Tao Nian.

An ice cream model.

Yes, it was a model.

A very realistic one, made to look like the ice cream had melted a little because of the hot weather, with pink juice sticking to the cone, as if you could smell the sweet strawberry scent.

Tao Nian’s eyes immediately lit up.

She no longer wanted to wrap her head in a pink floral headscarf; she just wanted to swallow the ice cream scoop whole.

Cold and refreshing, crispy cone, so delicious!

The director found her amusing and handed her the model.

Upon taking it, she realized it was just a model.

Tao Nian: “…”

Didn’t feel happy.

The director instructed her: “Imagine this is real ice cream.”

Tao Nian complied, trying hard to imagine it was real, but she couldn’t convince herself; what she held was fake.

In this contradiction, the photographer frantically pressed the shutter: “The pose I just taught you, bend down, look at the camera, look at the camera.”

Tao Nian was still trying to convince herself that what she held was real ice cream. Hearing the photographer’s words, she looked at the camera, her eyes bright with joy and anticipation, yet with a hint of dissatisfaction and self-restraint.

Her features were already delicate, and wearing the floral dress didn’t make her look vulgar. Her small face was filled with the essence of youth.

It was countless times better than the photographer had imagined!

The photographer even started to get excited.

The photoshoot quickly ended. The photographer finished reviewing the photos they had just taken. Looking up, Tao Nian was still wearing the floral dress, sitting on a chair, holding the model and gnawing on it.

A member of the props team reminded her: “Nian Nian, that’s fake, you can’t eat it.”

Tao Nian nodded absentmindedly, continuing to gnaw. She gnawed tooth marks into the plastic model, but then the tooth marks quickly disappeared, and the model looked brand new again.

The photographer also knew she had been targeted by anti-fans today. Seeing her like this, he thought of his own three-year-old daughter who put everything in her mouth, and felt pity. He gestured for his assistant to buy Tao Nian some real ice cream.

Then Xiao Nan came over with her bag.

Seeing Tao Nian gnawing on the model, he told her: “Nian Nian, you can’t eat that.”

The young woman from the props team pulled him aside: “We already told Nian Nian, but she didn’t listen. We’ve already gone to buy real ice cream; they’ll be back soon.”

Xiao Nan turned and smiled at the young woman, explaining: “She doesn’t mean any harm to you. She’s just like that; she wants to gnaw on everything she sees. It’s her teething.”

The young woman wasn’t oblivious to the fact that Tao Nian meant her no harm. She had previously encountered truly demanding divas who caused all sorts of trouble, arrived late, left early, didn’t cooperate, claimed props were already broken when given to them, and even blamed her when coffee spilled on them, saying she was clumsy and knocked their coffee over.

Compared to those people, Tao Nian was simply a treasure!

And this treasure was so beautiful. The makeup artist just said that usually, she applies makeup to accentuate strengths and conceal weaknesses, but for Tao Nian, she just touched up the beauty that the lights swallowed.

Those divas were generally average-looking, had worse on-camera presence than Tao Nian during shoots, and their managers would still come over afterward, gesturing and dictating how to edit the photos.

—Later, those demanding divas who caused so much trouble were replaced. They offended a magazine, and their fashion resources plummeted, destined for obscure, eighteenth-tier magazines.

Tao Nian was better. She truly was the precious darling she liked. Even after being slandered online today, she still worked hard and didn’t take her frustrations out on anyone. Although she was a bit off-kilter at first, she quickly adjusted.

How wonderful.

The girl from the props team smiled, watching Tao Nian turn the model around, wanting to gnaw on it again.

Xiao Nan saw it and whispered to her: “You can’t eat that, it has bacteria.”

Tao Nian looked up at Xiao Nan, opened her mouth, and was about to continue gnawing as she pleased.

Xiao Nan added: “This is what Senior Lin said: you can’t put everything you see in your mouth.”

…That was indeed what Lin Qianman said: no gnawing on fingers, no putting everything in her mouth, wash hands before eating, don’t rub eyes with hands…

Tao Nian looked at Xiao Nan again.

Xiao Nan stood firm.

Tao Nian put the model on her lap, touched it, and handed it to Xiao Nan.

Xiao Nan took the model, intending to hand it to the props team girl.

The young woman looked dazed, took the model, and then asked uncertainly: “Senior Lin?”

Is it the Senior Lin I’m thinking of?

That’s right! She was a “QianNian” CP fan!

A fake CP fan, who usually just read jokes and occasionally delved into “unmentionable” fan fiction late at night. But recently, the “Lin” content in Tao Nian’s words had been too high; the official channels were leading the charge, showering them with “sugar,” making the CP fans a bit rebellious, not wanting to be forced to ship them, and even starting to think “QianNian” was fake.

This young woman from the props team was the same. She wavered between being a dedicated fan of both individuals and continuing to ship the CP. Sometimes she felt they were open and honest, not hiding anything, and would announce their marriage directly when the opportunity arose, or that they were already married, with Lin Qianman being a doting wife and Tao Nian being a wife-bragger. Other times, she felt that the official channels leading the charge seemed a bit fake, perhaps just “industrial sugar” (manufactured sweetness), and that Tao Nian and Lin Qianman weren’t actually close in private, and it was just her, the CP fan, getting carried away.

She never expected…

The young woman was still dazed when Tao Nian nodded: “Mm, do you know Lin Qianman?”

She now sounded exactly like Zhang Jingyue when she first recommended Lin Qianman’s movies: “You should know Lin Qianman, right? She makes movies, many of them, super good-looking! Do you know how charming she is in movies?! Super good-looking! You must watch them when you have time!”

Of course, the young woman had already watched Lin Qianman’s movies. Now, looking at the incessantly chattering Tao Nian, she became even more dazed.

She looked left and right, confirming there were no cameras nearby. No one was filming behind-the-scenes, no one was recording audio; everyone was busy with their own tasks, no one was paying attention, but Tao Nian kept talking to her about Lin Qianman.

The person who went to buy ice cream had already returned, bringing Tao Nian several different flavors.

Strawberry, chocolate, matcha, mango… she bought all sorts.

Tao Nian took a small spoon, eating and continuing to talk about Lin Qianman.

Perhaps due to excessive excitement, the ice cream melted, and Tao Nian choked when she couldn’t swallow fast enough.

Xiao Nan was nearby and had nothing else to do. Seeing Tao Nian choke, he handed her a tissue, and then, continuing from where Tao Nian left off, he continued talking to the young woman.

His tone of voice was exactly the same as Tao Nian’s, and it didn’t feel out of place just because a different person was speaking.

Moreover, with someone else speaking, the excitement of her idol talking to her subsided a little, and what Xiao Nan said actually registered in her mind.

It was no different from what she said on the variety show.

No, it wasn’t just “no different,” it was identical.

The young woman became a little more alert: “Is this your rehearsed script? Why can you seamlessly continue her sentences? Have these lines been said many times already?”

Xiao Nan replied coldly: “Because she tells everyone she meets this. I’ve heard it over a dozen times, so I memorized it.”

The young woman leaned back tactically.

QianNian is real after all!

That night, the “QianNian” CP fan group, as usual, began its discussion. It was still about whether “QianNian” was real.

After all, everyone was very rebellious. When everyone cursed Tao Nian, they became fans of Tao Nian. When everyone thought Lin Qianman was too high and mighty to like anyone, especially not the silly Tao Nian, who was clearly not in the same world as Lin Qianman, they became “QianNian” CP fans.

Now, Tao Nian brought up Lin Qianman in everything she did. Although it wasn’t a blatant marketing tie-in, constantly mentioning her name already intertwined Tao Nian with Lin Qianman.

With their rebellious spirit ignited, they started doubting the authenticity of this CP.

Shipping a CP was about one’s own conjectures. The way two people interacted, what they said, might just be simple colleague interactions, but CP fans could discern love from a single sentence or glance.

It’s hard to say it’s all real, or rather, most of it is fake.

But what CP fans shipped was the love between these two people in their conjectures.

Now that these two people had truly started to “perform” and follow the imagined storyline, the CP fans felt a bit uneasy, starting to suspect they were being exploited.

As usual, they discussed the future of this CP.

Before the group admin even announced the start of the discussion, someone roared: “QianNian is absolutely real!”

“The ending for this CP is marriage!”

“You absolutely don’t know how much Tao Nian likes Lin Qianman!”

This person, of course, was the young woman from the props team who had been forced to listen to Tao Nian’s ten-minute endorsement of Lin Qianman!

However, she could be considered an insider, and she was afraid that if she said too much, she would be exposed and socially disgraced later, so she hadn’t said much in the group for a long time.

Now, opening her mouth, she roared with her low-level badge (level 3).

She didn’t look like a legitimate fan.

Perhaps “QianNian” was fake, and this was the team starting to brainwash and lead the narrative.

The group admin was very vigilant. With quick hands, she muted this low-level account.

Not only did she mute her, but she also @ the young woman: “We have our own judgment, no need to lead the discussion. Shipping a CP is about our own happiness. No one wants to ship ‘industrial sugar’ (manufactured sweetness). You don’t need to force your ideas on others. If you do this again, we’ll kick you out.”

The young woman: “…”

Do you know what you missed?! You actually think this is industrial sugar?! Just because it’s too sweet, you can’t believe it?! What did you go through that made you not believe in love even when shipping a CP?!