After Being Hopeless at Singing and Dancing, I Exploded in Popularity Due to My Appetite - Chapter 72

Tao Nian hadn’t quite figured out her feelings for Lin Qianman yet when Lin Qianman scolded her, forcing her to call Feng Jun to apologize.

Any lingering tenderness that hadn’t had time to blossom was now completely gone.

Lin Qianman had already called Xiao Nan. Now, Xiao Nan and Lin Qianman started a video call, pointing the phone directly at Tao Nian to livestream Tao Nian’s apology to Lin Qianman.

Feng Jun had contacted Tao Nian at an inopportune time. Tao Nian was recording a show then, and though not constantly under the camera, it was difficult to video call Feng Jun. The two had been typing back and forth, chatting intermittently. After finally finishing the recording and having plenty of time to chat, Tao Nian had stabbed Feng Jun.

She hadn’t thought much when she spoke; the thought came, and the words tumbled out quickly.

Now, apologizing felt as hard as climbing to heaven.

Feng Jun, with a cold face, stared expressionlessly at Tao Nian.

Different people’s expressionless faces had different effects.

For someone like Lin Qianman, who naturally exuded a benevolent aura, even with a clear and cold appearance, an expressionless face wasn’t fierce; it was more like helplessness.

For someone young and inexperienced like Tao Nian, an expressionless face was just that—expressionless, more like a silent plea of grievance.

But Feng Jun! She had experienced too much! And as a phoenix, she naturally possessed an aura of authority that commanded respect without needing anger. Now, with an expressionless face, even Xiao Nan, watching from the side, held his breath and dared not move.

Tao Nian was also terrified.

Every time her master was like this before, it was because she hadn’t controlled herself and bitten an intelligent small beast. After looking at her like this for a while, she would then beat her.

For a fragile Taotie, it hurt a lot! At that time, Tao Nian was young and didn’t remember anything, so she forgot what she had done or whom she had bitten. She only knew that being beaten hurt terribly.

Tao Nian’s heart couldn’t help but pound. She didn’t dare to look into Feng Jun’s eyes and even forgot the apology she had just memorized.

She looked left and right, frantically and nervously casting a pleading glance at Lin Qianman.

Lin Qianman was powerless to help, only able to silently remind her to apologize.

Across a screen, Lin Qianman’s reminder could not alleviate Tao Nian’s nervousness. Tao Nian remained extremely tense.

Wait, across a screen.

She wasn’t just separated from Lin Qianman by a screen; she was also separated from Feng Jun by a screen.

She can’t reach through the screen and beat me.

Tao Nian suddenly wasn’t nervous or apprehensive anymore. She looked at Feng Jun on the screen and recited the apology Lin Qianman had written for her, very perfunctorily and emotionlessly. Then she quickly said: “Goodbye, Master.”

And hung up the video call.

Xiao Nan, who had been watching, wanted to stop Tao Nian, but dared not face Feng Jun. Now, seeing Tao Nian’s actions, he wished he could just find a crack to crawl into and never face Feng Jun again.

Lin Qianman was already numb.

She saw Tao Nian hang up and immediately called Feng Jun.

Feng Jun didn’t seem very angry, because her tone was still the same, calm and undisturbed. It was the tone of a very qualified, typical divine beast who had lived for a long time and seen many things, as if everything was fleeting and insignificant.

It was with this tone that she said: “Please help me find a school, Elder Lin. Perhaps I also need to go down the mountain to learn some knowledge and rules.”

It was this tone that made Lin Qianman feel that Feng Jun was about to come down the mountain the next second, find Tao Nian, and directly set her on fire and roast her.

If Feng Jun came down the mountain now, Tao Nian would probably get a terrible beating, right?

••••

Lin Qianman thought of Tao Nian’s anxious, pleading eyes earlier, wet and filled with supplication and dependence…

Maybe I should wait. Let Feng Jun stay on the mountain for now. I’ll frequently coax and persuade her during this time, and then let her come down when she’s not so angry.

During this time, I can arrange for Tao Nian to join a drama crew when Feng Jun comes down. By then, I can appeal to Feng Jun’s emotions and reason. Surely, Feng Jun won’t insist on going to the set to find Tao Nian and beat her up, right?

So Lin Qianman, against her better judgment, told this senior whom she deeply respected: “Okay, I’ll go right away.”

In her mind, however, she had already reviewed Tao Nian’s schedule, trying to find a suitable time.

Feng Jun already knew about the degenerating morals of the world from Tao Nian, but Lin Qianman had always been a very honest and reliable person in her eyes—the fact that she voluntarily took care of Tao Nian but took such good care of her that Tao Nian wanted to “lick” her used to be a problem in Feng Jun’s heart, but it wasn’t anymore. Now, in Feng Jun’s heart, it was all Tao Nian’s fault!

So she trusted Lin Qianman completely and expressed her gratitude in a very aloof manner when she heard Lin Qianman say this.

She had no idea that Lin Qianman was already sweating nervously.

After hanging up with Feng Jun, Lin Qianman called Tao Nian again.

Tao Nian was lying on the bed, burying her head like an ostrich. She slowly put the phone to her ear, her voice soft: “Hello?”

Lin Qianman was on a video call. She could now only see Tao Nian’s unusually red ears, caused by her constant rolling and excitement. She felt utterly exhausted: “What were you doing just now? Adding fuel to the fire?”

A Qilin is a gentle beast, and even when asking a somewhat accusatory question like this, her tone was soft, as if she was simply sighing—or perhaps she had no intention of accusing at all.

Tao Nian’s ears were red, and she said nothing.

Lin Qianman sighed: “Feng Jun is coming down the mountain next month.”

Tao Nian: “?!”

Due to extreme shock and fear, she didn’t hold her phone steady, and it fell onto the bed, camera-side down. Lin Qianman saw only darkness.

Tao Nian frantically picked up her phone: “Master is coming down the mountain?! She wasn’t always…”

Her eyes were filled with shock and terror, visibly flustered.

When I heard she was coming down the mountain, was my expression like this too? Extremely terrified and unwilling to accept the fact. But in the end, I had to accept it, and I had to be in close contact with her, teach her, and now even clean up her messes.

Lin Qianman had a very peculiar feeling. This feeling made her deeply understand Tao Nian’s current mood and want to help her quell Feng Jun’s anger to save her from a beating.

At the same time, she couldn’t help but think of her own feelings back then, wanting to get revenge on Tao Nian, making her also restless and unsure when a crisis would arrive, just as she had been at first—she worried then that Tao Nian would lose control and bite her at any moment. Now, she would let Tao Nian worry about when Feng Jun would come down the mountain and beat her up.

So, by manipulating the time difference and occasionally scaring Tao Nian, I can achieve all this!

In just a few seconds, Lin Qianman made up her mind. So, disregarding Tao Nian’s panic, she said: “Yes, I’m also curious. Why, after so many years on the mountain, is she suddenly coming down?”

Tao Nian’s hair nearly stood on end from fright: “She’ll beat me!”

Lin Qianman felt amused inwardly, but showed no expression on her face, even appearing somewhat comforting: “How could she? Feng Jun wouldn’t take these things to heart.”

Tao Nian: “…”

Although she didn’t understand how to read expressions, she still had the instincts of a small animal. Of course she knew what she was about to face!

Lin Qianman saw Tao Nian about to explode, so she smoothed her “fur” and then, in a good mood, hung up the phone.

Feng Jun knew more than just herself down the mountain. She would look for schools. As for negotiating with the schools, she didn’t understand it herself. She could leave it to someone who did. All she needed to do was create a time difference.

Then, what she needed to do was find a drama crew for Tao Nian to film with.

After Tao Nian’s debut, many scripts were sent over, each confidently claiming that Tao Nian would be the lead.

However, most of them were poorly produced and clearly aimed at Tao Nian’s popularity. The scripts were bad, and the directors had a lot of negative history. They’d film, market it, and not care about the reputation, just trying to make a quick buck.

The studio didn’t want Tao Nian to waste her reputation and public goodwill like that. Orange Entertainment also thought web dramas were not good, having high sunk costs over a long period, unlike variety shows that were easier to go viral.

So all invitations were rejected.

But Tao Nian couldn’t keep doing variety shows; it was indeed time to try acting.

Conveniently, she had already been on all the popular variety shows, shot magazines, and had a lot of reserves. This period was relatively free, so she could look for suitable scripts while letting Tao Nian learn basic acting.

Lin Qianman, having made up her mind, acted immediately. She contacted her manager and told her about the plan she had for Tao Nian. The manager immediately went to find an acting coach, as swiftly as sending one’s child, who always got terrible grades, to tutoring.

Tao Nian, unaware of what she was about to experience, was still immersed in the news that “Master is coming down the mountain to beat me” and couldn’t extricate herself. She was dazed during dinner, and Zhang Jingyue noticed something was wrong.

Zhang Jingyue asked her: “What’s wrong? You look awful.”

Tao Nian was already extremely nervous. As soon as Zhang Jingyue asked, she immediately told Zhang Jingyue everything, stumbling over her words and rambling due to nervousness.

But human potential for gossip is limitless. Zhang Jingyue quickly strung together what Tao Nian said based on the information she knew and finally understood: “So, you’ve been living on the mountain with your master. Lin Qianman went to the mountain to find your master when you were very young, found out you were a mischievous child who wanted to bite everyone you saw, and your master didn’t know how to teach you. So Lin Qianman taught your master parenting tips for your master to teach you. You never knew about this, and every time you encountered something after coming down the mountain, you’d think of the principles your master taught you. Today, you just found out that wasn’t taught by your master, but rather Lin Qianman told your master to teach it. So you told your master that Lin Qianman is your master, and your master got angry and is coming down the mountain to beat you up?!”

Tao Nian nodded frantically: “Mm-hm!”

Looking at Tao Nian’s panicked expression, Zhang Jingyue couldn’t help but wonder how fierce Tao Nian’s master truly was.

Then she thought of her own CP. So, all those principles Tao Nian thought of before were actually said by Lin Qianman. Roughly speaking, it was Lin Qianman.

“QianNian” is real!

So Zhang Jingyue coughed and quietly reminded Tao Nian: “No big deal. Your master is Lin Qianman now. She’ll protect you.”

Tao Nian blinked: “Huh?”

She visibly deflated: “Lin Qianman doesn’t want to be my master. She just made me apologize to Master.”

Is that so?

Zhang Jingyue coughed again: “No big deal. Just go directly to Sister Lin’s house. Family matters shouldn’t be publicized. Master definitely won’t beat you in front of Sister Lin.”

“But what if I come back?”

Zhang Jingyue, exasperated, said: “Why don’t you just stay with Sister Lin all the time?”

Tao Nian’s eyes immediately lit up: “You’re right!”

Seeing Tao Nian so quick to catch on, Zhang Jingyue cleared her throat conspiratorially and whispered enticingly: “Anyway, work is busy, and most of the time you won’t be at home. Just go live at Sister Lin’s house. Even if your master comes, Sister Lin will protect you.”

If it were anyone else, they would quickly hear the teasing in Zhang Jingyue’s tone. Even if they didn’t understand, by inferring from her words, they could guess she was just joking.

But Tao Nian wasn’t.

Tao Nian only knew that Zhang Jingyue was a good person, her best friend down the mountain! She lent her money, gave her rice balls, and even had her assistant write interview answers for her!

She unconditionally trusted her friend.

So she nodded to Zhang Jingyue, her expression serious and earnest. Then she quickly packed her things, intending to go to Lin Qianman’s house.

Zhang Jingyue was a bit surprised to see her leaving with her suitcase. Seeing Tao Nian’s serious expression, clearly taking her words to heart, her feelings were very complicated. She wanted to tell Tao Nian not to go, that she was just joking, that Tao Nian had a place to live now, so what kind of situation would it be to go to Lin Qianman’s house? What if she got photographed again, then they would truly have to make an official announcement. And who knows what the paparazzi would think, maybe they would even spread rumors that the suitcase contained their child.

But on the other hand, she wanted to help them get together, she really wanted to help them get together. The essence of human nature is to love a good show, to love being a matchmaker, to love shipping people. Now that she had this opportunity, she couldn’t control herself at all.

Zhang Jingyue was very conflicted, watching Tao Nian without speaking.

Tao Nian waited for a while, then grew a little impatient. She called out to Zhang Jingyue again: “I’m leaving!”

Zhang Jingyue reflexively waved her hand.

Tao Nian left.

So that night, Lin Qianman called Feng Jun, trying to gradually quell Feng Jun’s anger.

Suddenly, a sound came from the doorway.

Tao Nian’s suitcase made a rustling sound. She said loudly: “Lin Qianman! I’m here to find you!”

She heaved the suitcase up: “When my master beats me, you must help me. She hits so hard and so fiercely!”

Before Lin Qianman could turn around, her phone beeped.

Feng Jun hung up the phone.