Chapter 82

Lin Qianman felt that everyone around her had been acting strangely lately. She knew the reason for Fang Wen’s odd behavior: it was those twenty jin (roughly 22 lbs) of chicken feet.

But Tao Nian was a mystery. Tao Nian seemed very happy lately, always giggling foolishly. What was she so happy about? Lin Qianman was curious every day, but she had to admit, seeing Tao Nian like this also infected her with happiness.

As for Fang Wen, every day she watched Lin Qianman video-call Tao Nian, and Lin Qianman would be normal and in high spirits when talking to Tao Nian. But as soon as she put down her phone and looked at Fang Wen, her expression would turn a bit cold. If she hadn’t already deducted her salary, Fang Wen would have worried that Lin Qianman didn’t like her anymore…

Sigh, being an assistant is really hard…

Fang Wen thought this, then took out her phone to continue reading “Tao Bai Xiang” fanfiction. Yes, it was the same one from last time. Her favorite author had updated again!

The last update had covered Tao Nian’s debut, with Liu Xiaobai discovering that Tao Nian was already with Lin Qianman. Liu Xiaobai was in pain but couldn’t let go of Tao Nian, desperately trying to find reasons and convince herself that Tao Nian had her reasons and still loved her. Meanwhile, Tao Nian was found by Lin Qianman to have a previous girlfriend and was clearly still in contact with her. Having just debuted with no foundation, and relying on Lin Qianman for resources, Tao Nian feared being blacklisted by Lin Qianman. She could only try every means to appease Lin Qianman, changing methods to be “turned over and over.” She was in Lin Qianman’s bed, but her heart couldn’t help but think of Liu Xiaobai. She would be caught by the sexy and domineering Lin Qianman for being distracted, then Lin Qianman would cup her chin and ask what she was thinking. And then…

Cough, cough, cough.

So good. So good.

Even better than the boneless chicken feet she painstakingly deboned all afternoon read the original at bailiantales.comand the auntie cooked all night!

Although she didn’t know why there were so many explicit scenes of “QianNian” in the “Tao Bai Xiang” fanfiction, Fang Wen genuinely felt that the author was the best in the world! The sexual tension was amazing! She clicked on today’s update.

Liu Xiaobai agonizingly struggled for a long time, finally realizing that Tao Nian was no longer the innocent, pure Tao Nian whose eyes and heart were solely on her! Liu Xiaobai lost several sizes and turned dark! She decided to use her influence as an internet celebrity blogger to destroy Tao Nian, to make Tao Nian suffer agonizingly! The first step to destroying Tao Nian was to reveal her true identity, tear open her own wounds, and let everyone know what Tao Nian had done to her! To plunge Tao Nian into a public opinion crisis!

The author might have been very busy; today’s update was a bit short. Fang Wen quickly finished reading it.

So sad.

She took a bite of her meal.

So bland, no meat at all.

How incredibly sad.

Fang Wen couldn’t help but scroll through the comment section, looking for hidden content. She didn’t find any. Then she noticed that although the comments were few, they were all cursing the author! Yes, after all, this fanfiction, despite being tagged “TaoBai” (Tao Nian and Liu Xiaobai), heavily featured “QianNian” (Lin Qianman and Tao Nian). The “TaoBai” CP fans were extremely displeased!

The author, feeling small and helpless: “But I already gave trigger warnings, this is a torturous story… Bad Ending! Full of [Read on BaiLianTales]all five poisons! Emotional and physical abuse!”

The replies under this comment were uniformly cursing the author, telling her that if she shipped “QianNian,” she should write “QianNian” openly and not mess with “TaoBai.” Fang Wen couldn’t help but sigh and privately messaged the author to cheer her on.

“Go, author! Just write what you want! I still really like what you write! Super awesome! The character development and emotional tension are amazing!”

Perhaps the author rarely saw such encouraging private messages. She was very touched: “Mhm mhm! Thank you for your support!”

Fang Wen: “Ah, don’t mention it, author! You’re providing me with spiritual nourishment! Without your writing, I would lose a lot of happiness!”

The author was also very touched: “Wuwuwu, thank you so much for your support. I really didn’t expect anyone else to like this type of story. ‘TaoBai’ is already a very niche pairing; it’s so hard to find someone with similar taste! But I really ship this pair!”

The author quickly asked: “What CPs do you ship?”

Fang Wen: “…” She only shipped one CP: “QianNian.” But the author had already clicked into her profile. Besides this one “TaoBai” story, everything else was “QianNian.” Fang Wen regretted again that she hadn’t switched to an alt account and could only brace herself: “This…”

Before she could finish, the author replied: “Idiot, get lost!”

••••

Half a minute later, Fang Wen found that she had been called out by the author.

“What kind of idiot is this?! You ship ‘QianNian’ but don’t go read ‘QianNian’ fanfics, instead you’re dancing around in ‘TaoBai’?! And you say you like my writing? I’m gonna throw up my overnight meal! I originally liked that story a lot! I can’t believe it’s so unlucky! I’m never writing that story again! And I’m not shipping this CP anymore!”

So sad.

Fang Wen put away her phone, took another bite of stir-fried greens, and used the motion to wipe away tears. Once again, she regretted why she couldn’t skillfully switch between her dozen alt accounts?!

As sad as Fang Wen was Liu Xiaobai. Yes, ten days ago, she was exposed. The reason was quite cliché. As an internet celebrity blogger, she had countless alt accounts. The Tao Nian fan club account was one of them. She also had a dedicated alt account for commenting under Tao Nian’s Weibo, another for ranting about strange clients, and a tiny one for shipping “QianNian” CP.

She used to manage these alt accounts very well; each one was obedient and served its purpose. Then, that day, she was happily scrolling Weibo. Before scrolling, she specifically checked her account. She made sure it was her alt account for commenting on Tao Nian’s posts. Then she wanted to switch to her own commenting account to repost a Weibo. Then she accidentally switched to her alt account that she usually used to comment on Tao Nian’s posts.

Then the “Sweet Peaches” fans who followed this alt account were very confused. Some “Sweet Peaches” fans also followed Liu Xiaobai. Then netizens, who were bored recently with no gossip, followed the trail and dug up all of Liu Xiaobai’s alt accounts except the one for complaining about clients… Actually, that anonymous complaint account was almost dug up too. But perhaps no one believed someone could have so many accounts, so that one was missed.

But this was still outrageous! Two days were enough for the news to spread to everyone. She looked at the countless “hahahas” under her main account, wanting to cry without tears. Her original persona was a beauty blogger with a touch of lifestyle blogger, a touch of beauty blogger, and a touch of review blogger. In short, she was beautiful, versatile, lively and interesting in her videos, but very serious.

Now, she wasn’t. Her alt accounts showed various bizarre content, jokes, and irritable outbursts. The entire internet knew that this blogger, while updating her main account as a beautiful little fairy, was [unauthorized copy]also the president of Tao Nian’s fan club, writing all sorts of funny jokes about Tao Nian. At the same time, she held countless alt accounts. None of them were for herself; they were all for Tao Nian.

Who would have thought? She looked like a serious person, but it turns out you’re such a Liu Xiaobai!

“Is this what it means for fans to follow their idol’s true self?! Xiaobai was such a beautiful fairy before she met Tao Nian!”

“Is the barrier to entry for being a fan so high now?! I’m not an internet celebrity; can I still be a fan of Tao Nian (crying)?”

Liu Xiaobai indeed became popular, just as she had thought when she first met Tao Nian. She already had millions of followers, and now it had broken tens of millions. It seemed she was even more popular than some minor celebrities. The first video she filmed of Tao Nian doubled its views again. Everyone commented: “The beginning of love.” Then a sharp-eyed person replied: “No, no, this blogger has no love for Tao Nian! She looks like a serious person, but actually, she uses an alt account to ship ‘QianNian’!”

Liu Xiaobai: “…”

I can’t face anyone. I’m buying a ticket right now, carrying a train, and escaping this planet!

Liu Xiaobai didn’t dare to look at her comment section. Before, it was full of compliments about beautiful women being close. Not anymore. Now it was all “hahahas.”

—Suddenly she understood how Tao Nian felt seeing all those uniform “hahahas.”

—I can’t handle it like Tao Nian can. I’d better escape Earth!

Liu Xiaobai was quite depressed for a few days. Then her studio informed her that there was an opportunity for her to do a live broadcast with Tao Nian.

Tao Nian had been filming for over a month. Although two shows had aired this month, and she occasionally walked red carpets, her exposure had significantly decreased overall. Orange Entertainment had also been thinking about having Tao Nian do a live broadcast and chat with fans. It would help retain fans and prevent them from switching loyalties after filming wrapped.

Just then, this whole Liu Xiaobai incident happened. What a perfect opportunity!

So, Orange Entertainment contacted Liu Xiaobai, wanting her to come to the film set, visit Tao Nian, and do a live broadcast, which would also promote the show.

Liu Xiaobai: “…” She originally wanted to refuse. But the staff said that Tao Nian would be a guest in her live broadcast room, and all the live broadcast revenue would go to her. They offered too much. Liu Xiaobai compromised.

So now, she was preparing for the live broadcast.

Tao Nian also told Lin Qianman about this live broadcast. —Finally, there was a topic about live broadcasting, which gave Tao Nian a chance to talk to Lin Qianman about her mukbang job, which she hadn’t thought about for a long time.

Lin Qianman already knew; Fang Wen had told her. At the time, she had been unhappy for a while because Tao Nian hadn’t told her herself. Now, hearing Tao Nian bring it up again, she was less surprised, merely nodding: “Then you can try it. Eating and chatting with fans at the same time, it sounds quite good.” After she finished speaking, she looked at the foolishly smiling Tao Nian on the phone and couldn’t help but smile too, whispering: “Silly.”

Tao Nian giggled for a while longer, then said: “Then unauthorized copy I’ll eat during this live broadcast!”

“No, you should have said earlier. It’s too late now; there’s no time to prepare.”

Tao Nian blinked: “Isn’t it just eating in front of the camera?! I can buy it now! Can’t Liu Xiaobai and I just eat together?”

She enthusiastically told Lin Qianman about her first meeting with Liu Xiaobai: “She even bought me coffee back then! I want to buy her one too!”

Lin Qianman suddenly remembered what Fang Wen had told her two days ago. Tao Nian and Liu Xiaobai, it seemed, also had CP fans… She felt inexplicably regretful: “You met her first after coming down the mountain…”

Tao Nian: “No!” She remembered clearly: “The first person I met after coming down the mountain was a big bear!”

“Huh? Was it a person or a bear?”

Tao Nian gestured, telling Lin Qianman: “It was that… brown one, a person wearing a bear costume, handing out flyers! He gave me a flyer!”

Lin Qianman understood: “Oh, I see!”

Tao Nian frowned, thought for a moment, and her eyes suddenly lit up: “That flyer was for… ​stolen content​selling refrigerators! It was the brand you endorse! Your picture was on it too!”

Looking at Tao Nian’s bright eyes, Lin Qianman suddenly felt a little embarrassed.