Chapter 85
Tao Nian’s live stream once again achieved unexpected results. Every time she worked, there were always all sorts of surprises. This time, she exposed herself by directly holding her personal page to the camera, and fans started checking out her alt accounts. Fans who already knew about the account groaned in regret, feeling they missed out on a fortune by not knowing sooner.
For fans who didn’t know about the alt account before, the joy was much simpler. Seeing the terribly abundant, almost daily, Weibo posts on the alt account, they were initially happy, thinking it would be life updates, selfies, or personal thoughts. After clicking in and seeing the pile of Lin Qianman posts, they fell into deep thought. This time, she truly cut off all other CPs’ chances.
After the live stream, Tao Nian continued her hard work filming. Half a month later, she finally took a week-long leave. She joined the crew in October, and after over a month of initial learning and later filming, her birthday was approaching—her ID card showed her birthday as January 1st. Since she was a supporting character and didn’t have many scenes, and the drama’s filming period was short, she wasn’t very busy and managed to piece together a week of leave.
The day she left the set was December 29th. Before leaving, she bought a large cake to share with her colleagues who were still filming, then happily departed. She planned to go directly to Lin Qianman and celebrate her birthday with her. After all, she hadn’t seen Lin Qianman in almost two months! When Lin Qianman had her birthday, Tao Nian was by her side and even cooked her an egg. Now that it was her own birthday, Tao Nian also wanted to be with Lin Qianman.
However, she was an idol and currently quite popular. Orange Entertainment arranged a live stream for her on her birthday. She didn’t need to do anything; she was just a tool, allowing the staff to move her around. That was fine; it was work, and Tao Nian wasn’t unreasonable. But at noon, she found time to video call Lin Qianman. After everything was over, she boarded a plane to the city where Lin Qianman’s film crew was located.
Xiao Nan wasn’t used to flying; he’d get terribly motion sick and feel unwell for a whole day every time. He always forced himself to sleep when flying. It was evening, and everyone around her was sleeping. Tao Nian was a bit bored, very sleepy, but she was past the point of being able to sleep. She was a little unhappy, watching out the window dejectedly. Many thoughts came and went in her mind, and when she tried to recall them later, she didn’t even know what she had been thinking. So Tao Nian became even more dejected.
It was already 3 AM when they got off the plane, and they still had to drive for two more hours to reach Lin Qianman’s film set. Tao Nian checked her phone again. After putting it away, she immediately remembered something. She poked the chat page with Feng Jun and told her: “It was my birthday yesterday!”
Feng Jun, surprisingly, was still awake and sent her a string of ellipses. Tao Nian was unhappy. It was her birthday yesterday, and she hadn’t seen Lin Qianman. The gift Lin Qianman sent her was even delivered to the set. She wanted to unwrap the gift herself, so she didn’t let anyone else open it. Lin Qianman also said it was a surprise and refused to tell her what it was. So she still didn’t know what Lin Qianman had sent her.
—She was actually just unhappy and wanted to do something. But now everyone was asleep, with Xiao Nan’s breathing beside her, and Lin Qianman needed good rest after a day of filming. Tao Nian couldn’t find anyone, so she sought out Feng Jun. Now, she started pushing Feng Jun’s boundaries, desperately provoking her: “You didn’t even wish me a happy birthday! You don’t care about me!”
Ever since Feng Jun went to school and Tao Nian joined the crew, both had been busy. Additionally, Tao Nian devoted all her free time to Lin Qianman, and Feng Jun, remembering what Tao Nian did, refused to contact Tao Nian proactively. So this was the start of their renewed contact.
Feng Jun had originally intended to ease their relationship, so many things didn’t need to be said too bluntly. But Tao Nian was truly annoying! She couldn’t help but say, very coldly: “But this isn’t your birthday at all; it’s just a randomly written date.”
Tao Nian argued unreasonably: “But it’s written there, so it’s my birthday! You have to wish me a happy birthday!”
Feng Jun: “Happy birthday to you.”
Tao Nian nitpicked: “But today isn’t my birthday anymore; my birthday has already passed! You don’t care about me!”
Feng Jun could only tell Tao Nian the truth: “But when you were born, it took a full nine days.”
Tao Nian: “…”
Tao Nian still didn’t know that human birthdays were calculated based on the time of complete birth. Now, looking at Feng Jun’s answer, she was momentarily confused: “Giving birth is so…”
Feng Jun: “It’s a very serious matter, not just about oneself; it’s very great and very difficult.”
Tao Nian blinked: “Ah…” Feng Jun thought Tao Nian would say something, waiting for her next sentence.
Tao Nian: “Ah, then I won’t let Lin Qianman have children anymore. Having children is so hard! It takes nine days!”
Feng Jun was no longer the Feng Jun from before; she had now systematically studied modern society’s technology and basic theories. Now, a vein on her forehead pulsed: “You cannot let Lin Qianman have children! While modern technology has achieved female-female reproduction, it has not yet achieved female-female cross-species reproduction.”
Tao Nian: “Huh?” She was startled: “Can’t?! Why can’t I?! Can’t I lick over her anymore?!”
She had originally seen her ramblings and thought she was utterly devoted to Lin Qianman. But how could this be?! She had no shame whatsoever; what good was devotion then?! Lin Qianman, such a good child, couldn’t be corrupted by a bad child like Tao Nian! Feng Jun grew even colder: “No. And stay away from Lin Qianman. Lin Qianman is a good child! Don’t ruin her.”
Tao Nian’s eyes widened, evidently disbelieving: “But…” She had always unconditionally trusted Feng Jun before, but now she instinctively doubted Feng Jun: “But Zhang Jingyue said I could. She told me to ‘boil the frog in warm water’ and lick over Lin Qianman as soon as possible!”
Feng Jun mentally uttered countless “rotten wood cannot be carved” phrases, finally letting out a cold snort: “If you could, would you still need to ‘boil the frog in warm water’?”
Still ‘boiling the frog in warm water’? A wild boar shouldn’t dream of rooting up a cabbage! Give up!
Tao Nian wanted to say more, but Feng Jun blocked her. Tao Nian scrolled through her chat history with Feng Jun, growing angrier the more she read. Fuming, she also blocked Feng Jun.
So infuriating! How dare she curse me like that! Fang Wen should keep spraying her with the fire extinguisher!
When Xiao Nan woke up, he first checked the time; it was 5 AM. They were almost at the hotel. Turning his head, he found Tao Nian secretly wiping away tears.
?
What happened?!
Tao Nian noticed Xiao Nan was awake, wiped away her tears again, and stopped crying. Xiao Nan cautiously asked: “Are you feeling unwell?” Taking a red-eye flight late at night and then riding in a car for so long could indeed make one feel unwell. Tao Nian didn’t speak, just shook her head. Then she took out her phone and glanced at it. It was just a glance, Xiao Nan didn’t know what she saw, but he only knew that her mouth twitched slightly, and her expression became even sadder. Xiao Nan then ruled out the “unwell” guess.
Xiao Nan then thought: “Are you hungry?” He thought this was the most likely possibility. But Tao Nian still didn’t speak, and shook her head again. Xiao Nan observed again. No. This was strange. What could possibly make Tao Nian so sad? He watched. He saw Tao Nian suddenly stop crying, wiped away her tears, and took out her phone. She opened a video compilation of Lin Qianman’s movies and began to watch it with relish.
••••
She watched until they arrived at the hotel.
Xiao Nan relaxed a little, escorted Tao Nian back to her room, and cautiously said: “Do you want to rest?”
Tao Nian nodded, put down her phone, changed into slippers, and went to wash up. But she didn’t come out for a while. She wasn’t taking a shower, so why was she taking so long? Xiao Nan cautiously peeked into the bathroom. Xiao Nan breathed a sigh of relief, just about to leave.
Tao Nian was crying into the mirror.
Xiao Nan dared not move. He thought of the supernatural legends he had somehow encountered before. He had always been an unbeliever in spirits and strange powers—never believing in those unseen, strange powers—but now, seeing Tao Nian like this, he instinctively thought of them. So he asked in a panic: “What on earth is wrong with you?”
Tao Nian looked at Xiao Nan in confusion. Then she continued to sob.
When she asked for leave, the director had told her not to slack off during her seven-day break, fearing she wouldn’t be in character when she returned if she wasn’t careful. Tao Nian, having nothing else to do, decided to ponder her next scene. It was a crying scene. It was also an emotional explosive point. After all, the robot didn’t even know what emotions were before, and gradually evolving to the point of crying was also a climax.
Before, when she learned acting, her teachers always told her not to be afraid of looking bad when crying, to focus on the emotion, and that as long as the emotion was there, she would perform well. However, Zhou Tongyan had also told her to cry beautifully, as she was an idol, and if she cried with an open mouth, howling with snot and tears all over her face, she would definitely be screenshotted and mocked.
Tao Nian never knew what to do. Thinking of Lin Qianman’s performances, most of them were both emotionally on point and beautiful. Today, coincidentally, Feng Jun had thrown cold water on her, making her feel unpleasant, and no one she could talk to was awake to pay attention to her. The more Tao Nian thought about it, the sadder she got, even starting to wonder if she should wake Xiao Nan to badmouth Feng Jun together. She was about to wake Xiao Nan when she suddenly remembered that she had a crying scene when she returned.
Taking advantage of her somewhat unpleasant mood today, Tao Nian thought for herself, and started crying. She had no mirror nearby, so she cried while occasionally opening her phone to see what she looked like crying. She indeed didn’t cry often—the last time she cried after being beaten by Feng Jun was an exception. Now, starting to cry, she glanced at herself in the phone’s camera and was startled by the person with squinted eyes and wrinkles from crying so hard. So she continued watching Lin Qianman’s videos, wanting to learn how to cry with different emotions without breaking her expression.
Finally reaching the hotel, she saw the large mirror in the bathroom and started crying in front of it. The more she cried, the more something felt wrong, and the more she wondered why her crying looked so awkward, while Lin Qianman looked so beautiful.
But Xiao Nan kept asking. Tao Nian could only tell him: “It’s nothing, I’m acting.”
Xiao Nan felt immensely sorrowful. It’s over; she must be incredibly sad, starting to lie to cover up her sadness. He closed his eyes and pressed: “Did someone say something to you?”
Tao Nian asked in confusion: “What?” She wiped the tears from her cheeks: “You keep asking these strange questions.”
Xiao Nan: “When I was sleeping, what did you do?”
Tao Nian counted on her fingers: “Bored… zoning out, chatting with Master…” Here, her expression turned mournful: “She actually said I can’t lick over Lin Qianman?!”
Xiao Nan flinched.
Tao Nian started counting on her fingers again: “Then I was unhappy, very angry. Started acting.”
Oh, unhappy, very angry, started crying.
Xiao Nan closed his eyes and sighed: “You…” In the end, he said nothing, just sighed again: “Don’t cry… don’t act anymore, go rest for a while, otherwise, staying awake will make you look bad. How will you meet Lin Qianman when it gets light?”
Tao Nian pondered for a moment, then nodded: “You’re right.” She turned to leave: “Then I’m going to sleep.” Xiao Nan watched Tao Nian lie down on the bed and then left.
Upon returning to his own room, he took out his phone and opened his chat history with Feng Jun: “Nian Nian cried.” Feng Jun sent a period. Xiao Nan carefully chose his words: “You said she couldn’t be with Elder Lin, and she was very sad; she’s been crying ever since.”
Feng Jun saw the message from Xiao Nan and felt that she knew every word, but when put together, she couldn’t understand it. She sent a question mark. Xiao Nan’s tone became even more cautious and humble: “Nian Nian still hopes to get your approval.”
Feng Jun looked at this sentence and felt comfortable. Besides being comfortable, she sighed. She hadn’t expected Tao Nian to be such a devoted person. She was so sad because her elder didn’t approve of her relationship with Lin Qianman. Although she wasn’t a good child, she was sincere… Feng Jun began to hesitate, beginning to soften.
She pulled Tao Nian out of her blacklist and tentatively sent her a message: “As long as you reform and become a good child in the future, it’s not impossible.” It didn’t send; there was an exclamation mark. She had been blocked… Feng Jun angrily blocked Tao Nian again and put away her phone fuming.
Traitor! She deserves to never be able to lick over Lin Qianman!
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