Chapter 87

Tao Nian didn’t know why Lin Qianman brought that up again and replied very casually, “I was just acting.”

Just then, with Lin Qianman also there, she moved closer to Lin Qianman, took out her phone, found the video of Lin Qianman’s crying scene that she had watched before, and asked, eager to learn, “Look, how can one cry beautifully and with emotion?”

Lin Qianman paused, a field of weeds spreading in her heart. So Tao Nian was indeed acting. Lin Qianman felt she should be happy; after all, she had already deduced yesterday that Tao Nian was acting and had repeatedly reminded herself not to overthink or project. She was still very rational. But there was a subtle sense of loss. Deeper down, a voice asked her: “Repeatedly reminding yourself not to overthink or project, isn’t that just another form of overthinking and projecting?”

All sorts of complex emotions made Lin Qianman feel agitated. She tried to distract herself. She began to turn her head and watch the video playing on Tao Nian’s phone. Inside, her own image, dressed in different outfits and makeup, was crying in various ways. Crying with relief, crying sadly, crying shrilly, crying in fear, crying with unwillingness… With filters and background music, it was a little eerie. But Tao Nian was clearly enjoying it; she even mimicked one of the expressions.

Lin Qianman: “…” So Lin Qianman asked Tao Nian about the context of the crying scene and taught Tao Nian some practical tips. She also asked Tao Nian to try crying.

Tao Nian had only been trying to learn the expression earlier and had no intention of actually crying. Now Lin Qianman wanted her to cry and was looking at her as if she expected her to cry right now. Tao Nian felt a little pressured. The director was right; Tao Nian’s acting didn’t rely on technique. If she didn’t constantly think about it, she couldn’t get into character. She was able to cry that morning because she had been upset by Feng Jun’s words, felt uncomfortable, was alone, and with the atmosphere building, Tao Nian deliberately tried to work it up, and she cried.

But it wasn’t like that now! Now she was with Lin Qianman, on her way to eat! Lin Qianman and eating! Her favorite person and her favorite thing to do were together. If she were a balloon, she would be floating right now. How could she possibly cry?

But Lin Qianman kept watching her, wanting to see her cry… Tao Nian lowered her head and tried to cry. Master said I can’t lick over Lin Qianman… Wuwuwu, so sad…

…But I’m with Lin Qianman right now, about to go eat! Going to eat with Lin Qianman! No, I have to cry… Tao Nian tried hard to move every muscle in her face, putting on a sad expression, and looked at Lin Qianman.

Lin Qianman: “…” She tactfully said: “You really can’t stolen content be like this when we get to the set.”

Tao Nian: “Is something wrong?” She thought for a moment, maintained that sad expression, and added crying sounds. How to describe it? In that situation, if Fang Wen had been there, she might have imagined Lin Qianman had some unspeakable, strange fetish. However, Fang Wen didn’t come along today and didn’t witness this scene. Lin Qianman was thus able to maintain her image as a proper person in Fang Wen’s eyes. She covered Tao Nian’s mouth: “Don’t cry anymore, think about what we’re going to eat later.”

Tao Nian immediately stopped crying, as expected. The mask of tears instantly fell away, revealing the excited face underneath: “I want to eat roasted sweet potatoes! Egg tarts! Steak! Fried chicken! Stinky tofu! Luosifen! Pan-fried buns! Fried skewers! Oden radish! Squid! Takoyaki!” She listed these, then turned her head and thought, as if trying to add something else.

Lin Qianman thought of their destination. She told the driver: “Don’t go to a restaurant; let’s go to the snack street near the university town.” Lin Qianman hadn’t been to this city before, but Fang Wen went to university here, and she had heard Fang Wen say there was a snack street near the university town with lots of delicious food. Tao Nian didn’t want to eat anything proper right now, only snacks, so it would be better to go to the snack street.

Thinking this, Lin Qianman looked at Tao Nian, searched in her bag, found a hat, and put it on. Then, before getting out of the car, she put a baseball cap on Tao Nian, took out her padded jacket, and reminded Tao Nian: “When we get out, put on your jacket, pull up the hood, and wear a mask.” Tao Nian touched her baseball cap: “Didn’t I already put one on?”

Lin Qianman: “Wear both.”

After all, it was a university town, also considered a popular internet celebrity spot. With it being a holiday, there would definitely be a lot of people. If they were recognized… Lin Qianman couldn’t even imagine. Just in case, she even sent a message to her manager to report.

The car had air conditioning, so it wasn’t very cold. But as soon as they got out, there was a blast of cold air. Tao Nian shivered. Without waiting for Lin Qianman to speak, she quickly pulled up the hood of her padded jacket. The black puffy jacket was loose and big, and the hood was also large. When she put it on, the hood covered her head, pressing down her baseball cap. But her zipper wasn’t fully done, and her stomach felt cold from the wind. Tao Nian ignored the hood and lowered her head to pull the zipper.

Lin Qianman reached out to adjust her hood. Having been in the car, Lin Qianman’s hands were warm. She gently nudged the baseball cap up a bit, then adjusted the padded jacket’s hood to its normal position. Her little finger occasionally brushed Tao Nian’s forehead. It tickled a little. Tao Nian looked up at those hands, feeling a bit shy. Fortunately, she was wearing a mask, so Lin Qianman didn’t notice the blush on her cheeks.

The snack street was indeed very crowded. Most were students, walking in groups of two or three, lining up at snack stalls waiting for the owners. The street was originally very wide, but some shops had set up chairs and tables outside. Plus, with so many people, all you could see were heads. Smoke from the owners cooking snacks and steam from people talking together created a layer of mist above their heads, making it look like it was covered in a light yellow veil. At first glance, there seemed to be no empty space at all.

Lin Qianman was a little bewildered seeing so many people. She had expected people, but not this many. But when she turned her head, Tao Nian’s eyes under her baseball bailiantales.com cap were sparkling, looking at the snack street with great curiosity and anticipation. Lin Qianman sighed silently: “Shall we go?”

Tao Nian excitedly rushed forward. Lin Qianman followed: “Be careful, don’t get lost.” Tao Nian then slowed down, waiting for Lin Qianman to catch up, then followed behind her: “Oh, I’ll follow you.” Lin Qianman’s steps paused.

Tao Nian gently pushed her. Because she was wearing a mask, her voice was a little muffled when she spoke, as if stifled in her throat, sounding endearing: “Let’s go.” Lin Qianman took two more steps, then paused again. This time she didn’t stop for long, quickly putting her foot down and continuing forward. But her heart wouldn’t stop pounding.

Tao Nian held onto her sleeve from behind.

The first shop on the snack street was a pastry shop. The aroma at the entrance was like a hook, pulling people in. Tao Nian couldn’t resist; as she passed by, she stopped. She tugged on Lin Qianman’s sleeve. Lin Qianman turned around, and Tao Nian was eagerly looking at the pastries in the shop. The shop was crowded. They lined up to buy. One of everything. Paid. The staff were extremely busy and had no time to carefully look at customers. They were only a bit surprised when they heard “one of everything,” and glanced at the girl who spoke. They were momentarily stunned by the pretty eyes and brows under the baseball cap. But they had seen internet celebrities checking in before. So they just glanced, and quickly went to pack the items, carrying this moment of astonishment.

After getting the small pastries, Lin Qianman realized another very sad thing. She had put on so much disguise precisely to avoid being seen. But to eat, she had to take off her mask. Taking off her mask would significantly increase the chance of being recognized. Lin Qianman was still hesitating, thinking about how to let Tao Nian eat these things.

Tao Nian, meanwhile, took a small egg tart from the bag in Lin Qianman’s hand. Holding it with one hand, she used the other to feel the edge of her mask under her chin. She quickly pulled the mask up from the bottom, creating a gap, and squeezed the egg tart into her mouth through this gap. Lin Qianman just turned back and saw Tao Nian, still wearing her mask, with pastry crumbs on the edge of the black mask. Tao Nian’s cheeks were bulging as she frantically chewed… It seemed she had already figured out a way.

Lin Qianman continued walking. She also bought stir-fried chestnuts and candied hawthorns. Tao Nian repeated the method, popping them into her mouth one by one. She was still eating when they bought roasted sweet potatoes. She pulled up the edge of her mask, popped a hawthorn into her mouth, then adjusted her mask and chewed frantically. Biting off the outer layer of frosting, the hawthorn inside was so sour it made her teeth tingle. Tao Nian squinted, shaking her head uncontrollably from the sourness. Then she finished one and ate the next. While putting a hawthorn in her mouth, she spit the pit of the previous hawthorn into her hand.

Perhaps her method was too… silly and strange; the girl queuing behind her stared at her several times. Well, the first glance was because she found her behavior funny, the second time was because she thought this girl was somewhat pretty! Although she was wearing a bulky padded jacket, you couldn’t see any curves of her figure. However, her proportions were good; the legs under the padded jacket were long and straight. Occasionally, she turned her head, revealing a truly beautiful profile!

—If she hadn’t used the hand that held the hawthorn pit to tug on the sleeve of the older girl in front of her, she probably would have been even more charming…

But… this seemed even cuter. Since they were already walking through the snack street together, they must be good [read the original at bailiantales.com]friends. Good friends don’t need to care about such small things! And anyway, the older girl in front of her also seemed quite nice. As expected, a beautiful person’s friend is also beautiful. Although such a pretty person was a bit silly. She’d rather pull a gap in her mask than just take it off to eat. Why was she like Tao Nian, trading brains for beauty?

The girl thought of her idol and couldn’t help but giggle, then looked at the older girl in front of her again. But Nian Nian is a bit fatter than this older girl, right? Besides, Nian Nian just had her birthday yesterday, so how could she be here strolling through the snack street today? As she was thinking, the older girl in front bought roasted sweet potatoes and left. The girl also picked one, paid, and walked away with her friend, talking, holding the hot, sweet roasted sweet potato.

Meanwhile, Tao Nian encountered a problem. Roasted sweet potatoes were different from egg tarts and hawthorns. A roasted sweet potato, when cooked, had a honey-like color inside, sweet, and also a honey-like consistency, like melted syrup. Clearly, it couldn’t be broken apart and squeezed through a gap. The sweet potato was hot. Tao Nian transferred it from her left hand to her right, back and forth many times, finally tempted by the smell. She gritted her teeth, pulled her mask up, covering her eyes with the top edge and exposing her mouth. She quickly brought the sweet potato to her mouth and took a blind bite.

Since she couldn’t see, her first bite missed. Her nose went straight into the sweet potato, getting sticky with honey-colored sweet potato. Lin Qianman couldn’t watch anymore and helped her adjust its position. When she pulled her hand back, she quickly wiped the sweet potato off Tao Nian’s nose. Tao Nian finally bit into the roasted sweet potato as she wished. Satisfied, she pulled down her mask, chewed quickly twice, swallowed, then pulled up her mask again for another blind bite. Still missed. Lin Qianman helped her adjust again.

Although they were in a corner, some people would still see them. Lin Qianman found it both amusing and a little worrying. She had a very bad feeling.

—Even if they weren’t recognized today, they’d probably go viral for their unusually bizarre and silly eating method, wouldn’t they?