Chapter 66: Are You Telling Me What to Do?

Chapter 66: Chapter 66: Are You Telling Me What to Do?

Although the livestreams for *Cub Observation Diary* had stopped, the main show was still being released weekly.

Many people thought the massive success of the premiere was just a flash in the pan, a lucky break from coinciding with a trending event.

They figured it wouldn’t be long before the show’s true popularity would be revealed...

But the exact opposite happened.

Starting from the second episode, its ratings and trending topics skyrocketed.

By the time the third episode aired, its ratings had leaped to number one in its time slot by a landslide!

The executives at J TV Station and S Video were ecstatic!

They had expected the new show to perform well, but they never imagined it would be *this* successful!

Every time it aired, a wave of discussion would erupt. From the guests’ outfits, the cubs’ witty remarks, and parenting philosophies... to Nan Zhi’s Food, all of these topics perfectly aligned with current trends and sparked one debate after another!

*Cub Observation Diary* had become the king of trending topics and the dark horse of the year!

And amidst this blazing success, two people received the most attention.

That’s right, it was the mother-son duo, Nan Zhi and Nan Yi.

Regardless of whether their fame was mixed with infamy, they were undeniably the hottest topic of the moment—

Dishes "just like Nan Zhi’s" went viral on social media, with every food blogger trying to replicate them;

The simple sweatshirt set and sneakers that Nan Zhi wore daily sold out in online stores;

Hairstyle bloggers jumped on the bandwagon, creating tutorials on how to achieve her casually chic low bun;

Children’s clothing stores started stocking replicas of the outfits Nan Yi wore;

Nan Yi’s "little tyrant CEO" sticker packs dominated chat windows, blowing up and breaking into the mainstream;

And a ton of in-depth posts popped up online about how to cultivate a super memory like Nan Yi’s;

...

As it turns out, the ultimate goal of everything is to sell products.

Some netizens even maliciously swore that Nan Zhi would start livestreaming to sell goods or take on sponsorships to rake in cash...

But Nan Zhi did no such thing.

Her V-bo account, where she used to post dozens of times a day, went completely silent.

No new brand deals, no news of joining a new film crew.

She and Nan Yi completely vanished from social media!

Just as everyone was baffled and even faintly disappointed,

someone came forward with a scoop: Nan Zhi was partnering with a food company to make pre-made meals.

The next step would be an official career change, crossing over to become a celebrity chef and manage her own food brand.

The moment this seemingly absurd news broke, it predictably set social media ablaze with discussion:

[Sounds ridiculous at first, but if you think about it, it kinda makes sense.]

[Nan Zhi’s cooking skills are way better than her acting.]

[Looking at Nan Zhi’s past work, she was clearly just a slacker who didn’t want to act seriously and only wanted to make money. It’s totally normal for her to choose an easier path now that one’s available.]

[Why do I feel like this is a good thing? Nan Zhi can finally stop plaguing my eyes with her terrible acting!]

[Yeah, she’ll stop plaguing your eyes and start plaguing your stomach instead! /s]

[Good? What’s good about it? Pre-made meals are garbage! If Nan Zhi starts selling them, I’ll be an anti for life!]

[She must be insane for money! Anyway, I’m not spending a single cent!]

...

No one knew that this "scoop" came from a company that had tried—and failed—to partner with Nan Zhi.

The unscrupulous boss of this company was already furious at being rejected by Nan Zhi, feeling that she was ungrateful and didn’t know what was good for her.

Who would have thought that he would then turn around and hear that Nan Zhi had partnered with that Boss Yang!

Not long ago, this unscrupulous boss had proposed a partnership with Boss Yang, wanting Boss Yang’s restaurant chain to switch entirely to his pre-packaged meal kits, but Boss Yang had refused.

With these two rejections combined, the unscrupulous boss’s resentment reached its peak!

So he deliberately had someone leak the story to teach Nan Zhi a lesson.

His actions did indeed bring a great deal of negative criticism down on Nan Zhi at the time.

The problem was...

There were already so many things people criticized Nan Zhi for!

After venting their anger, the netizens promptly forgot all about it.

Moreover, just a few days later, Boss Yang’s restaurant chain launched a new product: Golden Egg Fried Rice, which replicated eighty percent of the flavor from Nan Zhi’s fried rice stall!

Combined with the advantages of being affordable, convenient, clean, and hygienic, it took the market by storm as soon as it was released, shooting straight to the number one sales spot!

By the time the unscrupulous boss belatedly discovered that Boss Yang had bought the recipe from Nan Zhi, it was already too late.

He was green with envy, but he had no idea this was only the beginning.

Shortly after, Boss Yang’s restaurant chain launched several more new products.

The explosive sales not only helped them secure their footing but also allowed them to successfully expand their market, growing bigger and stronger!

This also indirectly caused a drop in sales for many meal kit companies, leading a number of them to go out of business.

The unscrupulous boss’s company was one of them.

...Of course, that’s all a story for later.

-

Many people saw and paid attention when Nan Zhi was being flamed on the trending charts.

Fu Chao was one of them.

Holding the phone that he had repeatedly called without getting an answer, he asked his agent:

"...Are you sure this is the right number? I didn’t dial it wrong?"

The agent said he got the number from Nan Zhi’s agency, so there shouldn’t be a problem.

Fu Chao put his phone away, feeling slightly irritated and regretting even more that he hadn’t asked Nan Zhi for her V-Chat when filming ended.

"She should be fine, right?"

He muttered to himself.

His agent overheard and couldn’t hold back anymore:

"Brother Fu, are you paying a little too much attention to this Nan Zhi?"

Seeing no reaction from Fu Chao, the agent’s tone grew more serious.

"Honestly, Brother Fu, with your fame and status, how many flies are buzzing around, trying to suck your blood? We can’t even avoid those women fast enough, so how can you be the one sending signals to Nan Zhi? What if she misunderstands and thinks you’re interested in her, then starts hyping it up to the media..."

"Are you trying to tell me what to do?"

Fu Chao was smiling, and he didn’t seem particularly angry.

But his agent fell silent instantly.

After a long moment, he finally stammered:

"I-I didn’t mean it like that!"

Fu Chao gestured for his agent to leave.

As if granted amnesty, the man scurried away.

But the agent didn’t know that after he left, Fu Chao was left to ponder his agent’s recent behavior—

’This isn’t the first time he’s badmouthed Nan Zhi. He’s been rambling on about her ever since filming started.’

’When he found out I still wanted to contact Nan Zhi after filming ended and that I genuinely consider her a friend, his nagging got even worse.’

’And the things he says are so manipulative.’

’Like how he "casually" brings up Nan Zhi’s past scandals, or "unintentionally" misinterprets something she did...’

’If this were before, I probably would have fallen for his attempts to poison the well.’

’But now, having spent some time with Nan Zhi, I know just how biased the rumors are.’

’Most importantly, the prejudiced way he looks at Nan Zhi absolutely infuriates me!’

’It’s the kind of indignation you feel when an outsider insults one of your own!’

This directly led to Fu Chao entertaining the thought of replacing his agent!

Just as he was secretly mulling it over,

someone pushed open the door to the private room and stepped inside. A cold, hard, and slightly hoarse voice spoke:

"Hm? You’re here early today?"

"Mom!"

Fu Chao stood up.