You can never imagine just how resourceful netizens can be.
Especially when they’re super bored!
While other people are busy enjoying the New Year and dealing with the usual classic questions like "How’s work?" "Why are you still single?" "How much is your monthly salary?" "Have you bought a house or a car?"—they’ve already transford into thousands upon thousands of Hols and embarked on detective journeys of all kinds.
"This butterfly-shaped jade pendant with a history of a thousand years ntions a porcelain restoration expert nad Tang Shu. Do you think there’s a connection?"
"Here are two other porcelain restoration personnel also nad Tang Shu. Do you think they’re related?"
"Wait a minute, there are labels next to so paintings in this museum too. Could it be connected?"
"A large proportion of the drugs developed by Cloudscape Pharma in recent years have the nas She and Yu attached... Holy crap, there are so many!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, I found Tang Shu’s na on an engineer design forum as well! Registered as a craftsman from Plants & Herbs Hall?"
"What on earth is that now?"
The more they dug, the more they realized—turns out that there are so many people with the sa na!
Although the die-hard fans firmly believed that their idol was almighty and often gave off a "my idol is the best in the world" vibe, there was no way they could point at all these nas and swear they were her without their conscience screaming.
"Forgive , I can’t be that shaless."
"But maybe we can ask? What if one of these Tang Shus actually is our idol?"
The moderators began eagerly logging into various forums and association websites, carefully asking relevant personnel about these topics. No one could’ve predicted that soone actually responded.
They re-spon-ded!
[National Museum - Porcelain Restoration Departnt: Tang Shu possesses highly professional restoration techniques in porcelain and traditional Chinese painting, which have allowed nurous artifacts to be preserved and displayed in the exhibition area.]
Below the response was a super high-resolution image of a girl with her hair in a ponytail, wearing pure white gloves and carefully holding a tool as she ticulously cleaned the corner of a painting. Her delicate features were crystal clear in the photo.
Die-hard fans: "..."
Wait a second, could this really be her?
It’s her!
And that wasn’t the end of it. When the engineer design forum posted pictures of Tang Shu and several chanical models, not only were the old fans stunned, even professionals in chanical engineering didn’t know how to react.
"What?! Those models from Plants & Herbs Hall were actually handcrafted by Tang Shu? Is that the sa Tang Shu who’s an actress?!"
"Oh my god, I’ve bought several models from that store. The level of accuracy and detail is insanely high—normal people simply can’t achieve that!"
"She’s just an actress, and she casually outclassed in my own profession???"
"Looks like I should just go ho and eat my words. If even hardcore STEM stuff is fair ga for her, I might as well quit while I’m ahead..."
Wen Nuan, who ran Plants & Herbs Hall, never imagined that, one fine day after the New Year, her modest little shop would be besieged by a swarm of fans who appeared out of nowhere, all scrambling to buy a model.
"I don’t care what kind of model it is; I just want one!"
"Yeah, yeah, gotta soak up so genius vibes!"
Wen Nuan: "..."
This is infuriating. Am I not a genius too? This is discrimination, y’know—discrimination!
***
"Tang! Shu!"
On the sixteenth day of the Lunar New Year, as soon as Tang Shu powered on her phone at Palm Pavilion, she was greeted by Wen Nuan’s gritted-teeth voice from the other end.
"What’s up? Why are you so angry?"
"I seriously regret uploading your info to that engineer design forum. Do you have any idea that my shop is almost being torn apart by people?"
"What forum?"
"...You know, the online channel where Plants & Herbs Hall sells stuff."
"Oh, right. I rember now. That forum has a real-na registration system, right?"
Tang Shu finally managed to dig up a faint mory. Most of the ti she spent in Plants & Herbs Hall’s workshop, the store manager would rope her into doing so odd jobs. Who would’ve thought her stuff would sell this well, huh?
"Sister Wen, don’t you owe so handmade labor fees?"
"Calling ’sister’ as soon as money’s involved? You’re already loaded and you still want to rob ?"
"This isn’t robbery—it’s my rightful compensation."
"Well, let tell you this: your fan army has discovered that you work part-ti at my shop. So, uh... should I just shut the place down for a while and take a break?"
Good thing this wasn’t Yuh Ji Bun Shop; otherwise, she really would’ve been scared that the fans might dig three feet into the basent soday.
Tang Shu chuckled, "See, karma at its best. That’s what you get for dragging into overti for no reason."
Wen Nuan wasn’t actually looking for a fight. "Anyway, as long as you’re aware. Try not to co by for now, or you might get sward. Also, be extra careful when you go out."
"Got it."
Tang Shu stored away the reminder, then logged into Weibo, where she saw that the porcelain restoration departnt had responded as well—and they’d even tagged her personally.
Uh... What kind of chaos is this now?
When she arrived at the family estate the next day for the start of classes, she finally pieced so things together from Old Madam Yu.
"Those old-tirs have their eye on the influence you bring. Since you managed to revive interest in that overlooked theater production, maybe you can drum up so attention for national treasures too, don’t you think?"
"..."
Tang Shu was at a loss for words regarding such optimistic plans. All she could do was log into Weibo again and repost a few official photos and descriptions of cultural relics to promote them a bit.
Old Madam Yu watched her actions with satisfaction, nodding and smiling. "By the way, I already told them that they can’t take advantage of my student for free. Next ti they ask for your help, make sure they pay."
Tang Shu: "..."
There’s an old saying that rings true: the older, the wiser!
This New Year was livelier than ever, and the endless gossip online made it clear just how much fun the netizens were having.
And Tang Shu had inevitably beco the center of attention. Even casual onlookers couldn’t help but stan her after learning about her array of remarkable part-ti gigs.
Talented people exist in every field, but soone who excels at every side job under the sun? That’s rare, isn’t it?
The moderators and old fans, unwilling to be left out, stealthily gave Tang Shu the nickna "The Strongest Worker." They flooded the comnt sections on Weibo with it, so much so that even "Role Model Worker Uncle" trended for a while.
"I was wrong. I used to think our idol was just aloof and kind of arrogant, but I never imagined she works so hard behind the scenes!"
"It’s so touching to learn about the sheer amount of effort she’s put in out of sight!"
"It’s hysterical, though, to associate soone so serious with the title of ’The Strongest Worker.’"
"Pfft, ’Role Model Worker Uncle’? I’m dying of laughter!"
"On-cara Tang Shu: All of you are trash. Off-cara Tang Shu: Oh no, gotta clock in for my side gig, hurry up!"
"Hahahahaha! Is the person above a devil? I can’t stop imagining it!"
And so... it didn’t even take half a day before "Tang Shu Gets Roasted by Fans" beca the next trending topic.
Tang Shu: "???"
Are you people even polite?
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