Being a gigolo was too much for him, so he had to become a music superstar.

Lin Buyi stared at the screen without saying a word.

But he felt a sense of relief.

The audience's eyes are discerning. At least for now.

The show continued. Other contestants performed later, but the online comments focused on comparing Lin Buyi and Chen Jiahao. Viewers spontaneously compared the two—a fifteen-minute video clip versus a fifteen-second close-up, a meticulously packaged idol versus an ordinary person who claimed he was only in it for money.

The more intense the contrast, the more the audience will remember Lin Buyi's true character.

The program has ended.

Su Nianwei turned off the TV and leaned back on the sofa.

Lin Buyi was about to get up and go back to the basement to continue practicing singing when his phone vibrated.

Lin Buyi picked it up and took a look.

Official news brief from the program team.

The content includes the group list and competition rules for the second round.

Lin Buyi opened it and read it once, then his expression changed. It was a very subtle calm, as if he had seen the expected result.

"What's wrong?" Su Nianwei noticed the change in his expression.

Lin Buyi handed her the phone.

Su Nianwei took it and glanced at it.

Group C, second round of group assignments.

Lin Buyi.

Zhou Qian.

Li Ang – a high-pitched monster from Xinghai Conservatory of Music, ranked second overall in the preliminary round.

Wang Ke – a top trainee at a well-known singer-songwriter company, and a recognized talent in the industry.

There are four other players who are also quite strong.

Su Nianwei glanced down at the competition rules.

"After each group's performance, the group with the lowest combined score from the mentors and the audience will be eliminated and will not proceed to the mentor selection process."

Su Nianwei finished reading it.

Put your phone on the coffee table.

Then she swore. It wasn't loud, but Lin Buyi heard it.

"They want you dead."

Lin Buyi did not refute her. Because what she said was true.

Among the eight people in Group C, Zhou Qian is an exceptionally talented genius, while Li Ang and Wang Ke are both professionally trained and highly skilled. His inclusion in this group is clearly a ploy to eliminate him.

Furthermore, the competition format has been changed—the lowest scorer is eliminated directly, leaving no opportunity for mentors to protect their favorites.

Su Nianwei stood up and paced back and forth in the living room a few times.

"I'll go find Zhang Yang and see if we can discuss the group assignments—"

"Need not."

Su Nianwei stopped and looked back at Lin Buyi.

Lin Buyi sat on the sofa, his phone on his lap, his gaze calm.

"You can't interfere with the group assignments. Even if you could get Zhang Yang to change the group, Zhao Leiming and Wang Shaohui wouldn't agree. The more you help me, the more certain they'll be that I have powerful backers, and the more ruthless they'll become."

Su Nianwei opened her mouth, but couldn't say anything.

Because Lin Buyi is right.

"So what do you plan to do?" Her voice quickened.

Lin Buyi lowered his head and remained silent for a few seconds.

Then he looked up at Su Nianwei and suddenly smiled.

It was a laugh that came from being forced into a corner and then letting loose.

"They want to hear a death knell, so I'll sing them an epitaph."

Su Nianwei looked into Lin Buyi's eyes.

She didn't know what he meant by that. But she saw something in his eyes—fierceness.

Su Nianwei did not speak again.

Lin Buyi stood up, picked up his phone, and walked towards the basement.

Lin Buyi paused when he reached the top of the stairs.

"Senior."

"What?"

"I won't embarrass myself."

He finished speaking and went downstairs.

Su Nianwei stood in the living room, listening to his footsteps grow fainter and fainter.

She raised her hand and found that her palms were sweating again.

……

Second round of recording day.

Lin Buyi arrived very early, forty minutes earlier than the time required by the production team.

There weren't many people in the C group's backstage rest area yet. He placed his guitar on a chair in the corner, sat down, and began tuning it.

He plucked each string one by one, listening for pitch. The sanxian was slightly too high, so he turned the knob half a turn and played it again. This time it was right.

People started arriving one after another.

Staff members were moving in and out of the corridor; some were moving equipment, some were adjusting lights, and others were going over the procedures. The other contestants from Group C also appeared one after another.

Li Ang arrived. Tall, with short hair, wearing a black tight-fitting T-shirt that revealed the well-defined muscles in his arms. He was followed by his manager and two assistants, and immediately occupied the largest sofa in the lounge area.

His agent glanced at Lin Buyi and whispered something in his ear. Li Ang looked at Lin Buyi, nodded, and then looked away.

They didn't greet me. They didn't say anything.

Clearly, Lin Buyi wasn't considered someone who needed to be greeted.

Wang Ke arrived last. He was wearing sunglasses, dressed in trendy clothes, and carrying a huge sports bag. His management team consisted of four people: a makeup artist, a stylist, and a personal vocal coach.

As soon as he entered the rest area, Wang Ke's personal vocal coach began to do vocal exercises for him. "Ah—" "Hmm—" He went through various scales again and again.

Lin Buyi sat in the corner, making him even more inconspicuous in comparison to the grandeur of the occasion.

He was all alone. No agent, no assistant, no makeup artist. He wore a black hoodie and carried a guitar.

As Wang Ke's agent passed by, he spoke into his phone, his voice not deliberately lowered: "Don't worry, this group is safe. Aside from Zhou Qian, who's a bit of a threat, the others are nothing to worry about. And that amateur is a given; she's just there to be eliminated."

Lin Buyi heard it.

He didn't look up. His fingers continued to pluck the strings, fine-tuning the tension of the sixth string a little more.

Then Zhou Qian arrived.

Just like during the preliminary rounds, he was alone, without a team. He wore a black turtleneck sweater, large headphones around his neck, and held a bottle of mineral water in his hand.

When he entered the rest area, everyone's attention turned to him. Li Ang's agent stopped talking, and Wang Ke's vocal coach lowered the volume of his vocal exercises.

The fact that one person's presence can silence the entire room speaks volumes.

Zhou Qian sat down on a chair not far from Lin Buyi. The two were about three meters apart.

Zhou Qian unscrewed the bottle of mineral water, took a sip, and glanced at the rest area.

Finally, it stopped on Lin Buyi.

To be precise, it stopped on the guitar in his hand.

Lin Buyi looked up and met his gaze for a second.

Zhou Qian's gaze was different last time. Last time, backstage at the preliminary selection, her eyes showed disinterest.

This time, his gaze was calm and objective, carrying an assessment.

He is re-evaluating this person.

Because of "Sorrow".

That song prompted Fang Yizhou to say, "It's the best song of the day."

Zhou Qian was unconvinced. But he wouldn't deny Fang Yizhou's judgment—Fang Yizhou had been in this industry for twenty-five years, and his evaluation wasn't just empty talk.

So he needed to verify one thing with his own eyes: whether Lin Buyi was just lucky or if that thing really existed.

Lin Buyi understood his gaze.

The two stared at each other for less than two seconds. Zhou Qian looked away, put on her headphones, and closed her eyes.

Lin Buyi also lowered his head and continued tuning his guitar.