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

There was a very faint bluish tint under her eyes.

Didn't sleep well?

Lin Buyi didn't think much of it. He got dressed and went downstairs.

In the dining room, the servants had already prepared breakfast: millet porridge, steamed eggs, two side dishes, and a bowl of bird's nest soup—this bird's nest soup was arranged by Su Nianwei, who said it was to nourish his body. Lin Buyi drank it every morning; the taste wasn't great, but he wasn't picky.

He sat down and was eating when he heard footsteps on the stairs.

Su Nianwei came down.

She was wearing a gray loungewear set, her hair was still messy, and she hadn't washed her face.

You can tell he didn't sleep well.

She pulled out a chair and sat down at the other end of the dining table, and the maid immediately brought her a cup of black coffee.

The two sat facing each other eating breakfast. Su Nianwei held her coffee, took a sip, frowned, and forced herself to stay awake with the caffeine.

Lin Buyi finished the last bite of steamed egg, put down his chopsticks, and stood up.

"I'm going to practice singing in the basement. There are still a few days before the official stage recording, so I need to hurry."

Su Nianwei hummed in agreement without looking up.

Lin Buyi had already reached the top of the stairs.

"Junior student."

He stopped and looked back at her.

Su Nianwei held her coffee cup, head down, as if looking at the coffee inside.

She paused for a moment.

The pause lasted about two or three seconds.

Then what she said was very bland.

"I'll be there to watch the match. You... do a good job."

They didn't say "Keep it up".

There was no "You can definitely do it" statement.

There were no motivational or encouraging words.

But Lin Buyi understood.

"Hmm." He nodded, turned and went downstairs.

Su Nianwei watched his figure disappear around the corner of the stairs, then lowered her head and took a sip of coffee.

What she didn't see was that Lin Buyi paused for a few seconds at the corner of the stairs.

He muttered something under his breath.

"Why didn't this woman give me a hard time today?"

Then he shook his head and strode into the basement.

Su Nianwei returned to her bedroom after finishing breakfast.

Just as she was getting ready to wash up, her phone vibrated.

WeChat message.

She picked it up and looked at it—Li Mengqi.

Li Mengqi was one of her best friends from university; the two had known each other since their freshman year. Her family was well-off; her father was in real estate and had business dealings with the Su Group. They often went shopping and had afternoon tea together, chatting about gossip.

The message content is:

"Weiwei~ I heard you have a little wolfhound at home? When are you going to bring it out so we girls can see it?"

A smirking emoji followed.

Su Nianwei stared at the message, motionless.

She hadn't told anyone about Lin Buyi.

This was something she deliberately concealed. She knew very well what the consequences would be if the news of the eldest daughter of the Su family keeping a poor junior as a mistress got out.

Whether it's her social circle, her father's business circle, or the influence of her stepmother's side, each party could potentially use this incident to their advantage.

Therefore, from beginning to end, she did not mention a single word to anyone.

She even put a gag order on the maids and drivers.

How did Li Mengqi find out?

Su Nianwei's eyes turned cold for a moment.

She did not reply to the message.

I threw my phone onto the bed.

She stood in front of the dressing table, looking at herself in the mirror.

Several possibilities flashed through my mind.

Perhaps the maid or driver let it slip, or perhaps Li Mengqi heard the news through other channels.

Su Nianwei placed her fingers on the dressing table and tapped it lightly twice.

Another possibility is the relationship between Li Mengqi and her stepmother, Chen Fanghua.

On the surface, Li Mengqi was just her best friend. But Chen Fanghua had facilitated a crucial investment for Li Mengqi's father's real estate company. Su Nianwei had always known about this connection, but she hadn't taken it seriously before, thinking that business was business and friendship was friendship.

But now, the timing of this message is too coincidental.

Lin Buyi had just finished the preliminary selection. She had just secured a spot for him.

If someone is watching her, observing any unusual movements around her, then Lin Buyi's appearance would be a very obvious piece of evidence against her.

Su Nianwei took a deep breath.

She decided to refrain from making any response for the time being.

Observe first.

Let's see what Li Mengqi will post next.

……

Tianhai Entertainment Headquarters, 18th Floor.

In the office of chief director Zhao Leiming, the curtains were half drawn, and the afternoon sunlight shone through the gaps, casting a long strip of light on the floor.

Zhao Leiming sat behind his enormous desk, a stack of A4 papers spread out in front of him. It was the list of contestants who had passed the preliminary selection, thirty-two names, neatly arranged by group.

Two people were sitting opposite him. The assistant director, Liu Lei, was in his early thirties, tall and thin, wearing gold-rimmed glasses and carrying a laptop. The other was Chen Hao, the deputy director of Tianhai Entertainment's marketing department, in his forties, slightly overweight, wearing a dark blue polo shirt and looking rather casual.

Zhao Leiming traced the last line of the list twice with his finger.

"Thirty-two people passed the preliminary selection. Twenty-five were recommended by major companies, and among the remaining scattered candidates..." His finger stopped on that name, "Xue Xinghe used a special recommendation to slip in an amateur?"

He looked up at Liu Lei.

Liu Lei adjusted his glasses: "Yes, that Lin Buyi. Xue Xinghe surprisingly used his only special recommendation spot, which also surprised us."

"What's your background?"

"I checked." Liu Lei opened a document on his laptop. "Very clean. Just an ordinary college student, a junior majoring in finance. Both parents deceased, with a sick younger sister. Not signed with any agency, doesn't even have a decent social media account."

"Then how did he get in?" Zhao Leiming tapped his finger on the table. "The registration portal closed a long time ago."

"The supplementary registration channel," Liu Lei said. "I checked the approval records; it followed the normal process. The system shows it was an application for supplementary registration through the 'amateur' channel, and the approver was someone from Zhang Yang's side."

Zhao Leiming frowned.

Zhang Yang.

The senior vice president of Tianhai Entertainment is in charge of external cooperation and business operations. The approval process for supplementary recordings of a talent show shouldn't normally require someone of his level to handle it.

But what if someone greets you first?

Zhao Leiming has been in this industry for over twenty years and has seen all sorts of twists and turns. Those who get in through the supplementary admissions process usually have a story to tell. This Lin Buyi clearly lacks the necessary skills; he was rejected by two votes and passed by one in the initial selection. But how could a poor student with no connections possibly get through the supplementary admissions process after the application deadline?

It seems that it has a little bit of both.

"Did Zhang Yang say who made the contact?" Zhao Leiming asked.

Liu Lei shook his head: "I asked, but Zhang Yang didn't say. He only said it was 'a friend who asked,' but he couldn't reveal who it was."

Zhao Leiming sneered: "It's not convenient to disclose. Fine, then let's leave it at that for now."