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

"Some people said he was just an ordinary person there to make up the numbers, but they were proven wrong!"

"The lyrics are amazing. He's only twenty-one?"

Su Nianwei scrolled through the messages one by one.

After scrolling for about ten minutes, she exited Weibo and opened the search bar.

His fingers hesitated for a moment on the virtual keyboard, then typed five words: Lin Buyi, Xiaochou.

A whole bunch of search results popped up instantly.

She clicked on each article one by one to read them.

Some people are analyzing the deeper meaning of the lyrics, some are speculating about Lin Buyi's background, and some are digging into his school and major—this made Su Nianwei's heart tighten, but fortunately no one has connected him with her yet.

She closed the search page and switched back to Weibo to check the changes in the trending topics rankings.

Lin Buyi's topic has risen from eighteenth to twelfth place.

It's rising too fast.

Su Nianwei leaned back in the back seat, the light from her phone screen reflecting on her face.

She was thinking about two things at the same time.

First thing: This man might actually have the ability to win the championship.

The second point: the greater the popularity, the greater the risk, and the more people will be eyeing him.

She glanced at the trending topics list again.

Tenth place.

Su Nianwei turned her phone over and placed it face down on her knee, then closed her eyes.

The city lights outside the car window flashed by.

Tianhai Entertainment Headquarters.

The office of chief director Zhao Leiming was still lit.

The computer screen in front of him displayed a background data monitoring system.

The real-time ranking of trending topics, the amount of discussion on social media, and the video playback data—all the numbers were skyrocketing, and at a rate far exceeding his expectations.

Even before the show officially aired, clips secretly filmed by viewers had already propelled several trending topics into the top ten of the hot search list.

Zhao Leiming stared at the data curve of the three characters "Lin Buyi" on the screen, his expression complex.

He has been working on variety shows for twenty years, from the earliest singing competitions to the later talent show craze, and he has seen all kinds of scenes.

But he had never encountered a situation where a non-celebrity who was rejected by two votes in a supplementary recording went viral online before the official broadcast due to on-site paparazzi footage.

He picked up his phone and scrolled through the WeChat work groups.

Assistant director Liu Lei sent a message: "Director Zhao, the trending search data is continuing to rise, and the discussion volume of several topics is accelerating. Should we contact the platform to guide this trend?"

Zhao Leiming did not reply to the message.

He glanced at another chat window—it was Wang Shaohui's private WeChat account.

The previous message was from Wang Shaohui yesterday: "Jiahao performed well. Edit the first episode as I suggested, focusing on Jiahao."

Zhao Leiming replied, "Okay, Mr. Wang."

The problem now is that he needs to report the situation on Lin Buyi's side.

He thought about his words for a moment, then dialed Wang Shaohui's number.

The phone rang three times before it was answered.

"What is it?" Wang Shaohui's voice was devoid of emotion.

"Mr. Wang, Lin Buyi, the amateur contestant who joined us for the re-enrollment, performed beyond expectations during today's recording." Zhao Leiming carefully chose his words. "The audience's reaction was extremely strong, and the secretly filmed video has already spread online, with several related topics making it into the top ten trending searches. We may need to reassess our subsequent arrangements."

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone.

Zhao Leiming could hear a slight tapping sound coming from Wang Shaohui's side—it was his habitual tapping of the table with his fingers.

Then Wang Shaohui spoke, his voice cold and flat: "He's just an ordinary person. Don't panic, and don't give him too much screen time. I'll arrange for someone to handle this in the next round."

Zhao Leiming's fingers tightened slightly.

He opened his mouth as if to say something—for example, if the popularity of this contestant is not handled well, it may cause a backlash from the audience, or Fang Yizhou and Xue Xinghe have given extremely high praise, and pressing down the camera might offend the judges—but he swallowed his words back.

"I understand," he said.

The phone hangs up.

Zhao Leiming sat in his office, holding his phone, staring at the data still flashing on the computer screen, and remained silent for a long time.

late at night.

Su Nianwei's villa.

Only one light was on in the living room.

Su Nianwei leaned back on the sofa. On the coffee table in front of her was an empty wine bottle and a glass, with a little dark red wine still remaining at the bottom of the glass.

She held her phone in her hand, the screen displaying Weibo's trending topics.

Lin Buyi has already reached seventh place.

She wasn't browsing Weibo.

To be precise, she had been looking at it for a long time, but her eyes were unfocused and she wasn't really paying attention to the content.

The lyrics I kept hearing in the VIP room that afternoon kept replaying in my mind: "The most absurd people are the ones who are sober."

She kept pondering those words.

There was a knock at the door.

Su Nianwei paused slightly and raised her head.

Lin Buyi pushed open the door and walked in.

He was still wearing that black hoodie, and the guitar case on his back was placed next to the entrance.

He looked tired, with obvious weariness in his eyes, but his overall demeanor was relaxed—unlike his usual tense and guarded state in the villa.

The two looked at each other.

Su Nianwei opened her mouth.

What is she trying to say?

Singing well? Too perfunctory.

You've surprised me today? That's so cheesy, and she would never say something like that.

Did my hands shake when you were on stage? That's even less likely.

She went through several options in her mind, but ultimately rejected them all.

"Have you eaten? There's some food left for you in the kitchen."

Just this one sentence.

Lin Buyi looked at her.

He noticed the empty wine bottle on the coffee table—the whole bottle of red wine was gone.

He also noticed that Su Nianwei's eyes were slightly red, though very lightly, it was completely different from her usual cold and aloof demeanor.

She would never admit that she was moved to tears by the song.

A strange thought suddenly popped into Lin Buyi's mind: this woman wasn't as annoying as he had imagined.

"I ate it," he said.

"Oh." Su Nianwei looked away and continued scrolling through her phone.

Lin Buyi walked past the sofa, his footsteps very light.

As he passed behind her, he glanced down at her phone screen.

The above is Weibo's search page. The search term entered in the search box is: "Lin Buyi Xiaochou".

He didn't say anything, continued walking, and went into the bathroom.

A very soft click came from behind her—it was the sound of Su Nianwei turning off her phone screen, followed by a rustling sound.

As Lin Buyi closed the bathroom door, he could vaguely see Su Nianwei's figure in the living room through the frosted glass on the door—she had buried her face in the cushions on the sofa.

He stood in the bathroom and glanced at himself in the mirror.

The person in the mirror had messy hair, dark circles under their eyes, and a face that looked thinner than a month ago, but their eyes were bright.

Lin Buyi turned on the tap and washed his face with cold water.

The water was very cold, and when it splashed on his face, his mind became completely clear.

It's over.

But this is just the beginning.

Lin Buyi slept until 10 a.m.

This was the deepest sleep he had ever had since he transmigrated to this world.

Yesterday's stage performance was extremely taxing.

It's not just about physical strength—after singing a whole song under the lights, the physical fatigue can be relieved by taking a shower.