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

"Do you know why I'm not afraid of losing face?" he said.

Shen Yihe shook her head.

"Because I have nothing left to lose."

Shen Yihe's mouth opened slightly.

"When a person has nothing, face is the least valuable thing." Lin Buyi looked down at the mineral water bottle. "I came to participate in this competition for the money. I said that on stage. Many people laughed at me, thinking I was vulgar. But that's really who I am. When I write songs, I don't need to consider what others think of me, because before winning the competition, I was nothing. What's there for someone who's nothing to be ashamed of?"

Shen Yihe looked at his profile.

The corridor lights were dim, casting a yellowish glow on his face that revealed the deep blues under his eyes. He was exhausted. But there was something in his eyes she had never seen before—not a sharpness, but a deep, long-suppressed determination.

"I..." Shen Yihe opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end she only said one sentence, "We all survived."

"Yes." Lin Buyi nodded. "You survived."

Shen Yihe smiled. This time it was a genuine smile. Not a forced, polite smile, but a smile that welled up from the bottom of her heart when she met someone like her when she was at her most exhausted.

The two sat in the corner of the corridor for a while longer.

No one spoke anymore. But the silence was comforting.

In this backstage area filled with agents, assistants, makeup artists, and PR teams, these two were the only ones who came alone. They had no team, no connections, and didn't even have a spare change of clothes.

They are the outliers in this competition.

But the outcasts also survived.

Shen Yihe took another sip of water and glanced at Lin Buyi.

A thought popped into her mind—this person is bound to go very far in the future.

It's not because he sings well. It's because he has something about him that makes you feel that no matter what's in his way, he'll silently overcome it.

"Well... I'll head back now." Shen Yihe stood up, brushing the dust off her pants. "We have to practice singing tomorrow. You should get some rest too."

"Um."

She turned and walked to the other end of the corridor. After a few steps, she turned back.

"Lin Buyi"

"What?"

"Let's survive the next round together."

"it is good."

Shen Yihe smiled, waved, and left.

Lin Buyi leaned against the wall, watching her figure disappear around the corner of the corridor.

He looked down at the mineral water bottle.

The bottle still retained a little warmth.

In this cold arena, this bottle of water was probably the warmest thing he received all day.

He finished drinking the water and put the empty bottle on the ground.

Then he took out his phone, ready to call Lao Zhou to pick him up.

The phone vibrated before I could even dial.

WeChat.

Su Nianwei.

He clicked on it and took a look.

Only one line of text:

"Finished recording? Let's go back to the villa immediately. I don't want to wait too long."

Lin Buyi held his phone and stared at the line of text for three seconds.

He glanced in the direction Shen Yihe had disappeared, then looked down at the message on the screen, before putting away his phone, standing up, picking up his guitar, and walking toward the parking lot.

When the villa door was opened, only one light was on in the living room.

Su Nianwei sat on the sofa, legs crossed, holding a glass of red wine.

Her gaze was fixed on Lin Buyi the moment he pushed the door open and entered.

It wasn't the usual lazy, teasing view. It was a scrutiny—cold and sharp, examining something.

Lin Buyi closed the door and placed the guitar case next to the entrance.

"You're back?" Su Nianwei asked, swirling her wine glass.

"Um."

Lin Buyi changed his shoes and walked into the living room. He was truly exhausted; after a whole day, both his body and mind were completely drained. All he wanted to do now was take a shower and then lie down.

But looking at Su Nianwei's expression, he knew that tonight wouldn't be easy.

"How was the match today?" Su Nianwei asked, taking a sip of her drink.

"Passed. 83.5 points."

"I know you went too far." Su Nianwei put down her wine glass. "I watched the whole thing from the VIP room."

Lin Buyi paused for a moment.

She did go.

"Your song—" Su Nianwei paused, opened her mouth, and then closed it again.

Lin Buyi waited for her to finish speaking.

But she didn't say anything. She changed direction.

How long did you stay backstage after recording?

That was a completely abrupt question. Lin Buyi didn't think too much about it and answered truthfully, "About half an hour. I rested in the corridor for a while."

"Are you resting alone?"

Lin Buyi paused for a moment. He keenly grasped the meaning behind those words.

Su Nianwei didn't ask casually.

"Shen Yihe came to see me," he said. "He handed me a bottle of water and we chatted for a bit."

"oh."

Su Nianwei's tone was very flat.

When she repeated those three words after we'd talked for a couple of minutes, they sounded exactly the same as the original, but the meaning was completely different.

Lin Buyi's inner alarm bells went off.

He knew Su Nianwei. The more casually this woman spoke, the more dangerous she was.

"Is she also in Group C?" Su Nianwei leaned back on the sofa, twirling her wine glass absentmindedly with her fingers.

"No. She was from another group. She came over and talked to me for a bit after the competition."

"What did you say?"

"Congratulations on advancing" or something similar.

"That's all?"

Lin Buyi looked at Su Nianwei.

He now has two choices. One is to repeat every word of his conversation with Shen Yihe to prove his innocence. The other is to offer no explanation.

Explaining only leads to defeat. He learned a lesson from his past life in a company—the more you explain, the more passive you become.

"That's all," he said.

Su Nianwei stared at him for several seconds.

Then she laughed.

That smile wasn't pretty. The corners of her mouth were curved, but there was no warmth in her eyes.

"Junior, I saw it all clearly on the monitor in the VIP room. When she handed you water, you took it. You smiled. When have you ever smiled at anyone like that?"

Lin Buyi did not respond.

"You can even laugh now?" Su Nianwei stood up and walked up to him. "Have you forgotten how many times I've told you? You're not allowed to get too close to anyone during the competition. Do you know what they'll write if someone takes a picture of you interacting with other female contestants and posts it online?"

This sounds like he's worried about his reputation.

But Lin Buyi knew that wasn't the case.

She didn't care about his reputation. She cared about something else.

"Senior, you're overthinking it." His voice was very restrained. "It was just a few words between two players in the same competition, nothing serious."

Su Nianwei walked up to him, less than half a step away.

She looked up at him—even in high heels, she was still half a head shorter than him—and her eyes held a complex expression.

"When you sang that song on stage today," her voice suddenly lowered, "the whole audience was crying. You know that?"

The topic jumped too suddenly. Lin Buyi didn't have time to react.