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

"Brother, my blood test results came back today. The doctor said the levels aren't quite right and they need to adjust my medication."

Lin Buyi's fingers, which were typing, stopped on the screen.

He stared at that line of text for three seconds, deleted what he was typing, and retyped: "Which indicator?"

Lin Qingxue replied after a while: "Don't worry, the doctor said it can be adjusted."

He didn't send any more WeChat messages, but directly called his attending physician, Director Zhang.

The phone rang four times before it was answered.

"Hello, Director Zhang, I am Lin Qingxue's brother, Lin Buyi."

"Oh, Mr. Lin." Director Zhang's voice carried a hint of weariness from the workday, but his tone was much heavier than Lin Qingxue had described. "I was also planning to talk to you today."

Lin Buyi gripped his phone tightly. "Please speak."

"Here's the thing, Qingxue's blood test results came back today. Her white blood cell count continues to drop, and the current treatment plan isn't working very well. If there's no improvement in next month's follow-up, we may need to consider surgery sooner rather than later."

"How far in advance?"

"It depends. At the latest... don't drag it out for more than two months."

Lin Buyi felt a bitter taste in his mouth. "What about the surgery fees?"

Director Zhang paused for a moment. "A conservative estimate is at least 400,000 yuan. But you need to be mentally prepared—if there's a rejection reaction after the surgery, the subsequent treatment costs could double."

Double. Eight hundred thousand.

"I understand." Lin Buyi's voice was devoid of emotion. "Thank you, Director Zhang."

"Mr. Lin, there's something I need to say." Director Zhang paused for a moment. "Qingxue is a very sensible child. After the report came out, she told me not to tell my brother, saying that adjusting the medication would be fine. I agreed to her, but I must inform the family truthfully."

Lin Buyi's throat bobbed. "I understand. I won't let her know you told me."

"Okay. Feel free to contact me anytime if you have any questions."

"it is good."

The phone hangs up.

Lin Buyi placed his phone face down on his lap, rested his head against the car window, and stared at the flashing streetlights outside.

Old Zhou glanced at him in the rearview mirror but didn't say anything.

The car drove for forty minutes.

Lin Buyi spent the entire forty minutes calculating accounts.

How much money does he have now? With the small amounts of money Su Nianwei gave him, plus the small subsidies during the competition, he has saved 340,000 yuan.

340,000.

They were 60,000 short of 400,000. But Director Zhang said that if there was rejection, the cost could double. 800,000. They were 460,000 short.

He must win the five million prize money.

But there are still at least two months until the finals.

Can Lin Qingxue afford to wait?

Lin Buyi closed his eyes, his fingers unconsciously clenching the fabric of his trousers.

He let go of the car's hand as it entered the villa area.

He picked up his phone and sent Lin Qingxue a message: "Go to sleep early, don't stay up late."

Lin Qingxue replied instantly: "Okay! You too, brother."

It was followed by a heart emoji.

Lin Buyi locked his phone and put it in his pocket.

Old Zhou parked his car in front of the villa.

"We've arrived, Mr. Lin."

"Thank you, Brother Zhou."

Lin Buyi got out of the car, carrying his guitar case, and walked through the villa gate.

The lights in the living room on the first floor were on.

Su Nianwei sat on the sofa with her laptop spread out on her lap, the screen filled with dense text and tables. She heard the door open and looked up.

"I'm back."

"Um."

Lin Buyi placed the guitar case on the shelf by the door and sat down opposite the sofa.

Su Nianwei closed her laptop and glanced at him.

"You don't look well. Are you tired?"

"good."

Su Nianwei didn't press him for details. She stood up, went to the kitchen, poured a glass of water, and placed it beside him.

"We're first in Group A today," she said.

"Did you watch the live stream?"

"I watched it from the VIP room." Su Nianwei sat back down, crossing her legs. "Your score of 93.2 is one point higher than Chen Jiahao's."

"One-tenth." Lin Buyi picked up the water and took a sip. "That's too little."

Su Nianwei looked at him.

This guy is perpetually chillingly clear-headed. Anyone else, coming back as the winner, would at least be overjoyed for a while. But him, his first words are, "Too little."

"You're still not satisfied with winning?"

"Winning by one point is practically the same as not winning at all. Wang Shaohui can easily wipe it all out in the next round with a little manipulation."

Su Nianwei didn't reply. Because what he said was the truth.

She looked at Lin Buyi for a while, then suddenly asked, "Is something wrong?"

Lin Buyi looked up at her.

"You've been acting strange ever since you walked in," Su Nianwei said. "Not the kind of strange that comes from being tired, but the kind that comes from having something on your mind."

This woman's observational skills are sometimes so accurate they're annoying.

Lin Buyi lowered his head to drink water and put the cup back on the table.

"It's nothing. You're overthinking the competition."

Su Nianwei stared at him for a few seconds, but didn't ask any further questions.

She turned her computer back on.

"Go to sleep early. We can talk about tomorrow's problems tomorrow."

Lin Buyi stood up and walked towards the basement.

He paused at the top of the stairs. Lin Buyi's figure faltered for a moment at the edge of Su Nianwei's field of vision.

Su Nianwei raised her head.

But Lin Buyi didn't turn around. He went down the stairs and closed the door behind him.

Su Nianwei stared at the closed door for a few seconds before looking away.

He has something to do.

She can tell.

But he wouldn't tell her, so she couldn't ask.

Su Nianwei looked down at the list of socially significant actions on her computer screen, paused for a moment on the keyboard, and then continued typing.

Zhao Leiming got home at 1 a.m.

His wife was waiting for him in the living room. She was sitting on the sofa in her pajamas, the TV was on but the sound was off, and the flickering light from the screen shone on her face.

"Why are you so late?"

"The recording is delayed."

Zhao Leiming hung his coat by the door and changed into slippers.

Seeing his pale face, his wife stood up and asked, "What happened?"

"It's okay. You go to sleep first."

His wife glanced at him, wanting to say something, but ultimately remained silent. She knew him too well—this man had been working in variety shows for twenty years, and she could tell when he was genuinely fine and when he had something on his mind but didn't want to talk about it.

"I've heated up some porridge for you; it's in the kitchen."

"Um."

His wife turned and went back to the bedroom. Zhao Leiming didn't go to the kitchen, but went straight to the study.

He sat in his swivel chair, turned on his computer, and pulled up the sample footage that Group A had recorded that day.

fast forward.

Skip Zhang Mingyu's part.

I watched Chen Jiahao's part for two minutes and then skipped it.

Shen Yihe, skip.

Wang Ke, skip.

Lin Buyi.

He pressed play.

The intro to a guitar begins. In the scene, a young man sits on a high stool, head down, his fingers slowly plucking the strings.

"Sunrise and sunset, deeper and deeper—"

Zhao Leiming turned the volume up a little.

He watched the entire performance. From the first sentence to the last, he didn't fast-forward a single frame.

After reading it, he took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes.

That song reminded him of some things.

He has been a variety show director for twenty years. When he first entered the industry, he worked on a folk music program. At that time, the contestants were all people who truly loved music. The stage was simple and the lighting was meager, but everyone who went on stage had a light in their eyes.