If the previous promises of making him a superstar and launching him from the C position were just tricks to confuse him, then what on earth is Tui Buliu’s behavior now?

At such a critical moment, Tui Buliu’s actions have seriously infringed on Lin Su’s interests.

In Hui Ji’s memory, Tui Buliu should have been aligned with the program group’s attitude, staying out of it, or taking a stance of supporting reason over kinship, reprimanding him for bullying teammates.

But now, Tui Buliu has smoothed out all the troubles for him…

Hui Ji stared fixedly at Tui Buliu, suddenly feeling an unprecedented sense of unfamiliarity.

“I’m your manager,” Tui Buliu retorted, “If I don’t help you, who will?”

He said it so matter-of-factly, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

Does Tui Buliu really think this way?

Hui Ji couldn’t believe it. He stared intently into those pitch-black eyes, trying to find mockery, concealment, deceit… or any related emotion.

But he failed.

Tui Buliu looked at him calmly, with genuine concern in his eyes.

He didn’t want this inexplicable concern.

Hui Ji was stung by Tui Buliu’s gaze, awkwardly shifting his eyes away, pretending to be indifferent, “I don’t need you to worry, I have my own ways!”

“You have ways?” Tui Buliu seemed angry, suddenly grabbing Hui Ji’s tie, almost pressing against his nose to question, “I haven’t asked you yet, who told you to set up this scheme on your own?”

Hui Ji turned his face away, almost not daring to meet his gaze, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Tui Buliu frowned, “Do I need to recount your glorious deeds?”

“Go ahead,” Hui Ji chuckled lightly, speaking nonchalantly, “Let’s hear it.”

Tui Buliu: “When choosing team members, you deliberately chose Jiang Yitian, who wanted to be in Lin Su’s group. Then, when he trained passively, you pretended to be angry, making him think he provoked you, thus fabricating the false fact of you bullying teammates.”

“And when rumors spread in the program group about you bullying teammates, you not only didn’t stop it, but actively let the situation escalate.”

“Finally, on the day of your performance, the internet exploded with hot searches about your bullying, and you received the lowest score in this performance… From start to finish, this was all your scheme, wasn’t it?”

In the dimly lit corridor with no one passing by, Tui Buliu slowly circled Hui Ji’s tie with his right hand, then pressed his palm against Hui Ji’s chest, pushing him against the wall with each word.

Dominant, and indisputable.

The person being questioned suddenly laughed.

“So what if it was me?” Hui Ji showed no sign of being cornered, lowering his head to press against Tui Buliu’s nose, speaking almost maliciously, “I did it on purpose. I deliberately set a trap to lure them in, deliberately let Jiang Yitian frame me, let the program group do nothing, even if the audience voted to give me low scores.”

“When everyone is cursing me for bullying teammates and telling me to get out of the entertainment industry, I’ll release the unedited video, proving that I’m the victim.”

As the words fell, the entire corridor fell into silence. Tui Buliu quietly looked at him, his eyes deep and unreadable.

Finally, Tui Buliu asked, “So you want to trigger the audience’s guilt through a reversal of public opinion, sacrificing this ranking to achieve a retaliatory high score in the next performance?”

“That’s right,” Hui Ji said coldly, “Everything was done deliberately by me.”

“But why?” Tui Buliu couldn’t understand, “With your ability, even without doing this, you could debut from the C position based on your strength.”

Hui Ji was silent for a long time before speaking nonchalantly, “No reason, just couldn’t stand them, wanted revenge.”

Tui Buliu didn’t speak again, seemingly lost in thought.

“What, scared?” Hui Ji sneered, his expression mocking, “Regretting helping someone as rotten as me? If you’re scared, then stay away from me. I’ve never been a good person.”

“You mentioned revenge,” Tui Buliu asked, “Did they hurt you before?”

The sarcasm on Hui Ji’s face froze, becoming hard, then shattered piece by piece.

“Ridiculous guess,” after a long time, Hui Ji finally returned to normal, sneering with disdain, “I advise you to watch fewer nonsensical dramas, or you wouldn’t come to such a ridiculous conclusion.”

“You think it’s ridiculous?” Tui Buliu looked up at Hui Ji, a storm hidden in his calm eyes, “But I just feel angry.”

Hui Ji shrugged, indifferent, “Blame me?”

“I don’t agree with your self-destructive behavior,” Tui Buliu wasn’t angered by his attitude, simply saying, “If you want revenge, you should take a more precise and appropriate approach.”

“You…” Hui Ji almost couldn’t maintain his facade, “Aren’t you going to stop me? Don’t you think this is a terrible behavior?”

“It seems you still have a misunderstanding about my role,” Tui Buliu shook his head, seemingly a bit disappointed, “I’ve said before, I’m your manager, my goal is to get you to debut from the C position. As for your personal matters, I won’t interfere too much. Of course, as long as it’s not illegal.”

Hui Ji frowned, his face dark and terrifying.

“This matter is also my fault,” Tui Buliu sighed, speaking slowly, “I was too focused on dealing with the predetermined C position and ignored the threats from other competitors.”

“It’s not related to you,” Hui Ji seemed to finally come to his senses, turning his face away, speaking stiffly, “Even without you, they would have dealt with me.”

“But I didn’t foresee the crisis in advance,” Tui Buliu shook his head, admitting, “I failed in my duty as a manager, couldn’t protect you.”

Protect him?

Hui Ji stared at Tui Buliu in disbelief, almost unable to believe what he heard, “What did you just say? You… you want to protect me?”

“Why are you so surprised?” Tui Buliu was a bit puzzled, “Protecting artists is part of a manager’s job.”

Seeing Hui Ji still staring at him blankly, Tui Buliu realized that You You Entertainment’s onboarding training was so poor that artists didn’t even understand the basic concept.

Tui Buliu was a bit displeased, but didn’t take it out on Hui Ji, just said calmly, “Besides coordinating performances and endorsements, managers also solve life and work problems for artists, ensuring they aren’t attacked by external public opinion. We handle all sorts of work and trivial matters for artists, creating a space for you to focus on creation, bringing better art to the world.”

What kind of international joke is this?

Hui Ji had never heard of such a notion.

Maybe he had heard of it, but never dared to hope for such a cooperative relationship.

Artists aren’t tools for companies and managers to make money, not puppets on strings, not on-call drinking companions… They are independent individuals, with free and independent creative space, able to bring better art to the world.

Is this how Tui Buliu sees artists?

Does that mean he would treat him this way too? Can he live like this?

Hui Ji tried to calm himself down, but his heart raced uncontrollably.

“So next time you encounter something like this, tell me in advance,” Tui Buliu’s voice came again, like a devil’s whisper, tempting him to jump into the abyss, “We’ll solve the problem together.”

The sun outside gradually set, a beam of sunlight pierced through the window frame into the corridor, illuminating the dark corner where they stood.

Tui Buliu looked up at him in the sunlight, his eyelashes distinct, pupils clear and bright, like some precious black gemstone.

The sunlight passed over his body, casting irregular halos on the white wall, as if stirred by an invisible hand.

Hui Ji clenched his fists tightly, looking down at Tui Buliu, his Adam’s apple rolling heavily.

Can he trust him?

Is Tui Buliu trustworthy?

Hui Ji wavered, but soon, the scene of being betrayed by his manager in the previous life resurfaced in his mind, reminding him how fragile such trust is.

But they are different now, this life’s Tui Buliu is completely different, a different person from the manager of the previous life.

And he did help him…

Even if he tried his best to warn himself, another voice in his heart still took the absolute upper hand.

So as a reward for this help, trusting Tui Buliu once isn’t a problem, right?

Just this once.

Hui Ji opened his mouth, finding himself unable to make a sound.

“I…”

“Long time no see!” Suddenly, a sickly sweet voice came from afar, “Here to see me? Former manager.”

It was like a bucket of cold water poured over him, Hui Ji’s body quickly cooled down, along with his overheated head.

Tui Buliu glanced at him, his attitude suddenly stern, “Don’t flatter yourself, I’m not here to see you.”

“So cold,” Lin Su didn’t seem to mind, smiling, “I guessed you’d come to the set today, looks like I was right.”

Tui Buliu was displeased at being interrupted, coldly asking, “What do you want?”

“Well,” Lin Su walked over, bringing a floral scent, “I have something to discuss with you.”

The floral scent was blown by the set’s cold air, becoming more intense, mixed with the smell of sweat, almost making Hui Ji nauseous.

“I’m leaving.”

Hui Ji snapped back to reality, almost awkwardly pushing Tui Buliu away.

Tui Buliu: “Hui Ji.”

But Hui Ji didn’t look back, quickly disappearing at the end of the corridor.

He must have been bewitched just now, falling into such wishful thinking.

So what if Tui Buliu really helped him once? Can he guarantee to always stand by his side?

Since he can’t, it’s better as if it never existed.