BibTeX does not work with relative path, but using absolute path, it works

What should I do to run bibtex with relative path?

I put a .tex file and a .bib file in same directory.

I use the following two cases to run bibtex, one is described with relative path and the other is absolute path. I am not sure, but I guess relative path is required for submission. When I submit my paper, I guess, compilation on web is required and if I use the absolute path, it dose not success. I reinstalled tex of ver. 2020, but it did not change anything.

Even if I put .bib file in path C:texlivetexmf-localbibtexbiblocal, the code bibliography{} with ralative path did not work.

1. relative path

bibliography{hoge}

2. absolute path

  bibliography{C:/Users/81909/Desktop/SeptFinalWork2020Sept/hoge}

If I use the former (1. relative path), then the following error occurred.

This is BibTeX, Version 0.99d (TeX Live 2020/W32TeX)
The top-level auxiliary file: test.aux
The style file: elsarticle-num-names.bst
I couldn't open database file hoge.bib
---line 26 of file test.aux
 : bibdata{hoge
 :              }
I'm skipping whatever remains of this command
I found no database files---while reading file test.aux
Warning--I didn't find a database entry for "Villani"
Warning--I didn't find a database entry for "Burago"
Warning--I didn't find a database entry for "Gromov"
Warning--I didn't find a database entry for "Flores"
(There were 2 error messages)

---

According to Where should I put bibfile.bib to use it directly in bibliography{bibfile}?,
I inserted the line BIBINPUTS = .;$TEXMF/bibtex/bib// in the file texmf.cnf located in C:texlive2020texmf.cnf and then run the code mktexlsr on command prompt to reflect the modification of texmf.cnf.

Contents of my texmf.cnf is the following which is in the pathC:texlive2020texmf.cnf

 % (Public domain.)
% This texmf.cnf file should contain only your personal changes from the
% original texmf.cnf (for example, as chosen in the installer).
%
% That is, if you need to make changes to texmf.cnf, put your custom
% settings in this file, which is .../texlive/YYYY/texmf.cnf, rather than
% the distributed file (which is .../texlive/YYYY/texmf-dist/web2c/texmf.cnf).
% And include *only* your changed values, not a copy of the whole thing!
%
OSFONTDIR = $SystemRoot/fonts//
BIBINPUTS = .;$TEXMF/bibtex/bib//

% Prefer external Perl for third-party TeXLive Perl scripts
% Was set to 1 if at install time a sufficiently recent Perl was detected.
TEXLIVE_WINDOWS_TRY_EXTERNAL_PERL = 0

I have struggled for several days, but I cannot get any solution. I am a beginner of TeX.