Chapter 17

Su Xingyao was wearing a mascot costume with the headgear on.

His entire body was covered, and his shape and appearance had no relation to his original self.

Therefore, even though Fu Qingyan, who had once been very familiar with him, was now standing less than 20 centimeters away, he didn’t recognize him at all.

Fu Qingyan treated Su Xingyao as a stranger and politely apologized on behalf of his bodyguard.

Hearing Fu Qingyan’s words, the bodyguard who had hurriedly bumped into Su Xingyao earlier quickly stepped forward and apologized, saying he hadn’t noticed someone was there.

The trouble had been caused by the bodyguard, and the apology came directly from Fu Qingyan.

Compared to many arrogant celebrities in the industry who always feel superior to others, Fu Qingyan, already an award-winning actor, handled this situation very appropriately.

If someone ordinary had been inside the mascot costume, they would have surely accepted the apology and praised the actor for his manners.

However, Su Xingyao was thinking about something else in his mind.

He had to remember not to speak without a voice changer on.

He couldn’t risk revealing himself.

Fu Qingyan was such a smart person that if he spoke, Fu Qingyan would definitely recognize his voice.

Although Fu Qingyan was someone Su Xingyao didn’t want to meet, his silence wasn’t due to fear of facing him, it was because he didn’t want to lose his disguise before even going on stage.

From the direction Fu Qingyan had walked earlier, Su Xingyao felt he was probably heading to the recording of The Voice of Heaven.

Realizing this, Su Xingyao didn’t focus too much on Fu Qingyan and simply raised his hand to gesture that he was fine.

When Fu Qingyan saw that Su Xingyao wouldn’t speak, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.

He, who was always gentle and considerate toward everyone, didn’t press the matter. Instead, he gave a friendly smile to the “mute” person and turned to leave.

Su Xingyao watched Fu Qingyan’s back as he walked away.

As he had guessed, Fu Qingyan was indeed heading toward the entrance of The Voice of Heaven.

Next, Fu Qingyan would likely be recording the show with him.

Realizing this, Su Xingyao wasn’t too worried.

He was in urgent need of water, so he went to find a nearby vending machine.

After buying a bottle of mineral water and resting under a tree for a while, he took out the entry pass the show team had sent him in advance and walked toward the building.

His attire was a bit strange, but fortunately, the staff only gave him a few curious glances.

After confirming his identity, they let him pass smoothly.

Since he brought his own costume, Su Xingyao skipped the makeup process and went straight to finding Xiao Li to get the voice changer the production team had prepared for him.

He found a quiet spot and placed the voice changer inside the mascot costume.

“Hello, hello.”

Su Xingyao switched on the voice changer and tested it, finding that his voice had been transformed into a more ethereal and cold tone.

His original voice was warm and gentle.

It had a tone that wasn’t too distant but also not too casual, making it sound perfectly comfortable when speaking.

However, the voice changer altered his natural tone, masking the softness in his voice with a mechanical sound, turning it into a cold and beautiful tone.

Su Xingyao, who had been prepared for the production team to choose a common, deep male voice for him, was quite satisfied with this result.

After getting used to his new voice, he headed to the contestant waiting area.

With a few hours still to go before the official recording, most of the contestants hadn’t finished their makeup.

Since Su Xingyao didn’t need to do anything, he was the first to arrive.

In the vast room, apart from a few staff members occasionally walking around, he was the only contestant present.

Looking at the empty space, he casually sat down in a nearby spot, took out his phone and headphones, and prepared to listen to some music to pass the time.

However, when he opened his phone, he realized that half an hour ago, Lu Jiuxu had actually sent him a message.

Lu Jiuxu: Have you arrived?

Su Xingyao quickly typed a reply.

【Just arrived】

After sending it, he set his phone up, took a photo of the empty room, and sent it to Lu Jiuxu.

However, the signal here didn’t seem very good. The photo was sent very slowly.

As the photo reached 76% of the upload, Lu Jiuxu had already replied.

Lu Jiuxu: What time does it start?

【Around two o’clock】

Lu Jiuxu: Have you eaten?

【Yes, I’ve eaten】

After sending this, Su Xingyao noticed that there was no further response for a moment.

Just as he was wondering whether to find a topic to talk about, Lu Jiuxu began typing again.

Lu Jiuxu: Why are you the only one there?

When Su Xingyao saw Lu Jiuxu’s message, he realized that the previously stuck photo had finally been sent.

He also understood that the reason Lu Jiuxu hadn’t replied earlier was because he was looking at the photo…

【They’re still doing makeup, I don’t need it】

After sending this, Su Xingyao habitually added an emoji.

【Cat wagging its tail.jpg】

The cat in the emoji was Coral. Su Xingyao had found the short video Coral had filmed and thought it was incredibly cute, so he made it into an emoji to use for himself.

A few seconds after Su Xingyao sent the cute Coral emoji, he saw that Lu Jiuxu had quickly replied with a photo of Coral.

However, it was a photo that Lu Jiuxu had taken of Coral.

In the photo, there was also Sunset, who was busy trying to intrude into the frame.

Lu Jiuxu: He wants to wish you good luck.

Su Xingyao quickly enlarged the photo.

Through the screen, he could see the looks of Sunset and Coral looking at him.

Looking at the adorable cat and dog, Su Xingyao’s mind wandered back to the words Lu Jiuxu had said, and his lips unknowingly curled into a smile.

The mood, which had been a bit dull from the wait, lightened considerably.

While Su Xingyao was chatting with Lu Jiuxu, a staff member walked up to him.

“Excuse me, could you please place your phone in this bag? For the privacy of today’s recording, we kindly ask you to hand over your phone. You will get it back after the program is finished.”

The staff member also handed him a card to use when retrieving the phone later.

Su Xingyao glanced at the staff member and quickly typed a reply.

【The staff asked for the phone.】

After sending it, before turning off his phone, he couldn’t help but glance at the screen.

He saw the last five words Lu Jiuxu had sent.

Lu Jiuxu: Good luck in the competition.

Such simple five words, yet when Su Xingyao saw them, he felt a strange emotion.

To an ordinary person, this message wouldn’t mean much.

But the seemingly ordinary concern, this was the first time he had experienced it.

He had never really participated in many competitions growing up.

Aside from today, the only time was when he participated in a physics competition in high school.

But that time, until he brought the trophy home, his parents didn’t realize they had forgotten to come to the venue to cheer him on.

At first, he didn’t think much of it, and even found it a bit exaggerated when he saw other contestants at the competition who had their parents accompanying them.

But now, he understood.

Actually, parents coming to the event wasn’t because their child wasn’t independent, but because they cared about their child.

Because they cared, they would remember and make sure to be there.

Just like today’s competition, Lu Jiuxu’s timely message and those few words, especially the simple “Good luck,” made him experience the feeling of being cared for for the first time.

It was strange, but comforting.

“Is anyone here?”

As Su Xingyao was deep in thought, a slightly cute voice rang out beside him.

He looked up and saw a cute young boy, whose large doe-like eyes were fixed on him, not blinking.

Realizing that the boy was asking him, Su Xingyao quickly shook his head.

“No one is here. Do you want to sit here?”

The moment Su Xingyao spoke, the boy’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Wow, your voice…”

The young man’s tone carried an unmistakable mix of shock and excitement.

The person in front of him, dressed in an adorable cat costume, was already eye-catching, but his voice, with a slightly mechanical, ethereal, and cold beauty, made an even more striking contrast!

The combination of the two was absolutely mesmerizing!

“Your voice is so nice. Did you use a voice changer?”

The boy quickly sat down next to Su Xingyao and asked curiously.

The sound of a voice changer was easily recognizable, so Su Xingyao didn’t avoid it and nodded.

“Yes.”

The boy gave a thumbs-up to Su Xingyao when he received a confirmation.

“Bro, you’re so cool!”

The praise wasn’t just something he said, he seemed to genuinely like Su Xingyao’s cat costume. After getting Su Xingyao’s permission, he cautiously reached out to touch the soft fur on his arm.

“This design is so unique. I haven’t seen anything like this on the market.”

“I designed it myself.”

The boy was once again stunned.

“You designed it yourself? No wonder it’s so exquisite! Bro, you’re amazing!”

After saying this, he couldn’t resist and reached out to touch Su Xingyao’s ear.

“Ahhh, it looks so good! Too bad my phone was taken by the production team, so I can’t take a photo with you.”

After thinking for a moment, he stretched out both hands and mimed taking a photo in the air, pretending to take a “snap” with Su Xingyao.

“Looks like we’ll have to take a manual photo for now.”

The way the boy pretended to take a picture was so amusing that Su Xingyao couldn’t help but laugh at his antics.

As they were talking, most of the other contestants in the waiting area had arrived.

By now, several people were sitting in the row in front of Su Xingyao.

Since the seats in the first two rows weren’t far apart, many people overheard the conversation between him and the boy.

Just as Song Yingming had guessed earlier.

Although the contestants on this show are not singers or celebrities, most of them still have a desire to become more famous through the program, aside from a small group like Su Xingyao, who simply loves music and wants to showcase and learn from others.

Among the contestants, many are relatively well-known online singers or internet celebrities, and they all carry some degree of ambition in their hearts.

So far, this ambition has mostly shown in their makeup and styling.

Some of the more famous internet personalities didn’t use the program’s unified makeup artists, instead bringing their own stylists.

They either styled themselves to look both handsome and beautiful, full of star quality, or they chose unconventional styles that made them stand out in a way that no one else could follow.

In short, they did whatever they could to make sure they’d be remembered at first sight.

However, despite all their effort, their elaborate styles were easily overshadowed by Su Xingyao in his costume.

Once he wore the costume, anyone sitting there would immediately attract all the attention.

And that’s exactly how it was.

Ever since Su Xingyao sat down, every contestant who entered couldn’t help but look up and take a good look at him.

Because of his distinctive outfit, it inevitably made some people start to maliciously speculate about his intentions.

For instance, the two people sitting in front of him started to gossip when they heard him speaking with a voice changer.

“Ugh, he’s really going all out for the camera.”

“Yeah, using a voice changer, who would think of that…”

“With all this preparation, if he doesn’t aim for the championship, it’d be hard to justify.”

They kept mocking him, occasionally letting out a few sneers of disdain.

It seemed like they were deliberately speaking loud enough for Su Xingyao to hear, showing no intention of lowering their voices.

“Hehe, you see, some people even brought their own stylist. What’s with all this complexity? Look at this guy, so sneaky.”

“Hahaha, it’s pretty clever, though, but funny. At first, I thought the program group had hired him as a mascot to cheer us on.”

The more they discussed, the more absurd their remarks became. Under their mockery, not only Su Xingyao but also many of the surrounding contestants started looking his way.

Some were less subtle, directly pointing at him with their fingers.

Sensing the various looks from everyone, the young man sitting next to Su Xingyao rolled his eyes.

He quickly sat down next to Su Xingyao and tried to comfort him, “Don’t mind them. I think your outfit is really cool. The program didn’t say we couldn’t wear a mascot costume, so I don’t know what they’re complaining about.”

Su Xingyao had been the target of malicious comments online ever since his debut, and there was even a time when people threw eggs and stones at him.

With those past experiences, Su Xingyao had long grown used to these kinds of discussions.

Although he didn’t care about the malicious gossip and speculation, the fact that this stranger took the time to defend and comfort him made Su Xingyao feel unexpectedly touched.

He nodded toward him and softly said, “Thank you.”

Originally, Su Xingyao wanted to ask the young man’s name, but the program had a confidentiality agreement in place, which required everyone to keep their identities secret during the first episode’s recording. Even if people recognized each other, they were not allowed to mention each other’s identities on the show.

So, Su Xingyao didn’t ask the young man’s name.

The young man didn’t ask either.

He was dressed very cutely, had a lively personality, and talked a lot.

Once he sat down, he kept chatting with Su Xingyao non-stop.

At one point, he even pulled out a little cat plush from his bag and directly hung it on Su Xingyao’s clothes.

“Alright, everyone, please be quiet.”

The young man was about to say something else when he was interrupted by the staff, who suddenly came in.

“To ensure fairness, the order of the contestants for today’s preliminary round will be decided by a draw. I will bring over the drawing box now, and each of you will take turns drawing your number.”

As soon as the staff finished speaking, they pushed out a blind box machine.

All the numbers were placed in the blind box, and everyone just had to spin it once, causing a box with a number inside to drop.

The program’s director, Director Song, had a well-known reputation for loving blind boxes, which Su Xingyao had heard about.

He didn’t expect to see it firsthand and participate so soon.

Once the staff finished speaking, several people quickly went up to draw their numbers.

Since Su Xingyao’s spot was further away and he didn’t like to join the crowd, he waited until the last minute.

By the time he went up, most of the boxes had already been taken.

However, not caring much about his draw, he just casually spun the machine.

Soon, with a soft clink, a yellow box dropped out.

Su Xingyao opened it, and inside was a bouncy ball with a watermelon design on it.

“Cat, what number did you get?”

The young man who had drawn with him came over and asked for Su Xingyao’s number.

As he spoke, he revealed his number: “I got number 77.”

He chuckled a bit and added, “It’s kind of late, so hard to wait…”

There were 90 contestants in total, and with so many participants, number 77 was already near the end of the order, which wasn’t ideal.

After hearing the young man’s complaint, Su Xingyao immediately turned over his watermelon ball.

It showed…

Number 78.

An equally unimpressive number.

The young man, who had been frowning just moments ago, suddenly brightened up when he saw the number.

He happily placed his hand on Su Xingyao’s shoulder, brushing away his worries, “You know, we really are quite fated.”

Su Xingyao nodded. They really seemed to hit it off, being placed next to each other like this.

However, they weren’t the only ones with good luck.

The two people who had been making fun of Su Xingyao earlier, sitting in the row in front of him, happened to draw numbers 76 and 79.

When those two saw Su Xingyao and the young man’s numbers, and realized they were seated so close together, they curled their lips and left.

A few minutes later, all the contestants had drawn their numbers.

The staff once again took the microphone and instructed all the contestants to use their numbers as their aliases for the recording today.

Then, the staff had everyone rearrange their seats according to the numbers they had drawn.

Once all the preparations were finished, the stage manager came on and clapped the board.

His gaze swept across the ninety contestants below, and he pressed the board down with force.

“The first episode of The Voice of Heaven…”

“Officially begins!”