Chapter 18

Amid the loud screams from the surrounding contestants, Su Xingyao suddenly found himself in darkness.

The lights in the studio were all turned off by the production team.

Then, in the darkness, a voice suddenly echoed.

“Hello to all the contestants, welcome to The Voice of Heaven!”

“First, let’s invite the mentors to take the stage!”

After the deep male voice, which was commonly heard on various programs, sounded, the once pitch-black studio began to light up in rows from both sides toward the center of the stage.

Accompanied by a few heart-pounding sound effects.

The stage, which had been completely dark before, reappeared in front of everyone.

At this moment, Mentor Wen Yun was already standing in the center of the stage.

Approaching forty years old, he wore a calm and dignified smile on his face.

After the host called out his name, the renowned singer Wen Yun, just like his name, waved gently to everyone and then took his seat at the far left of the mentor’s panel.

Most of the contestants sitting below the stage were unknowns, and seeing a star up close for the first time made them all quite excited.

Moreover, Wen Yun was a highly respected and beloved singer.

Soon, applause and screams filled the studio.

The cute young man, contestant number 77, sitting next to Su Xingyao, was as if he had entered a fan meeting, enthusiastically cheering and shouting.

“Wen Yun, Wen Yun, unbeatable singing skills!”

After he shouted, the next mentor to appear was Xu Beizhou, known as a creative genius.

Xu Beizhou may not have top-tier vocal skills like Wen Yun, but he was very talented in songwriting, particularly in arrangements, and many famous singers in the industry had asked him to write songs for them.

Any singer attending The Voice of Heaven today had definitely heard songs written by him.

So, as soon as he took the stage and greeted everyone with a “Hello,” the studio was filled with whistling sounds.

Then, Su Xingyao once again heard the adorable cheer from contestant number 77.

“Xu Beizhou, Xu Beizhou, top-notch in songwriting, the most amazing on Earth!”

Hearing such a smooth cheer from 77 once again, Su Xingyao couldn’t keep his attention on the mentors anymore.

Feeling like he was at a live audition, he was intrigued by what the young man would shout for the next mentor.

77, today’s best cheerleader, did not disappoint Su Xingyao’s expectations.

When the top idol Sheng Yan appeared, without a second thought, he shouted the fan chant most commonly heard for the idol.

Seeing the passionate enthusiasm from the fans of each mentor, Su Xingyao couldn’t help but quietly ask him, “How do you know so many chants?”

No. 77 put one hand to his mouth, grinning, and answered with a laugh.

“Because I like all these mentors.”

Su Xingyao thought this was a reasonable answer, so he smiled and raised his cat paw to give the young man a thumbs-up.

However, just after he did that, he heard the young man quickly add a correction.

“Not all of them, though. This one doesn’t work for me.”

As No. 77 spoke, the host happened to announce the name of the last mentor.

“Next, let’s welcome our final mentor to the stage!!”

“Please give a big round of applause for… Mentor Shen Huaixi!!!”

The camera arm immediately swept over the contestant seats, and the contestants enthusiastically cheered as they saw the camera approach.

This list of mentors had already been announced online, so most of the contestants knew Shen Huaixi was coming.

However, since the camera was right in their faces, many contestants deliberately acted as if they didn’t know, showing surprise upon seeing Shen Huaixi.

Especially No. 79, who had been criticizing Su Xingyao earlier for being scheming. When the camera turned to him, he clapped loudly and repeatedly, exclaiming, “Wow, they actually invited Shen Huaixi!”

No. 77 shot a speechless glance at this guy, then turned to Su Xingyao and finished his earlier sentence.

“His singing is pretty bad, so I won’t cheer for him.”

Su Xingyao smiled silently and looked at Shen Huaixi, who was being adored by everyone on the stage, from a distance.

It was clear that 77 also knew about Shen Huaixi.

As he had said, Shen Huaixi’s singing was indeed not impressive, or to be more precise, he didn’t have much vocal ability at all.

But because he was the child of fortune in this world, whether he had singing talent or not didn’t affect his popularity.

Su Xingyao still remembered when he had just returned to the Shen family. Shen Huaixi had sung a song at the campus arts festival, and Qin Mingchuan had dragged him along to support him.

After the performance, Shen Huaixi suddenly came to find him.

“Xiao Shuang, I heard from Mingchuan that you sing really well. Could you tell me how I did just now?”

At that time, he had just returned home and treated Shen Huaixi like family. Out of care for his family, he praised him.

But Shen Huaixi didn’t stop there. He insisted that Su Xingyao point out any issues with his performance and teach him how to improve.

Unable to get away, Su Xingyao reluctantly mentioned the issue with his breathing and patiently taught him how to adjust it.

Not long after, their conversation was recorded by someone, and the recording was edited and released, with parts cut out.

From then on, this incident spread throughout both schools.

Yue Shuang was said to be jealous of Shen Huaixi’s good relationship with Qin Mingchuan, and out of envy, he talked behind his back, criticizing his singing as bad.

Since then, whenever he interacted with Shen Huaixi or appeared on the same stage, something unpleasant would always happen.

Even if he said nothing, just silently being a background character on a show with him.

In the end, it would develop into being maliciously interpreted by Shen Huaixi’s fans, with every frame being screenshot and twisted, leading to everyone scolding him fiercely.

At the time, he didn’t understand why, despite explaining himself, no one would believe him, and the more he explained, the worse the impression became—making people think he was bitter and jealous.

Later, he understood that, under the influence of the storyline, Shen Huaixi was the only absolute truth in this world.

Whatever he said didn’t matter.

On stage, Shen Huaixi, whose singing skills were not as good as the other three mentors, did not seem insecure about his lack of ability.

On the contrary, he confidently invited all the contestants, “I hope all the talented contestants will come to my team later!”

Su Xingyao didn’t pay much attention to this part.

Although being on the same show couldn’t be avoided, he didn’t want to watch more of his fake performance.

As his mind wandered, his gaze fell on the cat doll set.

Looking at his cat paw, he suddenly pictured Coral in his mind.

Then he thought of Coral playing with Sunset.

And then…

Then came Lu Jiuxu’s face.

Su Xingyao remembered the phone the staff had taken earlier.

It had photos that Lu Jiuxu took of Coral and Sunset.

After recalling the image of the photo in his mind, a thought suddenly popped up in Su Xingyao’s head.

What was Lu Jiuxu like when taking pictures of cats and dogs?

Ahhhhh!!!

Just as Su Xingyao thought of this, a sharp scream interrupted his train of thought.

At this moment, from all directions, a name echoed simultaneously.

“Fu Qingyan!!!”

“Damn… The super mentor is actually Fu Qingyan!”

Hearing this name, Su Xingyao looked up towards the stage. Fu Qingyan had already appeared there, though he didn’t know when exactly.

Unlike when he had met him outside earlier, Fu Qingyan had changed into a new outfit and styled his hair.

With his hair slicked back, he wore glasses with no lenses, and his shirt was buttoned all the way up to the top, giving off a reserved and refined vibe.

Fu Qingyan, who had just won the Best Actor award at the end of the year, suddenly appeared here, becoming the center of attention for the entire audience.

Fu Qingyan was truly a public figure.

As a result, the reactions of the people around Su Xingyao were not as deliberately supportive as when they were cheering for Shen Huaixi.

Everyone was genuinely excited by his appearance.

Some contestants in the audience were even his fans, continuously calling out “Male god, god!”

“Ahhh, hubby, weren’t you filming abroad? When did you come back!!”

“Impressive, impressive! Our singing show actually managed to invite a Best Actor!!”

“The Best Actor is impressive in acting, but we’re in a music variety show… can he really be a good mentor?”

“Don’t worry, didn’t they also invite Best Actor Gu Siye as the super mentor for the Super Idol show before? These top talents in their industries are amazing at whatever they do.”

Fu Qingyan had always had a good reputation and image in the industry. Although he was crossing over to host a music variety show, the contestants were highly receptive to him. Even if some questioned his professional expertise, others quickly defended him.

Even No. 77, who was sitting next to Su Xingyao, excitedly came up with a fan chant for him.

After shouting, No. 77 turned to look at Su Xingyao, puzzled.

“How come you didn’t react at all to Fu Qingyan?”

No. 77 didn’t mean anything by it, he just felt that compared to everyone else in the audience, who were so excited, Su Xingyao seemed a bit too calm.

Su Xingyao couldn’t explain the personal history he had with Fu Qingyan to No. 77, so he gave another reason instead.

“I ran into him on the way here.”

“Wow, so you guessed the show would invite him, huh?”

Su Xingyao nodded.

Just as the two were whispering, Fu Qingyan on stage began to announce the rules.

“Hello, contestants. Next, I’ll announce the competition rules.”

Fu Qingyan’s gentle voice filled every corner of the studio.

“The first round of auditions only has 48 spots for advancement, with each mentor holding 12.”

There were about 90 contestants in total for the competition today, but Fu Qingyan had just said that only 48 would advance.

This meant that nearly half of them would be eliminated in the first round.

Although the singers had all prepared themselves for the possibility of elimination, learning that such a high elimination rate existed in the first round still caught most of them by surprise.

Once Fu Qingyan finished reading the rules and realized that some contestants might be going home after just one round, the nervous energy in the room began to rise.

“Please remain calm,” Fu Qingyan’s voice carried a hint of laughter as he reassured the contestants who were starting to panic about the elimination rate. He continued, “In this round, the opportunity for contestants to perform will be given by the mentors.”

This statement was a bit unclear, so Fu Qingyan carefully explained it.

“Only contestants who are chosen by the mentors, meaning those who get their ‘lights’ turned on, will get the chance to perform. If no mentor turns on their light during your performance, or if a mentor turns off your light during the performance, then… you will not be able to perform and will be immediately eliminated.”

This meant that if you didn’t sing well, or couldn’t even get on stage… forget about just one round, you might not even get the chance to be remembered after the show.

Once the contestants understood this, they realized just how ruthless the competition was.

It had to be said, the rules were intense.

However, the contestants clearly still underestimated the director’s power.

When it came to flashy twists, he wasn’t going to stop there.

Anyone who had followed his variety shows knew that the competition rules for the shows he directed were never this simple.

As expected, Fu Qingyan then told everyone, “Getting the lights turned on is just the opportunity to perform on stage. To stay in the competition, contestants need to collect the ‘pass cards’ given by the mentors.”

“Only contestants who collect all four pass cards will advance and be eligible to choose a mentor. The rest of the contestants who haven’t gathered all the cards will be left pending.”

The contestants, who had been excited just a moment ago, were now completely deflated after hearing this.

The rules commonly used in other competitions clearly state that if a mentor turns on the light, the contestant passes and can join their team.

But on The Voice of Heaven, it was the opposite—only those who had earned the approval of all the mentors could advance. Otherwise, they had only gained a temporary chance to perform on stage.

After realizing this, even those contestants who had still been undecided about which mentor to choose now calmed down.

The competition rules made it clear to everyone.

Only absolute strong performers had the right to pick a mentor, and for the rest… they shouldn’t expect too much.

“Alright, I’m sure everyone understands the rules now.”

Fu Qingyan scanned the room with his gaze and smiled, “Now, let the competition officially begin. Please welcome the first contestant!”

The program team didn’t give anyone a moment to relax. As soon as Fu Qingyan finished explaining the rules, the competition started immediately.

The contestant who drew number one was taken backstage by the staff. Before he had even settled his thoughts, he was standing on the platform.

His performance lasted only fifty-seven seconds, and before he even got to finish the song, the mentors collectively turned off their lights and eliminated him.

Of those fifty-seven seconds, fifteen were just the intro.

The first contestant was off to a bad start and didn’t even get to finish a full song.

The atmosphere in the room immediately turned serious after this elimination.

Some contestants, who weren’t that strong, also stopped smiling and began worrying about how long they could last…

The show was recording at a fast pace, and the next batch of contestants came on stage.

The mentors were much stricter than everyone had expected, with even the least experienced mentor, Shen Huaixi, having very high standards.

After forty contestants performed, only nineteen remained, and not a single contestant had been selected with full votes so far.

After watching the others’ attempts, the contestants waiting to perform started to lower their expectations.

Many of them went from struggling over which mentor to choose, to just wanting to get on stage without being eliminated, and finally, to hoping that they could sing for a few more seconds, even if they didn’t get to perform at all…

By the end, many began praying that at least they wouldn’t be the ones eliminated in the shortest amount of time.

When contestant number 60 took the stage, Su Xingyao was taken backstage by the staff.

Contestants numbered 70-79 were called backstage and lined up in order to wait for their turn.

No. 77, who had been an enthusiastic supporter in the audience, was now nervous as his turn approached.

As it was getting closer to his time, he clasped his hands together and silently prayed, “Let me pass, let me pass.”

No. 76, who was ahead of him in line and looked very relaxed, glanced at him and mockingly said, “What good is praying? You have to rely on yourself. If the Buddha could make everyone popular, then even a random cat or dog could be famous.”

After saying that, he raised his guitar, his eyes filled with disdain for No. 77.

Of course, Su Xingyao, who had a good relationship with No. 77, was also given a scornful look from the arrogant contestant.

Su Xingyao was focused on playing with the doll that contestant number 77 had given him, not even giving a glance to the other person.

Contestant number 77, still lost in his own little world, was too lazy to open his eyes and pay attention to him.

Contestant number 76, who had been completely ignored, felt a lump in his throat.

Before going on stage, he deliberately threw them a remark, “Just listen carefully here.”

“Wait for my four pass cards.”

After leaving those two sentences, contestant number 76 directly stepped onto the platform.

Holding his guitar, contestant number 76 casually sat on the high stool, fiddled with his guitar for a few moments, and then began his performance.

The sound of the guitar came through the microphone, and after singing just three lines, Shen Huaixi immediately turned on the lights for him.

With such a quick response from a mentor, the platform began to rise.

Contestant number 76, still with his eyes closed, continued singing, while his acquaintance, contestant number 79, clicked his tongue and began praising him, “Ten seconds and the light’s on, he’s the first today, right? Someone who can write their own songs is different.”

Su Xingyao didn’t pay much attention to what 79 said.

But at this moment, Su Xingyao was seriously listening to the original song that contestant number 76 was performing.

As he listened, the hand that had been playing with the doll stopped.

Seeing this, contestant number 79 walked over to him and provocatively asked, “So, how is it? Scared? He doesn’t bother with all that fake stuff and can still go for the championship.”

Afterward, he glanced at Su Xingyao’s doll costume, clearly unimpressed with his outfit.

Su Xingyao ignored his provocation and calmly gave his evaluation of contestant number 76.

“His singing is fine, but the song…”

Su Xingyao hesitated for a moment before speaking again, “The melody of the song has some issues.”

Contestant number 79 didn’t understand the real meaning behind Su Xingyao’s words and immediately shot him a look of disdain.

“What do you know, you in that doll costume? What could possibly be wrong with the melody of his song? Do you even know how popular this song has been on short video platforms these days?”

After saying that, contestant number 79 didn’t hesitate to mock Su Xingyao.

“Wait until you can write a song yourself before talking. I think you’ve got some issues.”

He then pointed to his head, implying that Su Xingyao wasn’t mentally sound.

Su Xingyao didn’t let the other person’s attitude change his opinion and spoke calmly but firmly.

“Just because a song is popular doesn’t mean it has originality.”

He smiled lightly, “It just means it has more listeners.”

Now that contestant number 79 understood Su Xingyao’s point, he frowned immediately.

“Food can be eaten carelessly, but words should not be spoken recklessly.”

The retort he was about to say was cut short as Xu Beizhou, on stage, spoke into the microphone.

“Sorry, mentors, please forgive me, but I absolutely have to be the first to speak.”

He held a pen in one hand, his face serious as he looked down at the two sections of melody written on the paper, then addressed contestant number 76 at the center of the stage.

“This contestant, I’d like to ask… Is this song your original work?”

As soon as Xu Beizhou asked this question, the atmosphere in the room became awkward.

Being questioned by Xu Beizhou like this clearly meant there was a problem—and a major one at that.

Naturally, all eyes turned to contestant number 76.

At first, everyone thought his singing was good and parts of his original composition were quite pleasant to the ear. Many believed he would surely be the first to earn all four pass cards and advance.

But no one had expected Xu Beizhou to question the originality of his music.

In other words… accusing him of plagiarism.

Many people thought for a while but couldn’t figure out where he could have plagiarized. All they could do was widen their eyes and stare at contestant number 76, waiting for an explanation.

Originally smiling, contestant number 76’s face visibly showed a moment of panic after Xu Beizhou’s question.

“Y-yes…”

He stuttered slightly but still insisted on confirming his stance.

But Xu Beizhou, seeing the contestant’s stubborn attitude, furrowed his brows even tighter.

“I don’t know if you’ve heard of a relatively niche composer,” he said.

“She’s called Misssu.”

When Xu Beizhou mentioned this name, contestant number 76 showed no reaction.

Instead, Su Xingyao, who was in the audience, lowered his eyes again and resumed playing with the doll that contestant number 77 had given him.

However, the audio system in the studio was excellent, and Xu Beizhou’s words were clearly transmitted to Su Xingyao’s ears once again.

“The melody in your first and fourth sections is almost identical to two melodies from an arrangement by her, published four years ago.”

Xu Beizhou paused for a moment. “Of course, you did make a few modifications to the arrangement.”

He picked up a sheet of paper and held it up to the camera.

It displayed the two pieces of sheet music he had just written.

Then he pointed to the two sections of music and began singing them on the spot.

The two nearly identical melodies immediately filled the entire studio.

“Although you lowered the pitch in the final section, the melody and scale still match hers…” Xu Beizhou chuckled lightly. “I wouldn’t say they are identical, but they are certainly extremely similar.”

Contestant number 76 opened his mouth, intending to refute, but Xu Beizhou spoke up first, cutting him off.

“Although Misssu’s arrangements are niche, they are not unheard of.”

“I believe you know better than I do how this song came about, so I suggest you proceed carefully.”

Xu Beizhou’s warning caused Su Xingyao to pause his actions.

He slightly raised his head and looked toward the stage.

“Misssu” was a pseudonym he had used in the past when composing arrangements for his friends.

The works under this name were few and very niche.

So, he never imagined that the obscure and unsatisfactory pieces he had discarded back then would be plagiarized today.

And that the plagiarist would be caught by Xu Beizhou on the spot.

Contestant number 76 continued to argue on stage, but Xu Beizhou, tired of listening, immediately used his veto power to eliminate him for plagiarism.

There was no room for further debate, and 76 had no choice but to leave the stage in defeat.

At this point, his face no longer carried the confident expression it had before.

Meanwhile, contestant number 79, who had earlier tried to defend 76, immediately fell silent.

He quietly distanced himself from 76, while looking at the composed Su Xingyao with a look of disbelief.

Who would have thought that someone dressed in such an unremarkable costume would immediately recognize plagiarism, just like the big shot Xu Beizhou?

Contestant number 79 was puzzled, wondering if he should secretly ask Su Xingyao how he had figured it out. But before he could do so, he heard the staff call Su Xingyao.

“Contestant 78, please come over, you’re about to go on stage.”