Chapter 21

Su Xingyao was delayed by the group photo session and when he finally came out, it was already completely dark.

At this time, outside the “The Voice of Heaven” building, the large square was filled with seven or eight groups of people, each performing lively square dances to different pieces of music.

Around the square dance groups, many parents were playing with their children.

The sounds of lively singing filled the air, but Su Xingyao couldn’t make out any of the lyrics.

However, the strong sense of life in the air made him stop in his tracks.

It felt like he was back to the days when he used to set up a street stall at night with his sister.

Besides the night market, they would also set up a small stall in such lively squares. The two of them would sit on small stools, and the sounds of noisy and energetic music would surround them.

Standing under the shade of a tree, Su Xingyao watched the crowd in the square for a while and took out his phone to check the time.

However, after pressing the power button several times, his phone didn’t respond at all.

It was only then that he noticed his phone had run out of battery…

Could it be that while he was busy reading the message from Lu Jiuxu earlier, he forgot to turn off the phone?

Su Xingyao looked around.

The “The Voice of Heaven” building wasn’t exactly in a remote area, but it wasn’t located in the busy commercial district either.

It was far from the subway station, so the only way to go back was by taxi.

Now that his phone was dead, he couldn’t even call a car.

With a sigh, Su Xingyao put his hands into the hidden pocket of his mascot costume.

Well, there was not a single coin inside…

For someone who was used to paying with a mobile phone and never carried cash, being in a situation where the phone was dead and without a charger was really a bit difficult to handle.

Su Xingyao looked around and eventually decided to head back into the “The Voice of Heaven” building to ask the staff for help.

However, he had only walked a few meters when, in a quiet corner, someone suddenly stopped him.

“Hey bro!”

“Hey, Mr. Cat, please stop!”

Su Xingyao, who had been walking with his head down, suddenly heard two rap lines.

He quickly looked up and found that his path was blocked by two people dressed in identical frog mascot costumes.

To be precise, it was two people dressed in frog costumes, one on the left and one on the right, blocking his way.

One frog had its hands on its hips, lifting its chin arrogantly.

The other frog was carrying a string of frog children, its right leg stretched out in front.

Su Xingyao stared blankly at the two frogs. His “cat paws” came together as he looked left and right.

Then, following their rhythm, he said, “Hey bro, I can’t rap~”

As soon as Su Xingyao spoke, the two frog mascots, who had been acting all cool and aloof, immediately broke character and started dancing on the spot in tiny steps.

Then, the frog on the right did a bit of breakdancing right there.

While dancing, he continued rapping.

“Hey bro, it doesn’t matter, you can just watch me dance.”

After the frog on the right finished, the frog on the left also started dancing.

“Mr. Cat, you be the judge. You tell us, who’s the brightest one on this street, the most dazzling frog?”

Both of them sounded young, like college students.

Once they started rapping, they began a freestyle back-and-forth.

Su Xingyao listened for a while and quickly figured it out.

It turned out the two frogs were competing because they were both selling “babies” at the same spot, and neither wanted to admit defeat. Now, they were going to showcase their skills to determine who was the brightest frog here.

Since he was wearing an animal headpiece, he had been pulled in to be the judge.

Although it seemed a bit absurd, Su Xingyao found them amusing and didn’t hurry to leave.

After watching them perform for a while, Su Xingyao decided to join in and enthusiastically clapped for the frog on the left.

“Thai pants hot!”

Seeing this, the frog on the right immediately did a not-so-standard Thomas spin.

“What about me? What about me?”

Su Xingyao quickly raised both hands, holding up his cat paws. “So cool, no friends to compete with.”

With Su Xingyao’s cooperation, the frogs got even more into their performance.

Although they seemed to be teasing each other, it was clear they knew each other well.

After some time of playing around with their little competition, they decided to continue their showdown tomorrow.

Quickly wrapping up, the two frog mascots grabbed their frog babies and came back to Su Xingyao.

They sincerely invited him.

“Mr. Cat, will you come play with us again tomorrow?”

Su Xingyao wanted to join, but since he had an agreement with the production team, he reluctantly waved his cat paws.

“Tomorrow, I’m taking my baby on a world tour.”

Upon hearing this, the frog on the right looked really disappointed. He covered his face with his gloved hands, looking like the sky was falling.

“That’s such a pity TAT”

He quickly handed Su Xingyao an inflatable frog.

“Since you’re not coming, you might as well take my baby and go tour the world instead.”

The frog on the left clearly wasn’t one to back down easily either.

Seeing his competitor handing an inflatable frog to Su Xingyao, he immediately placed the only inflatable turtle he had into Su Xingyao’s paws.

“Have a pleasant journey, and let my turtle general escort you.”

After gifting their presents, the two frogs arrogantly insisted that Su Xingyao couldn’t refuse. They then hugged each other’s shoulders, carrying the “babies” they hadn’t sold, and quickly left with a swagger, as though they had no family ties.

Su Xingyao looked at the two small animals that had mysteriously appeared in his hands. He found it both funny and amusing.

The two frogs had already disappeared, so he could only carry one animal in each hand and head back to the building.

It was getting late.

In just a short amount of time, the crowd that had been dancing in the square had almost dispersed.

As Su Xingyao walked across the square and had just crossed the street, he heard a familiar voice.

“Coral Cat.”

Su Xingyao stopped in his tracks, surprised, and looked toward the voice.

Lu Jiuxu was standing under a streetlamp, and in the night, his face looked indescribably handsome.

Su Xingyao was a little taken aback.

After a few seconds, he finally realized what was happening and walked over to him. “What are you doing here?”

Why would he be here at this time?

Lu Jiuxu, looking through the mascot costume, met Su Xingyao’s eyes and spoke slowly.

“I came to pick you up.”

Su Xingyao’s steps suddenly halted.

He came for me…

As though he knew what Su Xingyao was thinking, Lu Jiuxu walked over to him.

“I’ve been trying to reach you, but your phone was off. I happened to be here for a meeting, so I thought I’d drop by and check.”

His gaze swept over the two inflatable toys in Su Xingyao’s hands, and he smiled lightly. “I didn’t expect to run into you right after I got out of the car.”

It dawned on Su Xingyao that Lu Jiuxu really had come for him. He quickly patted his bag, feeling the phone inside, and explained, “Sorry, my phone died.”

Remembering his dead phone, Su Xingyao realized that he hadn’t been able to reach Lu Jiuxu, and if it hadn’t been for their lucky encounter, Lu Jiuxu would have made a wasted trip.

But despite knowing there was a good chance he wouldn’t have found him because of the communication breakdown, Lu Jiuxu still came.

“Thank you, Mr. Lu.”

Su Xingyao looked at Lu Jiuxu, and in his light-colored eyes beneath the mascot costume, there was an undeniable sense of gratitude.

Lu Jiuxu didn’t say anything more or explain why he had specifically come to pick Su Xingyao up. He simply pointed in a direction.

“My car is over there.”

After speaking, he led Su Xingyao to the parking area.

Once in the car, Su Xingyao noticed that Lu Jiuxu had come alone, without a driver.

Lu Jiuxu asked him to sit in the passenger seat and placed his frog and turtle toys, one on the left and the other on the right, in the back seat.

Because of the mascot costume, Su Xingyao appeared a bit awkward as he got into the car.

While he was fastening his seatbelt, he heard Lu Jiuxu ask, “Am I driving an animal bus?”

Su Xingyao paused, glanced back at the turtle and frog, then looked at his own cat paws.

“No, you’re driving a cute pet vehicle.”

He then proceeded to explain to Lu Jiuxu, “These two little animals were given to me by two frog moms I randomly met.”

Remembering the fun moments earlier, Su Xingyao’s voice sounded much happier than usual, and he spoke a little more than normal.

Listening to his voice, Lu Jiuxu’s eyes also softened with a hint of a smile.

Su Xingyao was indeed in a good mood today. As he sat in the car, he watched the scenery outside and couldn’t stop the flood of ideas in his mind.

He grabbed his phone, which had been charged a little in Lu Jiuxu’s car, took off his cat gloves, and quickly opened the notes app to jot down the lyrics he had thought of.

Looking at the lyrics, more melodies popped into his head.

Lost in the moment, he began to softly hum the tune.

Lu Jiuxu, hearing the unfamiliar but pleasant melody, quietly turned his head to become Su Xingyao’s first listener after the car stopped at a red light.

This was the first time he saw such a real side of Su Xingyao.

He was so focused, yet so cute.

While Su Xingyao was busy writing songs, a car pulled up next to theirs.

Since the red light lasted a while, Su Xingyao looked up once.

Out of the corner of his eye, he briefly glanced at the car beside them but didn’t pay much attention.

When the light turned green and the other car sped off, he suddenly felt that the car seemed somewhat familiar.

It looked a bit like Qin Mingchuan’s car.

However, this thought was just a reflex, and Su Xingyao couldn’t be bothered to confirm it. He didn’t even look up again but instead subtly turned his head to quietly watch Lu Jiuxu, who was focused on driving.

At this moment, Su Xingyao felt a sense of peace and relaxation he had never felt before.

The building for The Voice of Heaven was far from Lu Jiuxu’s villa.

By the time they arrived home, it was already late at night.

Once inside, Su Xingyao quickly took off his mascot costume.

Although it was a specially made costume with better materials than usual, it still felt a little dizzying after wearing it all day.

After saying goodnight to Lu Jiuxu, Su Xingyao hurriedly took a shower and then went upstairs to sleep.

The next day, when he woke up again, the sky was already bright.

Perhaps because he was too tired yesterday, he slept in a little later today.

When he went downstairs, he discovered that Lu Zhiyun had somehow arrived, although he didn’t know exactly when.

At the moment, Lu Zhiyun was leaning against the sofa, holding his phone and laughing joyfully, completely absorbed in watching a video.

Su Xingyao looked over at him.

Seeing Lu Zhiyun laughing at his phone didn’t surprise Su Xingyao, as Lu Zhiyun’s personality was like that—he could easily be amused by little things around him.

What surprised him was that the usually dignified Lu Jiuxu was standing behind Lu Zhiyun and had even leaned over, watching the video with him, a big smile on his face.

Su Xingyao hadn’t even had time to be curious about what the two brothers were watching that was so amusing when Lu Zhiyun, who had a sharp eye, noticed him first.

“Susu, come here! I’ve got a funny video to show you!”

Lu Zhiyun hurriedly called out to Su Xingyao, and Lu Jiuxu also got up, smiling at him.

A funny video?

Su Xingyao walked over in confusion, leaned down next to Lu Jiuxu, and looked at Lu Zhiyun’s phone.

The video on the phone showed a cat and two frogs interacting playfully.

The cameraman had kindly added subtitles to the video.

“Super cute cat performing as a water-pouring master.”

When the cat gave the two frogs a thumbs up and clapped its hands, another line of text appeared.

“The cat, no doubt the number one supporter, is so adorable even when clapping.”

As soon as Su Xingyao recognized what was happening in the video, his expression froze.

This scene…

Why… does it look so familiar?

At this moment, Lu Zhiyun, who was completely not aware, paused the video, pointing at the cat mascot on the screen and saying to Su Xingyao:

“Look at this cat, doesn’t it look just like our Coral?”

Coral, who had been called, meowed from the opposite sofa.

Standing behind him, Su Xingyao was momentarily speechless as he looked at Coral.

Well…

This cat costume didn’t just look similar.

It was exactly the same…

Completely out of the loop, Su Xingyao never expected that after interacting with the frog mothers last night, someone had filmed a video of it and posted it online, which quickly went viral.

The video had only been posted for less than seven hours, yet it had already gained over a million likes and swiftly climbed the trending charts of short videos.

The comments under the video were almost all filled with “hahahahaha so cute!”

At first, everyone was attracted by the two funny frogs.

But after watching the video, almost everyone was captivated by the cat, which perfectly coordinated with the frog mothers.

After all, who could resist the charm of a cute cat?

【How can every move it makes be so adorable】

【I want to take this cat home, waaah】

【The number one supporter cat, I love it so much】

【Waaah, this cat’s fur looks so soft and squishy】

【So this is how you can absorb cute cats, QWQ】

【Ahhh, so cute, I’m going crazy with how adorable it is. Family, where can I buy this cat’s mascot costume? Give me a link, I need to get one】

【Sister upstairs, I’ve been searching all night, this costume is nowhere to be found online, QWQ. Just enjoy the cat in this video】

Lu Zhiyun clearly tuned into the same wavelength as the netizens. He even took a screenshot and tried to use reverse image search online.

“I really want to buy this mascot costume to wear too.”

Looking at Lu Zhiyun’s face filled with longing, Su Xingyao turned to look at Lu Jiuxu and finally understood why he had been so happy when he saw him earlier.

When Lu Zhiyun failed to find the same costume available for sale, his gaze landed on the inflatable frog and inflatable turtle next to Coral.

Recognizing them, he immediately curiously picked them up.

“Don’t kids usually like playing with these? Why does your family have them…”

Lu Jiuxu didn’t answer but instead smiled at Su Xingyao, lowering his voice and asking him.

“What were those two frogs doing at the time?”

Su Xingyao: …

“They were competing for the title of Frog King.”

The video of the frog mother and the cute cat became extremely popular on short video platforms, gaining over ten million likes in just a few days.

Su Xingyao’s cat costume unexpectedly turned him into a beloved “internet celebrity” in a strange way.

However, what Su Xingyao didn’t expect was that, even before the hype from this video could die down, it quickly gained attention again in a new and unusual way, climbing to the trending charts once more.

After the first episode of The Voice of Heaven was recorded, the production team, after tirelessly editing the footage, quickly released the first episode.

This show had been teased online for a long time and had consistently generated a lot of buzz.

As soon as the first episode was released, it quickly surpassed ten million views within a few hours.

The production team was well-versed in their tactics, creating an incredibly intense and dramatic atmosphere right from the start.

Soon, viewers realized that after watching most of the episode, they still hadn’t seen a single contestant advance.

It must be said that having no one advance really played on the audience’s emotions. Viewers were on edge, sweating for the contestants as they watched the intense and suspenseful rounds of the competition.

Although the audience’s emotions were being expertly manipulated by the production team, they were still confident that the editing was done this way simply for dramatic effect.

The “set up for a big reveal” technique was very common, and they were certain that by the end of the show, or at least by the second half, there would definitely be a clip showing someone advancing.

With this mindset, the viewers continued watching, reassured that they would soon see the first contestant move on.

However, they never expected that while they had predicted the beginning, they couldn’t have been more wrong about the ending.

The production team did indeed release a video of a contestant singing, just as the viewers had imagined.

But they only showed one line.

When the first line of Goodbye Yesterday reached the audience’s ears, it immediately captured everyone’s attention.

Almost everyone who heard this part thought, “This person is definitely going to make it.”

So, as the audience shared this consensus and eagerly continued watching, wanting to know who this contestant was, they were shocked to find that the show was nearing its end.

No matter how much they dragged out the footage, the progress bar was stuck, not moving at all.

The first episode of The Voice of Heaven ended abruptly without warning.

The show was incredibly bold, not letting the audience hear the entire song or showing any footage of the performance.

They didn’t even reveal which contestant it was.

Viewers were stunned by this move, and the comment section was flooded with messages.

【What the hell, just one line??? They only let me hear one line???】

【This is an ending I never could have imagined…】

【Family, who understands? This feeling of being left hanging, it’s driving me crazy…】

【First time in entertainment history that they only let us hear one line… Song Yingming, only you could do this】

【Alright, Song Yingming, I admit you’re the best variety show director in the industry, now hurry up and show me the rest!!!】

【I’ve never had anything good in my life, I finally heard some heavenly music, and now I can’t even see who the singer is. I’m going crazy just staring at this black screen. If you don’t show me the next episode, I’m really going to lose it】

But no matter how much they raged, the video still ended with the text:

“Who will become the first contestant to advance? Tune in next Saturday, and we’ll find out.”

Seeing that familiar text, the viewers felt like this cruel show was driving them mad.