Chapter 40

Chapter 40

Everything seemed like a farce.

After Shen Huaixi's embarrassing and disgraceful exit, the audience didn't settle down.

Standing on the stage and looking at the audience who were all against Shen Huaixi, Su Xingyao found it a bit odd.

He wasn't surprised that Shen Huaixi could do such a thing in public today.

But the audience's reaction was somewhat unexpected.

According to what he knew, Shen Huaixi was the protagonist of this world. In theory, no matter how outrageous his actions were in public, they would be automatically rationalized by the will of the world due to the main character aura...

But right now, the audience showed no tolerance towards him, even resisting fiercely...

Su Xingyao was a bit puzzled.

Had the audience all become clear-headed? Or was the will of the world disappearing?

But... what was the trigger?

While Su Xingyao was lost in thought, the host had already picked up the microphone again to restore order at the scene.

Seeing that Shen Huaixi had already been driven off by everyone's curses, the audience gradually quieted down.

But even though Shen Huaixi was gone, he left a complete mess for the program team.

He had deliberately voted for two groups as the top, and even though he was no longer in the mentor's seat, the votes were still cast.

Under the rules, such two answers were not recognized, so Su Xingyao's group of five didn't get the four mentor votes needed to advance, and naturally, they couldn't directly advance.

To maintain the fairness of the program and the rights of other contestants, after discussion, the mentors finally had Sheng Yan announce that the group of five also needed to be placed on hold.

The audience, who had been hoping for Shen Huaixi's vote to be invalidated, was furious once again.

"Ugh, I really want to curse someone right now."

"Can't the program team and the mentors see that Shen Huaixi was deliberately causing trouble? Why not just ignore his vote?"

"The program team also needs to consider fairness to other contestants. All previous groups were judged by this standard, and changing it here would definitely lead to attacks on the group of five. Don't blame the program team and the mentors; everyone is suffering enough from this jerk. Just curse Shen Huaixi."

"Right, just keep cursing Shen Bai Lian, it's so gross."

Since they didn't get the direct advancement spot, Su Xingyao's group had to enter the next round of voting.

This round of voting was conducted by the live audience, with four groups advancing.

The advancing groups would all directly advance, while the remaining twelve groups would once again be placed on hold, with the final decision made by the mentors.

The program team directly numbered the sixteen performing groups of the night in the order they appeared, totaling sixteen groups.

Soon, each group's name was displayed, followed by the corresponding numbers of the contestants.

Su Xingyao's group, being the last to perform, was designated as the sixteenth group.

"Next up, every audience member, pick up your voting remotes and vote for the four groups you believe should advance."

After the host finished speaking, the three-minute countdown began.

The most outstanding team of the night couldn't advance smoothly because of a fool, and this time the choice was in their own hands. The live audience nearly wore out their voting devices.

"1616161616"

"16, everyone, don't mess up, it's 16."

"What the heck is wrong with this voting device? I pressed 16 four times and it said my vote was invalid!"

"It only counts one vote, no matter how many times you press it."

The live stream audience watched the live audience intensely voting, feeling very eager.

"Program team, are you underestimating us netizens?"

"Wuwuwu, I also want to vote, I want to make the cat win first place."

"Song Yingming, you better quickly set up a ranking channel for contestants and teams."

Soon, three minutes passed, and the live audience's voting results were all tallied.

All the night's contestants were invited onto the stage.

The first to be announced was the fourth place.

The borderline spot was won by Xu Beizhou's twelfth group, with a total of 258 votes.

Next, the program team announced the third place, the sixth group led by Sheng Yan, with a total of 290 votes.

The second place was taken by Wen Yun's thirteenth group, with 333 votes.

"Next up... is the first place in tonight's live voting..."

After the host finished speaking, a drumroll sounded in the venue.

Everyone's eyes turned to the big screen, and the live audience couldn't help but shout "Group 16."

In fact, everyone knew who would take first place in tonight's live voting.

But still, everyone was curious about the number of votes they got.

After all, second place only got 333 votes, so whether first place could break 400 became a suspense.

The live stream audience had already started guessing the number of votes.

However, the program team, known for teasing, played tricks again when announcing.

On the big screen, the advancing group was announced first.

But they only announced a ten.

The following number was directly pixelated.

Then the number of votes was announced, and the program team, deviating from their previous straightforwardness, started announcing from the units place.

The host looked at the big screen and read out the numbers.

"The digit in the ones place is 9~"

"Then next..." As soon as the host finished speaking, the digit in the tens place was revealed.

"It's 7!"

"So, is the hundreds digit three or four?"

What should have been a straightforward reveal was turned into a suspenseful moment by the show's revealing method, making everyone's hearts pound.

The audience was on edge, not daring to blink, afraid they’d miss a thing.

But in the next second, a familiar number suddenly appeared on the big screen.

Group 16: 479 votes!

"479 votes!!! Congratulations to numbers 35, 40, 62, 77, and 78 for successfully advancing!!!"

As the host's voice rang out, the whole crowd went wild for the five-member group.

"479 votes out of 500!!!"

"I originally thought we could only get 379 votes, but it turned out to be 479!!"

"Oh my god, this is absolutely incredible!!"

"This stage deserves such a high number of votes."

Amidst the cheers of the entire venue, number 40 cried again.

But this time, they were tears of joy.

He turned around and excitedly hugged Su Xingyao, "Cat, we did it."

It wasn’t just about moving forward, but also the recognition from the entire audience.

The host called them to the center stage and interviewed them one by one, "Do you have anything you want to say to the audience now?"

Although number 77 looks quite cute, he stayed very composed on stage. He bowed deeply, thanking the audience, mentors, and the production team.

Compared to the calmness of number 77, the rapper from number 62 was much more excited.

He flashed an 'I love you' sign to his team again, then grabbed the mic with confidence.

"There was a freestyle I didn’t get to drop earlier, and now I still want to sing it on this stage."

After saying that, he threw a dismissive hand gesture towards Shen Huaixi's position, "No background music? Who cares, we own this stage!"

Rappers are natural hype-makers, and with his words, the crowd erupted in cheers again.

"You are the kings of this stage!!"

Amidst the cheers of the audience, numbers 35 and 40 also shared their thoughts after moving forward.

Finally, the host handed the microphone to Su Xingyao.

"Number 78, what’s on your mind right now?"

Su Xingyao took the microphone, his eyes scanning the glowing light sticks below the stage.

After two seconds, he gave a soft smile, "I’ll have to get the mascot suit ready again."

As Su Xingyao spoke, the crowd hushed.

Everyone was curious about what he would say.

Unexpectedly, he was actually worrying about his mascot outfit.

"Hahaha, why are you so adorable, Kitty?"

"So you only brought two mascot outfits?"

The host, amused by his response, couldn't resist teasing him, "So you only prepared two mascot outfits for the competition?"

Su Xingyao nodded, "I didn't expect to make it this far."

Su Xingyao's statement took everyone by surprise.

To the contestants and audience, he's always been the picture of calm and composure, with incredible talent.

Everyone pretty much assumed he was a shoo-in for the championship.

But... here he was, saying he never expected to make it this far.

"Wait... why would Kitty say that?"

"Don't sell yourself short... you're amazing."

"Did something happen to Kitty? That doesn't seem right..."

The audience, unaware that Kitty was actually Su Xingyao—someone everyone disliked—found it hard to grasp.

But knowing he wasn't one to fake humility, they realized he wasn't just putting on an act.

Su Xingyao genuinely never thought he'd make it this far.

But he wasn't the kind to give up or back down just because the world turned against him.

So even though he knew things might not go his way, he still followed his heart and joined the show.

He never wanted to just roll over and accept fate.

Su Xingyao looked up, the corners of his eyes crinkling slightly under the mask, his light-colored eyes gleaming.

"But I won't stop chasing my dreams."

Backstage, Xiao Li, one of the only two crew members who knew the truth, quietly wiped a tear from her eye after hearing Su Xingyao's words.

She wondered if, one day, when Su Xingyao revealed his face, these same people who now adored him would still stand by him as strongly as they did now.

*

*The Voice of Heaven* aired live for nearly five hours tonight, wrapping up close to 1 a.m.

Knowing the recording would run late, the production team had thoughtfully arranged hotel stays for all the contestants.

After the show, Su Xingyao hopped into the production team's car and headed to a nearby hotel.

After spending the night in the mascot outfit and surviving a nerve-wracking stage mishap, Su Xingyao's first move at the hotel was to hit the shower.

As he stepped out of the shower and flopped onto the hotel bed, Lu Jiuxu surprised him with a message.

**Mr. Lu:** You asleep, Su Kitty?

Su Xingyao checked the timestamp above the message after reading it.

The message was sent ten minutes ago, exactly at two o'clock.

Lu Jiuxu usually sends him messages, but he has never sent one this late before.

Su Xingyao knows Lu Jiuxu isn’t the kind of person who’d overstep boundaries.

He wouldn’t just text during downtime.

For him to message at this hour...

That means he knows I'm not asleep...

As for how he knew, Su Xingyao already had a clear answer in mind.

His fingers flew across the screen as he quickly replied.

Teacher Su: Not yet, just got out of the shower.

After hitting send, he typed another message.

Teacher Su: You’re still up this late?

Su Xingyao had barely finished typing when Lu Jiuxu replied instantly.

Mr. Lu: Yeah, just caught the live stream.

With his guess confirmed, Su Xingyao couldn’t help but recall their conversation from that morning when Lu Jiuxu left.

Lu Jiuxu actually stayed up to catch the whole show...

As Su Xingyao was lost in thought, another message popped up on his phone.

Mr. Lu: Your performance tonight was amazing.

Mr. Lu: You absolutely lit up the stage.

Su Xingyao stared at the messages.

Tonight, he’d already gotten plenty of praise from others.

But for some reason, Lu Jiuxu’s two messages filled him with an inexplicable joy.

It felt like Lu Jiuxu was echoing the words he’d said when he’d advanced.

Su Xingyao lay on his side, sending a cute kitten thank-you sticker in reply.

On the screen, an orange kitten raised its paw adorably in thanks, while Su Xingyao’s eyes lingered on the "Su Cat Cat" nickname Lu Jiuxu had used earlier.

Teacher Su: Mr. Lu, you’ve got a thing for nicknames, huh?

Earlier, he’d been too busy checking the time to notice the new nickname Lu Jiuxu had given him.

In no time at all, he’d gone from Teacher Su to Coral Cat Cat, then Sunset Dog Dog...

And today, he’d been upgraded to Su Cat Cat.

Amused by the nickname evolution, Su Xingyao sent a sticker in response.

Teacher Su: Cat rolling around.gif

He had just sent the emoji when Lu Jiuxu replied.

Mr. Lu: Is that alright?

Mr. Lu: Kitten rolling emoji

Su Xingyao saw the emoji Lu Jiuxu had just copied and couldn't resist sending another one back.

Teacher Su: Kitten rolling emoji

Teacher Su: Fine, reluctantly.

Leaning against the headboard, Lu Jiuxu looked at the screen full of rolling kitten emojis, a smile tugging at his lips.

After getting Su Xingyao's reluctant approval, he clicked on Su Xingyao's avatar and changed the note from Teacher Su to Su Kitten.

After changing the note and returning to the chat interface, Lu Jiuxu found that the other party had just added another sentence.

Su Kitten: But this feels so unfair!

Su Kitten: Kitten sighing emoji

Lu Jiuxu curled his lips.

Mr. Lu: Hmm, so you can pick a name for me too.

Su Xingyao propped his chin with one hand and sighed softly.

He couldn't come up with anything.

The phone's clock ticked over to 2:30.

Overcome by sleepiness, a weary Su Xingyao lay on the bed and slowly typed out a few words.

Su Kitten: I'll think of something next time, for sure.

Su Kitten: Good night, Mr. Lu.

*

After a night of grueling and nerve-wracking competition, Su Xingyao closed his eyes and fell asleep directly.

Meanwhile, the internet was buzzing with activity.

After a series of crackdowns in the entertainment industry, there hadn't been any interesting gossip for a long time.

But tonight, *The Voice of Heaven* delivered countless unforgettable moments.

No one expected Shen Huaixi, a star with a stellar reputation, to crash and burn so spectacularly on a music variety show.

Especially the moment when the entire audience turned against him, forcing him to leave in disgrace, which was forwarded by countless netizens.

The video of him being booed by the audience and tearfully apologizing quickly went viral, topping the trending charts.

On gossip forums, netizens were already flooding threads, dissecting the night's dramatic events.

"At first, I couldn't believe something so outrageous, but after watching the video... Now I just wish I'd been there to join in the roasting."

"Hahaha, this live show is like a truth serum. Who knew Shen Huaixi could be such a trainwreck?"

"If he'd stuck to his guns, I might've respected him, but crying and trying to backtrack? That just killed me."

"I’ve never seen a star being booed and told to leave by the entire audience in my life. Thanks to Shen Huaixi for giving me a front-row seat to history."

"Can anyone else relate? Ever since his downfall, I wake up every day wondering how I could’ve been so blind to like him before."

"Honestly, it’s like I was under a spell—I never noticed any issues with him before."

The night owls on the internet were relentlessly roasting Shen Huaixi’s embarrassing moments from tonight.

At four in the morning, Shen Huaixi, plagued by nightmares, finally woke up.

In his dream, he relived the recurring nightmare he’d been having ever since Su Xingyao came back.

Su Xingyao was welcomed into the Shen family and began to shine brilliantly.

Meanwhile, Shen Huaixi, who couldn’t measure up in any way, felt like a bug in the shadows, only to be ruthlessly kicked out of the Shen family on a stormy night.

In the pouring rain, he seethed with hatred and helplessness, cursing the person who’d stolen everything from him...

"Su Xingyao... you should just drop dead!"

Wen Ningshu, sitting by Shen Huaixi’s side with a worried look, suddenly heard her adopted son mumble something and turned to him on the hospital bed.

She missed most of what he said, lost in her own thoughts, but she distinctly caught the name "Su Xingyao."

Wen Ningshu stood up and approached Shen Huaixi, only to find him frowning deeply in his sleep, his face twisted in distress.

"Shen Huaixi... are you okay?"

Never having seen her adopted son look like this, Wen Ningshu instinctively called his name.

Jolted awake by Wen Ningshu’s voice, Shen Huaixi sat up in a panic.

He sat up, his forehead glistening with sweat.

"Mom..."

Still groggy from the nightmare, Shen Huaixi blinked at Wen Ningshu. "Why are you here?"

Wen Ningshu glanced at Shen Huaixi, now calm, but still puzzled by his mention of Su Xingyao in his dream.

"You’re in the hospital. You passed out earlier."

Then she asked cautiously, "Did you have a bad dream?"

At her question, Shen Huaixi’s face tightened as he remembered the venom he’d spewed at Su Xingyao in his dream.

Instead of answering, he dodged, "Mom, did I talk in my sleep?"

Wen Ningshu, always truthful with her son, noticed his unease and lied for the first time.

"No, I just thought you looked restless."

She handed him a tissue, saying gently, "Here, wipe your sweat."

Relieved he hadn’t slipped up in front of Wen Ningshu, Shen Huaixi sighed softly.

"Yeah, just a bad dream."

Worried that Wen Ningshu might ask more questions, he casually added as he took the tissue, "But now I can't remember anything."

As soon as Shen Huaixi finished speaking, his manager called him.

Tonight, those five people weren't the target, and instead, he ended up embarrassing himself during the live broadcast.

Thinking it was all because of this incompetent idiot, Shen Huaixi now wished he could slap her twice and wasn't in the mood to answer the call.

So when he saw the caller's name on his phone, he coldly hung up.

"Mom, where's dad?"

"Your dad is still abroad..."

Just as the mother and son finished their conversation, Shen Huaixi's phone rang again.

It was the manager calling again.

Shen Huaixi initially wanted to hang up, but seeing Wen Ningshu watching him, he restrained his emotions and answered the call.

"It's so late, you better have something important..."

Shen Huaixi spoke coldly, but heard the manager ask him anxiously.

"Did you forget to put down the microphone when you went backstage?"

Being asked this strange question by the manager, Shen Huaixi immediately had a bad feeling.

"I don't remember."

The earlier incident was too humiliating for him, and he was so angry that he almost lost control. How could he remember if he took the microphone?

However, the manager's next sentence sent chills down his spine.

"You took the microphone off when you left the stage, so the words you said to me before you fainted... were uncovered by netizens..."

Hearing this, Shen Huaixi, who finally realized something was wrong, visibly panicked.

"What are you talking about?"

Shen Huaixi didn't know that while he was unconscious, the video clip of him crying and leaving in anger had gone viral.

At first, everyone was just mocking him, watching the entire audience shout at him to leave.

But then someone, after he left, processed the audio to reduce noise and silence the part where the audience continued to shout at him to leave, and then uncovered his conversation with the manager.

Now the three sentences they said have been deciphered by netizens and spread across the internet.

All netizens suspect that this stage accident was caused by Shen Huaixi.

"Now the program team is also demanding an explanation from us. They are probably preparing to call the police for a thorough investigation."

Shen Huaixi, who had just woken up, suddenly heard this news and felt his vision darken.

His temples were throbbing with anger.

Shen Huaixi, who had a thousand curses in his heart, really wanted to curse this useless thing directly.

But with Wen Ningshu here, he didn't dare to behave so rudely in front of her.

He forced himself to calm down.

He wasn’t too worried about the police getting involved since this kind of thing wouldn’t land him in jail.

But switching the backing track and causing a stage accident had a huge impact on the audience.

They weren’t perfect, and their plan wasn’t foolproof.

If the show’s producers dug deeper, he wasn’t sure how much his useless manager and the audio handler would spill during questioning. It could expose his role in all this.

Shen Huaixi knew if this wasn’t handled, his career in showbiz would be over.

After hanging up, Shen Huaixi turned to Wen Ningshu, tears welling up in his eyes, knowing he couldn’t keep this hidden.

"Mom, I need your help with something..."

Shen Huaixi gave Wen Ningshu a quick rundown, pinning the whole stage sabotage on his manager.

"She pushed me to go on the live show tonight, but I never thought she’d pull something like this..."

"Now everyone’s blaming me..."

Wen Ningshu stayed quiet for a long time after hearing Shen Huaixi’s story.

She’d seen the live show, and the stage incident had really stuck with her.

At first, she thought it was just a mistake by the show’s crew.

But she never imagined her adopted son was tied to it.

Even though he acted clueless and tried to wash his hands of it, Wen Ningshu couldn’t trust him completely anymore.

Lately, she couldn’t put her finger on why.

She suddenly realized Shen Huaixi had changed a lot.

He seemed less and less like the sweet, innocent kid she remembered.

Wen Ningshu gave Shen Huaixi a disappointed look, but years of love kept her from turning her back on him.

"I get it. Go to bed. I’ll take care of this."

She sighed and added, "A manager like that needs to go."

When Shen Huaixi’s chat with his manager leaked, it sparked another online firestorm.

Netizens were even angrier about the deliberate sabotage than his embarrassing behavior.

Hashtags like #ShenHuaixi, #ShenHuaixiManagerChat, and #KissSummerTrack dominated the top three trends.

No matter how hard Shen Huaixi’s PR team worked to bury the hashtags and cool things down, they couldn’t make it go away.

With all eyes on them, the show’s producers released a statement the next day addressing the stage mishap.

The show apologized to the group and the audience, fired those responsible, and promised a thorough investigation.

The moment the show made their statement, Shen Huaixi threw his manager under the bus.

The manager, who received a large sum of hush money, shouldered all the blame and resigned, announcing her immediate withdrawal from the entertainment industry.

In the end, she also portrayed Shen Huaixi as an unwitting white lotus who knew nothing, trying to absolve him of any responsibility.

However, although Shen Huaixi and his manager's words did not explicitly indicate that he knew about the accompaniment, netizens who had seen through him did not believe him at all.

"Do you think we're idiots? You lashed out at the manager in a rage, but you, Shen Huaixi, couldn't possibly not know about this?"

"Hahaha, right on! Everyone else is a schemer, except for my pure white lotus Shen, who would never harm anyone."

"After all, he's the entertainment industry's last white lotus. How could someone like him have such malicious intentions?"

"No wonder he dared to come to the live broadcast after causing such a scene that night. He must have had this planned."

"Wow, a star with such a petty mindset, and he's a mentor too, targeting the contestants like that."

"Shen Huaixi is so disgusting. If the cats hadn't been so incredible and nailed the performance, wouldn't they have been completely ruined by him?"

"Ugh, the more I think about it, the madder I get. So disgusting!!"

"I didn't watch the performance that night, but I still want to ask, why did he do that?"

"Shen the loser is just jealous of how talented and awesome that group is."

"Exactly, after all, the cats could easily be his mentors."

Shen Huaixi's downfall was so severe that after the manager took the fall, many of his top fans bailed.

His Weibo was also bombarded with hate from netizens, forcing him to close the comments section.

Shen Huaixi, who had often incited his fans to cyberbully others, finally got a dose of his own medicine.

For several nights, every time he closed his eyes, he was haunted by the netizens' insults.

The stress from this incident left him completely drained, and he had to stay in the hospital for a long time before finally flying abroad to escape the domestic public opinion environment.

Shen Huaixi's scandal was so big that after people had their fill of cursing him, it sparked the curiosity of many netizens who hadn't seen the show.

Everyone wanted to see just how amazing the contestants Shen Huaixi had targeted really were.

So many people went online to look up the clip of their performance from that night.

And then...

"Before watching: I want to see how good this group really is... After watching: Shen Huaixi is a moron, the cats are incredible."

"My mom asked why I was kneeling while watching the video."

"Even a god couldn't have topped this performance."

"Two accidents, three responses... helping teammates with precise timing, using a doll to remind teammates of freestyle, and then going full a cappella on the spot... I'd call this a god-tier performance."

"The key is that they didn't say a single word throughout, and even eye contact was difficult (since the one controlling the stage was wearing a mask)."

"Ahhhhhhh, this cat is just too incredible!!"

"What kind of tycoon is this?!"

"It's a god~"

"Actually, compared to this, I'm more curious about how this group got the rights to Lance's version. As far as I know, this song has never been authorized to anyone or any show. They are considered the first in the world to cover it."

"Exactly, and Lance is really hard to get in touch with. Even his manager often can't get hold of him. But their group not only managed to cover the song in such a short time, but also reworked the lyrics... It's fine to rearrange Lance's songs, but if you change his lyrics, he'll sue you until you're bankrupt."

"Holy crap??? Really??"

"Ahhh I'm also really curious about how that happened! And that last part of the a cappella, that's not something you can just freestyle."

"Indeed, in such a short time for the competition, their group actually practiced a cappella?"

"The more you talk, the more curious I get about this group..."

Previously, netizens only paid attention to how well Su Xingyao's group performed. It wasn't until they rewatched the video multiple times that they realized the show had left several questions unanswered during the live broadcast.

So, fans who were captivated by this group but also extremely curious could only put pressure on the show's production team again.

"Song Yingming, do you still want to be the top variety show director in the domestic entertainment industry? If you don't update soon, Zhang Shanfeng next door will surpass you."

"Hurry up and update for me, and I'll upgrade to sssssssssvip for you (threatening and tempting.jpg)."

"Director Song, I see your hair has been thinning from worry recently. Would you like to try a very effective hair growth tonic?"

"I'll recommend it to you if you update hhhhhh"

Netizens tried every trick, but in the end, the promise of hair growth was the most powerful.

Tempted by the prospect of hair growth, the production team miraculously released an extra-long behind-the-scenes video.

This week, for various reasons, Su Xingyao's group's performance almost went viral across all age groups.

Therefore, with such great attention, as soon as the behind-the-scenes footage was released, the first night's views surpassed the entire previous episode.

For the questions that the audience was extremely concerned about, the production team generously included them all in the behind-the-scenes footage.

First, there was the a cappella that everyone found amazing.

After watching the behind-the-scenes footage, netizens realized that nothing is achieved easily; all results come from hard work.

The a cappella was taught by Cat, and despite the already tight schedule, they specifically took time out to practice and build teamwork.

While other groups had already finished work, they were still practicing tirelessly, which is why the contestants looked so exhausted in the VCR.

"At the time, I thought their group was exaggerating with how hard they were working, but now... I realize I was being shallow."

"Looking at the results, Cat's foresight was really impressive."

"This round, I'd like to call Cat a god!"

"My Cat King is really amazing."

After showing Su Xingyao teaching the a cappella in the behind-the-scenes footage, they also included a scene that made everyone look at Cat in a new light.

That is, the copyright issue with Lance that even Sheng Yan couldn't figure out, Cat number 78 managed to resolve with just one phone call.

The production team, seemingly afraid that no one would believe how incredible this was, even included the part where Lance sent the contract specifically instructing to transfer the payment to number 78.

"Now I feel that 'amazing' can't even describe my feelings."

"Wow... does Cat have such extensive connections?"

"This is Lance... even Sheng Yan couldn't get through to him."

"But our adorable kitty just said he would contact him, and he did."

"That... I have a bold idea. Could the kitty's real identity actually be a very powerful tycoon?"

"Great singing skills, strong stage presence, and effortlessly handling copyright issues... I'm really curious about who he is ahhhhhhhh."

Once the show aired this segment, speculation about Su Xingyao's real identity grew even more intense.

In fact, since the first episode aired, many people have been digging into the identities of the contestants on this show.

Including the members of Su Xingyao's group, some were pretty much exposed in the first episode.

For example, number 40 was exposed as an early internet celebrity known for covering ancient-style songs.

Since he usually posts videos of himself singing on short video platforms, someone recognized him as soon as he appeared.

Number 62 was the first one to have his identity revealed.

He had previously participated in underground rapper competitions, and videos of his battles were already unearthed.

Numbers 35 and 77 were also gradually uncovered by netizens.

Number 35 used to be an underground idol overseas.

And number 77 is an idol from a lesser-known group.

But this time, the stage performance was so outstanding that everyone saw his considerable talent, and he gained over two million followers overnight, bringing some fame to his previously obscure group.

Out of the group of five, four have had their identities exposed.

Therefore, as the strongest in the group, number 78, everyone is very eager to find out who he really is.

But he has always insisted on wearing a mask, and besides singing, he uses a voice changer, so no one has been able to uncover his identity yet.

After all, no one knows what he looks like, and the only way to dig him out is by recognizing his voice, but many singers have some differences between their live and recorded voices.

Thus, netizens have a lot of guesses about the identity of number 78.

"I always feel like this person might be someone we all know. After all, if he were an unknown amateur, there would be no need to wear a mask."

"Indeed, maybe it's someone we're all familiar with."

"Could it really be some star or internet celebrity?"

"That... can we approach it from another angle? Didn't the kitty take off his gloves to play the piano when training his teammates? Actually, I think the skin tone of those hands is a bit like Su Xingyao's. He also has that kind of reflective cold white skin, but it was just a very short clip, so I can't be sure."

"Su Xingyao fans, please don't try to ride on our kitty's coattails."

"Although Shen Huaixi has had a setback, Su Xingyao being a failure is indeed undeniable. How could it be him?"

"Could it be LostTide? But he has only covered two songs, so I'm not too sure."

"Could it be a national team player competing under a pseudonym? The kitty's singing skills are on par with those of national team teachers."

"It feels like Teacher Zhou Qinlin..."

"I think it might be Bai Xiaofei..."

Netizens kept guessing, but no one dared to confirm who it really was.

In the end, they could only bombard the show's production team once more.

"Ahhhh, why do you only release information about the eliminated contestants??? This is driving me crazy!"

"Fine, I'll get the membership!! I'll pay for early access, just tell me who Cat is!!"

"I really want to know who the tycoon is, please, I can't sleep over this!"

"Song Yingming, I'm Jiang Ziya, I've reached level 15 and will crown you as the top variety show director in the entertainment industry, but before that, can you please tell me who Cat is!!!"

The show's official Weibo was bombarded by netizens all night, but while the official account could act cute and playful, they didn't answer any key questions.

They firmly refused to reveal any information about contestant number 78.

After netizens continuously bombarded the official Weibo for three full days,

the official account surprisingly posted a new video.

Excited netizens clicked on it, thinking the director might reveal some information.

But what they saw was a video of the five-member group dressed as frog moms singing "Little Jumping Frog."

Watching the five frogs hopping around and singing a children's song,

at first—

Netizens: ...

After listening once—

Netizens: Well... it's kind of cute.

After listening again—

Netizens: Damn it, the production team is so sneaky. Forget about who contestant 78 is, now with five identical frogs hopping around in front of me, I can't even tell who's who!!