Chapter 61

Chapter 61

After Xu Beizhou finished speaking, the entire venue fell silent.

The audience hadn’t even had the chance to inquire about the alias LostTide that Su Xingyao had just revealed. They were immediately stunned by Xu Beizhou’s words.

"Am I hearing things? What is Xu Beizhou getting at?"

"Can't advance?? OMG, I suddenly don’t understand what’s going on..."

"Is Xu Beizhou implying that the cat’s song is plagiarized?"

"No way... I absolutely love this song!"

"We don’t know the truth yet, but I doubt the cat would do something like that."

"But Xu Beizhou’s reputation as a musical genius isn’t just for show. No one he’s accused of plagiarism has been falsely accused."

"So, did the cat actually plagiarize?"

"This is the first time I’ve seen Xu Beizhou look so serious; it’s kind of scary."

The show’s cheerful atmosphere instantly turned tense.

And Xu Beizhou, contrary to his usual calm demeanor, spoke with extreme assertiveness. His gaze at Su Xingyao was filled with disgust and disappointment.

Xu Beizhou hasn’t made it public, but those in the know are aware that Misssu has been his musical muse lately.

This foreign artist hasn’t released many works, but each one is brimming with talent.

Ever since Xu Beizhou accidentally heard one of Misssu’s works late one night, he has been deeply admiring him.

Just three days ago, he was still reaching out for a new album collaboration.

Of course, there’s been no reply.

Not receiving a reply didn’t bother Xu Beizhou too much.

What truly upset him was that in this show, he had discovered someone plagiarizing Misssu’s arrangements for the second time.

During the first round, he had called out and eliminated a contestant on the spot, but it seems these folks are really daring, as today another one showed up.

And compared to the last one, today’s is even worse!

Thinking of this, Xu Beizhou’s expression had turned dark.

Suddenly being seriously accused of plagiarism by Xu Beizhou, Su Xingyao felt baffled.

Especially since the other guy thought he was plagiarizing his own side project...

"Mr. Xu..."

Su Xingyao wanted to clarify.

But as soon as he opened his mouth, he was impatiently cut off by the emotionally charged Xu Beizhou.

"If you’re going to make excuses, don’t bother."

Xu Beizhou's words turned the atmosphere icy, reaching a freezing point.

The host was so stunned they didn't know how to proceed.

But Sheng Yan seized the moment to speak.

"Mr. Xu, which part of the melody are you talking about?"

He shot a glance at Su Xingyao, hinting that Xu Beizhou shouldn't jump to conclusions.

"Could there be some misunderstanding here? Let's hear what contestant 78 has to say."

Sheng Yan spoke up because he'd seen firsthand how Su Xingyao effortlessly helped his teammates revise lyrics and tweak their composition.

With such skills, he found it hard to believe Su Xingyao would plagiarize without evidence.

So, he thought Xu Beizhou shouldn't be so quick to 'convict' him.

But Xu Beizhou shook his head with absolute certainty after hearing him.

"There's no misunderstanding here."

With that, he grabbed two sheets of paper from the table and held them up for everyone to see.

Just like when he exposed a contestant for plagiarizing Misssu on 'The Voice of Heaven,' Xu Beizhou had quickly broken down the melodies and scales of both songs this time too.

"During the first round, I caught someone plagiarizing Misssu."

Xu Beizhou smirked, "At least that person knew to tweak it a bit."

"But you..." He shot Su Xingyao a look, his tone sharper than ever.

"I didn't expect you to be so brazen, copying an entire section without changing a thing."

He raised an eyebrow, his voice dripping with disdain.

"Did you think no one would catch it after mixing?"

With that, Xu Beizhou grabbed the sheet labeled 'Mist' and pointed to the numbers with his pen.

"Director, cue the song to around 1:50."

The director didn't react right away.

It took a few seconds after Xu Beizhou's request for anything to happen.

Xu Beizhou frowned and pressed again, and then the BGM he mentioned started playing.

After about twenty seconds, Xu Beizhou called for a stop, then rolled up his sleeves and started breaking it down for everyone.

"Contestant 78 blended two melodies in this climax."

"The first part is a transposed version of the original 'Mist' melody, the main melody you heard in his bel canto performance."

"And layered within this melody," Xu Beizhou held up another sheet, showing the scale he'd drawn, "he mixed in Misssu's original composition to add depth and mystery."

With that, Xu Beizhou pulled out his phone and quickly played a melody.

"It's this part."

The melody from the phone echoed through every corner of the venue via the microphone.

After playing it, he had the director replay the BGM, counting the beats for the audience to listen together.

With Xu Beizhou's guidance, everyone listened more carefully and indeed discovered another melody hidden behind the vocals.

This part was strikingly similar to the one Xu Beizhou had just played from his phone.

Immediately, various discussions erupted from the audience.

His evidence clearly swayed them.

Meanwhile, Xu Beizhou, known for his stance against plagiarism, looked at Su Xingyao and continued his relentless critique.

"You handled this part very well. The added melody, once mixed, perfectly harmonizes with both the original melodies and your vocals."

"If it weren't for the plagiarism, I'd give your handling a perfect score."

At this point, Xu Beizhou paused.

"But unfortunately, it's not."

Having been a mentor for so long, this was the first time Xu Beizhou had spoken so much at once on the show.

After expressing his views, he obviously didn't want to say more and directly pronounced judgment on Su Xingyao on stage.

"A shameless plagiarist doesn't deserve to move forward!"

Xu Beizhou's words reignited Wang Zhan's hope of advancing, who had been lingering on stage.

Seeing Xu Beizhou about to block contestant number 78's advancement, Wang Zhan's tears, which had been halfway down, instantly stopped.

He couldn't help but gaze at Xu Beizhou with joy, as if he were his savior.

Wang Zhan's tearful act mostly went unnoticed by the audience.

Now, everyone's attention was on Su Xingyao.

"Xu Beizhou's evidence seems pretty solid, doesn't it? I didn't expect contestant 78 to be so disgusting..."

"It's so disappointing; I never expected him to be like this."

"What was he thinking, pulling something like this?"

"It's not just a bad decision; I'm even starting to wonder if other parts of his song are problematic."

"I always said that someone hiding behind a mascot costume must have something to hide, and now it's out."

"Haha, all you contestant 78 fans, feeling the sting now? Look at who you've been idolizing."

"Xu Beizhou is right; a rip-off artist doesn't deserve to advance."

"Just sing; why try to copy others with adaptations and end up ruining your reputation? Hahaha, it's hilarious."

After Xu Beizhou's move, many online began stirring the pot.

Wang Zhan's fans also seized the opportunity to stand up for their idol.

"So Wang Zhan's previous doubts were not wrong at all. No wonder Contestant 78 was able to adapt such a difficult song so quickly—it turns out it was plagiarism."

"The funniest part is that the entire audience gave the highest votes to this frankenstein creation."

"My brother is really unfortunate to be overshadowed by such a person."

"Xu Beizhou has already said he won't let him advance. Let's see what the show decides."

"Your Wang Zhan, who refused to leave the stage and made a fool of himself, isn't much better than Contestant 78. Don't throw stones when you live in a glass house."

"What’s the point of arguing? Both of them are clowns."

After Xu Beizhou's statement, online mockery and accusations against Su Xingyao spread like wildfire online.

Public opinion also quickly turned against him.

Meanwhile, the scene at the venue was in complete disarray.

The audience's discussions grew louder, and everyone's eyes were glued to Su Xingyao, waiting to see if he would admit to plagiarism or choose to defend himself.

Since Xu Beizhou's preparation was so thorough, many people thought Su Xingyao would probably admit to it.

But to everyone's surprise, he remained calm and composed, stood his ground, and even politely asked Xu Beizhou, who had not given him a chance to speak earlier.

"Mr. Xu, may I speak now?"

After understanding the whole situation, Su Xingyao found the whole situation rather amusing.

Although Wang Zhan had been trying to trip him up earlier, one thing he said was correct.

The adaptation of this song was complex, and the production time was indeed a little too tight.

Thirty minutes before submitting the BGM, after repeatedly listening to the track, Su Xingyao still felt that the climax fell a bit short of his expectations.

So he decided to tweak the melody to enrich that section.

But time was almost up.

It was nearly impossible to re-arrange and produce a new melody in such a short time.

In the end, he found a pre-made section from his own composition library to use for the mix.

Su Xingyao was pretty lucky at the time.

While listening to the third track in the "Dark Style" arrangement folder, he found a perfect fit.

With time running out, he directly used that segment without any modifications.

Su Xingyao had written thousands of these kinds of short melodies over the years.

Many were created on a whim when inspiration struck.

Over the years, he had accumulated so many pieces that even he couldn't recall when he wrote some of them.

So, while busy with the mix that day, he forgot that this particular arrangement had been posted casually on social media after he wrote it.

As it turned out, it was just one of those crazy coincidences...

After Su Xingyao spoke, Xu Beizhou—who hated anyone who copied his idol’s music—had no interest in talking to him.

Su Xingyao didn’t get mad either and calmly defended himself.

“I wrote this part myself, and I didn’t copy anyone.”

Su Xingyao said it with total confidence, not a hint of guilt in his voice.

When Xu Beizhou heard “no plagiarism,” he thought Su Xingyao was still making excuses and got mad all over again.

But just as he was about to fire back, Su Xingyao said something else.

“I forgot I’d already posted this melody on tris. I’ll be more careful when mixing in the future. My bad.”

The audience and netizens were totally confused by Su Xingyao’s explanation and had no idea what he was getting at.

Confused, they didn’t overthink it and just watched Xu Beizhou’s reaction on camera.

They expected Xu Beizhou to keep arguing, but instead, the guy who’d just been sneering at the cute fox on stage...

Hearing that, his face changed in an instant, and he froze in shock.

After staring at Su Xingyao’s mascot outfit for a solid ten seconds, Xu Beizhou finally snapped out of it and found his voice.

His attitude did a complete 180, and he started talking carefully, dropping all his earlier disdain.

“Wait... you’re Misssu?”

Even as he said it, Xu Beizhou couldn’t believe it himself.

“How could this guy be Misssu?”

Su Xingyao nodded, casually admitting to it.

“I used this name before.”

Misssu was just a random account he’d made on some foreign sites.

It was just a way for him to share his music with people.

Back then, he never thought he’d end up revealing this alias in such a weird way on stage...

Hearing this, Xu Beizhou’s eyes widened in shock.

“Wait, are you serious?”

“But... Misssu’s supposed to be a girl, right?”

Even with Su Xingyao’s explanation, Xu Beizhou wasn’t ready to buy it just yet.

No one had ever seen Misssu in real life, and since Su Xingyao used this melody, he clearly knew Misssu’s style.

Plus, Misssu hadn’t posted anything in ages, and there was no trace of her online.

If someone was pretending to be her and she didn’t call them out, no one could know if contestant 78 was telling the truth.

So Xu Beizhou wasn’t convinced.

Especially since the other party's gender doesn't match at all.

However, Xu Beizhou didn't expect this.

Before Su Xingyao could answer his question, a male voice came from the first row of the contestant's complimentary ticket section, where relatives and friends were seated.

"Who told you Misssu is a girl?"

Hearing the voice, Xu Beizhou looked in that direction and saw a tall, thin, oddly dressed man holding a cat support sign stand up.

The man's Chinese was a bit awkward, but his words were still somewhat understandable.

He spread his hands towards Su Xingyao on the stage, made a gesture that seemed to say 'this is so stupid I can't watch anymore,' and then corrected the true meaning of the name for Xu Beizhou.

"You've followed so many of his works, yet you don't know that 'miss' in his name stands for longing."

The man wanted to make his Chinese clearer, so he explained it word by word to his friend.

"Misssu is not Miss Su!!! It's... Nian! Su!"

To make sure the other party understood, the man very seriously and slowly pronounced the words 'Nian' and 'Su.'

His bizarre actions naturally caught everyone's attention right away.

The program's camera quickly followed, and everyone's gaze turned to him at the same time.

The relatives and friends who had entered with the contestant's VIP tickets were also staring unblinkingly at this suddenly appearing international friend.

On camera, the man was wearing shorts on the lower half of his body but a gray hoodie on the upper half.

Even though he was indoors, he kept his sunglasses and mask firmly on his face.

"Who is this guy?"

"What Nian Su???"

"His Chinese is actually pretty good..."

Xu Beizhou looked curiously at this strange man.

Before he could figure out why this man stood up to refute him, a sharp-eyed audience member recognized him.

"Holy shit!!!! Lance!!!!!!!"

"Ahhhhhhhhh it's Lance!!!"

This exclamation was like a thunderclap, immediately revealing the true identity of this international friend.

"?????"

"Damn, Lance!!"

"What?? Lance!!"

"Amazing, Lance actually knows about 'The Voice of Heaven'??"

"Not only does he know, but he's sitting in the contestant's relatives and friends section, holding a cat support sign..."

"...Could he have come specifically to watch the cat competition?"

"He's here to root for Meow Meow! I spotted him earlier when the camera swept over the friends and family section—his cheering was off the charts, way more intense than a regular fan!"

"So Lance is here to see Meow Meow?"

"Holy cow!! What's going on between them!!!!!!"

Back at the show venue.

Lance, spotted by the fans, quickly yanked up his hoodie to hide his face.

As he hastily sat back down, he made sure to point at the sign in his hand, driving the point home to Xu Beizhou again.

"He's Misssu, I swear on my life."

With that, he waved the sign at Su Xingyao, shouting, "Go Meow Meow!"

As the audience erupted in screams at Lance's revelation, Xu Beizhou's mind was reeling, feeling like he'd been whacked with a stick, utterly stunned.

Naturally, he knew exactly who Lance was.

So, he was well aware that Lance had no reason to lie in front of all these people...

Xu Beizhou's mind raced, replaying Lance's words over and over.

Contestant 78... LostTide... Misssu... Nian Su...

As these names echoed in his mind, it finally clicked.

The contestant he'd just been tearing into.

Was none other than the "Miss Su" he'd been dying to work with...

Xu Beizhou glanced up, mortified, at the little fox on stage—the one he'd accused of plagiarism and whose identity he'd doubted without even letting them explain.

At the thought, his face flushed with embarrassment, and his back broke out in a cold sweat.

After such a colossal mix-up, the musician he idolized had been right under his nose!!

But before realizing who they were, he'd been dismissive of such a gifted contestant.

He'd even passed up the chance during the selection round because of Shen Huaixi, without putting up a fight!

Thinking back on his actions, Xu Beizhou was filled with regret and wished he could vanish into thin air...

In all his years, he'd never second-guessed or doubted himself.

But now, in this moment.

He realized, with crystal clarity, that he'd been a total fool tonight.

Realizing his mistake, Xu Beizhou, flustered and nervous, grabbed the mic and rushed to apologize to Su Xingyao.

"I'm so sorry... I had no idea before..."

Before he could finish, Wang Zhan on stage, who'd been clinging to the hope of a miracle, felt like he'd been through two roller coaster rides and couldn't handle the wild twists anymore. He tripped and fell in a heap.

The audience had already written off this overambitious clown.

Everyone was buzzing about the night's rollercoaster of events.

"I'm literally dying of laughter. Xu Beizhou was breaking down the score and comparing melodies live, putting in all this effort, only to realize he was criticizing his own idol."

"Hahahaha, this reveal is something I can watch on repeat forever."

"Xu Beizhou's expression when he apologized to the cat was so sheepish and bewildered, I could laugh about it for a year."

"I wonder how much psychological damage Xu Beizhou suffered when he found out the truth."

"My secondhand embarrassment is kicking in again, hahaha."

"Hahahaha, no one can argue with saying 'the cat is amazing' tonight, right?"

"I'm dying of laughter, who would even dare to argue? Even the musical genius Xu Beizhou got publicly owned."

"What can you do? The cat is just that amazing, killing it in both singing and composing."

"The show's mentor is a fan of his own secret identity, and a foreign genius singer came all the way to cheer for him... the cat is living the dream."

"No wonder the cat effortlessly secured the rights to Lance's song during the last performance, ahhh, so freaking amazing."

"It's hard to believe someone like Lance would voluntarily show up as an audience member and help clarify things... so what kind of legend is the cat?"

"And such a legend actually came down to join a music show for the fans..."

"@Song Yingming must have done something incredible in a past life to land the cat as a treasure this time around."

"Song Yingming, you bald director, what did you do to deserve this!"

Song Yingming, who was low-key roasted, sneezed and pulled an all-nighter editing the highlights of tonight's episode to release behind-the-scenes footage.

The production team is milking every bit of hype, and the netizens are also fired up, replaying the night's events on loop.

First, being targeted by Wang Zhan's group, given the worst song but then absolutely killing it with an amazing performance.

Then, after advancing, being suspected of plagiarism by Xu Beizhou, only to accidentally spill the beans and flip the script.

Finally, his friend Lance flew all the way to back him up and even used Chinese to confirm Misssu's true identity...

Each of these moments is so wild it could be talked about for days.

Yet, all these amazing and bizarre experiences happened to one person at the same time.

So overnight, the name LostTide became a sensation.

Netizens who had no clue about this name are now scrambling to find out more about him.

Then, to everyone's surprise, they found out that the theme songs of two popular TV dramas last year were actually written by LostTide!

"Wow, I only noticed the singers back then and didn't pay attention to who wrote the songs, it turns out to be my cat!"

"Ahhh, I've always liked L, this is definitely a double delight for fans."

"My cat can sing and write, truly a divine legend."

"I stayed up all night listening to all the songs released by LostTide, now I can't find any adjectives, my mind is just filled with amazing, amazing, very amazing."

"LostTide, my god! Please, cat, debut soon, I have the urge to buy a hundred of your albums right now."

After netizens dug up Su Xingyao's LostTide account, this Weibo account gained five million followers overnight.

At the same time, after Xu Beizhou revealed the Misssu alias in the show, the Misssu account on foreign platforms saw a massive surge in followers and likes.

The vast number of netizens even pushed this name into the top three search trends.

At first, netizens just wanted to check out the awesome arrangement Xu Beizhou mentioned on the show.

However, they didn’t find that piece but accidentally stumbled upon Xu Beizhou’s secret account.

Then they discovered that Xu Beizhou, who usually doesn’t even bother to post on his own Weibo, had liked and commented on every post under an account that had long been inactive, enthusiastically calling her Miss Su.

Seeing Xu Beizhou like this, netizens couldn’t help but laugh.

"Hahaha... it's hilarious, especially knowing where they stand now."

"Xu Beizhou: In the past, I ignored you, now I can't reach you."

"Liking and commenting on every post! Xu Beizhou, how do you manage to act more like a superfan than me, a die-hard fan?"

"Folks, I'm just curious, didn’t Misssu’s old fans say that his incomplete arrangements were automatically deleted after a week? So where did Xu Beizhou find that arrangement he played?"

"The craziest part is that our cat teacher doesn’t even remember posting this song..."

"But then Xu Beizhou just whipped out the original track from his phone."

"Then he quietly saved the track and used it years later to call out his idol..."

"Ending up totally embarrassed."

"Hahahaha."

"@Xu Beizhou, how did it feel to go off on your idol like that back then?"

Seeing the netizens roast him, Xu Beizhou didn’t even try to defend himself.

After all, just thinking about his terrible attitude towards her during the competition and almost eliminating her in front of a national audience, Xu Beizhou felt so bad he wanted to slap himself silly.

How did it feel back then?

It was like his judgment was clouded, leaving him too embarrassed to face his idol ever again.