Now that the scene appeared, the two commentators, along with everyone inside the stadium, watched in anticipation. No one remembered Ye singing alone in the middle of the night anymore because now the evidence was here. The creative process and the proof of creation.
Even on the program itself, Shuying couldn't help but smile. It was as though she had returned to that distant year, back to the moment she first wrote songs herself. She remembered it vividly.
She had been walking beside the sea. She saw someone. That person told her a story, and that person walked into the ocean.
A story.
A scene.
A few lines of lyrics.
Quietly flowed into her mind like veins filling with life, and eventually, she wrote that song.
"Under the Sea. Scattered moonlight... passing through... clouds... Hiding from the crowd, covered by scales of the sea..." Through the headset, that ethereal and drifting voice echoed once more.
Shuying's voice felt like moonlight pouring into emptiness, carrying a quiet loneliness people had not felt in a very long time. This was where everything began.
Little Shuying, aged five years and one month.
After arriving at the seaside, Ye released Little Shuying's hand. Holding a bottle of liquor lazily in one hand, he said casually, "Go play by yourself. I'm going to drink."
Little Shuying immediately walked away as she hated the smell of alcohol. It was her first time seeing the sea. Step by step, she walked toward the beach.
Soft sand beneath her feet.
Sea breeze brushes against her face.
An unfamiliar happiness slowly spread through her chest.
Then, she noticed a girl nearby. A girl wearing a white dress, lying alone on the sand. Crying, yet no one paid attention to her.
Little Shuying frowned. Unable to hold back, she stepped forward. "Sister... what's wrong?"
The girl in white slowly lifted her head, and her eyes were red. She quietly pointed toward the sea. "Sister is very tired. Would you like to hear a story?"
Little Shuying nodded. "Okay."
The girl smiled faintly. "On a quiet night under the moon... A young girl slowly walked toward the sea, and she wore a white dress. The ocean wasn't calm as the waves crashed against her. They wanted to push her back to shore, but she had suffered too much pain. Her wounds bled as the seawater washed over them. But all the ocean could do... Was washing those wounds again and again. Comfort her, accompany her, but eventually... The girl still walked deeper. Further into darkness. Further into silence. In a trance... She heard the ocean calling her. And finally... Her soul drifted away. No one would wake her again. No one..."
The girl finished speaking. Then, she smiled and ran into the sea. Acting out every scene she had just described.
Little Shuying stood frozen, watching silently. And suddenly, the painting her mother once showed her surfaced in her mind. The song.
"Under the Sea."
How similar. How unbelievably similar. Memories connected, fragments joined together, scenes formed, words appeared, and lyrics slowly emerged.
"Scattered moonlight pierced through the clouds..."
At that moment, little Shuying softly sang toward the sea. Even she didn't know why she could sing it. But it felt as if something inside her had awakened.
After returning to the bike, she immediately grabbed her workbook. Opened it, picked up a pen, and began writing.
The very first version.
The original lyrics.
At this moment, little Shuying's talent unfolded completely, and the live comments surged.
On stage, Shuying quietly nodded toward the screen as though she were looking at her younger self. So that was how the song had been born.
Commentator Nana couldn't help but exclaim. "Incredible. Just hearing a story caused lyrics to appear in her mind. And don't forget, Shuying was only five years old! I'm seriously beginning to suspect that Shuying secretly wrote some of Ye's songs. Maybe those songs he sang late at night... Were learned from his own daughter."
The comment section exploded.
"The way this child understood grief is terrifying."
"She's only five years old!"
"And what was her father doing?"
"Drinking nearby with liquor bottles."
"This father becomes more disappointing the more we watch."
"Using alcohol to numb reality."
When Ye finally staggered back carrying liquor, little Shuying had already finished writing. She quietly hid the notebook inside her pocket, but everyone had already seen it.
"Scattered moonlight through the clouds..."
"Hide from the crowd..."
"Scales of the sea..."
"Whose whispers guide..."
"The soul falls silent..."
"No one wakes you..."
Silence. Pure silence. Then, shock.
Back on stage, Cheng clapped his hands. "Genius! A natural genius! Completely self-taught!"
The audience beneath the stage erupted.
"Genius!"
"Goddess!"
"I bow to you!"
"Incredible!"
No one remembered Yu Ye anymore. Who still cared? People only remembered one thing: At the beach. At that moment, little Shuying, at only five years old, displayed talent so extraordinary it left everyone speechless. She had written songs, she had understood emotions, and she had created beauty entirely on her own.
Now, inside the program group, Professor Tian smiled while looking toward Professor Cihai. "Well, you judged wrong. This child is exceptional, and it has nothing to do with adult education."
Cihai forced a bitter smile, but something still felt wrong. Everything felt too perfect. Too natural. Almost... arranged. Like fate itself favored the little girl. How difficult was it to write a hit song? How complex was talent? How could everything align so perfectly?
Then suddenly, the assistant beside them gasped. "This isn't over yet."
The two professors immediately looked back and froze.
Little Shuying was heading home while Ye rode the bike. Even though alcohol lingered on him, he drove steadily. Watched traffic carefully, stopped at lights, and moved safely. No signs of drunken recklessness.
After arriving home, little Shuying entered without welcoming him. Then, the screen replayed earlier footage at the seaside.
Ye swayed while holding liquor. "Go play."
Little Shuying nodded with disgust. Then, Ye walked away to a corner, toward a woman in white. Without hesitation, he calmly pulled out money.
"Help me perform something. These are your lines. Memorize them and the money is yours." His voice was calm and cold. Nothing like the drunken man from before.
The woman stared blankly. She was only a struggling actress. An unknown extra. When this strange man approached, she thought something else entirely. But instead, he handed her a tragic script. A story for a little girl.
"Why?" she asked.
Ye remained expressionless. "Don't ask."
Moments later, the woman changed into white, walked to the route Little Shuying would pass, and quietly waited. She repeated her lines over and over until Little Shuying arrived.
"Sister is very tired. Would you like to hear a story?"
Little Shuying obediently nodded. "Okay."
At that moment, it felt like glass shattered inside everyone's hearts. Because only now did everyone realize Yu Ye... Had arranged everything. From beginning to end.