So now, the entire broadcast station had fallen silent, and viewers sat frozen before their screens. Because at that lonely grave outside the city, Little Shuying knelt beside a tombstone, tears flowing down her cheeks uncontrollably. Beside her stood a thin man whose figure looked fragile against the cold wind.
His voice was soft, almost gentle. "You have to shine early… or find the one who shines for you."
Those words engraved themselves deeply into Little Shuying's heart, and they also pierced into the hearts of countless viewers. Because many people had witnessed with their own eyes the rise and collapse of a once extraordinary man.
Bankruptcy. Divorce. Illness. Falling from brilliance into poverty. Settling into a slum. Working an exhausting ordinary job day after day. Time had worn away his youth. Fatigue lingered permanently in his eyes. Yet the heroic sharpness in his features had never faded. And facing his daughter, he still spoke words so calm, so gentle, so soul-shaking.
On the program stage...
"No! It's impossible for a few words to change my memories! It was you! You drove away my friends and left me without friendship! You took away my hobbies and left me without innocence! It was you! That's why I remembered everything so deeply… so deeply that I treated you as an imaginary enemy." Yu Shuying's voice trembled with conflicting emotions amd she admitted it.
"He" spoke beautifully. Rational. Educated. Scholarly. But that wasn't the father she remembered.
The father in her memory was someone who ruthlessly drove away her friends. Someone whose love suffocated everything around him. Someone whose pride deprived her of things she cherished.
She had struggled to grow up under that pressure. Fought. Endured. Climbed upward with difficulty. Those memories lived inside her clearly and painfully. No one could rewrite them.
On stage, Commentator Nana couldn't help speaking. "The next scene… is where the father and daughter truly become enemies."
Her expression grew serious. "In the real footage, we're about to witness the birth of a rigid, old-fashioned father."
Applause erupted across the venue, and many people agreed. After all, Shuying had repeated it many times. After she turned four, he changed completely. Perhaps illness slowly distorted him. Perhaps years of poverty crushed him. Or perhaps the environment around him quietly consumed who he once was. The once gentle father gradually became darker. Colder. Selfish. Difficult. Until eventually, he no longer resembled a father at all.
At that moment, Cheng also stood, and his expression carried regret. "It's true. When Little Shuying was five years old, I visited the slum once. I saw Yu Ye bullying several children. At the time… I felt ashamed. I even thought, if Little Shuying continued growing up beside him… her future would be hopeless."
The moment Cheng finished speaking, the stadium exploded. Shock. Disappointment. Disbelief.
Some viewers still held goodwill toward Yu Ye. Before Little Shuying turned four, he truly looked like a good father. He cared for her. Protected her. Even after the divorce, he never abandoned responsibility. Every expression. Every action. Everything once felt genuine.
But now, with Yu Shuying's testimony and with Chen Cheng confirming it, those impressions shattered completely.
Su Wen slowly stood. Forty years old. Elegant and refined, the image of a successful middle-aged intellectual. He adjusted his glasses and said thoughtfully, "Growing up surrounded by poverty, interests, pressure, and illness, he was slowly corrupted by his environment. He was consumed. Defiled. Broken. And in the end… he lost what mattered most. His responsibility as a father."
Applause thundered once more, and most people agreed.
The footage continued when little Shuying was four years old and eleven months old.
That afternoon, several seven or eight-year-old children knocked on the door. Little Shuying happened to be home during vacation, so when the door slowly opened, several boys stood outside smiling innocently. "Let's go play."
Little Shuying scratched her head. She recognized only one classmate, and the others were strangers.
"But… I don't know you." She answered honestly.
"We're going to the zoo. We can see tigers." One boy grinned.
And then, the apartment door opened wider, and Ye stepped out. His voice exploded like thunder. "If you play with idiots, you'll become an idiot too! Don't come here anymore! Idiots spread stupidity! The police will arrest idiots!"
The children froze, and fear flashed across their faces. Then, they hurriedly nodded and ran.
Ye turned toward Little Shuying. Calmly and coldly. "You don't need to play with people like that. They believe everything others tell them."
After that, the boys never came back. No, no one came anymore. Only homework remained. Only studying. Only silence.
Until one day, Little Shuying finally exploded. She glared at Ye with anger filling her eyes. "WHY WON'T YOU LET THEM PLAY WITH ME?!"
Yu Ye wasn't angry; he simply touched her head. "They're bad children."
"They're not!" Little Shuying shouted back immediately.
Ye looked quietly at her, then spoke softly. "You forgot? You're almost five. Don't you still want to see your mother? Finish your homework. Start learning to write songs. When you perform at elementary school, your mother will reward you with a letter."
His eyes were full of gentleness and full of love.
Little Shuying lowered her head. Because she remembered. She always remembered.
Then, Ye slowly pulled out a piece of paper. Beautiful handwriting. Elegant block letters. Her mother's handwriting. Written clearly...
[Little Shuying, it's time to write a song.]
Beneath it, a drawing. Moonlight spilling through clouds. So soft and dreamlike.
The silver light crossed the sea.
Dark clouds pierced through the brightness.
The ocean reflected shimmering scales beneath moonlight.
A girl wearing white walked toward the depths of the sea.
The waves pushed against her, as if trying to stop her.
Darkness stretched endlessly ahead. Silence, distance, and loneliness.
Little Shuying held the paper tightly and thought. Ocean? Waves? Girl in white?
"What about calling it 'Sea Trench'?" Ye casually suggested from beside her.
Little Shuying shook her head. No. Not good enough. Then, something appeared in her mind, and her eyes slowly brightened. "The Bottom of the Sea… No. Under the Sea."
When the words "Under the Sea" appeared, the entire program audience froze. Because everyone knew this song. This was Little Shuying's legendary childhood masterpiece.
The song she performed in first grade. The song she sang was alone without any accompaniment. The song that once moved school leaders to tears. The song that would later sweep major music charts. The song that shocked everyone when they discovered its creator was only a child. And from that day onward, Little Shuying's impossible rise officially began.
On stage, commentator Nana slowly frowned, "Wait… Doesn't it feel like Ye accidentally guided Little Shuying toward the title?"
People in the front row nodded. Maybe Little Shuying herself didn't realize it. But as spectators, they could see clearly. Ye had guided her thoughts. Step by step. Little by little. Until the title naturally appeared.
But soon, Nana shook her head. "No. It can't be a coincidence."
"Did everyone forget? He violently chased the children away. Cheng personally witnessed him bullying children. Could someone like that really create a song like this?" Her voice was firm and resolute.
And many people agreed. After all, the footage was clear. Cheng confirmed it and Ye's actions existed. So could someone like him truly create something so pure? So sincere? So ethereal?
Most people came to only one conclusion. No. This song must have been created by Little Shuying herself.