Now on the show, only Cheng continued speaking firmly. "I saw it with my own eyes. When Little Shuying was five years old, Ye beat those children."
And now that very scene appeared on the screen.
When little Shuying was nearly five, the footage showed a remote corner of Forest, hidden deep inside the slum district. Ye rode an electric bike into view with a wooden stick resting in his hand. Three little boys stood trapped before him.
"Who is Chen Shuaiwen?" Ye's face carried no expression. No anger and no shouting, just a terrifying calm.
"My... my name is..." A chubby little boy raised his trembling hand.
Before anyone could react, Ye swung the stick directly into the boy's stomach, and Shuaiwen folded over instantly. Pain twisted his face, and his entire body trembled violently. The other two boys weren't spared either as Ye struck hard. Cold and direct without hesitation.
Around the corner nearby, Cheng happened to be filming scenery in the forest. By pure coincidence, he witnessed everything. Back then, he was still young but he immediately recognized the man. The same man who had once refused to let his daughter become a scout trainee.
"What a scumbag... Beating children..." Cheng muttered under his breath with disgust.
At that moment, he didn't stay to understand. He didn't investigate and didn't ask why. He simply turned and left.
In his eyes then, a father who hit children could never raise someone extraordinary. No matter how gifted the child. No matter how talented. He had already judged him guilty.
But the footage didn't end. At the edge of the forest, the three beaten boys clutched their stomachs. Their eyes darted nervously around.
"What do we do now?" Shuaiwen whispered. "We can't trick Little Shuying out anymore. The old ladies promised us fifty dollars if we lured her over."
Another boy with a buzz cut rubbed his bruises helplessly. "Forget it. We'll smash a car tonight and steal some money instead. Just get cash somewhere else."
"Yeah, her dad is crazy. Don't mess with him anymore. Even Da Qing never dared provoke him before."
Another child cursed bitterly. "Damn it... This hurts so much. If I knew this would happen, I never would've agreed to trick her out so those old women could kidnap her. He is insane."
The three boys looked young. Far too young, yet cigarettes hung from their mouths. Their eyes carried cruelty. Their expressions felt twisted. Mature in all the wrong ways. They had grown up inside the slums. Their parents fought endlessly. Their grandparents spoiled them without limits. No discipline. No guidance. No protection.
Over time, childhood itself had slowly rotted away.
Back on the stage, Shuying froze. Her memory had always been exceptional. The moment she saw them, she recognized them instantly. Those three boys... They were the children who used to invite her outside to play. One of them had even been her classmate. But...
"Th-this... This can't be real..." Her voice trembled.
The production team fed updated police records into her headset. Of those three boys, two had received suspended death sentences, and one had already been executed years ago.
Silence. Utter silence.
Shuying sat motionless. For the first time, fear crawled into her bones. If she had followed them that day, what would have happened? She couldn't imagine it. Growing up in a place like that, one wrong choice and one careless step, her childhood ended forever.
Living in darkness, once someone chose to fall, they stopped being children. That sentence, he once said it to her. Back then, she never understood. Now, she finally did.
On stage, Cheng's expression turned complicated. He felt like someone had slapped him across the face hard.
Ye hadn't beaten those children because he enjoyed violence; he had seen danger. Real danger. He had watched, observed, and connected pieces that others ignored. Even while carrying illness, even while exhausted, he never stopped protecting his daughter. The moment he sensed danger, he acted.
This wasn't a peaceful neighborhood. This wasn't somewhere rules solved problems. Law. Morality. Reason. Those things couldn't always survive inside the slums, so Ye chose violence. Brutal. Direct. Immediate.
And Cheng, by pure coincidence, had only witnessed the surface, then walked away disappointed. Perfect timing and perfect misunderstanding.
"Y-you..." Cheng fell silent.
He couldn't understand it. How could someone carry illness, poverty, and exhaustion, yet still notice every tiny danger surrounding his child? How much effort had he hidden? How much had he endured alone?
"How... How did you keep going... It shouldn't be possible... I can't imagine surviving under conditions like that... And still thinking so carefully..." Cheng slowly turned and looking toward the audience. Toward the crowd. Toward somewhere unseen.
For a moment, he felt a familiar presence but he wasn't sure. Could someone like Yu Ye really exist? Could a father carry that much alone?
But no one noticed Cheng anymore. No one cared.
Because Shuying's eyes had already turned red. She stared at the giant screen motionless, then she spoke softly. "But later... When I was five... I asked him... 'Why did you suffer so much giving birth to me?' And he said... 'I didn't have money for an abortion.' Otherwise... I would've done it. Because I knew... This child would never amount to anything.'"
Silence. One thought remained. Only one. She had to leave. Leave the slums. Leave everything behind. She had to prove herself. To everyone. To him.
"I hated those words... Why... Why say something so cruel... Did you hate me that much... Did you despise your own daughter that much..." Shuying wasn't speaking to anyone, and yet, it felt like she was speaking to everyone.
Questioning him. Questioning herself. Answering herself. Her voice shattered. Heavy. Broken. Heartbreaking. Cold enough to cut into bone.
The entire stadium slowly fell silent.
Inside the Humanities Education Selected Course, Professor Chen watched quietly, then slowly shook her head. She had changed her mind completely. No matter what happened, words like that, could never belong to a father. Never.
The footage continued.
Five-year-old Little Shuying sat at home. Hungry and tired.
Ye stood nearby. "Finish your homework first, then eat."
Little Shuying glared at him, and anger filled her small face. "Do you hate me that much? If you hate me so much, why did you even have me? Why won't you let me see Mom?"
Yu Ye answered calmly. Not drunk. Not emotional. Not angry. Just calm, almost frighteningly calm. "I didn't have money for an abortion; otherwise, I would've done it. Because I knew you wouldn't amount to much."
Little Shuying froze. She didn't cry. Not immediately, but tears gathered slowly. Quietly. Endlessly. Cold. That was all she felt.
Until Ye left once more, walking out into the night, heading toward another temporary job. Another exhausting shift. Another day.
Then, five-year-old Little Shuying clenched her fists and spoke firmly. "I'll succeed. I'll leave this place. I'll prove you're wrong. I'll become the best."
At that moment, a goal was born. She turned her father into an enemy she had to overcome. She would study harder and become stronger. Rise higher to prove herself and to prove him wrong.
And at that moment, for the first time, Little Shuying carried light within her.