Chapter 31: Writing a New Song Again?

Galen had just hung up the phone when Miles, sitting across from him, leapt to his feet in anger. "Galen! That Cai fellow actually dared to treat us like this? I ought to go teach him a lesson!" He had already been restless for a while, wanting to stand up several times, but forced himself to wait until Galen finished his call.

Seeing Miles so worked up, Galen waved his hand calmly. "Let’s see how Brother Wu handles it."

Miles protested, "Are we really just going to let this go?"

Galen chuckled. "With Cai, it will never just be let go."

Miles was taken aback, about to ask more, but Galen spoke again. "Fortunately, we caught this early. The half-million is already in hand, so let's set this matter aside for now. But if they dare touch my performance fee, it won’t be so simple."

"What are you planning to do?" Miles asked in a low voice.

Galen glanced at him and saw anticipation gleaming in Miles' eyes, which made him laugh. "I'm a civilized man. I won't solve problems with my fists."

"Then what do you intend to—"

"Enough! Let’s not talk about this anymore." Galen patted Miles’ shoulder. "Help me find a recording studio nearby, get in touch, and book a slot for nine o’clock. I need it."

"Alright," Miles replied, a little disappointed, but still eager about his work. He immediately took out his phone to search for nearby studios, getting dressed as he prepared to leave.

Galen returned to his room, opened his laptop, and searched for a suitable song.

In the moment he agreed to Chunli Fu’s request, he already had a plan. Although he didn’t have a song about the city on his computer, he had plenty of others, didn’t he? With a bit of adaptation and some new lyrics, any song could do the trick. After all, Chunli Fu only asked for a pop song—hardly a problem.

This new laptop of his was loaded with pop songs, though he hadn't used any of them yet.

After some searching, he narrowed it down to two songs: one was a Shanghainese rap, and the other only tangentially referenced the city in its title, with lyrics unrelated to it, but the melody was beautiful—a true pop hit.

It was hard to choose between the two. After much thought, Galen came up with a bold plan.

He spent over half an hour writing out the lyrics and music for the second song, then selected several standout rap verses from the first.

When he finished, Galen called Miles. "Hey, Miles, did you get it sorted?"

"Yes, but they won't have a slot until 9:40. I'm trying to negotiate with them."

"No need. 9:40 is fine. How much per hour?"

"For just recording, it's 180 an hour. By the way, they asked if we have an instrumental backing track. If not, they can make one on the spot."

"Of course, we'll need it done there," Galen replied. "We’re recording an original song!"

"Oh! They said if we do the arrangement ourselves, it's 500 per song; if we hire their teacher, it's 2,000."

"Alright," Galen said after a moment's thought. "Let’s hire their teacher."

Though Galen had learned a lot under Li Ronghao, this song was worth half a million—he couldn't risk messing it up.

Hanging up, Galen picked up his guitar and, using his portable recorder, quickly made a rough demo. After listening to it twice and finding no major issues, he shut down the computer, gathered his written lyrics and sheet music, and hurried out.

The hotel lobby offered printing services. Galen printed a dozen copies, then went upstairs to find the room where the Zodiac Band was staying.

Knock, knock.

After two knocks, the door clicked open and a thick cloud of smoke wafted out, making Galen cover his nose.

The band’s bassist, Coalhead, opened the door. Upon seeing Galen, he exclaimed in surprise, "Hey, Galen! What brings you here? Come in, have a drink!"

"No, no," Galen waved his hands. "I actually have something to discuss with you all."

"Whatever it is, come in and say it," Coalhead insisted, pulling Galen into the room.

Inside, a bunch of shirtless men were gathered around a table loaded with peanuts and chicken feet, empty beer bottles piled on the floor.

"Just having a drink, brother!" Galen greeted everyone with a smile, taking the chair Coalhead offered.

"Come, join us—white or beer?" the lead singer, Kai, asked, already reaching for a glass.

Just as he was about to pour, Galen quickly stopped him. "No, I can't—I have business. I’m here because of a song."

"What song? You wrote a new one? Rock or folk?" Ermao, the drummer, asked excitedly.

Galen smiled and shook his head. "Neither. Wanshi Cola asked me to write a pop song dedicated to the city. I finished it and wanted to see if you all could help me record it."

"Let me see the song," Damao, the lead guitarist, said eagerly.

Galen handed out the sheet music, one copy each, then played his demo recording.

The demo was simple, but the band could tell there was something special about it. The opening verses were just like any other pop song—catchy, but not really their thing. But when the rap section kicked in, all six band members froze, eyes wide in astonishment.

They played underground music, mostly rock and rap, so their performances included both genres. But in all their years, none of them had ever heard someone blend rap into a pop song so seamlessly.

In this world, not even foreign rappers dared to merge rap with pop. The two genres were at odds—pop looked down on underground, and underground scorned pop. They coexisted like the two halves of a backside: the left cheek was pop, the right cheek was underground, both music, yet separated by an unbridgeable chasm.

Now Galen was breaking the mold, shaking things up in a way that left the band stunned.

When the demo ended, Kai gave a thumbs-up, eyes gleaming with admiration. "Amazing! You really dared to sing it this way?"

"Yeah," Galen laughed. "I wanted to try something bold. I’m not afraid of criticism from the pop world, nor the underground scene—this is my creativity."

Back on his old computer, Galen had heard plenty of such genre-blending songs, especially by a singer called Jay Chou, whose music was full of this style. Galen not only accepted it, he loved it.

That song "Fireworks Fade," for example, originally had a short rap near the end, but Galen had omitted it when adapting the song for here.

After all, no one in this world had ever done this before. He didn't understand why—he’d asked many people, even Li Ronghao, but no one could explain it. He clearly remembered Li Ronghao once sneering, "Can rap even be called music? Just a bunch of fast-talking, might as well be cross-talk comedy!"

Kai, gripping the lyrics, was visibly moved. After hesitating, he finally spoke up, "Galen, I have a suggestion. Your Shanghainese rap is great, your delivery is smooth, but your pronunciation isn’t quite accurate."

"Yes, that’s an issue," Galen agreed, not picking up on Kai’s intention.

Kai continued, "How about this—we team up. I’ll do the Shanghainese rap, you sing the main vocals. How’s that?"

"Oh? You’d do that?" Galen thought for a moment, then laughed. "Alright, but the pronunciation—"

"Heh!" Kai grinned proudly. "I’m from Jiaxing. Both high school and college were in the city—I speak it flawlessly!"

"Wow, that’s spot on!" Galen’s eyes lit up. He’d struggled for ages, resorting to pinyin annotations just to get through it. Someone with Kai’s dialect background would be perfect.

"Alright, it’s settled!" Galen smiled. "Oh, and I still need a female vocalist to partner with me, hope you don’t mind?"

"Not at all," the band members waved it off. Ermao grinned, "You’re thinking of inviting Aya, right?"

"Uh… how did you know?" Galen asked, puzzled.

Ermao chuckled. "I’ve noticed there’s something special between you two!"

Galen’s face darkened and he explained earnestly, "I have a girlfriend. Aya and I just used to sing together at a bar—now I just want to help her out."

Seeing Galen so sincere and serious, Ermao laughed awkwardly. "I was just joking! Just joking!"

Kai, now firmly on Galen’s side, immediately scolded Ermao. "Don’t make jokes like that in the future!"

Ermao nodded vigorously, and Galen couldn’t help but laugh. "Alright, let’s not make a big deal of it. I’ll go find Aya, and you all can look over the music."

"Go ahead," Kai said, then started clearing the table with the others, getting out instruments to rehearse.

Galen left and headed to Aya’s room.

The band’s room had reeked of smoke, but when Aya’s door opened, it was a strong wave of perfume that hit him.

Inside—goodness, the room was crowded. Aya wasn’t alone; four other girls were there. They were a debuting girl group called Super4. Galen didn’t know them well, but he did know their names: from oldest to youngest, they were Yiyi, Ai’ai, Shanshan, and Sisi.

Put together, their names counted off: one, two, three, four!

Who knows how their company came up with such creative stage names.

"Galen? You’re looking for me?" Aya asked in surprise—he’d never come looking for her privately before.

Galen smiled. "Yes! I wrote a new song, need it for tomorrow, and wanted to see if you’d sing it with me."

"What? Another new song?" Aya’s expression was as shocked as the six members of Zodiac Band had been.