Chapter 32: The First Fusion of Rap and Pop!

Hearing Aya’s surprise, the members of Super4 stood up and crowded around her, chattering excitedly.

“What? Gallen wrote another song? What kind this time—folk or rock?”

“Allen! Can you sing it for us first?”

“You want to do a duet with Aya?”

“Aya! Say yes! If you two rehearse, we can listen in too!”

Seeing Gallen’s awkward expression, Aya quickly intervened, “Alright, alright! Let Gallen finish what he has to say first!”

The four girls finally quieted down, and Gallen scratched his head, unsure what to say. He could only laugh, “Uh, just listen first. Let’s see what you think.”

“Okay! Come in!” Aya stepped aside to let Gallen into the room. She glanced behind him and asked curiously, “You didn’t bring your guitar?”

“No, I didn’t,” Gallen replied with a smile.

“Huh?” Shanshan from Super4 looked disappointed. “I was hoping to see you play! Guys with guitars are the coolest!”

Yiyi teased, “Damao and Xiaozhi from Kazi play guitar too, and I heard neither of them has a girlfriend yet. Maybe you should consider them?”

“You’re awful!” Shanshan pouted, and the two started playfully bickering.

Gallen ignored their antics and handed the prepared lyrics and sheet music to Aya, politely giving another copy to Super4, who immediately crowded around to look at it together.

He then took out a recorder and pressed play.

With a simple guitar accompaniment, Gallen’s voice flowed softly from the recorder.

Unlike Kazi Band’s usual style, at the very first line, Aya and Super4’s faces showed excitement and delight.

Yet when the rap section in the middle came, no one looked particularly shocked.

“This song is amazing!” Yiyi exclaimed enviously. “Allen, you’re so talented!”

Aya nodded. “It really is. If you release this, it could easily become the year’s biggest hit. But is it really okay to include a rap section in the middle?”

“Yeah! And your Shanghainese pronunciation is terrible!” Ai Ai said with a laugh.

Gallen grinned, “No worries, I’ve already discussed it with Kazi Band. I’ll let Akai handle the rap; he’s a local from the city, after all!”

“I see!” Yiyi’s eyes sparkled, and she hesitated shyly. “Allen, Aya, I have a small request. I’m not sure if I should ask…”

Gallen laughed. If you shouldn’t say it, you wouldn’t have brought it up. I’m a grown man—how could I refuse to let you speak?

He said, “Don’t worry, go ahead.”

Yiyi chuckled. “Alright, I’ll say it! How about we, Super4, do the harmonies for your duet?”

“Ah?” Gallen was taken aback, glancing at the four girls’ eager faces, then at Aya, who nodded in tacit agreement. He had to smile. “Fine. How about this—let’s all go to my room, I’ll call the six guys from Kazi over too, and we’ll rehearse together!”

“Deal!”

Aya and Super4 agreed cheerfully, and, not even bothering with their coats, followed Gallen out of the room.

As they passed Kazi Band’s room, Gallen knocked and called out. The moment the guys heard there would be a rehearsal with girls present, their original excitement doubled—they grabbed their instruments and hurried eagerly to Gallen’s room.

Once everyone had gathered, Gallen addressed the group, “Thanks, everyone, for helping out. We’re short on time and have a lot to do, so after this is over, I’ll make sure each of you gets a big bonus!”

“Forget it!” Akai waved his hand. “It’s not easy for you to earn money. Helping out among brothers is nothing!”

Aya agreed, “Right! If you pay me, I won’t sing.”

Yiyi was even more embarrassed, shaking her head. “We four are just here for fun. Opportunities like this to learn are so rare, we’d pay just for the chance!”

Gallen laughed. “Alright, don’t argue with me. If you’re really insistent, then I won’t record at all!”

“Don’t be like that!” Ermao, the drummer, said quickly. “This song is too good not to record! How about this—if you really must give us money, just send a symbolic one-cent transfer to each of us, nothing more! And you have to buy us breakfast.”

“Fine!” Seeing time was running short, Gallen agreed. “No more chit-chat. I’ve booked the studio for tonight at 9:40. We can’t rehearse once we get there, so let’s work together and get this sorted out now.”

“Alright!”

Everyone agreed.

Gallen nodded in satisfaction and got to work organizing the session.

Although the room was well soundproofed—good enough for a party—and the hotel suite had its own karaoke system, to avoid complaints from neighbors, they kept the instruments’ volume low.

With Super4 joining, Gallen restructured the vocal sections for himself and Aya, adjusting them based on whose tone suited which range best and playing to everyone’s strengths.

Although Gallen had heard the original song, this arrangement turned out completely different; the original focused heavily on female vocals, but with Gallen’s adjustments, there was perfect balance between male and female voices.

Meanwhile, downstairs in the hotel.

A taxi stopped at the entrance, and two men and a woman got out.

They were dressed casually, carrying ordinary travel backpacks and a camera tripod. They looked just like regular tourists visiting the city.

The man in the lead was none other than Zhuo Wei, Shi Li’s lover.

They entered the lobby, and Zhuo Wei, still somewhat uneasy, turned to the man behind him. “Are you sure Gallen is in 1807?”

“You doubt my skills?” The man shot him a sideways glance. “Hacking into this lousy hotel network was a piece of cake!”

“Good.” Zhuo Wei nodded and walked to the front desk, flashing a charming smile at the receptionist. “Excuse me, is room 1818 available?”

“One moment, please, I’ll check for you.” The receptionist, professional and courteous, tapped away at her computer. “Yes, the room is available. Would you like to check in?”

“Yes,” Zhuo Wei smiled. “I’m planning to take some night shots of the city. I’ve already calculated that the view from your room 1818 is the best.”

“Is that so?” The receptionist smiled. “In that case, let me recommend room 3002—it’s our top-floor panoramic suite, perfect for capturing the city’s nightscape. Many films have shot scenes there!”

Zhuo Wei laughed. “No need, I checked and that room is pretty expensive online, plus we’ve already picked our preferred angle.”

“Alright then! I’ll process your check-in right away.”

As she worked, the receptionist snuck a few more glances at Zhuo Wei. This man was quite attractive, and his fitted T-shirt showed off a good figure.

“All done. Here’s your room card.”

In short order, she handed Zhuo Wei a key card, her smile particularly inviting.

Zhuo Wei’s lips curled into a grin, revealing eight handsome white teeth. He said “goodbye” and turned away.

Inside the elevator, the man with him grumbled, “What was that about? You could’ve just booked the room directly. I already checked their internal network—1818 is available! Don’t you trust my skills?”

“You’re overthinking it!” Zhuo Wei replied innocently. “Feng Ke, after all these years, how could I not trust you?”

He put an arm around Feng Ke’s shoulder, his tone gentle. “When you’re away from home, it never hurts to know more people. Who knows, that receptionist might be useful for something.”

“Hmph! You just like her, don’t you?” Feng Ke sulked.

Zhuo Wei quickly explained, and the two muttered back and forth for a while.

The woman with them glanced at the pair, frowned slightly, and sighed quietly.

Room 1818.

After entering the suite, Zhuo Wei took charge. “Sun Yu, go inside and change your clothes and put on your makeup! Feng Ke, you and I will set up the cameras. We need full video coverage.”

“Got it!” Feng Ke and the woman, Sun Yu, both nodded and set about their tasks.

Zhuo Wei removed the peephole from the door; Feng Ke installed a camera, linked it to his computer, and soon they could clearly see the activity in the room across the hall on the screen.

Opposite, in Gallen’s room.

The group was making fast progress. Gallen, the only one who had heard the original song, had a mental reference.

Super4 were all formally trained vocalists with strong musical literacy and superb sight-reading skills. Not only could they handle their assigned harmonies flawlessly, they also found time to help others.

Aya was no problem either. In fact, Kazi’s instrumentalists were having the hardest time.

Their background was underground rock, while Gallen’s song was pop—it couldn’t be performed like rock. After much trial and error, they barely managed to adapt.

Even then, the Kazi members still grumbled that the style wasn’t edgy enough and wasn’t quite as fun.

“Alright, that’s about it. It’s getting late; we need to head out and get this recorded!” Gallen sighed in relief and stood up.

Akai was excited. “This is the first time rap and pop are being combined! We’ve got to nail it. Drop a bomb—no, an atomic bomb—on the music scene!”

Gallen chuckled, “Who says rap can’t be pop? Before long, I bet rap will be a major part of pop music, maybe even the most important part! Just wait, soon foreigners will be imitating us!”

“Exactly!”

“That’s right! It’s time for us to make our mark in the history of music!”

As everyone laughed and cheered, there was a sudden knock at the door.

Akai nudged Ermao, who was sitting closest. “Go open it!”

“Alright!” Ermao didn’t hesitate, got up, and went to the door.

As soon as he opened it, a wave of perfume hit him, almost making him sneeze. Standing there was a scantily clad woman with a sultry figure and bold makeup. She leaned in close, her voice syrupy as she draped an arm over his shoulders. “Hello, handsome! Need a little company?”

“Uh… you…” Ermao instantly blushed, his heart racing and tongue tied. He was still a virgin and had never encountered anything like this before. He wanted to call for his friends inside, but the words stuck in his throat and just wouldn’t come out.