Who Is the Lead Singer

It was after school in the afternoon, and everyone from the Light Music Club gathered back together again.

Alice was sitting in her chair at the moment, playing with her phone and seemingly taking selfies — every now and then she'd pucker her lips or blink, while Bobo stood right next to her, occasionally acting as her photographer to help her find the right angle.

Seeing how much fun Alice was having, Zhixia and the others felt it would be even harder to bring things up. If they walked up and said, "Your singing isn't that good, we want a new lead vocalist," Alice would probably blow her top, right?

The group exchanged glances, and in the end, it was the club president, Zhixia, who stepped up. Of course, she wasn't going to say it outright.

"Alice."

"What?" Alice looked over when Zhixia called her name.

"We had a discussion at noon. Since quite a few of us from the club are participating in the program, we're thinking of optimizing the structure of the vocal team and adjusting some positions." Zhixia said with a smile.

Low EQ: Your singing sounds bad.

High EQ: Optimize the vocal structure and adjust the strategy.

"Oh, then just optimize it." Alice didn't seem to notice anything wrong when she heard that, casually waving her hand. "That's no big deal — why ask me? I'm not the president of the Light Music Club."

"Um, well, what we mean is that we're thinking of switching the lead vocalist." After Zhixia said that, Alice seemed to catch on and looked over.

"Why would optimizing the structure mean switching the lead vocalist?"

"It's just that Yuyou might fit this song better. Alice, could you be the backing vocalist instead?" Zhixia asked with a smile.

"Huh?"

"Me? Me, the great me, become a backing vocalist?" Alice pointed at herself, looking a bit annoyed. "I'm clearly more suited to be the lead vocalist! I'm the protagonist here, the main star."

"But you have an accent when you sing — being a backup vocalist isn't so bad." Keke chimed in.

"What accent? I speak perfectly standard Mandarin!" Alice immediately glared, her face even starting to flush.

Keke said, "Then read this: 'Guangxi'?"

"Guan-ssi."

"Ahem ahem ahem ahem ahem." Alice immediately cleared her throat, her little face turning serious. "Guangxi."

Zhixia and the others exchanged looks.

Why did you even break out the news-anchor voice for that?

"Miss Alice hasn't spoken standard Mandarin that much in her daily life, so she has a bit of an accent." Bobo explained from the side. After all, Alice had grown up in the Hong Kong area and hadn't been developing her career on the mainland for long. Plus, most of her communication with others was handled by Bobo, so it was perfectly normal for Alice to have a slight accent.

"Who said that? My pronunciation is flawless!" Alice immediately shot back.

But as if she realized she didn't have much confidence in that claim, she let out a little grumble and crossed her arms. "I don't care — I want to be the lead vocalist. If it's backing vocals, I'd rather not participate at all."

Zhixia and the others seemed to have anticipated this reaction. With Alice's proud personality, there was no way she'd agree to be a backing vocalist.

"What do we do then?" Linlin whispered to Zhixia.

"I don't know."

"Since it was Brother who invited her — how about we ask him?" Keke didn't know what to do either, so she pulled out her phone to call Ye Shuang.

A few seconds later, the call went through.

"What's up, Keke?" Ye Shuang's voice came through the phone.

Keke glanced at Alice first, then quietly explained the situation briefly.

"I see... Well, since the accent is a problem, there's no helping it. Alice should be very capable in both singing and dancing, though." Ye Shuang thought for a few seconds on the other end, then asked, "Can you switch to a Cantonese song? We're headed to Guangzhou anyway, so it wouldn't be off-target."

"Switching now..." Keke thought a Cantonese song wasn't out of the question, but wasn't it cutting it a bit close? There wasn't enough time to rearrange things either.

"Sorry, looks like I've caused you all some trouble." Ye Shuang said on the other end.

"Ah, no, not at all."

"Although Alice's personality is a bit proud, she's actually extremely capable when it comes to her craft — in every aspect." Ye Shuang continued. It was because he knew Alice excelled in singing, dancing, and had a great look, and since she had just reconciled with Aunt Xian, that he had invited Alice in the first place.

Alice hadn't even wanted to participate back then. Now she was invited, only to be told she had an accent when singing.

After thinking it over for a moment, Ye Shuang said, "Could you hand the phone to Alice?"

"Oh, sure."

Keke quickly walked over to Alice and held out the phone. "Alice, it's Brother on the line."

"What, you're bringing in Ye Shuang? Do you think I actually listen to him like that?!" Alice puffed up her cheeks in annoyance. "What do you take me for? Some little fangirl?!"

And yet, despite saying all that, Alice still took the phone and spoke in a deliberately impatient tone:

"What is it? A mere chair like you..."

As she spoke, she twirled a strand of her golden hair around her finger and threw in a few "mm-hm"s like she was being aloof.

A few seconds later, her expression seemed to soften considerably.

"I don't have an accent, okay?"

A few more seconds passed, and now Alice seemed a little sulky. "I already said I didn't want to participate."

Then, after another moment, Alice suddenly let out a "hmph." "Of course."

A minute later, Alice tossed the phone back to Tang Keke.

"Fine, fine — I'll do the backing vocals!"

Everyone: "..."

What? ↗

What on earth did Ye Shuang say on the phone? Why did Alice's attitude change so suddenly?

What happened to "not listening to him"?

"Um, Alice... what did Brother say to you?" Tang Keke was extremely curious. How exactly did Ye Shuang manage to handle that proud, tsundere little thing?

"He said that my charm wouldn't disappear just because I'm a backing vocalist, and I think he made a very good point." Alice spread her hands and shook her head, a small smug smile curling at the corners of her lips.

"Even standing in the backup vocalist position, I'll still be the center of attention for everyone in the venue. Who the C-position is isn't decided by where you're placed."

"Let you newcomers see how I originally fought my way through the talent show circuit. Hmph."

Tang Keke and the others looked at each other in silence.

Wow.

Does Ye Shuang just get Alice that well?

"W-Well, then, let's rehearse with the new positions!" Zhixia let out a relieved sigh seeing things settle down peacefully. She had been worried Alice might have a falling out with the club — after all, music was supposed to be fun, and no one wanted anything unpleasant to happen.

"As for the lead vocalist position, should we have Bai Yuyou take it? Or Linlin?"

Most bands only had one lead vocalist, and both Bai Yuyou and Linlin were suitable choices — especially Bai Yuyou, whose outstanding performance at the school gala last time made her an excellent fit for lead vocals.