n

n

n

n

nLu Chen had a dream, an incredibly long dream.

nHe dreamt of a familiar yet unfamiliar dream world. It was a dream different from the wonderful dreams described in fairy tales, because he had actually experienced three different lives within this dream!

nHe was a singer named Xu Bo in his first life. He had a modest personality and was extremely fond of music, but even though he had decent talent, he didn’t become successful and was as ordinary as driftwood floating in the ocean.

n

n

nIn his second life, he was an actor named Mo Ran. He had an ordinary, calm, and reserved appearance and had appeared in many films. However, all the roles he played were just supporting roles, so his outstanding acting only made other people shine.

nFor his last life, he was a freelance writer named Fang Mingyi. He was fond of music, movies, travelling, and food. He often carried his backpack while living a life on the road, relying only on his unrestrained and abrupt style of writing to cover his living expenses.

nThrough a curious twist of fate, Xu Bo, Mo Ran, and Fang Mingyi met each other coincidentally, and even though they had different personalities, they still had a lot in common with each other so they still became close friends.

nLater on, the three of them went on a trip. They were traveling on a highway on Mount Yulong when they were suddenly struck by a landslide… When the countless number of rocks and mud broke through the car window and flooded into the car, the feeling of intense fear and suffocation made Lu Chen suddenly wake up. He woke up with a jolt as he sat on top of his bed.

nHe was fiercely gasping for breath, his forehead was covered with beads of sweat, and his eyes looked dazed.

nAfter a long time, Lu Chen finally managed to calm down.

nHis eyes began to focus and he saw his familiar and extremely simple room. The dim light of his small table lamp could just barely illuminate his small room of less than ten square meters. Apart from his bed, a shabby chair, and a wardrobe, there wasn’t any other furniture in his room.

nLu Chen was still a bit confused as within him were the memories of Xu Bo, Mo Ran and Fang Mi Yi. The memories of the three individuals were so fresh and vivid that they became deeply engraved onto his mind.

nLu Chen absent mindedly dressed himself before staggering towards his small bathroom. He quickly turned on the faucet and washed his face.

nThe intense stimulation from the cold water cleared his mind instantly.

nHe saw a young face within the mirror.

nThe face was quite handsome with a good shape, sharp eyebrows, and clear bright eyes. His nose was firm and his thin lips carried a slight trace of stubbornness, but the space between his brows carried an air of depression, showing the gloominess of his life.

nLu Chen was finally able to determine that he was still himself, that he was still the same person that didn’t graduate from college, and that he had been roaming around Beijing for almost a year as a 22 year old.

nDī Dī Dī!

nThe phone by his bedside suddenly rang.

nLu Chen forced himself to raise his head and forget about the mess in his head for the time being. He hurriedly brushed his teeth and washed his face before leaving his small room in the basement to rush off to work.

nHe was living in Beijing, between the 3rd and 4th ring of Jing Ming. He was renting one of ten rooms in the basement of an old building.

nEven though the small room had less than ten square meters of space and the rent was only 1200 Yuan, it still had an individual bathroom and it was near Lu Chen’s workplace. Furthermore, it was only 5 minutes away from the nearest train station.

nWithin the humongous city of Beijing with a population of more than 30 million people, there were many people like Lu Chen who had to work hard in order to survive.

nThey were often called “Beijing drifters” or “ant tribe”. These people also mocked themselves by calling themselves “drifter ants”.

nAs a member of the “drifter ants”, Lu Chen ran out to the sidewalk, passing through the early morning fog as he jogged towards his workplace.

nEverything seemed to be the same, yet everything also seemed to be different.

nWhen evening came, Lu Chen dragged his exhausted body back to his gloomy home.

nHe threw himself onto his bed and closed his eyes for a moment. He cheered himself up and he sat up before slowly taking the guitar in front of his bed.

nThis single plate guitar was Lu Chen’s most prized possession. The front plate of the guitar was made from white pine while the back plate was rose wood. The white pine was widely recognized as the best material for making a guitar. It had firm tones with excellent texture, and furthermore, it also became more sensitive to sound as time passed.

nEven during his most difficult times, Lu Chen didn’t even consider selling his guitar, because it was given to him by Lu Xue for his eighteenth birthday.

nLu Xue was Lu Chen’s younger sister, and she had used her entire savings to buy the guitar!

nIn 3 hours, Lu Chen would have to use this guitar again for his second job.

nLu Chen was a part-timer at KFC during the day, and during the night, he served as a waiter and a singer at a bar on houhai. While doing two jobs, he works for more than 15 hours every day.

nLu Chen didn’t actually want to work this hard, but the heavy debt at home didn’t give him any other choice, otherwise his younger sister would have to risk dropping out of school and creditors would also mob their home.

nLu Chen also had an elder sister that was helping him pay back the debt, but as the only man in their house, how could he escape from his responsibilities?

nWhile holding the guitar, Lu Chen gently plucked the strings, the beautiful sounds gradually filled up the small room.

nHe didn’t know how, but he felt pretty comfortable while playing today. Unlike his usual rough playing, his fingers moved extremely skillfully, as if he had practiced for countless of times and finally achieved the realm of mastery.

nLu Chen focused, he straightened his back and began to play seriously.

nHe played the song《Soaring Pigeon》.

n《Soaring Pigeon》 was a popular song composed by the famous singer Tang Hong more than 10 years ago, and with its beautiful melody it is considered as one of the best ballads to play on a guitar, but it requires a high degree of skill to play it.

nLu Chen didn’t study in music, but he could still be considered as a pop music lover. He studied guitar playing for a few years since playing the guitar could attract a lot of innocent girls.

nTo put it simply, during the time when his family was still wealthy, Lu Chen only played the guitar to show off.

nHowever, now he was seriously playing it to earn a living, but he was only an amateur so he could only become a bar singer — anyone who could sing that was used to fill the stage when there was no one available. Being a bar singer was the lowest of the low.

nLu Chen had already played 《Soaring Pigeon》once before, but he lacked skill and control, so his fingers were inaccurate when he plucked the strings and his singing also couldn’t induce the mood of the song, making other people laugh at him.

nBut now, as he played 《Soaring Pigeon》, he discovered that the fingering wasn’t difficult anymore. He started to sing lightly and his melodious voice resounded through the room, his voice was filled with a unique charm.

n

n

n“I dream, to become a pigeon soaring through the deep blue skies~”.

nAfter he finished singing, Lu Chen’s fingers stopped and he sat there with a shocked expression.

nHow could this be?

nIs this really my singing?

nPā! Pā!

nSomeone suddenly knocked on the door of his room.

nLu Chen snapped out of his daze, he put down the guitar and said: “Come in, the door isn’t locked.”

nThe door was quickly pushed open and a tall, thin man with eyeglasses came inside, he had a wide smile on his face as he stuck a thumbs up towards Lu Chen: “Hey superstar, that was fantastic!”

nLu Chen laughed, “Hurry up and tip me then, a few thousands would be enough.”

n“I haven’t got any money!”

nThe man with the eyeglasses howled loudly with an indignant expression that would make other people want to kick him.

nThis eyeglasses man was Lu Chen’s neighbor, Li Feiyu, a native of Southern Hunan. He had already lived in Beijing for 3 years and was currently working as a salesman for 4S cars.

nWithin the confined space of the basement, the rooms were only separated by fire resistant wood so the walls weren’t soundproof, therefore his neighbors could hear him clearly whenever he practiced.

nSuperstar was Li Feiyu’s nickname for Lu Chen and could also be considered as playful teasing. The two of them were close in age and had similar personalities, therefore they became close friends and they frequently stopped by each other’s room during their free time.

nLi Feiyu also liked singing, but because he was tone deaf, his singing was practically the same as howling. However, he was quite good at appraising others. When he happened to hear Lu Chen singing 《Soaring Pigeon》as he passed by, he was stunned.

n“But really bro…”

nAfter joking, Li Feiyu seriously said, “Your singing is really good. Even though it’s a little different from Tang Hong’s style, the mood is exactly the same. Your singing is ten times better than before.”

nHe raised his hands and gave him ten points, he even wished that he could also raise his legs.

nLu Chen laughed and said, “Thanks!”

nHe knew that he wasn’t that good at singing before.

n“This is really strange…”

nLi Feiyu had a puzzled expression, after looking left and right, he spoke with a low voice, “Bro, you didn’t get possessed by the god of music right? A young loser gets a talent from a lucky encounter and rockets to the top, then he gets married to a perfect girl at the peak of his life and spends his nights making music with her…”

nLi Feiyu also had a hobby of reading web novels so his imagination was very rich.

n“Go to hell!”

nLu Chen didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry before he interrupted his crazy monologue with a kick.

nBut within his mind, he instantly remembered the singer named Xu B. Xu Bo was not only outstanding at singing, but he was also good at playing the guitar, no matter if it was an acoustic guitar or a classical guitar, his playing was superb.

n“I better get going!”

nLi Feiyu quickly jumped towards the door and laughed, “Superstar, if you could develop a touch of originality and combine that with your current level of performance, I promise you will definitely become famous!”

nDefinitely become famous?

nLu Chen shook his head with a wry smile before standing up and closing the door.

nBeijing was the gathering place of people and also the cultural center of the country. There were millions of talented musicians and singers in Beijing, but how many people actually did become famous?

nTo become famous, one must have talent, strength, connections, and luck. Not a single one could be missing.

nBut what did Lu Chen have?

nFurthermore, being original wasn’t easy…

nSuddenly, a flash of light seemed to have passed through Lu Chen’s head, instantly enlightening him.

nOriginality? Yes, that was definitely originality!

nHe suddenly threw himself onto his small desk and impatiently started his old laptop.

nHe had been long accustomed to its boot up time of 50 seconds, but now he felt like each second was a year. Once the laptop finally started, Lu Chen immediately moved his mouse and firmly clicked on a software icon that he hadn’t used in a very long time.

nIt was like opening a door that would change his fate!

n

n