PS-Chapter 1 The Dream that Changes Destiny

(Translator- I know many people have tried to translate this but they all stopped. So I am translating this now. I have not copied this translated work from any place and consider this an AU Universe as there will a lot of different details)

Lu Chen had a dream, a very long dream. 

The world in the dream was both familiar and strange, with different characters performing different but exciting and remarkable acts, and he found himself living three different lives in this world!

In the first life, he was Xu Bo, a vagabond singer with a flamboyant personality who was crazy about music. Despite his considerable talent, he could never achieve great fame and remained a wanderer, drifting like a floating duckweed.

In his second life, he was Mo Ran, an actor with a nondescript appearance and a reserved demeanor. He had played various roles in many movies and TV dramas, but always as a supporting character. His acting was excellent, but he was always overshadowed by others.

In his last life, he was Fang Mingyi, who was a freelance writer who loved music, movies, travel, and food. He often roamed the world with a backpack, earning a living by writing on the Internet with a carefree style full of humor and sarcasm.

Fate is strange. A chance meeting brought Xu Bo, Mo Ran, and Fang Mingyi together. Despite their different personalities, they found many things in common and became true friends.

Later, the three of them traveled together and suddenly encountered a landslide on the winding mountain road leading to Mount Yulong. When the mixture of mud and rocks burst through the car window and flooded the inside, the immense fear and suffocation jolted Lu Chen awake, and he suddenly sat up in bed!

Breathing heavily, his forehead was covered with a fine sweat, and his eyes were dazed and lost.

After a long time, Lu Chen managed to regain his composure.

As his vision slowly focused, he saw the familiar dingy room. The dim light from a small lamp barely illuminated the studio of less than ten square meters. Apart from the bed he was lying on, a set of worn-out furniture, and a wardrobe, there was no other furniture.

But he still couldn't tell whether he was Xu Bo, Mo Ran, or Fang Mingyi. The memories of the three were so vivid and real that they were deeply engraved in his soul and could not be separated.

Lu Chen clumsily put on his outer clothes, stumbled into the tiny bathroom, and quickly turned on the water faucet, splashing cold water on his face.

The intense stimulation of the cold tap water immediately woke him from his stupor, and he looked in the mirror.

The face reflected in the mirror was young.

The face was well-defined and handsome, with sharp eyebrows, deep-set eyes, a straight nose, and thin lips with a hint of stubbornness. However, the eyebrows carried an indescribable sense of despondency and weariness, revealing disappointment and gloom about life.

Lu Chen could finally be sure that he was indeed the 22-year-old who had never graduated from college and had been drifting around the Capital City for almost a year!

Beep Beep Beep!

The phone on the bed suddenly made a loud noise.

Lu Chen shook his head vigorously, forcing himself to forget the chaotic thoughts in his mind for a moment. He quickly brushed his teeth, washed up, and then left the small basement apartment to go to work.

He now lived in one of the many rooms in the basement of an old building in the Jingming community, near the third ring road but close to the fourth ring road in the Capital City.

A small room of less than ten square meters cost 1200 yuan, but it had its own bathroom and was close to Lu Chen's day job, with the nearest subway station only a five-minute walk away.

In the capital's megacity of over thirty million people, many outsiders like Lu Chen are here either to make a living or to chase their dreams.

They are often referred to as "Beijing Drifters" or "Ant Tribes," and some even jokingly call themselves "Drifting Ants.".

As a "Drifting Ant," Lu Chen ran out of the community and onto the sidewalk, breaking through the morning mist as he hurried to his job.

Everything was as usual, but somehow it seemed different.

At dusk, Lu Chen returned to his dimly lit studio, feeling exhausted.

He threw himself heavily onto the single bed, closed his eyes for a moment to rest, then regained his composure and sat up, reaching for the guitar placed at the foot of his bed.

This acoustic guitar was Lu Chen's most prized possession. Its top was made of white pine, and the back and sides were made of rosewood plywood. White pine is one of the best materials for making guitars, known for its rich tone and sensitivity after some use.

Even in the hardest times, Lu Chen never thought of selling this guitar because it was a birthday present from his sister, Lu Xue, for his eighteenth birthday.

Lu Xue had spent all her savings on this guitar!

In three hours, Lu Chen would earn his second wage with this guitar.

During the day, Lu Chen worked as a part-time employee at a KFC outlet, and at night he worked as a waiter and vagabond singer at a bar in Houhai in the Capital City. He had two jobs and worked more than 15 hours a day.

Lu Chen didn't want to work so hard, but the heavy debts at home forced him to; otherwise, his sister would be in danger of not being able to continue her education, and many creditors would come knocking on his family's door.

Lu Chen had an older sister who was also struggling to pay off their debts. As the only man in the family, how could he shirk his responsibilities?

Holding the guitar, Lu Chen lightly strummed the strings, and the pleasant sound of the guitar poured out like flowing water, filling the small room.

For some reason, his casual playing today felt unusually comfortable. The fingerings that were usually a bit difficult now seemed incredibly smooth, and it felt as if he had practiced them countless times and reached a state of effortless mastery.

Lu Chen's heart stirred. He straightened his back and began to play seriously.

He played and sang a song called "Flying Pigeons.".

"Flying Pigeons" was a popular song created by the famous singer Tan Hong over a decade ago. The melody was beautiful and was considered one of the best folk songs for guitar accompaniment. However, it required considerable skill in both finger technique and singing.

Lu Chen was not a music major, but he was a fan of pop music. He had learned to play the guitar for a few years and could charm many young girls with his self-taught singing and playing.

At that time, when Lu Chen's family was wealthy, he used the guitar to show off.

But now that he had to make a living from it, his amateur skills relegated him to being a bar's vagabond singer— only singing when requested, and if no one requested, he mostly just filled in, belonging to the lowest tier among bar vagabond singers.

Lu Chen had sung "Flying Pigeons" before, but his skills were insufficient to master it. He couldn't produce precise fingerings or convey the mood of the song, and his attempts were often met with ridicule.

Now, however, when he played "Flying Pigeons" again, he found that the technical difficulties had disappeared. His singing was soft and clear, and the melodious voice echoed in the room, exuding a unique charm.

"Dreaming of becoming a pigeon flying in the azure sky, la la la~"

After finishing, Lu Chen's fingers rested on the guitar strings, stunned.

How could this be? 

Was this really the song he had played and sung himself?

Bang! Bang!

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door of the room.

Lu Chen snapped back to reality, put down his guitar, and said, "Come in, the door is not locked!"

The door was quickly pushed open, and a tall, thin man with glasses entered, wearing an exaggerated smile and giving Lu Chen a thumbs up: "Good job, superstar!"

Lu Chen laughed and said, "Then you should hurry up and give me a tip. Just a few thousand or ten thousand would be enough!"

"No money, just my life!"

The man with glasses shouted loudly with a defiant expression, making one want to kick him.

This man with glasses was Li Feiyu, Lu Chen's neighbor. Originally from Xiangnan, he had been in Beijing for three years and was currently working as a salesman at a car dealership.

The basement was closed and the room was separated by fireproof boards, so the sound insulation was poor. So when Lu Chen practiced singing and playing guitar, his neighbors could hear him clearly.

"Superstar" was a nickname Li Feiyu gave Lu Chen as a playful tease. Since they were about the same age and both had a good temper, they became friends, and Li Feiyu often visited.

Li Feiyu also liked to sing, but he was tone-deaf, and his singing was more like a screech. However, he had some appreciation for pop music. When he passed by and heard Lu Chen singing "Flying Pigeons," he was mesmerized.

"But seriously, buddy,"

After the joke, Li Feiyu said seriously, "You sang that song really well. The style is a bit different from Tan Hong's, but it's just as moving. It's at least ten times better than the cheesy songs you used to sing!"

He spread his fingers wide as if he wanted to lift his feet to make up the numbers.

Lu Chen smiled and said, "Thank you!"

He knew that his singing had not been great before.

"It's really strange."

Li Feiyu said with a mysterious expression, looking around and lowering his voice, "Dude, you haven't been possessed by a music god, have you? Just like those stories where an ordinary kid gets an extraordinary opportunity and suddenly becomes famous, marries a rich and beautiful woman, and enjoys a life of luxury."

Li Feiyu also had a hobby of reading online novels, and his imagination was quite vivid.

"Get lost!"

Lu Chen didn't know what to say and abruptly kicked out, interrupting Li Feiyu's nonsensical chatter.

However, the memories of the vagabond singer Xu Bo from the dream suddenly surfaced in his heart—Xu Bo was not only an exceptionally good singer, but also a master guitarist who could play both folk and classical guitar.

"I'm out of here!"

Li Feiyu nimbly jumped to the door and said with a smile, "Superstar, if you could come up with original works, combined with your current level of performance, I dare say you'd definitely become famous!"

Definitely become famous? Lu Chen smiled wryly, shook his head, and stood up to close the door.

The Capital City is a cultural center, and among the millions of Drifters, there are countless talented musicians and vagabond singers. How many of them actually become famous? 

Becoming famous requires talent, skill, connections, and luck.

What does Lu Chen have? And it's not easy to create original works.

Suddenly, a flash of inspiration seemed to hit Lu Chen, instantly igniting his thoughts.

Original work? Yes, that's it—original works!

He rushed over to his small desk and eagerly turned on his old laptop.

The 50-second boot time he had long been accustomed to now felt like an eternity. As soon as he reached the desktop, Lu Chen immediately moved the mouse and clicked on a software icon he hadn't opened in a long time.

It felt like opening a door to change his fate!

(End of Chapter)