Lu Chen had a dream, a very, very long dream.
The world in the dream was both familiar and strange at the same time. Different characters played out different wonderful scenes, and he had actually experienced three different lives in this world!
The first life belonged to a singer named Xu Bo. His personality was flamboyant and he loved music crazily. Although he had good talent, he was never able to become famous and drifted around like duckweed.
In the second life, his name was Mo Ran. He was an actor with a calm and reserved appearance. He had played different roles in many movies and TV shows, but they were all supporting roles. His acting was excellent, but he was always a foil to others.
In the last part of his life, Fang Mingyi was a freelance writer. He liked music, movies, travel, and food. He often traveled the world with his backpack and relied on his unruly writing style to earn his living expenses by writing on the internet.
Fate was strange. Xu Bo, Mo Ran, and Fang Mingyi got to know each other at a random gathering. Although they had different personalities, they still had a lot in common, so they became true friends.
Later, the three of them traveled together. On the mountain road leading to the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain, they suddenly encountered a mudslide …
When a large amount of mud mixed with mountain rocks broke through the window and rushed into the car, a huge sense of fear and suffocation caused Lu Chen to suddenly wake up. He suddenly sat up on the bed!
He was panting heavily, his forehead was covered with fine beads of sweat, and his eyes were in a daze.
After a long time, Lu Chen barely came back to his senses.
His line of sight slowly focused, and what came into view was an extremely familiar room. The dim light from the small table lamp barely illuminated the small room that was less than ten square meters. Other than the bed under him, a set of old tables, chairs, and 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 that they were deeply engraved in his soul and couldn't be separated.
Lu Chen hastily put on his coat and rushed to the small bathroom. He quickly turned on the tap and splashed water on his face with both hands.
The strong stimulation brought by the ice-cold tap water instantly woke him up from his drowsy state.
What appeared in the mirror was a youthful face.
The shape of his face was very regular, angular, and rather handsome. His eyebrows were like swords, his eyes were deep, his nose was straight, and his thin lips were slightly stubborn. However, there was an indescribable sense of dejection and haggard between his eyebrows, revealing his disappointment and gloom towards life.
Lu Chen could finally confirm that he was still him. He was still the 22-year-old who had not graduated from university and had been wandering in Beijing for nearly a year!
Beep! Beep!
The phone on the bedside table suddenly let out a loud beep.
Lu Chen forcefully shook his head, forcing himself to temporarily forget about the messy thoughts in his mind. He hurriedly brushed his teeth and washed his face. Afterwards, he left the room and ran to work.
He was currently living in the Jingming Community on the Third Ring Road, near the Fourth Ring Road. One of the dozens of rooms in the basement of an old building were separated.
A small room that was less than ten square meters had a rent of 1200 yuan, but the advantage was that it had a separate bathroom. Furthermore, it wasn't far from where Lu Chen worked during the day. The nearest subway station was only five minutes away.
In Beijing, a mega city with over 30 million people, there were many outsiders like Lu Chen. They either came to make a living or to fight for their dreams.
They were often called "Beijing drifters" or "ants", and some people even mocked themselves as "drifting ants".
As a member of the "drifting ants", Lu Chen ran out of the neighborhood and onto the sidewalk. He broke through the morning fog and quickly ran towards his workplace.
Everything was the same as usual, but everything seemed different.
At dusk, Lu Chen dragged his exhausted body back to the dark and gloomy dwelling.
He heavily threw himself onto the single bed and closed his eyes to rest for a moment. He pulled himself together and sat up, picking up the guitar that was placed in front of the bed.
This single fret guitar was the most precious item that Lu Chen currently owned. The guitar was made of white pine wood, and the back was made of rose wood. White pine was recognized as one of the best materials for making guitars in the world. It had a powerful tone and a great texture. Moreover, after a period of playing, it would become more sensitive to sound.
Even during his most difficult times, Lu Chen never thought of selling this guitar. This was because it was a gift from Lu Xue to Lu Chen for his 18th birthday.
Lu Xue was Lu Chen's sister. Buying this guitar cost her all of her pocket money!
In another three hours, Lu Chen would use this guitar to earn his second salary.
During the day, Lu Chen was an hourly worker at a KFC store. At night, he was a waiter and singer at a bar in Houhai. Working two jobs at the same time, he worked more than 15 hours a day.
Lu Chen didn't want to work so hard, but his family's heavy debt forced him to work hard. Otherwise, his sister would face the danger of dropping out of school, and many creditors would come knocking on his door.
Lu Chen also had a sister who was also working hard to pay off the debt. As the only man in the family, what reason did he have to avoid his responsibilities?
Holding the guitar, Lu Chen lightly plucked the steel strings. The sweet sound of the guitar flowed out like water, filling the small room.
He didn't know why, but he felt that today's casual performance was exceptionally comfortable. The normally difficult fingering became incomparably skilled, as if he had gone through thousands of practice and reached the realm of being able to do as he pleased.
Lu Chen's heart moved. He straightened his back and began to seriously play.
He played and sang "Soaring Dove".
"Soaring Pigeon" was a popular song written by the famous singer Tan Hong over a decade ago. It had a beautiful melody and was considered to be one of the most suitable folk songs to sing on the guitar. However, it had a high requirement for fingering and singing.
Lu Chen didn't study music. He could be considered a fan of pop music. He had learned guitar playing for a few years and was able to captivate many ignorant girls by playing and singing.
To put it bluntly, Lu Chen, who came from a wealthy family, only used the guitar as a tool to show off.
To truly make a living, he could only become a waiter in a bar. He would only be able to sing if someone ordered him. If no one ordered him, he would at most be a fill-in singer. He belonged to the lowest of the bar singers.
"Soaring Pigeon", Lu Chen had played and sung before. However, he didn't have the skill to control it. He couldn't play the instrument with precise fingering and couldn't sing the song's artistic conception.
But now that he was playing and singing "Soaring Pigeon" again, he found that the difficulty in fingering no longer existed. He opened his breath and sang lightly. The melodious song echoed in the room with a different kind of charm.
"Dreaming of becoming a pigeon flying in the blue sky, lalala ~"
After he finished singing, Lu Chen's fingers pressed on the strings and he was stunned.
How could this be?
Was this really a song that he played and sang by himself?
Pa! Pa!
Someone suddenly knocked on the door of the room.
Lu Chen came back to his senses. He put down the guitar and said, "Come in, the door isn't closed!"
The door was quickly pushed open. A tall, thin man with glasses walked in with an exaggerated smile on his face. He gave Lu Chen a thumbs up and said, "Big singer, you're amazing!"
Lu Chen laughed and said, "Then hurry up and tip me. Just a few thousand or tens of thousands is enough!"
"I don't have money, but I have my life!"
The bespectacled man howled loudly. He had an unyielding expression that made people want to kick him.
This bespectacled man was Lu Chen's next-door neighbor. His name was Li Feiyu, and he was from Xiangnan. He had been in Beijing for three years and was currently working as a salesman in a 4S shop.
The basement was enclosed and the room was separated by a fireproof board. The soundproofing was very poor, so when Lu Chen practiced playing and singing in his room, his neighbors could hear him clearly.
Big singer was the nickname that Li Feiyu gave to Lu Chen. It could be considered as a good-natured joke. Because the two of them were about the same age and had good temperaments, they became friends. Li Feiyu often came to visit when he was free.
Li Feiyu also loved to sing, but he was tone-deaf. When he sang, it was like the wailing of ghosts and the howling of wolves. He had some appreciation for pop songs. When he passed by and heard Lu Chen singing "Soaring Pigeon", he was stunned.
"But to be honest, brother …"
After joking around, Li Feiyu said very seriously, "You sang this song really well. Although the style is a bit different from Tan Hong's, it is still full of artistic conception. It is at least ten times better than the songs you used to sing!"
He spread out his ten fingers and wished that he could raise both his feet to make up the number.
Lu Chen smiled and said, "Thank you!"
He knew that his singing in the past was really not that good.
"This is really strange …"
Li Feiyu's face revealed a mysterious expression. He looked left and right and said in a low voice, "Brother, you couldn't have been possessed by the God of Music, right? A young loser obtained a fortuitous encounter and his cultivation greatly improved. From then on, he set foot on the peak of life, married a rich and beautiful woman, and had fun every night … "
Li Feiyu also had a hobby, which was to read web novels on the internet. His imagination was very rich.
"Go die!"
Lu Chen didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He kicked over and interrupted the other person's nonsense.
But the memory of the singer Xu Bo in his dream instantly emerged in his heart. Xu Bo not only sang very well, but he was also good at playing the guitar. Whether it was the folk guitar or the classical guitar, he played it wonderfully.
"Let me go!"
Li Feiyu nimbly jumped to the door and said with a smile, "Big singer, if you can also create original songs, then with your current level of playing and singing, I dare say that you will definitely be popular!"
Definitely be popular?
Lu Chen smiled bitterly and shook his head. He stood up and closed the door.
Beijing was a place where people gathered, and it was also the cultural center of the country. There were many talented musicians and singers among the tens of thousands of Beijing drifters, but how many of them could really be popular?
To be popular, talent, strength, connections, and luck were indispensable!
What did he, Lu Chen, have?
And how could original songs be simple …
Suddenly, there seemed to be a flash of light in Lu Chen's head, which instantly lit up his thoughts.
Original? Yes, it was original!
He suddenly rushed to the small desk and couldn't wait to open his old laptop.
He had long been used to the long boot time of 50 seconds, but now he felt that every second was like a year. With great difficulty, he entered the desktop. Lu Chen immediately moved the mouse and clicked on a software icon that he hadn't opened for a long time.
It was as if he was opening the door to change his fate!
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