The bizarre sensation of time and space distortion raged through Li Qian''s mind.
Stars spun around him, and everything seemed both real and unreal at the same time.
Li Qian slapped his forehead hard, but the more he did, the worse his headache
became.
"Hey, Li Qian, are you okay? Should we take you to the hospital?"
"I''m fine, really, I''m fine, just need to rest for a bit."
He waved off Liu Qiang''s concern, shook his head hard, and then widened his eyes,
scanning the surroundings.
If the memories in his head were correct, this was the basketball court of the 13th
National High School in Jinan, and Liu Qiang and the others, who were playing
basketball not far away, were his classmates from the 2nd Class of Grade 11. Today was
May 17th, 55th year of the Republic, Saturday, and the year of the E-hai in the lunar
calendar. Oh, right, it was 1995 in the Western calendar.
Yes, you read that right. This was Jinan Fu, not Jinan City.
Here, the calendar was based on the Republic era, similar to the Chinese imperial era
system.
After thinking for a moment, Li Qian recalled the historical timeline from his textbooks:
In 1644 AD, Li Zicheng entered Beijing, and the Ming Emperor Chongzhen hanged
himself at Coal Hill. After that, Li Zicheng’s army marched out of Shanhai Pass to battle
the combined forces of Dorgon and Wu Sangui, achieving a great victory. Over the next
twenty years, the Emperor of the Great Shun dynasty led campaigns, conquering the
Manchu, Mongols, Hui people, and Taiwan. At one point, the Great Shun Dynasty
flourished and prospered...
Well, that was confusing.
Compared to the history Li Qian had studied, this world’s history took a massive detour
with Li Zicheng’s Great Shun Dynasty.
And of course, like every dynasty, corruption and decline followed. The First Industrial
Revolution in the West also arrived on time. By the late 19th century, China faced the
“lose and be beaten” reality, and even Hong Kong was indeed taken by the British for
nearly a century. But surprisingly, in 1865, the Great Shun Dynasty experienced a top
down reform, known as the "Yi-Chou Reform," marking the beginning of China’s
capitalist reforms.
So, while time and space were already twisted beyond recognition, China still followed a
similar path. But here, unlike in Li Qian’s memories, China had implemented reforms
and opened up earlier, becoming the world’s first socialist country to declare reforms.
Over the next decade, with the northern red giant leading the charge, several other
socialist countries followed suit with various degrees of internal reforms and external
openings.
From then on, the two major global camps transitioned from military confrontations in
the Cold War to regional cooperation and economic battles. The pace of the third
technological revolution sped up significantly.
Oh, and by the way, the Northern Polar Bear Empire still hadn’t collapsed yet!
Li Qian’s thoughts were in complete disarray…
This world truly felt strange and paradoxical!
He rubbed his forehead hard and muttered to himself, “The thing is, it’s just a broken
cable on a wire that caused me to fall. It wasn’t even that high. How could I possibly die
from it? Now, I’m not only dead, but I’ve ended up in this chaotic world…”
When he first woke up, Li Qian almost thought he had gone insane, but as the
memories of this world became clearer, he realized it was all real. He had truly traveled
to this bizarre world and was now a second-year high school student named Li Qian.
Well, in this world, Beijing wasn’t called Beijing—it was called Shuntianfu. Nanjing wasn’t
Nanjing, but Yingtianfu. As for Shanghai… it was called Songjiangfu…
Such a weird feeling.
Instinctively, he checked his pockets, only to remember he didn’t smoke yet. He
searched through a few classmates'' school uniforms and finally found half a pack of
cigarettes called "Daming Lake," pulled one out, and lit it.
He took a deep drag, but it was a bit harsh, making him cough uncontrollably.
“Yo, yo, look, Li Qian actually smokes now!”
“Hey, Li Qian, didn’t you say you hated your dad smoking? Why are you smoking now?”
“Damn, Li Qian, you’ve got half a pack left, and you don’t even know how to smoke.
Don’t waste it, okay? If you smoke one, I’ve got one less!”
“Damn, are you that stingy? This is Li Qian’s first cigarette of his life!”
“I’m not being stingy, it’s just that my pocket money for the week is almost gone, and
you all know it. This half a pack is my food for the next two days. Once it’s gone, how
am I supposed to buy more?”
Li Qian stuffed the cigarette back in his mouth, picked up his school uniform, patted his
pants, and stood up.
He thought for a moment, then stuffed the half pack of Daming Lake into his pocket,
turned, and walked away, calling out, “You can have the rest of the cigarettes. I’ll buy
you a whole pack tomorrow! I’m not feeling well, I’m leaving!”
A loud, dramatic cry came from behind.
“Hey, don’t leave, at least leave me a few…”
“Li Qian, hurry up, we’ll cover for you!”
…
According to his memory, Li Qian soon rode his bike back home.
He lived in a community called Shengshi Garden, which he had been living in since he
could remember.
When he arrived downstairs, he locked his bike and didn’t hurry to go upstairs. Instead,
he looked up.
The sweet sound of a piano echoed, as if flowing like spring water, drifting from an
open window. Hmm, if it were the old Li Qian, he wouldn’t have understood what the
song was. But now, he recognized it—The Girl with the Flaxen Hair, a classic by
Debussy.
And to his surprise, it was played exactly the same as the version he remembered.
Without thinking, Li Qian instinctively reached for his cigarettes again. But after a
moment’s thought, he put them back. This was his neighborhood, after all. Everyone
knew each other here. If someone saw him smoking and told his parents, it’d be a
disaster.
The sound of an engine roared closer. The manhole cover rattled twice, and the car
turned the corner… Li Qian looked away from the sky and saw a red convertible.
However, when he saw the ancient, powerful traditional characters on the car’s emblem,
he was immediately thrown into confusion again…
Great Wall!
Hey, Chairman Wei Jianjun, did you know the Great Wall here makes sports cars now?
Isn’t it time you stopped clinging to the H6 for sales? How are you even managing this?
With a screech, the car stopped in front of Li Qian.
At that moment, Li Qian finally managed to tear his gaze away from the Great Wall logo
and looked up.
A stunningly beautiful face met his eyes.
She got out of the car, closed the door, and swung her long, dark hair…
With that height, she must be nearly 1.7 meters even without high heels.
Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.
Hmm, her expression was a bit cold.
Li Qian immediately looked away after just one glance.
He seemed to recall being intimidated by this woman.
It probably started when he was young and tried to trick her younger sister with candy
to get a kiss, only for her to give him a beating. That grudge had been there ever since.
Over the years, her cold, icy face had become a shadow in Li Qian’s heart. Even now, he
felt the urge to avoid her.
The convertible roof slowly rose, and the woman walked over, stopping not far from Li
Qian. She looked up at the third floor, listened to the piano music, then glanced at Li
Qian, her gaze icy.
“Jing Xuejie, hello.”
If it were the old Li Qian, he would probably pretend not to see anything and keep his
distance, but now, Li Qian took the initiative to greet her.
Wang Jingxue nodded, said nothing, and walked past Li Qian, heading upstairs.
Her waistline was so well-shaped that it made people stare.
Li Qian gave a helpless smile.
After she had been upstairs for a while, Li Qian turned back and glanced at the "Great
Wall" emblem in the oval-shaped car logo, mumbling something under his breath
before turning and heading upstairs.
Li Qian''s home was also on the third floor, directly across from Wang Jingxue and Wang
Jinglu''s home.
When he arrived upstairs, the piano music from the opposite apartment had already
stopped. Li Qian took out his key, opened the door, and was immediately hit with a
pungent smell of smoke. He peeked inside and saw his father, Li Shuwen, sitting in the
study, a cigarette in one hand and writing fervently with the other.
Li Qian instinctively said, "Oh, Dad, got some inspiration again?"
Through the haze of smoke, Li Shuwen glanced at his son, "Ah, couldn''t sleep last night,
and remembered the tree in the yard back home. So I''m writing about it, should be
done soon."
Li Qian closed the door behind him, changed into slippers, and walked over, glancing
up at the ceiling of the small study. "Dad, Mom''s gone to buy groceries, right? She
should be back soon?"
Li Shuwen found it a bit strange, looked at his son, then followed his gaze to the ceiling.
He suddenly realized, quickly extinguished his cigarette, and hurriedly stood up to open
the window. "Ah, I completely forgot!"
Li Qian smiled and didn''t say anything. He closed the door and stepped out.
Although calling a stranger "Dad" felt a bit awkward, it seemed to be influenced by the
memories in his mind. When he said "Dad," he didn''t feel any discomfort.
After taking a shower, Li Qian sat down in the living room, turned on the TV, and began
to zone out on the sofa.
This strange yet familiar world made him feel lost.
Second year of high school, seventeen years old, his mother was an accountant, his
father was a Chinese teacher, and had published a novel when he was younger—
though it didn''t sell much. Oh, and by the way, a small-time celebrity lived across the
hall, but their relationship was negative...
Wait a minute!
Li Qian''s eyes suddenly lit up as if he''d just remembered something. He turned around
and rushed to his bedroom, quickly pulling out a double-CD from a small bookshelf by
his bed. It was a gift from Wang Jinglu—one CD contained ten songs, and the other
included music videos for the two main singles.
"Five Elements Wu Su," a girl group composed of five girls, debuted last year and
released their first album, which reportedly sold two to three hundred thousand copies,
making them a relatively well-known singing group in the country.
Wang Jingxue was one of them.
With no one else at home, Li Qian casually closed the door to the small study as he
passed by, walked to the TV, and inserted the MV CD into the VCD player.
He turned on the TV, and soon, the VCD began to play automatically, and upbeat music
and dancing filled the screen!
Such long, white legs!
As for the song itself, forget that for now—this leg-showing posture was almost
identical to a Korean group from another world called "Legs Era."
Li Qian put on his headphones, closed his eyes, and leaned back in his chair.
Two songs played: the first was called "Love Ocean," and the second was called "Lü Bu
and Diao Chan."
After finishing the first song, "Love Ocean," Li Qian pursed his lips and furrowed his
brow.
In his previous life, Li Qian''s father was a stage actor, and his mother was a music
teacher at a high school, so he came from an artistic family. He grew up surrounded by
this environment, and after high school, he started a band. After graduating from
university, he didn''t find a job and spent his time performing in bars, taking on side gigs
like arranging, composing for TV dramas, and occasionally recording demos. He lived
from one gig to the next.
Then, by chance, he became an extra, and from there, he worked his way up to roles
like scene manager, assistant director, photographer assistant, stuntman, and small
supporting roles. After two to three years, he managed to carve out a small place in the
film industry. Of course, it wasn''t much of a success, just enough to get by. He was over
thirty, still single, not for lack of trying, but simply because he was broke.
Even though he switched to the film industry, his love and interest in music never
waned. In fact, while working on a martial arts drama, just before a major accident with
a wire stunt, he had just written a new song he was planning to pitch.
So even though he wasn''t a professional singer in his previous life, having been
passionate about and involved in music for years—writing songs, selling a few—he still
had a decent ear for music.
And by his standards, this song... it was very average.
Then came "Lü Bu and Diao Chan."
It seemed... even worse than the first.
You have to understand, if it made it to a music video, it must be the title track!
If the title track was like this, you can imagine how poor the rest of the album was.
The two music videos quickly finished, and the screen went black.
Li Qian instinctively rubbed his chin and started to think—this was one of his habitual
actions from his previous life. Whenever he did this, it meant he was thinking about
something important.
And now, the question was: If this level of music could sell two to three hundred
thousand copies, then it must mean the music scene in this world wasn''t very strong!
At that moment, Li Qian felt like his mind suddenly clicked into place. The sense of
confusion that had been lingering since he crossed over seemed to be gradually
dissipating.
In his mind, a light began to flicker.
Now, all he needed to confirm was one thing: how much of the music and film
industries in this world resembled or differed from those of the world he had known!
Here’s the English translation of the text you provided: