Chapter 2: Nepenthes Bar
Within Lu Chen’s dream world, there were many things that were strange to him. Even though the development of history and science remained unchanged, there were huge differences in the fields of music, media, literature, and culture.
Lu Chen was familiar with many of the singers, actors, musicians, movies, and literary works within his dream world, and even though it was only a dream world, the dream world wasn’t lacking in celebrities. Its classical works and rich art had even surpassed reality.
Li Feiyu’s words had reminded Lu Chen and made him realize that he had an enormous treasure trove.
Just those original pop songs…
Lu Chen opened a program called 《Song Master》on his computer.
《Song Master》was a super composing tool. It could write songs, arrange, synthesize, produce an output and other things. So, it basically had every function needed to write a song. It had a huge cloud storage and it was a program for professionals but it was easy to use, so both amateurs and professional musicians created original songs using this program.
Lu Chen had studied computers in college, plus he was fond of music, therefore he was already very proficient in using 《Song Master》to compose music and had already experienced being a songwriter.
However, the songs that he wrote were only for self-entertainment and all his songs were left unfinished.
As for the quality, it would be better left unmentioned.
But now, relying on the memories from his dream, Lu Chen only used half an hour to compose two songs.
After finishing the preparations, Lu Chen sang a few times as he looked at the screen and corrected some wrong parts.
Finally, he sent the completed songs to《Great China’s Music Library》for a copyright inquiry.
《Great China’s Music Library》was jointly established by the Chinese Cultural Bureau, Chinese Copyright Bureau, Chinese Musicians Association, and the Chinese Performing Artists Association. It was an online music copyright registration and trading website with over 20 years of history, and the music copyright field held supreme authority.
The website was open to everyone but the services offered weren’t completely free.
The cost of a copyright inquiry was 100 Yuan, so two songs would cost Lu Chen 200 Yuan, which was equivalent to ten days of his living expenses!
The process of the inquiry was incredibly slow, the music library program will judge according to music score and existing registered works to detect if they are copied, similar, or plagiarized.
The 《Great China’s Music Library》database was extremely large, intelligent contrasting and judging involved a huge amount of calculations, therefore even if there was a super computer on background support, it would still take some time to complete the inquiry.
But Lu Chen could afford the wait, because this copyright registration was a necessary step to determine the difference between his dream world and reality.
As time passed, Lu Chen sat in front of the computer as he stared at the progress bar.
He had never been this nervous before. His life depended on the result because Lu Chen knew that this was his only chance to change his fate, and the fate of his family.
Ding!
Lu Chen felt like a whole century had passed when a green notification box suddenly appeared on the computer screen.
Inquiry finished!
Lu Chen was stunned and didn’t immediately react.
Ding!
The same prompt box popped out again.
Inquiry finished!
Lu Chen finally understood this time, the songs the he uploaded on 《Great China’s Music Library》had passed the copyright inquiry, which meant that he could proceed to copyright registration and have his songs copyrighted!
The next moment, Lu Chen was filled with intense joy and excitement and he couldn’t avoid clenching his fists and raising his arms, he wanted to face the sky and shout his excitement.
“Yes! I can really do it!!”
But he still wasn’t finished, he suppressed his excitement before holding the mouse and clicking on copyright registration.
Copyright registration fees were much more expensive compared to the inquiry, one work costs 500 Yuan and moreover, he still needed to pay the filing fee each year to avoid indiscriminate registrations.
Lu Chen had long been a member of 《Great China’s Music Library》, so after passing through the system inquiry and paying 1000 Yuan, the two songs were immediately registered under his name and the copyright registration was completed.
When the registration complete notification box appeared, Lu Chen finally relaxed.
But he was increasingly happy in his heart, because he was certain that the memories from his dreams were real.
Leaning against the chair, Lu Chen let out a deep breath.
He pulled open the drawer below his small desk and took out a cup of instant noodles and some sausages.
After thinking for a moment, Lu Chen decided to eat the sausages as well, since he was happy today, he wanted to celebrate!
He stood and got some water from the bathroom, after plugging in the electric kettle, the water boiled quickly and he poured it into the cup of noodles.
The air became filled with the familiar yet alluring scent of instant noodles.
It wasn’t that Lu Chen didn’t want to go out and eat a real meal, but after paying for the copyright inquiry and registration, he only had about 100 Yuan left in his PayPal account.
As for his pocket money, it didn’t even reach 50 Yuan.
Furthermore, he was still half a month away till his next salary.
This much weren’t enough to cover his meals, but Lu Chen wasn’t worried, he continued to eat his noodles and simply tidied up after he finished, then he returned the guitar to its case and left the basement.
While taking the subway, Lu Chen was rushing towards Nepenthes Bar on houhai since it was almost 8 pm.
Houhai was called a lake because it really was a huge artificial lake and it was a huge channel during imperial times. It was also a part of the Shichahai. Di’anmen outer street was on its east, Xinjiekou road on its west, Ping’an Street on its south, and the second ring road was north of it.
Houhai was a wealthy business district during the Yuan dynasty, shops and taverns were littered all over its coast and the former residences of famous people could be found everywhere. Up until today, it is still the business center of the capital.
The current Houhai was still as prosperous as ever, streams of people flowed during the day and the signboards of bars were all lit during the night, welcoming customers that liked to live the nightlife.
The snacks in Houhai were famous, but its bars were even more so.
Nepenthes Bar was only one of its’ hundreds of bars, but it was also Lu Chen’s evening workplace.
“Little Lu, why are you late?”
A waiter standing in front of the bar rushed towards Lu Chen and sarcastically said: “Aren’t you always on time? Did you see a beauty today and forget the time?”
Lu Chen shot a glance at him but he didn’t speak, instead he reached out and opened the door to the bar.
This guy and Lu Chen were almost at the same age, but he had been working in the bar longer than Lu Chen, the two of them originally had no grudges, but after being criticized a few times by their boss for arriving late, he developed feelings of resentment towards Lu Chen.
Because the bar owner kept comparing him to Lu Chen, who always arrived on time, he felt like Lu Chen was implicating him and that he was being wronged.
Furthermore, another important reason was that people usually gave out tips based on their face, and within all of the waiters working at the bar, Lu Chen was definitely much better looking than all of them, while his own face were ridden with pimples.
His heart became filled with jealousy, so he took every opportunity to mock Lu Chen. However, Lu Chen himself had no reason to talk with this kind of person, plus he didn’t want to cause any trouble, therefore he just completely treated him like air.
And ignoring him was actually also a really powerful counterattack!
It wasn’t the evening rush hour yet, so there were only a few customers within the bar.
The Nepenthes Bar could be considered as a medium sized bar in Houhai. It was built from an old warehouse and it was six meters high. The space was divided into an upper floor and a lower floor, and suspended in between were the stage, lights, curtains, and the sound systems.
Around the center stage, ten wine tables were placed on the first and second floor, while the mini bars were also positioned in front of the stage, so it was capable of accommodating up to 200 guests and the interior decorations were said to have cost 2,000,000 Yuan.
When Lu Chen came in, the bar owner was behind the counter tallying the accounts whilst a beautiful woman sat beside him as she leisurely drank a cup of blue cocktail.
After hesitating for a bit, Lu Chen went to him as he carried his guitar case and said: “I’m sorry boss, today I was late.”
His work time was 7:30, but he was 30 minutes late since it was already 8:00.
Chen Jianhao was a 40 year old middle aged man, but he only looked about 30. He had a good figure and he was well-dressed, so he had the elegance and demeanor of a successful person.
After working for half a year at the bar, Lu Chen knew that his boss didn’t like it when other people were late, but he hated it more when others tried to give him excuses, that was why Lu Chen decided to just be straightforward and sincere.
Chen Jianhao put down his pen and lightly said: “I’ll let it pass, but just this once.”
According to the rules of the bar, a waiter that was late would have his wages cut, but because Lu Chen had always been good, and since this was his first mistake, he was lenient on him.
Lu Chen was secretly relieved, he quickly said: “Thank you boss.”
“Oh, by the way.”
Chen Jianhao said: “Najie and Xiao Shuai are going to be late, so you’re gonna have to warm the stage tonight.”
Lu Chen nodded and said: “Yes.”
Unknowingly, he discovered that the charming woman beside Chen Jianhao was looking at him with a faint smile on her face.
The woman was clad in a blue dress, her exquisite hair was pulled up into a bun. She had an enchanting figure. She had a bit of light makeup on her delicate face, and she had the beautiful eyes of a fox.
As their eyes met, the beautiful woman’s lips rose into a smile and she winked at Lu Chen, her fox-like eyes penetrated his soul whilst revealing a trace of seductive cunningness.
Witch!
Lu Chen’s heart suddenly jumped. He hurriedly turned away and walked towards the backstage.
He was afraid that if he kept looking at the unfamiliar woman for a moment longer, he would lose his composure and humiliate himself.
No ordinary guy could conquer such an enchanting woman!
Behind him came the sounds of a woman’s laugh.
Chen Jianhao looked at her helplessly and said: “Little Mei, why are you teasing my waiter?”
The woman played with her hair using her right hand, while she gently swirled her wine cup with her left hand, then she said, “Because I want to…”
Chen Jianhao remained silent with a wry smile.