Huayu 2002, I'm going to dominate the music scene!

In August 2002, Beijing was unbearably hot.

It had just rained in the evening, and the moisture on the ground was evaporated by the setting sun, making the whole city look like a giant sauna.

Sanlitun wasn't crowded yet, but the lights on the bar street were already on.

Since 1995, when foreigners flocked to open shops here, this area has become the most fashionable place in Beijing.

Diplomats, international students, rock musicians, and trendy young men and women all flock here at night.

In the words of later generations, this was the trendsetter of Yanjing.

Song Mo followed the flow of people into the street and stopped in front of a bar with a huge circular logo hanging at the entrance—Hard Rock Cafe.

This place will be considered a legend in later generations; it's a global chain, famous for collecting guitars and stage costumes of rock stars.

The decor is typical of American style, and the average cost per person is close to two hundred yuan.

What does that mean? In a third- or fourth-tier small county, it's equivalent to almost half a month's salary for an average office worker.

A burly man in an inexpensive suit stood at the door, wearing sunglasses and sitting ramrod straight, looking exactly like a bodyguard from an American TV show.

Song Mo couldn't help but laugh every time he saw him. This outfit, if viewed more than ten years later, would make him look exactly like a real estate agent. But in 2002, this was considered stylish.

That's right, he transmigrated from the future, and he even got a classic script from Qidian.com, the kind where one person is full and the whole family isn't hungry.

To be honest, he didn't want to wear it at all.

In my past life, I had a pretty good life. My dad was a university professor, my mom owned a company, and I graduated from the Central Conservatory of Music. Although I didn't become a big star, I caught the wave of live streaming and became a minor music blogger. Later, short dramas became popular, so I jumped right into the short drama army. Even though I wasn't good-looking enough to appear on screen, I was still one of the first to try it out, and my life was pretty comfortable.

Who would have thought that after a night of heavy drinking, I would wake up in 2002, becoming a "Beijing drifter" more than a decade early?

He'd tried everything for over a month, trying every possible method to get back in, but nothing worked.

He also tried to find his parents from his previous life, but to no avail.

Later I came to terms with it, and decided to just accept it as it is.

I just happened to be trying my best to get into the entertainment industry in my past life, so this time I'll have to give it a try.

And this face is much better than the one in the previous life. Today, he came over wearing a white T-shirt and jeans, and his pockets were already stuffed with seven or eight slips of paper with phone numbers written on them.

Girls these days express their affection very directly.

Pushing open the door, I bumped into a Russian who was completely drunk.

Song Mo dodged to the side and helped the man up. Mao Zi muttered something and swayed as he walked out.

Hard Rock never lacks drunken foreigners, nor does it lack rock music.

"Xiao Song, you're here!"

A thin man with long hair stood by the bar, carrying a guitar, and waved to him.

Guitarist An Ming played in a band in the United States for a few years. He returned to China half a year ago and now spends his free time hanging out in bars.

Song Mo met him last month during a job interview at a small bar. The two were almost ten years apart in age, but they got along quite well.

Anming took good care of him and recommended him to Hard Rock a few days ago.

"You're opening today, so hurry up and get ready," Anming mumbled, his mouth full of a hamburger.

Song Mo smiled and replied, "Okay," before heading backstage.

An Ming watched him disappear down the corridor, then turned and squeezed into a booth, plopping down as he asked, "How's it going? Has he arrived yet?"

Sitting in the booth was a middle-aged man wearing sunglasses, Zhu Yingjie, Hard Rock's Chinese operations manager.

He leaned back lazily: "What's the rush? You really think Ocean Butterflies would be interested in him?"

An Ming objected: "What's wrong with Ocean Butterflies? Aren't Ocean Butterflies a company for humans? Everyone in the industry knows they're going to expand into mainland China!"

Zhu Yingjie took off his sunglasses and glanced at him sideways: "With such a big company, don't you know how popular A-Du is right now? His name alone is enough to make people line up from here all the way to Houhai to sign him."

"How can those ugly ducklings compare to Xiao Song?" An Ming slammed his hand on the table. "In terms of talent and looks, what does he lack? Look at Yang Kun, he looks like he's been slammed in a door, but he still signed with a company and released albums, didn't he?"

That's true. Yang Kun, who has been working in the bar scene in Beijing for many years, has finally made it big this year. He just released an album called "It Doesn't Matter," which became a minor hit and has become an inspirational role model for many bar singers.

Zhu Yingjie scoffed, "How can they be the same? Yang Kun can write his own songs. Can Xiao Song do that?"

An Ming was about to retort when Zhu Yingjie waved his hand to interrupt him: "Alright, alright, just wait patiently."

The backstage dressing room was a mess.

A woman with permed hair and eyeshadow that looked like smoky makeup saw Song Mo and immediately exclaimed, "Oh, Song, you've finally arrived! Come over here, come over here! You're the first one to appear tonight, hurry up and try on your outfit!"

Song Mo looked at the pile of non-mainstream outfits on the dressing table and felt a chill run down his spine: "Sister Li, why is it these again?"

Sister Li glared at him, flashing a rock 'n' roll hand gesture: "We're Hard Rock, we're rock and roll, you know what I mean?"

Song Mo opened his mouth, but in the end he obediently sat down.

There's no other way; it's not shameful to do this for two hundred yuan.

In the past month or so, what hardships hadn't he endured? He fought guerrilla warfare with the joint defense forces at the train station and drank himself into a stupor at a small bar.

After finally saving up some money, the first thing he did was move into a dilapidated basement. In those days, the system of detention and repatriation was still in place. If he got caught, even if he wasn't sent back to his hometown, the fine would still be enough to make him feel terrible.

Sister Li held up a sleeveless leather jacket and gestured at him, muttering, "You better sing properly tonight, don't be like that guy last time, who got drunk and sang the lyrics 'I want to walk from south to north, and from white to black,' leaving the foreigners below completely bewildered."

Song Mo couldn't help but chuckle: "Aren't those lyrics by Cui Jian?"

"What do foreigners know about Cui Jian? They want to hear Guns N' Roses and The Beatles!" Sister Li slapped him on the shoulder. "Anyway, just do your best tonight and don't mess it up."

"Don't worry, Sister Li." Song Mo straightened his collar in front of the mirror, "If you sing off-key, just deduct my pay."

At 7 o'clock sharp, Hard Rock Cafe gradually filled up with people.

Foreigners gathered in twos and threes at the bar, holding draft beer and occasionally uttering a few American swear words. In the corner sat a few long-haired young men who looked like they were into rock music.

In a booth by the window, two middle-aged men were talking in hushed tones.

"Old Xu, what good prospects do you think this place could have?" The speaker was a square-faced man named Bi Xiaoshi.

Back in the 1990s, everyone in the mainland music scene knew this name.

The founder of China's first pop band and the music director for the Spring Festival Gala. He wrote "Blue Night, Blue Dream" for Mao Ning, "Gently Tell You" for Yang Yuying, and "Mountain Valley" for Na Ying—each a timeless classic.

But in the last two years, the trend has changed. Hong Kong and Taiwanese singers have moved north, and Korean dance music has invaded the mainland.

Singers from mainland China line up to go to Hong Kong and Taiwan to gain experience and gain recognition, all in the hope of becoming top stars.

The two most successful ones are Na-young and Sun Nam.

Bi Xiaoshi felt that his own system was a bit outdated.

This time, he sold his house in Guangzhou and went all in on going north, hoping to cooperate with Ocean Butterflies and pull off a big heist.

But he also knew in his heart that Ocean Butterflies valued his connections and status in the industry, and that he valued Ocean Butterflies' resources in Southeast Asia and Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Both sides have their own agendas; whether sparks will fly depends on fate.

Sitting opposite me was a lean man named Xu Yuan, a music producer sent by Ocean Butterflies Music to scout for new talent from the mainland.

I recently signed a contract with Bi Xiaoshi for a young girl named Jin Sha.

Xu Yuan took a sip of beer, ignoring Bi Xiaoshi's words, and glanced at the stage: "Old Bi, I know you don't like bar singers. But this one tonight is really good, you should check it out."

He has been to Hard Rock for four days in a row and has a very good impression of Song Mo, but when it comes to choosing people for Yanjing Sea Butterfly, it is Bi Xiaoshi who makes the final decision. He finally managed to get Bi Xiaoshi to come today.

Bi Xiaoshi waved his hand: "You can look, but let me make this clear beforehand: I have standards for selecting people. They need to have solid basic skills. I can't handle those who are just popular because of their looks."

Xu Yuan didn't say anything more. During this period, Ocean Butterflies' Singapore headquarters had been urging him quite a bit.

The company's rising star, JJ Lin, is about to release his first album, "Music Voyager".

Ocean Butterflies is placing great emphasis on its promotion in mainland China this time, and plans to use newcomers to test the waters first.

Once things go smoothly, both A-Du and An Jie-yi can head north to make money, since the mainland's music market has grown bigger every day since China joined the WTO.

Unfortunately, Yanjing Ocean Butterflies has only signed one singer, Jin Sha, so far and has yet to officially launch its business.

He's now eager for Bi Xiaoshi to sign two more people so that they can at least get the framework up and running.

Unfortunately, Bi Xiaoshi was incredibly stubborn, a traditional academic, and too conservative in his selection of people.