Chapter 1: Fantasizing About Dreams

“Get up quickly! You have a job interview today!” A sharp shout exploded in Xiao Ran’s ears, causing a dull pain as if his eardrums were being torn. Along with the pain, he felt as though his ears were being pulled apart.
Anyone facing such a situation would likely be upset. Xiao Ran mumbled something in a dazed state, only to be struck hard on the head by the person: “You brat, what are you talking about? You don’t even recognize your own mother!”
Mother? Xiao Ran jolted and sprang up from the bed like an arrow. By the bed stood a middle-aged woman with a certain charm. She glared at him sternly and raised her hand to strike him again.
The awakened Xiao Ran swore to all the gods in heaven that he had never seen this woman before—assuming gods truly existed. But just as he was about to ask questions, a strange feeling surged within him, and he blurted out, “Mom, what if you beat your son silly?”
At that moment, Xiao Ran experienced a peculiar sensation no one else in the world had ever known. Suddenly, he remembered many things—though perhaps it wasn’t really remembering; rather, these memories had always been there in his mind.
Seeing that Xiao Ran had woken up, the middle-aged woman struck him again, slightly annoyed, before leaving with a remark: “A Ran, go have breakfast quickly, then go to your job interview!”
Dazed, Xiao Ran didn’t hear her words at all. He was completely overwhelmed by shock and confusion. Soon, amid his panic and urgency, he began to piece together his memories. In his memories, he was the son of this middle-aged woman, also named Xiao Ran, though he knew better than anyone that he had never met her before.
Xiao Ran was still the same person—he had just turned twenty-two. He lived in an ordinary family in Hong Kong. His father was Xiao Shaohao, his mother was Liang Wenhui, and he had a younger sister named Xiao Han who was just fifteen. They lived in public housing in Yuen Long, New Territories.
But if all of this only made Xiao Ran feel dizzy, the next memory sent him into complete shock—it was already 1985!
Xiao Ran was sure that if he wasn’t going crazy, he clearly remembered being from the mainland in 2005, not Hong Kong. Moreover, his parents were definitely not named Liang Wenhui and Xiao Shaohao. As an only child, he also had no siblings.
When Xiao Ran woke up again, he saw Liang Wenhui staring at him anxiously. Realizing this wasn’t a dream, he couldn’t help but groan. Concern showed in Liang Wenhui’s eyes as she placed her hand on his forehead and asked, “Son, are you okay?”
“I’m fine, I’m fine!” Xiao Ran said with a bitter smile, struggling to get up.
“Don’t you like this job?” Liang Wenhui, clearly misunderstanding her son’s thoughts, said lovingly, “If you don’t like it, then don’t go!”

What else could Xiao Ran say? He could only nod blankly. Liang Wenhui thought she had guessed correctly and hurriedly went out to call and decline the job. Xiao Ran remained stunned; if they weren’t mistaken, he now looked exactly like an intellectually disabled child.

1985? How could such a thing happen? Xiao Ran had no faith, so he couldn’t believe that the gods had heard his daily prayers and complaints and brought him here. Moreover, he now had another identity.

Thinking of this, he became excited and quickly scanned the room, which was quite tidy. Seeing a mirror, he stepped forward and stared at it, stunned once again. What appeared before him was a man much more handsome than his original self—hard to describe exactly what kind of handsomeness it was. By his own judgment, his current appearance was more striking in terms of vigor than beauty.

What a face comparable to that of a movie star! Even though Xiao Ran knew this face now belonged to him, he still couldn’t help but marvel. Of course, it wasn’t that it was extremely handsome; it was just much better than his original ordinary looks. More importantly, this face now had something special about it—a duality of good and evil.

Movie star? At the thought of this word, Xiao Ran’s heart pounded rapidly. He dared not think any further, because continuing to imagine meant it would become his lifelong dream. He gently raised his head and stared at the flushed excitement on the person’s face in the mirror. This peculiar sight gave his face a strange sense of heat.

Actor! Best actor! These two words tempted Xiao Ran like demons. He couldn’t help but lick his dry lips from nervousness. His heart beat even faster; he even thought he might die from a burst blood vessel if he didn’t make a decision soon.

Since fate had brought him back to this golden age, there was no reason for him to give up such a great opportunity! Xiao Ran wished he could come up with ten thousand reasons to persuade himself. He knew this was the closest he’d ever been to his dream.

Obviously, when a person is deeply tempted by something else, any reason becomes a driving force for that temptation. In less than three seconds, Xiao Ran overcame the shock and fear brought by this miraculous event, as he decided to make use of this opportunity to fulfill his dream.

With a decision made, Xiao Ran naturally focused all his energy on pondering this utterly amazing situation. If he remembered correctly, before coming here, he had watched a long-awaited Hong Kong movie, wandered around a night market, and bought a fake jade piece from a swindling old Taoist priest to wear around his neck. After returning home, he went to sleep as usual and woke up here.

Thinking of this, his hand uncontrollably reached for his neck, and indeed, there was a jade piece on a thin red string. Xiao Ran’s memory wasn’t bad enough to forget the shape of the jade. After taking it out and glancing at it, he was sure it was the jade he had bought “last night.”

But the terrifying thing happened—he found that all the small items he had before going to bed “last night,” aside from this jade, and even his clothes, had all changed to their current form. Doubt naturally arose: how could this jade be with him here? Could it be that this jade caused everything to happen? Xiao Ran didn’t know. However, that clearly didn’t stop him from finding a seemingly plausible answer in his panic, one that could at least reassure him. After all, fear that cannot be touched causes far more harm to humans than tangible fear, which explains his actions.

Xiao Ran looked through some newspapers and magazines in the room and confirmed he was in Hong Kong in 1985. Then he twisted his arm hard, feeling a sharp, piercing pain. Under the influence of the pain, he didn’t think it was a dream. Could everything he had experienced before be a dream? Xiao Ran didn’t think so either. He didn’t believe any dream could be so real that every detail of eating, drinking, and daily life was crystal clear—otherwise, it would drive a sane person mad. In his current situation, Xiao Ran could only reluctantly consider his past life as a dream. Losing all his relatives and friends so suddenly made him sad.

No matter what the circumstances, it was clearly necessary to understand the situation as quickly as possible. This was Xiao Ran’s strength, so after feeling sad, he thought it was essential to figure out what was going on now.

He was still called Xiao Ran. His family situation wasn’t great, but it wasn’t terrible either. He lived in a public housing estate, had a few friends he had grown up with, and seemed to have a pretty girlfriend as well.

From his memories, Xiao Ran knew he had tried a few jobs in the past, but never stayed in one for long. Similarly, from his memories, he realized he hadn’t been a good person back then, but not that bad either. At least he hadn’t joined the triads when he had the chance, nor had he done anything truly evil—just acted arrogantly occasionally.

In short, his past self was a worthless and unpromising guy, with the only advantage being that he was relatively filial to his parents and had a few close friends. Coming to this conclusion, Xiao Ran couldn’t help but chuckle. From now on, he would be different.

What should he do first? Before he could think, Liang Wenhui’s voice came in with the people: “Son, I’ve turned down that job! Are you okay?”

“I’m fine!” Xiao Ran glanced at his “mother” and was slightly stunned. Liang Wenhui must have been quite beautiful when she was young. Xiao Ran’s current appearance bore some resemblance to his mother’s. After a moment, he forced a smile and changed the subject: “Mom, what kind of job was it?”

“What else could it be?” Liang Wenhui sat down affectionately beside Xiao Ran, stroked his hair, and said, “Don’t you know? It was just a job doing odd jobs on a film set!”

The set! This word was extremely sensitive for Xiao Ran at the moment. He immediately jumped up, excitement appearing on his face as he recalled everything about this job. It turned out that Xiao Shaohao had asked a friend to find him this job. Learning this, he was stunned—he hadn’t expected the opportunity to be right in front of him.

However, he quickly understood why it was so coincidental. Hong Kong’s entertainment industry had been booming in recent years, with countless people involved directly or indirectly in it, so it wasn’t surprising at all.

Realizing this, Xiao Ran knew he had to seize this chance and immediately shouted, “Mom, I need this job! I won’t do anything else!”

Just by looking at Liang Wenhui’s stunned expression, it was clear she was extremely surprised by Xiao Ran’s reaction. Of course, she was also pleased with her son’s behavior, though she hesitated for a moment before happily calling to inform them.

Soon, his mother gave Xiao Ran good news—he could start working the next day. That day, Xiao Ran didn’t do anything, not even leaving his room. He was thinking about how to pursue his future and how to fulfill his dreams.

Xiao Ran’s dream, to be precise, was a dream from his youth. Back then, he often skipped school to watch movies at video rental shops. Anyone who remembers those days knows that video rental shops were the best places to watch movies back then—offering a vast selection of films, including many that couldn’t be seen elsewhere. It was there that he first conceived the idea of becoming a star. Of course, he was well aware of how unrealistic this idea was. Especially as he grew up, his aspiration to be a star evolved into becoming an actor. And now, his unusual encounter undoubtedly gave him a chance to fulfill his childhood dream—he definitely wouldn’t miss such a great opportunity.

(Note: The revisions this time aren’t significant—just fixing some aspects that people weren’t satisfied with and adjusting the tone of certain characters. You don’t need to read it; the revisions will be completed within this week.)
(Updates to the public version will start next week.)