Chapter 15: In Dreams, and In Reality

Qiao Yanyan got out of Fu Shiyuan’s arms and said: “Shiyuan, it’s getting late. We should go to sleep.”

“Mm, I’ll listen to Wife.”

Qiao Yanyan lay flat on her back, staring at the ceiling. Fu Shiyuan rolled over to face her and grinned foolishly.

“Close your eyes and sleep!” Qiao Yanyan said gently.

“Looking at you, I don’t feel sleepy.”

“Then keep looking. I’m going to sleep.” Qiao Yanyan closed her eyes.

Even though her eyes were closed, she could still feel a scorching gaze fixed on her, making it impossible for her to fall asleep.

She opened her eyes and, sure enough, saw Fu Shiyuan staring wide-eyed at her.

“Fu Shiyuan, don’t look at me like that!”

“I want to look at you.”

Qiao Yanyan had no choice but to turn over and face away from him.

As a result, Fu Shiyuan started fooling around. He began to tickle her. Qiao Yanyan was extremely ticklish and twisted her body on the bed. “Ah! That tickles!”

Seeing his wife laugh, Fu Shiyuan tickled her underarm again. Qiao Yanyan laughed and scolded him in frustration: “Fu Shiyuan, you bad guy! Stop! Stop it!”

Outside the door, Li Wanjun heard the noise and covered her mouth as she laughed. It seemed her son had finally matured—what a blessing from the heavens.

Li Wanjun returned to her room, unable to hide the smile on her lips.

At that moment, Fu Junjie was reading in bed. He glanced at Li Wanjun over his glasses and asked: “What’s got you so happy?”

Li Wanjun sat on the bed and pulled the newspaper away from Fu Junjie. “Honey, do you know what I just did?”

“Hm? What did you do?”

“I went to listen at Shiyuan’s door. Turns out Shiyuan really can… hahaha…”

Fu Junjie took off his glasses and scolded lightly: “Oh come on, you were eavesdropping at our son’s door?” Then with a gossipy expression, he asked: “Really? Shiyuan and our daughter-in-law are… right now\…?”

“That’s right. They’re in the same room!”

“Hahaha! I knew my Shiyuan was up to the task! Hahaha…”

The couple laughed with satisfaction for a long time.

And the pair they imagined being “in the room”…

Qiao Yanyan’s face darkened as she looked at Fu Shiyuan. He sat cross-legged on the bed like a child who had done something wrong, gazing at her.

“I’m sorry, Wife. I was wrong.” Fu Shiyuan reached out and tugged at the hem of her clothes.

Qiao Yanyan’s hair had been messed up by Fu Shiyuan. As she tidied her hair, she said: “You’re not allowed to tickle me anymore. I’m most afraid of that!”

“I got it.”

“Then why did you tickle me just now?”

“I wanted to make you laugh.”

Qiao Yanyan poked Fu Shiyuan’s forehead and, unable to bear scolding him, simply said: “You little rascal!”

“Hehehe.” Fu Shiyuan smiled wide, showing ten teeth.

“You’re still laughing?” Qiao Yanyan glared at him.

“…” Fu Shiyuan immediately wiped the smile off his face.

Qiao Yanyan lay back down. Fu Shiyuan asked cautiously: “Can I sleep now too?”

“Go ahead.”

Fu Shiyuan quickly lay down, facing Qiao Yanyan, while she lay on her back.

Fu Shiyuan looked at Qiao Yanyan. As he kept watching her, his eyelids grew heavy, and he slowly drifted off to sleep.

Qiao Yanyan looked at him and then closed her eyes to sleep too.

“Yanyan, Yanyan, Yanyan…”

Qiao Yanyan was standing on stage, having just finished performing a song. The audience below was in a frenzy, chanting her name nonstop.

Some fans even came up on stage to give her flowers and take photos with her.

Standing on the stage, Qiao Yanyan spoke confidently and gracefully to her fans: “Today, I’m able to stand here all thanks to the love and support from my fans!”

The fans in the audience screamed: “Ah… ah… Yanyan…”

Qiao Yanyan waved her hand and continued: “Thank you all for your enthusiasm, and thank you for loving us! We’ll have no choice but to repay you with even better music in the future…”

“Yanyan… eternal goddess!”

“Wife… Wife…”

Fu Shiyuan’s voice pulled her out of the dream. Qiao Yanyan opened her eyes and sat up abruptly.

She had just had a dream—a dream where she was singing on stage in the real world.

In the real world, she was a singer. She had loved singing ever since she was little. When she was a child in the countryside, she would sing in the fields; the mountains echoed, making her voice sound even more beautiful.

Once she started school, her favorite class was music. But music classes were always taken over by other teachers—sometimes math, sometimes Chinese. This continued through middle and high school.

So, she taught herself, searching for music clips online to study.

In high school, she downloaded a singing app. She created an account and, with just five songs uploaded, she gained a million followers.

Later, during the school’s art performance, she mustered up the courage to sign up for the campus singing competition. It was her first time singing on stage. Nervous as she was, she placed third. Later, she found out that the first and second places were predetermined—their vocal abilities were actually not as good as hers.

After entering university, she studied and worked at the same time. Occasionally, she recorded songs. During her freshman year, a senior organized a music team and invited her to join as the lead singer. She agreed, since the president paid monthly salaries—the more performances, the more pay.

There weren’t many performances during her freshman year, but they practiced together often. By sophomore year, they started performing more—whether it was for restaurant openings, hotel launches, or singing in bars—if there was a gig, the president would bring the whole team.

In the first semester of junior year, a TV station invited them to perform. From that point on, their appearance fees increased, and they gained more fans. By the second semester, she had saved a substantial amount of money.

Fu Shiyuan noticed his Wife was drenched in sweat and used a handkerchief to wipe her forehead. “Wife, did you have a dream? Was it a nightmare?”

Qiao Yanyan nodded. “Yes, it was a dream. A beautiful one.”

“What did you dream about?”

“I dreamed I was singing on stage, and so many fans loved me.”

“Wife, you know how to sing? Can you sing a song for me?”

“Of course!” Qiao Yanyan cleared her throat.

“Super Idol’s smile is not as sweet as yours, the noon sun in August is not as dazzling as you are…”

When she finished the song, Fu Shiyuan clapped enthusiastically. “So good, so good! That was amazing! Did you write that song? I’ve never heard it before.”

“You’ve never heard it? This song is super popular, and you haven’t heard it?” Qiao Yanyan froze for a moment, then quickly opened her phone to search for the song title. The result came back: No Results.

This song… did not exist in this world?

She suddenly felt like she had found a way to make money.

Singing—she absolutely had to keep singing. She loved it.

In the past, before she joined the music team, she had to work just to survive. During winter and summer breaks in high school, she worked part-time jobs: in electronics factories, packaging plants, selling clothes, as a waitress in restaurants—she even worked in a zoo feeding lions and tigers… Until she joined the music team, started earning money, and fulfilled her dream. Back then, every day was filled with happiness.

Fu Shiyuan was confused. “Wife, that song is really popular?”

Qiao Yanyan was excited. Her voice was still just as beautiful. She truly believed she could continue chasing her musical dreams.

“In our world, it’s super popular.” Qiao Yanyan was so happy she accidentally let her thoughts slip out.

“What do you mean ‘your world’? Wife, I don’t get it.”

“Actually, Shiyuan… I’m not from this world. Ugh, why am I even telling you this? You wouldn’t understand.” Qiao Yanyan went back to searching for her favorite artists.

\[G.E.M. (邓紫棋)] – No Results

\[Jay Chou (周杰伦)] – No Results

\[…] – All came up empty.

Fu Shiyuan continued asking: “Wife, I don’t get it, but you can tell me.”

“But this is too unbelievable. Even if I told you, you might not believe it.”

“I believe you. As long as it’s you, Wife, I’ll believe it.”

Qiao Yanyan changed the subject and told him: “It’s nothing. It’s only four in the morning. Get some more sleep.”

“Oh.” Fu Shiyuan noticed that Wife didn’t want to say more, so he didn’t press her. He wanted to respect her.

Qiao Yanyan was too excited to fall back asleep. She thought about how, back in her old studio, she had written her own lyrics and composed songs. If she ever got a chance to enter a singing competition here, she believed that in this world, too, she could realize her musical dream!