“She is the new music teacher?” Han Zixin whispered. Wasn’t she too young to be the teacher of a high school?
“She looks too young to be a teacher in our school, ” An Xiulan added.
“This is why I say that you should always pay attention to school news, ” Gu Shangyan said, looking at all of them. “Our music department is participating in a singing competition. It’s a national-level school singing competition. Our old music Teacher suddenly fell sick last week. He couldn’t help his student to win the competition. The principal asked the students of the music department to withdraw their name from the contest because all the new teachers that the school hired couldn’t help the students.”
This matter had taken the school forum by storm. The students were wishing for the music contest to be their saving grace. Because Jingyuan High had never won a music contest ever. All the school’s funds were invested in other fields like sports, the library, and new high-tech laboratories. School even made new buildings this year. They couldn’t give the funds to the music department as it had only ten to twenty students.
The students of the music department requested the principal to invest in their department and the principal put forward a condition that if they win any provincial level contests, the school would think about it.
The students were not disheartened, instead, they were filled with excitement. They began preparing for the upcoming contest with enthusiasm and vigour. When they were confident enough to participate in the upcoming national singing contest where all the students across the country would participate, their music teacher fell sick.
It was not that the school didn’t hire another teacher. They hired many but none of them could give the assurance that the students needed.
“She is a music teacher’s daughter. She is a student of the National music academy, ” Gu Shangyan informed them. “She requested the principal to not take back their name. She assured everyone that she would help the student in any way she could.”
Now it made sense why such a young woman was teaching the students.
“She is the music teacher’s daughter?” Song Ci asked as if she couldn’t believe her ears. She felt so bad for calling the girl names. She felt like crying at this moment.
“You know her?” An Xiulan asked.
“She is a music prodigy, “Song Ci replied. “Oh god, I didn’t have my phone with me. I would have shown you about her. She is a music Genius. I don’t even know where to begin. She writes her songs, composes them and sings them. You can just put her name in the search engine and all of her songs will come forward.”
“How old is she?” Lu Xuan asked.
“I think she is nineteen, “Song Ci answered. “You need to look her up on the Internet when you go home.”
“What’s her name?” Lu Xuan suddenly asked.
“I don’t know about her real name but she goes by the username Ariel, “Song Ci told him. “We know this because the music teacher once told us that Ariel is his daughter.”
“Is she signed by any record?” Lu Xuan asked.
“No, she is not, “Song Ci told him. “She sings songs that couldn’t fit in any genre. Maybe that’s the reason why she never joined any record. She only posts her songs online and there is not any big information about her on the internet.”
“How do you know so much about her?” An Xiulan asked her friends.
“I’m her fan, “Song Ci felt shy as she patted her face. “Do you think she will give me her autograph if I ask her? I really wanna see how she looks from up close. Is she as beautiful as her voice?”
Ariel was Song Ci’s idol and she didn’t know how she was about to control her excitement. Her idol was finally near her and what would she do now?
“Guys, don’t tell anyone about Ariel. They will not trouble her, “Song Ci later added. She didn’t want people to hover over her idol as they did with Mochi.
“We don’t care about Ariel. All we have to do is to have a chat with the School President, “An Xiulan replied with a sigh. Before she could say anything else, the school bell rang and it was time for the other class.
“We are going for our class, “An Xiulan waved the boys goodbye as she left with her classmates.
“Let’s go, “Gu Shangyan patted Lu Xuan’s shoulder.
Lu Xuan smiled and nodded his head. Although he was walking away with Gu Shangyan, his attention was on the woman in white leaving the classroom with a smile. She was waving at her students when the class ended.
He didn’t know why but seeing a smile on her face brought a smile to his face too. When she was gone from his sight, he turned his head to look at the way ahead.
When they reached their class, Song Xueyun, the class monitor, announced that their physics class was cancelled because the teacher had to attend an important meeting.
There was no need to send an extra teacher to keep an eye on the class because they sat back on their seats and began revising their previous lectures.
When Lu Xuan saw Gu Shangyan was discussing some topic with Song Xueyun, he pulled out his earphones from his back along with his mobile phone that he had hidden between the books. He put his head on the desk and typed the name ‘Ariel’ on the search engine, placing his phone on his thighs.
When the number of songs came on the web search, he clicked on the first song and began listening to it.
For the entire hour, he heard all the songs of the same singer. Until now, Ariel had sung more than ten songs and he was hearing them on loop. He could not tell what was so special about this singer’s voice aside from the fact that it was addicting.