An embarrassing memory

Yang Lingyun was in a bad mood the entire time he was driving.

Lin Yueshi who sitting in the passenger seat couldn't stop complaining now that they are alone. "Has that girl gone crazy? I can't believe you wanted to keep the conversation with her...did you forget how badly she had humiliated you in the past?!"

Yang Lingyun's eyes appeared to be layered with ice as he stared at the road, his demeanour turning frigid.

Yue Shi realised he didn't want to talk, but he didn't stop her, so she kept talking. "Lihua claimed to be a good singer, but we all know how bad she is at singing. Remember the annual high school festival event? You were there right?"

She persisted in nagging him without waiting for his response. "Yes I know you were there! How badly she had messed up her performance. It was on par with crow singing. I bet she hired a shadow singer to sing live during her debut performance and someone else contributed to her studio album. I don't know from where she is getting the confidence from! Mengrui's performance was before her and she sang so well, of course a crow can't be compared with a nightingale."

Lin Yueshi highly praised Meng Rui even though she considered her as a potential rival, but she wasn't as pretty as Lihua. Therefore she felt less threatened in presence of Meng Rui. Xia Lihua used to be the school flower but following her poor performance at the Jr. high school competition, she completely lost all of her popularity. After that, she suffered severe bullying by her classmates.

"Recall how people were disparaging you because Xia Lihua had fared so poorly and you had to endure the humiliation because you were engag-"

Screech!

"Get out." The car abruptly came to a stop before she could conclude her never-ending crit. Inertia threw her off balance, forcing her to grasp for the handle.

"What?" Lin Yueshi clenched her fists tightly. She was attempting to win his affection by complimenting Meng Rui, whom he adored so much, but why was he responding in this way?

"Scram." Before she could figure out what had happened, Yang Lingyun issued a chilly order. "Even when I'm exhausted you keep spewing crap. Get out of the car and book a taxi for yourself." His ostensibly unruffled gaze contained an unmistakable hint of loneliness.

"Alright I'll go. Will see you tomorrow, boss." Lin Yueshi knew there was no point in arguing with him now, he was like a giant ice mountain radiating icy waves. She removed her seat belt, called a cab, and left.

Yang Lingyun shut his eyelids and immersed into a deep thought.

North Jr. High School's 30th Annual Music Festival, year 2012

All of the school's students from all classes had assembled on the ground. Everyone's eyes were drawn to the girl dressed in a stunning crimson long gown with full sleeves. She was looking ethereal like an angel as if she were an angel blessing the earth.

"The next performance is of our campus belle, Xia Lihua! She looks so beautiful.", someone in the crowd said.

"I'm sure she will win the trophy tonight! Go Li Hua!"

"But are you certain? Meng Rui performed just before her and I think she was way too good. I don't think Li Hua will be able to beat her."

"You are right Meng Rui's performance was exceptional and it can't be overshadowed by anyone."

Lingyun could hear everyone gossiping around him. He had a casual look in his eyes and gazed at the girl on the small stage with an indifferent distant look.

Ding Feng who was his best friend nudged his right arm and said, "Brother Yun how do you think sister-in-law will sing?"

Lingyun remained tight lipped, his focus was on the beam of light that shone brightly on Xia Li Hua. She had a bright makeup on her face that didn't suit her phoenix like eyes. The crowd became silent as the pianist began to play, anticipating what the beauty would reveal.

The girl slowly moved her lips and the voice that followed was off-key. Everyone in the crowd was taken aback.

Wait...

This f *cking thing started off with an C1 note? How could she mess this up-

The music became louder. She was struck by the crescendo of tones and her voice cracked while trying to reach the high notes. The part where she was meant to switch her vocal range become tedious. The drum beats couldn't conceal her off-tune singing and lousy pronunciation. She even sang the lines to late or too fast. It was bad, very bad.

Everyone watching the show started gossiping amongst themselves.

Student 1: "Eh? This.."

Student 2: "I didn't expect our school flower to be tone-deaf, this is humiliating!"

Student 3: "Good looks is all that she got. It takes great courage to stand up on the stage but if you can't sing then don't, why embarrass yourself like this?"

One of her classmates said, "Meng Rui, her cousin once told me that Lihua was actually singing out of tune during the practice and cannot read music sheets, I didn't pay much attention to her words but now that I think about it she was right! I'm not really surprised."

Despite the fact that the girl's lips were constantly moving, he noticed that her eyes became unconfident and her countenance stiffened.

"I wonder how young master Yang is feeling about this, he must be feeling so humiliated. After all she is his fiancée." When a spectator remarked this, everyone's attention was drawn to him.

"Eh, brother Lingyun don't mind these people, they-" Ding Feng tried to console him but he turned back to leave the venue. He had already heard enough.

"Brother wait-"

Lingyun quickened his steps and made his way out of the bustling crowd, but he could still hear people conversing as he went by.

"Oh Xia Lihua made young master Yang lose face."

"We can't have a tone-deaf girl as our campus belle, she should call Xia Meng Rui as the school flower from today onwards!"

"Students from other school has come to watch this show tonight, I cannot show some face in front of them anymore."

"Look even Teacher Su is embarrassed by this! He is laughing, haha."

"Who said Xia Li Hua will win the best singer award? Pfft. Jokes on you."

Recalling this unpleasant memory gave Yang Lingyun a bad headache. It was already a wonder that Xia Lihua had gained a good number of fans after debuting, If her previous performance videos resurface or are exposed, she will face severe consequences. He decided to not dwell on it because it was none of his concern. Taking a deep breath he hit the gas pedal and drove away.