The Mysterious Foreign Professor (1)

Today was the first time I went to a class. The place was the professor's home. Anna followed the address given to her by the counsellor.

It was a villa not far from the university campus, and was the home of a wealthy businessman because of its quiet and elegant environment. She wondered how a university professor could afford such an expensive villa, but thought of the personal information that had been circulating among her classmates: some said he had been a famous musician, others said he was the son of a wealthy businessman, and if that was the case, then living in such a villa would not be a problem.

Anna saw the sign for the villa she was looking for and gently rang the doorbell. In a few moments, a man opened the door.

"Anna, you're here at last ..." the man said, looking at her with a hint of joy in his eyes.

"Anna looked at the man in front of her, a different outfit from the black one she had worn the other day: today it was a pair of white casual trousers with a long-sleeved shirt of the same colour, of a sophisticated texture. His shirt was tied into his trousers with a brown leather belt, and his brown hair was slightly curled around his shoulders, making him look a little dishevelled and unruly, and even wilder.

"What, you don't want it to be me ..." he said, not taking his eyes off Anna for a moment, as if she would disappear before his eyes if he took his eyes off her.

"No, I was just a little surprised that you were the famous Professor Brüno ..." Anna said uneasily, having met him earlier in the woods and taken him for a pervert, and because of that misunderstanding, she now felt She was so embarrassed that she wanted to find a hole in the ground.

"Anna, can you call me Alexandra ..." he pleaded softly.

"Why, if you're not Professor Brüno, why do you want me to call you Alexander ..." Anna asked in disbelief.

"You used to call me that, I like to hear you call me by my first name instead of Professor Brüno ..." Alexander cautiously reminded, hinting.

"I don't think we knew each other before, but you're my teacher and I have to respect you, and can you call me by my full name, Professor?" Anna pleaded in a whisper.

"Why ..." asked Alexander, puzzled.

"It feels too intimate to call me Anna, after all it's the first time we've met, and we're teachers and students ... Anna is a name only my mother calls ..." Anna explained seriously. .

"Did your mother give you that name? Why did she give you that name ..." asked Alexander curiously.

Anna didn't know why he was so interested in her name, but seeing how seriously he was waiting for her answer, she told him the truth: "Yes, it was my mother's. My mother had a dream when she was pregnant with me. ..." Anna said seriously, recalling the birth dream her mother had told her.

"So that's how it is... names are proof of the continuity of past lives... ... All the more reason for me to call you Anna." Alexandra sighed.

Anna had compromised. If he insisted on calling her that, so be it. But why did he say something so inexplicable? "What? What past lives? Do you believe in past lives ..." Anna asked, puzzled.

"Don't you remember anything? Our past lives ..." asked Alexander recklessly.

"You're joking, Professor, but I don't understand your jokes, but your mention of past lives reminds me of a poem ...," Anna said innocently.

"What poem ..." asked Alexandra, impatiently.

"A poem called 'The Past Life' written by the Chief Moulin." Anna replied.

"Oh, I've never heard of it, can you tell me about it ..." said Alexandra, clearly interested.

If people can be reincarnated, if there is reincarnation in this world

Then, my love, what were we once in a previous life?

If you were a woman picking lotuses in the south of the river

I would have been the one you missed under your wrist

If you were a truant boy

I must have been the new marble that fell from your pouch

In the grass by the roadside

And see you go away unaware

If you had been a monk who faced the wall

I would have been the incense in front of the temple

Burning to keep you company for a time of silence

So when we meet in this life, we always feel that there is something left to be done

I can't tell them all

I can't tell you everything ...

Anna recited the poem with great devotion, and her voice was very impressive in its intonation.

"Anna, this poem is interesting, I like some of the lines ..." said Alexander, looking at Anna.

"Well ..." Anna said softly.

"So, my love, what were we in our past lives ... so that when we meet in this life, we always feel that there is something left in our past lives. I think we are very close?" Alexandre looked at her expectantly, and the corners of his mouth seemed to lift in a shallow curve.

"Why do you think so?" Anna ducked her head, overwhelmed by the ambiguity of his words.

"Isn't there a Chinese saying that says, "If there is a destiny, we will meet again"?" Alexandra looked at Anna, her eyes seeming to imply something.

"Oh, there is such a saying, but we also have a saying that it is difficult to hold hands without fate." Anna didn't know why she had said that. Maybe it was because the two phrases were meant to be linked together. Or maybe it was because she didn't know what to say, so she picked up a phrase at random. But now she regretted it, and it seemed that she could not say it casually, because when she said it, the professor's face seemed to turn a little sad, and there was something sad about it.

Alexander was indeed disappointed, he had thought that with a little reminder Anna would remember the past, but she didn't seem to remember anything at all. After all, it was a past life, Alexandra reassured herself: after all, she had drunk the time-shifting water, there was no way she would remember him, so it was best to stop there, otherwise she would think she was mad.

So Alexandra changed the subject. "I heard you singing in the woods yesterday. He said in the tone of a professor.

The embarrassment of yesterday came back to her mind. Anna felt a wave of nervousness, but since the professor wanted to hear it, she could only sing it with a firm hand: "The moonlight, the fenghuang beneath, soft and beautiful like a green mist, the good girl in the bamboo house, dazzling like a night jewel, listen to the many fond gourd-songs, telling you of their love. Why don't you open your window? The moonlit bamboo is soft and beautiful like a green mist.

"This song is very suitable for you, because it is originally a Dai song, only that you seem to be too tense when you change your breath, the voice of the change is too loud, so that people listening to your song feel that their throats are stretched, without giving people the slightest feeling of relaxation and enjoyment, the song sung in this way is dry and does not have any feelings... ...and it's very important for the singer to get the emotion of the song right." Alexandra commented seriously.

The more he spoke, the more nervous Anna became, her chest heaving so much that her face began to burn. After all, it wasn't easy to be honest with such a handsome man when he was giving away so many of his flaws. "I'm sorry, Professor Brüno, I ... am very nervous."

"Don't call me Professor Brüno, call me Aleksandr ..." Aleksandr said, a little peevishly, with a hint of disappointment hidden in his tone. But the disappointment seemed to fade as the corners of his mouth lifted and he smiled, "Did you say you were nervous ... because of me?"

"Yes ... well, no ..." Anna blushed even more at his question.

"You don't need to be nervous in front of my face, the most basic requirement to be a good singer is to get rid of your nervousness and shyness ..." Alexander said, looking at Anna encouragingly, "Come on, do it again, try to Relax, feel like you're relaxing and singing your heart out ..."

The exercise was repeated over and over again, and the song was followed by a sight-singing ear training session.

Towards the end of the practice, Alexandra asked Anna: "Did you feel that you got anything out of the practice today ..."

"Yes, I think so ..." said Anna.

"Go back and think about it, you have to sum it up every time, keep learning from your experience, keep your strengths and change your weaknesses to improve, it takes some effort to sing well, you can't just sing well ..."

"Okay, I see, I'll be off then, Professor ..." Anna gathered her things and prepared to leave. "See you later Professor ..." Anna greeted politely before turning around and leaving.

Alexandra didn't expect Anna to leave like that and looked at his back as he walked out the door and said to himself, "Anna, Anna, when will you understand my heart and when will you remember our past life."

Alexandra watched Anna leave his villa so easily, without any intention to stay for a while, as if she and he were really just a teacher-student relationship, his heart seemed to be surrounded by disappointment and indifference, leaving him breathless. What else could I expect?" he said to himself, mockingly. He said to himself mockingly.

...