Capítulo 5: FLAT

Flat: in music, flat refers to the relative tonal quality of a note. A flat note is one half-step below the same natural note in pitch.

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The sound of laughter filled up the sound-proofed music studio. The studio looked so cozy with its black-red color.

Black corresponded to water and was considered to be a neutral color in Chinese culture and was the color of heaven, symbolizing the northern and western sky. This color represented immortality, knowledge, stability, and power.

Meanwhile, red represented fire and was the most popular color in China. It was also the national color representing happiness, beauty, vitality, good luck, success, and good fortune.

The black and red colors gave off strong power and vitality.

The walls were painted black, and the floor was covered by a red carpet. There was also a red long sofa that could be occupied by three people. Other pieces of furniture in the studio were dominated by black color.

It was quite a spacious studio with various musical instruments. The school invested a lot of money in the studio. That was no big deal because their school was a private school that never lacked money.

During this lunch break, the studio was occupied by THE PRODIGY.

Three guys sitting on the red sofa. Their height seemed similar, maybe around 175 centimeters. They were Shao Dingxiang, Guo Yanlin, and Samuel Wen.

Shao Dingxiang was Zhong Hai's classmate. They were second-year students. Just like Zhong Hai, he was relatively calm and composed. Both he and Zhong Hai were the best vocalists at school. Their vocals were amazing, especially Shao Dingxiang with his high note.

Sitting beside him were Guo Yanlin and Samuel Wen. The two shorties were first-year students and were in the same class. Guo Yanlin was the pretty boy type with his soft facial features. Meanwhile, Samuel Wen looked a bit manly with his sharp jawline. Samuel Wen was a mixed Chinese-American, and he had natural blonde hair.

Fang Xing sitting on the stool while holding his bass with his left hand. "Zhong Hai gege's face just now was so funny. He didn't want to fight against us and chose to leave this studio for us even though he came here first," he said amusedly.

The three students on the sofa started unboxing their lunch boxes. Yeah, they brought their homemade lunches box to the studio so that they could practice while eating. Or eat while practicing?

Students were not allowed to bring any food in the studio, but they were so stubborn to follow the rules. The punishment for the ones who broke the rules was not clear, after all. Maybe that was just a rule without punishment for the offender.

"I feel sorry for Zhong Hai. He didn't do anything to provoke us, but he just left like that," Shao Dingxiang responded while his chopsticks started digging his blue lunch box.

"Why do you feel sorry, gege?" Guo Yanlin asked while staring at the older boy. "It's not like we were bullying Zhong Hai gege. We just asked him to leave, and he was just so nice so he immediately left without arguing. He was so nice unlike the evil trio Ren Weisheng, Chen Guangli, and Huang Bo."

"Who do you call evil?" Fang Xing looked up at Guo Yanlin after hearing his lover's name being mentioned. His slanted eyes pierced sharply into Guo Yanlin's soul.

Uh, oh. It seemed like Guo Yanlin made a mistake. "Okay, I'll correct it! The evil duo Ren Weisheng and Huang Bo! Chen Guangli is an angel and not evil!"

The guys in the studio had known about Fang Xing and Chen Guangli's relationship. At first, they were against it since Chen Guangli was technically their rival, but Fang Xing was acting like have affection drink water full; no affection eat food hungry[1], so they had no choice but gave him a green light. Chen Guangli was not as bad as Ren Weisheng, after all.

Hearing Guo Yanlin's correction, Fang Xing just sneered and went back to his bass. His right hand holding a roujiamo[2] and eventually he bit his lunch from time to time. The three students on the sofa also started eating their lunch, but then Samuel Wen realized something and he looked up.

"You don't want to eat first before practicing, Yang Liu?" He carefully asked someone who had been silent the whole time.

Oh, yes. There was also Yang Liu standing behind his keyboard. He was silent without uttering any word the whole time, and the four guys in the studio seemed to forget his existence. The four guys now looking at the pale-skinned guy with curious eyes.

Yang Liu looked up at them, staring at them one by one, and then sighed. "Just finish your lunch and let's start practicing," he replied in a cold tone before going back to his keyboard.

The four guys turned their gaze from Yang Liu and stared at each other with a confused look, but in the end, they just shrugged and continued enjoying their lunch.

The scene that just happened was not new for them. Yang Liu never had lunch at school and would always respond in a cold tone like that when one of them asked him about that. Not only that, but they also had never seen Yang Liu drinking any drink. They were curious about the tall guy, but they didn't want to be a busybody, so they just gulped down their curiosity.

"Anyway, I heard that there's a new student in your class, Fang Xing? Is that true?" Guo Yanlin asked Fang Xing to eliminate the tense atmosphere.

Guo Yanlin was a student who liked gossiping with other students, so of course, he knew about the new student. Even if there were no girls in the school, but gossip would still exist in every corner.

"That's right." The tan-skinned guy nodded. "He's the one who managed to grab the trio's attention so that they didn't come to the studio today. The old man at the frontier lost his horse, how do you know it is not a blessing?[3]"

"For real?" This time, it was Samuel Wen who asked. "Is the new student so special to be able to attract their attention?"

Fang Xing nodded again before answering, "He's indeed special. He dared to insult Ren Weisheng. Ren Weisheng went berserk for a moment, but in the end, that shorty fell for his cuteness and completely melted down."

This time, Guo Yanlin was shocked. He choked for a moment and had to drink his water to gulp down his food. "You were talking about Ren Weisheng? The bull? How could he easily meltdown just because of a new kid?" he asked after he regained his composure.

It was not a secret that Ren Weisheng and Guo Yanlin were eternal rivals at school. They had one similarity and one difference. Their similarity was both of them had pretty faces, and the difference was they had opposite characters; Ren Weisheng was a hot-tempered guy that easily being provoked by others, while Guo Yanlin was a tease who liked to provoke others. They said that opposite attracted, and yeah, that was true, but they attracted to each other as rivals.

"Yes, that Ren Weisheng," Fang Xing answered. "The new kid is indeed adorable and charming. He's so brave and he has this mysterious magnet to grab others' attention. Even if you deny it, but in the end, you still give your attention to the new kid," he continued while secretly glancing at Yang Liu a little without the latter noticing.

"That kid seems so interesting," Shao Dingxiang responded. "Maybe Ren Weisheng will ask him to join Shenshi if he can play instruments."

"That makes sense! Shenshi is in dire need of a keyboardist for the school festival!" Samuel Wen chimed in.

The three guys nodded in agreement hearing Samuel Wen's response. That was so true, Shenshi was in dire need of a keyboardist. They all knew that Shenshi had an additional member, but that boy seemed so unreliable.

"There are no many students who can play keyboard in this school, and Shenshi is indeed desperate to find one. But, I'm not sure if the new kid can play the keyboard. He's from the village and he seems so clueless. Maybe the new kid needs to learn from the master first before joining Shenshi," Fang Xing spoke up again, once again he glanced secretly at Yang Liu who kept silent in the corner.

"We are so lucky to have complete members in every position. At leastt, we can prepare for the festival with a calm mind," Shao Dingxiang responded, and the rest nodded in agreement.

Samuel Wen was about to open his mouth to speak again, but Yang Liu suddenly spoke up in a flat tone, "Lunch break is almost over. If you guys just want to chat, then I'll go back to the classroom so I won't disturb your happy chat."

The four students could only gulp timidly after hearing Yang Liu's deadly flat tone.

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Footnote:

[1] Have affection drink water full; no affection eat food hungry: from Chinese sayings "Yǒuqínɡ yínshuǐbǎo, wúqínɡ shífànjī" that means "With love water is enough; without love, food doesn't satisfy"

[2] Roujiamo: meat sandwiched in bread, a street food originating from the cuisine of Shaanxi Province and widely consumed all over China.

[3] The old man at the frontier lost his horse, how do you know it is not a blessing?: from Chinese sayings "Sài Wēng shī mǎ, yān zhī fēi fú" that means "Blessing come in disguise"