Bellicoso: Warlike, aggressive (English cognate is "bellicose")
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Shenshi won the duel this lunch break. Not a duel involving muscle or brain fights, but a duel that competed for speed and cleverness to monopolize the music studio at school. All thanks to the little Chen Guangli who was as agile as a rabbit. The boy arrived at the music studio first and gave a glorious win to Shenshi.
Actually, Shenshi and THE PRODIGY could practice when the school was over every day, but somehow the two groups didn't take that option and chose to practice every lunch break. Perhaps the reason was that they wanted to give the other club members a chance to use the music studio when school was over, even though they had to sacrifice their lunch break. It didn't matter because they usually brought lunch box from home or assigned one of their members to buy bread and milk in the snack bar and enjoyed it in that red and black studio.
"It's great that we can win today. Yesterday we gave in to them because we had to force the stupid Yuan Boqin to commit with us. It didn't even end well," Ren Weisheng broke the silence in the music studio. He was grumbling a little reminiscing how stubborn Yuan Boqin was yesterday.
Zhong Hai could only shake his head at Ren Weisheng's words. The younger boy was apparently still annoyed at Yuan Boqin's unsatisfactory response yesterday. The oldest guy was now ready with an acoustic guitar in hand, adjusting the string so it made the right sound. "So, we will be performing two songs by Accusefive[1] and Jay Chou[2] in the school festival?" He calmly asked as his eyes focused on the guitar in hand.
His bandmates were also ready in their respective positions. Zhou Yongliang was nowhere to be seen in the room because he was assigned to buy some pieces of bread and some cartons of milk at the snack bar to prop their empty stomachs. Now he was like the manager of the group.
"Yes, gege. You have memorized the lyrics, haven't you?" Chen Guangli asked while preparing his electric guitar.
"The lyrics are easy, but I'm not sure I can sing the two songs as good as Chuan Ching[3] laoshi[4] and Jay Chou laoshi," the well-mannered student answered. "Especially Jay Chou laoshi. He's a legend in this country, everybody knows him and also knows all of his songs. Singing his song gives me a lot of pressure. Why do you insist on choosing his song, Ren Weisheng?"
Yeah, Ren Weisheng was the one who chose the songs. The leader didn't tell them the reason, so now they were curious and waiting for the answer.
Ren Weisheng looked up from his drum set. His gaze was full of doubt when he said, "Because I love his song?" That sounded more like a question than an answer. "Just sing his song with your style, gege. You don't need to try to imitate Jay Chou laoshi," he added at the end before going back to the drum set.
Zhong Hai could only sigh but didn't protest anymore. He just nodded and went back to his guitar.
"By the way, it seems like Yuan Boqin won't join our practice today. I didn't even see him in his classroom earlier. It seems like he's trying to avoid us." Huang Bo, who had been preoccupied with his bass, suddenly bringing up a different topic.
The topic was a sensitive topic that made Ren Weisheng suddenly hit his drumstick against the cymbal in front of him violently, shocking the other three people in the studio. "You're right. He's indeed avoiding us," he replied while gritting his teeth. "It's okay if he didn't want to join our practice. The most important thing is that he better come to the school festival, or else…" Ren Weisheng paused for a moment and made a gesture as if he was going to break his beloved drumstick with his chubby hands. "I'll break all his bones just like this drumstick."
Ren Weisheng's threat once again made everyone shudder in horror. Yesterday he only targeted the small head, but today the skinny body was not immune from threats.
"Should we look for an additional member outside the school? It's so difficult to find a decent player in this school," Chen Guanli suddenly voicing his idea.
Zhong Hai stopped his hand's movement that was just setting the microphone and answered, "There's no time for that. We only have less than a week before the festival."
"Hai gege is right," Ren Weisheng chimed in. "But, it's not bad for us to look for an additional member from outside school after the festival. If we are serious with this band, then we have to do that. Many competitions are awaiting ahead."
The other three guys nodded in agreement.
"Huang Bo," Chen Guanli suddenly called out the blonde guy. "Can you try to ask your brother if there's any student who can play the keyboard in his school?" He continued.
"Ah, that's right! You can try to do that, Xiao Bo. At least we need a player who as good as Yuan Boqin!" Ren Weisheng once again chimed in.
Huang Bo blinked his eyes innocently at the question. "Uh, I'm not quite sure. My brother is in a science school as well, and there's no music club in his school. Do you think it's possible for a hidden gem there?"
Ren Weisheng, Chen Guangli, and Zhong Hai could only sigh in disappointment after hearing Huang Bo's response. Yeah, looking for a decent keyboardist was not an easy task. They were lucky to have Yuan Boqin for a short time before his 'betrayal.'
Yuan Boqin was Ren Weisheng's classmate when they were in middle school, so Ren Weisheng recruited the black-haired boy to their band. Yuan Boqin often participated in many competitions and won several times, so Ren Weisheng didn't hesitate to ask him to join the band. No one expected that it would end like this. It was actually not Yuan Boqin's fault because from the beginning he was just an additional member. They all knew that Yuan Boqin loved basketball more than music. The skinny student also had brilliant skills in that sport, after all.
No one spoke up again after Huang Bo gave them an answer, and they non-verbally agreed to start practicing.
They had wasted nearly ten minutes and they better started practicing before the lunch break over. They were just getting ready for the first song when the music studio door suddenly opened from the outside. They thought Zhou Yongliang was the one who opened the door, but they were wrong. They could now only stare lazily at the figure who had just entered the room.
"What are you doing here? You want to spy on our practice, Guo Yanlin?" Ren Weisheng accused the short figure of Guo Yanlin. Yeah, Guo Yanlin was the one who just entered the music studio. His unexpected appearance gave them a shock since he was THE PRODIGY's member.
Guo Yanlin ignored the question and instead walked to the corner of the room and picked up a small notebook lying on the table. "I just wanted to pick up the stuff I left behind after yesterday's practice. There's no point spying on your practice. Our group is definitely much better than yours, anyway."
Ren Weisheng suddenly stood up, brandishing his drumsticks. "I dare you to repeat yourself, Guo Yanlin! Who says that your freak band is better than ours?" He asked angrily.
Guo Yanlin smirked a little and answered calmly, "Everyone with ears can tell that. You don't even have a keyboardist, do you? You're absolutely in one level below our band."
Ren Weisheng's cute face reddened because of the insult. He was ready to rush to Guo Yanlin, but Zhong Hai quickly grabbed his arm and shook his head, signaling the younger boy to stop. Ren Weisheng struggled in the grip, but Zhong Hai was stronger and not letting the younger guy go.
In the end, Ren Weisheng glared at Guo Yanlin and snapped aggressively, "Get out of my sight, you crazy chimps!"
And Guo Yanlin ran at a high speed before Ren Weisheng got even more aggressive. No, the short, brown-haired boy was not afraid. Instead, he laughed as he ran away from the music studio. It was normal for him to argue with Ren Weisheng, and there was nothing new to be afraid of. The two people were indeed the most vocal in voicing the competition between their groups.
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Footnote:
[1] Accusefive: a Taiwanese rock band.
[2] Jay Chou: a popular Taiwanese singer and songwriter.
[3] Chuan Ching: Accusefive's vocalist.
[4] Laoshi: literally means "teacher," but nowadays, "laoshi" belongs to the category of common social address term. Engineers, doctors, actors, and lawyers can be called "laoshi" in daily life.