8 DIMINUENDO

Diminuendo: a dynamic instruction meaning to gradually play quieter.

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"Your threat was so scary, gege!" Zhou Yongliang finally broke the silence when they were walking to the school canteen. The boy glanced at Ren Weisheng who was walking beside him.

It had been a week since the first time Ren Weisheng 'adopted' him as his new didi, and this whole week Zhou Yongliang kept calling Ren Weisheng 'gege' despite their age gap that wasn't big. The chubby-cheeked guy liked to hear the new student calling him 'gege', so Zhou Yongliang complied with his wish.

Ren Weisheng could only sigh hearing the new student's sentence. "I just feel annoyed that that kid keeps prioritizing basketball over our band. He can't just please us once," he then replied nonchalantly.

"But, that was indeed scary! You look like a psychopath, Ren Weisheng!" Huang Bo, who was on the other side of Ren Weisheng, finally joined the argument.

The boy had been keeping quiet earlier because his other friends had asked him to. If Huang Bo joined the alliance to corner Yuan Boqin, it could be that their plan wouldn't work. The giant baby was too innocent and too timid. At least, his big build gave off the intimidating aura to help them reach the goal. Yeah, even though they still couldn't persuade Yuan Boqin in the end.

Zhong Hai, who walked in front of them, sighed and responded, "Never mind, now we can only surrender. Hopefully, next week Yuan Boqin will come and not cause any trouble for us."

"Hai gege is right. I just realized that we can't keep pushing Yuan Boqin. If that kid reports to the school, our actions can be categorized as bullying. I still want to be a student with a good reputation here. I don't want to make any trouble." Chen Guangli, who walked beside Zhong Hai, agreed with his senior's words.

The other three boys did not have any objection and could only nod at that words. Their school did have very strict rules in dealing with bullying. The threat of punishment was unmitigated, the perpetrator's students would be immediately expelled from school. Bullying was a common issue in every school, but since their school was extremely strict to the bullies, there was no bullying case in the last four years. That was definitely a big achievement.

"You are right, Guangli," Ren Weisheng responded to Chen Guangli's argument. "For now, we only need to focus on the festival. Whether that small head will come or not, we still need to prepare and do our best. We can't lose to THE PRODIGY just because we lack a keyboardist."

The three guys nodded their heads in approval. Of course, they could not lose to THE PRODIGY. It was just a school festival and not a band competition, but they still needed to do their best to be on par with THE PRODIGY.

"Anyway, have you guys prepared rats for today's Biology practicum? I have prepared it! My brother caught it for me yesterday!" Huang Bo suddenly brought up another topic to end their previous conversation.

"Huang Bo! We are just going to eat, why are you suddenly talking about rats? I lost my appetite, for God's sake!" Ren Weisheng quickly scolded the blonde guy.

"Oh, rats that will be dissected to identify their internal organs, right, Huang Bo? I have also prepared it! There are so many rats in my rented house, so it's easy to catch them. I caught the rat myself this morning and brought it with a pet cargo to school."

You idiot, Zhou Yongliang! Ren Weisheng almost threw up thanks to Huang Bo's words, but he innocently chimed in to add oil to the already burned Ren Weisheng and made the caramel-haired boy completely lost his appetite. In the end, Ren Weisheng chose to skip lunch and return to class feeling annoyed and hungry.

Zhou Yongliang and Huang Bo could only stare at Ren Weisheng's departure with their innocent gaze, meanwhile, Chen Guangli and Zhong Hai could only sigh while shaking their heads. They suddenly had to nurture two giant babies in their gang.

Having no other choice, the four guys finally continued walking to the canteen to have lunch without Ren Weisheng. They didn't want to starve until the last period.

Twenty minutes later, the lunch break was over. The Biology practicum was held right after the lunch break. The students were now in the laboratory, complete with lab coats, gloves, and masks. The practicum that would be carried out today aimed to identify the internal organs of mammals. It would be better if they could observe human organs, but it was impossible for high schoolers without experience like them to perform surgery on the human body.

There were 9 laboratories in their school, including the science laboratories and also computer laboratories. Each laboratory was so spacious and modern with complete types of equipment.

This Biology laboratory was no different. The laboratory was equipped with modern tools for practicum. There was a Large-Format Display in the front, and at the sides, there were tools like microscopes, bunsen burners, crucibles, magnifying glasses, thermometers, computers, etc.

Their school was a top science school in the city that won the national and international science competitions many times, so it was no wonder that the laboratory was so sophisticated.

There were six pentagonal tables in the room, each table consisted of five chairs for the students. There were 25 students in their class, and now they occupied the five pentagonal tables.

Fang Xing was sitting beside Yang Liu. He couldn't sit still and kept moving his body on top of the chair. "Hey, Yang Liu. Can you help me to dissect the rat later? I will treat you to Din Tai Fung[1] after this. I promise," he said without looking at Yang Liu. His slanted eyes were focused on the rat inside the pet cargo on the table in front of him. The rat kept moving inside as if it wanted to break the pet cargo so that it could run freely in the lab.

The pale-skinned teen just glanced at him a little before answering, "I don't like xiaolongbao[2]."

Fang Xing pouted sadly when he heard the answer. He was about to use a different method to bribe his friend, but the teacher's voice stopped his attempt.

"Student Fang, do the dissection yourself, don't disturb our best student." It turned out that the teacher could hear Fang Xing's pleading earlier. "You guys take care of the rats well. Don't let it run away or it will cause trouble in this school," the teacher continued by instructing all students. All doors and windows in the room had been closed tightly in anticipation of rats running away. "You can start dissecting the rats with the equipment provided, then identify the rats' internal organs. Draw the organs and explain briefly in the student worksheets that have been distributed earlier."

The students swore silently. It was easy for the bald teacher to give orders. He did not seem to care that his students were nearly fainted because of his practicum session. Why should they do the real dissection? Why didn't they just watch videos to identify the internal organs? That evil teacher was too much!

Currently, each student was already holding a live rat in their hands. Their expressions varied, but most of them showed expressions of disgust. That was normal. Rats were known as disgusting animals that lived in dirty places, ate dirty foods, and even caused various diseases including Hantavirus, Leptospirosis, Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis (LCMV), Tularemia, and Salmonella. They were pests, not pets.

"I can't do it. No, no, no." Fang Xing had been muttering indistinctly beside Yang Liu. His left hand wrapped in latex gloves held a small rat on the table, while his right hand held a scalpel. A position that seemed ready for surgery, but it was not. Fang Xing was 100% unprepared.

Yang Liu himself was so quiet and calmly holding the rat with his bare hands. The big rat could only surrender when Yang Liu's pair of skinny hands grasped it tightly on the table, not letting it escape.

Yang Liu didn't even use the equipment to perform the surgery. The tall student was not even wearing a mask and gloves. Unknown to anyone, a long, pointed nail started growing on Yang Liu's thumb. Still, without anyone looking, the tall guy slashed the rat's stomach with his sharp nails. The mouse died instantly and its internal organs were immediately visible.

Yang Liu immediately smirked with satisfaction at the scene before him. But, the guy soon realized that his decision not to wear a mask was the wrong one. The rancid smell of rat blood immediately penetrated his sense of smell, teasing his nerves with the intoxicating aroma. No, Yang Liu couldn't resist the temptation! Slow but sure, his fangs began to grow inside his closed mouth. That's not good!

Finally, he carefully told the teacher that he needed to use the washroom to wash his hands that were splashed with rat blood. He had to do that carefully so that his teacher did not see his sharp fangs in his mouth. Fortunately, the teacher did not suspect anything and immediately permitted him. Yang Liu immediately dashed out of the laboratory.

He was too panicked and overcome by his greed that he didn't realize that there were a pair of eyes that had been watching all his movements. Those eyes had secretly recorded Yang Liu's strange behavior from the start until the end.

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Footnote:

[1] Din Tai Fung: a popular restaurant in China that famous for dumplings.

[2] Xiaolongbao: a soup dumpling that famous in Din Tai Fung.