Mr. Lizard Outside the Window - Chapter 2
Chapter 2: Do You Know What Lizards Eat?
Winters in southern cities were harder to bear than in the north; damp and cold, you kept warm by shivering.
Inside a drafty classroom at Rongcheng Music Academy, second-year orchestral performance majors huddled in their thick down jackets, shivering. Yet, they had to concentrate on Yu Anguo's sightsinging and ear training class.
Yu Anguo was known throughout the department as a strict professor. Class participation counted towards the final grade, with classwork and final exams each accounting for 50%. He wouldn't pass anyone who was even one point short. Therefore, almost no one dared to skip his class.
The student whose name was called stood up with a worried expression. Yu Anguo's fingers pressed the piano keys steadily.
"Do, mi, #so. Augmented triad."
"Do, b mi, so, no, no, b so, diminished triad."
"Do, mi, sol, la, it seems like a...a minor seventh...five-six1?"
Yu Anguo's pace was fast, with less than three seconds between each set of chords. The students called upon to answer were practically in tears.
"Class monitor," Qiao Xin nudged the class monitor sitting next to her, mouthing the words, "Help me!"
The class monitor, Shang Xiaoyue, glanced at her. "What can I do? My pitch recognition isn't that good either."
Qiao Xin pinched her. "Oh, stop showing off. If yours isn't good, whose is?"
Shang Xiaoyue tucked her hair behind her ear with a half-smile, her gaze drifting towards a figure sitting in the front row. Banxia, sitting diagonally in front of her, was twirling a pen in one hand, her chin resting on the other, staring out the window, seemingly oblivious to the professor's lecture.
That girl doesn't even pay attention in class, yet the professor favors her.
Shang Xiaoyue came from a musical family. Her father was the conductor of the provincial symphony orchestra, and her mother worked for a cultural troupe. Born into a musical family with a privileged background, she herself was also exceptionally talented, having won numerous national children's violin competitions since childhood. She had always stood out from the crowd.
Yet, after entering Haiyin, she always felt subtly overshadowed by Banxia, who had come from an ordinary high school. It made her feel a bit resentful.
Moreover, Banxia didn't live on campus. From her freshman year, she had rented an apartment off-campus, rarely interacted with her classmates, and seldom participated in group activities, appearing aloof and distant. This made Shang Xiaoyue dislike her even more, secretly regarding Banxia as her rival, constantly comparing herself to her.
"Such basic triads, even elementary school children wouldn't mishear them," Yu Anguo said, his face grim as he rapped his knuckles on the podium. "You are truly the worst class I've ever taught. Next, who wants to try?"
The students looked at each other; no one volunteered. Yu Anguo's pace was too fast, his standards too high. Going up there was just asking for embarrassment.
Shang Xiaoyue looked around and raised her hand.
The piano sounded. The girl stood tall in the center of the classroom, her neck slender and white, her voice clear and confident.
"Do, mi, sol, si, major seventh."
"Do, b mi, b sol, b si, half-diminished seventh."
"Do, mi, sol, si, fa, la, do, mi."
"Mi, sol, si, re, sol, si, re, fa."
As Shang Xiaoyue answered fluently and accurately, Yu Anguo's expression finally softened slightly.
When she returned to her seat, her classmates applauded.
"Not a single mistake! Amazing, as expected of the class monitor."
"Yeah, the class monitor is awesome."
"Old Yu won't be scolding us now, will he?"
A smug smile played on Shang Xiaoyue's lips. She sat down calmly amidst the applause and winked at her deskmate, Qiao Xin. But when her gaze swept past Banxia, her smile faltered.
It had rained heavily the previous night, and the leaves outside the window were still covered in raindrops. Banxia, sitting by the window, was staring at the droplets on the leaves as if they were some rare sight, completely unaware of Shang Xiaoyue's perfect performance.
She's so arrogant, Shang Xiaoyue thought indignantly. She probably just got them all right like me. What's the big deal?
"Banxia, you're up," Yu Anguo called Banxia's name at that very moment.
Banxia had a good ear. In almost every sightsinging and ear training class, the professor would call on her to answer and use her as a benchmark to criticize other students.
Banxia was completely oblivious to the inner turmoil of her classmates. She had been preoccupied with the events of the previous night throughout the class. It was only thanks to Pan Xuemei, who sat next to her and nudged her, that she snapped out of her daze and stood up, looking bewildered.
When Yu Anguo played the reference note...
Banxia subconsciously said, "It's sharp."
"What's sharp?" Yu Anguo frowned.
"The piano is out of tune, Professor. The pitch is a little sharp," Banxia pinched her fingers together. "Maybe one or two cents sharp2."
This time, not only the class but even Yu Anguo looked surprised.
Yu Anguo stared at her for a moment, then took a tuning fork out of his drawer, checked the pitch, and finally nodded. "It is a tad sharp. We should have someone tune it. Alright, that's enough ear training for today. Let's move on to sight-singing."
The whole class erupted in amazed whispers.
"That's perfect pitch, right? So amazing!"
"I'm so jealous! Why can't I have that dream ability?"
"It's a natural talent; you can't envy that."
During lunch, Pan Xuemei, a flute major, was still marveling at it. "Xia, how did you hear that? Can you really remember every sound you've ever heard?"
"Uh," Banxia mumbled, her mouth full of food, "I just heard it."
"Is it really that easy for you?" Pan Xuemei tapped her stainless-steel spoon against her food container. "Can you tell what key this is?"
"A-flat," Banxia replied absentmindedly. She was still thinking about the black lizard she had taken in the night before.
It wasn't until then that the full weight of the previous night's strange events hit her. It had been extraordinary.
The voice that had called her name outside the window…for some reason, it had felt familiar.
Banxia chewed on her spoon, thinking. She felt like she had heard it somewhere before.
But where exactly, she couldn't recall.
Unsure of what lizards ate, before leaving for school that morning, she had found several small condiment dishes and filled them with a variety of food from her room, lining them up against the wall.
The dishes contained water, vegetables, a small piece of bread, and half an apple.
"I'm going to school now. This is all I have at home. Do you like any of this?" she had asked, crouching next to the tiny creature.
At the time, the inky creature had opened its eyes weakly, its strangely patterned eyes glancing at her before turning away from the small dishes, its lips pursed.
In fact, apart from calling her name twice at the beginning, Banxia hadn't heard it speak again.
Why had it gone to such lengths to climb up to her window and ask for help, yet remained silent afterward?
Pan Xuemei, sitting across from her, was still tapping her spoon against her container.
Banxia suddenly grabbed her hand. "Xuemei, do you know what lizards eat?"
"Li...lizards?" Pan Xuemei shuddered involuntarily. She was rather afraid of reptiles. "Probably insects or fruits, I guess?"
"Insects?" Banxia's eyes widened.
"My brother used to keep lizards," Pan Xuemei said, a grimace appearing on her face. "I saw him feeding it crickets, cockroaches…it was horrifying. Why are you asking?"
So, it wants insects?
Banxia looked down and started picking at the vegetable leaves in her bowl.
"Wh-what are you doing picking through the cafeteria food?" Pan Xuemei's face turned pale. "Don't tell me you're thinking of keeping a lizard? Why would you want such a creepy thing? You can barely take care of yourself right now!"
1. ^ 小七五六 (xiǎo qī wǔ liù): This refers to a minor seventh chord with a flattened fifth and sixth.
2. ^ 音分 (yīn fēn): A "cent" is a logarithmic unit of measurement used for musical intervals. It indicates a very small difference in pitch.
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