Insufficient balance

  Day and night are spinning around quickly, there is only one week left before the opening of Tianjing Agricultural University. Tomorrow, Xiao Xiao will ride a bicycle alone to Tianjing City.

  Tianjing City, also known as Tianjing Castle, has experienced a thousand years of wind and rain. It is an economic and cultural city located in the southeast of Changhai City, with Huai City in between, about 500 kilometers away. After arriving at Huai City, crossing the magnificent Longshan Mountains will lead to Tianjing Castle.

  Xiao Xiao had already downloaded the map on his phone, and he calculated that if they advanced one hundred kilometers a day, it would be quite easy for him. A week was enough to reach Tianjing City. Five hundred kilometers, the road away from home, what did it feel like to leave home? He was about to experience it.

  That night, the moon was big and round, its light like a thin mist covering the earth, everything was shrouded in a layer of mystery. Nineteen years, just a brief moment. The things I experienced, only the moon saw clearly. Now, I'm about to leave home for Tianjing City. The moon will certainly shine on Tianjing City, but its light is already different.

  At 7:00 in the morning, Xiao Xiao woke up, opened his eyes and saw that the Jian Ante was still in the yard. Dad didn't go to the mountain. He quickly washed and dressed. Wearing canvas shoes, deep blue seven-minute pants, red T-shirt, with a middle finger pattern on the T-shirt. He used more than half a bottle of gel water to make his hair explode. Looking at himself in the mirror, he pointed at the mirror with his hand and praised: "Awesome!"

  After washing up, he saw that his mother had already laid out breakfast, and his father, Xiao Liangpeng, was sitting there waiting for him to eat. He sat down, listening to his parents' meaningful reminders, constantly responding with "uh-huh" as they ate breakfast together.

  After finishing breakfast, Xiao took the prepared backpack and put it on her back. The backpack contained admission notice, ID card, a set of clothes, wallet, bank card, mobile phone, toiletries, etc. Other larger items such as laptops would be mailed to school via express delivery at the start of term.

  Xiao Xiao carried his backpack out of the house, pushing a large trunk to the south ring outside the gate. His father and mother also came out, reminding him again to be careful, not to cause trouble, and to go to bed early and get up early. This was already the thousandth time.

  Xiao Xiao still kept nodding "uh-huh", thinking it was time, and asked her parents to go back. Her parents wouldn't leave, they wanted to see Xiao Xiao off.

  He stepped on the bicycle, looked at the road ahead and sighed lightly, turned his head and said: "Dad, Mom, I'm leaving." After finishing, he decisively pedaled the bicycle and rode quickly forward.

  "Don't cause trouble, go to bed early and get up early." The voices of parents came from behind.

  Xiao Xiao didn't turn back, because his eyes had already welled up with tears. He was afraid that if he turned around and saw his parents getting farther and farther away from him, the tears would immediately fall. He felt that this wasn't just leaving home, but a hasty escape.

  Softly, he rode his bike east-southeast for five or six kilometers. Suddenly, he saw a person standing by the side of the road, she had a ponytail and was wearing a big blue bow. She had light makeup on, wore a dress, and was standing under the shade of a tree by the side of the road, with tears in her eyes, waiting for him - it was Lan MiaoMiao.

  "Miao Miao?" Xiao Xiao hadn't expected that she would be waiting for her on the road, and was moved to tears, deciding to stop the car and rush over for a hug.

  Lan Miao waved her hand and signaled him to continue riding forward without stopping.

  Xiao Xiao suddenly understood that she was afraid that after parking, the two of them talking would make their original sadness even more severe. Her wish was simply to see herself riding her bike out of Changhai City by the roadside, nothing more.

  "Goodbye, little monster brother, meow meow." Lan Miao Miao waved goodbye, wiping away tears with a handkerchief.

  "Goodbye." With a whoosh, he raised his head and puffed out his chest, kicked off with one foot, and let go of the handlebars. He held his arms straight out to the sides, and the wind rushed past his armpits like a soaring eagle, flying high in the sky. It was as if he were a biplane, flying through the air. In an instant, the road and trees on either side rapidly receded into the distance, left far behind him. He closed his eyes, relying solely on instinct to propel himself forward, bursting with an exhilarating sense of speed that was beyond compare.

  "Meow meow." Even from a distance, you can still hear Lan Miao's cries.

  After riding for over 100 kilometers, he felt a bit tired and stopped to sit by the side of the road to rest. He drank mineral water and looked at the traffic signs beside the road. He had already left the urban area of Changhai City and arrived in a surrounding county town. Seeing that it was getting late, he packed up his things neatly, pushed his bicycle, came into the county town, found an inn, and rested there for the night.

  The next day, the sky was against his wishes and it started raining heavily. The heavy rain made it impossible for him to ride with clear visibility, so he spent the whole day surfing the internet in the hotel. After a day passed, the weather cleared up and the water on the ground had all dried up.

  Xiao Xiao left the hotel, pushed his bicycle out, and decided to speed up to make up for yesterday's progress. He rode at top speed, covering another 100 kilometers in one breath, passing through a county town, and saw a small hill about 1-200 meters high in front of him. He looked at the GPS on his phone and knew that after crossing the small hill, he would enter the urban area of Huaiyuan City.

  Xiao Xiao rode his bike into the mountain path, a few miles ahead, the flat road was almost deserted. Another kilometer later, he arrived at the top of a small hill. Suddenly, not far away, a young man stood still. He had a military green backpack on his back, standing under a big tree by the roadside, with his head held high and furiously urinating.

  He rode past him, sizing him up. He was about the same age as himself, around 1.94 meters tall, with short hair, a rugged face, a sturdy build, wearing a tight-fitting T-shirt, with well-developed muscles and slightly dark skin.

  "Hey, do you have a light?" Da Ge heard someone behind him and hastily turned his head towards Xiao Xiao, afraid that Xiao Xiao would suddenly disappear. However, when he turned his head, he hadn't yet pulled up his pants, and a stream of urine shot towards Xiao Xiao.

  With a shrill cry, he hastily turned the car's head and dodged to one side. He secretly breathed a sigh of relief that his bicycle skills had reached an extreme level, and he hadn't been shot by him.

  The big guy came to his senses and hastily pulled up his pants, coming to Xiao's side with a rough tone but a bashful face, asking "Bro, do you have a light?"

  "Here." Xiao Xiao knew that smokers feared having no fire the most, so he took out a box of matches.

  "Haha, nuclear weapons." The man buckled his belt, lit a match to light his cigarette, and then tossed it to Xiao Xiao. He suddenly blinked his eyes, "You, you're the little demon from Tianjing Agricultural University?"

  "Huh? What the...?" Xiao Xiao put the match in his mouth pocket, didn't expect someone here to know his name, and he really didn't recognize him. "How do you know my name, am I that famous?"

  "Ah, it's really you," the man said, reaching out to shake Xiao's hand. His fingers were coarse and bigger than Xiao's by a full circle.

  "Wait," Xiao Xiao suddenly remembered that he had just urinated and his hand still smelled of urine, so he quickly waved his hand and dodged the handshake. "Make it clear. How did you know who I am?"

  "Haha, I saw the video of you dunking on Weibo." The person smiled and said my name is Xiang Bei, from under Changbai Mountain. I'm going to Tianjing Agricultural University's Forestry College. We're in the same school. He said, leaning in close to Xiao Xiao, "Hey, I've seen your video, it's really awesome. Ahah, you're my idol!"

  "Hehe, it's okay, not too impressive." Xiao Xiao suppressed the excitement in her heart, pretending to be serious and humble.

  "No, awesome." He said with a serious tone, then suddenly turned solemn and mimicked throwing the basketball into the air. "Today, I'll give you one last shot." After folding his arms in mid-air and doing a slam dunk, he finally landed on the ground. Then, pointing with his hand, he shouted: "I'm here, my fiery youth!" The entire set of actions was mimicked very seriously, with not a single word or expression out of place.

  Just as Xiang Bei was mimicking Xiao Xiao, two old men riding 28-inch bicycles passed by, each with a bamboo basket attached to the back of their bike seat. Inside the baskets were several little chicks, chirping and cheeping away. The two old men saw Xiang Bei's inexplicable actions and couldn't help but shake their heads and sigh: "This is an illness." "Needs treatment." As they sighed, they rode off into the distance.

  Two old men went north, finally imitated and shouted with sweat: "Ah, I'm so handsome, my idol."

  "Hehe, not an idol, not an idol." Xiao Xiao said with her mouth, but she was thrilled in her heart. If it weren't for maintaining the image of an idol in front of her fans, she would be rolling on the ground laughing. "You're from the Forestry Department of Nongda, my dad's major. You're alone, what's this?" Xiao Xiao looked at Xiang Bei with a hasty expression, his figure fleeting and solitary.

  "Haha, I didn't expect to run into a fellow alumnus in this desolate mountain wilderness," he licked his lips, "I'm going back to school. Isn't the new semester about to start?"

  He looked around and saw no one else, nor any means of transportation, so he asked, "Are we walking?"

  "Yes." Beihuang smiled foolishly towards the north.

  Xiao Xiao never thought that there were still people using more backward transportation tools, and they came from as far away as Changbai Mountain, probably over a thousand miles. He couldn't help but feel admiration, "Let's go together. It's almost time to eat, let's drink two bottles ahead."

  "Think about it, you ride a bike fast, you go first and find a place to wait for me, I'll catch up soon. Here's my phone number." He gave the number to Xiao Xiao.

  "Go."

  Xiao Xiao rode his bicycle, speeding forward. Before long, he arrived in Huai City. Seeing that there was still some time before heading north, he decided to ride around the city and see if there were any scenic spots worth appreciating.

  He rode his bike around Huabei for half a day, only to find that although Huabei is adjacent to Tianjing City, its development level is really not commendable. The city has small buses swaying back and forth, with dust flying everywhere at all times, and the streets are congested before noon. It feels no different from other cities in China, let alone any scenery, it's simply a waste of time.

  He rode his bike to the Huaibei Railway Station. A railway station is usually a landmark of a city, but the Huaibei Railway Station was quite ordinary. The square in front of it was covered with a thick layer of dust, and there were beggars all around. Some of them crawled on the ground, some played recordings of wailing, and some wore neat clothes like white-collar workers but knelt down to ask for money to buy train tickets and food.

  "It's a small city, yet there are so many beggars." Xiao Xiao sighed, knowing that among them might be some professional scammers posing as beggars.

  "Has anyone seen the simple fate line on my hand, has anyone heard my cry." A boy with red hair, a clear face, and earrings, carrying a small bag, sat in the corner of the train station square, playing a wooden guitar and singing.

  "Wow, looks like a red-haired devil?" Xiao Xiao took an interest in the red-haired young man and rode over. He saw that in front of the red-haired youth was a sports cap turned upside down, inside the cap were probably several hundred yuan, next to the cap was a piece of paper with the words: "Sing a song for 5 yuan". He was singing for tips.

  He looked at his clothes, although old, but carefully looked down, the left shoulder of the T-shirt had a logo, it was actually a hip-hop brand, not cheap. He must be performing or interested in performing and experiencing life, not begging for food and clothing.

  A group of migrant workers covered in mud surrounded the Red-Haired Devil, smoking cheap cigarettes and listening to his song, thinking about their own fate, with dull eyes, as if lost in thought.

  Xiao Xiao looked at the red-haired ghost and felt a good impression, took out ten dollars, rolled it into a ball, and threw it into the red-haired ghost's hat.

  "Thanks." The red-haired devil nodded and smiled at Xiao Xiao, feeling a sense of closeness due to her extraordinary appearance.

  "Are you into art?"

  The red-haired devil smiled and said he was a student, out singing for money to earn some travel expenses.

  "Oh?" Xiao Xiao heard that he was also a student and couldn't help but feel that their emotions had taken another step forward, asking: "From the Music Academy?"

  The red-haired devil said don't laugh at me, I am from Tianjing Agricultural University.

  "My god, what a coincidence! I'm also from Nongda." Xiaoxiao was shocked in her heart, never expecting to run into an old classmate from the same department right after meeting a fellow alumnus.

  "What the...? Art Academy?" Red-haired devil looked at Xiao's outfit and couldn't think of which department he could belong to.

  "My god, yes."

  The red-haired devil smiled and said his name was Lu Peng, from the Terracotta Warriors of the Three Qin, Tianjing Agricultural University Art Design Department. His dormitory is in Building 3, Room 918.

  "My name is Xiao Xiao, from Changhai City. Like you, I'm also in the design department, and we're both 91ers." Xiao Xiao wanted to shake hands with him, but felt that as students, it was too common, so she didn't extend her hand.

  "Let's have a drink together." Lu Feng said with a smile, extending an invitation.

  Xiao Xiao patted the car handle and immediately responded.

  "Hey kid, can you sing 'Spring in the South'?" A migrant worker asked, looking at Lu Feng with eager eyes.

  "Agreed." Lu Teng replied readily.

  "Here's one." The migrant worker took out 10 yuan and threw it into Lu Peng's hat.

  Lu Peng played the melody without hesitation, "Still remember many years ago in spring, I still had long hair..."

  "Good. Sounds good." The migrant worker applauded and smiled with a silly grin, licking his lips.

  Swaying gently with a smile.

  Lu Peng was singing when two middle-aged men came from the east, thin and dry in build, with sharp eyes like knives, and a fierce expression on their faces. They pushed forward a migrant worker, "Get out of the way, get out of the way."

  "What's going on?" The migrant worker complained that he hadn't even finished listening to his song, and his consumption experience was unsatisfactory.

  Two middle-aged men stood on either side of Lu Peng and shouted loudly: "Who allowed you to sing here?"

  The migrant workers who were listening to music saw someone causing trouble and knew that the newcomer was not good, so they all dodged to the side. However, they still stood aside, smoking and watching the commotion without dispersing. Although they are not locals in this city, living in this city has made them accustomed to such things.

  Lu Teng raised his head and glanced at the two of them, smiling coldly, "I let him myself, what's wrong?"

  "What's going on?" Two middle-aged men with sinister expressions appeared, "You know, this is our territory."

  Xiao Xiao understood, and two people came to collect the land disk fee. Every place has its own scenery, every place has its own local snake. But with just these two people, it's not enough to watch, so I asked: "What do you want to do?"

  "For two thousand bucks, you can sing here."

  Xiao Xiao heard that it would cost 2,000 yuan and suddenly felt a surge of anger in her heart. Her explosive temper almost flared up. She thought to herself, "It's not easy to make money by selling songs with my own skills, but now I have to pay for the venue fee?" Damn, isn't this a rip-off?

  Lu Peng was relatively calm, perhaps having seen such things many times before. "Not two thousand, twenty bucks will do, and I can still give it to you."

  "Hand over your hat and scram!" The two middle-aged men shouted angrily.

  Lu Peng knew they were in trouble, and his eyes gleamed with a fierce light as he glared at the two of them.

  "Damn it." Xiao Xiao slightly adjusted the position of his bicycle, with his right foot on the ground. If Lu Feng and the two people fought, he would rush over at any time.