Insufficient balance

  Lin Xiaoyu started practicing musical instruments with Yan Nan in Li Zhihui's band this Saturday.

  Li Zhihui and Yi Li practiced in a rented house. Because the practice would make a lot of noise, the location of this house was on the outskirts of Feicui City. The house was an ordinary suburban bungalow. The house was not spacious, with two bedrooms, one living room, a kitchen, and a bathroom. Inside the house, except for the instruments and speakers, there were no other decorations. Except for a few scattered stools and an old sofa, there was also a small cabinet with an old TV set. Such simple furnishings made the house have enough activity space.

  There are beds in both rooms, so if anyone is tired, they can go to the room and take a nap. One of the rooms belongs to Yili, and sometimes she and her girlfriend Zhang Yan will stay here for a while. The kitchen has relatively complete cooking utensils, making it quite convenient to cook a simple meal.

  Although the wires of those instruments scattered on the floor of the hall looked a bit messy, but because Zhang Yan this diligent girl often swept, so this room where several men gathered did not look dirty and messy.

  Lin Xiaoyu was in such an environment with Yi Li and others learning musical instruments, starting to play the rock music she liked.

  Just starting out learning an instrument is a relatively painful thing. At least that's what Lin Xiaoyu thought.

  Although Li Zhihui praised Lin Xiaoyu for having a pair of hands that were very suitable for playing the guitar, because Lin Xiaoyu's fingers were flexible and slender. However, Lin Xiaoyu didn't think she had any talent for learning to play the guitar at all. After Li Zhihui taught her some simple fingerings, Lin Xiaoyu felt that her hands on the strings were as clumsy as a Chinese national soccer player's shooting technique, always going against her own will.

  But Lin Xiaoyu really enjoys the feeling of practicing piano, although she is still far from Li Zhihui and others who are practicing singing on the side with their fingers flying like feathers. Lin Xiaoyu knows that everything will have an unsatisfactory beginning, just like when she plays basketball. Lin Xiaoyu believes that if she studies hard, one day she will be able to perform those rock songs that make her heart surge with excitement together with Li Zhihui and others on stage.

  Zhang Yan was quite happy with the addition of Yan Nang, this girl. Two beautiful girls sitting on the sofa always had endless things to say, from time to time, two girls covered their small mouths and burst into laughter, not still teasing each other and playing a little trick. The eyes of the two girls would occasionally glance at the men who were seriously rehearsing music, occasionally running to Lin Xiaoyu's side, who was holding a wooden guitar and practicing fingerstyle in a clumsy way, and pretending to point out a few things. Yan Nang's gaze towards Lin Xiaoyu always carried encouraging love, while Zhang Yan, who was lively by nature, would bluntly point out Lin Xiaoyu's mistakes without hesitation. Zhang Yan's guitar playing level was much better than Lin Xiaoyu, this newcomer, and she was fully qualified to point out Lin Xiaoyu's mistakes.

  "Your pitch is too low, Zhihui, play it a bit higher."

  "Your bass solo is too slow. Mingzi, follow up quickly."

  "Kuai zi, can you increase the drumming power a bit and speed up the rhythm slightly? We can keep up with your beat."

  Yi Li's voice always appears during band practice, as the mainstay of the band, his words are the most authoritative. Others, even if they are blamed by him for their own mistakes, will sincerely accept it. Yi Li is also the most technically skilled person in the band, with a rich musical theory knowledge gained from frequently performing with other bands in college. Many of the band's original rock works were written by Yi Li alone.

  "Alright, let's take a break. Yanyan, go get the beer." Yi Li put down his guitar on the wall beside him.

  Others also put down their instruments. Lin Xiaoyu stopped playing his always out-of-tune guitar.

  Yi Li picked up a pack of cigarettes on the TV and threw one to his partner. He lit one for himself with a lighter. Lin Xiaoyu watched as Yi Li held the cigarette between his long middle finger and index finger, slowly taking it away from his lips, closing his eyes and exhaling a mouthful of thick smoke. In the swirling mist of smoke, he raised his right hand to brush back his hair, which was floating on his forehead. This action made Lin Xiaoyu feel an indescribable sense of elegance.

  Yi Lishi slowly opened his eyes, saw Lin Xiaoyu sitting beside him looking at himself, and gestured with the cigarette in his hand: "Hehe, Xiaoyu, I almost forgot to offer you a cigarette, do you want one?"

  "Don't spoil Xiao Yu, Xiao Yu is a good kid." Zhang Yan, who had just taken out a beer from the refrigerator in the kitchen, walked over and handed a can of beer to her boyfriend, Yi Li.

  "Hehe, I was just asking." Yi Li's cool guy liked this girlfriend who had been in love with him for five years. In front of Zhang Yan, Yi Li's cool guy image would always be a few degrees less cold.

  Zhang Yan handed out the beer in her hand to others, saying with a bad tone: "You, that's your problem, you think everyone is a big smoker like you."

  "Liege, give me a cigarette to try." Lin Xiaoyu suddenly came out with a sentence that made everyone in the house a little surprised.

  Lin Xiaoyu looked at Yi Li smoking with a carefree expression and couldn't help but want to try it out, so Lin Xiaoyu opened her mouth and asked Yi Li for a cigarette.

  "Yan Yan, look, this is Xiao Yu asking me for a cigarette himself, not because I told him to smoke." Yi Li tossed a cigarette to Lin Xiao Yu.

  "Cigarettes are good stuff." On the other side, Huang Yongming smiled and tossed a lighter to Lin Xiaoyu.

  Lin Xiaoyu took over the cigarette and lighter, put the cigarette in her mouth, and learned from Yi Li's appearance to light the cigarette with the lighter.

  Lin Xiaoyu had never smoked before, and the flame that sprang up from the lighter couldn't light the cigarette in her mouth. Everyone watching Lin Xiaoyu's awkward attempt at smoking for the first time couldn't help but smile. Yan Nan, who was standing beside Lin Xiaoyu, took the cigarette from Lin Xiaoyu's mouth and put it to his own lips, then took the lighter from Lin Xiaoyu's hand and elegantly lit the cigarette.

  Yan Nan lit the cigarette and then used his hand to hold the cigarette in his mouth, bringing it close to Lin Xiaoyu's lips. After elegantly exhaling a wisp of smoke, Yan Nan said to Lin Xiaoyu: "When lighting a cigarette, you have to suck in a bit of air towards the mouth of the cigarette."

  Lin Xiaoyu took the cigarette that Yan Nan had placed at her lips and looked at him with some surprise, not having expected that Yan Nan would also smoke.

  Yan Nan used to learn how to smoke because she liked to have fun, but usually she didn't smoke much. Yan Nan suddenly thought that earlier when she lit a cigarette for Lin Xiaoyu, the cigarette had passed from Lin's lips to her own, and then back again, so it was as if they had shared another kiss through the cigarette. Thinking this, Yan Nan felt a little embarrassed, but more than that, she felt happy and content.

  Lin Xiaoyu held the cigarette between her right middle finger and index finger, taking a deep drag on the filter. Suddenly, a strong, pungent smoke rushed into Lin Xiaoyu's lungs. "Cough...cough...cough..." Lin Xiaoyu was choked by the smoke and could only cough. She bent over on the stool, her head facing downwards, and coughed until tears almost streamed out of her eyes.

  "Hahaha......" A burst of joyful laughter erupted from the house, even the usually taciturn drummer Nai Zi couldn't help but reveal a rare smile.

  Yan Nan hurriedly patted Lin Xiaoyu's back to comfort her.

  "Haha, it's always like this the first time you smoke. You'll get used to it slowly. I remember when I first smoked, I coughed even harder than you did. Almost coughed out my lungs." Huang Yongming said with a laugh.

  "This coughing... how can smoking be so... coughing... so uncomfortable?!" Lin Xiaoyu asked in confusion while coughing. Lin Xiaoyu couldn't understand why Yili and the others looked like they were enjoying themselves when they smoked, but whenever she smoked, it felt so unbearable.

  "Hehe, you'll gradually experience the taste of smoking later." Li Zhihui put the cigarette in his mouth and took a deep drag, slowly exhaling a layer of swirling smoke.

  Lin Xiaoyu bid farewell to Yan Nan and Li Zhihui, then walked out of the house where they practiced piano. The time spent in that practice house made Lin Xiaoyu feel very happy. Immersed in the atmosphere of rock music with good friends like Yi Li, Lin Xiaoyu felt extremely relaxed and comfortable. Although Lin Xiaoyu had not yet experienced the thrill of playing on the six strings of that guitar like Yi Li and others, she loved the feeling of playing music with them together.

  Lin Xiaoyu now has to go home, because every Saturday afternoon her childhood friend Li Jingru will return home from school. Li Jingru is currently attending Feicui City First Middle School, and since the school is quite far from home, she usually boards at the school's dormitory and only returns home once a week. Lin Xiaoyu hasn't seen Li Jingru, her good friend with whom she has been playing together since childhood, for a whole week now, and she can't help but miss her.

  I don't know if book-loving friends like music, especially rock. If you have time, let's exchange ideas. Thank you. I personally love music very much and look forward to your message.