Additional Practice

In the last week of July, the sound of cicadas filled the air.

On the morning of the graduation ceremony, sunlight streamed in through the windows on the east side of the school building, illuminating the entire corridor.

Students from each class lined up in their classrooms and entered the gymnasium one by one.

The gymnasium was as hot as a steamer.

The old oscillating fan creaked and groaned as it spun on the ceiling, blowing out hot air mixed with the smell of sweat and the wooden floor.

Each class sat down in order of class. Fei Niao sat down in the seat for Class 2, Grade 5, with her knees together and her hands on her lap, sitting upright like an illustration on a textbook cover.

Xia Mo sat next to her, head down, lost in thought.

When the principal walked onto the podium, the audience fell silent for a moment.

As the principal pressed the button, the microphone emitted a piercing howl, and the PE teacher quickly ran over to adjust it.

The howling sound disappeared, replaced by a low-frequency buzzing noise, like a giant bee hovering over the ceiling.

"Good morning, students." The principal opened his speech notes and glanced at the audience.

"Today is the closing ceremony of our first semester. From the start of the semester in April until now, more than three months have passed, and every student has worked hard in their respective positions. Some students have made progress in their studies, some have devoted themselves to club activities, and some have taken on important responsibilities in the class..."

As the bird listened to the principal's words, its gaze drifted out the window.

The row of cherry blossom trees by the playground has changed from pinkish-white in spring to deep green in summer, and the leaves are shiny in the sunlight, as if they have been coated with oil.

Cicadas chirped in the trees, their sounds squeezing in through the cracks in the window, mingling with the principal's speech to create a buzzing white noise.

She was already starting to think about summer vacation.

The ensemble club should have intensive training this summer. Mr. Tanaka mentioned it; they do it every summer. We can spend the whole day at school practicing from morning till afternoon.

Although it will be tiring, it's much more interesting than staying at home.

And... she secretly glanced at Xia Mo.

Xia Mo looked ahead, her gaze falling on the direction of the podium, but her eyes were unfocused.

His expression was calm, but Asuka could tell—it wasn't the expression of someone listening to the principal speak.

She had seen that expression before, in the music room, when he was staring blankly at the oboe that he couldn't play.

He was thinking about something else.

"...Next, we'll discuss safety precautions during the summer vacation," the principal continued.

"Swimming must be accompanied by a parent, and when crossing the road, pay attention to oncoming traffic from both sides. Do not play by the river alone..."

Asuka's gaze lingered on Xia Mo's profile for a couple more seconds.

He's lost a little weight recently. I don't know if it's from practicing the oboe or from not getting enough sleep.

She noticed a faint bluish tinge under his eyes; it wasn't very noticeable, but you had to look closely to see it.

She turned her gaze back to the podium, tapping her fingers lightly twice on her knee—

It wasn't an unconscious action; it was a habit she had recently developed, and she was playing the rhythm of a timpani.

"...That's all. I wish everyone a fulfilling and enjoyable summer vacation."

The principal closed his speech and bowed to the audience. Sparse applause broke out, and the physical education teacher began calling out commands to direct each class to leave the field in turn.

Feiniao stood up and followed the group out. As she passed Xia Mo, she lightly bumped his shoulder, then continued walking as if nothing had happened.

"Were you daydreaming just now?" As they walked out of the gymnasium, Asuka asked him.

Xia Mo pulled her to his side to prevent her from being separated from the older students.

"no."

"You're lying," Asuka said. "The place you were looking at was the podium, not the principal."

Xia Mo did not respond.

The two followed the crowd toward the classroom. The corridor was packed with people, and the sounds of talking, footsteps, and laughter mingled together like a pot of boiling porridge.

The birds walked ahead of him, glancing back every now and then to make sure he wasn't separated from the others.

Back in the classroom, Ms. Sasaki handed out notices and summer homework lists. She called each student to the podium one by one to collect them.

Asuka glanced at the report card as she received it—

The Mandarin report card has a big "A" printed on it, along with a comment: "Excellent reading comprehension, rich writing skills, we look forward to your more active participation in class next semester."

The report card for arithmetic and science subjects was marked with a "C", with comments next to it: "Calculation speed needs improvement, and there is room for improvement in understanding word problems."

Feiniao expressionlessly folded her report card, stuffed it into her bag, walked back to her seat, and glanced at Xia Mo's report card lying on the table.

On Xia Mo's report card, Chinese and Social Studies were graded "C", with notes next to them: "Pronunciation needs more practice when reading aloud" and "Social Studies terminology is not firmly memorized". Math was graded "A" and Science was graded "B".

The comments section reads, "Outstanding mathematical logical thinking, meticulous observation in science experiments."

The bird quickly turned its face away.

Hmm, they really are two unfortunate brothers.

Yes, this idiom was taught to me at the end of summer.

The corners of her mouth unconsciously curved up slightly, secretly gloating over Xia Mo's poor grades.

After explaining the important information, Mr. Sasaki mentioned some safety precautions for summer vacation, which were similar to those given by the principal.

Then came a long period of packing schoolbags, with the sounds of chairs being moved rising and falling. Some people were exchanging contact information, some were discussing where to go for summer vacation, and some had already rushed out of the classroom impatiently.

Feiniao stuffed the last few textbooks into her schoolbag and turned to face Xia Mo.

"Shall we go?"

"You go first," Xia Mo said. "I have something to do."

Feiniao glanced at him but didn't ask what it was about.

She slung her backpack over her shoulder, took two steps outside, and then stopped.

"Then I'll be leaving first."

"Um."

"How about we go to Hua Hua's house this afternoon?"

"Not today," Xia Mo said.

"oh..."

Feiniao didn't ask any more questions, narrowed her eyes, and walked out of the classroom.

As she walked out of the classroom, she paused at the door and caught a glimpse of him sitting motionless in his seat, clutching a corner of his report card, his gaze fixed on the desk, lost in thought.

She turned around and went down the stairs.

The people in the classroom gradually dispersed.

After packing up his things on the podium, Mr. Sasaki took one last look at the classroom to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything he needed to say, and then left.

The footsteps in the corridor grew fainter and fainter until they disappeared completely.

The entire teaching building fell silent, so quiet that you could hear the cicadas chirping outside the window, one chirp after another, as if they were counting something.

Xia Mo stood up from her seat, slung her backpack over her shoulder, and walked out of the classroom.

Instead of heading towards the school gate, he went to the third floor, walked along the corridor to the end, and stopped in front of the staff room.

The door to the staff room was ajar, and the sounds of teachers talking and telephones ringing could be heard from inside.

Xia Mo stood at the door, raised her hand and knocked three times, not very hard.

"Please come in—" came the response from inside.

Xia Mo pushed open the door and went in.

Only three or four teachers remained in the staff room, packing up their things. Teacher Tanaka was sitting at his desk in the corner, organizing a thick stack of sheet music.

His glasses were on the table, next to a half-cold cup of tea.

"Tanaka-sensei." Xia Mo walked over and stopped.

Mr. Tanaka looked up and saw that it was late summer. He didn't stop what he was doing and continued to stack the sheet music neatly.

"What is it?"

Xia Mo stood in front of her desk, rubbing her fingers along the seam of her pants, pausing briefly as if organizing her thoughts.

"During summer vacation," he said, speaking a little slower than usual, "I want to practice more."

Mr. Tanaka paused for a moment, then continued putting the last stack of sheet music into the file box.

"The club has a summer training camp planned," Mr. Tanaka replied calmly. "It will be in mid-August, and you can participate according to the plan."

"It's not a training camp," Xia Mo said. "It's extra individual training. I want to... practice for a longer period before the training camp."

Ms. Tanaka pushed the file box to the corner of the table, looked up and glanced at Natsume.

His gaze lingered on Xia Mo's face for a few seconds, then he picked up his glasses and slowly put them on.

"Summer's End," his voice wasn't loud, but each word was clear, "Summer vacation is also a teacher's vacation, I have no obligation to give you extra practice."

Xia Mo did not respond.

Looking at his expression, Mr. Tanaka paused for a moment, then said something else.

"Besides, playing the oboe isn't something you can solve just by practicing more. Breath control, the feel for the reed—these things take time to develop. You're progressing faster than I expected, so don't rush it."

Xia Mo knew she should stop there.

Mr. Tanaka has already made his point very clear—

The progress is sufficient.

No extra practice needed.

Teachers also have their own holidays.

But he remained standing still.

"Tanaka-sensei," he called again.

Ms. Tanaka had already turned her attention back to the table and was taking things out of the drawer.

He didn't look up, but he paused for a moment—probably sensing something different in Xia Mo's tone.

"I know my progress is okay. But Asuka can already play in ensembles, and the woodwind section members are all better than me."

"You're a complete beginner, and you're only practicing the oboe. They've been practicing for at least a year, so there's no comparison."

"But Ms. Tanaka, I've already promised my friend that I'd play it for her during my performance next semester."

Ms. Tanaka looked up at Natsume and remained silent for a while.

"Moreover, I'm the only one practicing this instrument. If I fall behind, the woodwind section will be missing a part when we play together," Xia Mo said.

"You've also said that the oboe is very important in an ensemble. I don't want to hold everyone back."

The office was silent for a few seconds.

Ms. Tanaka closed the drawer, leaned back in her chair, and looked at the end of summer.

His expression remained unchanged, but his gaze lingered on Xia Mo's face for a moment longer, as if he were re-examining the still-growing child standing before him.

"Late summer," he finally spoke.

"exist."

"I understand your desire to practice more. But—" Mr. Tanaka took off his glasses, placed them on the table, and rubbed his temples with his index and middle fingers.

"Summer vacation is a time for teachers to rest. That won't change. The club's training program has already been planned, so just attend on time."

Xia Mo's lips moved slightly, but she didn't speak.

Mr. Tanaka looked at him again and sighed.

He knew this kid wouldn't be so easy to deal with.

"Of course," Mr. Tanaka put his glasses back on, bent down and pulled a piece of paper from the drawer, wrote something on it, and pushed it in front of Natsume.

"If the teacher isn't around, you can practice at home on your own; the school has no say in that. How long you practice each day and what you practice is your own business."

Xia Mo looked down at the piece of paper—Tanaka-sensei's contact information.

"But there are two points." Mr. Tanaka's voice became a little serious.

"First, don't injure yourself during practice. If you get blisters on your lips, stop and rest before resuming. You can't play the oboe well with brute force. Second—you can't be late for any of the upcoming training camps or rehearsals. Can you do that?"

Xia Mo looked up at him and nodded.

"I'm free every afternoon, you can call me then."

Mr. Tanaka took a sheet of music from the file box, placed it on the table, and pushed it over.

"Try practicing this piece during the summer vacation. I want to hear it during the training camp."

Xia Mo glanced down at the title of the score—it was a simple oboe solo, very short, with the notes on the score sparse, like little circles drawn randomly by a child on a staff.

Below the title is a line of small print indicating the composer's information, and next to it is a promotional message from the music publisher.

In the corner of the sheet music was a line of pencil-written annotation: "Pay attention to the continuity of long notes."

It was written by Tanaka-sensei himself.

Xia Mo picked up the sheet music, looked at it for a while, folded it, and put it in her pocket.

"Thank you, Professor Tanaka."

"Alright, let's go." Ms. Tanaka lowered her head, no longer looking at him. "Remember to close the door behind you."

Xia Mo turned around, paused at the door, and looked back.

Mr. Tanaka was drinking tea and didn't look at him.

Xia Mo walked out of the staff room and gently closed the door behind her.

The corridor was quiet, with the sound of cicadas pouring in from outside the window, overwhelming, as if someone were playing a violin that would never stop playing from a very, very far away place.

He stood in the middle of the corridor for a few seconds, took the sheet music out of his pocket and looked at it again, then turned his gaze to the window.

There were hardly any people left on the playground, except for a few boys from the soccer club running laps in the distance.

First-grade children, accompanied by their parents, left the school gate one after another, their schoolbags swaying on their backs like colorful beetles.

The sky was a bright blue, with a few white clouds hanging low, as if you could reach out and touch them.

He walked down the stairs and out of the school gate.

The leaves of the old beech tree at the school gate rustled in the wind. Xia Mo was about to start walking home when a familiar voice suddenly came from the side.

"Are you out?"

He looked up. Feiniao stood under the shade of a tree at the school gate, holding a bottle of water he had just bought, with a fine layer of water droplets condensing on the bottle.

Her schoolbag was slung over her shoulder, and her ponytail swayed slightly in the wind; it was unclear how long she had been waiting there.

"Why haven't you left yet?" Xia Mo walked over.

The bird handed him the water, but instead of answering his question, it looked him up and down.

Xia Mo took the water, unscrewed the cap, took a sip, and nodded.

"Where did you go?"

"It's nothing." Xia Mo screwed the cap back on the water bottle, her gaze fixed on the road, not looking at her.

Asuka stared at his profile for two seconds, then clicked her tongue: "Every time you say 'it's nothing,' you never look people in the eye."

Xia Mo paused for a moment, raised her eyes to look at her, and then lowered them again.

After a moment of silence, he spoke: "I'll go find Mr. Tanaka and ask him if I can get extra practice during the summer vacation."

Asuka paused for a moment, her brows furrowing slightly. "Extra training? Doesn't the club have intensive training?"

"The training camp is in mid-to-late August, that's too late." Xia Mo's voice wasn't loud, as if she were saying to herself, "I can't wait that long."

After he finished speaking, he took another sip of water and handed the water bottle back to Fei Niao.

The bird didn't take it, so he held it in his hand and watched the water droplets slide down the bottle.

"What did Mr. Tanaka say?" Asuka asked.

"He refused. He said that summer vacation is a teacher's vacation, and he has no obligation to give me extra practice sessions."

Feiniao's lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but Xia Mo continued speaking.

"However..." He pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket, unfolded it, and showed it to Asuka. "He gave me a sheet of music and told me to practice it on my own during the summer vacation. He wants to listen to it after the training camp."

The bird looked down at the sheet music.

"Why do we have to work so hard?"

In Asuka's opinion, a club activity shouldn't warrant going to the point where Xia Mo had to go and beg the teacher on her own.

"If I don't hurry up, I might not be able to keep up with the performance schedule. I promised Hua Hua."

Hearing this, Asuka looked away from the sheet music and at Xia Mo's face.

His expression was calm, almost expressionless, but there was a familiar light in his eyes—the light of "I've made up my mind."

"Is it because you promised Hua Hua that you're working so hard?" Asuka asked, her tone carrying something she herself wasn't even aware of.

Xia Mo folded the sheet music and put it back in her pocket. After thinking for a moment, she said, "Not entirely. It's also something I promised myself."

The bird did not speak again.

The two walked out of the school gate one after the other, and continued along the road they had walked countless times.

The sound of cicadas poured down from the trees by the roadside, like an invisible rain, densely pattering on the two people.

The bird walked in front, and Xia Mo followed behind, with a half-step between them.

After walking for a while, Fei Niao suddenly slowed down and walked side by side with Xia Mo.

"What will you do if Mr. Tanaka refuses to give you extra practice?" she asked.

"Nothing much," Xia Mo said. "I just practice at home."

"Won't practicing your oboe at home disturb the neighbors?"

"Close the window," Xia Mo said.

Asuka said "Oh" and didn't ask any more questions.

She looked down at the tips of her shoes. The paving stones on the road were whitened by the July sun, bright and dazzling.

One thought kept running through her mind—Xia Mo was working so hard because of Hua Hua.

Because he promised Huahua that he would play it for her during the performance.

It's for the sake of flowers.

The bird rummaged through the thought, pondered it over and over, and then put it back.

Her steps didn't stop, and her expression didn't change, but something, like a tiny needle, quietly pricked a place in her heart that she didn't often touch.

It doesn't hurt, but it's itchy, like a tiny mosquito landing on your arm on a summer evening—you can't shoo it away or catch it.

She couldn't describe what it felt like.

This has never happened before.

"Asuka." Summer's End called out to Asuka, who was clearly lost in thought.

"Um?"

"What are you thinking about?"

"I wasn't thinking about anything." Asuka turned her face away, looking at the green leaves of the row of cherry blossom trees by the roadside.

"Keep practicing your oboe, or you'll embarrass the ensemble by not being able to play it later."

Xia Mo hummed in agreement and didn't ask any more questions.

The two walked to that familiar intersection, the red light came on, and they stopped.

The window on the second floor of the building across the street was open, and the white curtains billowed in the wind like a gentle sail.

The bird stared at the window for a while, then suddenly spoke.

"Late summer."

"Um?"

"Your piece... is to be played for Mr. Tanaka after the training camp."

"Um."

When do you plan to start training?

"Today," Xia Mo said.

After thinking for a moment, Asuka added, "Then good luck."

Xia Mo glanced at her, a small smile playing on her lips: "I understand."

Only the bird can understand itself.

The green light is on.

As the two of them stepped across the road, Feibiao suddenly reached out and patted Xiamo's schoolbag on the other side, then quickly withdrew her hand, as if nothing had happened.

Just letting off a little steam~

"See you tomorrow," she said, her voice returning to its usual indifference.

"See you tomorrow," Xia Mo said.

The two turned around, one to the left and the other to the right.

The bird took a few steps, then suddenly stopped and turned back to look at Xia Mo's back.

He carried his oboe case on his back, walking slowly but steadily. The July sun shone on him, casting a long shadow.

The bird turned back and continued on its own path.

She reached into her pocket and touched the reed box.

She was supposed to give it to him today, but suddenly she didn't want to.

It wasn't because he didn't need it, but because she didn't want him to feel that she was buying the reeds for him because of Hua Hua.

When this thought popped into his head, Asuka himself paused for a moment.

She lowered her head and quickened her pace, trying not to let anyone see her expression.

The July wind blew, brushing her stray hairs against her face.

She didn't try to turn it, but instead pushed the reed box deeper into her pocket, all the way to the bottom.

She pulled her hand out of her pocket, clenched it into a fist, and then relaxed it.