I play wind instruments in Kansai.

"Would you like to go to your place or mine?" Kato Ai asked.

"Go to your place. Hasebe-senpai might come back, which would be troublesome."

"OK."

Stepping into the oboe practice room, you can clearly feel the spaciousness because there are few people and few tables and chairs.

"Won't Liu Mu say something if you practice alone with me here?"

"She's not my girlfriend."

Miyamine Nozomi placed her instrument case aside, without taking out her flute, and watched as Kato Ai assembled the oboe.

Do you know how to maintain an oboe?

"Of course, huh? Aren't you going to take it out?"

Gongling Wang shook his head and said:

How do you usually sit while playing this?

Kato Ai pursed her lips, sat down in her chair, picked up her oboe, and said:

"Like this."

"Can I touch you?" Gong Lingwang couldn't stand it anymore.

Without even thinking it over, Kato Ai agreed without much thought.

"Huh? Uh, sure."

Gong Lingwang stepped forward, reached out and pinched her shoulder, and poked her waist with his other hand.

"Waaah~~ What are you doing?"

Kato Ai was startled and let out a very coquettish moan.

"Your posture is crucial. Whether you are sitting or standing, you must keep your back straight and your shoulders relaxed."

"...You used too much force."

"After all, it's not my body."

"......"

Kato Ai blushed. This guy was actually taking advantage of her under the guise of giving her guidance. If it weren't for the fact that he was a decent person and quite handsome, she would have run away long ago.

Miyamine Nozomi squatted down in front of her and said:

"Show me the shape of your mouth."

"Uh......"

Kato Ai took a deep breath and said, somewhat reluctantly,

"I...I have cherry lips."

Her words reached his ears, and Gong Lingwang's lips moved, but all that remained was a look of astonishment and confusion.

What on earth is this guy talking about?

"Middle-class student, I'm asking about the shape of your mouth when you play the flute."

Kato Ai then realized what was happening, straightened her back ramrod straight, and blushed as she quickly explained:

"It's your own fault for not asking clearly, so you can't blame me."

"Go, go, go."

Her mouth was indeed, as she described, a small cherry-like mouth.

When playing, functionality and tone are always the top priorities, so the embouchure naturally won't be the most aesthetically pleasing.

Kato Ai was also aware of this, and in front of Miyamune Nozomi, she always seemed a little shy and would deliberately make a cute cat-like face.

“Place your chin flat, bring your mouth muscles together, use your lips to form a cushion, and then cover the reed,” said Miyamune Nozomi.

"Like this?" she said in a somewhat unclear voice.

"Yes, you're just starting to play the oboe. Don't rush to start playing right away. Practice making sounds with the reed first. Once you can make sounds easily and steadily, then you can attach it to the instrument."

"Are you very knowledgeable about the oboe?"

"I don't understand." Gong Lingwang took out his phone and showed her the words on the screen, "The training techniques I found in that brass band."

Kato Ai raised an eyebrow sharply: "You can't even do it yourself, what's the point of me coming here to practice...?"

Miyamine Nozomi sat opposite her and said:

"At least I can hear the timbre and tone. Isn't the core of woodwind instruments breath control? I think I have some understanding of that."

Hehehe...

Kato Ai wanted to complain, but considering that he played the flute really well, she felt she had no way to refute him.

But it's strange, why is he talking about playing wind instruments the whole time?

That's way too passive!

"Speaking of which, Gong Ling, you're so good-looking, haven't you ever thought about having a girlfriend?"

Do you have any other reeds?

"...Yes, it is."

Kato Ai took out a small box from the drawer, inside which lay several reeds. The shopkeeper had said a lot of things, but she didn't understand them, and since they weren't very expensive, she bought them.

Miyamine Nozomi took the reed. The oboe is the most "dazzling" instrument in the wind band. Many wind band players will try it first because they all think they are extraordinary. They only realize how difficult it is after they actually start playing it.

"Here you go."

She handed me a small cup, a cup for soaking the reed of an oboe.

"The supplies are quite complete."

"That is!"

It is best to soak the reed for a while before playing it, so that its fibers can absorb water and swell, becoming soft and elastic.

A piercing sound rang out, followed by the sound of Kato Ai playing a flute, which made Miyamune Nozomi tactically frown.

Those who knew it was an oboe reed, but those who didn't would have thought it was a suona being played to signal the start of a banquet. No wonder Senior Anhe called her over to play with the sticks.

"How is it?" Kato Ai still felt good about herself, thinking there wasn't much of a problem.

"You are a real duck."

"That's too much. I've been practicing diligently. Besides, people who can learn things instantly only exist in movies and TV shows."

Kato Ai, somewhat unconvinced, put the reed in her mouth and continued blowing.

He hadn't touched it; he'd been playing the flute ever since he first played it.

Take out the reed, keep the mouthpiece in place, slowly exhale, and blow casually.

Kato Ai released her lips and stared at him blankly.

The sound he produced was so clean, unlike the sharp, squeezing sound a beginner makes when blowing a whistle for the first time, or the muffled sound of breathiness; it was a round and full C note.

Isn't this strange? Is this normal?

Kato Ai's eyes widened. She had been trying to play that long note for several days but couldn't, and thought it was perfectly normal.

Because online, she often sees comments such as "It's normal to not be able to play the oboe well at first".

Miyamine Nozomi tried to move the angle of her lips, and the tone she produced slid gently to A with the slight change, and then steadily returned to C.

The two long notes were straight, even, and without any tremor.

After removing the whistle, Gong Lingwang said in a low voice:

"That's strange, it doesn't seem that difficult."

He was telling the truth, not pretending. He had always heard that the oboe was very difficult, and that it took a long time to learn just how to play the reed properly, with some people not being able to play it even after a month.

But the girl in front of her didn't think so; instead, she felt that Miyamine Nozomi had been faking it all along.

"Hey..." Kato Ai finally spoke, her tone as if she was holding something back, "What... what's wrong with you?"

--"genius".

The word came to mind again.

"real or fake?"

Kato Ai, who had never taken hard practice seriously, finally began to lose confidence after hearing Miyamine Nozomi's voice.

Since no one in the club could play the oboe, there was no direct comparison, and she herself felt no pressure and couldn't perceive what a genius was.

But now, on his first try, Miyamune Nozomi was able to produce a steady, long note, which shows just how terrifying his potential is.

An indescribable feeling suddenly welled up in Kato Ai's heart. She pondered it carefully before realizing what this feeling truly was.

It wasn't admiration for him, nor was it jealousy.

It's the will to survive.

30. If you also wear those shorts

"Gong Ling, would you like to play the oboe?"

Kato Ai adjusted the length of her skirt, revealing her slender legs underneath. Miyamine Nozomi glanced at the beautiful curves of her calves.

"I don't have any thoughts on that yet," he replied with his usual indifferent expression.

She was silent for a few seconds, then her soft, boneless hands enveloped the oboe in hers and she said:

"What do you mean by not having any ideas about this yet? If you want to brag, you want to brag; if you don't want to brag, you don't want to brag."

Gong Lingwang was not stupid; he could understand her worries to some extent.

She demonstrated her control over pitch by simply blowing a whistle, which is outstanding among her peers. Even if she switched to the flute, it would only be a matter of time before she became the ace of the club.

However, Ai Kato's initial motivation for joining the club as an oboe was completely different from others. She simply thought that playing the oboe was interesting, attracted enough attention, and, more importantly, no one in the club played the oboe.

"Don't worry, I'm not trying to take any position from you."

Gong Lingwang looked at her face and said.

"There are already few flute players, so if I were to join the oboe, it wouldn't help the club at all."

"Really?"

Kato Ai pouted slightly, clearly not quite believing it. She wanted Miyamine Nozomi to swear she wouldn't come to the oboe section, but she felt that doing so would be no different from those dictators.

Everyone has the right to pursue their own path on stage, and stifling that right is a despicable act.

"of course."

Gongling Wang said,

"Kato, you are the only oboe player right now. If you hope to stand on the stage of the Wakayama Cultural Center, you should practice hard. Otherwise, let alone go up there, you can only help move instruments with your current level."

"Of course I know that."

Kato Ai murmured to herself that she wouldn't be surprised if Miyamine Nozomi's whistle was as bad as hers.

But now he boasts so highly that he has to accept any instruction he receives unconditionally and cannot refute it. This is the absolute crushing power of the superior over the inferior.

So what do we do now?

Gongling looked up and asked,

"Now that you've chosen this path and invested a lot of money in resources, wouldn't it be a waste not to use them?"

Previously, he had been buying musical instruments and purchasing online resources from renowned teachers, which clearly showed his diligence and ambition.

He even went to play games with that senior student Anhe, causing him to lose money.

It's simply intolerable.

"I understand, I understand."

Kato Ai gently swayed her legs, and the sound of her soft thighs slapping against each other and rubbing against the fabric of her skirt could be clearly heard.

"Is Gongling going to teach me?"