Back in the auditorium, there was no one except for a piano placed at the center of the stage.
We placed the metronome and the music score on the stage and waited nearby for a long time.
"When will Xin Qin come?We've brought everything," said Zi Qian.
Only the echo of his voice answered his question in the auditorium.
We didn't know how much time had passed when Xin Hui suddenly picked up the metronome and asked,"How do you use this pyramid-shaped thing?"
"Like this..."
I removed the transparent panel from the front of the metronome,slid the weight on the pendulum rod to the middle, wound up the tempo key on the right side, and finally pulled the pendulum to the right.
The metronome then started making a "tick-tock" sound.
"Moving that pendulum weight up and down adjusts the tempo speed.The higher it is, the slower," I said.
Xin Hui was very interested in the metronome and kept moving that pendulum weight.The metronome emitted extremely fast beats one moment and then became super slow the next.
"Stop torturing that thing.You're making it fast one second and slow the next. Be careful not to break the metronome," Zi Qian said as he casually flipped through Xin Qin's music score.
"The 'tick-tock' sound of that metronome is very noisy. Stop it."
But Xin Hui deliberately adjusted the metronome to its fastest speed,and it immediately emitted an extremely rapid "tick-tick-tick" sound.
Zi Qian glared at Xin Hui,who stuck her tongue out at him.
Seeing the interaction and rapport between them,I guessed, "You two have known each other for a long time, right?"
Xin Hui stopped the pendulum's swing and said,"If I remember correctly, Zi Qian and I met when we were 4 years old in kindergarten. Then we attended the same primary school, and now we're in the same secondary school."
"That's not right!My mom said you came to my house to play when you were 2. We knew each other back then..." Halfway through his sentence, Zi Qian suddenly turned to look at the music score in his hand.
Zi Qian flipped through several pages and said,"There's handwriting in the blank space at the end of every piece! Come and take a look!"
--
Went to practice today, got scolded by Teacher Huang again. I've been studying very hard, but she always says my performance isn't as good as my younger sister's.
(...)
Really didn't want to go to practice today. But if I don't go, does it prove I'm worse than my sister? I ended up going anyway. Luckily, Teacher Huang didn't come today.
(... )
During practice today, Teacher Huang said again that my sister is better. I also overheard Siew Lan saying behind my back that my acting is poor and seriously affects their performance. When scolded, I have to apologize and admit fault; when hearing criticism, I have to pretend to be clueless. Sometimes, I feel like I'm the best actress—clearly very sad, but my mouth still smiles brightly.
(... )
I've grown accustomed to Teacher Huang and my classmates' harsh words. Anyway, whatever I do is wrong, and my sister is always right. We're clearly twins, but since we were little, our parents have especially doted on her, and now people at school also particularly like her.
(... )
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