Chapter 10 New Year Fireworks
Mary didn't feel the fire burning in He Hui's heart.
"Do it again," she said.
Lin Xiaoman, a part-time sound engineer, pressed the play button, and the notes on the ice rink poured out. He Hui suppressed his eagerness to prove that he was not heavy, and followed the rhythm of the music to slowly enter another world created by Beethoven.
Mary's excerpt is from the first movement of the Spring Sonata, which is the allegro section of the piece.
After several rounds of fine-tuning in the first half of the program, He Hui completed the first jump very well, which was a 3Lz+3T. But the second half, played by piano and violin with a more cheerful rhythm, was the key point that Mary just pointed out was clumsy.
He Hui couldn't help but quicken his pace, skating faster on the field, trying his best to cover more of the ice in order to get rid of Mary's evaluation of him.
Her efforts were greeted with Mary's nod of approval, but she did not call for a stop.
He Hui's skates drew more patterns. First, he did a 3Lo in the rhythm, landing right on the accent. Then, he slowed down his rotation, and after a beautiful 2A, he entered a fast-paced pace.
Perhaps because he had been practicing on the ice for a long time, He Hui gradually lost his strength when he skated to this point, and his clumsiness inadvertently revealed itself.
"Speed up, speed up." Mary clapped her hands and shouted.
He Hui gritted her teeth, endured the discomfort of lactic acid accumulation, used her thighs to speed up her skating pace, and completed a series of twisting steps. This kind of step that moves forward while turning left a series of telephone wire-like traces on the ice, creating a sense of roaming lightness for He Hui's short program.
Mary watched He Hui's actions without saying a word, and her brows slowly frowned.
He Hui caught a glimpse of the subtle change in the choreographer's expression from the corner of his eye. His heart sank, but he still insisted on completing the last steps, and then jumped into the last set of rotations in various postures.
"The Shaky Bellman."
At some point, Lin Xiaoman had walked up to Mary and made a slightly cold comment, which made He Hui feel unwilling.
She bit her lower lip, but couldn't refute.
"Let's get familiar with the short program these days." Mary put a faint smile on her face again and ended today's long practice time.
The white-haired grandmother left the ice rink, but He Hui still stood there blankly, her feet magically pulling her body and pushing her to skate again.
He Hui repeated the last step and rotation. If she was not satisfied, she would do it again. With the music playing automatically in her mind, He Hui's cheeks gradually turned red due to the high-intensity practice.
"Let's practice tomorrow." Lin Xiaoman couldn't bear to watch it anymore and interrupted the rotation.
He Hui sniffed and stopped, but had no intention of leaving.
"Your feet are stuck?" Lin Xiaoman said helplessly, "Mary has very high requirements for music coordination and musical expression. This is only your first day, so don't worry. You don't want to get hurt, do you?"
Children's ankles are still in the growth stage, and training for too long will do more harm than good.
"Oh." He Hui wiped the sweat from his forehead and finally walked off the ice rink obediently.
That night, He Hui tossed and turned in bed and couldn't fall asleep. She couldn't help but think of her past life when she was away from figure skating, and she felt anxious for no reason.
The next day, He Hui came to the scene with two big dark circles under her eyes and was ridiculed as expected.
"How about this, today we should just learn the general choreography of the free skating and ignore the details," said Mary.
"I can do it." Having said that, He Hui's face, which was obviously sleep-deprived, was not convincing at all.
Mary had already asked Lin Xiaoman to work part-time as a sound engineer again, and replied to He Hui with a smile, "I'll work on the details tomorrow, there's no rush."
After yesterday's initial run-in, He Hui had a deep understanding of Mary's choreography style, and the learning process was smooth sailing. Her jumping ability was excellent, and Mary even temporarily changed a more difficult step on the spot to enter.
Mary seemed to feel the extra pressure that He Hui put on her, and did not mention her pace problem again today.
"The free skating lasts four and a half minutes, so you must allocate your energy reasonably," Mary reminded.
He Hui was an adult mentally, so she was naturally sensitive to this thoughtfulness. She nodded and prepared to add more land power to her future training schedule.
On the third day, He Hui's condition improved a lot.
"Looks like we can increase the intensity now." Lin Xiaoman joked.
He Hui: "Well, I'm ready."
Two hours later—
She suddenly felt a little regretful for saying "I'm ready" with such a strong voice.
During the "mixed doubles" of Mary and Lin Xiaoman, He Hui said that his legs, waist and back seemed to be out of his control.
Fortunately, she is only 11 years old and has not yet reached the most difficult stage of growth. As her weight increases, her height also increases slowly. Therefore, Lin Xiaoman's control over her diet is not to the point of being a devil.
But Lin Xiaoman was still quite surprised at He Hui's self-control. She was so surprised that she asked out loud: "Why do you eat so little? You must have consumed a lot of energy, right?"
He Hui bit into the tasteless salad and the poor quality cheese, and uttered two words with difficulty - "unpalatable".
Lin Xiaoman didn't expect this answer, "......"
After all, He Hui didn't want to faint while practicing, so he forced himself to swallow with difficulty.
"She is worthy of being the eldest lady." Lin Xiaoman sighed.
After lunch, the intensity of physical training and land training remained the same. After finishing, He Hui collapsed on the soft big bed like a mollusk. If her nose had not suddenly smelled the sweat emanating from her body and the nerve called image management engraved in her genes had not awakened, she would probably have wanted to close her eyes and lie down until dawn.
There was the sound of running water and steam rising from the bathroom. It was hard for He Hui to imagine that this was only the third day since she came to Canada.
......
Day after day of training allowed He Hui to master the two programs bit by bit, and she also gained a new understanding of music under the guidance of world-class choreographers.
Although all he saw when he looked up at the ice rink was a plain ceiling, He Hui always felt like he was slowly looking out of the skylight.
A month later, the long yet short time in Canada came to an end.
"I hope you win the national championship."
Mary's blessing had the same arrogant aura as Lin Xiaoman's, which made He Hui feel as if they were not from the same family and could not enter the same door.
"I will try my best." He Hui nodded.
Mary suddenly bowed, and her strange action scared He Hui. "By the way, I heard that Chinese New Year is coming in a few days. I wish you a happy new year in advance!"
He Hui turned to look at Lin Xiaoman, his mouth twitched, and asked in Chinese: "Did you teach me?"
"That's me." Lin Xiaoman said proudly, "And this is called cultural output, okay?"
"Okay, okay, okay." He Hui nodded repeatedly.
Mary was puzzled by their encrypted conversation. He Hui quickly turned around and said, "Happy New Year to you too!"
*
The blizzard in Canada comes suddenly in winter. As soon as you go out, the noisy wind will blow up the snow particles in your face, making it impossible to open your eyes.
The private plane that had originally been scheduled to take off was unable to take off due to bad weather, casting a shadow on the choreography trip.
Lu Yanfeng and He Jianmu were so anxious that they made several international calls. "Huihui, you must take good care of yourself and keep warm. Your parents and sister will be waiting for you to come home for the New Year!"
Listening to the hurried instructions, He Hui felt that the cold wind was no longer biting.
When He Hui boarded the plane, he suddenly recalled the day of his rebirth for no reason. If he compared them carefully, there were too many similarities between today and that day. For example, both were the first clear days after days of continuous heavy snow. For example, both were New Year's Eve when he was in a foreign country and was anxious to return home.
She looked out the window at the white snow and the cleanly cleared runway, her expression unclear.
"What's wrong, Miss? Are you unhappy to go home?" Lin Xiaoman was curious.
He Hui didn't know when Lin Xiaoman started to like calling her "Miss".
He Hui shook his head helplessly.
Seeing that she didn't say anything, Lin Xiaoman stopped asking questions, poured herself a glass of red wine, and waited for takeoff.
The roar of the engine seemed to burst the eardrums, calling back He Hui's thoughts. The plane flew from west to east, alternating between day and night, and He Hui hoped to catch the last countdown before the New Year.
When He Hui opened his eyes after a long sleep, he was suddenly stunned by the scene outside the window.
"So beautiful..." she murmured.
Looking down at the city from the plane, fireworks are rising up into the sky one after another, like colorful flowers blooming in an instant. This angle is very different from looking up from the ground. It is a bit like the special effects in cartoons, and there is an inexplicable sense of control.
The shadow of the terrible avalanche memory completely dissipated in the splendor of thousands of lights.
"It's really beautiful. Maybe it's a good sign for the New Year." Lin Xiaoman was also attracted by this boundless romance.
He Hui suddenly wanted to close her eyes and make a wish, "Yes, everything will go well."
On this day, He Hui reunited with her family on New Year's Eve, had a sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner, and counted down together to welcome the new year.
*
In October, the 08/09 National Figure Skating Grand Prix junior competition officially kicked off.
There are many first steps to take on the road to pursuing dreams. He Hui thought that perhaps this national competition would be the key moment when the gears of fate would turn.
At that time, the games were not broadcast live, so they basically relied on veteran ice hockey fans to come to the scene and send back reports.
Because He Hui had no points, she performed her short program in the second group.
She was wearing a light green dress designed by a well-known designer and handmade by herself. Strictly speaking, it was a dress with a white top that faded to green, and two streamlined rhinestones on the chest that sparkled under the lights of the gymnasium.
The radio happened to announce He Hui. "He Hui, representing the Winter Management Center of Province B, will perform the Spring Sonata in F Major as his short program."
He Hui waved to the deserted stands around him and warmed up on the field.
In the youth group with an average age of thirteen or fourteen, He Hui was the youngest kid in the sixth practice session, which attracted curious glances from the few spectators in the venue.
Two ice fans were whispering in the stands.
"Who is He Hui?"
"I don't know. I've never heard of it, but I'm only 11 years old."
"Wait, her choreographer is Mary-Connie?!"
"This is just a national competition right?! It costs a fortune to fly to Canada just to create a one-off choreography!!"
Then, they both said in unison: "It's great to have money!"
As soon as the two finished talking, He Hui made a high and far 3Lz on the field.
"This is...3Lz?!" one of them exclaimed.
Half a second later, the other person was almost shocked to the point of losing his voice, "No! This is a 3Lz+3T advanced combo jump!!"
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