NovelOnlineChapter 457
Thoughtless After over an hour, Shirley finally stopped plucking the violin strings. Instead, she was on
all fours, staring at it. Although innocent, the darkness in her eyes appeared soulless and thoughtless.
Genevieve walked over. Sitting cross-legged at a spot that was not littered with dolls, she picked up the
violin. Shirley looked up and gazed at her. With the help of her tools, Genevieve tuned one string at a
time. She then plucked the string to produce a crisp, pleasant note, and Shirley’s eyes widened in
amazement. After a long while, Shirley reached out to play the instrument herself and found the tone
just as pleasant. She seemed to enjoy the sound very much, as she could not seem to keep herself
from playing it. Genevieve did not interrupt her. When the girl grew tired of it, Genevieve plucked
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtanother string which Shirley copied right away. Her face was alight with a smile at the pleasant chime.
When Genevieve plucked several strings in sequence to play a melody, Shirley hastened to imitate her
and played the sequence exactly how Genevieve did. Initially under the impression that Shirley was
slower than most children after witnessing how the child consumed her boiled egg in the dining room,
Genevieve was amazed to see how quickly she picked up on the uptempo tune she played on the
violin. It appears that the child isn’t slow. It just depends on whether or not she finds something
interesting. “The tone sounds a little bland if you pluck the strings with your finger,” Genevieve said
gently, picking up the violin bow and placing the violin on her shoulder to play a brisk, jaunty rendition
of Woodland March. Shirley’s interest was immediately roused. She crawled up and sat cross-legged to
watch the violin in Genevieve’s hands closely. Genevieve placed the violin on the ground when she
was done. “If you want to play a lovely tune with the violin bow like I just did,” she said softly, “you need
to know where every note of the scale is and where your fingers go on which notes.” Genevieve saw
how Shirley’s eyes followed her moving fingers and knew that the girl was absorbing every word of
hers. After showing Shirley the notes of the scale, she played a segment slowly. Shirley copied her.
Genevieve could tell that Shirley not only liked the violin, but she was also talented as well.
Ordinary children attempting to learn the violin would have difficulty even recognizing the scales by ear.
However, it only took one round of explaining and another of demonstrating for Shirley to learn it from
imitation alone. Genevieve was initially planning to teach the child in the morning and head to the
production company in the afternoon, but she lost track of time upon seeing how serious Shirley was. It
was already dark outside when Shirley mastered the way to hold a violin and play a tune with
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmconfidence. Jan rushed upstairs upon arriving home. “I’m terribly sorry, Ms. Rachford. I know I said I
only needed you in the morning, yet you had to stay with the child until now. Did Shirley throw a
tantrum at you?” Genevieve smiled. “No. Your daughter is pretty clever.” Having spent the day together,
Shirley did not ignore Genevieve completely as she had in the beginning. After every time she played a
tune, she would look at Genevieve as if asking how she did. Genevieve bent down to meet the child’s
eyes. “Your father’s home, Shirley.
Could you show him what we’ve learned?” Shirley seemed to understand. She ran to the door with the
violin earlier when she turned and saw him there. “Let me play you a song, Daddy.” With well-practiced
movements, she placed the violin on her shoulder and played the tune that Genevieve had taught her
throughout the day. For the longest time, Jan felt as if he had been speaking to himself whenever he
spoke to his daughter. The girl would remain silent and keep her attention on whatever had captured it
at that moment rather than listen to him. It’s the first time I’ve seen my daughter smile while carrying
out a conversation with me. Jan’s eyes were moist when Shirley finished the piece. He squatted down
to hug his daughter. “That was lovely,” he said hoarsely. “You’re amazing, Shirley!”
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