Gold Medal Sweetheart

Tang Xin cried out "Ouch!" and fell heavily to the ground. The pet dog was startled, but quickly ran over to Tang Xin, wagging its tail. Its slippery tongue licked Tang Xin's face and neck all over, its tail wagging like a rattle, completely forgetting that it had just been nearly crushed by its owner.

The door opened at that moment. "What happened, Xinxin?" Tang's mother hurried over with a spatula in hand. "Why is there such a big commotion?"

Tang Xin finally regained consciousness. No wonder she'd felt like she was falling from a building. Turns out she wasn't falling from a building, but from her bed. Even though it was a dream, this fall was no better than falling from a building. Tang Xin felt like she was being torn apart.

She rubbed her sore shoulders and buttocks, frowned, and forced a smile, her expression very strange: "It's okay, I had a good dream!"

Tang's mother asked with concern: "Are you really okay?"

"Mom, I'm really okay! I'm so glad I fell, otherwise you wouldn't be able to wake me up, and I'd be criticized by the principal for being late!" Tang Xin said as she swiftly got up, stretching her arms and legs. "See, I'm okay! I'm stronger than Superman!"

Tang's mother smiled and said, "I'm glad you're okay. You're such a grown-up, but you still can't sleep well. I really don't know when you'll be able to change your impulsive and rough habits. How many girls are like you? You're so old and still haven't had a boyfriend. Who would want you if you keep going like this?" Tang's mother became more and more excited. "No, I have to tell your aunts to introduce some boys to you as soon as possible!"

Tang Xin watched her mother completely absorbed in herself. If she didn't interrupt, she wouldn't be able to finish in an hour. "Mom, it's only just past 7 o'clock and you're already reciting the sutras. I might as well become a nun. Even nuns don't listen to sutras this early!"

"You kid, stop saying bad things to me!" As he said this, he ran towards Tang Xin with a spatula in his hand.

"Mom, I'm going to be late!" Tang Xin shouted as she ran.

Mother Tang looked at the wall clock and then put away her attitude: "Okay, hurry up and wash up and have breakfast, otherwise you will be late again!" With that, Mother Tang ran back to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.

Seeing that her mother had left, Tang Xin frowned and rubbed her shoulders and buttocks again, then squatted down and touched the dog's nose: "You little thing, you saw me about to fall, but you didn't wake me up, and you still kept saying that I was your roommate?" The dog looked at Tang Xin and wagged its tail happily again.

"I won't talk to you anymore, I'm going to be late again." Tang Xin got up to wash up, and the little cutie followed her, jumping and skipping, and squatted outside the bathroom door.

Cold water seemed to be able to refresh Tang Xin's spirit at this time. Thinking of what her mother had just said, the little secret in a corner of her heart was awakened by the stimulation of cold water.

Why do I keep having similar dreams? Cheng Ran's name still appears in my dreams to this day, and his face is only visible in them. Five years—not long, but not short either. She'd long since stopped thinking about him, yet he harassed her in her dreams, seemingly deliberately trying to be annoying. Tang Xin stared at the pendant hanging around her neck in the mirror. Water dripped down her cheeks, landing drop by drop in the sink, just as the memories of the past fell drop by drop into her heart.

"Xinxin, are you ready? Hurry up! It's already half past seven!" Tang Xin was interrupted by her mother's call. She had been stunned for a long time and finally came back to reality as if she had just woken up from a dream.

"Oh, here it comes!" Tang Xin casually grabbed a towel and dabbed it across her face a few times. She then poured some toner into her face and patted it a few times, and that was it. She rushed out of the bathroom, not caring about the Fuwa who had been waiting outside, wagging its tail and circling around her. She glanced at the clock and saw it was indeed 7:30. She realized how urgent it was. "Mom, I'm skipping breakfast! It's too late!" With that, she ran back to the bedroom, dug out a piece of clothing, quickly put it on, grabbed her schoolbag, and was ready to go.

Hearing his father's voice behind him, "Did you bring your phone?", Tang Xin immediately turned back and turned the already messy bedroom upside down again.

"Key, key," Tang's mother said as she trotted over and called Tang Xin again with the key in her hand.

She was already at the door, kicking off her flat sneakers and getting ready to go out when she suddenly realized, "Yes, yes, yes, the car keys!"

Taking the key from her mother, Tang Xin's voice gradually faded away as she walked down the stairs: "Mom, I'm leaving!"

Although she could no longer see Tang Xin, Tang's mother still shouted, "Be careful on the road, ride slowly." Suddenly, she turned around and said to Tang's father, "Why are you like this every morning? Why can't you get up earlier?"

Tang's father smiled and added half a bowl of porridge to himself, saying, "You don't even know your own daughter. No matter what time she gets up, she has to be like this!"

Tang Xin sped along on her bicycle, meticulously following the principle of stopping at red lights, going at green lights, and rushing at yellow lights. The early spring breeze still felt a hint of coolness on her face, but she felt every pore desperately breathing, and her back gradually became slightly damp. Although her legs and mind were busy, she imagined the principal appearing at the school gate with a stern face, wanting to kill her, the latecomer, with a glare that made her legs, already aching, speed up their pace.

Sure enough, after parking her shared bike outside the school, she was less than ten steps into the campus when the first-period bell rang as expected. Tang Xin breathed a sigh of relief and smiled slightly, thankful that she had rushed through the yellow light without hesitation when it changed, and that the principal hadn't seen her rushing through the bell to enter the school with her hair messy from the wind. However, this small bit of luck didn't make her happy for a moment, because she heard the sound of running behind her, followed by a suspicious voice, "Hey, student, what grade are you in? You're already late for morning self-study, and you're not wearing your school uniform!"

"I'm..." Just as Tang Xin turned to confront the security guard, a voice from behind her said, "This is Mr. Tang, our sophomore politics teacher. He's been at our school for almost three years." She looked and saw it was Uncle Wang, the security guard, returning with two jugs of hot water.

Uncle Wang smiled innocently and said to Tang Xin, "You're here! The principal just asked if you were here!"

Tang Xin suddenly looked nervous, "Really?"

"I told her," Uncle Wang paused. Tang Xin looked at Uncle Wang, his eyes filled with anticipation. He smiled again, "I told her I think I saw you. Go in quickly, or you'll be caught tardiness again."

After hearing Uncle Wang's answer, Tang Xin stuck out her tongue as if relieved, and smiled knowingly, "Thank you, Uncle Wang!" With that, she pushed the cart into the depths of the campus, leaving Uncle Wang and the young security guard staring at her with a look of astonishment.

Tang Xin, carrying her backpack, headed for the teaching building. Thinking back to the security guard's expression, she shook her head helplessly. She was only 159cm tall, and with her delicate features, she always refused to wear any makeup. Her black hair, undyed and unpermed, was usually tied into a ponytail and hung straight down her back. With her casual clothes, flat shoes, and backpack, she looked like a college student at best. No one would believe she had been working for nearly three years. Compared to today's overfed, tall, and muscular high school students, she looked even more like a student.

This had happened more than once or twice. Whether it was being called "little sister" while shopping or being stared at by students during her first class, she couldn't escape the fate of being called a loli. She had gotten used to it, but these things that didn't bother her seemed a little unbelievable and concerning to others.