The Sweetness of the Seventies
Chapter 1039 - 1008: Challenge, Reminder

Chapter 1039: Chapter 1008: Challenge, Reminder

Many people had gotten used to He Tiantian’s idiosyncrasies and were also amazed at her achievements.

The swimming team now had high hopes for He Tiantian.

Xie Feifei was the best freestyle swimmer in the city and had also registered for the competition next month. Originally, she had been highly regarded by the city’s leadership, but now a formidable woman had arrived, and everyone often compared her with He Tiantian.

A week before the competition, Xie Feifei could no longer bear it and found He Tiantian in the changing room, wanting to challenge her.

"Hello, may I have a competition with you?" Xie Feifei said. She was a typical tall girl, probably 1.75 meters, with long legs and arms.

Standing in front of He Tiantian, she actually made He Tiantian look particularly short and small.

He Tiantian smiled and said, "We’re about to compete in the same race soon, and it will be just the same then."

He Tiantian had declined, as practice had already ended, and she did not want to add extra training for herself.

"Do you think I’m not your opponent?" Xie Feifei frowned, "Not worth competing with you?"

"Ah?" He Tiantian was startled, then smiled, "No, don’t think too much. It’s time for me to go home, I should leave. Besides, you are a very talented and hardworking athlete, Coach Xia often praises you. Let’s work hard together."

He Tiantian had already changed her clothes. Her hair was down and slightly damp, perfectly wearing a white T-shirt, skinny jeans below, and a pair of white sports shoes on her feet.

Clean and fresh.

"All right then." Xie Feifei felt somewhat disappointed, "See you on the racecourse."

"Yes, see you on the racecourse." He Tiantian smiled, picked up her things to leave, and took her used clothing to wash at home.

Just as He Tiantian was about to walk out, the Xie Feifei behind her suddenly said, "Wait a minute."

"What is it?" He Tiantian smiled and turned around. These were all 17 or 18-year-olds in her eyes, much like her students, her children, so she treated these kids as kindly as possible.

After giving it some thought, Xie Feifei said, "You should be careful—Jiao Lihong used to be best at breaststroke until you came along, and now you’ve surpassed her results. I’m the straightforward type, so I directly challenged you, but Jiao Lihong is different."

There used to be a girl with better results than Jiao Lihong, but she was bullied away, a pity.

Facing He Tiantian, Xie Feifei had no malice. Seeing how approachable He Tiantian was, she couldn’t help but offer a word of caution, lest He Tiantian be at a disadvantage.

He Tiantian paused, then smiled and said, "Thank you for the warning, I’ll be careful."

No matter what the purpose was behind Xie Feifei’s words, He Tiantian still wanted to thank her.

Xie Feifei scratched her head and said, "It’s good that you didn’t accuse me of causing trouble. As for the real situation, you’ll find out eventually; I’m not one to lie anyway."

"Heh heh." He Tiantian chuckled. This girl was quite forthright and direct.

On her way back, He Tiantian mentioned this incident to Cui Ying and Wei Yuanyuan.

Wei Yuanyuan said softly, "There was indeed a girl who used to come watch you practice breaststroke with unsympathetic eyes. I checked, and that woman is definitely Jiao Lihong, the niece of Director Jiao of the National Sports Bureau. She had once bullied a female athlete who then switched to butterfly stroke, and only then did Jiao Lihong stop bothering her."

"Heh, such a young age and thinking of using schemes, how far can she go?" He Tiantian scoffed, "This is just Yanjing City; on a national level, what can that girl’s results amount to? And at the international level, they’re even less significant. Not focusing on hard work but resorting to underhanded methods, she won’t achieve anything great."

"Yeah!" Cui Ying laughed, "With mean people like her, we just need to be careful. Tiantian, you don’t need to worry. I’ll carefully check anything you use."

"Mm." He Tiantian nodded, "Yuanyuan, keep an eye out, it might not just be Jiao Lihong, there could be others too."

"Sure." Wei Yuanyuan smiled, "I’ll keep watch."

He Tiantian felt somewhat disappointed.

Cui Ying was He Tiantian’s classmate, as well as a good friend, and naturally understood He Tiantian’s mood.

"The finest trees are often buffeted by the winds," Cui Ying said with a smile, "you are excellent, and that will make people jealous. There’s also a saying, ’Where there are people, there are rivers and lakes.’"

"Moreover, when you’re in the rivers and lakes, you can’t help yourself," Wei Yuanyuan added, "as long as you have a clear conscience, that’s what matters."

"Stay true to your original aspirations and you will succeed in the end." Cui Ying patted He Tiantian on the shoulder, everything she said was meant to comfort He Tiantian.

He Tiantian nodded and smiled, "I got it, I won’t overthink it."

Sports competition is inherently a very cruel activity.

Higher, faster, stronger.

This requires not only talent but also hard work.

There are all sorts of difficulties on this journey; He Tiantian understood that.

However, now actually facing them, she felt somewhat dejected.

Fortunately, she had so many supportive family members and friends by her side.

She had thought Jiao Lihong would do something to her, but she overthought it; nothing happened.

Besides giving He Tiantian unfriendly looks, Jiao Lihong made no other moves.

Wei Yuanyuan was not reassured but became even more vigilant.

Until the eve of the competition, Jiao Lihong remained quiet.

This made He Tiantian a bit puzzled, but the competition was imminent, and she didn’t have time to think too much about it as she began to prepare.

The national swimming championships of 1986 were held in Su Province Nan City.

Huo Ruihua and Huo Ruimin wanted to go watch the competition and sneaked away to ask their teacher for leave.

"Teacher, we would like to ask for a leave," Huo Ruimin said cheerfully, planning to secure the leave and give their mother a surprise.

"Why do you need a leave?" Teacher Zhang asked kindly, "Can you tell me the reason?"

Huo Ruihua and Huo Ruimin were good students in the class, always performing well academically.

"We want to take a leave to go see our mother compete," said Huo Ruimin, with Huo Ruihua listening by her side; if his sister could get the leave, he would naturally get one too.

"Compete?" Teacher Zhang was curious, "What kind of competition?"

"The national swimming championships, held in Nan City," Huo Ruimin replied, "This is my mother’s first time participating in a professional swimming competition, and as her daughter, I want to go and cheer for her."

"But wouldn’t that require a lot of time?" Teacher Zhang asked, a bit concerned, "What if it affects your grades?"

"We need a two-week leave," Huo Ruimin shook her head seriously, "Teacher Zhang, we’ve already completed the syllabus for this semester; it won’t affect our grades."

"Uh-uh!" Teacher Zhang was at a loss for words, "Do your parents know about you asking for leave?"

"They do," Huo Ruimin answered, "Teacher Zhang, please, let us have the leave."

******

I recommend my friend Tian Qing Di Bai’s novel "Reborn in the Riverside Family" where Qin Qing, along with her daughter, becomes wealthy, defies the scum, and marries a handsome, wealthy man.