The Sweetness of the Seventies
Chapter 1040 - 109: Bullying by Power

Chapter 1040: Chapter 109: Bullying by Power

Faced with the requests of two students, Teacher Zhang had no choice but to agree.

The two children had good grades and were sensible as well.

Teacher Zhang looked at Huo Ruimin, who was playfully shaking her arm, and couldn’t help but laugh, "Alright, since your parents are willing to let you take leave, have your dad, or mom, come over and take care of the leave formalities."

"Mmm-hmm, thank you, Teacher Zhang." Huo Ruihua and Huo Ruimin said simultaneously.

That evening at home, He Tiantian talked to her dad, Huo Yingjie, about taking leave.

"Are all of you going to Nan City?" Huo Yingjie asked, somewhat intrigued, his wife and children going to Nan City would leave him bored alone in Yanjing.

"Yes. Dad, if you’re not too busy with work, come with us," Huo Ruimin said. "We could make it a family trip. Not only could we see the competition, but we could also visit our grandpa and grandma, they would be so happy."

Huo Yingjie thought for a moment and said, "At most, I can only take a week of vacation, I can’t watch the competition with you in its entirety."

"That would still be fine," Huo Ruimin said with a sly smile. "Dad, let’s give Mom a surprise. Just say you don’t have a vacation, but then appear in the audience when Mom is competing."

"Mmm-hmm, that’s a good idea," Huo Ruihua said. "Dad, give mom a surprise."

Huo Yingjie thought for a moment. Since he couldn’t travel with He Tiantian anyway, this plan could indeed give He Tiantian a surprise.

"Alright," Huo Yingjie said with a smile. "Let’s mobilize the whole family and go to Nan City together."

The next day, Huo Yingjie took two weeks of leave for the two children.

That evening, Huo Yingjie said apologetically, "I’m sorry, I have an important project and can’t go to Nan City to watch your competition."

He Tiantian knew Huo Yingjie had been busy recently and nodded, "It’s okay, you always save your holidays for the summer anyway. It’s normal for schedules to conflict sometimes. Don’t feel guilty, you’re already doing great."

The next morning, He Tiantian packed her bags and, together with Wei Yuanyuan and Cui Ying, went to the sports bureau. Everyone gathered to take the train to Nan City together.

Meanwhile, Huo Yingjie staggered his schedule from He Tiantian; two hours after He Tiantian’s train left, Huo Yingjie boarded the train with their children, Grandma Wang, Lu Wanxia, Zhang Ning, and Xie Wu.

On the train, they had ordinary hard seats.

He Tiantian was somewhat speechless. Was the budget that tight?

This was a long journey, and hard seats were exhausting!

They still had to compete!

The trip was led by Coach Xia and Zhu Zhitao, totalling twelve athletes.

The seat numbers were consecutive. Since Wei Yuanyuan and Cui Ying were not from the sports bureau, they needed to buy their own tickets. He Tiantian had someone book a sleeper for them, but she herself had to take a hard seat.

However, with Coach Xia and Zhu Zhitao present, He Tiantian wouldn’t leave the group, so she reluctantly sat in the hard seat.

Cui Ying and Wei Yuanyuan, wanting to protect He Tiantian, swapped their sleeper tickets for hard seat tickets with people nearby.

Seeing this, He Tiantian felt somewhat guilty, but Wei Yuanyuan and Cui Ying didn’t mind, thinking hard seats were no big deal, and instead told He Tiantian to rest well.

Jiao Lihong saw that someone was always following He Tiantian and muttered, "Heh, such a princess, always having people attend to her wherever she goes!"

Adjacent to her, Cai Fenfang chimed in, "Yeah, but she’s probably not just any princess. I heard last time that she has children; she must be from a wealthy family, a young grandmother. Having children already and still competing at this age, I really wonder what she’s aiming for."

Xie Feifei, sitting opposite them, whispered, "Competitions are about speed, not age. You shouldn’t say things like that."

"What’s the matter?" said Jiao Lihong, "Can’t we even talk now? It’s better than mumbling to yourself."

"You!" Xie Feifei, infuriated, said, "When did I ever mumble? It’s clearly you who have been mumbling. I’ve already told He Tiantian that when we compete, we see who’s better. Not like some people who mumble and then don’t admit it, always trying to rope others in."

"Xie Feifei, do you not want to stick around in the team anymore?" Jiao Lihong narrowed her eyes threateningly, implying that crossing her would lead to no good outcomes in the team.

This time, if she could secure a top three position in the breaststroke, she would be able to join the national team.

Jiao Lihong was very confident; with her uncle backing her, she was not afraid of anything.

Xie Feifei’s face flushed slightly. Though she still wanted to argue, considering the upcoming competition, she worried Lihong might resort to tactics that could disturb her performance. Therefore, she might not perform well or make the national team, which would mean no chance to realize her ambitions.

Seeing that Xie Feifei had gone silent, Jiao Lihong looked rather smug.

If Xie Feifei didn’t get wise, Jiao Lihong wouldn’t mind teaching her a lesson. Although they were not in direct competition, Jiao Lihong always struck at those who did not understand their place.

The others dared not look at Jiao Lihong and bowed their heads one after another.

Xie Feifei also lowered her head, thinking she should have kept quiet.

But her temperament just couldn’t bear it.

Zhu Zhitao, who was seated somewhat nearer to them, heard their conversation and thought about the information he had looked up previously, somewhat speechless. Just because an uncle works in the national team, does she need to be so arrogant?

So arrogant—do the gold medals just fall into your hand?

Zhu Zhitao privately decided to keep a closer watch on Jiao Lihong, to prevent her from doing anything that might disrupt the team’s unity and performance.

At that moment, Zhu Zhitao, and Coach Xia, smoking by the side of the carriage, exchanged opinions.

"Coach Xia, that Jiao Lihong is really overbearing in the team," said Zhu Zhitao. "Haven’t you heard about it before?"

Coach Xia’s face showed embarrassment as he responded with a wry smile, "That Jiao Lihong, she’s Director Jiao’s niece. As long as she doesn’t go too far, I don’t say anything about her. She’s high and mighty. If I reprimand her, it won’t be many days before Director Jiao wants to talk to me. After a few occurrences, I’ve just stopped bothering to speak out against her."

Coach Xia was really helpless.

It’s the same everywhere, truly infuriating.

"Ah, hopefully, she won’t do something too outrageous," Zhu Zhitao scoffed, knowing that Coach Wu had long been dissatisfied with Director Jiao, considering him incompetent and narrow-minded. It figured his niece would be the same, unable to tolerate others.

"Luckily, she has good results. As long as nothing unexpected happens this time, she should be able to make it into the national team, and then I can offload this hot potato," Coach Xia sighed, "Ah, I just hope it goes smoothly this time!"

Zhu Zhitao chuckled, "It’s just like the demons in ’Journey to the West,’ stirring up trouble until they get caught, then their godly masters come to their support."

******

Introducing a good friend’s novel "Tang Dynasty Good Prince Consort" from Tian Qing Di Bai. Being a prince consort is tough, and in the Tang Dynasty, it’s even more challenging, let alone being a good one!