The loudspeaker at the registration area sounded once. Han Mei took a deep breath and, under the teacher’s arrangement, walked to the starting line.
The starter was still adjusting the starting gun.
At the finish line, some students had already stretched out the red ribbon for the sprint.
Han Mei warmed up, placed her hands on the track behind the white line, and leaned her body slightly forward.
The angle of her knee bend, the height of her hips’ center of gravity, the distance between her shoulders and the starting line—all strictly followed what Commander Han had taught her.
Commander Han hadn’t thought that deeply about it.
Everything was done according to the rules of the Military World Games.
The rule at the Military World Games was that the 100-meter, 200-meter, and 400-meter relay sprints all required a crouching start.
Only middle- and long-distance races used a standing start.
The other competing students stared at Han Mei, completely taken aback.
“What is she doing?”
“How should I know? She looks so weird.”
Their rhythm was thrown off, and they all gossiped about Han Mei’s starting posture.
In the stands, Gao Zhiqiang was chatting with a sports school coach next to him when Han Mei’s figure caught his attention.
He leaned forward slightly, squinting as he watched for a few seconds.
The starting stance wasn’t bad, but that was all superficial—it was the results that mattered.
Even so, Gao Zhiqiang sat up straight, becoming serious.
“On your marks!”
“Get set!”
“Bang!”
As the starting gun fired, Han Mei shifted her center of gravity slightly downward and pushed hard against the track with her right foot, generating forward momentum.
Her stride frequency was astonishingly fast.
Her slender legs alternated with clean, crisp arm swings.
Because she was running so fast, her expression even turned a bit fierce.
At that moment, Han Mei couldn’t remember anything.
Wang Xiuzhi’s reminders, the shoes on her feet…
Han Mei pushed it all out of her mind, her eyes fixed only on the red ribbon at the finish line.
Lin Zhilan clasped her hands in front of her chest, nervous for her.
Han Mei instantly pulled ahead of the other students, drawing everyone’s gaze to her.
In the stands, Gao Zhiqiang had already stood up, leaning forward slightly, his eyes fixed unblinkingly on the figure on the track, whose speed showed no sign of fading.
People around had already started cheering, but Han Mei couldn’t hear a thing.
She could only hear the pounding of her own heartbeat and her heavy, ragged breaths. Halfway through the race, because she was pushing so hard, muscle aches and fatigue hit her at the same time.
Yet along with that pain came some of Han Mei’s stubborn obsessions.
She didn’t know what it meant to run well, so she just gave it her all.
Faster… even faster!
Han Mei gritted her teeth, her face twisted from the sheer effort, yet carrying a certain intensity.
Everyone had their eyes locked on her: ten meters… five meters… two meters… the finish!
The moment Han Mei crossed the line, everyone’s hearts were at their peak.
After they saw her cross, they let out a long sigh of relief.
Lin Zhilan and Jiang Chengzhou had already returned to Su Lang’s side, holding his hand tightly and asking, “How many seconds? How many seconds?”
Su Lang relaxed his brow. “Fifteen seconds.”
Lin Zhilan let out an excited squeal.
Su Lang chuckled. “It’s someone else’s child, yet you’re this happy?”
Lin Zhilan gave him a playful glare, unable to suppress the smile curling at her lips. “What do you know? Maybe she’ll represent the country in competitions someday. You don’t understand collective pride, do you?”
Su Lang nodded with a smile.
His wife sure was thinking far ahead.
Lin Zhilan watched Han Mei and smiled.
She had already calculated: China restored its legitimate seat in the International Olympic Committee in 1979 and would return to the Summer Olympics in 1984.
By then, Han Mei would only be in her early twenties.
The golden age for track athletes is between 22 and 28—so it would be just perfect.
Maybe she’d even break an Asian record or something of the sort—Lin Zhilan had already started daydreaming…
When Han Mei crossed the finish line, the referee stopped the stopwatch at the same time.
One referee looked down at the timer, blinked in surprise, and exchanged glances with another before confirming the number—they both gulped.
14.82 seconds!
Was that really a time a nine-year-old could achieve?
Han Mei knew nothing about this.
She crossed the finish line, ran another ten meters or so, and only then slowed down to a stop.
Han Mei rested her hands on her knees, gasping for air.
Her legs were trembling slightly, a normal reaction after hitting her physical limit.
There was a ringing in her ears, and she couldn’t hear clearly what people around her were saying.
Han Mei panted for a long moment, then slowly straightened up and glanced toward the edge of the field.
Lin Zhilan was standing there, One hand on Su Lang’s arm, the other waving at her excitedly.
A smile then spread across Han Mei’s face.
She must have run well, right?
Gao Zhiqiang came down from the stands and first went to the referee to check the stopwatch. “Is there any problem with your timer?”
“Officer Gao, that’s not fair of you. What do you take us for?” one of the referees, a school teacher, said, immediately displeased at the remark.
Gao Zhiqiang quickly replied, “No, no, that’s not what I meant. It’s just that this kid performed really well. How old is she?”
“Hold on, I’ll get her homeroom teacher.”
Han Mei’s homeroom teacher came over shortly, along with Commander Han and Wang Xiuzhi.
When Gao Zhiqiang heard that the child’s parent was also a commander, his expression turned a bit sour.
Wang Xiuzhi saw his face and thought, oh no.
“Commander Han, has your child been trained before? How old is she?”
Commander Han kept his composure better than Wang Xiuzhi and answered calmly, “Nine years old. I trained her for two weeks earlier.”
Gao Zhiqiang nodded. “I’m with the Municipal Sports Committee, specifically responsible for recruiting for sports schools. Have you ever considered letting your child attend a sports school?”
“Yes!” Wang Xiuzhi blurted out, then quickly ducked behind Commander Han when she saw everyone turn to look.
Commander Han said, “This is my wife.”
“Oh, oh,” Gao Zhiqiang smiled. “Since you’re interested, could you let the child do a couple more tests?”
Sprinting calls for explosiveness as well as consistency.
Han Mei had great leg structure—long lower legs—lean thighs, slender ankles, and solid physical qualities.
If she could maintain this performance every time and train at the sports school for another two years, she’d be just right for the National Middle School Student Games.
Commander Han glanced at Han Mei. “Yes, that’s possible.”
But there was no rush—the sports meet was still going on.
By afternoon, all the events had finished.
The award ceremony began.
Jiang Chengzhou received a certificate and a notebook.
Lin Zhilan laughingly said she’d frame the certificate as a keepsake.
Jiang Chengzhou looked a bit embarrassed for once but didn’t refuse.
Han Mei also got an award, but after the ceremony, she was asked to stay behind.
This time, Gao Zhiqiang timed her himself and had her run twice more.
Once at 15.32 seconds, and once at 15.68 seconds.
Neither was as fast as her first run, but both results were excellent. The key point was that she was stable and outstanding—that showed real talent.
