Punctual as always, Xuemei woke up at 5am on the dot. Since she woke up from the coma, she would always jog around the neighborhood to stay in shape while building her stamina. Tying up her hair, she got ready by wearing a loose t-shirt and work-out leggings. Oddly enough, although she did not wear either in her last life, the leggings were more comfortable than the shorts. It still felt uncomfortable to wear shorts that cut off so high up her leg. Most guy shorts cut off around the knee, so she could not quite get used to it yet. Outside the house gate, she began to stretch out her body for a good 10 minutes or so. Finally finished those, she began her slow and steady jog. Keeping her strides evenly spaced and her breathing under control, Xuemei felt the slightly brisk morning air invigorating her. Running always had a nice calming effect on her. No doubt it was tiring and some days she really did not want to get out of bed, but she did like the feeling of emptying her mind of other thoughts. This time of the day, although there were some early birds, the streets were mostly empty. A rare quiet and tranquil city scene was comforting.

However, it seemed that fate had other plans in store for her this morning. Around halfway through her normal route, Xuemei could sense a pair of eyes following her. Thumping footsteps from behind also copied her rhythm, clearly slowing down and speeding up with her. Furrowing her brow, Xuemei did not panic and instead just decided to stop near an alleyway. Bending down, she pretended to need to tie her shoelaces. Keeping her wits about her, she could feel someone rush up to approach her. Hugging her body from behind, a disgusting heavy breathing slid down her neck.

“Hey, beauty. It’s dangerous to be out by yourself like this.” A scratchy voice whispered out. Forcing back her urge to puke, Xuemei quickly burst into action. Slamming her elbow into the man’s gut and stomping on his foot, she heard him groan in pain before loosening his arms. At this point, she spun around and slammed a high kick straight into his face. Ramming head first into the wall after the kick, the man did not recover easily. Putting her knee against his back and locking his arm, Xuemei made sure that he was securely down before whipping out her phone. Getting a closer look at the man, he seemed to a fairly average middle-aged man with nothing that screamed creepy. Yet, it was usually the normal looking ones that would get away with these types of crimes the easiest since they do not feel suspicious. He was even dressed in exercise clothes so that it would not seem odd that he was out jogging.

“Hehe, even your hands are so soft…” Although incapacitated, the man still tried to feel her hands.

“Behave or I’ll break your arm.” Cold as ice, her voice warned and put more force into the hold as warning. Waking up to the pain, the man did not try to feel her up anymore. Pressing 110 into her phone, Xuemei quickly reported the situation. Once the man heard the word “police”, he finally recognized the situation and tried to struggle from her grasp. No matter how much he floundered, he could not escape her grasp. After waiting for a short while, the police sirens were finally audible and approaching. When they arrived and saw the situation, the police felt slightly speechless. Although it was not unheard of for women to know self-defense, it was still rather shocking to see a woman beat up her assaulter like so.

“As I said over the phone, this man ran up from behind me and hugged me suddenly. He also tried to assault me. Luckily, I was able to defend myself and detain the culprit until now. You can take him away.” Nodding absentmindedly, the policemen eventually woke back up to the situation and handcuffed the man. Standing him up, they were ready to take him away.

“She’s lying! She’s crazy, she just suddenly beat an innocent bystander up!” Not willing to go quietly, the man quickly refuted Xuemei’s words. He felt confident because there were no witnesses, so he decided to make this a he-said-she-said issue. In that way, most likely the charges would not hold and he would be released.

“Hmph! You sure think you are so smart. Well, you should have picked a better neighborhood to commit crimes in. This street is full of CCTVs as most of the wealthy and affluent live in this area. Why do you think I stopped here? Was it really to tie my shoes?” Xuemei then smirked and pointed upwards to the street pole. When the policemen and the assaulter followed her finger, they noticed that a recording CCTV was right there in plain sight and most definitely caught the entire thing on video. Just to rub it in a little more, she also pointed towards the parked cars around and one could tell that most of them contained dashboard cameras. It was at this point the color drained from the criminal’s face while the policemen felt even more respect towards this woman. Xuemei inwardly rolled her eyes feeling that his man did not even know the basics of committing crimes. Maybe he was first-time offender?

“Well, this will make the case easier. Will you be pressing charges, miss?”

“Yes, obviously. One less bottom-feeder on the streets will help other women stay safe.”

“Then, we will need your statement at the station. Later on, it will be admissible as part of the evidence.”

“Go to the station…” Xuemei now felt troubled. If she goes to the station now, that means she would need a ride. Which would mean she would have to ask her parents since Tao Qiao was not to arrive until 6:30am. Plus, if this took too long, she could end up being late to her first lesson. All of these were headache inducing problems. Sighing to herself, she felt reluctant to let this pervert get away due to her overprotective parents. Biting the bullet, she ended up dialing her mother’s phone number. Her mother was a light sleeper, so she would most likely wake up.

“Hello, Xiao Mei, why are you calling so early? Aren’t you usually running right now?”

“Hi, mom… Uh, I need a ride…”

“A ride? Where?”

“…The police station.”

“…What?”

“The police station.”

“…”

“Tang Xuemei! What have you done this time?! Why do you need to go to the police station!?” Instead of the expected worry, Mother Tang began yelling out angrily. At first, Xuemei felt confused by the sudden fury. Understanding only dawned on her after she thought for a moment. Of course, this was the fault of the past Tang Xuemei. Her bratty antics had actually gotten her in the police station once after she antagonized another girl. Thankfully, her parents reached a settlement with the victim’s parents so nothing came out of it, but that was the first time her mother ever laid a hand on her. That hard slap had deeply shocked Xuemei at the time and she did not speak to her mother for a couple months after.

“Nothing, mom. I was the victim.” Slightly speechless, Xuemei felt it strange to have to explain it like this.

“The victim? Oh, thank god… Wait, the victim?! Oh my god, husband, wake up! Someone tried to commit a crime against our Xuemei!” Her attitude took a complete 180 after the sigh of relief. The normally gentle Mother Tang shoved her husband out of bed and quickly asked for Xuemei’s location. After hanging up the phone with her parents, Xuemei felt drained of energy. The police told her which station to go to and brought the culprit away first. Looking at her phone, Xuemei saw that it was already 5:45am. Nibbling on her lip, she decided she should still message Mo Chen just in case she is running late. If she lets him know now, at least it would not seem like a last-minute lie. Typing out the situation, she promptly sent him a message. Seeing that it was still early, she was not expecting an answer right away.

When a familiar black car pulled up, three bodies all quickly tumbled out. It seemed that her brother had come along, as well. Checking her up and down, they continually asked to confirm that she was alright. Pushing down her temper, Xuemei tried her best to reassure them.

You should look at the other guy. She retorted in her head. Trying her best to gloss over the situation, she did not want to come right out with the guy’s intentions. But the truth was inevitable. When they arrived at the station, Xuemei had to properly give her victim statement. Side glancing at her parents and Xueliang, she knew that this was not going to be pretty. It’s not that she wanted them to know, but accuracy and detail were important. Otherwise, her statement could be seen as unreliable. Recounting everything in her head by memory in as objective a way as possible, she answered the police officer’s questions. With each answer, her family’s faces grew darker and uglier. Looking at the man locked up in the temporary holding cell, both the men of the family had the impulse to go over and strangle the pervert.

Once she was free to go, Xuemei basically had to push and drag her family out the doors. Checking the time, she realized it was already 6:45. Mo Chen also messaged her back expressing his understanding and said their meeting time would be pushed back to 10. Sighing with relief, Xuemei had plenty of time to wind down and get ready after such an eventful morning.

In the car, the family finally calmed down. But that did not stop them from lecturing her.

“Xuemei, ah, don’t go running anymore. Your mother’s heart cannot take the anxiety. There are too many criminals out there.” Still holding her chest with fright, Mother Tang could not calm down.

“Mom, that’s just unreasonable. How long have I been running now and nothing has happened? Plus, you heard what I said. That bastard barely had a chance to touch me before I beat him to the ground. I told you those martial arts classes were important.” Xuemei quickly fought back.

“Tang Xuemei! Watch your language! And that’s not the point. Just thinking that man touched you even for a moment makes my skin crawl with disgust. This is not up for discussion. You will not go running anymore.” For the first time since her rebirth, Father Tang came off stern with the unquestionable authority of the head of the family.

Growing more and more frustrated, Xuemei could not stand it anymore. She was an independent adult man raised in western civilization in her mind, when had she ever suffered such control?

“Alright, this needs to stop! Father, Mother, even you too, brother, you guys are too controlling and overprotective. I am an adult now. I can make my own decisions. I have taken intensive martial arts training classes for almost a year and my teacher says I could take on most average males. I do not need to be protected all the time. You can’t just keep trying to box me in! I have to move on in my life. You guys acting like this just makes me more anxious and frustrated. I won’t try to commit suicide again; I am really happy and content with my life. I’m obviously trying to move on, but you guys will not let me. Can’t you see that this is just making me unhappy?!”

Silence broke out in the car as all their faces turned pale. Seeing this sight, Xuemei did feel slightly regretful and guilty. However, she had to say what needs to be said. If this keeps up, it will turn into an unhealthy obsession. Remembering her fear of even mentioning the fender bender from earlier, she did not waver. This had to stop. Actually, this was the first time “suicide” had finally been said out loud. If anything, they would call it the accident or just refer to the coma. Because there was different meaning in that word that broke their hearts: that she had wanted to die and they were not reason enough for her to live. She was prepared to let the white-haired send off the black-haired. From the ancient teachings until now, this was an extremely unfilial act. Acting without respect towards the life and love her parents gave her.

“Tang Xuemei! How could you say something so ungrateful? Do you know how our parents felt during those three years?! How I felt?! I can understand you feeling overwhelmed and thinking we are too much, but the same goes for you. Do you not think you are too much? How could you think of suicide over some stupid young crush?” Since they broached the topic, Xueliang burst out with the resentment that piled up over the three years of waiting.

All the words of defense suddenly felt stuck in her throat and her heart felt stabbed by the guilt. Xuemei truly felt wronged. That was not her! But this was not something she could confess to them. Cursing her fate, the anger and annoyance in her deflated.

“I know. It’s because I know that I am trying so hard to change, no? I really regret. I really feel guilty. I didn’t mean to snap like that. How about this? I will get a membership to a local gym and work out there. That way it will be safer. I’ll get Tao Qiao to drive me.”

Everyone’s expressions softened after hearing her words. It was true that their Xuemei had changed a lot after waking up from the coma.

“We’ll just buy some gym equipment and make a home gym. You can work out in there.” Still not willing, Father Tang insisted.

“That’s such a waste of money, Dad. There are perfectly safe and well-equipped gyms everywhere.”

“We also need to stay in shape and work out occasionally. It would be good to have one right inside the house. It’s so convenient that it would encourage us.”

“…Fine.” Compromising, Xuemei placed her hope in university. Once she goes out, there will definitely be more freedom. It was inevitable.

Nodding in pleasure, the conversation finally stopped there.

Xuemei did not know, but this outburst did not make them unhappy. Conversely, it actually made them feel more comfortable in their hearts. She thought that acting well-behaved would put them at ease, but she did not quite comprehend the strangeness of habits. When one is close to someone, you just get used to their strange behaviors and personality. Them acting out of character is actually more unsettling. Xuemei was a fierce, spoiled princess before the coma. Coming out of it, she was suddenly well-behaved, into exercise and fighting, studious. It was like there was an intangible line that made it hard for the Tangs to feel like this Xuemei was their Xuemei. Although they never thought something crazy like a different soul taking over Xuemei’s body, they did fear that this was some psychological aftereffect of the suicide attempt or that she was actually depressed. Counterintuitively, seeing some signs of her old self allowed them to put down some of the worries in their hearts.