A Gentle Breeze Over the Hills

The autumn morning sunlight streamed through the gap in the curtains, casting a warm and tranquil silence across the bedroom. The girl lay sleeping sweetly, entirely unaware that she was soon about to be late.

When the alarm rang again, it was already ten minutes later. Pei Huan opened her phone, squinting at the screen, and upon seeing the time displayed on the lock screen, she sat up abruptly as if startled from a dream.

Hadn’t she set the alarm for seven o'clock? How was it already seven twenty?

Pei Huan sat on the bed, overwhelmed for a few seconds, then quickly got up to wash and dress. She slung her backpack over her shoulder and hurried downstairs, where her mother was leisurely enjoying breakfast. Seeing Pei Huan appear at the table, slightly breathless, her mother teased, “Finally decided to get up?”

Pei Huan grabbed a slice of bread, stuffed a bottle of milk into the side of her backpack, and complained, “Mom, why didn’t you wake me up?”

“I did call you. You said you’d get up after sleeping five more minutes,” her mother replied, unhurried.

This only made Pei Huan more exasperated. With little time left before she’d be late, she didn’t waste any more breath arguing, quickly said goodbye, and rushed out the door.

Though autumn had arrived, autumn in the south was nothing like that in the north. After getting off the bus and dashing through the school gate in the last minute, Pei Huan was drenched in sweat. The dean, stationed at the entrance to catch late students, cast her a sour glance but said nothing. Pei Huan q