HCILH Ch. 9

Chapter 9: The Dorm Battle

After the five-day military training for second-year students ended, classes resumed for them, while first-year students continued with ten more days of training.

Class Seventeen of the second year had its unique style of attending lessons—those who wanted to sleep slept and those who wanted to play played. It seemed like all the textbooks in the class were still brand new.

The biggest conflict during this period was about the dorm arrangements.

The students from the original Qingyu High School gradually realized that their dormitories were on the worst floors. After some inquiries, they discovered that on the day the third-year students moved out, just after they were informed about the upcoming merge, the students from Fenghua High School had taken the opportunity to move their dorms.

The students themselves had arranged their dorm locations and occupied all the good floors.

Merging two schools was like having a second child; everything had to be balanced.

During military training, Yuan Qingyu students had to climb up to the fifth or sixth floor to rest, which became increasingly unbearable. Eventually, they began to protest to the teachers.

However, despite the teachers’ promises to make adjustments, no changes were made.

Meanwhile, the students from Fenghua, having taken advantage of the situation, taunted them, “What’s the big deal about climbing a few extra floors? Think of it as exercise. We also sacrificed ourselves by giving you guys the chance to work out.”

The former Qingyu students were fed up and decided to stir things up.

On Thursday, the items ordered by the Qingyu High School boys arrived.

Once their dorm doors were closed, they started unpacking. Ran Shu pulled a black water gun out of the box and handed it to Sui Houyu: “This one looks cool.”

Sui Houyu weighed it in his hand; it was quite heavy and would probably be even heavier once filled with water.

While he was testing the weight, he noticed Ran Shu putting something on his back. He leaned in to see that Ran Shu was wearing a bunny-shaped water tank, with a white body and a pink skirt, connected to a water gun by a tube.

Oh, so it could be like this?

Sui Houyu couldn’t help but comment: “You’ve got a girly side, huh?”

Ran Shu, still fiddling with the buckles to secure the water tank, casually replied, “J-just using it this one time.”

Sui Houyu put on a baseball cap, a mask, and night vision goggles. Just in case, he changed into a hoodie, pulled the hood up, and tied the drawstrings tightly around his face for extra cover.

With their weapons ready, about fifty boys from Qingyu gathered in the hallway, waiting for Sui Houyu to lead them.

This wasn’t Sui Houyu’s idea, nor was he the one who organized it, but somehow, once he got involved, a group of people begged him to help.

After he reluctantly participated, he became the de facto leader, and everyone started looking to him for instructions.

With no other choice, Sui Houyu took on the role and instructed the boys: “Don’t damage any valuables, just aim at people. And don’t spray their beds—if they can’t sleep, things will get too serious.”

Ran Shu always felt uncomfortable: “No-no-no. W-what’s wrong with not letting them sleep? Couldn’t they still sleep soundly on the floor? Don’t you think what they’re doing is immoral?”

Sui Houyu replied calmly: “This is just a warning, so they know we won’t stop until we get what we want.”

Ran Shu asked: “W-What if a fight breaks out?”

Sui Houyu said in a calm voice: “Try to avoid dragging it out, and also, don’t suffer any losses.” 

With everything set, the group made their move, heading to the third floor.

Most of the students on the third floor were still awake—some were playing games in their dorms, others were chatting in the hallway, and a few were washing up in the bathroom.

The fifty or so boys from Qingyu High School charged in with water guns, organized and disciplined. They sprayed anyone they saw.

Then they kicked open dorm doors, sprayed the occupants in the face, and ran off.

Soon, the entire third floor was filled with the sound of curses.

Some of the more hot-tempered students rushed into the hallway, only to find over thirty boys waiting there, who promptly soaked like a drowned chicken in an instant, forcing them back inside.

When Sui Houyu kicked open Hou Mo’s dorm room door, Hou Mo had just finished washing his sportswear and was planning to go to the balcony to hang up the clothes, shaking them out of the basin while rolling up his sleeves.

Sui Houyu held the water gun, looked at Hou Mo, hesitated for a moment, and then sprayed water at his body.

Hou Mo shuddered from the cold and instinctively tossed the wet shirt back onto his bed, walking toward Sui Houyu.

Deng Yiheng jumped out of bed and asked, “What are you doing?! What’s happening?”

Sui Houyu sprayed Deng Yiheng’s face, filling his mouth with water, causing him to sputter “pooh, pooh, pooh” and curse.

After spraying them, Sui Houyu quickly exited the dorm, but Hou Mo chased after him.

The corridor had already turned into a chaotic fight. The boys from Qingyu High School had planned to protest from the beginning, and once they succeeded, they all rushed away in a frenzy.

Hou Mo was also a nimble and fast boy; years of training had given him quicker reflexes than the average person. He reached out to grab Sui Houyu’s body, but Sui Houyu skillfully dodged him.

As a result, in the midst of the commotion, Hou Mo caught sight of Sui Houyu’s hair, which was only visible at the tips beneath his hat. The ends of the hair were quite distinctive, curly and neatly curled upward.

Such an obvious personal characteristic that was not hidden well!

“Hey, Sui Houyu!” Hou Mo immediately recognized him.

Sui Houyu glanced back at Hou Mo but continued running with his water gun.

Hou Mo wasn’t about to let him go and chased him through the hallway.

The corridor was slippery, with water everywhere, but Sui Houyu leaped lightly over a boy who had slipped, kicking up a trail of water droplets as he landed and splashing through more puddles as he reached the stairs.

Hou Mo kept chasing, the “pa pa” sound of his shoes splashing through the water echoing with each step.

Finally, Hou Mo grabbed the corner of Sui Houyu’s hoodie and yanked him back, pulling him into a tight grip around the waist. Hou Mo wiped his soaked arms on Sui Houyu and grinned, “You’re really shameless. How’s that, soaked from head to toe?”

The moment Hou Mo grabbed him, Sui Houyu’s body tensed up. He looked at the strong arm around his waist with a flash of disgust and started struggling violently.

Hou Mo wasn’t about to let go and tightened his grip.

As the two wrestled, Sui Houyu crouched down, and Hou Mo ended up practically laying across his back, wrapping his arms around Sui Houyu’s legs and holding him in a ball.

Luckily, Sui Houyu was slim and flexible, or this position would have been unbearable.

Pinned like this, Sui Houyu couldn’t escape.

It seemed the “capture the leader” strategy had worked.

With Sui Houyu restrained, the Qingyu boys stopped running, gathering near the staircase to see what would happen.

The Fenghua students also started to gather, including Deng Yiheng and Sang Xian, who joined Hou Mo. Both sides seemed ready for a fight.

Hou Mo, still holding onto Sui Houyu, asked, “What did they do?”

Deng Yiheng wiped his wet face and replied, “They just sprayed us with water, didn’t damage anything, but it’s really annoying! My pants are sticking to me now.”

Ran Shu took a few steps forward and said, “Y-you let him go.”

Hou Mo laughed at Ran Shu’s words: “What’s the point of wearing a mask when your voice gives you away?”

“T-that’s not the issue. You need to let him go first.”

“Oh yeah? What if I don’t?” Hou Mo responded, sounding cocky.

“Well… if you don’t let him go, you’re going to regret it. Haven’t you noticed I don’t even sit next to him?”

Hou Mo looked curiously at Sui Houyu, who he had pinned down. The hood of his sweatshirt had already fallen off, and only his cap, mask, and night vision goggles remained on his head.

However, thanks to the corridor’s lighting, he could see that Sui Houyu’s neck and ears were bright red. At that moment, Sui Houyu was still struggling, and Hou Mo didn’t dare to let go.

Deng Yiheng, standing nearby, said, “He really seems unwilling to get too close to others. He is especially picky.”

Sang Xian lazily took out his phone from his pocket to check it.

Hou Mo looked at Sang Xian and asked: “Are you still in the mood to play on your phone?”

Sang Xian replied: “No, I’m just checking what day your death anniversary is.”

Deng Yiheng was also inspired; after taking out his phone and glancing at it, he said, “Senior Brother, if you can hold on for another half an hour, your lifespan can be extended by another day.”

Sui Houyu was provoked by these words and began to struggle violently again.

Hou Mo was almost unable to hold him down and motioned to Deng Yiheng with his chin. Deng Yiheng immediately understood, parted the crowd to give Hou Mo a path, and then went back to the dorm to open the door.

Hou Mo peeked in and, after letting go of Sui Houyu, dashed toward his own dorm like a wild dog off its leash.

Once inside, he locked the dorm door and refused to open it, leaving Sang Xian outside.

Sui Houyu glared in that direction, furious, and finally picked up his water gun from the ground, shouting at the students of Qingyu: “Let’s go.”

Ran Shu then followed Sui Houyu upstairs.

After confirming that Sui Houyu had left, Hou Mo opened the door for Sang Xian, and a few other students from Fenghua came into the dorm.

Hou Mo’s cowardly demeanor disappeared instantly as he stood tall and questioned his roommates: “Why should I run?! Huh? Am I afraid of him? They were the ones who started it!”

Deng Yiheng couldn’t help but smirk at the memory of Hou Mo’s wild dog-like dash, but still comforted him, “We’re just being smart and avoiding unnecessary conflict. By the way, what was your last name before you changed it, Senior Brother?”

Hou Mo lazily replied: “An.”

“Okay, An it is, stop thinking about it.”

“Tsk… Bullsh*t.”

Other Fenghua students asked: “Should we go upstairs to retaliate?”

Hou Mo shook his head: “It would definitely attract the dorm supervisor’s attention. If we go up, it would actually be our problem.”

Deng Yiheng sighed: “The Qingyu people are too despicable; they didn’t fight, didn’t damage anything, just sprayed people with a broken water gun. If investigated, they’ll just say it was a prank and won’t be held accountable.”

“We’re just afraid they’ll make trouble until the dorm rooms are changed.”

“Then let’s confront them head-on; we can buy water guns too.”

After hearing this, Hou Mo sighed and climbed up to the upper bunk to sleep.

Childish.

*

Sui Houyu threw his sweatshirt on the floor, and Ran Shu even stepped on it a few times, saying: “We don’t want this broken, torn clothing!”

Sui Houyu still felt particularly uncomfortable and wanted to take a shower.

Ran Shu nervously followed him, asking: “What if we go down and have a fight now?”

“If I go, more than fifty people will be included in the investigation.” After Sui Houyu finished speaking, he had already entered the bathroom.

Ran Shu wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, noting that Sui Houyu appeared relatively calm and hadn’t lost control, which was a good thing.

If he were to lose control, Ran Shu wouldn’t be able to handle it.

Sigh, he shouldn’t have brought Sui Houyu along… Ran Shu began to regret it.What Ran Shu didn’t know was that Sui Houyu had turned the water in the bathroom to a very hot setting and was shaking with anger.