HCILH Ch. 11

Chapter 11: Cheering Him Up

Unlike Deng Yiheng and the others, Hou Mo had clearly trained in martial arts, and it was the military kind.

Sui Houyu, on the other hand, had been learning combat sports since he was young—Sanda, Taekwondo, boxing—and often sparred with his coaches. With his good physical condition, he’d never lost a fight.

But today, Hou Mo was clearly not an easy opponent.

After a few exchanges, Sui Houyu found himself unexpectedly caught by Hou Mo’s arm. As he struggled to break free, he saw Hou Mo calmly using his other hand to take off his shoe covers.

Sui Houyu panicked for a moment and lashed out with a kick towards Hou Mo.

Hou Mo blocked Sui Houyu’s leg with his hand, feeling a strong tremor in his palm from the impact. The force behind that kick was intense, and it took all of Hou Mo’s strength to fend it off.

Hou Mo had seen Sui Houyu fight with Deng Yiheng before, but at that time, Sui Houyu didn’t use his legs much, relying mainly on his fists.

Now it was clear that Sui Houyu had been holding back during that fight, which explained why Deng Yiheng and his group had only sustained minor injuries.

This time, Sui Houyu wasn’t holding back, and Hou Mo was having a hard time keeping up.

He got kicked again, this time in the pelvis. The pain made Hou Mo tremble, and he cursed: “F*ck, do you have steel plates in your f*cking feet?”

That kick was so vicious that Hou Mo felt like his soul was about to leave his body.

Taking advantage of a brief opening, Hou Mo grabbed Sui Houyu’s ankle. Sui Houyu, now balancing on one foot, tried desperately to pull his leg back. But Hou Mo lunged forward, pinning Sui Houyu to the ground and throwing a punch in his face.

Although the punch came quickly, Sui Houyu noticed that Hou Mo changed its trajectory at the last second. It was originally going to his face, but was instead directed at his chest.

Hou Mo, being Hou Mo, couldn’t resist making a snarky comment even during a fight: “I just can’t bring myself to hit that pretty face of yours!”

Sui Houyu let out a pained grunt, angered by the taunt, and tried to push Hou Mo off. But Hou Mo had both of Sui Houyu’s wrists pinned above his head with one hand, and with the other, he flicked Sui Houyu’s forehead. “Call me ‘Dad,’ and I’ll let you go.”

“Your uncle!” 

Sui Houyu moved his leg again. It’s likely only Sui Houyu could raise his leg that high as he stepped on Hou Mo’s chest, forcing him to back off.

Hou Mo thought Sui Houyu was like a snake—flexible and slippery.

Hou Mo had no choice but to step back a little. Taking advantage of the fact that Sui Houyu hadn’t gotten up yet, he grabbed both of Sui Houyu’s ankles, gripping them tightly and pinning him down so that Sui Houyu couldn’t get up.

But then Hou Mo realized that the position looked… awkward. Isn’t it wrong to hold his legs open like that?

So he let go.

As soon as Sui Houyu got to his feet and raised his fist, Hou Mo asked, “Can we stop now?”

Sui Houyu was so angry that his head throbbed with frustration. He had never seen anyone fight like they were teasing someone. No way was he stopping. He threw another punch, which Hou Mo dodged it by stepping to the side.

As they continued fighting, Sui Houyu realized Hou Mo’s style wasn’t typical—every move was aimed at subduing, not inflicting damage. Hou Mo used grappling techniques, all focused on restraining rather than hurting. Who knew what kind of training he’d gone through?

Every few punches Sui Houyu threw, Hou Mo would catch his hand.

Every few kicks, Hou Mo would make Sui Houyu stagger backward, only to pin him down again.

This guy doesn’t know how to fight properly!

Hou Mo was feeling a bit wronged. This was just how he fought—his style was more about blocking than going for victory, a method designed to frustrate his opponents.

Seeing that Sui Houyu was still struggling, Hou Mo, holding his wrists, dragged him into the room, pinning him down on the bed. “Can we just calmly and peacefully have a conversation now?”

“No!” Sui Houyu was about to explode with anger.

“Look, we’ve fought, we’ve clashed. Can’t we just shake hands and call it even?”

“Get lost!”

He had never seen anyone try to make peace like this before—Hou Mo was just one step away from slapping handcuffs on Sui Houyu.

Hou Mo sighed, thinking how unreasonable this was. He even lightly tapped the back of Sui Houyu’s head: “Why are you so difficult to get along with?”

After a pause, he hesitated for a while and added: “Is your hair so thick that it’s acting as a shock absorber?”

Sui Houyu was fuming so much that he wanted to start biting people. He struggled to break free, and when he finally did, he grabbed Hou Mo by the clothes and threw him over his shoulder. Luckily, Hou Mo landed on the bed, or that would have hurt a lot more.

Not backing down, Sui Houyu pounced on Hou Mo again, ready to fight.

Hou Mo also became anxious, stopped holding back, and seized an opportunity to fight back.

Maybe it was because they were fighting so intensely, or maybe the bed just wasn’t very sturdy, but suddenly, the bed collapsed.

The bed frame broke in the middle, trapping the two of them in the gap.

As the bed crashed down, Hou Mo instinctively pulled Sui Houyu into his arms to protect him. When they came to their senses, Sui Houyu was glaring at him from within his embrace.

Hou Mo couldn’t help but click his tongue in frustration and complain: “You really don’t appreciate anything, do you?”

Sui Houyu pushed him away: “Get off me!” 

“There’s no space! Where do you expect me to go? Let me adjust my position first.”

The bed was broken in the middle, and they were stuck in a V-shaped gap, with blankets and pillows sliding down on top of them, making it even harder to move.

Hou Mo tried to shift a little and planned to climb out; but he was afraid of crushing Sui Houyu, so he didn’t move for a while.

After feeling Sui Houyu’s impatience, Hou Mo could only climb outside, but his movements were still very slow.

Sui Houyu, growing impatient, urged him, “Can you hurry up?”

Hou Mo, who was also frustrated, replied, “Do you think I want to take my time? This space is awful, and you’re in the way. How could I hurry up? You’re all skin and bones—you’re sharp to touch!”

As Hou Mo tried to crawl out, he suddenly looked up and saw a black cat with bright green eyes staring at him fiercely. The cat let out a “meow.”

It was Da Ge, Sui Houyu’s cat, who had been woken up by the commotion. Seeing Hou Mo seemingly bullying his owner, Da Ge raised his paw and swiped at Hou Mo.

Startled by the cat, Hou Mo screamed. He finally climbed out of the hole and retreated: “F*ck! F*ck, what is that thing?!”

Sui Houyu glanced at the cat and replied: “It’s a cat.”

“Why is it so black?”

“A black cat.”

Huo Mo was afraid of Da Ge.  Just as he retreated, Da Ge jumped onto Hou Mo, swiping at him again.

The usually tough Hou Mo was so scared that he shielded his head with his arms and tried to hide from the cat.

Later, when he realized the cat was still scratching him, Hou Mo had no choice but to inch as close to Sui Houyu as possible, clutching Sui Houyu’s waist without letting go: “I’m scared! Make it go away! Why is it attacking me?!”

“It thinks you’re bullying me.” Sui Houyu looked at Hou Mo, squeezing closer with a helpless expression. Originally stuck in the gap, he was pushed out by Hou Mo and had no choice but to reach over and hold Da Ge.

Finally, the two of them and the cat calmed down. Hou Mo was still holding onto Sui Houyu, and Sui Houyu was holding the cat.

Sui Houyu’s voice was icy as he demanded: “Let go.”

Hou Mo immediately released him, but they were still stuck together due to the limited space.

Sui Houyu had no choice but to crawl out first, holding onto Da Ge to keep him from attacking Hou Mo again.

Hou Mo crawled out after him, sulking as he crouched to one side, sneaking a glance at Da Ge before giving up and closing his eyes to avoid looking at the cat.

Sui Houyu, confused, asked: “I get being scared of mice, but why are you afraid of cats?”

“It’s too black, and its eyes are green. Aren’t they supposed to be amber?”

Sui Houyu shrugged and replied: “I like green, so I picked this one. I don’t like amber much—it’s the color of your eyes and hair. I hate it.”

“Hey, that’s a personal attack.”

“You think that’s a personal attack? It’s just a preference. I don’t even own clothes in those colors.”

Hou Mo rested for a while before standing up, checking his arms to make sure he wasn’t scratched.

Then he turned to look at the broken bed, sighing: “I’ll figure out how to compensate you for a new bed.”

“No need, I’ll buy a new one myself.”

Hou Mo looked at him and asked: “A new one will be full of formaldehyde^[1]. Are you going to absorb all the toxins with your body? Let me handle it. I’ll get a new one delivered this afternoon.”

As Hou Mo walked out, feeling the aches in his body, he turned back to see Sui Houyu also secretly rubbing his chest.

The two of them were in similar shape.

Hou Mo didn’t leave. He sat down in the living room to catch his breath.

Then, he called Sang Xian and asked: “Do you have a spare bed at home? A double bed, preferably one that’s been in storage for a while and hasn’t been used much. I need one.”

Hou Mo usually never asks Sang Xian for help, but when he does, it’s because he’s really out of options.

Sang Xian replied casually: “I have one. The guest room bed in my house hasn’t been used. I’ll have it sent over to you.”

“Great, send it today.”

Sang Xian asked casually: “What happened? Something wrong with your bed?”

“Don’t ask. I fought with Sui Houyu, and we broke the bed.”

“Broke the bed…?”

“Close the gutter in your mind.”

“I won’t.”

Sang Xian chuckled and asked: “So, you like that kind, huh?”

“I’ve said many times, I’m straight.”

“Oh, okay. I’ll have my butler arrange a delivery now.”

“Send a mattress too. If there had been one, we wouldn’t have been stuck like that.”

“What do you mean?”

“Never mind. Just hurry up.”

Sui Houyu’s bed was only topped with a flexible quilt. It felt soft to sleep on, but if you slept on it for too long, it gave you back pain. It was basically useless.

After hanging up, Hou Mo searched on his phone for a while, then struck up a conversation with Sui Houyu, “Hey, let me give you a suggestion.”

Sui Houyu, still irritated, asked, “What?”

“Try not to go out tonight. There’ll be a lot of couples outside.”

“So what if there are a lot of couples?”

“What if they see you and regret already being in a relationship?”

Sui Houyu stared at Hou Mo with a cold, expressionless face, completely not getting the joke.

Hou Mo sighed while looking at his phone, then walked over and showed it to Sui Houyu. “Look, I checked it online, what I just said was a joke on the Internet, they said that this is the most effective way to coax good-looking people.”

Sui Houyu glanced at the phone screen, which displayed the search result: “How to cheer up a good-looking person.”

Reading this, Sui Houyu couldn’t help but smile a little.

Hou Mo had been watching Sui Houyu the whole time, his gaze looking unusually clear.

Bright.

Like a light breeze sweeping across an empty field—gentle, but enough to stir the entire landscape.