HCILH Ch. 13

Chapter 13: Exiled to the Frontier

After Sui Houyu entered the office, he stood to one side and did not participate at all, merely listening to the argument among the few people present.

He was a little confused. Did they ask him to come here to listen to their quarrel?

They probably just needed an audience.

Ouyang Ge’s attitude was clear: “I disagree with your decision. If they cause trouble, agreeing to let them change dorms would be giving in to their demands. If we do that, then every time something happens, they’ll cause a scene. What kind of school would that be?”

Teacher Li shook her head vigorously, her tone uncompromising: “They are causing trouble because they have already raised this issue with the school, but the school has ignored them. The dormitory arrangements are indeed unfair, and they have every reason to complain; this is simply the people’s uprising against authority.”

Director Li, infuriated, rubbed his chest as he retorted: “Your overprotective attitude is not suitable for a homeroom teacher.”

Teacher Li argued back vehemently: “This isn’t overprotectiveness; it’s about reason! What era are we in? We should respect the students’ opinions.”

Ouyang Ge pulled out a stack of documents: “We have been organizing the dormitory bed assignments and intended to rearrange the dormitories, but then they started making a fuss.”

Teacher Li, relying on her loud voice to win the argument, shouted, “Then just arrange it for them! Tell them that you’re organizing it! They don’t know anything and have to wait without news; how can they not cause trouble? This is a matter of your efficiency in handling things, not the students’ fault!”

As she spoke, her jade earrings swayed with every word.

Ouyang Ge was momentarily taken aback by her shouting and looked at Director Li, saying: “Director, can you get her to calm down?”

Director Li then turned to Teacher Li and shouted: “Can you speak properly?!”

Ouyang Ge was silenced again; it was clear these two were father and daughter, sharing the same style.

Teacher Li, feeling aggrieved, walked over to Sui Houyu and asked: “Were you the one who started this commotion?”

Sui Houyu lowered his gaze and replied, “I didn’t start it, but I participated.”

“Who else was involved?”

“…” Sui Houyu fell silent.

Ouyang Ge observed for a moment and then stepped outside to call over a student: “Go get Hou Mo from Class Seventeen—the one with the yellow hair.”

The student nodded and ran off.

Before long, Hou Mo walked in, holding his homework. He looked dejected as he said: “Gege, I’m collecting homework; can’t you find me at another time?”

Ouyang Ge glanced at the less-than-five assignments Hou Mo was carrying, shot him a disapproving look, and then waved him in.

Once Hou Mo entered, Ouyang Ge pointed to Sui Houyu and told him: “You stand next to him.”

Hou Mo grinned as he walked over and stood beside Sui Houyu, asking, “What’s this? Picking a class beauty?”

So shameless.

Leaning against the desk, Ouyang Ge asked Hou Mo: “Were you also part of the dormitory water fight?”

“I was the victim; he—” Hou Mo raised his thumb to point at Sui Houyu, saying, “He kicked open our dorm room door with a water gun and sprayed water as soon as he came in. They were all disguised, but I recognized him. He was wearing a hat, and the hair sticking out from under the hat was all curly and sticking up, like a little hook.”

He even gestured to his own head to illustrate.

Teacher Li was listening seriously, but upon hearing Hou Mo’s description, a mental image formed in her mind, and she burst out laughing. She quickly stifled it after getting kicked by Director Li, returning to a serious demeanor.

Ouyang Ge shot a glance at Teacher Li but maintained his stern expression as he questioned Hou Mo: “So you really had nothing to do with it?”

“What could I have to do with it? Come on, you think one hand can clap by itself?^[1]!” Hou Mo replied defiantly.

Ouyang Ge snorted, “I heard you were the one who led the change of dorms and occupied the current dormitory rooms in the first place.”

Hou Mo shook his head vigorously. “No, no, no, it wasn’t me; I just moved along with them.”

“I’ve heard that when others saw you move, they followed suit and rushed to try to stay on the same floor as you.”

“…” After hearing that, Hou Mo sighed deeply.

It was true that Hou Mo hadn’t led the movement; it was initiated by someone among the student athletes, and at first, he hadn’t participated.

However, with the other athletes moving out, it felt inappropriate for him to stay behind, so he followed suit. After he moved, the entire school ended up moving too.

Ouyang Ge stepped forward, standing in front of the two boys.

At 177 cm tall, Ouyang Ge was shorter than both boys but had a strong presence, having been a champion himself.

He merely stared at the two students in silence, and the tense atmosphere caused both Hou Mo and Sui Houyu to fall silent.

After a moment, Ouyang Ge finally spoke: “Neither of you were the instigators; you merely participated. However, I didn’t call in others. Do you know why?”

Sui Houyu maintained his cold demeanor while Hou Mo glanced at Ouyang Ge.

Ouyang Ge continued, “You both know your status among the students. Your words and actions can influence many others; you’re aware of that too. If you set a good example, they will follow suit; if you lead them astray, they will follow that path as well. I’ve been through student life myself and know how things work.”

Everyone has been a school bully at some point. —Ouyang Ge

It’s been years since I acted like the big brother. —Ouyang Ge

In this regard, you’re all younger brothers. —Ouyang Ge

Sui Houyu & Hou Mo: “…”

Ouyang Ge said again: “I know you don’t want to reveal who else participated or who led this. The incident occurred, and the school must address it. My handling may seem unreasonable, but I must deal with the two of you. After all, if the two of you hadn’t participated, there wouldn’t have been such a gathering of people; you are their backbone.”

Hou Mo became fired up: “No, Gege, you didn’t ask. I’m willing to say. They all have to bear the punishment with me; why should I take it all alone?!”

Ouyang Ge was momentarily stunned… has the school bully’s attitude shifted?

Sui Houyu, who had been indifferent, was shocked by Hou Mo’s action, his eyes wide with disbelief.

Hou Mo was still looking at Sui Houyu and grinning as he asked: “What? You didn’t say? So generous? Your Qingyu is One Piece, and our Fenghua is Gintama.”

Sui Houyu couldn’t help but exclaim: “Amazing.”

Hou Mo was still laughing heartily, extending his hand toward Ouyang Ge: “Gege, give me a sheet of paper. I’ll write up the little reports for all these people; you can count their offenses and punish them accordingly. If I’m in trouble, nobody else should get off easy.”

Ouyang Ge really handed him a piece of paper, and Hou Mo squatted in front of the desk, seriously writing his little reports.

Sui Houyu watched and couldn’t help but roll his eyes—what kind of person is this, really? What a dog.

Teacher Li observed for a while before walking over to ask Ouyang Ge: “How do you plan to handle this?”

Teacher Li was particularly insistent about the dormitory change.

Ouyang Ge sighed: “They’ll change. They won’t have their last two self-study classes today and will be let out early to rearrange the dorms. I’ll prepare the dormitory list and send it to each class.”

After speaking, he sat down at his desk and opened the computer to organize the forms.

Teacher Li was finally satisfied and asked: “What about Sui Houyu?”

“He stays on the sixth floor and has to write a reflection paper to be read in front of the entire school on Monday.”

Since he hadn’t been given a demerit and only needed to write a reflection paper, Teacher Li thought for a moment and didn’t argue further before leaving the office to go to class.

Not long after, Hou Mo finished writing and stood beside Ouyang Ge, watching him organize the forms. The forms were printed out one after another. Hou Mo picked one up and asked in confusion: “Gege, isn’t Building No. 11 still under construction?”

“A portion of it has been renovated.”

“A portion?”

“Yes, they initially renovated part of it but then found that not many students would be staying, so they halted the work. Don’t worry; it’s well-equipped inside.”

With no one else to talk to, Hou Mo walked over to Sui Houyu and showed him the forms that Ouyang Ge had organized.

While Ouyang Ge was speaking, they had thought Sui Houyu’s dormitory wouldn’t change and would remain on the sixth floor.

Unexpectedly, they were moved to the sixth floor of a different building, specifically Building No. 11.

Currently, only Buildings 1 to 10 were in use on the campus.

Building No. 11 had been vacant all along, with its main entrance sealed off and unused.

Hou Mo and the others had once secretly jumped through the window into Building No. 11 to meet briefly. The floors were just bare concrete, with no tiles laid down.

“We’re in the same dormitory, is this the punishment?” Hou Mo asked as he looked at the list.

Sui Houyu, holding the list, also looked and discovered that Ran Shu was in the same dormitory as them.

The dormitory was configured with six beds: four upper bunks, two lower bunks, and two desks.

The list of residents was as follows:

Sui Houyu, Ran Shu, Hou Mo, Sang Xian, Deng Yiheng, Shen Junjing.

Ouyang Ge knew them very well and understood the dynamics of their relationships.

Sui Houyu looked puzzled and asked Hou Mo: “Is this place really that bad?”

“Well, I wouldn’t say that,” Hou Mo replied thoughtfully, “It’s just that our dorm occupies the entire building.”

Sui Houyu: “…”

Ouyang Ge suddenly said: “That’s not quite true; this building will soon be occupied, and you’ll be living with teachers and staff.”

At this point, Hou Mo and Sui Houyu understood—they would be living in the same building as the teachers.

This was definitely a unique arrangement, giving them special attention.

Sui Houyu sometimes sat next to Ouyang Ge in class, and now their neighbors in the same building would be the teachers—how great!

Though, it was hard to smile about it.

Hou Mo asked again: “So, are we the only students in this building?”

Ouyang Ge brought over a blank sheet of paper: “Keep writing the report, and I’ll find some more people to accompany you.”

Hou Mo nodded and turned to reassure Sui Houyu: “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to fill up our entire floor.”

After saying that, he began writing again.

Sui Houyu walked up behind Hou Mo and looked over his shoulder, discovering that Hou Mo had even written down incidents where XXX had taken two green onions from the school.

What a good memory! How exceptional is this person at holding grudges?

At this moment, Sui Houyu truly felt… both grounded and contemptuous.

Omake:

Hou Mo: My wife feels a sense of security with me, hehe.

Sui Houyu: …