HCILH Ch. 14

Chapter 14: Roommates

In the afternoon, Sui Houyu moved into the dormitory together.

He arrived at the entrance of Building 11 with his luggage and saw a group of athletes in a chaotic brawl, with Hou Mo being carried out of the dormitory by a crowd.

Hou Mo was also panicking, repeatedly shouting: “I was wrong! I was wrong!”

Ran Shu, observing this scene, couldn’t help but ask: “Is this some kind of sacred ritual?”

Sui Houyu lazily replied: “Maybe they’re praying to make it rain by sacrificing a dog^[1].”

After watching for a while, the two of them picked up their luggage and headed upstairs.

This dormitory building was quite unique; the first-floor lobby was decorated, the stairs were renovated, and the 5th and 6th floors were also finished.

However, the dormitories on the 1st to 4th floors were not fully renovated, only lacking the final step: laying the floor tiles.

But the difference between having or not having floor tiles was vast; at least tiled floors looked cleaner.

Sui Houyu walked into the dormitory and saw that the entrance was piled high with luggage, likely because the group of athletes hadn’t cleaned up properly and had just taken Hou Mo to be sacrificed.

Ran Shu pushed aside the luggage and walked to the bed, saying: “Shall we each take a lower bunk?”

There were only two lower bunks in total; if they occupied both, the group of athletes would have to argue when they returned.

After thinking for a moment, Sui Houyu replied, “Let’s do it this way; we can take one upper and one lower bunk.”

“That’s fine.”

Sui Houyu chose the lower bunk, and Ran Shu took the upper one.

Once they had tidied up, Ran Shu squatted by the wall to test an electrical appliance and exclaimed in surprise: “Brother Yu, there’s no power limit here! I plugged in the iron, and it didn’t trip!”

Sui Houyu tried it too and then laughed: “This is pretty good.”

It was a blessing in disguise.

When a group of athletes returned, they saw Sui Houyu and Ran Shu squatting together, cooking something in a pot.

The aroma of their cooking was very strong, and even from a distance, it could be smelled, prompting everyone to look over and swallow their saliva in unison.

Hou Mo approached to discuss who would take the lower bunk with Sang Xian. After all, they were both the tallest, and the upper bunk would be less convenient for them. He couldn’t help but glance at Sui Houyu and the others several times while talking.

Deng Yiheng ran over and whispered, “They’re making dark cuisine.”

Hou Mo asked, “What are they making?”

“Handmade pancakes wrapped in turkey noodles, red and spicy. Oh my God, how spicy must this be?”

The four athletes in the dormitory also stopped making their beds and stared at the two people cooking “dark cuisine.”

Ran Shu wrapped one pancake and took a bite, saying, “Hmm, this time it’s just right.”

Sui Houyu was still frying pancakes while reminding, “Make sure to pack one for Su Anyi later.”

“Okay.”

Hou Mo couldn’t help but ask, “Are they living the good life now?”

Deng Yiheng sighed, “Do you even bring a pot to school?”

Shen Junqing swallowed hard.

Sang Xian returned to the main topic: “I want the lower bunk.”

Deng Yiheng, unable to bear the stimulation, stopped tidying up and went out for a stroll. He then returned, shouting at Hou Mo, “Senior Brother, you haven’t spared any athletes, right? You’re still going to take them down with you, right?”

Hou Mo organized his bed and replied: “That’s right, brother. We’re all going to hell together.”

“Beautiful!” Deng Yiheng exclaimed before running off, crying in the hallway, “Ahhh, I’m never talking to Senior Brother again! I have to read my reflection on Monday!”

Another person responded: “You’re lucky; I have to read my reflection on stage on Monday, reflecting on how I stole two scallions. Isn’t that embarrassing? Have I lost the right to choose a spouse first?”

“No, you just confirmed your single status until graduation.”

Sui Houyu stood at the door, looking at all the unfamiliar faces in the hallway. In the entire floor, he only recognized a few from his dorm.

He had jumped right into the den of athletes.

However, Sui Houyu remained calm, leisurely eating his pancake while watching them busying about.

After a while, Deng Yiheng walked over and asked Sui Houyu: “Is it good?”

“Good, want one?” Sui Houyu replied.

“No, isn’t the noodle inside instant noodles? Student athletes can’t eat that.” Deng Yiheng answered while staring at the pancake.

Sui Houyu took another bite and asked: “Why can’t you eat it?”

“It affects muscle. We can’t drink beverages, can’t eat fried foods. During the season, it’s even more strict. We can’t even eat out.”

Sui Houyu thought for a moment and asked again: “Are they all from the tennis team?”

“Not really; some practice track and field, and some do combat sports. But our school excels in tennis; some students from the international class also practice tennis, and all the tennis team members from the international class have been gathered by Senior Brother. Studying abroad, tennis is well recognized, so our school focuses on it. We’re one of the few high schools that can compete with sports schools.”

“How long have you been practicing tennis?”

“I’ve been practicing since elementary school; Senior Brother started in middle school.”

“Middle school?” That wasn’t too long ago, which made Sui Houyu feel a bit less reassured.

“Yeah.”

At this moment, Ran Shu walked out of the dormitory and asked Sui Houyu: “Why are you asking about the tennis team? Do you really want to join?”

Sui Houyu immediately shook his head in denial: “I was just asking casually.”

Deng Yiheng didn’t chat much either and ran off to chat in another dorm.

Ran Shu held a bag and said to Sui Houyu: “I’m going to take some food to Anyi.”

“Okay.”

After Ran Shu walked a short distance, Sui Houyu called out, “Come back and bring two bottles of water.”

“Got it.”

Sui Houyu returned to the entrance of the dormitory, holding his pancake, and overheard a conversation between Sang Xian and Hou Mo.

Sang Xian: “Actually, there’s no need to bring so many people to live in this building.”

Hou Mo: “If only a few people were punished, it would be a big problem. But with more people, the school won’t make a big deal out of it; this is a reasonable application of negative teaching material.”

Sang Xian: “What you’ve done ensures that the ones living here are those few who led the charge, but in the end, it’s the people from Fenghua who get punished, while those from Qingyu are fine.”

Hou Mo smiled: “That’s just the way it is.”

Such things were basically the norm among the athletes; they had long gotten used to backstabbing each other.

Afterward, everyone still joked and played around, not caring about anything.

Sui Houyu stood at the door for a while, unsure whether to go in, then turned around and went downstairs, sitting on the stairwell to continue eating his pancake.

If he ate here… it wouldn’t bother others, right?

He hadn’t known that the group of athletes couldn’t eat.

Maybe he would find a dorm on the fourth floor to cook in later.

*

Sui Houyu was particularly particular about his sleeping environment.

He had always suffered from insomnia, and his anxiety disorder caused him to sleep little, yet he never felt drowsy.

When he was younger, he thought it was no big deal, but as he got older, he realized that during normal sleeping hours, he indeed wasn’t tired, but his mood would uncontrollably become irritable.

Restlessness, unease, palpitations—the speed of his heartbeat was clearly different from during the day.

This made him realize that he actually needed sleep; he just couldn’t fall asleep.

After changing dorms again, he found that one of his roommates snored, and even earplugs couldn’t block out the snoring, which made Sui Houyu feel frustrated.

After tossing and turning for over two hours, he took out his phone and saw that it was already 2 a.m. He sighed and sat up.

He walked to his desk, searched his bag for some pastries, looked around after leaving the dorm, then squatted at the entrance to eat.

Eating sweets could soothe his irritated emotions and lower his current frustration.

After eating for a while, he still felt no drowsiness.

The hospital he consulted had prescribed him sleeping pills, and he had also bought melatonin himself, but none of it worked, so he eventually stopped taking them.

Now, he began to contemplate whether he should prepare some medicine and increase the dosage.

Just as he was pondering this, someone opened the dormitory door and walked out, swaying as they went. When they turned around and saw someone squatting at the door, they screamed in fright and jumped up high.

Sui Houyu turned his head and saw Hou Mo spinning and jumping all in one go. He almost applauded.

Hou Mo, still shaken, held his chest, looking at Sui Houyu.

Sui Houyu was holding the pastry packaging in one hand, with some pastry still in his mouth, and was just staring at him, dumbfounded.

The two of them locked eyes, and for a long time, neither spoke.

Hou Mo looked at Sui Houyu’s puffed-up cheeks, resembling a big mole, and felt a twinge of sympathy. “You can swallow first,” he suggested.

Sui Houyu obediently chewed a few more times, then wiped his mouth and explained: “I just can’t fall asleep.”

“Oh, I know you don’t like to sleep.” 

“And I know you’re a coward.” 

Hou Mo didn’t bother to explain further; his heart was still racing, and he leaned against the wall, murmuring: “This is the fastest my heart has ever beaten in my life. It turns out it’s not love at first sight; I was just scared by you.”

Sui Houyu took a few last bites and said: “Your snoring is too loud.”

“That’s Deng Yiheng’s fault. I’ve shared a room with him for so long that I’ve become indifferent to it. My sleep quality is top-notch; I can’t even wake up when the morning assembly call goes off in the dorm.”

“Then you’re really impressive.”

Hou Mo regained his composure and wobbled toward the bathroom.

Sui Houyu rolled his eyes and got up to follow him in.

Hou Mo thought Sui Houyu was also going to the bathroom and didn’t think much of it. But then he noticed Sui Houyu standing next to him without unbuttoning his pants, just standing there and looking down at him.

Hou Mo: “…”

After seeing what he did, Sui Houyu mumbled: “So your hair down there is also this color.”

Huo Mo almost couldn’t pee.

Once he was done, Sui Houyu leisurely walked out.

Hou Mo quickly washed his hands and came out, catching up to Sui Houyu and pulling him back: “Don’t go; let me see if yours is curly too!”

“Get lost, they’re all curly!” Sui Houyu struggled to break free.

“You’re usually so prim and proper; I never thought you were this kind of person!”

“Curiosity is something everyone has.”

The two of them playfully tugged at each other as they returned to the dorm. Sui Houyu lay back down on his bed, wanting to try to sleep again.

Hou Mo glanced at his phone, then stepped back until he was at Sui Houyu’s bedside and said softly: “I’ll sit here for a bit and reply to a message, then I’ll go. You can sleep first.”

No one had lived in their dorm building before, so there were only desks and no chairs. The school said they would arrange for chairs within a month, but didn’t specify a time.

As a result, whenever they wanted to sit, they could only sit on the lower bunks.

Sui Houyu was quite disgusted by this; he especially disliked others sitting on his bed.

But remembering what Hou Mo had said earlier, he reluctantly agreed.

Hou Mo’s mother had taken on several accounting jobs for companies, and she would also teach Hou Mo, asking him to help check the balance sheets and such.

Hou Mo had gone to bed early previously and hadn’t seen the messages from his mom. Now that he did, he planned to help her look through them so she wouldn’t have to do it herself tomorrow.

At first, he noticed that Sui Houyu was keeping a distance from him.

Sui Houyu was thin and took up little space, leaving a significant area open. But gradually, he began leaning against him until, eventually, he was completely snuggled up to him while sleeping.

Hou Mo turned to look at Sui Houyu, who was curled up and sleeping soundly. How could he not fall asleep too?

Omake:

Hou Mo had no choice but to wake Sui Houyu up.

Sui Houyu mumbled: “Is it over?”

Hou Mo replied with a pitiful tone: “Not yet.”

Sui Houyu urged: “Then hurry up.”

Hou Mo complained: “Can you not fall asleep halfway through like this? It makes me feel really frustrated!”

Sui Houyu muttered quietly: “Every time you touch me, I feel sleepy…”

Hou Mo exclaimed: “D*mn you, Watch as this old master kills you!”