HCILH Ch. 29

Chapter 29: Awkward Moments

When Sui Houyu returned to the class with the others, he was still yawning, feeling unexpectedly drowsy.

He sat in his seat and opened Su Anyi’s umbrella. Just as he got it up, Hou Mo came over to share the shade.

Sui Houyu frowned in annoyance, wanting to drive Hou Mo away.

However, Hou Mo was too engrossed in chatting with the others about Ouyang Ge’s upcoming participation in the competition. They were brainstorming a cheer to submit to the podium for the announcements.

Hou Mo chatted so naturally and seamlessly that he settled down beside Sui Houyu, leaving no space for him to interrupt.

Yawning again, Sui Houyu leaned back under the umbrella, closed his eyes, and decided to take a short nap. Before long, he was asleep, resting his head on Hou Mo’s shoulder.

Feeling the weight on his shoulder, Hou Mo turned to look at him and fell silent.

He carefully took the umbrella from Sui Houyu’s hand and adjusted it, lowering the front edge so the others wouldn;t notice them..

Though it was amusing to see two boys sharing a lacy parasol designed for women, their good looks made the scene strangely harmonious.

With beauty, anything is possible.

The class remained in chaos, filled with excited chatter, and no one noticed the two boys sitting quietly together.

Ran Shu, sitting nearby, peeked at them and mumbled, “He’s actually sleeping…” 

Then he left.

Ouyang Ge was participating in the 400-meter teacher’s race. The teachers had options to run 100, 200, 400 meters, or a 4×100 relay, and Ouyang chose the 400.

His result would contribute to Class Seventeen’s total score.

Since the school merged, athletic student programs were discontinued, and Hou Mo’s class became the last cohort of sports students. As a result, Class Seventeen had accumulated twice as many points as the second-place class, leaving the others far behind.

Ouyang Ge winning or losing didn’t matter much—Class Seventeen had already secured first place.

But Ouyang Ge didn’t want to lose.

During his warm-up, the broadcast announcement came on: “Teacher Ouyang, soar like an eagle, roar like a groundhog, sprint like a mad dog, and lead fashion like a backyard chicken. Go, Teacher Ouyang! We love you. Cheers from Gege’s stinky babies.”

Ouyang Ge lost all his fighting spirit in an instant.

The other teachers couldn’t hold back their laughter: “Your students are really too chaotic.” 

Ouyang resumed his warm-up, encouraged by the cheers from Class Seventeen. He raised his fist in acknowledgment. 

This sent the students into a frenzy of fan-like screams.

Being a former national champion and a PE teacher, Ouyang Ge didn’t disappoint—he sprinted across the finish line first.

Class Seventeen of Year 2 had once again gotten the highest score.

Because of Ouyang Ge’s victory, the class erupted in cheers, shouting and celebrating.

In such a noisy environment, Sui Houyu and Hou Mo seemed out of place.

Sui Houyu and Hou Mo sat quietly under the umbrella. Sui Houyu remained asleep, undisturbed by the noise around them.

Ran Shu had only heard about it before, but this time he witnessed it firsthand—Sui Houyu really could sleep soundly leaning on Hou Mo, undisturbed even in such a noisy environment.

Impressive.

Absolutely impressive.

The event ended, and Ouyang returned to tell the class president to organize the cleanup. “Class monitor, gather everyone to tidy up,” he said.

When no one responded, he asked, “Where’s the class monitor?”

Only then did Hou Mo gently wake Sui Houyu.

Sui Houyu needed a moment to fully wake up and didn’t catch what Ouyang said. Hou Mo pressed Sui Houyu’s head down slightly, signaling him to nod.

Ouyang Ge assumed that Sui Houyu had heard him, so he turned and left to organize the team for an orderly exit.

Hou Mo leaned closer and reminded him: “Gege asked you to organize the cleanup.”

“Oh…” Sui Houyu mumbled, looking around. To his relief, the others were already tidying up without needing his direction.

Stretching lazily, Sui Houyu turned to Ran Shu: “What’s your plan for National Day?”

“My family hired a tutor for me.” 

“Good luck, then.”

“I’ll study hard.”

“No, I’m cheering for your tutor.”

“…”

While cleaning up, some students passed by Class Seventeen’s group and whispered, “They were glorious during the sports meet. like superstars. So impressive.”

“What’s so great? It’s just a few days of fame, and they’re just Class Seventeen.”

“Yeah, just brawns with no brains.”

Ran Shu overheard and immediately asked: “Those guys are freshmen, right?”

Deng Yiheng glanced over and confirmed: “Looks like it.”

“No wonder. They’ve never heard of our Brother Yu.”

“Exactly, they don’t know about the legend of our Senior Brother. How pitiful.”

The freshmen scurried away in panic.

With the event over, students were free to leave.

Back in the dorm, Sui Houyu packed his things and left with Ran Shu. This time, Ran insisted on giving Sui Houyu a ride home in his family car.

Sui Houyu didn’t feel like carpooling, so he agreed.

However, as they left the school, they saw that the private cars struggled to compete for space with the vans parked at the gate, so they parked far away.

As they walked side by side, Ran Shu suddenly clicked his tongue to get Sui Houyu’s attention. Then raised his chin to point: “Look, a Maybach.”

“Mm.” Sui Houyu responded indifferently.

They had attended a private high school before, where luxury cars were common. The Maybach didn’t impress them—except for its cool auctioned license plate, which caught their eye.

Just then, a stylish woman stepped out of the car and waved to someone behind them. “Hou Mo!” 

Both Sui Houyu and Ran Shu turned to find Hou Mo walking just a few steps behind them.

Hou Mo noticed the woman and smiled: “Auntie, are you here to pick up Sang Xian?”

Auntie?

Sui Houyu and Ran Shu exchanged glances, wondering if this stylish woman might be Sang Xian’s stepmother—or perhaps even his birth mother, given her height.

Wearing high heels, she stood nearly as tall as Sui Houyu, making her likely over 175 cm in height.

“Yes, I came to pick him up. Why don’t you join us? I can drop you off later.”

Hou Mo hesitated. “It’s a family reunion. Why would I intrude?”

“Come on! It’s been a while since you visited. Your godfather misses you.”

After some thought, Hou Mo agreed. As he passed by Sui Houyu and Ran Shu, he reminded them, “Don’t forget the game.”

Sui Houyu didn’t respond.

Hou Mo climbed into the Maybach’s backseat, while Sui Houyu.

Ran Shu and Sui Houyu also boarded his car nearby.

Ran Shu was still eyeing the Maybach. Once he saw Sang Xian get in the car, he couldn’t help but mutter: “That Sang Xian keeps a low profile. They’ve got some serious wealth.”

Ran Shu had a hobby of flaunting wealth, so he paid particular attention to such details. This time, however, he was stunned to notice that his roommate’s slippers were all from Balenciaga. When he opened Hou Mo’s suitcase to borrow shoes, he caught sight of a pair of globally limited-edition shoes. Given Sang Xian’s shoe size, the lowest price was at least 400,000 yuan, with some items being priceless. None of the other shoes were cheap either—the cheapest pair still cost over 10,000 yuan. Ran Shu couldn’t help but admire Sang Xian for resisting the urge to wear them, sticking instead to the sports shoes provided by sponsors.

Having wealth but not flaunting it—now that was a sign of immense fortune. Ran Shu silently curbed his own showiness.

“You’re just a bit below him.” Sui Houyu comforted him.

“Of course! Even my car is a Rolls-Royce!” 

“Mm.” Sui Houyu nodded, too lazy to continue the conversation.

But Ran Shu remained fixated: “His car must cost over ten million yuan too… Tsk…”

After waiting for a response but getting none, Ran Shu leaned closer to see what Sui Houyu was doing. “Why are you checking the competition venue? Are you planning to go?”

“No.”

“Then you…?”

“Just looking,” Sui Houyu replied calmly and put his phone away. He was as serious as he could be.

“Oh.” Ran Shu didn’t think too much of it and returned to his phone, researching the cost of Sang Xian’s Maybach.

*

The tennis competition would last several days, starting on October 1st and continuing through the holiday period. 

It featured both singles and doubles matches.

The Fengyu High School team’s lineup remained unchanged—Hou Mo, Sang Xian, and others continued with singles, while Deng Yiheng and Shen Junjing competed in doubles.

The team was given only half a day off before regrouping the next day to travel to the venue, where they would stay at a hotel nearby.

Once at the hotel, Hou Mo sat on the bed and sent Sui Houyu the location of the competition venue, asking: Will you come to watch?

Sui Houyu, whose contact name had been changed to “Little Demon Milk Bean,” replied: No.

Financial Blessings: Come on.

Little Demon Bean: No.

Hou Mo didn’t insist anymore and told Sui Houyu he was going to do some stretches, then set down his phone.

*

It took Hou Mo two days of the competition to realize that Sui Houyu might actually have shown up.

The school administrators had come to watch the match, but they couldn’t find the team, so the coach sent Hou Mo to the parking lot to pick them up.

On his way there, Hou Mo paused and stared at an electric bicycle for a long time before moving closer to examine it. He confirmed it was Sui Houyu’s bike.

After all, he had helped him buy it.

After escorting the administrators into the venue, Hou Mo approached Deng Yiheng and asked, “Have you seen Brother Yu?”

“Nope!”

“I think Brother Yu is here, but I haven’t spotted him.”

The two of them craned their necks, searching the audience for Sui Houyu, but still coudn’t find him even after two rounds..

Hou Mo leaned against the chairs in the resting area, muttering: “Did I see it wrong?”

He took out his phone, intending to send Sui Houyu a message.

Deng Yiheng gave up looking and commented, “The mascot this year dances pretty well.”

Hou Mo gave a vague response, then glanced at the mascot.

He didn’t know if it was an illusion or not; but for some reason, just as he looked over, the mascot spun around abruptly and walked in another direction.

Hou Mo stared at the mascot for a while, put down his phone, and gave up on sending the message. 

A small smile tugged at his lips.

When it was time for his match, Hou Mo paid particular attention.

He noticed that the mascot seemed to be watching his game. During breaks, he couldn’t help but glance at the mascot several times. At one point, the mascot was holding its head, seemingly struggling with the weight of the costume.

When the mascot noticed Hou Mo looking, it immediately turned and walked away.

In the end, Hou Mo won the match smoothly.

As he celebrated with his teammates, he noticed that the mascots were dancing at the side of the field, and the one he had been watching was dancing the best.

Yeah, this year’s mascot really danced well.

After the match, Hou Mo took a shower and left the resting area. Turning a corner, he spotted the mascot standing by an air conditioner, holding its oversized head and letting the cool air blow inside through a small gap in the costume.

It was the same mascot he had been paying attention to.

Hou Mo walked over and offered to help: “Let me hold that for you—take a break.”

The mascot froze for a moment, standing stiffly with its back to Hou Mo.

Hou Mo, standing behind the mascot, tried to gauge its height but was startled when the mascot suddenly clutched its giant head and bolted, disappearing from view in an instant.

It was the first time Hou Mo had witnessed what could only be described as “sprinting with his head held high.”

Watching the mascot’s retreating figure, Hou Mo burst into laughter, his eyes curving into crescent moons.

Why was this person so awkward?

Omake:

Sui Houyu: Hmph, I’m definitely not going to watch the match!