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HCILH Ch. 115
by camiChapter 115: Brother Yu’s Birthday
Training after the start of the school year was fairly routine, not as grueling as the winter break but still not easy.
It must be noted that when Sui Houyu first joined the team in September, it was during their least intense training period of the year.
Their season generally kicked off in June when the weather became suitable, and Coach Wang would register them for various competitions. Each competition had different levels and took place in various cities, meaning they had to travel across the country to participate.
Their first high-level national youth tournament started on August 5th and lasted 25 days, concluding at the end of the month. This meant that they essentially didn’t have a summer break.
The intensity of training in March was equally high, and it was said that it would only start easing in May when they would shift to pre-competition adjustments.
By April, the tennis team members were so exhausted after training that they just wanted to shower quickly and go back to their dorms to sleep, not caring about anything else.
Even Deng Yiheng and Shen Junjing, who were in relationships, would fall asleep in the middle of phone calls.
Fortunately, their girlfriends were also tennis players and would fall asleep even faster than them, so there was no risk of fights or breakups over this.
Sui Houyu’s birthday fell on a Monday, but it coincided with the last day of the Qingming Festival holiday, so it was still a day off.
On the evening of April 4th, Hou Mo deliberately made Sui Houyu fall asleep early with an absurd excuse: he was scared because of the Qingming Festival, boohoo.
At midnight on April 5th, he noticed Sui Houyu’s phone flashing repeatedly, indicating that several people had messaged him.
Not wanting to wake Sui Houyu, Hou Mo looked at him, sleeping soundly in his arms, and couldn’t help but smile, whispering: “Happy birthday, my good brother.”
There was no response from the sleeping Sui Houyu.
When Sui Houyu woke up the next morning, it was already daylight.
He opened his eyes and found that no one was beside him, making him feel a little puzzled. Lifting the blanket and sitting up, he glanced at the floor beside him and quickly turned away with a smile… He even felt like covering his face.
He couldn’t bear to look.
There’s a kind of romance that can be embarrassing: using a method meant to please young girls to amuse him, a grown man.
For an adult man’s birthday, scattering rose petals all over the floor was… a bit much. Especially when Hou Mo, who wasn’t very skilled in art, laid out the petals in a way that looked more like intestines.
After taking a moment to gather himself, he stood up and picked up the nearest box, which had a large “6” written on it.
Finding the number odd, he opened the box to see a Bumblebee Transformer inside. He pressed his lips together, took it out for a look, and set it aside.
Then, he got out of bed and followed the path of exaggerated rose petals to another box labeled “7.”
Inside that box was a toy car, also something a child would play with.
The next boxes were marked with 8, 9, 10…
The gifts gradually became more mature.
At box 14, Sui Houyu found a LEGO Porsche 911 set. Remembering that this set cost thousands, he frowned. Was Hou Mo being overly extravagant?
The gifts continued, each more significant than the last, and by box 17, the gift was quite large. Opening it, he found a mechanical lamb inside.
He held it up and noticed that it resembled the one in the house Hou Mo had lost to foreclosure. He quickly realized it must be assembled by Hou Mo himself, as there were soldering marks.
This was Hou Mo’s handmade gift—a cold, metallic token from a future engineer’s heart.
After turning on the switch, the lamb waddled around the room in an endearing manner.
After it made a round, he picked up the final box, labeled “18.”
He remembered that he and Hou Mo had been separated when they were six.
He looked back at the previous gifts. Was this guy making up for all the birthday gifts he hadn’t given from age six to eighteen?
If six-year-old Hou Mo had given six-year-old him a gift, it probably would have been a Transformer…
Well, assuming he knew he was a boy back then.
Opening the last box, he found a pair of necklaces. The pendants were peculiar; when he held one up, it was a watch.
Touching the watch face, he felt it shift under his fingers and pressed it instinctively. The other necklace’s pendant lit up, emitting a clear blue glow that made the watch face look dreamlike.
He looked at the pendant, then at the watch face, and glanced around the pendant. In an instant, a rush of blood surged to his head.
He recognized this watch face; it wasn’t an overly luxurious brand, but even a watch from this brand started at five figures. There were two modified watch faces here, worth at least thirty thousand.
Upon closer inspection, the watch case and other components were all custom-made, seemingly modified by Hou Mo. He had no idea that this brand’s watches featured a flashy design that could glow.
He held the necklace watch for a long time before finally putting it back in the box, unsure if this modified watch could even be returned.
He called out: “Hou Mo!”
There was no response.
He grabbed the last gift box and went upstairs to knock on Hou Mo’s door.
Hou Mo hurried to answer, looking a bit flustered: “Why are you up so early? You usually sleep until nine.”
“I just woke up.” He walked into the house holding the box and saw Hou Mo’s mom there as well, seemingly helping with a cake at the dining table.
He glanced over and heard Hou Mo explain: “My mom insisted on drawing another little bunny. I couldn’t stop her.”
Neither Hou Mo nor his mother had much artistic talent. The cake was decorated with a sun, a rainbow, and little flowers drawn in a less-than-stellar manner. Next to the flower was a bunny with one eye larger than the other, reminiscent of Deng Yiheng’s pre-surgery.
However, the writing on the cake was legible: “Happy 18th Birthday, Little Yu.”
He could only say: “It looks great.”
After that, he pulled Hou Mo into his room and placed the box on Hou Mo’s desk: “Are you crazy, buying such expensive gifts?”
Hou Mo countered: “Is it more expensive than a car?”
“Our situations are different. You don’t need to spend lavishly to pretend you’re rich.”
Hou Mo pulled Sui Houyu to sit down and knelt in front of him, hands on his knees, explaining: “Since I found out I’d get the top scholarship, I never planned on keeping the extra money. I know the school considered my situation when awarding it, so it feels unfair to you.”
“There’s nothing unfair about it. It’s what you earned. The decision was the school’s, and it’s not like I asked you to share it.”
“Yes, I understand. But Brother Yu, you only turn 18 once.”
“Even if it’s just once, you need to consider your situation!”
“I don’t have much, but I want to give you everything I do have. I’ll spend the rest of my life making up for the time we lost. Is that okay?”
Sui Houyu still felt concerned: “But… your family’s debts… Forget it. How much do they still owe? I’ll just pay it off for you.”
“There’s no need. By the end of this year’s national tournament, I’ll have it all settled.” Hou Mo said with a smile. “Besides, I’m a long-term investment. By winning you over, I’ll have a doubles partner for life, which means more prize money. It’s perfect!”
Sui Houyu still felt a twinge of worry.
This mindset is quite strange. He doesn’t mind spending his own money, but whenever Hou Mo spends a little, he feels heartache and instinctively wants to help him save money.
Hou Mo picked up the necklace and said: “The watch face is custom-made, not too large, and it’s just the right size for a pendant. We can’t wear watches when we play tennis, as we can’t see the time, so this can be hidden inside the clothes. Of course, we still need to take it off during matches since nothing should be a hindrance.”
As he spoke, he unclasped the chain and put the necklace on Sui Houyu.
His arm went around Sui Houyu’s neck, as if to hug him, but always keeping a distance. It was his first time putting a necklace on someone, so his movements were a bit awkward, and it took him a while to get it right.
Hou Mo didn’t feel embarrassed and continued explaining: “It also has a small feature—just press it once, and this side will light up. That way, I’ll know when you need me, and I’ll appear by your side immediately.”
Sui Houyu looked at it and asked: “What if I just miss you and press it? Will you still come?”
“If you miss me, I should show up by your side. It’s not contradictory!”
Sui Houyu smiled, satisfied with this answer, and when he noticed Hou Mo taking off the necklace, he quickly suppressed his smile and awkwardly replied: “If you press it, I might not come. I’d at most ask you if you need something over WeChat.”
Hou Mo nodded: “As long as we’re apart, your necklace will light up like a little bulb, and I’ll make sure it never goes off.”
“Isn’t that a bit exaggerated?”
“You’re constantly in my thoughts.”
Hou Mo cupped his face, just about to kiss him, but Sui Houyu pushed him away: “I came up in a hurry and haven’t washed up yet…”
“I still want to kiss you!”
“Did you lock the door?”
“My mom never comes into my room, especially not when you’re here. She won’t come in.”
“I’ll go wash up… Are you a dog? Let go…” Sui Houyu struggled, but he couldn’t fight Hou Mo and was held down for a while before finally sitting up.
After letting go, Hou Mo looked at him and said: “Happy birthday, my little grown-up.”
Sui Houyu raised an eyebrow: “I’m an adult now. You better hurry up, I want to eat you.”
“Eat where?”
Sui Houyu’s gaze became a bit dangerous, and Hou Mo laughed to himself before speaking again: “Alright, alright, I’ll let you eat, let you swallow it all, fill you up.”
Hearing this, Sui Houyu almost wanted to jump on Hou Mo and bite him.
But it seemed that there was nothing wrong with the statement.
Hou Mo released him, allowing him to get up, then reminded: “Did you check your phone? There were a lot of birthday wishes at midnight.”
Sui Houyu thought for a moment and figured Ran Shu must have sent him some extravagant gift, so he quickly went downstairs.
At home, he picked up his phone and saw some missed delivery calls. After returning the call, the delivery soon arrived. As he read the birthday wishes and replied to them, he opened one of the packages.
This year, Ran Shu’s gift wasn’t too extravagant. Inside were some boards with writing and drawings on them.
At first, he didn’t pay much attention, but upon closer inspection, he jumped up in excitement.
Signatures!
Special signatures!
These were from big names in various industries, all of whom were his idols.
One even had a “to” signature, wishing him a happy birthday.
These items were genuinely valuable, and you couldn’t buy them without sincerity.
He then looked at another package, which was large, with lots of instructions and promotional brochures. But the gift inside wasn’t very big.
It was a watch.
From the style, it was definitely chosen by Su Anyi.
He read the instructions carefully—it was a custom model with a ridiculously long production time, and Su Anyi had ordered it before he joined the tennis team.
He checked the side of the watch face and found his name and exclusive number.
Putting the gift down, he picked up his phone and sent messages to these two people, informing them that he had received the gifts.
Ran Shu: “What did Hou Mo get you?”
Roronoa: “Which gift are you talking about?”
Ran Shu: “Which one?”
Roronoa: “He made up for the gifts from the past 13 years.”
Ran Shu: “Oh!”
Ran Shu: “The straight guy in the gay circle actually did something somewhat reasonable.”
Roronoa: “I like the gift, but it feels a bit expensive.”
Ran Shu: “Don’t worry about it. I know you’ll spend even more on him in the future.”
Ran Shu: “What did your parents say?”
Roronoa: “My dad seems to have forgotten. My mom hasn’t contacted me in a long time, no news.”
Ran Shu: “It’s not surprising that your dad forgot. He needs your stepmom to remind him about your little brother’s birthday. He’s consistent in that way, since he can’t even remember his two ex-wives’ birthdays, so he probably only remembers his own.”
Roronoa: “Mm.”
As Sui Houyu typed, he suddenly felt something was off. He looked down and saw the necklace glowing again, probably having been on since earlier. He couldn’t help but smile.
His boyfriend was so annoying.