HCILH Ch. 117

Chapter 117: The National Tournament Begins

As the competition drew near, the participants felt surprisingly less nervous.

With soldiers to fight incoming battles and strategies to face challenges, there wasn’t much to worry about.

After a provincial tournament had ended, Jiang Wei and Lu Qinghui did not participate, but Sui Houyu and Hou Mo won the men’s doubles championship.

As for the men’s singles champion, it was unsurprising that Hou Mo claimed the title.

During this post-match interview, reporters added a new topic of interest: they seemed eager to know what Jiang Wei and Sui Houyu planned to do after graduation since it would determine which teams they might join.

Coach Wang specifically advised them not to speak definitively in public and to give vague answers. Until graduation, nothing was set in stone, and changes could occur.

Currently, even sports universities were coming from far away to offer contracts to Hou Mo. After this tournament, schools interested in signing Sui Houyu also reached out, all of which were from their province.

Among these, Eastern Sports University was included.

If they signed a contract, both Hou Mo and Sui Houyu would not need to take the college entrance exams. Even if they did, regardless of low cultural or sports scores, they would be admitted. The condition was that after graduation, they could only go to that school.

However, Sui Houyu and Hou Mo had their own ideas and naturally did not sign anything.

Their thoughts were simple—

Hou Mo: “Wherever Brother Yu goes, I go.”

Sui Houyu: “Wherever Hou Mo goes, I go.”

Coach Wang and Ouyang Ge were at a loss seeing these two troublemakers.

However, it was only the second semester of their junior year; they could revisit the topic when they reached their senior year. Hence, no one offered them advice, as both were waiting on news from Tsinghua and Peking University.

After returning to the hotel room following the match, Sui Houyu lay on the bed, unwilling to get up.

Hou Mo walked over and took off his socks, saying: “Take a bath, and I’ll give you a massage later.”

Sui Houyu lay there playing on his phone and changed the subject casually: “When are we going to Chengdu?”

This year’s national youth tennis competition was being held in Chengdu, and they needed to go a few days early to avoid fatigue affecting their performance.

“The flight is on August 2nd. We’ll need to adjust to the environment after arriving.” Hou Mo replied before heading to the bathroom to run a bath.

Hou Mo wrapped a disposable bath cover around the tub and started filling it with water, testing the temperature before returning to the room to carry Sui Houyu to the bathroom.

Sui Houyu put down his phone and raised his arms cooperatively, allowing Hou Mo to take off his shirt with ease.

Sui Houyu asked again: “What time are we leaving tomorrow morning?”

They had just finished a week-long competition and were quite exhausted, so the team decided to leave in the morning to give them a night to rest.

Especially for Hou Mo, who had played the doubles final in the morning and the singles final in the afternoon.

Unexpectedly, despite being the most exhausted, he still ended up taking care of his doubles partner’s bath when they returned to the hotel.

“The coach wants us to sleep in a bit. Breakfast at ten, departure around eleven.” Hou Mo replied while taking off his own clothes.

Sui Houyu, sitting on the edge of the tub, looked at him and asked: “Are you going to bathe with me?”

“Yeah, the tub’s big enough.” Hou Mo answered with a smile and climbed into the tub, gesturing for Sui Houyu to join him. “Come into your husband’s arms.”

Sui Houyu didn’t move at first and sat on the edge, dipping his feet into the tub and lightly stepping on Hou Mo: “That thing of yours hurt my lower back last time.”

“It just likes you!”

Sui Houyu eventually got into the tub, sat in front of Hou Mo, kissed him on the corner of his mouth, and then adjusted his position.

While diligent in other areas, Sui Houyu occasionally didn’t want to bathe.

Hou Mo, on the other hand, was particularly diligent, especially when it came to helping him bathe.

During the process, Hou Mo held his ankle and lifted his foot to inspect it: “Why is your foot a bit red?”

Leaning back lazily against Hou Mo, Sui Houyu replied: “The sponsored shoes this time rubbed my feet.”

“Don’t wear them next time. What if it affects your performance?”

“Hm.”

Hou Mo continued to massage Sui Houyu’s foot and asked: “Does it hurt?”

“It’s manageable. It’ll probably be fine by tomorrow.”

Hou Mo sat behind Sui Houyu, holding his foot in his hands, making his leg curl up.

By the time Hou Mo noticed, Sui Houyu was already leaning against him, allowing Hou Mo to look down and see him clearly.

Only Sui Houyu could pull off this posture; anyone else wouldn’t manage it.

Suddenly interested, Hou Mo began shifting Sui Houyu’s leg to various angles, as if playing with a toy, even lifting his foot and licking the side of the sore spot.

At first, Sui Houyu didn’t mind, but he gradually got annoyed and started a water fight in the bathroom. This left the floor wet, making them slip as they exited.

After a long bout of play, it ended with Hou Mo pinning Sui Houyu back on the bed.

Initially, Sui Houyu thought Hou Mo didn’t really know how to give a massage and was just pretending with a fascia gun.

Only after they started dating did Hou Mo dare to massage him openly, taking the opportunity to get close, though his skills were admittedly quite good.

Halfway through, Sui Houyu fell asleep, lying on his stomach.

Hou Mo got up and tidied the room, then pulled out a box of oddly shaped band-aids from his bag, lifted the blanket, and applied one to Sui Houyu’s foot.

Since the last time Sui Houyu was injured, Hou Mo always kept these supplies on hand.

After finishing up, Hou Mo lay beside him and gently brushed aside Sui Houyu’s bangs, then leaned over and kissed his forehead.

“Goodnight.”

In the silent night, his voice was especially clear, carrying a hint of amusement.

*

August 5th, the opening ceremony of the national tournament.

The participants got up early, gathered in the lobby for check-in, received souvenirs, checked the draw, and so forth.

The organizers went down a list of schools, with each team captain or assistant responding.

Gathered here were the strong teams from across the country; those with insufficient points from provincial tournaments couldn’t compete at this level.

When one school’s name was called, there was a pause.

“Has Fengyu International High School not arrived?” the organizer asked again.

A voice came from outside the door: “We’re here.”

A moment later, a team walked in, fashionably late.

The opening of the door brought a sharp burst of light, almost blinding. But it was soon blocked by the figures entering, a team that appeared almost radiant.

At the center was a girl with an icy demeanor, sporting a hime cut hairstyle and clad in black athletic wear, exuding a commanding presence.

Beside her were the celebrated doubles partners.

One, a curly-haired boy with an exceptionally delicate face, looked serious despite his youthful appearance.

The other, constantly smiling, had pale skin verging on sickly, and flaxen hair and eyes, making him appear almost ethereal.

On the opposite side was a tall, sturdy boy with a composed aura, seemingly beyond his years.

His partner was in stark contrast, with a bright smile and an inviting demeanor, exuding warmth.

The entire team, impeccably dressed in black sportswear, walked with such confidence it felt like they were there to dominate.

The flaxen-haired spoke: “Sorry, we were at the draw. The entrance checkpoint only allows whole teams, so we got delayed.”

Being former champions entitled them to the draw, leaving the staff without complaints.

However, their striking entrance drew the attention of all the other teams, many focusing on the blonde-haired boy who was especially well-known.

Liu Mo from the provincial sports team couldn’t help but remark: “If there’s a Hou Mo in the team, the whole group turns from plain to flashy. Even their entrance is different.”

Yang Hong sighed: “I didn’t face that pair last time, but I heard they beat Tang Yao and Gu Libo with ease.”

“This time it’s nationals; it won’t be as easy. And where’s Nanyun Affiliated High?”

Just then, another team entered.

Sui Houyu spotted He Shibi in the crowd and nodded in greeting.

He Shibi noticed him and nodded back.

The two teams appeared at the entrance together, naturally casting glances at one another, but only briefly.

The composed boy said: “Sorry, we were at the draw. We’re from Nanyun Affiliated High.”

It was He Shibi’s doubles partner speaking.

“Find a place to stand and line up.” the staff member said.

The two teams entered together. The only available space was near the floor-to-ceiling windows, so they stood there, side by side.

After standing in position, Hou Mo whispered to Sui Houyu: “Jiang Wei and Lu Qinghui are here too.”

“Good, perfect chance to beat them,” Sui Houyu said, eager for revenge.

Hou Mo glanced around again and said: “He Shibi’s team won’t be easy to deal with.”

“Why?”

“You’ll see.”

Sui Houyu followed Hou Mo’s gaze and saw He Shibi standing alongside his partner, who was speaking to him with a calm expression. Everything seemed perfectly normal.

Sui Houyu didn’t notice anything unusual and muttered under his breath: “Did they grow taller?”

“No, they stopped fighting.”

“Oh…” So what?

“When we were drawing lots, we were all indoors. I saw them drinking from the same water bottle. Tsk, doubles tennis really fosters romance…”

Sui Houyu was shocked and asked: “After all that fighting, they still…”

Then he suddenly remembered how he and Hou Mo used to fight at the beginning too.

Hou Mo chuckled softly and said: “Now, whenever I look at Tang Yao and Gu Libo, or Jiang Wei and Lu Qinghui, I can’t help but wonder.”

“Stop projecting your own thoughts onto others. Just because you’re fixated on your own partner doesn’t mean everyone else has ulterior motives. Sharing a bottle of water doesn’t imply what you think. You’re overthinking it.”

“Oh… maybe I am overthinking it.”

“Yeah.”

Among these doubles players, how many could really end up being gay? They just spent so much time together, had great chemistry, and developed good relationships.

Weren’t Deng Yiheng and Shen Junjing two straight guys?

Being gay wasn’t like growing crops in a greenhouse, mass-produced.

Hou Mo’s view was definitely colored by his own biases.

Sui Houyu glanced at He Shibi again and saw him flash a grin with his “outlaw” face at his partner.

Sui Houyu: “???”

Omake:

Ran Shu had his arms braced against the wall, standing on tiptoes to match Sang Xian.

This jerk just had to do it while standing!

Sang Xian lowered his head and whispered in a deep voice into his ear: “Aren’t you tired standing on tiptoes?”

Ran Shu bit back his tears and didn’t respond.

Out of nowhere, Sang Xian kicked over a pair of high heels: “Put them on.”

He refused, so Sang Xian paused, caught between wanting more and not pushing further, until Ran Shu reluctantly put them on.

They fit perfectly.

His annoying boyfriend never tired of buying him shoes.

As expected, once they were on, Sang Xian became even more excited.

In the end, Ran Shu cried out loudly.