HCILH Ch. 12

Chapter 12: The Leading Actress

Sang Xian came to deliver the bed but only called a car, not any workers.

At Sang’s place, they had people to help move things, but here, they had to rely on themselves.

Deng Yiheng was also called to help move the bed, and in the process, he heard about the two’s feat of breaking the bed during a fight.

While helping, Deng Yiheng quietly asked Hou Mo, his voice low but with a wide grin, as if hoping Hou Mo could read his lips: “Senior Brother, could you beat him?”

Hou Mo casually replied: “We fight differently.”

“But could you beat him?” Deng Yiheng was fixated on the outcome.

“A tie, I guess.”

In truth, Hou Mo couldn’t beat Sui Houyu in a fight, but he could subdue him, which made it a draw.

Deng Yiheng gave Hou Mo a thumbs-up, saying: “Alright, I feel relieved.”

Hou Mo smiled, not mentioning that after the fight, he still had to calm Sui Houyu down.

It took four guys and a driver to barely move the bed upstairs. The bed frame was overly extravagant and didn’t match the style of the room at all, like tossing a cat bowl into a mouse hole.

Sui Houyu, who knew a bit about furniture, could tell from the material alone that the bed had to cost at least five figures.

After thinking for a moment, he said to Sang Xian: “I’ll transfer you the money.”

Sang Xian shook his head and refused: “Don’t worry about it.”

Hou Mo, standing beside them, also said: “You don’t need to pay him.”

Afterward, Hou Mo and Sang Xian went downstairs to move the mattress, while Sui Houyu stayed upstairs to rest.

Deng Yiheng pulled something out of his bag and placed a takeout bag on the table, saying to Sui Houyu: “Senior Brother asked me to buy this for you.”

“What is it?”

“It’s from the most famous place around here, a dish called mixed qq chicken bones. It’s so good. We used to eat it all the time before we became student athletes—it’s a delicacy. But now we can’t eat it anymore.”

Sui Houyu walked over and opened the bag. Inside was a transparent plastic box, revealing the chicken bones.

As he looked at it, Deng Yiheng leaned closer and said: “Treasure it. Our Senior Brother is usually as stingy as can be. If he’s willing to pay out of his own pocket, he’s really going all out. One day, if our Senior Brother ever dates, taking the girl out and paying for the meal would be the height of his romance.”

Sui Houyu couldn’t help but ask: “Is his family really in a bad situation?”

Deng Yiheng sighed and nodded. “It’s just him and his mom. His mom’s health isn’t good. They sold their house and borrowed money for her treatment. It cost a lot. They’re not exactly poor now, but the illness left a scar. He’s afraid of being in a desperate situation again, so he’s become obsessed with saving money to an unhealthy degree, especially with himself.”

“Oh…” Sui Houyu broke apart some chopsticks. While opening the box, he asked, “Then why did he attend a private high school?”

Private high schools are expensive.

The supermarket at Qingyu High, where Sui Houyu used to attend, had prices as high as those in an airport—water was 1.5 to 2 yuan more expensive than outside.

Deng Yiheng snapped his fingers right next to Sui Houyu’s ear, causing him to move away in annoyance.

In a good mood, Deng Yiheng didn’t mind and explained, “You don’t know this, do you? Our Senior Brother makes money while studying. Last year, he earned over 200,000 yuan through competitions, scholarships, and advertising!”

Sui Houyu took a bite of the chicken bones, finding them quite delicious. He looked at Deng Yiheng, waiting for him to continue.

“The top five students at Fenghua get free tuition, and the top three even get scholarships. Senior Brother is always number one. Plus, being on the tennis team, he gets sponsored gear, and the team covers meals. On top of that, he earns prize money from competitions.”

Sui Houyu swallowed and asked, “He’s good at studying too?”

“Of course. Senior Brother is the top student of his year at Fenghua. He’s brilliant. But don’t feel inferior—you’re also a school tyrant. It’s rare to find a genius-level school tyrant like him. You, on the other hand, have a bright future just based on your looks. No need to try too hard.”

Sui Houyu wasn’t sure how to respond. Would it be awkward to say his own grades were good too?

In the end, he simply replied, “It’s really tasty.”

“Right? You have to wait in a long line for it.”

Just then, Hou Mo and Sang Xian came back upstairs with the mattress and put it in the bedroom.

When Hou Mo came out, Sui Houyu picked up his phone and said: “I’ll transfer you the money for the chicken bones.”

Hou Mo refused and said: “Don’t you get it? I’m feeding you to make sure you keep quiet. Don’t tell my mom about our fight—she has a weak heart.”

“Alright, but how are you going to explain this bed?”

Hou Mo shamelessly suggested: “Just say you and your girlfriend broke it.”

Sui Houyu immediately retorted: “B*llsh*t! I don’t even have a girlfriend!”

Hou Mo didn’t seem to care. He had planned to leave after moving the mattress but now stopped at the door to ask, “What about that girl who visited you during military training, your ex?”

“No, never dated her,” Sui Houyu replied, focusing on his chicken bones, clearly not wanting to discuss it further.

Suddenly, Deng Yiheng felt a sense of balance and slapped his thigh: “See? What’s the point of being good-looking if you haven’t dated either? Out of the four of us in this room, not a single one has dated. I suddenly feel at peace.”

Hou Mo laughed when he heard those words: “I’m not in a hurry, but Old Man Sang here is a bit anxious. After all, he completely missed the age of young love.”

Sang Xian rolled his eyes at Hou Mo.

Seeing Sui Houyu’s confusion, Deng Yiheng explained: “Sang Xian is the oldest in our class. He should’ve been in his third year, but he got held back a year to join our class. And by the way, Senior Brother here is the youngest. If he had been born a day later, he’d be in the first-year class now. Good thing he was born just in time, or Sang Xian would’ve been two grades behind him.”

Instead of making things clearer, the explanation left Sui Houyu even more confused.

Was Sang Xian held back because of Hou Mo?

After explaining, Deng Yiheng was called away by Hou Mo, and the three left together.

Sui Houyu finished his box of chicken bones but still couldn’t make sense of it all.

*

Around 10:30 the next morning, Hou Mo came by again to help Sui Houyu clean.

While cleaning, Hou Mo noticed Da Ge staring at him intently. After trying to stay calm for a while, he asked, “What’s your cat’s name?”

Sui Houyu was stretching his legs in the living room, one leg propped against the wall in a perfect split, his upper body lazily draped over his leg, reading a book. Without looking up, he answered, “Da Ge.”

Hou Mo continued cleaning: “That’s quite the name.”

“Ran Shu named it.”

“Oh…” Hou Mo glanced at Da Ge and greeted it, “Hello, Da Ge, I’m just here to clean. No offense intended.”

Da Ge was curled up lazily on a shelf but kept a sharp eye on Hou Mo, clearly not liking him. 

In Da Ge’s mind, this guy bullied his human servant. Despicable. Out of consideration for Sui Houyu cleaning its litter, Da Ge decided to keep an eye on Hou Mo’s every move.

Hou Mo looked into Da Ge’s green eyes again, then glanced at the figurine Sui Houyu had of Zoro, who had green hair.

He caught a glimpse of his own light brown hair and eyes in the mirror. Suddenly, his unique color didn’t seem so special. It didn’t look as nice anymore.

Before leaving, Hou Mo asked: “Want me to fix the curtain rod for you?”

Sui Houyu flipped a page in his book. “I don’t have OCD, so I don’t usually pay attention to that spot.”

In other words, yesterday, he had been nitpicking on purpose. What could you do about it?

Hou Mo packed up the things in the bamboo basket and headed out. As he closed the door, he heard Sui Houyu clearing his throat, but it wasn’t in the usual tone.

The soundproofing here wasn’t great. Even when Hou Mo reached his own door, he could still faintly hear Sui Houyu humming and then singing something in a theatrical tone.

He stood at his door for a moment, listening carefully, then entered his house.

Instead of immediately washing up, he went to his room, turned on his computer, and searched for the words Sui Houyu had been singing.

He couldn’t catch the whole thing, only a few vague words, but after typing them in, he quickly found something that made his eyes widen.

A huadan^[1] [1]?

The segment that Sui Houyu performed earlier in “Xie Yaohuan^[2]” is a role traditionally played by a huadan.

That being said, it seems that Sui Houyu’s singing voice really doesn’t sound like that of a typical boy…

Hou Mo then went to search for images of huadan costumes, and he started to imagine what Sui Houyu would look like in costume.

After thinking for a while, he couldn’t help but rub his face.

He had to admit that Sui Houyu’s appearance was indeed quite suitable for the huadan role. However, he wasn’t very knowledgeable about Peking opera. Would Sui Houyu’s height still be appropriate for playing a huadan?

At that moment, Hou’s mother returned home. Upon seeing the clutter in the living room, she didn’t call for Hou Mo and began tidying up by herself.

Hearing the door close, Hou Mo came out to help his mother.

After glancing at Hou Mo, Hou’s mother pondered for a moment before asking, “Did Sang Xian come over yesterday?”

“Yeah.”

“Why didn’t you invite him for dinner?”

“He wasn’t hungry.”

“Why is he never hungry?”

Hou Mo managed to chuckle: “Who knows? Just a coincidence.”

Hou’s mother hesitated for a moment before asking, “Did you… get into a fight again?”

Hou Mo paused. Although Sui Houyu didn’t hit him in the face, getting hit elsewhere still hurt. He had trouble sleeping last night and had secretly applied bruise ointment.

Unexpectedly, his mother found out.

“It’s not that I asked Sang Xian to help; I was just… dealing with a little brat by myself. That kid is going through a rebellious phase, always causing trouble. If I don’t tidy up, he won’t settle down. But it didn’t escalate into actual violence—just some minor scuffles.”

Seeing Hou Mo’s reluctance to elaborate, Hou’s mother looked at him with concern. He reassured her, “Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.”

Hou’s mother decided not to say anything more.

*

Early Monday morning, Deng Yiheng received the news: “Gege is inquiring about what happened during the dorm incident last time.”

Hou Mo was sitting in a chair catching up on homework and muttered: “We were just defending ourselves; why are you scared?”

“I overheard that the female teacher got into an argument with Gege.”

Hou Mo looked up and hesitated before asking: “Sui Houyu and the others’ past homeroom teacher?”

Deng Yiheng nodded: “Yes.”

Sui Houyu’s attention was piqued, and he turned to them, asking: “What happened next?”

“It was obvious Gege couldn’t win the argument against the teacher. They’re probably going to call in the principal to mediate, and it seems like a room change might be in the cards.”

Just as Deng Yiheng finished speaking, someone came to the classroom door to call for Sui Houyu.

Sui Houyu anticipated this outcome. Although he had merely participated, he had somehow ended up as the leader. When the teachers looked for the instigator, they would inevitably call him first.

He took a deep breath and headed to the office.

Upon entering, he heard the principal shout: “Sui Houyu, it’s you again!”

This principal was from the original Qingyu High School and was quite familiar with Sui Houyu, as the principal often made him write reflection papers.

Teacher Li, visibly displeased, interjected: “Dad! Can you stop targeting him just because he has more hair than you? Your baldness is your own problem.”

Gege, who had just been arguing, couldn’t help but laugh.