HCILH Ch. 2

Chapter 2: Mania

The atmosphere was a bit awkward, and the senior brother could only help mediate: “How about… we shake hands and makeup?”

Sui Houyu flexed his wrist and coldly replied while avoiding eye contact: “I don’t want to shake hands.”

“Then my two brothers will apologize to you.”

“No need to apologize.” Sui Houyu finally raised his head to look at the senior brother, then smiled, a slyness evident in his smile. “I was just bored and looking for some amusement to relieve my boredom.”

This smile was just mischievous enough to raise the senior brother’s eyebrows.

After finishing his sentence, Sui Houyu walked around them toward the alley exit.

Night had fallen, and Sui Houyu walked from the dark alley onto the brilliantly lit street, his body surrounded by the lights from shop signs, creating a dazzling play of colors around him.

With his fluffy hair, long neck, and slender figure, his long legs were particularly eye-catching.

That silhouette was already stunning enough.

And then, thinking about that face, even when hitting someone, it didn’t look fierce; it was unexpectedly… good-looking.

The senior brother watched as Sui Houyu left, only pulling his gaze back to his friends after Sui Houyu disappeared at the alley’s entrance. “Can we stop using such clumsy methods to pick up girls?”

The rescuer was unconvinced. He rubbed the sore spots on his body and said: “We’re surrounded by guys and not a single girl. How boring is that?”

The senior brother smiled after hearing this: “What’s wrong with having lots of brothers? If worst comes to worst, you can be self-sufficient. In the future, the date could involve going with your partner to slice open pork buns and then go out for some skewers^[1] afterward—how romantic and unique is that?”

The rescuer rolled his eyes at this. “After getting pork buns, you’re going to go eat skewers? Roast some chicken skin; are you going to gain it back?”

The senior brother pursed his lips and didn’t answer, suddenly feeling that this topic was a bit disgusting.

Looking back at his two friends, they seemed to have been beaten badly, but it didn’t seem too serious. Sui Houyu probably knew how to hold back when he struck.

It was all just minor flesh wounds and no faces were hit.

The senior brother led them outside and casually asked, “Have you eaten?”

“No, not yet.”

The three of them went to a nearby restaurant. As soon as they walked in, the owner’s wife greeted them enthusiastically: “Oh, Hou Mo is here?”

After saying that, she looked at the two behind him and continued, “Xiao Deng and Xiao Shen are also here. Is it the season for you? Same old, same old?”

The three casually responded, and then they saw that the customer receiving the menu was Sui Houyu.

Sui Houyu also glanced up at them and then continued to lower his head to look at the menu.

It was really a narrow road for enemies.

Sui Houyu was flipping through the menu, ordering a few dishes.

After the owner’s wife noted it down, she asked, “How many people is this for?”

“Just me.”

“You can’t eat this much by yourself. Our portions are big; three dishes are enough.”

“It’s fine, just bring it out,” Sui Houyu replied, handing the menu back to the owner’s wife. He then leaned back in his chair and played with his phone.

Sui Houyu opened his WeChat menu and saw that Ran Shu had sent him a voice message, so he opened it to hear a stuttering voice: “Y-you really want to move out? Do you need me to arrange it for you? If it doesn’t work out, I can even give you a house!”

Ran Shu was a stutterer, the most annoying kind, where the stuttering occurred at the beginning of the sentence.

If it were at the end, you could guess what he meant from the context of the beginning and wouldn’t have to keep listening. Beginning with stuttering was testing one’s patience; you had to endure a long prelude each time.

Sui Houyu replied with a voice message: “Can you send me a text next time?”

A quick reply came back: “Y-y-you f*cking hate me, don’t you? Typing is a hassle.”

“It’s a hassle listening to you too.”

Then Sui Houyu received a 57-second voice message. Seeing the long message box, he didn’t even want to listen, directly placing his phone on the table.

Don’t think that Hou Mo and the others were the latecomers; their dishes came out first, mainly because their orders were simple.

The owner’s wife was a lady in her fifties, loud and friendly, introducing the dishes as she served them: “I just went to the backyard to pick these vegetables; they haven’t been sprayed with any chemicals, so they’re definitely fine. You can’t keep eating so monotonously; you’re growing, so you need to eat more!”

What they referred to as the same old, same old was clear broth noodles, steamed buns, and eggs.

Nothing else.

The three of them were pitifully eating their meals when they noticed that Sui Houyu’s table not far away was constantly being served.

Sui Houyu ordered six dishes and three bowls of rice for himself and then started eating.

The owner’s wife had been busy, but not long after, she stopped to stand by and watch Sui Houyu eat with interest.

The scene looked like a live eating broadcast; a person who seemed so thin with no extra fat could eat so much, and it was hard to tell how he managed to fit it all in.

Hou Mo looked at his clear and watery broth in front of him, then glanced over at Sui Houyu’s table filled with fish and meat, suddenly feeling a bit sour in his heart.

But this feeling quickly disappeared, mainly because seeing Sui Houyu eating so joyfully made him feel a sort of spiritual satisfaction as if he himself was full.

Perhaps that was the joy of watching eating broadcasts?

Deng Yiheng, also known as the rescuer, stared wide-eyed, unable to help but mumble: “This guy is too pretentious; can he really eat that much?”

Shen Junqing, the thug, quietly replied: “That’s not pretentious; if I don’t fast, I can eat more than him.”

After Sui Houyu settled the bill and left, the owner’s wife walked over to Hou Mo and his friends, exclaiming: “That girl is really pretty and tall, but she can eat so much!”

The three of them turned to the owner’s wife, their expressions complex.

Finally, it was Hou Mo who reminded her: “Aunt, that’s a boy.”

The owner’s wife was stunned and then asked in surprise: “A boy looks that good? He’s even prettier than you.”

Hou Mo didn’t agree with this statement and replied, “You were won over by just six dishes? Don’t you think my face is the standard for male handsomeness?”

The owner’s wife laughed heartily: “Right, our Hou Mo is the most handsome.”

Hou Mo dared to say this partly because he was shameless and partly because he really was quite good-looking.

Since childhood, he had always looked different from other kids.

In this warm-toned area with predominantly white skin, Hou Mo’s skin was relatively rare, a cold light white that was even a shade paler than the usual fair-skinned people. It was as if he was naturally lacking in melanin; his hair, eyebrows, and pupils were not black but a light brown.

His fluffy, light-colored hair paired with his light-colored eyes gave him the look of a cat; when looking at people, his gaze was calm and airy, as if he didn’t care about anything.

He was always smiling, but there was rarely any warmth in his eyes, which probably owed to his pair of smiling eyes.

Coupled with his sharp features, high nose bridge, and deep-set eyes, he had a strikingly three-dimensional face that often led people to ask if he was of a minority or mixed race. In truth, he didn’t have any such bloodline; his family had been pure Northeasterners for three generations.

The three of them walked out of the restaurant and sat on a nearby bench, gazing at the night sky while digesting their food.

The cool night breeze brought a whiff of the fragrance of grass and trees. Living in such a paradisiacal place was definitely a bit more enjoyable.

Just then, the silence was broken as Hou Mo received a video call from the coach.

After taking a deep breath, he answered, only to hear the coach yell: “I’m watching your steps! If you don’t want to run during the day because of the heat, then run at night! Even if it’s summer vacation, training can’t be neglected!”

Hou Mo had a good attitude, giving an “OK” gesture to the camera, looking especially obedient: “Okay, okay.”

“Don’t think you can trick me by running in circles! I want to see your different step counts, and you all have to run separately. After you get home, show me on the app, and give me a video of your stretches!”

Hou Mo cleared his throat and smiled: “Got it.”

After hanging up the video call, the three of them let out a simultaneous groan; being an athlete while taking online classes was definitely the most embarrassing existence.

The three of them made their way to the sports field.

This was the largest sports venue near them; the central area was originally a football field but had long been occupied by a square dancing^[2] troupe for many years.

Although the surrounding running track was a bit worn due to poor maintenance, it was still a decent place to run.

As the three of them were warming up, they spotted a familiar figure—Sui Houyu running past them.

They exchanged glances.

Deng Yiheng couldn’t help but ask, “What’s up with this guy? Did he just finish eating and then go for a run? Isn’t he afraid of gastroptosis? Isn’t this just a classic case of eating too much and being full?”

Shen Junqing shook his head and muttered, “I estimate it took him twenty minutes to get here; if he wasn’t familiar with the area, it would have taken him forty minutes to find his way here. He probably just arrived.”

Deng Yiheng nodded, “Right, he brought a suitcase today, so he must have just gotten here.”

Shen Junqing asked: “Is he also an athlete?”

Deng Yiheng recalled the ruthlessness with which Sui Houyu fought and agreed with the assumption: “Maybe he practices Sanda^[3]. You wouldn’t expect it; he looks so skinny but is surprisingly tough.”

After finishing his warm-up, Hou Mo started running on the track, following closely behind Sui Houyu, maintaining a distance that was neither too far nor too close.

Neither of them overtook the other, and neither stopped, continuing together for ten laps.

*

Sui Houyu returned to his rental home, feeling bored and restless.

After playing games for a while, he became annoyed and decided to do a thorough clean-up.

Although this kind of rental was expensive, it had its perks; for example, toiletries and toilet paper were provided by the owner. Since Sui Houyu was staying for a long time, the owner even sent him a new set.

Utilities were also covered by the owner.

Additionally, there were cleaning staff who came by daily, so he didn’t have to worry about tidying up.

But he just couldn’t sit still.

After tidying up, Sui Houyu put his hands on his hips and looked around the room, feeling like there was nothing else to do.

Suppressing his restless emotions, he sat down on the couch, chewed on two pieces of gum, and rested his hands on his thighs, only to fidget restlessly, opening and closing his hands.

In the end, he couldn’t hold back and walked out the door, starting to run up and down the stairs.

The unfamiliar environment made him feel uneasy.

Unease would make his anxiety worse.

He wanted to vent but couldn’t think of a good way to do so at the moment.

The sound insulation here was mediocre, and his running back and forth still disturbed the neighbors.

One household opened their door, and a person peeked out from the crack, coincidentally locking eyes with Sui Houyu, who was heading upstairs.

It was Hou Mo.

Hou Mo was also startled to see Sui Houyu and then broke into a smile, asking, “What are you doing?”

“My treadmill arrives tomorrow,” Sui Houyu replied before continuing upstairs.

Hou Mo leaned against the door frame and peered outside but could only see Sui Houyu’s athletic shoes ascending the stairs. He then retreated back into his house and explained to his mother, “Someone is running.”

Hou’s mother maintained her gentle demeanor, smiling as she said, “I see. I’ll go rest now; you should sleep early too.”

After helping his mother back to her room, Hou Mo returned to his own room.

He opened his computer and hesitated for a moment before typing a few words into the search box: ADHD.

He had seen Sui Houyu fight and eat and noticed that although Sui Houyu managed his emotions well, he always exhibited some fidgety behaviors, which piqued his curiosity.

However, after some comparison, he felt that Sui Houyu probably didn’t have ADHD.

Then, he came across other keywords related to his search: mania.

He clicked to read more, then looked at the Baidu Baike description: “A person feels good about themselves, feeling particularly sharp mentally, physically healthy, or exceptionally energetic; sleeping little yet not feeling fatigued; increased activity or psychomotor agitation; reckless behavior without regard for consequences, or exhibiting reckless behavior; markedly increased hypersexuality.”

Hou Mo stared at the page, instinctively rubbing his chin, unable to help but sigh: “Good physical condition, strong desires—what a combination.”

[1] This basically is a pun for getting circumcision and then m*sturbating together. 割包皮 means “to perform a circumcision” (割 means “cut” and 包皮 means “foreskin”). So, it could be interpreted as circumcision. But the phrase can also be interpreted as cutting open “包子” (bāozi, which are pork buns) because “包” can refer to a bun. When used in the punning context, “割包” can be understood as slicing open pork buns.