HCILH Ch. 27

Chapter 27: The Past

The sports meet ended earlier than the usual school dismissal time, and there was no evening self-study arranged.

The athletes still insisted on training these nights since the competition was approaching.

After finishing training, Hou Mo returned to the dormitory carrying his bath basket, where only Ran Shu was present.

He casually asked: “Where’s Brother Yu?”

Ran Shu glanced at Hou Mo, not wanting to engage much. After a moment of hesitation, he replied: “Brother Yu, he… he went to the classroom to read.”

Since Sui Houyu became the class monitor and had a spare key to the classroom, he started abusing his authority and would occasionally go to the classroom to read.

The dormitory had a set time for lights out, but the classroom didn’t. Since he couldn’t sleep anyway, he simply stayed in the classroom to read.

Unexpectedly, even with the sports meet, Sui Houyu was still quite serious.

After putting away his things, Hou Mo continued: “Can we chat for a bit? Actually, I’ve been thinking a lot about what you hesitated to say that day.”

Ran Shu quickly refused: “No.”

“I know Brother Yu warned you to keep quiet, but I still want to know. When I was young, I didn’t understand much and just found him annoying. Recently, I’ve thought carefully about it, and I might not have understood him, like how I didn’t know what mania was when I was younger.”

In fact, after learning about Sui Houyu’s condition, Hou Mo had thought a lot.

Things that were once incomprehensible suddenly became clear. As a child, he didn’t understand that a person’s hyperactivity might stem from illness or that they might be out of control.

Now, thinking back, the guilt surged within him.

Ran Shu was taken aback, not expecting Hou Mo to know about this matter.

Only a few people were aware that Sui Houyu had mania; many believed he simply had a bad personality or wasn’t normal, acting like a madman, unaware of the underlying reasons.

It was surprising that Hou Mo actually knew.

“How do you know this?” Ran Shu straightened up, speaking faster out of shock.

“So, can we talk now?”

Ran Shu leaned back against the bed again: “No.”

“After all, we’re roommates. What if I spit in your cup, or rubbed an unwashed peach on your blanket, or secretly added water to your shampoo?”

Ran Shu put down his phone and looked at Hou Mo, unable to help but ask: “Why are you such a jerk?”

“Just chatting casually, is that okay?” Hou Mo continued to smile, looking like an angel, as if his previous words had nothing to do with him.

Ran Shu felt helpless. After thinking for a moment, he finally agreed. People occasionally came into the dormitory, making it noisy. Hou Mo took Ran Shu to the quiet corridor on the fourth floor dormitory.

The unused dormitory floor was much quieter, giving them space to talk.

The floor here wasn’t tiled, and the air was filled with a dusty smell, heavy with industrial vibes.

After arriving, Ran Shu sat on a windowsill and asked him: “What do you want to ask?”

It seemed that people who learned to dance had light bodies; Ran Shu jumped onto the windowsill effortlessly.

“I’m very curious about what you wanted to say,” Hou Mo said, fixated on those unspoken words.

Ran Shu sighed and continued, “Actually, Brother Yu had a very good impression of you when he was younger because you were the only one willing to patiently coax him to sleep. He had a hard time sleeping since he had mania… The nanny at home secretly gave him sleeping pills…”

“Then he suddenly found out that I coaxed him to sleep just because I was annoyed with him and didn’t want to play with him, so he was pretty angry, right?”

“Definitely!” Ran Shu said, rolling his eyes at Hou Mo.

But soon, Ran Shu calmed down.

He defended Sui Houyu without thinking, but upon reflection, he understood why Hou Mo hated Sui Houyu. Sui Houyu was an abnormal child, temperamental and restless, always talking too much.

Ran Shu lowered his head slightly and continued, “But it’s normal for you to dislike him. It’s just… he has mania, and as a child, he couldn’t control himself. Brother Yu is much better now…”

“Yeah, I’ve noticed he seems to have changed a lot; he used to talk a lot.”

“He wasn’t like this at first.” Ran Shu looked up at him, his expression the most serious it has been, “Have you heard of electroconvulsive therapy?”

“Electroshock?” Hou Mo’s voice trembled when he asked this question.

This was a method he had only heard of through rumors.

Ran Shu shook his head again. “Actually, not exactly. They administer anesthesia first, then send electrical currents through the brain. It requires a hospital stay for a while, with sessions every other day.”

“Is it at a proper hospital?”

“A mental health center… it’s considered a proper hospital.”

Hou Mo had heard of a mental health center, but some people directly referred to it as a mental hospital.

He sometimes passed by there, seeing people banging on the windows and then being restrained, occasionally hearing someone shouting from inside.

He frowned slightly, his flaxen hair falling over his forehead as he imagined how Sui Houyu underwent treatment.

Hou Mo wasn’t familiar with such treatment methods; he just instinctively worried.

Ran Shu continued: “I think… Brother Yu could endure this kind of treatment, but the biggest blow to him was being treated like a mental patient by his family. His family didn’t understand him and thought he was annoying, so after he was discharged, he stopped smiling and spoke less… maybe it was a form of self-preservation, and he didn’t want to make friends anymore.”

“Why?”

“He’s afraid that if he makes friends, they’ll discover he’s not quite normal and then distance themselves, which would hurt him even more.”

Hou Mo suddenly understood that Sui Houyu’s avoidance of him today was likely to prevent them from becoming too close, leading to disappointment once again.

When self-preservation becomes a habit, indifference can turn into a disguise.

Today’s silence was just the scabs formed from accumulated past pains, wishing to wrap himself in a thick shell.

No longer having expectations meant no more injuries.

Ran Shu looked at Hou Mo’s expression, unsure if what he said was right.

He began talking about the past: “Brother Yu was hospitalized for several months, and this was just one of the treatment methods. I don’t know what other experiences he had, and when I asked him, he wouldn’t say. He originally planned to take a semester off, and the school wanted him to repeat a year, but Brother Yu self-studied for a month and scored better than those who stayed in school, so he was allowed to continue.”

After a pause, he continued: “H-he did it for me because he was afraid I would be bullied by others. He felt he couldn’t protect me. He used to not study well, and it was after that that he suddenly improved.”

After thinking for a moment, he added, “I-I heard Brother Yu say that he could fall asleep next to you. I think maybe he hasn’t recognized you yet, but his body remembers you, so he can fall asleep when close to you.”

After saying this, he felt something was off.

His body remembers him?

That sounds strange.

Hou Mo was also reminded, suddenly enlightened: “So that’s it.”

Ran Shu suddenly had a bright idea and asked: “Since he can fall asleep next to you, can you sleep with Brother Yu?”

“Huh?!” Hou Mo was startled by this sudden twist.

“Brother Yu had reached a point where he needed injections to fall asleep; later, the medication stopped working. You’re more effective than medication; just help out. At worst, I’ll give you a hundred yuan for a good night’s rest. Just add me on WeChat, and I’ll transfer you three thousand first, and we’ll do a monthly deal.”

There were too many points to argue, and Hou Mo didn’t know where to start, so he asked: “I get a hundred for just one sleep session?”

“You don’t need to do anything. Besides, even if you did, our Brother Yu might not be willing. You’re at best a pillow, a prop! You aren’t even a friend with benefits; you’re just a sleep friend. Besides, we need a lot! We work in bulk!”

“It’s not…” Hou Mo said again, “It’s not about the money; it’s just that Brother Yu isn’t talking to me now.”

“Then I have no solution.”

“How did you become friends with him in the first place?” Hou Mo had to look for other methods.

“I-I was cute when I was little, and I just played with him; I just didn’t coax him to sleep. If I had coaxed him, would you even have a chance?”

“What about Su Anyi?”

“She helped Brother Yu fight before.”

“A girl helped fight?”

“Hehe—” Ran Shu suddenly laughed, “Brother Yu couldn’t beat Su Anyi, surprising, right?”

Hou Mo was genuinely stunned.

He and Sui Houyu could barely hold their own, but Sui Houyu couldn’t beat Su Anyi?

“They actually fought?” Hou Mo couldn’t help but be curious.

“It was just a competition; Brother Yu was the one who could withstand Su Anyi’s blows better. If it were me, I wouldn’t withstand three moves from Su Anyi.”

Hou Mo couldn’t help but scratch his head, “Let me think of a way. He… added me on WeChat before because he wanted to become friends, right?”

“Yeah, but you ignored him, kept saying he annoyed you, and even lied. You basically stepped on Brother Yu’s landmine and danced a tap routine right on top of it.”

“I got it. Thanks for telling me this.”

Ran Shu jumped down from the windowsill, dusted off his pants, and headed back upstairs.

Hou Mo wandered alone around the dormitory building before sneaking off to the teaching building.

The teaching building was eerily quiet, like a giant beast in hibernation.

Hou Mo deliberately lightened his steps as he walked through the hallway. Finally, he peeked through the narrow window at the classroom door and saw Sui Houyu trying out yet another reading position—doing a plank while reading.

Sui Houyu had a school jacket under his arms for support as he read intently.

His hair was really thick, and from this angle, Hou Mo couldn’t even see his face, just a faint glimpse of his nose tip.

Hou Mo hesitated, wondering if he should go in and say something to him.

But Sui Houyu seemed to sense him and looked up toward the door. He stood up, walked over, and opened it: “Coming in?” he asked.

“Yeah, just grabbing something.” Hou Mo instinctively replied.

The moment he said it, he wanted to bite his tongue.

Why couldn’t he just say he came to see him? Hou Mo walked into the classroom, pretending to search through his things in a serious manner, and eventually grabbed a book.

Sui Houyu returned to his seat, packed his bag, and left.

Hou Mo immediately followed him out, not forgetting to turn off the lights and lock the classroom door behind them.

The two of them walked out of the teaching building, one following the other.

Sui Houyu wore a T-shirt and loose black shorts, and Hou Mo couldn’t help but stare at his slender legs. He felt like Sui Houyu’s legs were too thin, making his shoes look oversized, like a child sneaking around in adult shoes.

Maybe because they were in the suburbs, the night sky seemed exceptionally bright.

A silver thread unraveled across the sky, forming a river of stars. The dotted starlight occasionally hid behind ripples of soft clouds.

Sui Houyu walked quickly, disappearing into the night with his delicate frame, tearing through the silence of the scene.

Looking at the starry river—there are so many stars.

But some encounters between stars are anything but ordinary.

Perhaps a dim star may shine brightly because of another.

Hou Mo sped up to catch up with Sui Houyu. Though there was still a slight gap between them, the shadows cast by the streetlights made it look as if they were walking side by side, intimately close, their height difference smoothing out the space between them.

The shadows stretched and shrunk and then stretched again under each streetlight, always leaning toward each other, as if they were leaning against each other.

Noticing this, Sui Houyu glanced back at Hou Mo.

Hou Mo met his gaze and smiled gently.

The color of Hou Mo’s eyes was light, and under the streetlights, they gleamed with a soft orange glow, like glass glistening with a warm shimmer—so tender and gentle.

In a soft voice, he said: “I didn’t go to the classroom just to grab a book. I was looking for you.”

Sui Houyu asked: “What for?”

“Yeah, I do have something to tell you.”