HCILH Ch. 28

Chapter 28: Explanation

Sui Houyu stepped back two steps, maintaining his impenetrable personal space.

It was as if Sun Wukong had drawn a protective circle around him—no one was allowed to step inside, or he would feel disturbed. 

Crossing that boundary would likely awaken a volatile little monster.

Hou Mo didn’t push too far either to pester him. He stopped at the right moment, adjusted his mood, and followed up with an explanation: “I admit, when I first added you on WeChat, it was only because my dad sent me your contact card. It would have been awkward not to add you.”

“Oh.” Sui Houyu didn’t really want to hear this. He already knew—what was the point in explaining now?

Another round of humiliation?

“But after a few days of chatting with you, I realized you weren’t as annoying as before. I kept talking to you. We chatted for a while, remember?”

Sui Houyu said nothing, but his silence was considered as an agreement.

Hou Mo continued: “The reason I stopped responding later was that my dad passed away suddenly, and my family fell into chaos. I just didn’t have the energy to check my messages.”

Sui Houyu froze for a moment.

He hadn’t known about Uncle An’s death.

Thinking back, he realized that although he lived close to Hou Mo’s home, he hadn’t seen Uncle An around. If he had, he would have recognized him immediately.

“When did it happen?” Sui Houyu asked, still stunned and blinking slowly.

“His death anniversary is August 30th.” Hou Mo’s voice was very low, barely more than a whisper from his throat.

The date matched perfectly with the time Hou Mo had stopped replying to his messages.

Sui Houyu clearly remembered that they had chatted all summer. Then, just as the summer was ending, Hou Mo vanished without a word.

He had assumed Hou Mo wanted nothing to do with him anymore.

Then a memory resurfaced—

Deng Yiheng once mentioned that Hou Mo was the youngest in their class. If his birthday had been just one day later, he would have joined the next year’s batch.

In other words, Hou Mo’s birthday was August 31st, just a day after his father’s death anniversary.

Only a one day difference.

Hou Mo spoke again while Sui Houyu stayed silent: “I wanted to tell you earlier today, but I kept swallowing the words, thinking it would sound like I was trying to gain sympathy. This isn’t a talent show—I don’t need to share personal tragedies… But after thinking it over, I felt I owed you an explanation.”

Saying these things wasn’t easy. No matter how he framed it, it sounded very hypocritical.

Unbeknownst to Sui Houyu, this was Hou Mo laying bare his deepest pain, something he had kept hidden for so long.

Sharing it only with someone he considered important.

Sui Houyu finally asked: “So you changed your name?”

“Yeah. At first, I didn’t plan to. But after my dad passed, his parents and siblings cried and fought over his compensation money. They even tried to take my mom’s savings, and anything valuable in the house. When my mom fell seriously ill from grief and had to be admitted to the ICU, they cut all ties with us because we couldn’t give them more money. They even tried to trick me into giving them the money meant for my mom’s treatment. I was so disheartened that I decided not to keep the surname An anymore.”

Hou Mo had severed ties with his paternal relatives so thoroughly that he no longer even called them grandparents. 

His words carried the weight of that broken relationship.

Sui Houyu believed Hou Mo wasn’t lying.

Deng Yiheng had mentioned that Hou Mo’s mom once fell gravely ill, forcing them to sell their house to cover the medical expenses. Since then, Hou Mo had lived frugally, fearful of being unprepared for another crisis.

It was also a kind of fear.

Hou Mo gazed intently at Sui Houyu, observing every shift in his expression.

When they were children, Hou Mo hadn’t understood Houyu’s struggles with rage and refused to play with him. Now, he regretted his immaturity.

Years later, Hou Mo reconnected with Sui Houyu, and they kept in touch for a while. 

Then, tragedy struck, and he disappeared from Houyu’s life without a word.

The once-happy life he knew was shattered, leaving him too drained to socialize. When he finally gathered the strength to check his unread messages, it felt pointless—he didn’t want to spread his misery to others. So he cut himself off from everyone.

Now, knowing what Sui Houyu had been through, Hou Mo felt a deep ache in his heart.

He couldn’t change the past, but he could try to make amends now.

Luckily… fate had given them another chance.

He hopes it’s not too late.

Sui Houyu lowered his head, unable to say anything for a while.

He could imagine how unbearable that time must have been for Hou Mo—no wonder he hadn’t responded to messages.

All this time, he had only seen his own life and never stopped to consider what Hou Mo might have gone through.

Perhaps, because he was so sensitive about his own struggles, he assumed others viewed him the same way.

Standing before him now, Hou Mo spoke again, as if murmuring to himself in the quiet of the night: “I used to think I’d lost all connection to my dad—that I wouldn’t find any trace of him again. But then you appeared, and it felt like a miracle. You became the only link between me and my dad. That makes me really happy.”

After cutting ties with his father’s family, it was as if his dad had disappeared from his life entirely. His mom, not wanting to upset him, rarely mentioned his father.

It felt like his dad had vanished completely.

But now, here was Sui Houyu, the son of his father’s old comrade.

So, he valued it greatly.

He had chosen to reveal his scars to Sui Houyu.

After a long pause, Sui Houyu finally asked: “How did Uncle An…?”

“Let’s not talk about that,” Hou Mo replied quietly, not wanting to revisit that pain.

“My dad never knew what happened. He thought Uncle An was stationed at the border.”

“We couldn’t inform everyone,” Hou Mo explained. Then, after a moment of hesitation, he asked, “Since we’ve found each other again, can we try to get along this time?”

Sui Houyu bit his lip, staying silent.

Hou Mo pleaded softly: “Can we reintroduce ourselves? Don’t ignore me anymore—it really hurts.”

“I treat everyone the same. I’m not ignoring you,” Sui Houyu stubbornly turned his head.

“Then… how about we go somewhere without cameras and have a fight? I won’t fight back.” But maybe he’ll block a few hits.

Fighting was Sui Houyu’s usual way of venting his emotions.

Sui Houyu stayed silent, though his anger was still evident.

He used to care deeply about this childhood friend, but in the end, Hou Mo hated him. The pain from that felt like needles piercing him.

Hou Mo sighed and continued, “Can you give me a chance? Even just a trial period. Observe me, and if I mess up even a little, you can hit me or curse me—it’s fine. If it really doesn’t work out, I’ll… compensate with my body…”

“What?!”

“No, no! I mean, I’ll sleep next to you. Isn’t that how you sleep better? Can I use this to make up for my mistake? Use me however you like—I won’t complain. Just text me if you can’t sleep, and I’ll come right away.”

Sui Houyu frowned, finding the suggestion absurd.

Hou Mo maintained his good-natured tone, adding, “You can dislike me, but don’t make things hard on yourself. Not sleeping seems to affect your mood, doesn’t it? Now that there’s a way to solve it, why not make use of it?”

Sui Houyu rolled his eyes at Hou Mo before turning and continuing toward the dorm.

After taking two steps, he glanced back. Hou Mo immediately followed.

“We’ll see.” Sui Houyu said, his voice so faint it almost got carried away by the wind, making it hard for Hou Mo to catch.

Not giving up, Hou Mo asked again: “Do you want to come watch the competition? A lot of the guys on the team really like you. They’d be thrilled if you came. I can ask the coach for two tickets for you.”

“No.” Sui Houyu refused without hesitation.

“Don’t take it out on them because of me—they’re good guys.”

“Oh, really? Then why did you all make fun of Ran Shu for stuttering?”

“Stuttering? We didn’t make fun of him!” Hou Mo found the accusation baffling.

“At the beginning of the term, during the self-introductions.”

“Oh, that.” Hou Mo suddenly remembered and couldn’t help laughing again. Noticing Sui Houyu glaring at him, he quickly explained, “He introduced his school as ‘Qingyu High School,’ but it sounded like ‘Lust High School.’ None of you Qingyu students noticed?”

Sui Houyu frowned and stared at Hou Mo for a moment before muttering: “What nonsense?”

“Didn’t you think so?”

“No.”

“Oh.”

“Boring!”

“Yeah.”

Sui Houyu turned back and kept walking, but he no longer seemed as distant as before.

Hou Mo followed closely behind. When Sui Houyu climbed the stairs, Hou Mo noticed how light his steps were, with his toes barely pressing on the steps and his calves tense, still slender.

Too thin.

At that height, he should at least weigh 130 pounds, right?

As Hou Mo’s gaze drifted upward, he saw how the loose T-shirt draped over Sui Houyu’s slim figure. From his angle, the open part of the shirt revealed a faint glimpse of his waist dimples.

His waist is really slim…

If Sui Houyu ever disappeared one day, Hou Mo might seriously suspect that the legendary monk Fahai^[1] had taken him away.

Just as he was lost in thought, Sui Houyu suddenly stopped, turned, and looked at him. Hou Mo quickly averted his gaze.

Standing on the staircase, Sui Houyu quietly said: “Unblock me from seeing your Moments for me.”

“Oh…” Hou Mo hurriedly pulled out his phone and removed the privacy setting right in front of him. It had been a thoughtless choice when they first became friends—he hadn’t expected Sui Houyu to warm up this much.

He knew this was already a sign of Sui Houyu compromising.

Sui Houyu glanced at his own phone, and Hou Mo climbed up two more steps, standing in front of him. “Notice anything?”

“Notice what?” Sui Houyu asked absently while scrolling through his phone.

“I really don’t post anything on Moments.”

“…”

So, it made no difference whether he was blocked there or not.

*

The highlight of the final day of the sports meet was the relay race.

The relay race counted for double the points of other events and always drew the most attention as a team event.

Class Seventeen of the second year had several athletes, some of whom were trained in track and field. They dominated the 4×100-meter relay, delivering a textbook-perfect performance.

But as soon as they finished, they started grumbling: “Technical skill can never compete with popularity…”

“Yeah, it’s still all about Senior Brother and Brother Yu’s races.”

Though their performance was excellent, even breaking records for two schools. 

The cheers they received paled in comparison to when Sui Houyu and Hou Mo broke the 800-meter record earlier. When the results were announced, the girls were still chatting, snacking, and paying little attention.

Deng Yiheng, who was running the third leg of the 4×200 relay, boasted as he prepared: “Hmph, my leg comes between Brother Yu and Senior Brother. Even if the girls don’t want to watch me, they’ll have to, since I’m the transition runner. This might just be the highlight of my life.”

The 4×100 runners weren’t convinced and teased: “You’d better trip. That way, all the girls in school will remember you and curse you every time they see you for ruining their eye-candy’s race.”

Deng Yiheng fell silent.

When it was time to prepare, the first runner looked around nervously and asked: “So my only job is just the start?”

The first runner was a boy from the track team who specialized in sprints.

The other three replied in unison, “Yep.” The poor sprinter nearly spiraled into self-doubt.

During the wait, Hou Mo repeatedly demonstrated how to hand off and receive the baton to Sui Houyu, the only non-student athlete among them.

Sui Houyu listened quietly, watching their demonstrations until a teacher called them away.

Standing on the track, as the first runner crouched into position, Sui Houyu felt a knot tighten in his chest.

He rarely participated in team activities and preferred to avoid social interactions. What if he messed up and ruined it for the whole team?

Hou Mo, waiting not far away for the baton, noticed Sui Houyu’s tense expression and suddenly shouted, “What are you thinking about?! Brother Yu, go for it! Fly, Brother Yu! Hou Hou will always follow you, ahhh!”

The sudden outburst startled Sui Houyu, but he quickly composed himself.

When the starting gun fired, Sui Houyu got into position. As the first runner handed off the baton, he took it swiftly and sprinted toward Deng Yiheng.

Sui Houyu’s running style was like a young beast hunting for the first time—clumsy, yet bursting with energy. A fierce little cub trying on the ferocity of a predator.

After passing the baton to Deng Yiheng and exiting the track without interfering with other lanes, he finally registered the loud cheers around him.

When he looked up, he saw Hou Mo gripping the baton, sprinting toward the finish line.

If Sui Houyu was a novice predator, then Hou Mo was a seasoned beast.

Skilled, steady, and unstoppable.

With a commanding presence, Hou Mo secured an undisputed first place.

Everyone said that the moment when Sui Houyu and Hou Mo broke the 800-meter record had been the high point of the sports meet.

After all, it happened at the beginning of the event, and by the last day, most students were already mentally checked out and ready for vacation, making it hard to stir up any excitement.

However, the two of them once again shattered the cheering record they had set before.

They ignited the crowd all over again, with applause and cheers echoing endlessly.

Sui Houyu couldn’t help but smile as he walked toward Hou Mo.

Before they could reach each other, Deng Yiheng excitedly ran over, throwing an arm around both of them in celebration.

The first runner also jumped in, making the group hug even tighter, causing Sui Houyu to bump into Hou Mo.

Hou Mo awkwardly shielded Sui Houyu, and just as he managed to steady him, the others hugged even tighter, pressing Sui Houyu fully into Hou Mo’s embrace.

Deng Yiheng laughed as he bounced around. “We nailed it, brothers!”

The first runner bragged: “My start was perfect!”

Hou Mo’s laughter echoed in Sui Houyu’s ear, warm and cheerful, tickling his eardrums.

It felt… itchy.

Omake:

Hou Mo—Mo as in “stranger,” Mo as in “estranged.”

He changed his name out of utter disappointment.

(This is a reference to him calling himself Huo Huo in the chapter)

Q: What’s it like having a partner with a strong desire?

Hou Mo: Let me put it this way—if the setting is right and it’s just the two of us, we’ve never done anything random or unnecessary. I never stop talking, and he never stops moving.

Q: So you kept pestering Brother Yu all night, and he kicked you all night?

Hou Mo: ……