HCILH Ch. 3

Chapter 3: Class Seventeen

Due to the merging of the two schools and the relocation of campuses, classes began a few days earlier than usual.

At this moment, the students were still unaware of the underlying conspiracy.

*

After the two schools merged, students would be gathered together.

The third-year students were placed on a separate campus and assigned to the original campus of Qingyu High School.

The first and second-year students were assigned to the campus of Fenghua High School.

The school name was changed to Fengyu High School.

When Sui Houyu arrived at the Fenghua campus with his suitcase, he stood at the school gate, looking at the teaching building and then turning to gaze at the vast cornfield in the diagonal front, his expression gradually falling.

The verdant corn stalks swayed gently in the breeze, their long leaves rustling softly, basking in the sunlight with a sense of tranquility.

This vibrant green matched the pallor of Sui Houyu’s face.

It was very close to Xiangjia Lane, which was why Sui Houyu chose to live there, but he hadn’t expected the school’s location to be even more remote than Xiangjia Lane.

Xiangjia Lane was nestled by the mountains and rivers, while the Fenghua High School campus was located next to fields and yellow loess hills.

Perhaps it was because the area was indeed quite remote that a single high school occupied such a vast expanse, and it was said that students could get lost on campus. Some buildings had even been completed without knowing what to do with them, so they remained empty.

Hmm.

Lost on campus.

Lost after leaving the campus.

Sui Houyu could only follow the crowd inside, comforting himself that he would be back at the original campus next year.

Today was the return-to-school day, and students were not wearing uniforms; those unfamiliar with each other could not distinguish who was who, unsure if they were old schoolmates.

Sui Houyu wore noise-canceling headphones in a twilight red color, which helped tame his fluffy hair a bit. However, the ends that weren’t pressed down by the headphones stubbornly stuck out, swaying back and forth in the wind, maintaining a curve that the wind couldn’t smooth down.

Surrounding students, feeling that Sui Houyu looked unfamiliar, glanced at him a couple more times, seemingly thinking that this boy was particularly eye-catching in the crowd.

Unfortunately, the boy was cold and distant, looking at people with a sharp gaze.

As Sui Houyu stepped into the crowd, there were occasional voices recognizing him, greeting him: “Brother Yu.”

Another person said: “Brother Yu, Ran Shu is over there by the entrance of that curved building.”

Sui Houyu casually replied with a few words and then walked toward that building. As he approached, he saw a crowd gathered, all familiar faces.

In a strange environment, the boys wanted to showcase their presence, not wanting to be outdone by students from the other school. This group of boys gathered together, each with different styles, making an effort to display their clothes with an air of arrogance.

A bit childish and silly.

Sui Houyu couldn’t help but smile.

Ran Shu was different from the others.

He was squatting on a platform, looking downcast. He glanced at Sui Houyu, abruptly stood up, and cursed: “F*ck, f*ck, f*ck, they’re redoing the exams and sorting us into classes based on grades!”

Ran Shu was Sui Houyu’s best friend, a rich kid who loved to flaunt his wealth.

Besides being wealthy, he had no other strengths, so he could only use them to prove himself and gain recognition from others.

Academics were his weak point, so negligible it could be ignored.

Sui Houyu chewed gum and casually said: “Maybe they’re afraid of cliques.”

With the merging of the two schools and the students being at such an impulsive age, it was easy for them to form two factions, making each other look unappealing.

The school’s solution was to disperse them, diminishing the clear boundaries and allowing friendships to form with students from the other school, thus preventing any conflicts.

Ran Shu looked distressed, asking: “What should I do then?”

Ran Shu and Sui Houyu had entirely opposite academic performances.

Sui Houyu could be the top student, while Ran Shu might be the bottom of the class; the fact that they could become friends was a miracle.

Sui Houyu glanced at Ran Shu and smiled: “Don’t worry, ordinary people can’t get rid of you. If someone really can, you won’t be able to escape anyway.”

Ran Shu had no choice but to accompany Sui Houyu to the dormitory, grumbling along the way: “D-don’t look at them. They’ve mixed the classes, but at least the dorms aren’t mixed. The fifth and sixth floors are all from our school. There are lower floors too, one near the garbage station—so damn annoying.”

Ran Shu and Sui Houyu’s dormitory was on the sixth floor.

For Sui Houyu, that floor was acceptable, but for Ran Shu, the “delicate” young master, it was really disgusting, likely to chafe his delicate bottom.

Sui Houyu didn’t mind, casually chatting with Ran Shu as they tidied up their dorm.

Ran Shu was still chattering about Sui Houyu renting a place: “I have plenty of houses; you didn’t even ask me when you went to live somewhere else.”

“If my mom finds out I’m missing, she’ll just ask your mom, and there’s no way to hide it.”

“True…” Ran Shu casually sat there, “But that old, dilapidated house, you only go there on weekends anyway, so it doesn’t matter. But this lousy dorm’s air conditioning? I can’t feel any wind for half the day.”

The return-to-school task for the students today was to move into the dormitory and clean up.

Neither of them participated in the cleaning, nor did anyone come to call them.

By evening, the students who had finished cleaning began to return. As they passed by Sui Houyu’s dorm, one of them knocked on the door, entering to say: “Brother Yu, Brother Shu, the exams start tomorrow at 7:30 AM. You guys are in Exam Room 11; I took a look; it’s in Building No. 2, the tallest building.”

Unfamiliar with the place, he could only describe which building it was.

Ran Shu nodded and waved his hand: “Thanks.”

Sui Houyu only responded with a nasal “Hmm.”

*

According to the number of students, the second year was divided into thirty-two classes.

Classes One to Nine were liberal arts; Classes Ten to Seventeen were science; there were also fifteen international classes, which were the special programs of their two private high schools.

Among the liberal arts classes, Class One had the best grades, Class Two was slightly worse, and so on.

The same applied to the science classes.

The exams ended in just one day, covering only the main subjects. The school’s scoring speed was remarkably fast; it was said that the teachers worked overtime until dawn, and the next morning, the class divisions were announced.

Ran Shu already knew which class he would be in early in the morning, so he didn’t squeeze in with the crowd to check the big announcement; instead, he went to Class Seventeen early and occupied his favorite spot in the classroom.

The desk by the window, in the corner of the last row.

He could bask in the sun or take a nap. For a slacker, it is a Feng Shui treasure land.

As Ran Shu was swaying in his seat, he saw a group of tall students marching in, laughing cheerfully.

When they arrived in Class Seventeen, they still had a good attitude and were all talented.

A few of them took seats in the middle of the last row, connecting four seats together, one good-looking boy sitting close to the aisle, quite near to Ran Shu.

Ran Shu glanced at the boy and then pouted.

He looked decent, but his smile was a bit greasy; Ran Shu was afraid that this kid would splash him with oil.

Then, those who entered were familiar with these boys and greeted them with loud chatter, which annoyed Ran Shu, making him roll his eyes.

Someone also said: “I hope Class Seventeen won’t be taken over by our athletic students.”

Fenghua High School used to have sports and arts special classes, which were filled with slackers, and Class Seventeen had a group of them.

While Ran Shu was waiting and swaying in his chair, he suddenly saw Sui Houyu come in with his backpack. He immediately froze, staring blankly as Sui Houyu walked toward him and asked, “Are you looking for me?”

Sui Houyu threw his backpack onto the desk in front of Ran Shu and said, “Are you really going to be alone?”

“Isn’t it supposed to be? We’re not changing classes in our senior year!” Ran Shu said anxiously, no longer stuttering.

Ran Shu’s stuttering was a result of his upbringing, but when he was anxious or singing, he didn’t stutter.

According to Ran Shu, his stuttering was caused by his overly strict father, and maybe one day, his wounded little heart would be healed, and he would be fine.

“What’s different? Your dad is always your dad.” Sui Houyu didn’t care, glancing at the people around him as he sat down.

The “senior brother who didn’t intervene” that he had randomly bumped into a few days ago turned out to be in this high school as well, sitting not far away, separated from him by an aisle, currently resting his chin on his hand, looking at the two of them with keen interest, not hiding his straightforward gaze.

Ran Shu was extremely excited.

He knew what kind of grades Sui Houyu had, and in an instant, he was overwhelmed with emotion, jumping up to hug Sui Houyu tightly: “You, you are my dad! My biological dad!”

“Get off me.”

“Okay.” Ran Shu obediently let go of him.

As soon as Ran Shu released Sui Houyu and adjusted his chair, he saw a familiar face again.

Su Anyi walked in.

Another one who fell into Class Seventeen for him, and she was a fairy.

Ran Shu’s eyes brimmed with tears as he shouted: “Mom!”

Then Sui Houyu slapped him on the head, and he realized he had called her the wrong name, quickly changing it to: “My real sister.”

Su Anyi didn’t reply and sat down in front of Sui Houyu.

Ran Shu thought for a moment, picked up his backpack, and decided not to sit with Sui Houyu anymore, choosing instead to sit next to Su Anyi.

He knew Sui Houyu’s flaws, so he let him shine on his own.

Hou Mo saw Su Anyi walk past him and immediately thought of the scene that would unfold later.

Turning his head, he noticed his friends staring with wide eyes.

This was a common issue in the sports specialty class—there weren’t many girls in the class, and the few that were there acted more masculine than them.

He helplessly covered his face, afraid his friends would do something embarrassing. Luckily, they were just trying to show off and hadn’t gone too far.

Other students gradually trickled into the classroom. Hou Mo boredly rolled a tennis ball on the table, only looking up when he heard his friends greeting someone who had just walked in. It was then he saw Sang Xian entering.

Hou Mo stared at Sang Xian, feeling a sharp pain in his back teeth.

This guy was truly like a persistent ghost.

Hou Mo asked Sang Xian in a hostile tone: “What’s wrong with you?”

Sang Xian lazily replied: “Oh, I just thought you were here.”

Hou Mo immediately cursed: “F*ck.”

By the time the classroom was nearly full, the homeroom teacher finally walked in.

Seeing the teacher enter, the group of boys at the back suddenly wailed, “No way!”

“Gege, why are you so annoying?”

“Gege, we want a female homeroom teacher.”

The teacher, referred to as Gege^[1], looked to be in his early thirties, with medium-length hair and stubble on his chin, giving off a somewhat scruffy vibe.

He lazily glanced at them and replied casually: “As if I want to see you?”

Gege organized the student information sheets and then pointed, saying: “Start your self-introductions from here.”

It was as if she didn’t want to say another word.

The first to introduce himself was a student from the same column as Sui Houyu, and the students introduced themselves in turn.

When Su Anyi stood up, she coldly said: “My name is Su Anyi.”

Then she sat back down.

The teacher looked at her and asked: “That’s it?”

Ran Shu quickly chimed in: “Uh, teacher, she doesn’t like to talk.”

“Then you go next.”

Ran Shu immediately stood up and began his introduction: “I’m Ran Shu, I used to be from Qingyu. I also went to Qingyu for middle school, and I like street dancing and singing…”

Sui Houyu looked at Ran Shu introducing himself and frowned. Glancing around, he indeed saw mocking expressions.

He came here because of Ran Shu.

Ran Shu was a person with a lot of temper, and he was indeed a bit annoying—clearly a stutterer, yet he insisted on interjecting.

Ran Shu had no intention of changing this habit and lived quite comfortably.

However, there were always people mocking him for stuttering, which infuriated the protective Sui Houyu.

Sui Houyu was a very double-standard person, and he was quite blatant about it.

He could bully Ran Shu and could laugh at him, but others couldn’t.

He deliberately came to Class Seventeen to protect Ran Shu from being bullied; only then could he feel at ease.

Sui Houyu turned his head and saw Hou Mo and his friends exchanging glances across the aisle before breaking into smiles. When they seemed to notice Sui Houyu’s gaze, they looked over.

Sui Houyu rolled his eyes at him, his expression full of disgust.

Hou Mo was taken aback. Did he overhear him and his friends whispering?

Previously, his friends said that the homophone for Qingyu High sounded like “desire.”^[2]

Just now, when Ran Shu mentioned Qingyu in his self-introduction, it did sound a bit like “desire.” Several boys exchanged glances, and their smiles were quite suggestive.

Before they could gather their expressions, Sui Houyu shot them a glare.

Hou Mo immediately retracted his smile.

When it was Sui Houyu’s turn to introduce himself, he stood up.

Some girls in the class had already noticed him, but they were shy and didn’t dare to look back.

At this moment, as he introduced himself, the girls finally dared to turn around and look at him, their excitement palpable.

Sui Houyu quietly said: “My name is Sui Houyu, I have a bad temper, don’t provoke me; I’m sick.”

After finishing his introduction, he sat back down.

Hou Mo looked at Sui Houyu and couldn’t help raising an eyebrow.

When it was Hou Mo’s turn to introduce himself, he stood up leisurely and smiled: “Hello everyone, my name is Hou Mo, I have a particularly good temper, feel free to provoke me; I’m not sick.”

This made Ran Shu turn around and glare at Hou Mo, cursing: “F*ck…”

Why was this guy so annoying? Was it on purpose?

Sui Houyu also looked at Hou Mo with an unfriendly expression.

Hou Mo remained smiling, his demeanor carefree.

At this moment, the teacher looked at Hou Mo and said, “Are you two not getting along? I’ve heard that you both have been gathering together at school. What? Do you want to fight?”

This teacher was quite a character, casually asking the question.

Hou Mo still wore a smile: “Of course not! I can definitely get along well with the new classmates, right, Classmate Sui?”

After saying this, Hou Mo reached out his hand towards Sui Houyu.

Sui Houyu also extended his hand but didn’t shake it. Instead, he swatted Hou Mo’s hand away: “I can’t; get lost.”

Omake:

Hou Mo: Successfully attracted my wife’s attention.

Sui Houyu: Why is this person so annoying?