HCILH Ch. 32

Chapter 32: Wavering

Gradually coming to terms with not outperforming Hou Mo, Sui Houyu grew increasingly silent.

His gaze darkened, and a heavy gloom surrounded him, mixed with a sharp irritability that made Hou Mo hold his breath, afraid to even exhale.

When Sui Houyu was sulking, his aura was truly intimidating.

After organizing his belongings, Hou Mo declined to go with the team to the competition venue. Carrying his bag, he turned to Sui Houyu and asked: “What time do you need to go to work?”

“In an hour,” Sui Houyu replied after checking his phone.

“Warm up with me for a bit. Nothing intense—just move around a little.”

As he spoke, Hou Mo pulled another tennis racket from his suitcase and handed it to Sui Houyu.

The rackets Hou Mo brought were ones he was comfortable using. Sui Houyu weighed it in his hand—if it was just for warm-up, this racket would do.

Instead of heading directly to the venue, they went to the hotel’s tennis court.

The court had a common rubber surface. Frequent use had worn it down, and the baseline had turned slightly white.

Since it was just a warm-up, Sui Houyu wasn’t particularly competitive. Most of the time, he was feeding the balls to Hou Mo, helping him get into the rhythm.

A gentle morning breeze blew, lifting their hair and brushing against their skin, soothing and refreshing.

It was the most comfortable time of the day—like the cool center of a chilled watermelon on a summer day or a bee diving into sweet honey.

After a short while, a group of people approached.

It seemed others were coming to warm up too. Hou Mo, not planning to monopolize the court, gestured to Sui Houyu that they should finish.

As Hou Mo picked up his bag, someone greeted him enthusiastically: “Hou Mo, right? From that private school!”

The guy had a loud voice, dark skin, and long limbs. He extended his hand toward Hou Mo, who had no choice but to shake it.

The guy was wearing the provincial sports school’s tracksuit, with the school emblem prominently displayed. Hou Mo recognized immediately that the other person was from the provincial sports school.

After exchanging brief greetings and releasing the handshake quickly, the guy burst into laughter. “I remember you! You’re pretty good at tennis, right? Last year’s singles champion, right?”

“Ah… yes.” Hou Mo gave a polite smile, though he wasn’t keen on continuing the conversation.

“Your singles game is impressive, but your doubles… not so much!” The guy laughed again, seemingly without malice but brutally honest.

Last year, Hou Mo had entered the doubles event with Sang Xian.

They had performed terribly, almost triggering Coach Wang’s stomach issues from frustration.

Hou Mo didn’t deny it, but his smile faded.

Noticing Sui Houyu, the guy asked, “So, trying doubles again?”

“No, he’s just a friend. Came to watch and warm up with me,” Hou Mo replied, ready to leave with Sui Houyu.

But after a few steps, a mocking voice from behind made them pause.

Someone from the group following the provincial student sneered, “A lone wolf like him trying doubles again? That’d just be asking for humiliation.”

The speaker stepped forward, openly sizing up Sui Houyu. He added mockingly, “And you actually dared to ask him? With that physique? It’s a miracle if he can even swing a racket without dropping it, let alone make it through a game.”

Hou Mo turned toward the speaker and recognized him—Tang Yao, from the affiliated school of the Northeastern Sports School.

Northeastern Sports School, or “Dongti”—where students, even below the age limit, are already guaranteed admission to its affiliated high school, Dongti High.

One advantage of Northeast Sports School is that the provincial tennis team’s training base is located within the school, making it very convenient for students to pursue both university studies and sports training simultaneously.

This arrangement has placed Dongti High’s strength on par with that of the Provincial Sports School.

The top three schools in the province for youth tennis performance are Dongti High, the Provincial Sports School, and Fenghua Private High School.

In previous years, Dongti High typically recruited the most promising tennis talents, given the prestige of hosting the provincial team and the option of guaranteed admission to the academy.

Which also made their students a little arrogant.

But Hou Mo had disrupted the status quo. Uninterested in Dongti’s offer, he had chosen Fenghua for its scholarship program. Together with Sang Xian, they had turned the unknown Fenghua into one of the top three tennis schools.

Hou Mo’s reputation preceded him—not just for being the top national junior singles player but for once saying, “What’s so great about Dongti? Why not aim for Hua University myself?”

A year ago, Dongti’s students were not convinced.

But then their coach remarked that Hou Mo’s points might indeed earn him a recommendation at Hua University.

Then, news came that Hou Mo had ranked first in the provincial entrance exam, making it very likely he could gain admission to Hua University on his own.

After that, they fell silent.

Sui Houyu, already in a bad mood from losing to Hou Mo earlier, grew even more irritated by Tang Yao’s remarks.

But considering that Hou Mo had a match, Sui Houyu held back.

Now, though, some random punk dared to insult them. Sui Houyu was about to confront him when Hou Mo blocked him with a hand.

Hou Mo answered calmly: “It’s true my doubles game isn’t great, but my friend here is pretty good—just not interested in tennis.”

Hou Mo had promised many people not to stir up trouble.

Most of the time, he kept a clear head—this being no exception.

Tang Yao sneered again, eyeing Sui Houyu with disdain: ” I thought Wang Xuefu still hadn’t given up on doubles and was just desperately grasping at straws! And what did he find? Some weakling to play doubles? Looks like I was overthinking. Wang Xuefu built his reputation through doubles back in the day, just what kind of players is he producing?”

Tang Yao had played against Deng Yiheng and Shen Junjing twice before, and won both matches.

Tang Yao and his partner were last year’s national doubles third-place winners and are considered strong contenders this year as well.

Hou Mo’s expression darkened.

He didn’t appreciate people insulting his coach, especially when this person was addressing Coach Wang by his full name.

That was a line he wouldn’t tolerate.

The boy student from the Provincial Sports School frowned, seemingly finding Tang Yao’s words a bit too much: “Coach Wang’s doubles skills are genuinely impressive. We’ve seen footage of him playing.”

“Just because he played well doesn’t mean he’s good at teaching.” Tang Yao retorted, his mouth twisting slightly with a mocking sneer. His tone oozed off sarcasm, “Wasn’t it his partner’s injury that derailed him? After that, he just gave up and became a high school coach.”

Sui Houyu glanced at Tang Yao and asked Hou Mo: “Who is this guy?”

“Hmm… Oh… Someone from Dongti Affiliated High School, plays doubles… What was his name again?” Hou Mo tried to recall.

“Are unknown tennis players usually this arrogant?”

“No, no, this one’s an exception. Most of them are normal people.”

For the first time, the two worked in tandem, mocking someone, and their coordination was unexpectedly seamless.

Tang Yao was instantly provoked and cursed under his breath.

Sui Houyu couldn’t even be bothered to look at him. He turned to Hou Mo and said: “Let’s go. A summer insect has no way of speaking about ice^[1].”

Hou Mo nodded, and the two of them left side by side.

Although Sui Houyu was usually hot-tempered, he noticed Hou Mo’s expression and decided to leave—after all, he didn’t want anything to affect Hou Mo’s performance in the competition.

After weighing the situation, he swallowed his anger.

Watching the two leave, Tang Yao felt annoyed and suddenly shouted: “Hey, weakling!”

As soon as the words left his mouth, he picked up a tennis ball and served it at Hou Mo with a sharp angle, deliberately aiming for a tricky spot. His real target, however, was Sui Houyu—he wanted to make it seem like Hou Mo had failed to block the shot, leading to Sui Houyu being hit by the ball.

It seemed too late for Sui Houyu to react. Everyone believed he was about to get hit. Unexpectedly, Sui Houyu turned just in time, stepped back fluidly, and returned the ball with a swing of his racket.

The shot was powerful, precise, and filled with barely suppressed anger, heading straight for Tang Yao’s face.

Tang Yao raised his racket, trying to block the ball, but he miscalculated the force. The impact caused his racket to flip, and while the ball was stopped, the racket hit his face, making his nose sting. He staggered back a step before regaining his balance.

Hou Mo turned lazily, a mischievous grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. He didn’t seem surprised and even apologized mockingly: “Sorry, little nobody. Our boy’s hands are a bit heavy. Maybe you should get that checked at the infirmary? Tsk, how can a tennis player get hit in the face by his own racket? That’s just…”

After finishing his taunt, Hou Mo continued walking alongside Sui Houyu.

The two of them walked side by side, a noticeable five-centimeter height difference between them, with Sui Houyu’s frame being slightly smaller.

After all, there was a 26 pound weight difference between them.

Even though they didn’t seem to match physically, their shared aura somehow created an odd but perfect harmony.

Tang Yao, still fuming after being hit in the face, turned to his partner and asked: “That shot just now…”

“200 kilometers per hour,” his partner responded in a low, deep voice, as if he was a ruthless AI.

“…” Tang Yao had no more words.

The Provincial Sports School’s doubles partners, having watched the entire incident, couldn’t hold back their laughter when they saw Tang Yao’s frustration.

Tang Yao glared at them angrily, feeling reluctant to even warm up. Fortunately, his partner walked over, massaged his face, and gently pinched the bridge of his nose. “It should be fine. You can still play.”

“Oh…” Tang Yao’s frustration eased slightly.

*

As they neared the competition court, Hou Mo suddenly started talking: “Coach Wang used to specialize in tennis doubles. His best achievement was placing fifth at the World Championships. You know, doubles isn’t exactly our strong suit in tennis. Originally, he was going to compete again for a better result, but his partner retired due to injury. He tried playing singles afterward, but the results were average, so he stepped down.”

“No wonder he’s so obsessed with doubles.”

“Yeah, I guess it’s his way of chasing a dream. Also, Coach Wang believes my style is well-suited for doubles. And since my family had some debts in the past few years, he also wanted me to earn more prize money.” Hou Mo sighed. “In this country, when it comes to sports, the most popular one is table tennis—it’s even called the national sport. Basketball players get all the star power, but tennis? Honestly, if you asked people to name five domestic tennis players, most wouldn’t be able to do it, let alone name anyone from doubles.”

Sui Houyu, who had never paid attention to these things before, instinctively tried to recall tennis players he knew. He could only think of two—one was the “Queen of Chinese Tennis^[2],” and the other was her husband.

After thinking for a bit more, another name came to mind, but he quickly dismissed it since that athlete was from badminton, not tennis.

Hou Mo continued, “The prize money for doubles is only a quarter or even a fifth of what singles players earn, which pushes most players to focus on singles. In many major competitions, doubles teams are sometimes formed last-minute, which leads to poor chemistry and lost matches. Whether it’s mixed doubles, men’s doubles, or women’s doubles, the attention they receive is always lacking.”

Hou Mo thought for a moment and used a metaphor: “Tennis doubles is like a deep-sea fish. It lives in the darkest depths but still glows quietly. One day, it might shine brightly for the world to see.”

“But…” Sui Houyu frowned after hearing the analogy.

“What?”

“Deep-sea fish are so ugly.”

“Uh, don’t get caught up in the details. It was just a metaphor.”

“No matter how good it tastes, I still wouldn’t want to eat it if it’s that ugly.”

“Hey, hey! Can you not focus so much on appearances? It’s not like deep-sea fish want to look like that!”

“I’m not trying to offend fish,” Sui Houyu said, falling silent for a moment before asking, “Do you think Deng Yiheng and the others can beat that annoying guy?”

“They’ve tried twice and lost both times, but they did their best.”

Sui Houyu bit his lip, thinking for a moment, and finally said:

“Let’s see.”

With that, he quickly headed toward the locker room to change into his mascot costume.

The last time Sui Houyu said, “Let’s see,” he silently accepted Hou Mo.

What would happen this time?