HCILH Ch. 37

Chapter 37: Bathing Together

Sui Houyu merely changed into sportswear, yet it stirred a small commotion in school. On his way to the teaching building, he attracted significant attention, with many heads turning to look his way.

During the break, a group of girls appeared at the entrance of Class Seventeen, waving toward someone inside and calling out: “Ran Shu! Ran Shu!”

Ran Shu stretched his neck while supporting his shoulder and walked out reluctantly. He asked impatiently:”What do you want?”

“Why are you and Brother Yu wearing the same clothes?” one of the girls asked as they gathered around him.

Although they were more curious about Sui Houyu, his enigmatic personality made it difficult to talk to him directly, so they turned to Ran Shu instead.

After all, Ran Shu—a boy with more female friends than most girls.

Before the merge, Ran Shu was well-known for having many “girlfriends” at Qingyu High School. His popularity with girls was so notorious that it even became the reason he couldn’t find a girlfriend of his own. Some even jokingly called him as the “King of the Sea.”

Ran Shu responded in a weary tone: “Brother Yu joined the tennis team, and I followed him in.”

The girls leaned in with curiosity: “Why tennis all of a sudden?”

“No idea. Ask him yourself.”

They exchanged uneasy glances, mumbling: “It’s not because of some girl, right?”

“No, the team’s all boys. The girls practice separately.”

Hearing that, the girls sighed in relief. As long as there wasn’t a romantic reason, it was fine.

Though they couldn’t have Sui Houyu, they didn’t want anyone else to have him either—especially not anyone from Fenghua High School. 

In their minds, Qingyu’s treasure couldn’t end up with their rivals at Fenghua. 

However, they wouldn’t mind snagging Fenghua’s Hou Mo or Sang Xian for themselves.

One girl suddenly asked: “Does Sang Xian have a girlfriend? I tried adding him on WeChat, but he didn’t respond.”

After Hou Mo shared Sang Xian’s WeChat, it quickly spread among the girls, though none had succeeded in getting him to accept their friend requests.

“He…” Ran Shu hesitated for a moment, then turned back toward the classroom and shouted, “Sang Xian! Do you have a girlfriend?”

Sang Xian looked up from his book, visibly puzzled. After a moment’s thought, he calmly answered: “No.”

Ran Shu returned to the group and offered, “H-He says no. Want me to help you add him on WeChat? Though I can’t guarantee he’ll listen to me.”

The girls shook their heads in frustration, one of them even stomping her foot before they all scurried away.

When Ran Shu returned to his seat, he leaned toward Sui Houyu and explained: “Those girls were worried Fenghua’s girls might steal you away. That’s why they came to ask me.”

Sui Houyu replied nonchalantly: “Oh.”

Nearby, Deng Yiheng watched with envy, scratching at his desk with jealousy. “How do you know so many girls? And how come a different one calls for you every day?”

“You don’t have a girlfriend because you know too few girls. I don’t have one because I know too many. Same problem.”

Deng Yiheng leaned over, ignoring Hou Mo, who was seated between them, and stretched out his hand to Ran Shu. “High five, brother!”

Ran Shu really cooperated and gave him a high five.

Meanwhile, Hou Mo had been dozing off but was jolted awake, his body tilting awkwardly toward the aisle.

Sui Houyu noticed in time and reached out, pushing Hou Mo’s shoulder back to steady him.

Hou Mo blinked in confusion, locking eyes with Sui Houyu. In that brief moment, Sui Houyu suddenly pulled his hand back, as if scalded, and returned his attention to his book.

Ran Shu grinned and remarked: “Our Brother Yu is single for a very powerful reason. He’s Qingyu’s prized possession. If anyone dates him, they’ll be cursed by the entire female population.”

Hou Mo adjusted his desk and lazily asked: “So what happens if he does get a girlfriend one day? Will they gang up on her?”

“They’ll probably spit on her every time they see her.”

“Ridiculous,” Hou Mo muttered, closing his eyes to resume his nap.

*

That afternoon, Sui Houyu and Ran Shu joined the tennis team for practice alongside the other members.

On their first official day, Coach Wang decided to give them individual attention.

Each coach had their unique training methods, and Coach Wang’s approach was no exception—personalized and unconventional. Since new members weren’t familiar with the existing routines, adjustments were necessary.

Though Sui Houyu had trained briefly with the team before, it hadn’t been during the intense off-season, so he didn’t find it that difficult.

He’d heard that things would become more demanding once the season ended.

Holding a stopwatch, Coach Wang addressed the pair: “There’s a provincial tournament coming up. After that, training will ease up for a bit. You two joined at a good time—this isn’t the hardest part yet. The real challenge comes during the fall and winter. You have a long transition period, consider yourself lucky.”

Ran Shu exhaled in relief.

Coach Wang glanced at Ran Shu with a chuckle. He seemed to have taken a liking to him, finding Ran Shu’s mischievous demeanor amusing.

Turning back to Sui Houyu, the coach continued: “Your style is unique. We’ll start with singles to familiarize you with the basics. Once you’re comfortable, we can explore doubles.”

Sui Houyu interrupted decisively: “I’m not interested in singles. I’ll play doubles—with Hou Mo.”

He joined the tennis team for two reasons: first, he suddenly developed an interest in tennis; second, he thought Coach Wang was great and wanted to try playing doubles to see if he could help fulfill Coach Wang’s dream. At the same time, he wanted to teach that arrogant brat a lesson and help Deng Yiheng and Shen Junqing reclaim their dignity.

Coach Wang was taken aback for a moment and then smiled, saying, “That kid Hou Mo is a bit resistant to playing doubles.”

Sui Houyu replied confidently: “It’s fine. If he doesn’t agree, I’ll just beat him until he does.”

Hou Mo and the others had been eavesdropping and were also taking advantage of the warm-up time.

When Hou Mo heard Zhui Houyu’s words, he nearly fell over, barely managing to steady himself by gripping the ground.

He glanced back, only catching a glimpse of Sui Houyu’s profile. With a sigh, he chose not to argue.

The others were also watching Hou Mo, speculating whether someone who could handle him had appeared.

Could it be someone who could make the Great Sage submit, perhaps a man with feminine features?

Coach Wang looked at Ran Shu and asked: “What about you?”

“I want… I want to not move much and still look good on the court during matches.”

Coach Wang laughed upon hearing this: “Then you’d make a good referee!”

This remark elicited a round of laughter.

After thinking for a moment, Ran Shu replied, “Then I-I’ll try doubles too. Just arrange for me a partner I don’t need to do much with to win.”

Coach Wang scanned the team, as if looking for some unfortunate soul to pair him with.

Finally, Coach Wang said: “Then you can try with Sang Xian.”

“Okay.” Ran Shu didn’t mind; he was just there to accompany Sui Houyu and was fine with going along for the ride.

As long as he could stay, he was willing to pay out of his own pocket, even to cover some expenses. He wasn’t interested in any of the benefits.

After all, he had money.

Once the warm-up ended, Coach Wang called Hou Mo and Sui Houyu over, taking the time to personally teach them: “There are four main formations in doubles: the One-Up, One-Back formation, the two-baseline formation, the Australian formation, and the I formation. You need to familiarize yourselves with these. When facing different formations, you’ll also switch your own formation. Start by practicing the basic W formation; Hou Mo, go to the net.”

After seeing Hou Mo take his position, Coach Wang personally walked over and placed a hand on Hou Mo’s shoulder: “Squat.”

Hou Mo spread his legs and bent his knees, trying hard to squat: “I’m squatting, I’m squatting.”

“Lower, and if that doesn’t work, spread your legs a bit wider.”

Hou Mo felt like Coach Wang’s hand was as heavy as an anchor, and he had to squat even lower.

Maintaining that half-squat position was really uncomfortable, and Hou Mo couldn’t help but complain: “Brother Yu is shorter and more flexible. Can’t we just practice his net play first?”

Serving can be alternated, with both partners participating.

However, the initial practice formation always gives a sense of primacy. Plus, with the next match coming up soon, they probably wouldn’t have time to practice anything else.

Coach Wang refused: “You have enough experience and strong calculation skills. You can give Sui Houyu hand signals at the net to inform him of the tactics. His reaction ability is very good; even if you predict incorrectly, he can sometimes make up for it with his physical reflexes. That’s a characteristic of your play styles. Moreover, your intercepting skills are a bit better than his, while he’s more accustomed to baseline play. It’s best to practice like this for now.”

“But my serve is pretty good too.” Hou Mo retorted.

“Your serve is excellent, so you don’t need to practice it; you won’t need him to return your serve anyway.”

“Fine.”

In terms of net play, Hou Mo and Sui Houyu were two different types.

Sui Houyu was a reaction-based net player, relying on instinct with amazing reflexes.

Hou Mo, on the other hand, was a predictive net player; his method usually required specialized skills, and he was a master in that regard.

Since joining the team, Sui Houyu hadn’t undergone any singles training; he already had the basics down.

Today was his first day, and the main practice was serving, moving to the net, and coordinating movement while feeding balls.

Hou Mo had played doubles before, but he was quite inexperienced and had never seriously studied doubles tactics. Today was actually his first time learning earnestly, and his learning ability was only slightly better than Sui Houyu’s.

While they practiced, the other teammates looked over during breaks, then asked, “Is Senior Brother willing to play doubles now? Didn’t he used to be against it?”

After hearing this, Deng Yiheng looked serious and sighed deeply: “Brother Yu is different—”

The last word, “different,” was drawn out, lingering for a while, creating a poignant atmosphere.

“How is it different?” The other teammates, not from their dorm, didn’t really know about their relationship.

Deng Yiheng thought for a moment, realizing he shouldn’t reveal Hou Mo’s secret, so he replied, “Maybe Senior Brother is afraid of being beaten up.”

“Just that?” Who is Hou Mo! How many people from Fenghua High dared to provoke him before? Now he’s afraid of being beaten? That sounds ridiculous.

“Yeah.”

Not understanding, the others shrugged it off and continued with their own practice.

Having gotten used to playing singles, the biggest problem was that he wasn’t used to having another person on the court.

Sometimes he didn’t know who should hit the ball. Hou Mo let Sui Houyu take it, but Sui Houyu thought Hou Mo would go for it. In the end, the ball just fell to the ground, rolling around lonely and making it look quite desolate.

At other times, they both went for the same ball, resulting in a chaotic formation. It was fortunate they didn’t collide.

All of this required adjustment.

At that moment, they had zero tacit understanding.

After practicing all afternoon, Hou Mo was already able to pinpoint the issues between the two of them. He handed Sui Houyu a towel to wipe his sweat and then said, “After your first interception, we need to establish our roles. Move towards the net along the center line; this way, we’ll control the net. If our opponents hit from the baseline or lob the ball, we’ll be ready for it.”

Sui Houyu wiped his sweat and nodded: “Okay.”

The two went back on the court, and as Sui Houyu contemplated Hou Mo’s words, his eyes scanned the court. He was a bit distracted while serving.

He sent a ball out but didn’t see it fly past. Instead, he heard a muffled grunt from Hou Mo, who crouched down on the court, holding the back of his head in pain.

Sui Houyu’s serve had hit Hou Mo squarely on the back of the head.

Sui Houyu was startled and quickly walked over to ask, “Are you okay?”

Hou Mo couldn’t respond.

He was in so much pain that tears were streaming down his face; sweat from his forehead was also running into his eyes.

When he looked up at Sui Houyu, a droplet of sweat dripped into his eye, causing him to instinctively shut his eyes, his expression clearly showing his discomfort.

Hou Mo’s state drew the attention of nearby people, and Coach Wang also approached, carefully checking on Hou Mo’s condition.

After a while, Hou Mo finally asked Sui Houyu while holding his head: “Do you know what it feels like to be hit at 170 kilometers per hour?”

Sui Houyu, feeling guilty, asked: “Does it hurt a lot?”

Hou Mo replied while covering his head: “If I ever change careers, I’ll go into demolition.”

Hou Mo was truly desperate. He was supposed to be giving a lesson, but instead, he ended up as a target for someone else’s practice.

Shen Junqing crouched in front of Hou Mo to comfort him: “It’s a common occurrence; you get used to it after a while.”

Deng Yiheng chimed in: “Yeah, it might hurt a bit the first time, but you’ll gradually adapt.”

Hou Mo was so in pain that he couldn’t keep his temper. He glared at Deng Yiheng, thinking, what kind of nonsense is that?!

Coach Wang moved Hou Mo’s hand aside to examine his head, pressed it gently, and said: “It’s nothing serious. Just apply some ice, and I can help you with a massage later.”

After confirming there was no serious issue, everyone else dispersed.

Hou Mo sat there, feeling aggrieved as he covered his sore head, resembling a gloomy mushroom squatting for quite some time.

Sui Houyu was still a bit flustered since he had hit Hou Mo. He looked at Hou Mo, wanting to apologize but unsure how to say it. He wanted to show concern but was afraid of hurting Hou Mo further.

Seeing this, Coach Wang said to Sui Houyu: “Come here and get some ice packs.”

Since they were playing tennis, minor injuries were common, and ice packs were always on hand.

“Oh, okay.” Sui Houyu got up and followed Coach Wang to fetch the ice packs.

Once everyone had left, Hou Mo moved to the side, still clutching his head, and sat down on a bench. He watched as Sui Houyu came out carrying a bunch of ice packs. Sui Houyu handed him a broken disposable ice pack and said: “I’ll go get a bruise ointment from the infirmary.”

After saying that, he quickly ran toward the infirmary, moving quite fast.

When he was hit, Hou Mo felt darkness before his eyes and was in so much pain he couldn’t speak.

Now that the pain had subsided a bit, it only felt very sore on the back of his head, and applying the ice pack helped a lot.

After sitting with the ice pack for a while, he suddenly remembered Sui Houyu’s flustered expression and couldn’t help but smile, feeling somewhat amused.

Before long, Sui Houyu returned with the ointment. He looked at the instructions and asked: “Should I apply it now?”

“Maybe after I shower; I’m all sweaty.”

Hou Mo adjusted the ice pack and walked towards the shower room, turning back to see Sui Houyu silently following him with his bag.

He looked back at Sui Houyu and asked, “Are you going to shower too?”

“Yeah.”

“We can go to the third floor; I usually use Coach Wang’s card.”

“Oh.”

The school shower room has three floors.

The first and second floors are for regular students, while the third floor is for athletes and staff.

The staff shower rooms have individual stalls, which Hou Mo often uses.

Since the teachers leave after work on the bus, they usually don’t stay to shower, and the on-duty teachers might not come by at all. As a result, the staff shower rooms are generally quite empty, and whenever Hou Mo goes in, he practically has the whole place to himself.

Since Hou Mo and Sui Houyu left early today, the regular students were still in the evening study, so it was just the two of them when they arrived at the shower room.

Hou Mo approached the door of the staff shower room to swipe his card, turned back to Sui Houyu, and asked, “Are you coming here too?”

“Yeah,” Sui Houyu said, worried that Hou Mo might feel faint while showering after his head injury.

If they showered together, he could keep an eye on him.

Hou Mo hesitated for a moment but still swiped his card to enter. He opened a locker, which was clearly filled with his things, showing that he frequented this place.

Sui Houyu, not knowing which locker he could use, stood there watching for a bit until he saw Hou Mo clear some space in his locker for him: “I don’t have a card for the other lockers; let’s just share this one.”

“Okay.” Sui Houyu walked over and placed his bag inside the locker. As he pulled up his shirt to get undressed, he noticed Hou Mo standing to the side, not moving, just watching him.

“What’s wrong?” Sui Houyu asked.

“You go in first; I’ll change later.”

“Is it because of the powder?”

“…” Hou Mo rolled his eyes dramatically, knowing for sure that it was Deng Yiheng’s big mouth that had said something.

Sui Houyu spoke again: “I didn’t bring anything.”

Sui Houyu had a bath basket with toiletries and a change of clothes, which he usually grabbed after evening study. This time, he directly followed Hou Mo and didn’t bring anything, clearly having to use Hou Mo’s things.

Hou Mo took out his stuff and handed it to him, then said, “Disposable underwear costs four yuan each; and I gave you several pairs when you stayed in the hotel…”

Sui Houyu took out his phone and transferred money to Hou Mo via WeChat: “I transferred fifty.”

Hearing the notification sound, Hou Mo pulled out his phone and accepted the transfer: “Thanks for your patronage, here.”

He tossed Sui Houyu another pair of disposable underwear.

Omake:

Hou Mo: Why am I always the one getting hurt?