HCILH Ch. 43

Chapter 43: Feeding

Sui Houyu noticed that the floor had been cleaned and was reasonably tidy. Without hesitation, he sat down on the ground, picked up his chopsticks, and started helping himself to the food in the pot. As he ate, he asked: “Where did the pot come from?”

“Coach Wang brought it from home,” Hou Mo replied.

Sui Houyu glanced at the dipping sauce and looked up at Hou Mo: “No sesame paste?”

“Just make do. There’s sesame sauce?” Hou Mo scoffed.

Picking out a piece of meat, Sui Houyu dipped it in Hou Mo’s sauce. To his surprise, it tasted pretty good. Nodding in approval, he said: “Not bad.”

That’s when Hou Mo remembered something. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small plastic bag. “I wasn’t sure if you eat cilantro, so I chopped some and kept it separate. If you want it, just add it to the sauce.”

Sui Houyu glanced around, realizing they only had one portion of sauce: “Do you eat cilantro?” 

“I do,” Hou Mo responded.

“Then go ahead and add it.” Sui Houyu said, passing the sauce to Hou Mo.

Hou Mo poured the cilantro into the dipping sauce from the plastic bag and tossed the empty bag aside. He then rummaged through his pocket again and pulled out two steamed buns. “If the hotpot isn’t enough, we’ve got buns too.”

Sui Houyu gave the buns a glance but didn’t take them—clearly uninterested in them. Instead, he scanned the area: “No more chopsticks?”

“I swear I brought two pairs, but by the time we got here, only one was left. Must’ve dropped a pair while carrying stuff.”

Sui Houyu picked another piece of meat, dipped it in the sauce, and lifted it to Hou Mo’s mouth: “It tastes okay.”

Hou Mo opened his mouth, but Sui Houyu’s hand trembled so much that it took forever to reach his mouth. Hou Mo wiped his chin, complaining: “You shook like you’ve got Parkinson’s. You almost smeared my chin.”

“I’m not used to feeding people!” Sui Houyu retorted indignantly, as if Hou Mo was being ungrateful.

Hou Mo guessed this might be Sui Houyu’s first time feeding someone and chuckled. “Looking at you now, I suddenly feel like I’m raising a son.”

Sui Houyu had been happily eating until that moment. Hearing those words, his expression turned sour, and he shot Hou Mo a glare.

Hou Mo kept going, grinning: “You’re one of those rebellious kids too.”

Still eating lazily, Sui Houyu replied: “You sure act like a dad for someone so young.”

“I worry about your weight all the time. Can’t you understand your father’s good intentions?”

“Did you give birth to me when you were six months in your mother’s belly?” Sui Houyu shot back.

“Don’t sweat the details.”

Ignoring him, Sui Houyu continued to pick food from the pot. “Do you want some vegetables?”

Without hesitation, Hou Mo leaned over, even making a request: “Cool it down before feeding me. That last bite was too hot.”

Sui Houyu simply handed the chopsticks over to Hou Mo, unwilling to continue feeding him. The only thing he could manage was to hold the dipping sauce.

After a brief stare-off, Hou Mo sighed and began picking out food for himself.

The hotpot bubbled and gurgled, steam rising steadily. Vegetables trembled inside the boiling broth, and the warm mist surrounded the two of them.

In the sparsely furnished dorm room, the only things present were the hotpot, the two of them, and a few scattered bags.

The steam enveloped the room, warming everything and even giving a faint blush to Sui Houyu’s cheeks. But for once, he seemed fully satisfied with the meal.

By the end, both of them each grabbed a steamed bun to finish the last of the food. Sui Houyu ate more, as the meal was prepared to help him gain weight.

While cleaning up, Hou Mo reminded him: “Don’t tell anyone we ate this. We’re not allowed to have midnight snacks—they’re afraid we’ll gain weight. Winter training is stricter too, so we don’t stock up on fat. But… if you slack off a bit, you might gain some weight.”

Sui Houyu reached out, wanting to help clean, but Hou Mo stopped him: “No way! Don’t waste the calories you just consumed. Take it easy, head back to bed. I don’t expect you to gain much from this meal, but even a little would help.”

Sui Houyu stood by as Hou Mo tidied everything. When the cleanup was done, Sui Houyu trudged back to the dorm and flopped onto his bed to focus on “gaining weight.”

About twenty minutes later, Hou Mo quietly opened the dorm door. Seeing that everyone else was asleep, he stayed inside, changing into his pajamas without making a sound.

The room was dark, with only the hallway light streaming faintly through the crack under the door, casting hazy shadows.

Sui Houyu’s eyes adjusted to the darkness, and he squinted to make out Hou Mo’s silhouette.

Maybe Hou Mo’s physique was the ideal type. Even from his back, it was clear how toned and muscular he was. His muscles rippled with every movement, like sand dunes shifting under a breeze—smooth and powerful.

After changing, Hou Mo didn’t climb into his bunk. Instead, he turned and lay down beside Sui Houyu, checking his phone briefly before plugging it in to charge.

All his movements were light, careful not to wake anyone.

Turning to face Sui Houyu, Hou Mo leaned in close and whispered by his ear: “I thought you wouldn’t be asleep, but I didn’t expect you to be watching.”

His words hit Sui Houyu like a direct blow.

Sui Houyu kept his eyes closed, though his eyeballs twitched beneath his lids. After a moment, he opened his eyes to meet Hou Mo’s gaze and said shamelessly: “Am I not allowed to look?”

“Of course you are.” Hou Mo quickly conceded.

“Did you see enough?”

“Plenty.”

Hou Mo chuckled softly, then whispered, “Go to sleep.”

“Mm.”

Sui Houyu closed his eyes again, listening to the sound of Hou Mo’s breathing. Absentmindedly, he pinched Hou Mo’s earlobe before drifting back to sleep.

*

A month after Sui Houyu joined the tennis team, a provincial tournament took place—the final match of the season.

Sponsored by Donglixin Group, the “Youth Tennis Tour” didn’t offer ranking points but came with generous prize money compared to other youth competitions.

The competition is scheduled for early November, a time when temperatures drop but aren’t too cold, so there’s no issue with the weather.

However, the province they’re in experiences strong winds during both spring and fall. Wind direction and intensity can affect the flight of the ball, so players need extensive outdoor experience.

The competition city is quite far from theirs, requiring more than four hours by car.

The team has arranged for everyone to take a coach together, arriving a day early to check in at the hotel. This way, they can get up early and adjust their state on the day of the match.

This time, the men’s and women’s teams are traveling together, which has made the players a bit excited.

Unusually, after Deng Yiheng added Lu Yanxin on WeChat, he seemed to have calmed down. Today, he wasn’t flirting with any girls but instead muttered to Hou Mo before boarding: “You didn’t tell Coach Wang to book a room with a king-size bed, did you?”

Normally, Hou Mo and Sang Xian shared a standard double room.

Since both of them now have doubles partners, they are assigned separate rooms. This time, Hou Mo is sharing a room with Sui Houyu.

Hearing this, Hou Mo couldn’t help but curse: “A king-size bed? Are you on a honeymoon or something?”

That would surely attract everyone’s attention.

Deng Yiheng continued grumbling: “Wouldn’t two people on one bed be cramped? Oh… Right, your dorms are single beds, so you’re used to it.”

Hou Mo: “…”

While Deng Yiheng was teasing him, he suddenly noticed Sui Houyu waving at him: “I hit pretty hard.” 

Deng Yiheng mimed zipping his lips and went quiet.

Everyone boarded the bus. Hou Mo pulled Sui Houyu to sit closer to the front. Once seated, he explained: “The seats between the men’s and women’s sections are the noisiest. This spot is quieter and closer to the coach.”

Sui Houyu nodded, then looked up to see Ran Shu dragging Su Anyi to sit in the same row as them, glaring at him.

Instinctively, Sui Houyu swallowed, knowing Ran Shu was upset again.

Lately, Ran Shu had been persistently asking him a particular question: “You grew up with both of us, but let’s be honest—one has always been by your side, while the other left you for years. Shouldn’t you know who matters more?”

Naturally, Sui Houyu assured him that Ran Shu was more important.

However, whenever Ran Shu saw him training doubles with Hou Mo, sharing a room, or sitting together, he still got mad.

The pressure on Sui Houyu had been building recently.

Once everyone was on board, the bus set off. But soon after, it came to a stop at an intersection and didn’t move for a while.

The coach got up to check the situation and asked the driver what was going on.

The driver turned around and explained: “There are only two exits here. The other one has a height limit that we can’t clear, and this one is blocked by a car that doesn’t have a contact number displayed.”

Ran Shu peeked out the window and commented quietly, “It’s a Ferrari. Makes sense it doesn’t have a number. If it did, people would swarm to add them on WeChat.”

Coach Wang asked: “Can we call for a tow truck? If we arrive too late, it’ll affect the kids’ rest.”

The driver sighed: “This is Xiangjia Alley. It’ll take two hours for a tow truck to arrive.”

“No way around it?”

“There is, but it’ll scratch the car.”

While everyone was growing anxious, Sang Xian suddenly spoke up: “Just drive through. I’ll take care of it.”

He pulled a business card from his bag and handed it to Deng Yiheng.

Deng Yiheng, well-acquainted with Sang Xian, immediately acted like his personal assistant. He got off the bus, attached the card to the Ferrari’s windshield, and hopped back on.

Once seated, he told the driver, “Go ahead, sir. My teammate will cover the repair costs for both cars.”

The driver hesitated: “But… this is a brand-new bus.”

Deng Yiheng and Sang Xian exchanged a glance, understanding each other perfectly. Deng Yiheng added: “If you want, my teammate can just buy you a new bus.”

Without another word, the driver scratched the Ferrari as he drove past it.

Ran Shu, ever the show-off, clicked his tongue. He turned back and told Deng Yiheng, who had just sat back down: “Quite the bold partner you’ve got there!”

Deng Yiheng chuckled, while Sang Xian kept his expression cold and silent.

Hou Mo couldn’t hold back: “He’s just rich and reckless.”

“Oh?” Ran Shu grew interested.

Hou Mo didn’t hold back. “I once followed his family to a foreclosure auction. I could understand when they bought the rights to a toll road—at least that made sense. But they also bought two Siberian tigers. If they kept them at home, I wouldn’t say anything, but they just left them in a zoo so they could visit them. What’s the point of that? Are they one-time-use pets?”

Sang Xian, who had remained quiet, finally spoke: “The main reason we went was to buy your family’s house. The other things were just extras.”

It would be better if he didn’t get any extras. That only made things sound more absurd.

By the way, they bought a section of highway, in the 100 million digits.

He’s rich in capital letters!

Ran Shu couldn’t resist sneaking a few glances at Sang Xian.

He thought to himself that it might not be wise to show off in front of this guy—he’d definitely be outclassed.

Sui Houyu quietly asked Hou Mo: “Was it the house you’re living in now?”

“No,” Hou Mo replied honestly. “We’re currently living in the relocated house from my mom’s family. The house Sang Xian bought was the one my parents used to own. I’ll get it back when I have the money.”

“Oh…”

Sui Houyu didn’t ask further.

Being close to Hou Mo had its perks—Sui Houyu slept the entire trip.

Hou Mo also dozed off, leaning against Sui Houyu halfway through the ride.

When Ran Shu woke them up, Sui Houyu was leaning on Hou Mo’s shoulder, while Hou Mo rested his head on Sui Houyu’s. They both slept so deeply that it was hard to wake them.

Ran Shu slung his bag over his shoulder and said: “Everyone else has already gotten off to check in. When they saw the two of you like this, they all turned around for a second look, as if they were admiring some art exhibit. Only you two could sleep like that.”

Sui Houyu had been sleeping a lot lately, like a walking version of Sleeping Beauty.

The two of them, still groggy, stayed on the bus to wake up a bit, knowing check-in would take a while with so many people.

Once they were ready, Hou Mo grabbed both of their things and got off the bus, with Sui Houyu following behind, yawning.

When they reached the hotel lobby, Sui Houyu sat on a suitcase to wait while Hou Mo handled the check-in.

When it was time for photo verification, Hou Mo even tilted the camera toward Sui Houyu, unwilling to make him get up.

After finishing, Hou Mo pushed the suitcase along, with Sui Houyu still sitting on it. He didn’t bother looking up, glued to his phone as Hou Mo wheeled him along.

Ran Shu followed behind, dragging his own suitcase, grumbling angrily at Sui Houyu for spending all his time with Hou Mo. His footsteps stomped loudly, drawing laughter from Su Anyi.

At the elevator, Ran Shu asked Su Anyi: “Who are you rooming with?”

“Coach Wang said I’m the only girl on the men’s team, so I’ll be busy these few days. I got a king-sized bed all to myself.”

Coach Wang expected things to get hectic, so Su Anyi’s help would be valuable. She could take care of various tasks to lighten the coach’s load.

“Ah… How nice.”

Ran Shu returned to his room, inspecting it. It seemed a bit plain, probably the standard double room.

He considered upgrading, but when he entered the bathroom, Sang Xian was already inside washing his face.

Seeing that Sang Xian seemed to be finding a towel, he reached out and took the towel from the shelf and handed it to Sang Xian.

Sang Xian reached out and took it: “Thank you.”

Ran Shu watched Sang Xian in silence, his gaze lingering on Sang Xian’s wrist.

At that moment, Sang Xian wasn’t wearing his wristband; he must have taken it off before washing his face.

Ran Shu noticed clear scars on the inner side of Sang Xian’s wrist—several shallow ones and one particularly deep scar.

He recognized that these were from self-harm, with raised scar tissue that showed thst it had been a while since they were made…