HCILH Ch. 44

Chapter 44: Drawing Lots

Ran Shu usually disliked typing and preferred to send voice messages on WeChat. This time, however, he made the rare decision to send a text message to Sui Houyu.

r.s: “I definitely didn’t see wrong! There are scars; is this from cutting his wrist to bleed?”

r.s: “I’m partnering with him now and we’re sharing a room. What if I don’t keep an eye on him and he jumps out the window? Am I responsible?”

r.s: “You said he’s tall, good-looking, and aside from looking a bit older, there’s nothing wrong with him. He’s also so rich; what’s there to be unhappy about? Seeking to end one’s life is not good at all. We must look upwards, towards the light, and run towards the future, right?”

Brother Yu: “Ah…”

Brother Yu: “I’ll ask.”

Three minutes later.

Brother Yu: “He’s still washing up and says it’s hard to shout. I’ll ask him later.”

Brother Yu: “Maybe there’s something upsetting at home? Your family isn’t exactly peaceful either, right?”

r.s: “But I don’t feel that way! I just need money to be happy every day! He has so much money; can’t he buy happiness?”

Brother Yu: “I don’t know. I don’t know him that well, and we haven’t gotten familiar over this long time.”

r.s: “He’s only interested in Hou Mo. Could it be… that they have something going on?”

Brother Yu: “That shouldn’t be the case. If there really was something, Hou Mo is by my side every day; he would be more lemon-sour than you.”

r.s: “Brother Yu, my heart is racing. I’m scared! Let’s talk about something happy.”

Yu Ge: “Once I win some prize money from this competition, I’ll buy you a gift.”

r.s: “Ok.”

Brother Yu: “From now on, I’ll support you when I earn money.”

Brother Yu: “I’m not feeling well today; I’ll open the map and buy an island.”

r.s: “Hahaha! Deal!”

Just as they were happily chatting, Ran Shu noticed out of the corner of his eye that Sang Xian stood up, took the room card, and seemed ready to leave.

Ran Shu instantly stood up and called out: “Where are you going?!”

Sang Xian was momentarily taken aback by Ran Shu’s sudden movement, then replied: “I’m going to Su Anyi’s to get some water; there’s a notice in the group chat.”

Ran Shu exited the chat with Sui Houyu and opened the group chat. He saw that Su Anyi had sent a notice in the boys’ tennis team group, stating that the mineral water had been delivered to her room, and everyone could go pick it up. She also mentioned that if she wasn’t busy, she could bring it over. Everyone should avoid drinking the hotel’s water to prevent any issues.

Ran Shu looked over and sighed in relief: “Oh, I’ll go too.”

Sang Xian looked at Ran Shu with a puzzled expression and then replied: “Okay.”

Ran Shu needed to check himself in the mirror and adjust his clothes before leaving. In the end, he covered his forehead with his hand as he followed Sang Xian outside, acting sneakily as if he were afraid of running into someone he knew.

At the entrance to Su Anyi’s room, he noticed a crowd gathered. He took out his phone to message Su Anyi, and she soon came running out with water in hand, saying, “Actually, I could have brought it to you later.”

“I-I’m just accompanying him,” Ran Shu said, nodding toward Sang Xian with his chin.

Sang Xian glanced at Ran Shu, who was still holding his forehead, and then took all six bottles of water before telling Ran Shu: “Let’s go.”

“Okay.” Ran Shu continued to cover his forehead as if he were on a secret mission as they headed back.

Su Anyi watched the two of them leave. The height difference of 12 centimeters and the weight difference of 47 pounds, along with their completely different clothing styles, made them look like an elder leading a child from behind.

*

Hou Mo came out of the bathroom, drying his hair with a towel, and asked: “Did you need something just now?”

“Ah, I wanted to ask you something.”

“Go ahead.”

“It’s about Sang Xian…” Sui Houyu hesitated on how to phrase his question, weighing his words before continuing, “Does he often seem to be in a bad mood?”

Hou Mo hesitated at the question, sitting on the bed and looking at him: “Why do you ask?”

“Just…” Sui Houyu didn’t know if he should ask directly and became entangled in his thoughts.

Seeing his dilemma, Hou Mo didn’t press further and simply answered his question: “He has indeed been repressed for a long time and isn’t in a good mood.”

“Does he have depression?”

“He shows signs of depression but hasn’t developed full-blown depression; those are two different concepts. True depression cannot be cured and can only be controlled with medication. Depression signs mean he’s feeling down, which many people experience; everyone goes through low points.”

Hearing this from Hou Mo, Sui Houyu breathed a sigh of relief and was about to text Ran Shu to reassure him.

But then, Hou Mo, catching his breath, continued speaking just as Sui Houyu was halfway through typing: “However, when Sang Xian isn’t experiencing symptoms, he’s a normal person.”

Sui Houyu immediately looked up, his eyes wide: “Experiencing symptoms?! What happens when that happens?”

“Don’t worry; he won’t harm anyone. He just has a tendency for self-harm. Also… if I don’t provoke him, he won’t experience symptoms.”

“What do you mean?”

Hou Mo lowered his eyes and fell silent for a moment before exhaling deeply.

This breath seemed to cause pain in his chest, making him involuntarily frown.

It seemed even smiling politely took all his effort; Hou Mo’s smile looked weary, and his voice carried a sense of exhaustion: “In short, don’t worry; he won’t harm your friends.”

Sui Houyu realized that Hou Mo didn’t want to say more.

He suddenly became aware that, for certain matters, Hou Mo was not hiding anything from him.

But a small part of it, Hou Mo had been concealing and wouldn’t mention, which made him increasingly concerned. It was like the deep roots of glaciers, the roots of flourishing trees, undeniably present yet never revealed.

However, he knew he shouldn’t ask.

So he held it in.

While they both fell into a brief silence, there came a knock at the door.

Hou Mo, being closer to the door, got up to open it. Su Anyi walked in carrying the water and said to Hou Mo: “You need to draw lots tomorrow morning. Bring Brother Yu along; the coach is worried he might fail the urine test since he has been avoiding certain foods for a month, which could lead to negative results later on. So he should get tested first; the results will come out in half an hour.”

Hou Mo took the water from Su Anyi’s hands, replying: “Okay, got it.”

Su Anyi then turned to Sui Houyu and continued to remind him: “You both need to wake up early tomorrow. You must arrive two hours before the opening ceremony. You also need to do muscle and nerve activation beforehand, so discuss the timing with Hou Mo. If I don’t see you two by six tomorrow morning, I’ll come and ring the doorbell.”

Sui Houyu nodded: “Understood.”

Once Su Anyi left the room, Hou Mo set the water down and remarked: “She does quite well.”

“Yeah, that’s just her personality; she doesn’t have to come to Class Seventeen.”

“Is she here for Ran Shu?”

“She guessed I would follow him to Class Seventeen.”

Hou Mo raised an eyebrow, casually opened a bottle of water, took a sip, and then, as if casually asking: “What, is she crushing on you?”

“She’s worried I might have a manic episode, so she came to keep an eye on me. Ran Shu alone can’t hold me back.”

This time, Hou Mo got serious, putting the water bottle down to ask: “What happens during a manic episode?”

“I get very aggressive, like a lunatic, without considering the consequences.”

Usually, people would be afraid to encounter someone like Sui Houyu, who might act recklessly as if he doesn’t care about his life.

If it truly came to that, it would be quite scary. Taking responsibility afterward and being locked up would be a light punishment.

Hou Mo said, “From now on, I’ll keep an eye on you too.”

Sui Houyu leaned against the bed, typing on his phone, responding coldly, “Okay.”

Hou Mo tore off a part of the packaging of the water bottle he had already drunk from and said to Sui Houyu, “I’ve torn this packaging. This is mine, so don’t drink it by mistake this time.”

Sui Houyu’s fingers paused for a moment while typing. It turned out Hou Mo had already guessed it long ago.

With nothing else to do, Hou Mo decided to head to Deng Yiheng’s room to chat. Before he could walk out of the door, Sui Houyu asked, “What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to ask Deng Yiheng about the doubles situation.”

“Come back and sleep.”

“Oh…” Hou Mo obediently walked back and sat down next to Sui Houyu, taking out his phone to type.

Sui Houyu quickly received a message from Hou Mo.

Shameless Big Dog: “I’m back!”

Sui Houyu muttered, “You really are sick.”

Hou Mo laughed for a long time and then lay down to sleep.

*

Hou Mo had been to this competition venue before; after all, there were only a few suitable tennis courts in this province, and they were already familiar with them.

He took Sui Houyu to do a urine test. After getting the cup, Hou Mo held it and asked Sui Houyu: “Do you need me to hold it for you?”

Sui Houyu immediately snatched it from him, cursing: “Get lost.”

Hou Mo didn’t leave and instead reminded him: “Make sure to catch it here. Do you see this? Here…”

Sui Houyu, exasperated, ran over and kicked Hou Mo before taking the cup toward the bathroom in the testing area.

Hou Mo stepped back and said: “I’m going to draw lots. You wait here for the results; let’s see who’s faster. We’ll contact via WeChat.”

“Mm.” Sui Houyu replied vaguely from the bathroom.

This time, the tennis draw was conducted by the champion from the previous year. The champion of the women’s team would draw for the men’s, and Hou Mo would draw for the women’s team.

The results of the draw would be announced later, and Hou Mo would be one of the first to know.

He walked in, and the staff greeted him with smiles, asking: “Are you challenging doubles again this year?”

Actually, Coach Wang wanted to use this competition for practice.

Previously, they had tried Hou Mo and Sang Xian’s doubles in this competition, and the result was a crushing defeat, though Hou Mo still won the singles championship.

This time, Hou Mo signed up for doubles again, partnering with someone whose name was unfamiliar, leading people to suspect he was helping a rookie.

With a smile, Hou Mo replied: “Well, it’s all about participation.”

While waiting for arrangements, he spotted some familiar figures. Two tall guys walked past him.

His gaze followed them, and when they looked at him, he quickly averted his eyes.

Both sides recognized each other but didn’t know each other well enough to greet one another.

Hou Mo knew these two were from Dongti Affiliated High School and had already joined the provincial team.

Originally, these two rarely participated in such competitions, focusing on training in the provincial team, so it was surprising that they showed up this time.

It seemed this doubles competition wouldn’t be easy.

After all, they had previously placed second in the national men’s doubles competition.

That second place was only achieved after a long standoff with their opponents; if they had chosen the right venue that day, they might have been first.

Generally, venue selection has its significance.

If the match occurs in the afternoon, players prefer to position the sun to their left, which minimizes sunlight’s impact during their serve.

The players who make a poor choice bear more pressure.

That match was like that.

Hou Mo was very confident in singles and also had faith in Sui Houyu.

However, they had only practiced doubles for a month, so their coordination was lacking, and their tactical experience was insufficient, making them feel like novices.

Encountering experienced doubles players during their rookie phase increased the pressure on Hou Mo.

Now, he even hoped Sui Houyu would fail the urine test so he wouldn’t have to participate in this match and wouldn’t encounter those players. Otherwise, with Sui Houyu’s competitive spirit, if they lost, he would probably feel miserable for a while.

Hou Mo had long known how excessively competitive Sui Houyu was; he could tell just from the fact that after losing in tennis, Sui Houyu demanded a rematch for three games in a row.

Singles were drawn first. After Hou Mo finished drawing, he waited for arrangements, unable to leave before the announcement.

At this moment, Coach Wang came over with the doubles registration form, casually glanced at Hou Mo, and continued inside, also spotting the two players from Dongti Affiliated High School who were about to draw for doubles.

Hou Mo immediately walked over and signaled to Coach Wang: “Don’t let Brother Yu participate; they are here.”

Coach Wang looked at the pair of doubles players and said, “Are you still planning to aim for first place? I just want you to gain some practical experience.”

“Brother Yu’s personality isn’t suited for losing.”

“Since you’ve become an athlete, you need to be prepared to accept losses; otherwise, problems will arise sooner or later. Protecting him like this isn’t a solution; you can’t safeguard him this way for a lifetime,” Coach Wang said, then pulled out a sheet for Hou Mo to see. “If the urine test passes, he participates!”

Important notes from the author:

In everyone’s perspective, the WeChat names are different; r.s is Ran Shu’s WeChat name, and “Brother Yu” is his nickname for Sui Houyu. If Sui Houyu is chatting with Hou Mo, his name would be “Shameless Big Dog – Roronoa.”

Character Details:

Sui Houyu: 183 cm, currently 113 kg (originally 118 kg), size 43 shoes, born on April 5.

Hou Mo: 188 cm, 144 kg, size 44 shoes, born on August 31.

Ran Shu: 178 cm, 115 kg, size 41 shoes, born on November 7 (almost 5 months older than Brother Yu, calling him Brother Yu is just for formality).

Sang Xian: 190 cm, 162 kg, size 44 shoes, born on January 11 (same year as Ran Shu but nearly 10 months older).

Hou Mo and Sang Xian’s height and weight reference international tennis players, with a slight reduction in weight, considering they are still teenagers. As for Brother Yu’s weight… let’s just say he’s not an average person.

Currently, only Sang Xian is an adult; Ran Shu will be soon.