HCILH Ch. 48

Chapter 48: Do I Look Like a Good Person to You?

Sang Xian accompanied Ran Shu to the place for urine tests and coincidentally ran into Yang Hong and Hu Qingxu, who had just finished their match and were heading for the urine test.

Sang Xian wasn’t familiar with these two; in fact, they didn’t even seem familiar to him. However, he did know the black Tibetan mastiff, Liu Mo.

As soon as Liu Mo saw him, he walked over and asked: “Sang Xian, what’s going on with ‘Cheap Monkey’? Why is he so angry this time? He seems quite invested in doubles.”

Sang Xian led Ran Shu to the entrance, greeted the staff in charge, and arranged for Ran Shu to go in before turning back to Liu Mo: “Did you guys step on a landmine?”

“What landmine?” Liu Mo looked confused.

“Did you guys insult his partner?”

Liu Mo glanced at Yang Hong, who recalled something and nodded: “Seems like it.”

Sang Xian smirked: “That makes sense. If you talk about Hou Mo, he might not get angry, but if you talk about his partner, he’ll definitely want to show you.”

Liu Mo was puzzled: “What’s the situation? You don’t have that kind of treatment, do you?”

“I definitely don’t,” Sang Xian shrugged, thinking for a moment before adding, “His partner is his childhood friend.”

He couldn’t say that Hou Mo was interested in Sui Houyu but denied his feelings due to personal circumstances, right?

At least, Hou Mo always claimed to be straight.

Sang Xian couldn’t spill others’ secrets either.

Liu Mo suddenly exclaimed: “Who would’ve thought?!”

Afterward, he started pacing at the entrance with his hands on his hips, asking Sang Xian: “What brings you here? There aren’t any singles matches today, right?”

“Oh…” Sang Xian replied helplessly. “Our doubles teammate got injured, so I had to step in as a last-minute replacement.”

“I can’t even say you guys are a free point team now; my face still hurts, and I’m still feeling the aftereffects of being hit.”

Sang Xian pointed inside with his thumb: “That guy was my partner; what do you think?”

Liu Mo raised his hand to gesture: “The tall one?”

Liu Mo was also 190 centimeters tall and more muscular than Sang Xian; if he went to the gym, people would mistake him for a personal trainer.

In their eyes, anyone shorter than 180 centimeters was considered short and not suitable for tennis.

Just then, Ran Shu came out, looking particularly nervous as he approached Sang Xian and nervously asked: “Am I holding the racket right? Is this how you hold it?”

The trio from the provincial team fell silent, looking at Ran Shu.

This guy clearly didn’t know how to play tennis, did he?

At this moment, Hou Mo and his group walked over, and Liu Mo immediately greeted them. “B*tch… Senior Brother, right? Hahaha, you’re not seriously going to hold that against me, are you?”

Hou Mo didn’t answer that. Instead, he introduced Sui Houyu to the group. “This is Black Tibetan Mastiff, the captain of the provincial team.”

Then he turned to Liu Mo and said: “My partner, Sui Houyu.”

“Oh! From the stands, I thought this guy had an elegant posture, and now that I see him up close, he really looks like a celestial being come down to earth—handsome and plays well too…” Liu Mo grinned widely, his bright white teeth almost dazzling Sui Houyu.

Sui Houyu nodded in response but then went to talk to Ran Shu, showing no interest in the ongoing conversation.

Ran Shu followed Sui Houyu into the urine test room, mumbling the whole way: “I-I just came to slack off and skip class. How did I end up on the court as a substitute?”

“Just play like you usually do during practice.”

“I usually hit a hundred balls, and I can barely get five of them in.”

“Then just play like that.”

Liu Mo and Hou Mo watched the two enter, and Hou Mo wanted to follow, but Liu Mo stopped him. “You’re not really planning to make me run naked, are you?”

Hou Mo raised an eyebrow at him: “Could it be… you want to cheat?”

“Be the bigger man, don’t remember the little man’s mistakes. Don’t take it to heart; we’ve been rivals for years, and after all this time, I can’t lose face in front of my teammates!”

Hou Mo chuckled for a long time before stopping.

Liu Mo thought this situation might turn around and was about to join in the laughter when he saw Hou Mo’s smile vanish.

He recognized that familiar mischievous look in Hou Mo’s eyes, filled with mockery, as if he was brewing some mischief.

Liu Mo suddenly felt something was off.

“We’ve known each other for years; do you think I’m an easy person to talk to?” Hou Mo asked, then answered himself, “I’m not.”

“You…”

“Am I the kind of person who lets things slide or shows mercy?” Hou Mo asked again and followed up with, “I’m not.”

“You son of a…” Liu Mo was furious.

“Alright, don’t block me; I have to go for the test. Let’s chat on WeChat later and set up a place to meet. I need to see you.” Hou Mo said, then walked around Liu Mo and entered the room.

Liu Mo looked at Sang Xian, who shrugged his shoulders in defeat; there was nothing he could do.

Yang Hong had been watching from the side, feeling somewhat uncomfortable.

This situation started because of him. He had been feeling good about himself and approached someone and inadvertently upset them.

Now the captain was going to face punishment, and he felt guilty, saying, “Captain, I’ll take your place.”

Liu Mo waved his hand. “No need; take responsibility for your own decisions. Hou Mo won’t let me off either.”

When Hou Mo, Sui Houyu, and Ran Shu came out, Yang Hong asked Sui Houyu again: “Did you really only train for a month?”

Sui Houyu looked at Yang Hong and saw him clenching his fists tightly, realizing he was probably feeling quite stimulated.

After years of training, being defeated by someone who had only trained for a month must have been hard for Yang Hong to accept, as if all his previous efforts had been negated in an instant.

He had truly learned a harsh lesson.

His mindset was crumbling.

Sui Houyu replied: “I used to play tennis before and practiced other sports too, so my training speed is a bit faster now.”

Yang Hong pressed on: “What about doubles? One month?”

“Yeah, one month.”

In fact, some players specializing in doubles often have their own weaknesses. Yang Hong wasn’t particularly outstanding in singles, which is why he focused on doubles and achieved his current results.

While he believed his doubles skills were steadily improving, encountering Sui Houyu shattered that belief.

It seemed like they could never compete with a genius.

Sui Houyu looked at Yang Hong and said softly: “Elementary students know not to comment on things they don’t fully understand. You don’t even know my level and just barged in to say I’m not good. Now you lost and came out looking hurt, asking me all sorts of questions—don’t you think it’s strange? Shouldn’t you apologize instead?”

Yang Hong was struck by this and lowered his head to apologize: “I’m sorry; I shouldn’t have said you weren’t good just because you didn’t look like a serious tennis player.”

What does it mean to not look like a serious tennis player?

This guy really didn’t know how to speak.

“Alright, let’s leave it at that. I have things to attend to/” Sui Houyu replied and pulled Ran Shu aside to continue comforting him.

Seeing Yang Hong’s expression, Liu Mo knew he needed to guide his teammate, so he pulled Yang Hong away.

Meanwhile, after the urine test results came in, Ran Shu surprisingly passed, leaving Sui Houyu envious.

He didn’t watch his diet but still passed the test—how could Ran Shu always be so lucky?

After the results came out, Sang Xian stood next to Ran Shu while Coach Wang lectured them, going on for quite a while without stopping.

Sui Houyu, standing to the side, asked, “When is their match?”

The one who had been waiting, Shen Junqing, replied, “It starts in fifteen minutes.”

“It’s like rushing a duck onto the rack…” Sui Houyu said, feeling a bit anxious.

Hou Mo was stretching in place while responding, “It all depends on how long Sang Xian can hold out. I heard the other side consists of students from a regular high school who don’t play many matches and are of average skill. Sang Xian should be able to hold out for a while.”

“But it’s doubles.”

Hou Mo stopped moving and looked at Sui Houyu: “Yes, it’s doubles, but the only difference from singles is the court size. The ball is still just one. As long as there’s one ball coming from the other side, we just have to hit it back; I can handle one against two.”

Sui Houyu suddenly became displeased: “Oh, you’re so impressive. You don’t have to partner with me, then.”

“No… it depends on the opponent! Didn’t I mention that there was a premise to what I just said?”

“You can play by yourself in the next game.” Sui Houyu turned around and left.

“No, no.” Hou Mo quickly chased after him, trying to appease him. “You have to be there; otherwise, what’s the point of playing doubles?”

“There’s bonus prize money for winning.”

“If it were just for that, I could easily pair up with anyone for doubles. Last year, I could have made a few tens of thousands in bonuses, but I didn’t! So, I still want to play doubles with you.”

Only then did Sui Houyu feel a bit relieved.

Shen Junjing also planned to go back and check on Deng Yiheng.

After the previous match, some people in the youth tennis friendship group had already made comments about Sui Houyu “clinging to a big shot,” especially after Hou Mo’s two serves were quite sensational. Moreover, Hou Mo had been directing the whole match, so Sui Houyu was just a tool in his hands.

But only their team knew that it was Hou Mo, the “big shot,” who was the one pursuing and comforting Sui Houyu.

It would be embarrassing to say it out loud.

*

The match between Sang Xian and Ran Shu was about to start.

Sui Houyu and Hou Mo found Coach Wang and sat next to him to watch the match.

The level of interest in tennis matches in the country is not high, and the audience for youth matches is even lower, so the stands were only three-quarters full, making it easy to find empty seats.

Coach Wang maintained his stern expression, and it was just them two who dared to sit next to him.

“How many times have I told you to be careful during matches? You still managed to get injured!” Coach Wang scolded again.

Hou Mo took out a sunshade from his bag, shielding himself and Sui Houyu, while replying: “You had us practice in the rain the night before the match; how can you blame others?”

Coach Wang shot a glance at Hou Mo and asked: “Just one umbrella?”

Hou Mo rummaged through his bag and tossed Coach Wang a bottle of sunscreen spray. Since Hou Mo’s skin was delicate and prone to sunburn, he always kept such items on hand.

Coach Wang didn’t mind, sprayed some on, put on a cap, and continued watching the match.

After watching for a while, Hou Mo said to Sui Houyu: “Sang Xian decided to go with a double baseline strategy.”

“Is that easier to play?”

“Yeah, and it can accommodate Ran Shu. Generally, this strategy allows the stronger player to cover three-fifths of the court while the weaker one handles two-fifths. But in their case, Ran Shu just needs to stand in that corner and hit back any balls that come to him; Sang Xian will cover three-quarters of the court.”

As the match started, the opposing team seemed to recognize that Ran Shu was the weak point and focused their attacks on him.

After Sang Xian helped block a few balls, Ran Shu finally swung his racket…

It wasn’t scary to miss a hit, but it was embarrassing when the racket flew out of his hand and nearly hit his face.

In an official tennis match, getting your racket knocked away and looking that awkward was quite shocking.

Not only were the spectators in the stands stunned, but Coach Wang also covered his face in disbelief, and even Ran Shu’s opponents were dumbfounded.

They were just ordinary high school students in an interest group, lacking the confidence to compete against professional sports schools, yet seeing Ran Shu’s sudden blunder gave them a boost of morale.

This guy… seemed even worse than they were?

At least they wouldn’t drop their rackets! How low-level was that mistake?

Ran Shu went to retrieve his racket while complaining to Sang Xian: “Why is the power so… so strong?”

Sang Xian approached to explain: “It’s because my serve is powerful, so when they return it, it still carries momentum, and you’re not used to my strength.”

Ran Shu looked at Sang Xian with a bitter expression, repositioned himself, and gripped his racket with both hands, ready to play.

Seeing Ran Shu gripping his racket properly, the opponents were stunned, exchanging glances as they saw hope in each other’s eyes.

Maybe they could still win?

One opponent was particularly fierce, while the other was so inexperienced he couldn’t even play; what a bizarre combination!

Sang Xian watched Ran Shu hold his racket for a moment and reminded him: “Move back a bit more.”

“Oh…” Ran Shu obediently stepped back half a step.

Sang Xian was positioned slightly ahead of Ran Shu, which helped him cover any incoming balls without bumping into Ran Shu.

Ran Shu was nervously gripping his racket; even though he was just standing there, his entire body was tense, making it a bit tiring to maintain his stance.

He noticed that Sang Xian had been playing alone, and while he had seen that in practice many times, he suddenly felt that Sang Xian was quite reliable. If it were anyone else, they would have been anxious by now, but Sang Xian hadn’t said a harsh word yet.

Is this the demeanor of a wealthy person?

Another ball came, and Ran Shu returned it with both hands, but it shot straight at the referee sitting on the stand, hitting the referee on the head.

With that level of accuracy, if it had been directed towards placement control, Ran Shu would have been quite excellent; unfortunately, his precision landed in the wrong spot.

Ran Shu could only smile apologetically, and the referee didn’t hold it against him.

Sang Xian glanced at Ran Shu, then turned back and said, “You’ve made progress; you managed to hit the ball back.”

His voice remained steady and deep, devoid of any other emotions.

“Oh…”