HCILH Ch. 52

Chapter 52: The Second Round (Part 2)

With Sui Houyu’s next serve, he still opted for a high toss.

To Tang Yao, this seemed like a provocation. Before he could hesitate, the ball had already arced past him to the backcourt, and Gu Libo swung his racket to return it.

The next few exchanges were all very high balls.

Tang Yao could no longer stand it. He jumped up and hit back with a powerful overhead smash.

Raising his eyes, he saw that Sui Houyu had already positioned himself at the net, executing a beautiful interception that sent the ball flying through, heading straight for the backcourt.

Gu Libo reacted quickly, rushing over and swinging his racket, barely managing to return the ball.

Sui Houyu was already ready at the net, lightly blocking it. The ball sailed over the net and landed next to Tang Yao, who didn’t even have a chance to swing his racket before it was over.

Hou Mo’s initial strategy was quite simple: tire out Gu Libo and infuriate that idiot Tang Yao to death.

Some serves, although considered high-quality in singles, might not be suitable in doubles.

Gu Libo calculated the first serve success rate in his mind and assessed the quality of the serves in doubles, doing a comprehensive analysis.

This is why Sui Houyu was said to have poor serve quality.

But what if they ignored Tang Yao? What if there was a specific intent?

Sui Houyu’s serve was still good.

His current aim was to cut high balls and target the backcourt, letting Gu Libo experience what it felt like to be exhausted.

Sui Houyu liked to play up close, and such balls were challenging to receive. Few players could twist their bodies to such an awkward degree like Sui Houyu, putting Gu Libo in a passive position.

He was completely being targeted.

Deng Yiheng was nervously watching the match, keeping a close eye. If Hou Mo did anything unusual, they probably wouldn’t let him continue competing.

At that moment, someone suddenly spoke to him, startling him: “How’s the match going?”

Turning around, Deng Yiheng saw Liu Mo accompanied by Yang Hong and Hu Qingxu, who had also come to watch the match.

“They’re still playing. We lost a set earlier, but we’re currently trying to hold serve.”

Yang Hong leaned in to take a look and said, “The opponents won’t break serve easily. Liquid Cat’s serves are quite tricky.”

After all, they had just suffered from carelessness yesterday.

Lu Yanxin turned around and boldly asked, “Do you guys have any matches left? Why didn’t you go back to the provincial training center to continue practicing?”

Yang Hong was unconcerned by the question and replied frankly, “You really don’t know about our provincial training center. The only reason there are so many spectators here is that we brought three buses full of people. The students with matches are arranged for accommodation, and those without matches come back and forth just to watch the games and summarize experiences. We’ll have to write a reflection essay after we return.”

“Then why are you so unenthusiastic? Why did you come so late after the game started?”

“It’s just that there weren’t any matches before, and we woke up late,” Yang Hong answered, chuckling nervously.

Liu Mo, a long-time rival of Hou Mo, asked upon seeing him, “What’s up with Hou Mo? It’s rare to see him so restrained.”

Deng Yiheng relayed the earlier situation.

Liu Mo nodded knowingly: “I warned Hou Mo a long time ago; that kid Gu Libo is very good at exploiting weaknesses. He’s definitely doing it on purpose.”

As he spoke, Hou Mo swung his racket, executing a beautiful cross-court shot that landed right on the line before flying out.

Liu Mo bit his lips in silence for a moment before speaking again: “This kid Hou Mo is quite annoying even with his left hand.”

Cross-court shots are difficult enough, and now Hou Mo could do it left-handed?

Just after Liu Mo finished his remark, a girl let out a surprised shriek, almost a scream, startling everyone.

They all turned to look, realizing that a ball hit by Hou Mo had landed in the audience. A girl had caught the ball and was squealing with excitement.

This ball was served by Sui Houyu and hit by Hou Mo, which made it significant, causing the girl who caught it to be overjoyed.

Liu Mo smacked his lips and sighed: “Hou Mo’s popularity is already high, and now he’s got a nice-looking cat by his side. That’s incredible; he’s turning into an idol.”

Lu Yanxin laughed softly and added: “In our girls’ group, we have a nickname card. Some call themselves the next girlfriend of Djokovic^[1], while others refer to Hou Mo as ‘Little Wife of Hou Mo.’ Yesterday was wild; they flooded the screen with photos of Hou Mo competing against Sui Houyu. They knew I had indirect connections with Hou Mo and Sui Houyu, and they went crazy. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get their WeChat IDs.”

Deng Yiheng could only laugh awkwardly: “Big Senior Brother really doesn’t add girls, and it’s even worse for Brother Yu; he hardly adds any guys.”

Liu Mo said with a hint of envy: “If I were that handsome, I would walk sideways too^[2].”

Sui Houyu served again.

Before serving, he glanced across at the opposing team, taking in their positions, and then tossed the ball up to serve.

His first serve didn’t go in.

He adjusted his breathing and served again.

It’s actually quite challenging to execute a cross-court serve, unless the ball is kept very low; if not controlled well, it might go into the net.

Sui Houyu wanted to try it out. The first attempt failed, but he tried again for the second serve. However, this time he chose a tricky angle for a powerful serve, different from the previous landing spot.

Tang Yao didn’t even have time to react.

Gu Libo anticipated it and quickly ran toward that direction, swinging his racket but failed to make contact.

Sui Houyu scored on his serve.

A beautifully executed ace!

Hou Mo turned around, smiling at Sui Houyu, and said: “Nice job! You’re learning quickly.”

“I practiced for an hour yesterday.” Sui Houyu replied proudly, as he was someone who could hit aces after just an hour of practice.

They managed to hold serve, and the score was currently even.

Sui Houyu walked over and asked Hou Mo: “Is your hand feeling any better?”

“It’s not too serious, just a bit painful. It should be fine after a rest.”

“How long do you think it will take?”

“I don’t know.” Hou Mo moved his hand a little and said, “Gu Libo might go all out in the next game.”

“You don’t have to be too aggressive; just take your time to recover, and I’ll do my best to hold on.”

“He will exploit that.”

“I know, but your hand is more important than this match.”

Hou Mo, surprised that Sui Houyu could say such a thing, smiled and agreed.

They returned to their positions, and Gu Libo served again.

This time, Hou Mo was still very passive; it was mainly Sui Houyu who was struggling, and anyone could see that. This passive situation allowed Gu Libo to shine, winning the game easily at 40:0.

Lu Yanxin, who didn’t understand doubles as well as the others, nervously asked: “Are we going to lose?”

Deng Yiheng was also quite worried, but seeing Lu Yanxin’s anxious expression made him laugh. He asked, “Aren’t you from Dongti High School and the same school as Gu Libo? Why are you siding with them? Isn’t your flower from Dongti being abandoned like this?”

Lu Yanxin retorted confidently: “I don’t know them, but I know Hou Mo and Sui Houyu, even though… we haven’t really spoken much.”

The usually silent Coach Wang spoke up: “Let’s see if Hou Mo can recover. Sui Houyu lacks experience, and the opponents are very seasoned doubles players, strong in every aspect. He can’t pull off a one-on-two like Sang Xian. To win, he needs Hou Mo’s cooperation.”

Deng Yiheng added anxiously: “I just know that Senior Brother’s hand got hit; I don’t know how serious it is.”

This stalemate lasted through the whole first set, with Sui Houyu and Hou Mo losing.

After each set, there’s a two-minute break.

Sui Houyu and Hou Mo sat on the bench, draped in their jackets. Hou Mo sprayed some mist and moved his wrist around.

Sui Houyu wiped the sweat off his forehead with a towel, then looked at the back of Hou Mo’s hand. It was red with a hint of blue, clearly in the transition phase, It would probably be turning fully blue by tomorrow. Fortunately, the area wasn’t large, only about the size of a coin, but it was evident that it hurt a lot.

Such an injury during the match, especially in a critical area, could indeed have severe consequences.

“Can you serve like this?” Sui Houyu asked worriedly.

Hou Mo knew last night that Gu Libo would definitely notice their lack of synergy and exploit it, so they practiced Hou Mo’s serve coordination.

Men’s doubles have a fast rhythm, usually resolving in just three hits: serve, return, and net interception, rarely requiring many shots.

What they needed to practice was their positioning, avoiding interference with each other, while also having tactical cooperation.

They were prepared, but now Hou Mo was injured.

Now, they are behind in the match, and to catch up, they must win the remaining two sets, which will be a prolonged battle.

“It should be fine; nothing serious,” Hou Mo replied, leaning in to whisper, “You don’t have to retaliate.”

Hou Mo noticed that Sui Houyu was actually looking for an opportunity to get back at them, and his target had always been Gu Libo.

Today, Sui Houyu’s aggressive playstyle was very intense, probably because he couldn’t let Gu Libo score even a little; he wouldn’t be able to get over it otherwise.

“I’m so mad!” Sui Houyu responded, puffing up in anger.

“It’s clearly our lack of teamwork; we have our own issues, which gave him a chance. Getting angry is useless!”

“But you got hurt!” Sui Houyu replied through gritted teeth, realizing it was his fault for injuring him. “I accept that we lack coordination, and you got hurt, but if he scores, it’s because of his poor skills, not my problem.”

“You’re right…” Hou Mo found himself unable to argue.

Actually, it was better this way than if Sui Houyu went over to cause trouble and fight after the match.

Sui Houyu was still annoyed, glaring at Gu Libo across the net.

Hou Mo kept watching Sui Houyu, then grinned and asked: “Has anyone ever told you that when you’re being fierce, you actually lack any intimidation? You’re kind of cute, all fierce yet adorable.”

“Who said that? Lots of people are afraid of me!”

“You’re like a roaring ragdoll cat, fierce and good-looking, but without any real threat.”

“Tsk…” Sui Houyu still felt unconvinced.

“You’re not even as fierce as my big brother,” Hou Mo said, standing up to prepare for the match while chatting with Sui Houyu. “My mom took my big brother to our house; it’s more convenient to take care of him that way.”

“Yeah, I know. She mentioned it to me before, and I agreed.”

He even noticed that the closeness between his big brother and Hou’s mom was greater than between him and his big brother.

In Sui Houyu’s serving game, he hit the ball a couple of times, glanced across, and then served powerfully.

It’s not easy to generate this kind of speed and power with Sui Houyu’s racket. This shot was aimed straight at Gu Libo.

Gu Libo successfully received the serve, but due to insufficient power, his racket tilted slightly, and the ball barely cleared the net.

Sui Houyu had already positioned himself at the net, and he aimed to hit hard at Gu Libo, delivering a cross-court shot. Gu Libo raised his racket to block, but the ball struck the frame and hit him on the chin.

Gu Libo covered his chin and took a moment to recover, tears streaming from the pain.

Tang Yao hurried over to check on Gu Libo, who waved his hand dismissively: “I’m fine.”

“He did it on purpose, right?”

Sui Houyu had been doing it on purpose throughout the set, but Gu Libo didn’t dare to say anything for fear of upsetting Tang Yao. He finally sensed something was off—why was their analysis not quite right?

Sui Houyu, who usually was indifferent, this time spoke particularly annoyingly, standing at the net and dragging out his words: “Oh! Are you okay?”

There was no hint of guilt in his tone.

It would have been better if he hadn’t asked; now, it felt even more intentional.

Tang Yao glared at Sui Houyu without saying anything, while Gu Libo tugged on Tang Yao’s sleeve. Neither of them answered Sui Houyu.

Sui Houyu didn’t expect a response from them anyway.

They did lose the first set, but Gu Libo had been toyed with the entire time, and Tang Yao… well, he probably was about to explode.

Mission accomplished.

Gu Libo thought he could use the discord between Hou Mo and Sui Houyu to create chaos on the opposite side, but he didn’t expect their relationship to be merely awkward.

Sui Houyu only glares at those he cares about; he wouldn’t bother with those he truly disliked, even going so far as to take action.

Hou Mo watched Sui Houyu smile as he turned back to his position and asked, “Are you satisfied?”

“Yeah.”

“Then let’s focus on the match.” After saying this, Hou Mo switched the racket back to his right hand.