HCILH Ch. 65

Chapter 65: Anger

Sui Houyu and Hou Mo stayed at home until the afternoon when it wasn’t too hot before calling a car back to Xiangjia Alley.

The residential complex they lived in didn’t have an elevator, so they had to climb the stairs.

When they reached the stairway, Sui Houyu looked at Hou Mo as he picked up two suitcases and asked: “Do I really need your help to carry these?”

“I’m just afraid you’ll lose weight!” After saying that, he quickly climbed up the stairs with both suitcases.

He arrived at Sui Houyu’s door first, entering the password to unlock the door effortlessly, without missing a beat.

Sui Houyu followed him into the house and asked: “Why do you act like you’re at your own home when you’re here?”

“I’m more familiar with this house than with you.”

“Right, you’ve known it for so many years. You pay it more attention than me.”

Hou Mo slapped his own face lightly, saying: “Me and my bad mouth. I shouldn’t have brought that up; I was wrong.”

Although Hou Mo often spoke recklessly, he rarely admitted it. SoSui Houyu let it go.

Da Ge walked elegantly out of the room and stood by Sui Houyu.

Knowing they were coming back today, Mother Hou had specially sent Da Ge back to welcome Sui Houyu.

Sui Houyu initially looked at Hou Mo with disdain, but upon seeing Da Ge, he immediately changed his tone and gently asked: “Da Ge, did you miss me?”

Da Ge responded with a “meow.”

Sui Houyu picked him up, kissed him twice, and held him tightly.

Hou Mo watched for a while in silence; this was treatment he had never received.

It was as if he was living a life less favorable than a cat’s.

When Hou Mo and Sui Houyu went to the competition, they put their things in the same suitcase.

Their personal items were kept in their own bags, while the change of sportswear was placed in the same suitcase for convenience.

Now that they were home, it was time to separate their belongings.

After sorting through them, Hou Mo pulled the suitcase up again and said: “I’ll take this in my room first, and I’ll bring you the suitcase later.”

“Mm.” Sui Houyu softly replied.

Sui Houyu sat on the sofa, watching Hou Mo leave. After the door closed, he heard footsteps going upstairs until Hou Mo shut his own door with a bang.

He quickly put down Da Ge, stood up, and peeked through the peephole at the door, then turned back to tidy up the things he had taken out.

Once everything was packed away, he stood in the living room for a while, wondering why Hou Mo hadn’t returned with the suitcase yet.

He took out his phone to send a message to Hou Mo but thought better of it and put it away, grabbing a book to read instead. He hadn’t attended classes these past few days and needed to self-study the material.

He heard that the teacher would privately make up a few classes for them, but they would be at triple speed, so it was better to preview the material ahead of time.

After reading for a while and pacing around the house, he went to the door to listen again.

After waiting for a bit, he finally heard footsteps, but the sound passed his door and went downstairs.

Da Ge circled his feet, not understanding what his master was up to.

He went back into the room, checked the time on his phone, and realized it had almost been two hours. Why hadn’t Hou Mo returned with the suitcase yet?

As he thought about it, he suddenly felt unhappy, sulking by himself.

After a moment, he decided to go upstairs to ask Hou Mo for the suitcase.

Just as he stood up to clear off the table, he suddenly heard a knock on the door, and his anger dissipated instantly. He had been waiting, but he didn’t rush over; instead, he deliberately walked slowly to open the door.

Hou Mo not only brought the suitcase but also a food container, placing it on the dining table as he walked in: “I made you braised chicken rice.”

Sui Houyu sat at the table, watching Hou Mo open the container and set the food out.

He picked up a pair of chopsticks and asked: “Where’s Auntie?”

“She went to the office to do the accounts; she hasn’t come back yet.”

“Oh.” He focused on his meal, pausing for a moment after taking a bite before continuing to eat.

It was unexpectedly delicious.

Hou Mo stared at him and asked, “Do you want some soup with your rice?”

“Oh, sure.” Sui Houyu pushed the rice over.

Hou Mo helped him pour the soup over the rice, mixing it before pushing it back. “I often eat it this way; when my appetite is good, I can eat two servings.”

“Do you usually cook for yourself?”

“Not really. After my mom goes out, I eat alone. I’m too lazy to cook; I usually just go with Deng Yiheng and the others to our favorite restaurant. It’s the same place we went to last time. The owner is nice and gives us extra portions.”

He recalled that their first meeting had been during dinner time.

At that time, it was probably when Hou Mo was eating with Deng Yiheng and the others, and he hadn’t seen them at the restaurant, which was why Hou Mo came looking for him.

Sui Houyu rarely complimented anyone and didn’t express his emotions.

This meal was the same; he didn’t say it was good but silently ate three bowls.

Hou Mo watched him happily, fearing that if he showed any reaction, Sui Houyu would start to act awkward again and stop eating.

After finishing the meal, while cleaning up, Hou Mo said to Sui Houyu: “I’ll go wash up; otherwise, it’ll be hard to clean once it’s set.”

“Mm.”

Sui Houyu didn’t walk Hou Mo out; he just listened to the sound of the door closing, the footsteps going upstairs, and then the sound of Hou Mo shutting his own door.

After confirming that Hou Mo had returned home, Sui Houyu stood up, walked to the desk, and continued reading.

He had been almost inseparable from Hou Mo lately and really couldn’t understand when Hou Mo found time to study. Was it that he had mania or perhaps wasn’t as academically inclined as Hou Mo, which was why he couldn’t keep up?

He remembered that Hou Mo’s mother was a graduate student from Tsinghua University, and his father also graduated from a military academy.

As for Mother Hou’s current situation, Sui Houyu couldn’t say much; it seemed that she wasn’t in good health, unable to work normally, so she had to find these jobs to do.

Sometimes he really felt regretful thinking about it.

Sui Houyu’s parents were quite different.

Although his dad was a comrade of Hou Mo’s father, he was merely a small soldier under Father Hou’s command.

Sui Houyu’s dad was a standard slacker, relying on his family’s wealth and never really studying hard, serving a few years in the army before coming back.

He had been sent to the army initially because his grandparents thought he was too reckless and wanted to toughen him up.

Grandpa believed the family needed to change its atmosphere, so he found a strong-willed daughter-in-law with a high education, which was his mom, hoping she would keep his dad in check.

In the end, they divorced within just a few years.

Many times, Sui Houyu suspected that his anxiety issues were inherited from his mother.

His mother also had a fiery temper; she was impulsive and often hysterical, but she had never sought treatment. The term “spicy” could summarize her entirely.

However, Sui Houyu was diagnosed and treated like a mental patient.

He needed to put in several times the effort compared to others just to calm down and study, improving his grades.

Huo Mo, on the other hand, managed it effortlessly.

Thinking of this, Sui Houyu began to feel angry again; he wanted to go upstairs and see if Huo Mo was secretly studying.

After considering it, he decided against it. Instead, he opened an app on his tablet and followed along with the teacher in the video, occasionally jotting down notes.

While watching the video and fiddling with his pen, he suddenly began to daydream.

Now… what was Huo Mo doing?

Had Mother Hou come home yet?

He turned to look out the window; it was already dark. If she hadn’t returned yet, would Huo Mo go to pick her up?

Retracting his gaze, he noted down a formula in his notebook and continued fiddling with his pen.

Would he not be able to sleep with Huo Mo tonight?

If he went upstairs to find Huo Mo, would Mother Hou be scared? How would he explain this?

Huo Mo would definitely chat with his mother, right?

They relied on each other and had a good relationship, so they had to stick together. Would Huo Mo mention the competition?

Would he bring him up in passing?

He pressed his lips together, dragging the video progress bar back because he had missed a part earlier.

The video continued to play, and he started to wonder what Hou Mo’s mother thought of him.

Would she also see him as a troublesome boy and not want Huo Mo to partner with him?

Thinking of this, he tossed his pen in frustration, furious with himself.

He didn’t really want to play tennis either!

Who cares about partnerships!

Who even wants that?!

As he looked up again, he realized he had missed the part he hadn’t paid attention to, so he hurriedly picked up his pen, dragging the progress back to continue watching.

He studied until after ten, when he suddenly heard a knock on the door.

He was taken aback, stood up to open it, and saw Huo Mo coming in with a pillow, muttering, “I saw you weren’t talking in the group; did you see the message?”

“What message?”

“We’re going hiking on Saturday, and there’s a make-up class on Sunday. Next week, we have to attend all the evening make-up classes.”

“I knew there would be classes, but I didn’t know the specific times.”

“It wasn’t on Sunday before.”

Huo Mo brought the pillow into the room and casually shifted Sui Houyu’s pillow aside, placing his own next to it.

He then walked over to see what Sui Houyu was doing on his tablet: “What video is this?”

“Teaching encyclopedia.”

“Oh, that app! I have it too.”

Sui Houyu seemed to have finally found evidence of Huo Mo studying, but then he heard Huo Mo say, “After three days of use, it starts charging, so I haven’t opened it again.”

Sui Houyu: “…”

This app has a three-day trial, after which it charges based on different plans. Sui Houyu was the highest-level member, able to learn all subjects.

“Do you want to watch together?” Sui Houyu asked after sitting down again.

“No, I need to participate in a big competition. I’ll join you later.”

Sui Houyu watched the video for a bit longer but ultimately hit pause and walked over to see what Huo Mo was doing: “What are you doing?”

“Do you know about e-sports? I’m currently participating in a large national competition, and I’ve made it to the finals.”

Sui Houyu moved over to sit on the edge of the bed, staring at the screen of Hou Mo’s phone displaying the Dou Dizhu game^[1], and remained silent for a full three minutes.

After a while, he asked, “What can you gain from such a large competition?”

Huo Mo puffed out his chest proudly and replied, “If I win first place, I can get 200 yuan in phone credit!”

Sui Houyu was reluctant to chat much with Hou Mo, fearing that talking too much would taint him.

He wasn’t specifically against Dou Dizhu, nor did he think of it as not being an esports game.

He just felt frustrated that he couldn’t even compare to this guy academically.

Earlier, he was angry that Hou Mo didn’t come down, imagining all sorts of things; now that Hou Mo was sitting right next to him, he was still angry.

It was just that the reason for his anger was a bit different.

After finishing the game, Hou Mo sat down next to Sui Houyu and started watching the video together, looking surprisingly serious, finally showing some of the demeanor of a studious person.

“Don’t you think it’s odd for you to come down like this? Your mom won’t be suspicious?” Sui Houyu asked him.

“I’ve already talked to her about it; she’s actually quite concerned about you.”

“She won’t want you to stay away from me, will she?”

“Why would she?” Hou Mo looked puzzled and glanced at him curiously.

“Actually… Ran Shu’s dad doesn’t really like me.” he replied softly.

“My mom doesn’t feel that way; she has a really good impression of you.”

Sui Houyu suddenly felt a sense of relief.

He didn’t understand why he felt so relieved all of a sudden.

While the two were talking, the Da Ge silently jumped onto the table and then swiped at Hou Mo with its paw.

Da Ge had never really liked Hou Mo.

Hou Mo, being timid, gasped in surprise and leaped straight into Sui Houyu’s arms.

Sui Houyu looked at the big guy sitting on his lap and said disdainfully: “Get up!”

“It’s bullying me!” Hou Mo pointed at Da Ge with a pitiful expression, playing the role of a wronged man.

“I said get up!”

Hou Mo complied and sat back in his own chair.

Sui Houyu reached out to pull Da Ge into his arms, gently stroking its back.

Hou Mo sat beside him, watching the video, while Da Get’s tail occasionally flicked against him, again and again.

Hou Mo bet that the cat was doing it on purpose.