HCILH Ch. 91

Chapter 91: Primary School Chicken 

Training in the pool ended after about half an hour, as Coach Wang wanted the team to relax a bit and enjoy their youth.

Once the team was free to move around, Sui Houyu and Hou Mo were at it again.

They first competed to see who could swim faster, then moved on to holding their breath longer. After a while, Hou Mo started regretting it, worried that Sui Houyu would stubbornly stay underwater for too long. He quickly went over and pulled Sui Houyu out.

After being dragged out, Sui Houyu was still very defiant. He quickly wiped his face with his hand and shouted at him: “That’s cheating! It doesn’t count as a win!”

“My bad, I lost. Let’s not compete in this.” Hou Mo said, holding onto Sui Houyu and the balance board, letting him float. “Look at me, I can do a flip underwater.”

He then started demonstrating.

Sang Xian, who had already gotten out of the pool, sat on the side with a towel draped over his shoulders. He took a sip of mineral water and sighed as he watched Hou Mo and Sui Houyu: “Male dogs in mating season are disgusting.”

Deng Yiheng, who had been sitting nearby and watching with a somewhat numb expression, echoed: “The worst part is the other one is totally into it and even plays along.”

As Deng Yiheng spoke, he saw Sui Houyu also attempt a flip.

These two elementary school chickens were having the time of their lives.

Deng Yiheng began to wonder if he had overestimated Sui Houyu at the start. 

He had thought Sui Houyu was a cold and aloof pretty boy. It turned out that image completely collapsed when Hou Mo was around.

After swimming, everyone changed clothes and stood in a line watching Hou Mo blow-drying Sui Houyu’s hair.

Sui Houyu’s hair was thick, and the hairdryer in the boys’ locker room wasn’t very powerful, so it was taking forever to dry.

While these two continued blow-drying, the others kept watching and waiting endlessly for their turn.

Finally, Shen Junjing pitifully asked Deng Yiheng: “If I go out like this, my hair won’t freeze, right?”

Deng Yiheng replied helplessly: “Your hair’s short. Just towel-dry it really well.”

“Alright.” Shen Junjing decided to give up on the hairdryer.

Sang Xian, who was waiting impatiently nearby, leaned on the counter and said: “You two should wrap it up.”

Hou Mo pointed the hairdryer at Sang Xian’s head for a moment before continuing with Sui Houyu, saying: “You barely have a few strands of hair up there. A little effort should be enough.”

Sang Xian was furious, “You’re making me sound like Sanmao^[1]!”

“Almost done!” Hou Mo finally finished drying Sui Houyu’s hair and told him to go change clothes before raising the hairdryer to dry his own hair.

Sang Xian, annoyed, snatched the hairdryer, turned it off, and aimed it at Hou Mo’s mouth.

Before he could go through with it, Sui Houyu intervened, grabbing Sang Xian’s wrist with a look that said: “If you touch Hou Mo, I’ll fight you.”

Sang Xian completely gave up. He left the hairdryer and went to change clothes, willing to leave with wet hair if needed.

These two were equally insufferable. To the extreme, “torture to dogs” is “torture to hearts.” 

On their way back as a group, they passed the basketball court. Hou Mo suddenly dashed over, borrowed a ball from a friend playing there, and showed off to Sui Houyu: “Brother Yu, watch this. Air dunk!”

He leaped up with the basketball, almost like stepping on thin air, and made another jump, landing a perfect dunk.

These athletes, each excelling in their respective sports, had remarkable physical abilities. Hou Mo’s fitness was exceptional for his age, which had helped him earn national first place.

Physical prowess often translated into excellence in other areas, and now, Hou Mo’s jumping ability was on display.

Though it looked flashy, it was something most people couldn’t easily do.

Sui Houyu tilted his head slightly as he watched, an unimpressed look on his face.

He had changed into a jacket and had the hood up, only showing his bangs and that perpetually serious face.

After looking up at Hou Mo, he pursed his lips and said: “I can do that too.”

Deng Yiheng, watching nearby, sighed: “Brother Yu is going to do it too.”

Shen Junjing also looked over, resigned: “These two are going to start playing again.”

Sang Xian didn’t even bother watching and kept walking toward the dorm: “Let’s go. Don’t waste time on those two. They could keep this up all night.”

The three of them stopped waiting and continued to head back to the dorm.

As they walked, they noticed someone running even faster than them. Ran Shu, who was usually unenthusiastic about morning exercises, was sprinting toward the dorm like it was a hundred-meter dash.

Sang Xian watched Ran Shu running far ahead, puzzled: “What’s gotten into that little stutterer today?”

Shen Junjing laughed: “I lent him my peppermint shampoo. His scalp’s probably feeling icy.”

Sang Xian burst out laughing and headed back to the dorm.

Meanwhile, Sui Houyu and Hou Mo continued their competition.

They went from dunking to three-pointers. The few players who had been on the court had already left, telling Hou Mo: “Mister, bring the ball back to the dorm when you’re done.”

“Got it!” Hou Mo nodded and, showing off, threw the ball over his shoulder without looking. The ball landed perfectly in the hoop.

With no one else around, Hou Mo grinned and said to Sui Houyu: “Brother Yu, isn’t my shooting technique better than yours?”

Sui Houyu shot him a glare, picked up the ball, and tossed it toward the hoop with one hand.

This was a throw for his pride, and thankfully, it made it in.

He raised an eyebrow and said: “I’m not too bad either.”

“Mm—” Hou Mo replied, drawing out the sound, “Our Baby Yu is amazing.”

Sui Houyu walked over quickly and kicked him: “Stop calling me that, or I’ll beat you up.”

Hou Mo, instead of getting angry, pulled Sui Houyu close, wrapping an arm around his waist and leaning down as if to kiss his cheek.

Before he could, they heard Deng Yiheng shouting breathlessly from afar: “Brother Yu! Brother Yu!”

Sui Houyu quickly pushed Hou Mo away and walked over, pretending to be calm: “What’s wrong?”

Hou Mo sulked and followed behind, asking: “Why didn’t you call for me too?”

It was dark, and Deng Yiheng, running hurriedly, hadn’t noticed anything unusual. He just said to Hou Mo: “This is something you probably can’t handle.”

Hou Mo protested: “Why not?”

Deng Yiheng finally steadied himself and said: “I don’t know what Sang Xian did to annoy Ran Shu, but Ran Shu has been scolding him for almost half an hour. Ran Shu’s ability to insult someone is truly impressive—no stuttering, no repetition, like rap, one line after another. The problem is, there’s no clear theme, so after listening for a while, you still can’t figure out why he’s angry.”

Hou Mo really couldn’t do much about this. Right now, Ran Shu was undoubtedly the man at the top of the food chain.

Hou Mo gave way to Sui Houyu, and Sui Houyu gave way to Ran Shu, meaning Ran Shu indirectly ruled over all of them.

When Sui Houyu heard this, he was still bouncing a basketball and appeared unconcerned. He casually asked: “Did they start fighting?”

Deng Yiheng shook his head.

“Did Sang Xian argue back?” Sui Houyu continued to ask.

Deng Yiheng shook his head again: “No, Sang Xian can’t win in a verbal fight against Ran Shu. But he was so annoyed that even his noise-canceling headphones got snatched by Ran Shu. By the time I got there, Sang Xian was practically dazed from being scolded.”

Hou Mo chuckled quietly: “Sang Xian really isn’t great with words. If Ran Shu’s scolding could somehow spark something in him and make him fight back, maybe Sang Xian’s issues would improve. He keeps everything bottled up and says nothing, which is why he’s unwell. If he could find someone to spar with verbally, it might even be therapeutic.”

Deng Yiheng quickly asked Hou Mo: “Did Brother Yu know about this?”

Hou Mo admitted openly: “I told him.”

Sui Houyu continued dribbling the ball and added: “Then let Ran Shu scold him. Maybe with more practice, his stuttering might even improve.”

These two had a rather unconventional approach—neither interfered, acting as if it was a good thing that two roommates were fighting.

Deng Yiheng was left helpless: “So, we’re just not going to intervene?”

Sui Houyu’s tone remained indifferent: “No need to. If they really start fighting, you can break it up. Ran Shu definitely won’t win in a physical fight against Sang Xian.”

Deng Yiheng gave up on being anxious, deciding not to wait any longer and headed back on his own.

He had rushed out in slippers, so his toes were freezing.

Sui Houyu made another shot, which landed perfectly, but he didn’t see Hou Mo approaching the ball, so he looked towards him.

Hou Mo was still on his phone, typing away. Curious about why Sang Xian was getting scolded, he sent a message to ask.

Sui Houyu made another attempt but missed the shot this time, so he walked over to retrieve the ball himself, glancing at Hou Mo.

Why wasn’t he coming over for a kiss?

After waiting a bit longer with no response, Sui Houyu tossed the ball back to Hou Mo and headed for the dormitory on his own.

Hou Mo, oblivious to Sui Houyu’s subtle mood, kept texting and called out: “Brother Yu, wait for me.”

Calling out only made Sui Houyu walk faster.

Hou Mo put down his phone and caught up, explaining as they walked: “I asked Sang Xian. Apparently, Ran Shu met a girl in a game and added her on WeChat. Ran Shu was afraid of scaring her off by sending voice messages and thought Sang Xian’s deep voice would sound better, so he asked Sang Xian to send a voice clip for him. But Sang Xian was reading and just said, ‘Get lost.’ And, wouldn’t you know it, Ran Shu had accidentally pressed the voice message button, sending that ‘get lost’ to the girl.”

At this point, Hou Mo began laughing so hard he could barely speak, unable to hide his schadenfreude.

Ran Shu didn’t have many hobbies, just gaming and street dancing.

His criteria for a girlfriend included being attractive, having a good personality, and preferably being able to play games and dance with him.

He was surrounded by girls, so he had become quite picky.

The fact that he asked Sang Xian for help with a voice message meant he had finally found someone who piqued his interest.

But that one “get lost” message probably ruined his budding “first love.”

Back in the dorm, they heard Ran Shu shouting: “All you do is pose! You think you’re a mannequin? Do you realize every shirt you wear fits tightly on your chest? Even your black tracksuit makes you look like Batman! You should probably wear a bra to keep your chest from sagging!”

Sui Houyu and Hou Mo stood at the door listening but didn’t step in to mediate.

Deng Yiheng lay on his bed chatting on WeChat with Lu Yanxin, and Shen Junjing had fled to another dorm, leaving poor Sang Xian without help.

Sang Xian, fed up, said: “Isn’t it just that no one’s playing games with you? Give me your phone; I’ll play with you.”

“Can you even play?” Ran Shu was skeptical. “Your thumbs are like radishes. You probably need a tablet to press the controls, right?”

“Come on, add me.” Sang Xian replied, holding up his phone.

Ran Shu, still doubtful, finally shut up when he saw Sang Xian’s impressive game stats after they added each other.

As soon as they started playing, peace was restored.

Sui Houyu didn’t join them, choosing instead to change into his sleepwear, lie on his bed, and open an app to review some course materials.

Hou Mo collected their workout clothes, socks, and underwear, took them to the communal washing area, cleaned everything, and hung them up to dry before climbing into bed.

As he closed the bed curtain, Ran Shu was still sitting cross-legged on Sang Xian’s bed, focused on the screen and giving directions. Sang Xian silently sat by the bed rail, fingers moving quickly as he played, showing a resigned determination.

After lying down, Hou Mo asked Sui Houyu: “Brother Yu, aren’t you going to sleep?”

Sui Houyu continued watching videos: “Exams are coming up; I’m studying.”

Hou Mo, with his brilliant mind, didn’t worry: “I’m going to sleep, then. Goodnight.”

“Mm.”

Afraid he might bump into Sui Houyu and interrupt his studying, Hou Mo curled up on one side and fell asleep.

It wasn’t until late into the night that Sui Houyu put down his phone and headphones, stretched his shoulders, and lay down. He could still hear Ran Shu’s quiet instructions, evidently not wanting to disturb anyone.

Sang Xian was patient too, playing until now without a trace of annoyance.

Sui Houyu shifted closer to Hou Mo, listening to his steady breathing to confirm that this person, who always slept well, was indeed asleep.

He turned, carefully leaned over, and kissed Hou Mo at the corner of his mouth—soft, gentle, cautious, afraid of being noticed.

With that, he finally felt content. The kiss he missed earlier had weighed on him until now, but now he could sleep peacefully.

As he lay back and closed his eyes, he opened them again, adjusting to the dark to see Hou Mo’s outline clearly.

This idiot was only likable when he kept his mouth shut.

Hou Mo was handsome in a way that suggested foreign features—bright, star-like eyes, deep-set eye sockets, and bold, defined eyebrows. When he looked at people, there was always a roguish charm in his gaze, a mischievous smile to match.

Quietly, he became captivating.

This person liked him.

Just the thought made him smile, closing his eyes once more with a contented grin as he drifted to sleep.