HCILH Ch. 92

Chapter 92: Never Jealous Again

Recently, Fengyu High School was focused on two major things: the end-of-term exams and the Double Holiday^[1] celebration.

For the student athletes, there was an additional task: winter training.

Ran Shu typically did not participate in formal matches, and his involvement with the tennis team was mostly for show. During this time, he was called away by Ouyang Ge to help with the Double Holiday event.

Ran Shu’s dancing skills were famous.

At their international private high school, where there were plenty of extracurricular classes and many talented students, Ran Shu still stood out as an exceptional “legend” in street dance.

Ran Shu was excellent at learning dances quickly and arranging formations creatively. Whenever a class hit a bottleneck while choreographing a performance or if something felt off, they would seek Ran Shu’s advice, and it would immediately improve.

As a result, Ran Shu had been very busy lately and hadn’t been around the tennis team much.

But today, Ran Shu unexpectedly showed up at the tennis court and gestured sneakily for Sang Xian to come over.

Sang Xian glanced at him but ignored him.

He was still holding a grudge after being scolded for half an hour straight earlier.

Ran Shu decided to pull Sang Xian into the changing room.

Reluctantly, Sang Xian followed and asked: “What’s up?”

“C-Can you lend me some more money?” Ran Shu asked quietly, looking embarrassed. He probably felt it was shameful to borrow money repeatedly.

“Hmm?” Sang Xian raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t you say last time it would last you a while?”

At that, Ran Shu got annoyed: “I-I splurged for that girl for a while… spent a lot on the game, and now I’m out of money, and I didn’t even get the girl.”

Ran Shu was used to spending lavishly, initially thinking his mother was just cutting him off temporarily. But this time, she meant business. Unless he helped convince Sui Houyu, she wouldn’t give him any money, apparently knowing he couldn’t last long.

With no money again and nowhere else to turn, he had to ask Sang Xian.

“Oh… but I’m still a bit upset about being scolded.” Sang Xian pretended to hesitate.

“You have great pecs!” Ran Shu complimented with genuine enthusiasm, giving a thumbs-up.

“They might sag.”

“No way, gravity can’t beat your charm.”

Sang Xian was quickly appeased and asked: “How much do you need?”

Ran Shu held up two fingers.

Sang Xian nodded, sent a message, and said: “Just contact the account I referred you to last time. Tell them where to transfer the money.”

“Great!” Ran Shu brightened up. “Once I survive this ordeal, I’ll pay you back immediately.”

“Okay.” Sang Xian picked up his racket and walked out.

Ran Shu contacted Sang Xian’s family’s butler and sent the account details. Within five minutes, he received the transfer.

He glanced at the amount and did a double take before walking back, planning to help with the dance rehearsal. But as he thought about it, he grew suspicious and checked his phone again.

He had intended to borrow 200,000 yuan, but the butler had transferred 2 million.

Ran Shu counted the zeros over and over: “Tens, hundreds, thousands…”

No doubt, it was 2 million.

Wow, this guy really was loaded. Lending such an amount without even batting an eye.

Ran Shu had barely left the tennis court when he saw Sui Houyu hurriedly pulling on a jacket and heading out. Hou Mo was trailing behind him, holding a pair of pants and calling: “Brother Yu, at least put on another pair of pants.”

Sui Houyu impatiently replied: “Ugh, you’re so annoying.”

“It’s cold! Your skinny legs will get arthritis.”

“I’ll be right back, no need.”

Ran Shu, seeing Sui Houyu’s urgency, quickly walked over to ask: “Brother Yu, what’s going on?”

Sui Houyu was surprised to see him: “Why are you here?”

“I-I came to grab something.”

Sui Houyu didn’t question further and explained: “There was a fight involving Ai Mengtian, and I asked Su Anyi to help mediate, but she joined the fight instead. I need to check on things.”

“Aunt Su fought again?!” Ran Shu said, alarmed, and immediately followed Sui Houyu to the girls’ dorm.

When they got there, they realized it was pointless—boys weren’t allowed inside, so they could only wait anxiously outside.

Taking advantage of the moment, Hou Mo forcibly put another pair of sports pants on Sui Houyu, worried he’d catch a cold.

Only they would do something like this out in the women’s dormitory.

Ran Shu was busy calling girls he knew to check on the situation.

After waiting for over ten minutes, Su Anyi and Ai Mengtian finally came out, accompanied by the girls Ran Shu had contacted.

One of the girls greeted Ran Shu, and he smiled at them, saying: “I-I’ll buy you all milk tea.”

They didn’t stay, leaving right after.

Ai Mengtian was retying her hair as she walked up and casually said to Sui Houyu: “It’s fine. I found out who was behind it, they admitted it, and I sorted it out.”

Sui Houyu looked at Ai Mengtian and pointed out: “You have a bald spot.”

Ai Mengtian frantically touched her head and, finding the spot, cursed: “Pulling hair during a fight? How low can they go!”

It was clear how intense the fight had been.

Sui Houyu turned to Su Anyi and asked: “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, they weren’t much of a challenge.” Su Anyi replied calmly.

Sui Houyu was exasperated: “I asked you to stop her, not join her in fighting.”

“You like her, don’t you? It’s rare for you to like someone, so of course, I’d help her fight back.” Su Anyi said, looking genuinely puzzled.

Sui Houyu sighed heavily, rolling his eyes dramatically. There was no avoiding clearing up this misunderstanding now.

Ai Mengtian observed them for a moment, then burst out laughing as she explained the whole situation.

First, she mentioned how Sui Houyu had known she was being teased and didn’t expose it, and then how she investigated and found the culprits.

Ai Mengtian usually has a bad personality, and sometimes she can be quite annoying. Ai Mengtian admited this herself. For example, she can’t bear to see others pretending to be cool, and she will definitely criticize them for showing off.

This time, the girl who had teased Ai Mengtian felt embarrassed after being called out and wanted revenge, leading to the current drama.

Ai Mengtian had a bad temper; and when she found out who it was, she went to fight after evening study.

She had even sent Sui Houyu a message beforehand, as if heading off to battle with the courage to die bravely.

Sui Houyu, worried for her safety, had asked Su Anyi to keep an eye on things. Instead, Su Anyi joined in and dominated the fight, overpowering an entire dorm room of girls.

If Ran Shu’s friend hadn’t intervened, Su Anyi might not have stopped.

Ai Mengtian emphasized this part: “Su Anyi is seriously amazing at fighting; I was blown away!”

Ran Shu rubbed his face and whispered to Su Anyi: “C-Can you stop being so reckless? I asked you to break up the fight, not join it.”

Su Anyi looked slightly aggrieved: “I thought it was rare for Brother Yu to like someone. We should protect that.”

Sui Houyu, who had always been the reliable one, now felt that even Su Anyi was causing him stress.

Hou Mo, listening to all this, felt his heart sink.

He’d been so jealous he nearly wanted to challenge Shanxi’s famed vinegar production^[2] in a contest. But now it turned out to be a misunderstanding?

Don’t ask how he felt at that moment. If the school’s artificial river weren’t drained, he might just jump into it.

When Sui Houyu and Hou Mo left, they made such a grand scene that the tennis team members thought something serious had happened and followed them one by one after finding out the location.

Once they all gathered, they discovered that Su Anyi had already resolved everything on her own. Standing in the cold wind, the group felt a bit awkward.

They realized they had blown things out of proportion.

Just as they were about to leave, another group of people arrived. Leading the pack, an angry boy asked a girl who had just come downstairs: “Who bullied you?”

The girl looked around, spotted Su Anyi and Ai Mengtian, and pointed at them: “Them!”

The boy and his group started advancing but paused when they saw the scene before them.

With over twenty boys over 180 cm tall gathered together, the display was truly intimidating.

Especially with Sui Houyu and Hou Mo among them, the sight became even more daunting.

Ai Mengtian and Su Anyi were like two golden flowers, standing at the front of a group of boys, looking at them without fear, exuding both elegance and beauty.

The boy, who was the girl’s boyfriend, had initially come to seek justice, but seeing this group, his demeanor quickly changed. He turned to his girlfriend and said: “I told you not to mess with people, but you didn’t listen. Now, go apologize.”

“You were also involved back then! You said it was embarrassing for your buddy to fail at chasing Ai Mengtian…” The girl countered, confused.

“Why would I get involved in your petty little girl schemes? Apologize now, and we’ll pretend this never happened.”

Reluctantly, the girl muttered: “Sorry…”

Ai Mengtian watched and smiled, saying: “Okay, fair enough. Without your meddling, I wouldn’t have met them, so thank you!”

This remark only made the girl more furious, and she stomped back up the stairs in a huff.

The boy apologized to the group and then quickly left with his friends.

It was clear to everyone watching that this couple was likely to break up soon.

Ai Mengtian felt a rush of satisfaction: “That was intense!”

Sui Houyu sighed: “Why are you girls more violent than us?”

Ai Mengtian frowned: “What do you mean by ‘you girls’? It can only be applied to me. People with such an annoying character like mine are rare, you know? I can’t represent all girls.”

“And you’re proud of that?”

“I am who I am. Even my mom gets stressed out by me.”

Seeing that they were okay, Sui Houyu said: “Alright, go rest now. I’m heading back to train.”

Su Anyi nodded softly: “Okay. The custom down jackets will be delivered tomorrow. Come to the tennis court after morning exercises to try them on.”

“Alright.”

As Su Anyi returned to the dorm building, Ai Mengtian followed, pestering her for her WeChat ID.

 The two girls entered the dormitory building, and the tennis team was also preparing to leave.

They then noticed they were standing between two girls’ dorm buildings, with many girls watching from their windows or balconies, making the team walk away in an embarrassed rush.

Except for two.

Hou Mo, with a plaintive look, asked Sui Houyu: “Brother Yu! Why didn’t you tell me the truth? I wouldn’t have gotten upset!”

“How was I supposed to know you’d overreact? It seemed trivial to me.”

“Wah, I feel terrible now. My heart hurts. Can you rub it for me?”

“Stop bothering me!”

“Brother Yu, I was wrong to blame you. What do I do? Should I buy a durian to kneel on…?”

“I’d be grateful if you just shut up.”

Hou Mo, like a clingy sweet dumpling, followed Sui Houyu back to the training room. When Sui Houyu started to take off his jacket, Hou Mo instinctively moved to help him, even trying to take off his pants, startling Sui Houyu into dodging repeatedly until he did it himself.

As he stood up, Hou Mo handed him the racket.

Sui Houyu couldn’t help but feel exasperated by Hou Mo.

When Sui Houyu glanced at him, Hou Mo quickly raised his hand and vowed: “I swear I won’t get jealous again, okay?”

“Okay.”

Just then, Ran Shu appeared again, sighing. “Brother Yu, for the Double Holiday party, Yu Shiyue might be coming over. He said he wants to see you.”

Sui Houyu’s mood soured instantly when he heard that name: “Why is he coming? Convince him not to, or I’ll definitely hit him.”

“He’s been nagging me for days; I’m tired of it.”

“Block him.”

Hou Mo, curious, asked: “Who’s that?”

Just from the pronunciation, Hou Mo thought it was a girl’s name.

Ran Shu explained, “D-Didn’t I tell you before? The former school bully from Qingyu who tried to chase Brother Yu. That’s him.”

Hou Mo frowned: “The weakling that got sent to the hospital?”

“Well, not exactly weak… He didn’t fight back when Brother Yu beat him up.”

Hou Mo: “…”

So he had already lost?

At least when he fought Sui Houyu, he fought back. Even if it ended in a draw, he hadn’t held back…

Was this Yu Shiyue quite indulgent towards Sui Houyu?

At first, Sui Houyu didn’t care as long as Yu Shiyue didn’t come.

But when he noticed Hou Mo’s odd expression, he glanced over.

And that glance was enough to make him avert his eyes, as Hou Mo’s jealous look was almost palpable.

This guy’s promises were like farts, completely useless. Just moments after vowing not to be jealous, he was already sulking.

Ran Shu saw Hou Mo’s sour expression and left with a grin.

Sui Houyu adjusted his wristband in frustration, sneaking a glance at Hou Mo, who now resembled a wilting flower, silent and leaning listlessly against the window, staring wistfully at the moonlight.

After a long time, he sighed.

Sui Houyu felt utterly helpless.